As The Daily Star snidely comments, Bush’s efforts at peace in Israel-Palestine are “as likely to succeed as the efforts of a lazy student who whittles away an entire semester in fraternity halls before cramming at the last minute for final exams.” It’s hard to argue with that. Indeed, despite our president’s naive prediction of a peace deal by the end of his term, Bush’s visit clearly isn’t being taken very seriously. The Israelis, for their part, have been boldly building up settlements on the eve of the president’s arrival:
On 8 January, the Israeli media reported that hundreds of settler units were slated to be built in Ras Al-Amud, the only remaining corridor between the West Bank and the Haram Al-Sharif of Jerusalem, which houses the Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock. This is in addition to thousands of settler units being planned and already under construction all over the West Bank, especially in the Jerusalem region where the Israeli government has embarked on an aggressive campaign to build as many settler units as possible prior to the conclusion of any possible agreement with the PA over the final status of the city. (Al Ahram)
That’s one hell of a way to jumpstart the peace process. That said, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Israelis are acting with such impunity. The fact that the Bush administration has been so painfully unwilling to press either the Sharon or the Olmert government on settlement issues is evidence to all that the tough negotiations needed to settle this intractable problem will not be forthcoming anytime soon. As analyst Daniel Levy notes, the Bush administration’s record on settlement construction is embarrassing:
During George W. Bush’s tenure, the White House has made several public plays on the issue, has been snubbed each time—and then has retreated. First, the 2001 Mitchell Report called on Israel to “freeze all settlement activity.” President Bush’s much-referenced June 2002 speech repeated the call. (“Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories must stop,” he declared.) The “Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” launched in 2003, defined a settlement freeze as including natural growth and the dismantling of outposts. Then, when Bush and Sharon exchanged letters in 2004, the American commitment was watered down to “restricting settlement growth” to within “defined construction lines” and “removal of unauthorized outposts.” Coming out of Annapolis, the Bush administration has shown no signs of getting any tougher on the settlement issue. (Prospects for Peace)
Does anyone actually think that Bush’s policy towards Israeli settlements will, this time around, be any different than it has been in the past? Palestinian writer Walid Mudalil hits the nail on the head: “Those who believe the Annapolis meeting pushed negotiations with Israel towards a solution to the conflict are misleading themselves. Anyone who thinks that Bush will take any steps to shake Israel from its positions is wrong.”