Opinion/Editorial

The Road Map -- a matter of time

Hasan Abu Nimah 4 June 2003



With the twin summits in Sharm Al Sheikh and Aqaba underway, many believe that the likelihood of a major breakthrough in the efforts to break the cycle of Israeli-Palestinian violence and resuming serious talks towards a settlement are realistic. Yet while optimism may be justified in the short run, regular EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah argues that it is only a matter of time before the whole scheme falls apart right in front of everybody’s wide open eyes. 

End of all aid work in Palestine?

Ann Kristin Brunborg and Gudrun Bertinussen 27 May 2003

International aid workers have been shut out from Gaza since Saturday 10th May. Despite the worsening humanitarian situation, the Israeli army says the exclusion could become permanent. Since January, many of us have been refused entry to Israel, cross-examined and even deported. Now aid organisations are talking about pulling out. 

Living "the other," fearing "the other"

George E. Irani 5 June 2003



Fear is nothing new in human affairs. It has been with us since the dawn of time. Now, however, we live in a world that is both increasingly intertwined and alarmingly disjointed. Globalization has dramatized a fundamental reality for the fortunate citizens living in the rich world: If you want to subject the rest of the planet to your models of consumption and personal freedoms, expect responses and reverberations. By no moral, legal, or cultural calculus will it ever be acceptable that some live in comfort and splendor while the majority of Earth’s human denizens suffer hunger, oppression, want and despair.” George E. Irani offers some insights into the dynamics underlying fear of Arabs and Muslims in the West in the pages of Beirut’s Daily Star. 

Road Map or Road Kill?

Rashid I. Khalidi 23 May 2003

“in failing to focus on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, about to enter its thirty-seventh year, and on Israeli settlements, which underpin that occupation, the road map misses an opportunity to end this conflict. Instead, it concentrates on Palestinian violence and how to combat it—as if it came out of nowhere, and as if, were it to be halted, the situation of occupation and settlement would be normal. This is a reflection of the preponderant US role in the drafting of this document. It is also a sign of why it will probably fail, for official Washington is obsessively fixated on Palestinian violence as the root cause of all the problems between Palestinians and Israelis.” Noted Palestinian-American academic Rashid I. Khalidi takes a jaundiced accounting of the Road Map in the pages of The Nation 

The edge of reason

Laurie King 15 May 2003



“All the pipes and drums of political rallies and remembrance day parades; all the ink of history books, policy papers, executive summaries, and polemical tracts; all the solemn newsbytes, sturm und drang and spin of media coverage are pointless here at the edge of Gaza. Talk or yell, scream or rationalize, pontificate or analyze all you want, but it all boil down to this: A husband, a wife, and their three small children clinging to the vain hope of home and normalcy in a shattered neighborhood of demolished houses.” EI’s Laurie King-Irani asks you to follow the Road Map all the way to Rafah and take a good, hard look around. 

The guaranteed failure of the Road Map

Tanya Reinhart 15 May 2003



“Every few months, a ‘peace plan’ is pulled out of the drawers of the White House and keeps the public discourse busy for a few weeks. Although this ritual has a fixed pattern and predetermined end, it is curious that many in Israel are still tempted to believe that this time it is different. The Road Map announces that this time “the destination is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict by 2005”. To check if it offers anything concrete in this direction, it is necessary to first get clear regarding what the conflict is about.” Israeli academic Tanya Reinhart writes in Yediot Aharonot. 

Step Forward, Tony Blair

Ali Abunimah 14 May 2003



It took just a few hours for US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s mission to implement the road map to founder on the rocks of Israeli intransigence. Ariel Sharon’s “gestures” to humor his American guest lasted barely longer than the visit itself. EI’s Ali Abunimah argues that the Americans need an ally who is unconstrained by domestic political considerations when it comes to Palestine-Israel. The perfect candidate is Tony Blair, who claimed before the Iraq war that could lead, not just follow the United States. If so, Palestine is the perfect opportunity for him to do so and here is precisely what he should do. 

The mountain roared: Powell's Road Map fiasco

Hasan Abu Nimah 14 May 2003



Once more the mountain roared and produced nothing. The much acclaimed visit of the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, to Israel and Palestine to implement the road map ended in total failure. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon thinks he has won a victory by defeating the latest peace effort, but regular EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah argues that Palestinians, Israelis and the United States all emerge as losers. 

Israel's 'We have the right to kill you' visa for Gaza

Nigel Parry and Ali Abunimah 10 May 2003



On 8 May 2003, the Electronic Intifada obtained and published the text of a document distributed by the Israeli military to foreign diplomatic representatives, entitled “Form to be filled out and submitted to IDF authorities prior to entry to the Gaza Strip”. EI’s Nigel Parry and Ali Abunimah look at the document, at Israel’s recent actions in Rafah, and wonder at the new entry conditions which require internationals to affirm they won’t hold Israel responsible for harming them: “I am aware of the risks involved and accept that the Government of the State of Israel and its organs cannot be held responsible for death, injury and/or damage/loss of property which may be incurred as a result of military activity.” 

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