Is it business as usual when it comes to the old Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The answer seems to be very much positive. A month has hardly passed since both the Israelis and Palestinians agreed to start fresh round of stalled negotiations in the presence of the United States and other regional powers at the US naval grounds in Annapolis. Yet the violence continues with Israeli army launching attacks against radical Palestinian groups to counter deadly rocket attacks from the Palestinian side. Undoubtedly innocent civilians are getting killed or hurt in the crossfire. This raises another question. What is the need to spend so much money in organising so called peace negotiations when both the parties are not able to stop the senseless violence?
The problem lies within both the camps when it comes to finding a definitive and constructive peace process so that both Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side peacefully. It must be admitted the United States is also a part of the problem. Washington’s policy throughout the Middle East has been Israel-centric and it has failed to notice that the unresolved Palestinian issue has dominated the whole regional politics. The Arab politics as a whole is deeply related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The sooner there is any constructive peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the more there is a chance of a stable Middle-East.
Analysts have pointed out two most important factors coming in the way of a long-standing peace process. Firstly, Israel’s continuous policy of segregating the whole Palestinian population in the name of radical militants from Israeli territories. To prevent suicide attacks, Israel has increased restrictions for Palestinians who enter the Jewish lands for daily work. Furthermore hawkish Israeli politicians dictate Israeli hardline policy against Palestinian leadership and prevent any sort of land compromise which is very much needed on both the sides to have peace. Secondly, bitter infighting among the Palestinians is working negatively towards Palestinian interests. The Gaza Strip is controlled by the radical Hamas which is against any peace with Israel and it is in this region where most of the Israeli incursions are taking place whereas the West Bank is under the control of the liberal Fatah, the organisation of the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas who is heading the peace negotiations with Israel.
There is every chance that Annapolis would prove to be another fruitless summit until and unless both the parties are ready to come up with a compromising solution for the sake of the respective people and for the Middle East as a whole.
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Image Link: White House
