A TEST OF DETERMINATION

 Editorial de  “The Washington Post” del   11.05.2003

Con un muy breve comentario:

¡Sujeten a Sharon. Impulsen a Mazen!

L. B.-B.

It's been only a couple of weeks since the latest Israeli-Palestinian peace process got underway, but already the Bush administration has lost the initiative to the stallers and extremists who have blocked every attempt to end the violence of the past 21/2 years. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who is to meet with the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers today, will face one leader, Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas, who so far has failed in the crucial mission of gaining control over his security forces or the terrorists who continue to dispatch suicide bombers toward Tel Aviv. The other, Israel's Ariel Sharon, has been busy with military raids and assassinations that have killed more than two dozen Palestinians in two weeks; he has refused to restrain his army before he meets with President Bush later this month in Washington. Mr. Abbas may be powerless to take any of the steps Mr. Powell might ask of him; Mr. Sharon, in turn, may refuse even to do business with the American secretary of state. In the past, both Mr. Powell and Mr. Bush have wavered and retreated in the face of such Middle Eastern hardball. That's why a serious show of determination is necessary if the latest peace plan is going to get past its starting point.

The easy part for Mr. Powell will be lecturing Mr. Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, about the need to act decisively against the Palestinian militants who continue to wage war against Israeli soldiers and murder civilians with terrorist attacks -- including some who operate from inside official Palestinian security organizations. There can be no doubt that if Mr. Abbas does not succeed in disarming the illegal groups and cleaning up the official ones, the new peace process will never get started. But the new Palestinian leader clearly wants to act; the problem is how to help him overcome the formidable opposition not only of extremist groups but of his nominal partner, Yasser Arafat. Rejecting U.S. and Israeli attempts to marginalize him, Mr. Arafat fiercely resisted Mr. Abbas's appointment and is blocking him from exercising authority over several security organizations, including at least one linked to the violence. Mr. Abbas does command the two strongest police organs, and U.S. aid in training them may help. But the Bush administration cannot solve this problem on its own: It will need to persuade the Arab and European governments that have been clamoring for a new peace process to throw their weight more decisively behind Mr. Abbas. Two senior diplomats of the European Union are to visit Ramallah this week; they could help by refusing to pay court to Mr. Arafat.

Mr. Abbas also cannot act without help from Israel, and that's where Mr. Bush's determination will be tested. Mr. Sharon makes the reasonable argument that Israel should not make major concessions on the ground until it has some proof that the new Palestinian leadership is ready to move against terrorists. But Mr. Abbas cannot do so without close cooperation from Israeli forces. Mr. Abbas also desperately needs to show that any crackdown involving Israeli actions such as dismantling checkpoints on West Bank roads, issuing more work permits and releasing Palestinian prisoners will bring relief to Palestinians as well as to Israelis.

Ultimately, a decisive Palestinian turn against violence must be reciprocated by an Israeli abandonment of further Jewish settlement of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But even to start the process, the two sides must begin talking -- and so far, Mr. Sharon and Mr. Abbas have not met. It's not surprising that Mr. Sharon would insist on negotiating any Israeli action with Mr. Bush rather than working with Mr. Abbas or following the "road map" that the president has formally endorsed. Over seven meetings in the past two years, the president has repeatedly flinched rather than face down the resolute Israeli leader. Unless Mr. Bush is now willing to change that pattern, the "personal commitment" he has promised to an Israeli-Palestinian settlement will mean little.

Muy breve comentario:

¡Sujeten a Sharon. Impulsen a Mazen!

L. B.-B.

Sí que es preciso que la comunidad internacional amarre muy bien la situación, si se quiere impedir que todo se venga abajo... y no sólo el proceso de paz palestino-israelí, sino también el Próximo Oriente, como señala hoy Friedman. Es previsible que a un primer paso de buena voluntad que acaban de iniciar los israelíes sigan algunos atentados, como siempre, por parte de los terroristas. En ese momento habrá que sujetar firme a Sharon, para evitar que todo vuelva atrás, e impulsar que sea Mazen quien se deje de buscar treguas improbables y comience el desmantelamiento de las organizaciones terroristas. Buscar treguas a estas alturas es perpetuar la caída en picado de la situación y destrozar el plan de paz.

Ese momento de echar el freno a Sharon,  cuando llegue ---probablemente muy pronto---, será el punto de inflexión decisivo que marcará el fracaso o el triunfo del proceso de paz.

Por cierto que el laborismo israelí debería dejarse de vacilaciones y caminos sin salida, y apoyar que la resolución de la probable crisis del gobierno Sharon, cuando tenga que caminar hacia delante, se resuelva en un gobierno de unidad decidido a avanzar en las "dolorosas concesiones" que menciona Sharon.

Bush debería impedir que Sharon siga racaneando y presionar para que camine hacia la paz, en lugar de iniciar una nueva espiral de agresión. ¡Ahora o nunca!