October: Al-Baz: Hope not lost in Roadmap
Egypt-Palestine, Politics, 9/1/2003

"In fact, we can't say that the Middle East peace process has already been dead and buried! We should not lose hope in the "roadmap." Both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides fear such obsession. Both parties are frustrated and are less confident in the future despite achieving great strides along the way for peace so far" said Osama Al-Baz the political advisor to Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.

Interviewed by "October" weekly, Al-Baz stated that after "Oslo accords" the two sides began to feel that there is a glimpse of hope. "In fact, there occurred some progress under previous US president Bill Clinton. Israel agreed to pull out from 97% of the occupied territories," he added.

Al-Baz said that more progress has been accomplished in the Jerusalem issue. Israel accepted to get the Islamic, Christian districts plus two thirds of the Armenian area under Palestinian rule.

Two governments were to be set up there: Palestinian and Israeli. Such a move would have been the true peaceful co-existence between the two peoples, if it had materialized.

Then a sort of a mess took place, he added, when the Americans floated some solutions that spoiled the Jerusalem problem. For instance, they suggested to have joint sovereignty. That's illegal as well as impractical.

They also proposed for Israel to have "subterranean" sovereignty" while the Palestinian sovereignty would be "over ground"!! Again, that's illegal and illogical.

When US president George W. Bush took over, his administration shelved the issue saying that it doesn't warrant interest. Yet, the Palestinian-Israeli dispute came back to emerge on the surface once more.

The direct reason was the Iraq item; as the entire world wondered how the Iraqi issue is dealt with so fast while the volatile complex Palestinian conflict is disregarded?

ÊÊÊ Actually, Al-Baz said, Egypt was the first country to call for addressing all the Middle East problems as a package deal. It urged that the Palestinian cause be dealt with at the same footing as the Iraqi one.

Moreover, there was the double-standard American policy regarding the weapons of mass destruction that the USA claimed to be owned by the ex-Iraqi regime while Israel possesses nuke arms!

Asked on the Israeli-American demand to dismantle the Palestinian resistance organizations Al-Baz elaborated that that is not the core of the matter.

What really matters is that when one side wishes the other side to do something, it should abide by the same commitment. Israel must stop practices that generate armed resistance in the Palestinian lands.

Al-Baz went on to say that we are against arbitrary killing acts that target civilians on both sides. If the Palestinians have the right to defend themselves and to resist occupation, they should not launch operations that arouse the public opinion against them such as blasting small kids.

The President's advisor added that the two parties are in need of a third power-element which is represented first and foremost in "Egypt" being the biggest and nearest country to the conflicting sides.

He as well stressed the importance of Jordan for geographic and ethnic reasons.

Now, the current US president (George W. Bush) floated his vision regarding the Palestinian-Israeli dispute based on two significant items: first to end the Israeli occupation which is an extremely important point, the second is to establish a Palestinian state.

In response to a query about how to halt the vicious circle of violence taking place now, Al-Baz said that both sides have to abstain from resorting to force away from the legal and legitimate framework of international law.

Previous Stories:
  Mubarak, Putin discuss efforts to solve Palestinian crisis   (8/30/2003)
  Hudeibi calls for supporting the Jihad of Palestinians against occupation   (8/29/2003)
  Maher calls on Israel to stop aggressive practices against the Palestinians   (8/28/2003)

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