Muhammad Al-Shibani

In less than a week, the world has witnessed five extremely important summits bringing together leaders of the most powerful nations as well as those whose countries are considered flash points threatening peace and security. There was the G-8 Summit to which leaders of 12 developing nations were also invited. Before that we saw the Russian-European summit followed by one between the American and Russian presidents. Then came the Sharm El-Sheikh summit at which President George Bush was joined by Arab leaders. Bush then flew to Aqaba in Jordan, to meet the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers.

At all five meetings, plans were hatched and lines drawn to determine the shape of the world for years to come. The focus was on rich but tense areas that have occupied world attention for the last two decades.

The common element in all these gatherings is that they were all held under the giant American umbrella, now sheltering the entire world. It is worth noticing that there has been a major difference in the public positions held by many of those who attended the summits. Leaders who had earlier opposed the war against Iraq began speaking a different language. The United Nations and others who have demanded a greater role saw their demands disappear altogether. The Arabs dropped some of what they had earlier considered basic demands to be taken into account in any settlement with Israel.

In a major departure from his hard-line policies, an arrogant Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon used the word “occupation” for the first time to describe what his army is doing in the Palestinian territories. He even talked about the possibility of Israel’s giving up some Jewish settlements. No doubt, something fishy has been going on during all — or some — of these summits. It may one day be obvious for every one to see. It may never be known. What is sure is that each party will say everything went according to plan and in their interest and that it was worth all the sacrifices. No one knows the White House’s true intentions and what Washington is trying to impose on others, whether peacefully or through force. It is always the same story — a White House keen on reaping the fruits of its victories over the world.

Only the strong set the rules of the game, choose the players and define the roles required. The strong decide who should continue playing and who should be sent off. Those who agree to the rules are welcome to join the team and those who don’t have only themselves to blame.

Two issues are the cornerstone in any settlement of the conflict with Israel: The future of Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees. These were the major challenges at both Sharm El-Sheikh and Aqaba.

The Arabs and Palestinians have now given up their demand for the restoration of all Palestinian land. They agreed to recognize the existence of Israel within secure borders and to give the Palestinians most of the West Bank and Gaza lands it had in 1967 in order to establish a demilitarized state. Arab governments have crossed the psychological barrier that has for long prevented them from normalizing relations with Israel. Meetings bringing together Arab officials and their Israeli counterparts are now a routine practice and Israeli embassies have opened in some Arab capitals.

It is indeed an irony to see Sharon talking about the difficulty of maintaining a lasting Israeli occupation of the Palestinians and an Israeli government trying to convince its people to accept the road map after admitting its economy could not sustain the losses it continues to suffer as a result of the two-year-old intifada. In other words, it was the intifada that forced Israel and America to seek a lasting solution to a 50-year-old conflict. How will this solution come? At what price? What will become of Jerusalem and the refugees’ right of return? No one knows the answers.

One sure thing is that the heroes of the intifada that made every one scurry for a solution, the Palestinian people living under occupation and not a Palestinian government buying and selling in their name, are the only group being kept out of any peace effort.

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(Muhammad Al-Shibani is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah.)