Just Talk

Today Tony Blair hosted a one day conference to discuss the "window of opportunity" for peace in the Middle East. Aside from the Palestinians getting pledges of $1.2 Billion in aid, the conference went pretty much as one can expect. There was lots of words about the need for Palestinians to crack down on terror, and the need for Israel to make concessions. Of course Abbas promised that he would track down the perpetrators of Friday's suicide bombing and that of course Palestinians were committed to preventing further attacks. Basically, everyone said all the right words, and the net result will be zero. The reason I am so certain that like all previous conferences this will not take us one step closer to peace is because of stories like this

A militant brazenly challenged the new Palestinian security chief Tuesday, firing his weapon outside police headquarters in this West Bank town as the commander was holding meetings in the building. The chief ordered the gunman's arrest, but quickly backed down and let him walk away.

The "militant" in question is Zakariye Zubeydi, the leader of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Jenin, and the self-proclaimed ruler of the city.

Zubeydi said he was upset that Yousef had not coordinated the meeting with him and demanded the security chief leave. "Every city has its own gate, and Nasser Yousef did not come through the proper gate of Jenin," Zubeydi said.

After threatening to arrest Zubeydi, Yousef backed down and left the city. The story goes on to say that

Some say the Palestinian security forces do not have the strength to take on the militants, who are heavily armed and seen as heroes by many Palestinians.

"The Palestinian Authority has no ability to enforce the law and to control the streets," Cabinet Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said. "It needs rebuilding. It needs retraining."

The question then is why negotiate with the Palestinian Authority. If they are unable to fulfill their obligations, then its pointless talking to them. And if they are able but unwilling, then once again it is pointless talking to them. Simply put, until Abbas cracks down on the terror organizations as he has agreed to do there can not be any progress towards peace. This is not a maximalist position, it is a realistic one. Otherwise, all that is happening is, as Aluf Benn points out, a replay of Oslo. And Oslo did not turn out well for anyone involved. Do we really need to repeat it?