Peace Process Will Backfire, Israeli Knesset Member Warns
"'Sharon has nothing to say to the Palestinians. The
maximum that he can give is very far from the minimum the Palestinians can
accept,' Barakeh said.."
By Palestine Chronicle Reporter
ABU DHABI, UAE (PC) - The Middle East peace process will almost certainly
backfire and send the Palestinians hurtling towards a new catastrophe, a member
of Israel’s parliament has warned.
Mohammad Barakeh said facts on the ground inside the Occupied Territories
betrayed the optimistic words recently expressed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon and United States President George W. Bush.
“The possibility of a Palestinian state here is very weak now, it cannot be,” he
warned during an interview last week.
Barakeh is chairman of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, a political
party which holds three seats in Israel’s Knesset.
Speaking during a visit to the UAE, he said the Israeli Government’s alleged
desire for peace would be exposed as a sham when key issues such as the future
of East Jerusalem and the plight of the Palestinian refugees were eventually
discussed.
“Sharon has nothing to say to the Palestinians. The maximum that he can give is
very far from the minimum the Palestinians can accept,” Barakeh said.
“This point of truth will come in the future and I think that the facts on the
ground and the political programme of Sharon will not lead to any kind of
solution that can be accepted by the Palestinian people.”
The Israeli Government has been praised by much of the international community
for deciding to dismantle all the illegal settlements in the Occupied Gaza
Strip.
However, Barakeh said this withdrawal is being made only because the Jewish
presence there is too expensive to protect and maintain.
“Sharon wants to solve a problem for himself, but he wants the Palestinians to
pay the price for his problem. So he is now trying to put the focus on this
withdrawal to cover what’s going on in the West Bank,” the Knesset member said.
Barakeh added that the illegal barrier being built in and around the Occupied
West Bank is designed to cut the territory in half. This division will ensure
East Jerusalem is kept from the Palestinians.
“I think that these other steps of the disengagement plan of Sharon will lead to
the next clashes,” he warned.
Barakeh went on to criticise the role played by the United States Government in
events taking place across the Occupied Territories.
“I do not believe that the Americans want to help the Palestinians. The
Americans have their global interests, especially in the Middle East. With the
situation in Iraq and the anger in the Arab world, I think that the Americans
want to try to advance something in Palestine.
“But after Mr Bush spoke about the Roadmap he accepted the disengagement plan of
Sharon and he sent a document of understanding to Sharon on 14 April 2004 that
said he regarded the wall as a security fence. He accepted the terms of Sharon
himself.”
Barakeh said the Palestinians best hope was for resistance groups such as Hamas
and Islamic Jihad to stop launching attacks from Gaza once the settlers leave.
This might then entice the Israeli public to demand that Sharon concede more
ground in the Occupied West Bank.
“If bombing continues in Israeli areas after the withdrawal from Gaza, I think
there will be a catastrophe,” the Knesset member warned.
Source: Palestine Chronicle - www.palestinechronicle.com