US Secretary of State Colin Powell created something of a rift between the US and Israel last week when he agreed to meet in Washington with the architects of the so-called "Geneva Accord," an unofficial blueprint for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel's reservations about the meeting are understandable, but our sense is that leaders who demonstrate optimism and ingenuity in the Middle East these days deserve encouragement, and the Bush administration can support a peace offensive on multiple fronts.
Ariel Sharon, however, has dismissed the Geneva plan, and one can sympathise with an elected leader who resents self-appointed negotiators engaging in freelance diplomacy. But that doesn't mean that the US, or other world powers pursuing an Israeli-Arab peace, should dismiss the Geneva efforts. The two chief negotiators are not amateurs or subversives: Yossi Beilin was Israel's justice minister under Prime Minister Ehud Barak and is a veteran peace negotiator; Yasser Abed Rabbo, though a confidante of the blundering Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, must be counted among the moderates and realists in the Palestinian leadership. Moreover, Beilin and Rabbo have supplied something that the current Israeli government lacks: an endgame for peace talks. Sharon, elected as a hawk, has proved surprisingly flexible and pragmatic in office, but he has focused almost exclusively on the terms and conditions of Israeli-Palestinian talks, leaving many Palestinians and outsiders to wonder if he wants a peace process without a peace.
The endgame that Beilin and Rabbo negotiated actually makes the difficult compromises that will be necessary for a stable peace: Israel would abandon most of its settlements in Palestinian territories, for example; Palestinians would renounce certain of their rights to return to homes in Israel. The accord resembles the framework that the best negotiators have broached for more than a decade. In other words, Beilin and Rabbo offer something much needed in the Middle East -- hope to the moderates on both sides that people of expertise and goodwill still believe in the possibility of a fair two-state solution. For that, they deserve Powell's sup-
port.
This message of perseverance is especially timely, for the weekend has produced more disappointing news in the region. The two leading Palestinian extremist organisations, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, refused at meetings in Cairo to participate in a cease-fire with Israel, even though regional Arab powers and the new Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qorei, twisted their arms. Then on Sunday, conservative members of Sharon's government denounced a proposal by one of their own, Ehud Olmert, that Israel eventually withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- a proposal that would have been uncontroversial in Israel five or 10 years ago.
When disaster strikes in the Middle East -- and it has struck too often in the last three years -- the US is urged to do something. So when opportunity strikes, perhaps even hope, it is utterly appropriate for the Bush administration to give it a tailwind.
The Bush administration's handling of Iraq has come under fire not only from Democrats, but a staunch Republican as well. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich described the Bush administration's strategy as "off a cliff" in post-war Iraq and said the White House has to get a grip on this, the Washington Post said Monday. On NBC's Meet the Press, Gingrich said the administration failed to send enough Iraqi-Americans there after the war. On the main online site of the US occupying authority, he added, "Up until last week you didn't see a single Iraqi on that Web page, and now there is only one."
Meanwhile, on CBS's Face the Nation, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card defended the US administration's policy. "Newt Gingrich is not all-knowing," he said. On ABC's This Week, Senator Hillary Clinton said she agreed with Gingrich. She blamed the administration for miscalculation and inept planning in Iraq. "I do think we need more troops in Iraq," Clinton is reported as saying.
Sirajul Islam, Dhaka