The Annapolis Adventure

The charming, historic town of Annapolis is quiet again, now that the President, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and the representatives of 40 other nations have had their one-day conference and headed back to Washington. Those of us who live nearby can drive downtown again and sailboats can cruise alongside the Naval Academy campus, all of which was off-limits while the world's top diplomats were here.

So what was accomplished, other than hearing the President mangle the pronunciation of the names of his two new best friends, Ehud Olmert of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine? What remains after the photo op?

Quite a lot, actually. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have committed themselves publicly and formally to begin sustained, face-to-face, bi-lateral negotiations of all the important issues that divide them. These include the final-status questions like the borders of a Palestinian state, the future of Jerusalem and the Israeli settlements on the West Bank and whether exiled Palestinians have the right to return to their former homes or be compensated for them. The goal is a peace treaty within a year.

"The time has come" Ehud Olmert said repeatedly to address all these issues without pre-conditions or forbidden topics. "We Palestinians are ready," said Mahmoud Abbas. The first talks are to be held in two weeks.

That is no small achievement, even if the outcome is far from certain. Certainly the world has waited long enough. It was 60 years ago this month that the partition of Palestine was adopted by the United Nations, 30 years ago when President Anwar Sadat made his journey to Jerusalem, 40 years ago this year that Israel occupied the West Bank.

The irony is that the talks should begin now, when Olmert is at a low ebb in the public opinion polls in Israel, Abbas controls only a part of Palestine and Bush is in his final year in office. Perhaps it was the very weakness of the three that propelled them to take big risks politically to try to restore their standing.

The choice of Annapolis as a conference venue was interesting. It is handy to Washington and the Naval Academy is a secure site where the President could chopper in and out for his three-hour foray into high-stakes diplomacy.

But it has history going for it, too. In 1786, it was the site of the Annapolis Convention, where delegates from five states gathered to hammer out thorny trade and commerce issues. That led to the historic Constitutional Convention that convened in Philadelphia the following year and wrote our national charter.

Big things can happen when people gather here.

Terence Smith covered Israel and the Middle East for The New York Times for five years.

Comments

[AdamWykle]

Abbas doesn’t control any territory. He is the elected president in the West Bank, but the Israeli military is still very completely in control of that territory, as well as that of East Jerusalem and Gaza.

Abbas is merely the Authority’s elected leader. But the Authority is governing crumbs while the Israelis maintain control of the whole pie.

[nefertiti]

Many US presidents seem to get interested in the palestinian issue towards the end of their Presidential career , Like Mr Clinton , Bush senior and Now Junior .
Bush has failed miserably in Iraq, in Afghanistan , Somalia, Lebanon, and Pakistan , his popularity has gone down the polls , so he is trying desperately to clean up his image . He is also trying to get the saudis and the People of the Gulf to shake hands with Israel (before the Independence of the Palestinians ) and get most of them on his side in case he decides to confront Iran . Syria has been duped if it thinks Bush cares that the Golan heights will be returned to Syria , it is just a ploy against Iran too .

[Henry]

You have to be kidding us. George Bush the born-again bringer of democracy and freedom to the middle east convening a conference at this date? Do you really think little George cares? Is he emotionally invested in this? His association to the zionist evangelicals exposes his cards before the game starts. It is fixed like NBA basketball. This is a ruse that will have the elegance of smiling at the Palestinians while shaking their hands and picking their pockets. What is past is prologue. How about investment in Palestine?(strange thought eh?)

[jeskiley]

I'm most impressed by the "no forbidden topics" part of it. That is communication at its most evolved and mature. What could go wrong?

[WDW]

LIke all things if one looks for wisdom - one may find a way.

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke [reason with] thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

-- Leviticus 19: 17-18 (KJV)