Unsettling settlements

Among the various obstacles to the peace process, the most-publicized one in 2009 was the settlement issue. It not only pitted the Palestinians against the Israelis, but also strained ties between the Jewish state and its most important ally, the United States.

From day one in office, sitting US President Barack Obama, the first black host of the White House and eager to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, has been applying a hands-on approach, with his secretary of state and special envoy frequenting the region for pushing efforts.

Like his predecessor Bush and many other US presidents, Obama highlights the special bond between Israel and America and pledges steadfast commitment to Israel's security.

Yet in sharp contrast to his predecessor, whose apparently pro-Israel stance weakened the US credibility as an impartial middleman, Obama has projected himself to be a more even-handed broker.

While extending goodwill gestures toward the Muslim world to mend scarred relations, the Obama administration has for the better part of the past year been urging Israel to completely halt construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank as well as Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, stressing that the freeze was needed to pave the way for resuming talks.

Yet in defiance of mounting pressure from America and other members of the international community, Netanyahu refused to stand down from his argument that certain projects must be allowed in order to accommodate the normal life and natural growth of the settler population, comprising about 300,000 in the West Bank and some 180,000 in the eastern section of the holy city.

In signs, remote as they might be, of the gaping gap between the two traditional allies, Obama did not pay an anticipated visit to Israel during his midyear tour to the Middle East, while Netanyahu made three trips to the United States largely intended to explain his standpoints and narrow the threatening differences.

Unhappy ending

As time was ticking away for the year 2009, which has seen no tangible progress at all on the stalemated peace process, the two new members of the Mideast trio seemed to have acquiesced in a meet-in-the-middle plan.

On the one hand, the Obama administration, bedeviled by two wars and a health care reform and considered by many to have been unrealistic on the Israeli-Palestinian front at the outset, gradually softened its wording on the settlement issue, saying that it had never regarded an Israeli freeze of settlement construction as a precondition for resuming peace negotiations.

On the other hand, the Netanyahu government officially decreed in late November a 10-month moratorium on new construction projects in West Bank settlements, in a move hailed by Washington as a great step forward.

The Israeli side has stressed that the temporary ban marks a rare compromise from the Jewish state and that the PNA should seize this opportunity to renew talks as soon as possible.

However, the Palestinian leadership rejected the offer, and accused its neighbor of not being genuine, as the moratorium excludes some 3,000 settlement housing units already approved beforehand as well as construction activities in East Jerusalem.

The PNA has repeatedly stressed that it will not return to the negotiating table until Israel completely freezes construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both of which the Palestinians claim are part of their future statehood.

Just as the Israeli conditions for the establishment of a Palestinian state are outrageous to the Palestinians, the Palestinian demands are also orders too big for the Israelis to accept.

Right-wing politicians and settlers have already carried out vehement resistance to the current settlement policy, although it is both temporary and partial.

While the Israeli government has firmly refused to rescind the decision and pledged full enforcement of the construction ban, the bitter memories of removing settlers from Gaza under the 2005 disengagement plan will not fade away any time soon, preventing the snake-bitten nation from making any bold moves without second and third thoughts.

Adding to the complexity is the protracted internal struggle between Hamas and Fatah on the Palestinian side.

With the two groups respectively controlling the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Israeli officials have long been complaining that current peace talks are pointless as Israel is negotiating with only half a Palestine.

Against such a gloomy backdrop, reasons for optimism are scarce. Yet one factor that might help cheer peace-seekers up is that the year concluded in a better situation than it started, which in turn would serve as a better launching point for the year to come.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2009)