The Obstructed American Role

The American administration has put a lot of pressure on the Palestinians to enter into indirect and unconditional negotiations with the Israelis. This is in spite of the fact that the Palestinians have insisted on the necessity of a complete freeze on settlements. Pressure was also put on the Palestinians to enter into direct negotiations, which have faltered, in spite of the Palestinians having insisted on the necessity of progress occurring in the indirect negotiations before moving to the direct ones.

And the Palestinians were right about all that after the long drudgery of fruitless negotiations with the Israelis that were being held in its halls without coming to a tangible result. All the while, the Israelis have exploited these years to expand its assault on Palestinian land and gobble up more of it under the pressure of settlements. It has also exploited these years to improve its image for international public opinion on the grounds that it strives for peace, despite the fact that it is very far from pursuing any earnest approach toward peace. Its daily practices are evidence of that.

And the American sponsor, who recognizes the illegality of the settlements, does not adopt any position which requires the Israelis to stop building them, despite the fact that it is, first of all, one of the principles of international law. Instead it meets any assault on Palestinian land with shy statements. And, despite its desire to continue negotiations, it has not adopted a firm, decisive position that requires the Israelis to stop building settlements so that negotiations can get underway. And it is well known that the United States has means of exerting pressure that it could use in order to achieve that goal and get negotiations rolling. Furthermore, the United States concentrates on its role as a sponsor of the peace process and does not focus on objective goals like helping the Palestinians secure their legal rights on their occupied land.

Because the Israeli side insists on continuing its assault on Palestinian land by building settlements, the American administration has tried to offer the Israelis incentives — for instance, political, military and security aid in addition to immunity from any resolution in the Security Council to condemn Israel.

The Israeli side exploited this lax American position through blackmail and by rejecting these incentives, perhaps because it realized that the United States is always ready to offer political, military and security aid and even immunity from any international resolution because it is its strategic ally in the region. The strategic alliance between Israel and America is both organic and structural, and American administrations always emphasize it. Nevertheless, continuing to stop the negotiations makes the American administration seem unable to carry out the role that it wishes in sponsoring the peace process, a role that it desires very much and doesn’t want anyone else to share.

One of the differences is that this American desire to sponsor the peace process runs completely in the interest of the Israelis, because the American administration only looks at the Palestinian issue (and what surrounds it) from an Israeli point of view. This is what makes Israel refuse any substantial role for any other world power, including the European Union, a state of affairs which continues to be more sympathetic toward Israel at the expense of the Palestinian cause and Palestinian rights. The peace process seems to be stalled until there is another notification that the American administration has found a way out of the dilemma that the Israelis put forth on account of their extremism, insistence on building settlements, and their rejection of a temporary, partial freeze on settlements for three months. This is in spite of the fact that this partial and temporary freeze on settlements is not in accordance with and does not comply with the demands of international law, which considers the settlements illegal IN PRINCIPLE. And, it is interesting to note that the American administration announced that it is abandoning its efforts to convince the Israelis to extend the partial, temporary freeze on settlements.

Consequently, the American role in sponsoring the peace process appears obstructed, not only because of Israeli arrogance and its insistence on continuing to build settlements, but because of an American administration that refuses to take any serious position. It forces Israel to take its own considerations into account over those of international law.

All of that makes it very clear to the Palestinian side that the American administration is not serious in its sponsorship of the peace process and that it doesn’t expect a lot out of it — even though it came to restart the negotiations and that it must satisfy Israel.