India, peacebroker

Abbas and his advisors are planning to use the conference podium to demand the deployment of an international peace-keeping force in the Palestinian territories. They want the force in the Gaza Strip as a way of undermining Hamas8217;s influence there and in the West Bank to serve as a buffer between the Palestinians and Israel. The Palestinians believe that the deployment of an international peace-keeping force in southern Lebanon last year, in which Indian peacekeepers are represented, has reduced tensions between Israel and Hizbullah.

About 100 Indian peacekeepers are also deployed along the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria. The Palestinians8217; hope is that a similar, but much larger force comprising thousands of troops from India and other countries will ease tensions with Israel.

8220;India can play a big and positive role in our region,8221; said a senior aide to President Abbas in Ramallah. 8220;Indian troops in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is a very good and welcome idea. India has always had good relations with both Israel and Palestine.8221; India, he added, also has an interest in boosting moderate Muslims in the face of radical Islamic groups like Hamas, Hizbullah and Al-Qaeda. 8220;Islamic fundamentalism is spreading and threatening all secular democracies.8221;

Arab political analysts appear divided on Bush8217;s initiative. While some have welcomed the conference as evidence that Washington is finally getting serious about reviving the peace process, others fear that Bush is trying to form an Arab alliance ahead of an attack on Iran.

Kuwait8217;s influential al-Seyassah newspaper said it seems that Bush may have finally gone to the source of terrorism by calling for an international conference to revive the Middle East peace process. The paper wrote that while Bush8217;s initiative came late, it still shows the US president has put his finger on the causes of terrorism 8212; the Palestinian cause that has been used by liberation and terrorism groups. 8220;It8217;s time for US policy to be based on understanding that fighting the war on terror without addressing its causes will only escalate the terrorist activities and sink Washington deeper into military and political quagmires,8221; the paper added.

Resolving the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict is the only way to 8220;dry up the source of terror and thereby eliminating it,8221; it said. The paper suggested that after resolving the conflict, the UN should form a global army to assume the war on terror and to have the right to operate in every country. 8220;It would be in President Bush8217;s favour to crown the end of his term by achieving a historic solution to the Palestinian problem8230;8221; it remarked. The Kuwaiti paper said the US president should ultimately be convinced that it is the Palestinian cause that has been the driving force and excuse used by terrorists to justify killing Americans.

The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi pointed out that despite the diplomatic activity to revive the Middle East peace process, there is still no real progress on the ground. The Palestinian daily said all the talk for the peace process comes while Jewish settlements are still expanding in the West Bank, the separation barrier is still being built and more than 1.5 million Palestinians are still shut away from the outside world.

It said the conference appears to be an American attempt to 8220;expand the Arab-Israeli normalisation on an official level, which could lead to an American-Arab-Israeli alliance to spearhead any impending attack on Iran to destroy its nuclear facilities.8221;

The writer is former diplomatic editor of the London 8216;Observer8217;