Palestine: suspending disbelief is an unbelievable hoax

1. Only build new housing in settlement blocks and in areas west of the security barrier. This means that Israel would build only in about 8 percent of the West Bank and no longer in the remaining 92 percent.
2. Offer compensation to any Jews to relocate to Israel or the designated blocks.
3. Consent to begin construction of housing within Israel or the designated blocks for all those settlers ready to relocate.
4. In "Area C," which represents 60.1 percent of the West Bank's territory and in which Israel retains civil and security responsibility, Palestinians would be permitted economic access, activity and ownership.
5. In "Area B," which covers 21.7 percent of the West Bank and in which Palestinians have responsibility for civil affairs and for law and order - but not for dealing with terrorism - the presence of Palestinian police and security forces, and their duties, would be allowed to increase.
6. In "Area A," which accounts for 18.2 percent of the West Bank's territory and in which the Palestinians have civil and security responsibility, the I.D.F. could specify clear security criteria, which, if met by the Palestinian Authority, would end the incursions.

Mr Ross lists the following six agenda items for the Palestinian side to commit to:

1. Be willing to speak of two states for two peoples and to acknowledge there are two national movements and two national identities.
2. Pledge to put Israel on Palestinian maps
3. Make clear the commitment to building the state of Palestine, without encroaching on Israel, with a particular focus on the rule of law.
4. Commit to ending incitement; stop glorifying as martyrs those who kill Israelis; stop blaming Israel for every evil; stop denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.
5. Prepare the Palestinian public for peace.
6. Build permanent housing in refugee camps and allow those families who wish to move out of the camps to be permitted to do so

Apart from the last item on the agenda - and since the PLO has shown itself incapable of bringing about these changes of attitude during the last 20 years of failed negotiations - there is little point in including them.

Perhaps it is time for Mr Ross and others in the international community to consider the principle of reciprocity in negotiations.

To induce Israel to accept Mr Ross's six point agenda - he needs to propose something far more concrete on the Arab side - something along the lines of the following:

1. The Arab League is to nominate two more of its members to recognise Israel and open embassies between their respective countries.
2. The Arab League and the PLO agree to recognise Israel in its final agreed-upon designated borders as the reconstituted Jewish National Home in accordance with international law
3. Offer compensation to Arabs willing to relocate from Area C to Area A or Area B
4. Consent to begin construction of housing in Area A and Area B to house those Arabs willing to relocate from Area C
5. Hold free and fair elections in the West Bank and Gaza within twelve months irrespective of the state of the negotiations
6. Build permanent housing in existing refugee camps

In the words of Mr Ross :

These 12 points represent an agenda for discussion that could lead to coordinated actions and change the dynamic between Israelis and Palestinians - and maybe, by restoring hope, show that the government of Mr. Abbas still offers a pathway for Palestinian national aspirations.

These points could, for once, create a virtuous cycle. Such progress is vital if there is to be any hope that the two sides will actually address the core issues of the conflict.

We don't need more dead ends. It is time to show Israelis and Palestinians that something is possible other than stalemate. Otherwise disbelief and failure will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Mr Ross - despite your best efforts -your proposal does nothing to reverse the generally held belief that the two-state solution is terminal and has been dead and buried for more than eighteen months.

To propose that your 12 point agenda can suspend that belief by proposing yet another talkfest based on vague intangible commitments by the Arabs is quite frankly unbelievable.