BUSH PLAN FOR PALESTINE:
First Democracy then Statehood
BY
Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.
This article was published in The Globalist (06/26/02)..
President Bush, whose administration at first refused to take any active
part in the Middle East process has now, committed itself to peace in the
Middle East through the creation of Palestinian State. This is
unprecedented. No American President has ever made such a serious and
decisive commitment to the Palestinian cause ever before.
This is the first time that an American leader has risked his own
credibility and political future and the prestige of America in such a way.
The Middle East is a dangerous place to place bets on peace. President Bush
deserves credit, commendation and support for displaying such courage. Both
Israelis and Palestinians must realize that their best hope for peace and a
negotiated settlement is through the brokerage of the US.
If three years from now there is no peace in the Middle East, then US
prestige will be undermined significantly and George Bush will still have
three more years to take his revenge on the region by simply turning his
back to them. No American President will in future dare to risk all for
peace and only Palestinians and Israelis will feel the pain.
The Bush speech itself is essentially the articulation of a vision of two
democratic states living in peace side by side with the support and
blessings of Arab States and the US. It should not be treated as a plan. As
a vision it is extraordinarily bold, reasonably just though a bit
optimistic. As a plan it is woeful. It is full of ifs and buts. There are
too many demands made of the poor Palestinians and very few of Israelis. The
consequences for Palestinians are clear. If they fail to meet US demands,
the US will not support a Palestinian State. President Bush made this very
clear. What is not clear is what will happen if Israelis do not stop
settlement building, or if they do not withdraw to pre-Intifada II
boundaries or if they do not agree to the normalization of Palestinian
economy.
There are some remarkable aspects to the speech. It did not back away from
touching upon the crucial - deal breaking - issues such as the right of
return and settlements. Its most outstanding character is that for the first
time ever, the Palestinians have a date that they can mark as their possible
independence day - June 24th 2005. Also the President's insistence that
Palestinians democratize before they gain statehood is very important.
As a Muslim intellectual who advocates democracy in the Muslim World, I
recognize that this is the best chance that Palestinians have for a
democracy. If they gain their statehood before democracy is entrenched, then
Palestine will most likely become like Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya etc -
another authoritarian Arab regime, where people have no self-rule.
There will be many in Palestine and the Arab world that will resist this
idea calling it as external dictation of who rules Palestinians. I hope that
Palestinians reject these voices and take President Bush's demands for
democratization constructively and immediately start work on a constitution
that will enshrine an independent judiciary, empower the parliament, limit
executive powers, increase transparency, localize governance and strengthen
accountability. It is time to start nation building.
The second problem in the speech was the indirect demand to Palestinians to
dump Arafat. The problem with the demand is that the only entity that is
capable of initiating the political reforms that President Bush is calling
for is the Palestinian Authority (PA) headed by Arafat. There are two issues
here, operational and symbolic; How to ensure that PA will reform itself and
how to marginalize Arafat who in many ways is seen as the father of the
Palestinian statehood.
The Palestinians will have to work it out. I only hope that they realize
that achieving statehood is more important than supporting Arafat. Perhaps
they can convince Arafat to take a ceremonial position and conduct fair and
open elections to allow new leadership to emerge. This is not the time for
defiance for the sake of defiance. This is time to clinch the deal.
It is possible that the Palestinians may meet the tough demands made by
President Bush and the talks may fail again in the final settlement
negotiations, especially over the issue of settlements or if terrorism
continues. It is also possible that like the previous President, this
President too may blame the Palestinians alone for any future derailment of
talks. Anything can happen, this is the Middle East we are talking about.
But even in the worst-case scenario, the Palestinians will still be better
off. They will at least have an honest, accountable, transparent government
that respects the rights and dignity of its own citizens and uses its
resources for the welfare of its people.
It is time to say enough is enough. For too long too many have lived in
anguish and fear. Violence and oppression have led only to pain and misery.
There is no dignity and no glory in subjugation and insecurity. Peace is a
compromise. It means that all will have to settle for less than everything
they want. But it is better than death and destruction. I hope that
Palestinians and Israelis take this opportunity offered to them by the
American President.
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