Sunday, May 01, 2005
Gaza Disengagement: A Cynic's View
People have taken to calling Ariel Sharon a "man of peace". Those who have a working knowledge of modern Israeli history will be confused by this description, blood-thirsty manic might be another description. Yet, he is pushing disengagement in Gaza (but not in the West Bank). Here is a view from Israel that is not as charitable towards him. This description is closer to what I would expect of the Ariel Sharon of the history books.
All of this should not detract from the real gain that the palestinians are getting from the disengagement, or should one always assume that an old war horse can not learn new tricks.
That being said, I suspect that Ariel Sharon is being a practical son of a bitch.
Jax
Disengagement from Gaza is the first step in Ariel Sharon's grand scheme to permanently alter the political map of the region. The next phase is the unilateral imposition of a Palestinian state with provisional boundaries - PSPB - in scattered enclaves on the West Bank and Gaza.
The implementation of this strategy will perpetuate the conflict and effectively put an end to the promise of a permanent settlement. This disingenuous reinterpretation of a two-state solution must be rejected. It can only be averted through a return to the negotiating table and the creation of a contiguous and viable Palestine alongside Israel by agreement.
The prime minister's pursuit of the withdrawal from Gaza has obscured what can now be termed the Sharon Doctrine. The explicit objective is to secure Israel as a democratic state with a Jewish majority through control of heavily populated Jewish areas and the exclusion of Palestinian population concentrations. The major shift in Sharon's recent thinking is that demography replaces geography as the basis for Israel's security.
The emerging instrument for the implementation of this strategy is the active promotion of a Palestinian state with provisional boundaries, an idea contained in the second phase of the road map. The Sharon PSPB, however, diverges from that envisioned in the source in three important respects.
First, the road map calls for the negotiation of a provisional state; Sharon seeks to bring it about unilaterally. Second, the PSPB is viewed as a brief interlude en route to the expeditious conclusion of a final-status agreement; Sharon shows no signs of moving beyond conflict management to conflict resolution. And third, the goal of the Quartet-initiated and Israeli and Palestinian-sanctioned document is the creation of a viable, free and contiguous Palestinian state; Sharon has never accepted this objective.
THE REASONING behind the emerging official doctrine is instructive. The Sharon-led government has never abandoned its conviction that there is no negotiating partner on the Palestinian side. Its treatment of President Mahmoud Abbas and its foot-dragging on opening discussions with the reconstituted Palestinian Authority confirm this mindset.
Domestically, the chronic instability of the Israeli political system and the by-now endemic incapacitation of the peace camp permit the pursuit of a policy which is at odds with the aspirations of the vast majority of Israelis (polls show consistently that 80% support the resumption of negotiations now). Internationally, American preoccupations elsewhere, coupled with overall frustration and fatigue with the Palestinian-Israeli quagmire, have allowed for a revisionist redefinition of the road map which defies its stated purpose.
Swift action in the immediate future, it is presumed, may unleash processes that may yet revive the old Sharon vision of "Jordan is Palestine."
The measures taken to carry out the Sharon Doctrine are already visible on the ground. The continued construction of the wall, the plans for the development of the E1 corridor between Ma'aleh Adumim and Jerusalem, and the intricate network of road and tunnels devised to connect Jewish settlement blocs and bifurcate Palestinian population clusters are obvious. So, too, are the IDF preparations for the possibility of a third intifada. More subtle are the quixotic attitudes toward the Palestinian Authority, designed to discredit its leadership while assuring its durability so that it can be held responsible in the aftermath of the Gaza withdrawal and the airing of the PSPB idea. (Link)
