Global Policy Forum

Lose no time in implementing a new pullout plan.

With world attention on the Middle East focused on Iraq, it seems germane to ask what happened to peacemaking efforts for the Palestinians. If the "road map" was in place now, a provisional Palestinian state would have been created and negotiations for peace with Israel would have entered the final stages. The road map was presented jointly last April by the United States, Russia and nations in Europe, along with the United Nations.

As things turned out, the vicious circle of suicide bombings and reprisals shows no let-up. There is not even a hint about how to start the process of talking again.

Given these circumstances, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon floated a new peacemaking plan. It calls for unilaterally dismantling settlements in the Gaza Strip, the biggest occupied territory. If he is serious about this, it is a welcome move.

Gaza, which shares common borders with Egypt, is a frontier region for Israel. This is not the first time Israel's withdrawal has been proposed. What makes the proposal so interesting is that it was put forward by Sharon himself, a man who is known for his hard-line policy toward the Palestinians.

Israel's religious right has voiced opposition to the withdrawal plan on grounds it will impair the legitimacy of the Jewish state. Because of this, strains have developed in Israel's conservative ruling coalition. The Palestinians are also wary of Sharon's plan, fearing his real intention is to eternalize Israel's domination of the West Bank in return for evacuation from Gaza.

Nearly two years have passed since the Sharon government effectively put Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, under house arrest for failing to crack down on terrorist acts by Palestinians. Despite such arm-twisting, however, terror has persisted. In addition, Sharon's influence has been declining, partly due to suspicions about corruption practices by the prime minister himself. By proposing to withdraw from Gaza, he may well have intended to regain his political clout.

The Sharon government has been constructing a continuous wall between Jewish and Palestinian quarters in the West Bank. Some view his advocacy of removal of the settlements in Gaza as an attempt to mitigate international criticism of the security perimeter.

Whatever his real intention, it is hoped he will not lose time pulling out of Gaza, since he now is on record as wanting to withdraw. Now that momentum for negotiation has been lost on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides, we can only hope new developments will arise from this latest proposal.

Building settlements in Gaza was exceedingly difficult for Israel in the first place. About 7,000 Israeli settlers live under conditions of extreme heavy guard in a land densely populated by 1 million Palestinian refugees. Guarding such a region must also have been very onerous for the Israeli military. If Israeli troops are also withdrawn as the settlements are dismantled, an environment favorable for peacemaking will be created since the Palestinians will no longer feel the overbearing presence of the Israelis.

Harmonious withdrawal will require observation and assistance by the international community. It will be worth considering the deployment of troops of an international observation team as proposed by Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller.

We urge Sharon to dismantle the settlements in the occupied territory of the West Bank by building on the pullout from Gaza. It is the essential pre-requisite for peacemaking with the blessing of the international community.

If withdrawal from Gaza is aimed at merely relocating settlers to occupied zones in the West Bank, it will further complicate an already complicated situation and peace with the Palestinians will recede further into the background.