Tipping Point? Palestinians and the Search for a New Strategy

[Rex Brynen]

Israel withdrew from Gaza while also withdrawing from 15% of the so called"West Bank."It stated quite clearly its intentions for a further withdrawal of another 75% of the remaiming twrritory within the"West Bank,"retaining between 6 and 10% via annexation which would then be offset by an equal amount of fully arable land from within Israel Proper.The end result would be 100% of Gaza and land equal to 100% of the"West Bank."

Not really:

"The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's senior adviser Dov Weisglass has told Haaretz.

"And when you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda. And all this with authority and permission. All with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress."

Weisglass, who was one of the initiators of the disengagement plan, was speaking in an interview with Haaretz for the Friday Magazine.

"The disengagement is actually formaldehyde," he said. "It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the Palestinians."

Certainly Olmert accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state, although he and Abbas couldn't agree on the details and close the deal. Sharon? Not so much.

[An Outsider]

Newly empowered Egypt brokers Palestinian peace deal

It'll be interesting to see what the result is though. My gut tells me that this is partially a mutually beneficial stunt for all parties. It puts the new military regime in Egypt on the side of it's still-revolting people, allows Hamas to quell it's domestic youth-led discontent, and allows Fatah to recover somewhat from the embarrassment of the leaked Palestinian Papers.