Issues

Palestine

The Road Map to Middle East Peace

Posted on Saturday August 23, 2003

Americans for Peace Now & Arab American Institute

Talking Points

Almost all of the trust that existed between Palestinians and Israelis has long disappeared, and it will take an outside effort to get things moving again in a positive direction. Given this reality, the Road Map represents the only game in town for stopping the continuing conflict and getting the two sides back to the negotiating table.

There is no question that Palestinians and Israelis assume some risk in pursuing the Road Map.

Despite these fears, the most important thing right now is to begin immediately implementing the Road Map because maintaining the status quo is simply not an acceptable option.

-Nearly 800 Israelis and more than 2,200 Palestinians have been killed during the Intifada, while thousands more have been injured.

-The Israeli economy is experiencing its third straight year of recession, with high unemployment and cutbacks to social services. Meanwhile, Palestinians are experiencing over 60% unemployment, and 60-70% of all Palestinians are living below the poverty line of less than $2 per day. This economic damage on both sides is related to a large degree to the continuing conflict.

After more than 30 months of violence, Israelis and Palestinians are ready for the Road Map. Polls show majorities on both sides are willing to embrace steps to achieve peace.

The Road Map includes many positive elements.

-The Road Map removes ambiguity about the final goal of the peace process, stating explicitly that it seeks a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

-The Road Map calls explicitly for Israel to remove settlement outposts built since March 2001 and freeze activity at remaining settlements (including “natural growth”).

-The Road Map includes monitoring of performance by third parties that can judge whether one side or the other is failing to live up to its responsibilities.

-The Road Map includes both performance criteria and a timeframe in order to ensure that the process moves along, yet can be slowed down if there are problems with implementation.

-The Road Map includes an explicit role for Arab states to play in support of the peace process. The Saudi initiative referenced in the document offers Israel a chance to achieve complete normalization with the Arab world should it reach a just and lasting comprehensive peace.

-The Road Map encourages the Palestinian Authority to make far-reaching internal reforms that will ultimately benefit the Palestinian people, including reining in terrorism.

-The Road Map includes negotiations between Israel, Syria, and Lebanon as a necessary component for achieving Israeli-Arab peace.

Both sides have already started to take some of the steps required of them in the Road Map.

-The Palestinians have elected a reform-minded Prime Minister who has denounced terrorism, appointed a Finance Minister who has cleaned up the accounting practices of their financial system, and begun efforts leading to the ratification of a new constitution.

-The Israelis have released some of the money they had been withholding from the Palestinians since the start of the Intifada, and allowed for the free travel of Palestinian legislators between Gaza and Ramallah to vote on Abu Mazen’s new government.

It is important for President Bush to reject changes to the text of the Road Map or suggestions for its implementation that could undermine the peace initiative and make its success less likely. The Road Map recognizes the interconnection between Israeli security, an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and the emergence of a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state. If this linkage is broken, then neither side will achieve its goals, and the conflict will drag on.

-The Road Map calls on the Palestinians to take significant steps to reform their security forces and fight terrorism. Given the weakened state of the Palestinian Authority, these responsibilities present a tremendous challenge. But they will be absolutely impossible to achieve without Israeli cooperation. Unless Israel takes no actions undermining trust (such as assassinations and home demolitions), Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen will not be able to take steps to strengthen his position in Palestinian society and assert control over the West Bank and Gaza—developments that will also work to Israel’s advantage.

-The U.S. has set itself up as the arbiter for determining the full and serious consideration of Israel’s fourteen reservations about the Road Map, a number of which could kill the diplomatic process before it gets off the ground. Unless President Bush takes a tough line in defending the Road Map against proposed changes, this peace initiative will have little chance of success.

The Road Map offers a path to peace, but it is not a peace plan. It does not dictate the details of what a final peace treaty will look like. Rather, it leaves the resolution of these questions up to the two sides themselves. However, Israelis and Palestinians will never get to the point where they can resume negotiations unless President Bush puts the full weight of his authority behind the implementation of the Road Map.

Background

What is the Road Map?

-The Road Map is a three-phased, performance-based, goal driven plan with timelines, target dates, and benchmarks, at the end of which there will be two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security. This plan was written and approved by the U.S., the E.U., the U.N., and Russia (otherwise known as the Quartet).

-The Road Map states that if the parties perform their obligations rapidly, progress through the phases will come sooner. But if there is non-compliance with obligations, progress will be impeded.

-In each phase, the parties are expected to perform their obligations in parallel, unless otherwise indicated (such as the start of Israeli withdrawals from land it has reoccupied since the start of the Intifada).

-It appears that the U.S. is seeking to lead the Quartet in monitoring compliance with the Road Map, with the U.S. in charge of committees on security and settlements and with the E.U. in charge of committees on Palestinian humanitarian assistance and institutional reforms.

-At the beginning of the Second and Third Phases, a consensus judgment of the Quartet must be reached as to whether or not to proceed.

What are the Parties’ Obligations Under the Road Map?

Palestinians:

The Palestinians are expected to: declare an end to violence and terrorism; undertake steps on the ground against terrorism; rebuild their security forces and use them in a sustained and effective anti-terrorism campaign (including the collection of illegal weapons), a process that is supposed to continue throughout the implementation of the Road Map; consolidate all Palestinian security organizations into 3 services; resume security cooperation with Israel; redeploy forces into areas once they have been vacated by Israel; draft a democratic constitution; have an interim Prime Minister/Cabinet with decision-making power; establish an independent election commission; meet judicial, administrative, and economic benchmarks; hold free elections; continue its revenue clearance process; and improve humanitarian conditions.

Israelis:

Israel is supposed to: take no actions to undermine trust, including deportations, attacks on civilians, confiscating/destroying Palestinian property, and destroying Palestinian infrastructure; resume security cooperation with the Palestinians; as security performance advances, the Israeli military is expected to withdraw progressively from areas occupied since the Intifada began; facilitate travel of Palestinian officials, electoral training, and other supportive measures related to reform; facilitate election assistance; reopen the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce and other Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem; work to improve the humanitarian situation; immediately dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001; and freeze all settlement activity.

Quartet:

The Quartet is supposed to: monitor compliance with the Road Map; the U.S. is to implement the rebuilding and retraining of Palestinian security forces (with the help of Egypt and Jordan); U.S. security officials will participate in regular joint meetings of officials from the two sides; direct all budgetary support for the Palestinians into the Single Treasury Account; evaluate Palestinian performance in achieving judicial, administrative, and economic reforms; help launch a major humanitarian relief effort; during Phase II, convene an international conference to support Palestinian economic recovery, to lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state with provisional borders, to renew attempts at peace talks between Israel, Syria, and Lebanon, and to revive multilateral talks; and during Phase III, convene an international conference to endorse the provisional Palestinian state, launch a process leading to a final permanent status resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2005, and support progress on negotiations between Israel, Syria, and Lebanon.

Arab States:

Egypt and Jordan are expected to participate in a security oversight board; Arab states will cut off public and private funding and other support for terrorists; all donations to the Palestinians will be directed through the Single Treasury Account; and Arab states will help launch a major humanitarian effort for the Palestinians.

Americans for Peace Now is a Zionist organization dedicated to enhancing Israel’s security through peace and to supporting the Israeli Peace Now movement. More information about the Road Map from Americans for Peace Now can be found on the Internet at: http://www.peacenow.org/Roadmap/index.html

The Arab American Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to the civic and political empowerment of Americans of Arab descent. More information about the Road Map from the Arab American Institute can be found on the Internet at: FOCUS: Road Map