Seizing the moment for peace to prevail

True, the peace was dealt with a severe blow by an assassin called Yigal Amir, a Jewish extremist who killed Israel's prime minister Yitzhak Rabin eight years ago to scuttle the Oslo peace process. Obviously, without Rabin to drive it forward, Oslo soon sputtered and died. Distrust led to second intifada which rages till date. Today Ariel Sharon, the butcher of Sabra and Shatilla sits in prime minister's office while the rule of Israeli right is likely to persist beyond him. In the meantime both the Israelis and Palestinians continue to die in a no-win conflict while Yigal Amir contented over his achievement must be chuckling in the prison cell.

Yet, there are sudden stirrings in the air with over 100,000 Israelis converging recently on Tel Aviv's Rabin Square to remember the slain soldier-turned-peace-maker, the greatest show of strength by Israeli left since Sharon's election in early 2001. The signs are apparent that the years of paralysis and stasis may be coming to an end. Earlier the peace had a boost from an unexpected quarter. None other than Israel's Army chief of staff broke ranks to admit that Sharon's iron-fist treatment of the Palestinians "was increasing hatred for Israel and strengthening the terror organisations". In his view there could only be a political, not a military, way out.

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The biggest boost for the peaceniks has -- no wonder -- come through an unorthodox attempt at conflict resolution. A team of free-lance negotiators, Israeli Labour Party politicians and Palestinian ex-ministers -- still close to Yassir Arafat have spent last two years of stalemate thrashing out full and final peace agreement between their two peoples. Last month they could make a break-through. With the backing of Swiss government they now have a text of agreement running to some 10,000 words under the rubric of Geneva Agreement.

Already this 'virtual agreement' is gaining momentum. As planned, soon the document will be sent to all Israeli households so that Israel's all citizens can read it for themselves. Among the Palestinians the indications were already positive when al-Ayyam printed the Geneva text in Arabic for the first time. Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and FW DeClerk have shown interest to attend the signing ceremony in Geneva later this year. Britain's Tony Blair has welcomed it while Jack Straw, the foreign secretary met the close aids to discuss how Britain might help the initiative.

Geneva is not however a revolutionary document. It only takes into account the solution the most people assume to be only possible solution for breaking Israeli-Palestinian impasse: the partition of Palestine into two states, one for each people -- and spells out the details. Instead of postponing the 'final status' questions the document tackles them one by one rather summarily.

Jerusalem? The city will be divided to become capitals of the two states with sovereignty for each side over their respective holy sites. Palestinians' right to return? The document avoids the phrase, but proposes a solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees that will combine financial compensation with a return to the new state of Palestine rather than to Israel itself. Jewish settlements in the occupied territories? Most selfless will stay under Israeli jurisdiction, thanks to a re-drawing of the border. In return the Palestinians would gain territory from pre-1967 Israel -- equivalent to the amount of land they had lost for Jewish settlements.

Instead of keeping concealed a minefield to bump into while negotiating the final status the likely pains of compromises are laid bare in the document which is considered a phenomenal piece of work bereft of so called 'constructive ambiguity' of Oslo process. The negotiators led by former ministers Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo thought of every possible snags in advance and gave Geneva document a decisive clarity. Notwithstanding this remarkable step in the direction of peace making in prevailing vaccum Sharon and his ministers condemned and denounced it branding Beilin and friends as virtual traitors for daring to contact the 'enemy' "behind the government's back at a time of war". Even the views of Labour compatriots of Labour-dominated peaceniks have not been helpful either. The former Labour Party prime minister of Israel, Ehud Barak who broke off with Arafat during second Camp David in 2000 talked of the effort "the peace of the ostriches, a plan that only serves Arafat". For him, signing a deal based on it will only reward the "terrorists". He called the document "a capitulation".

Not only that. Even the senior Palestinians worry that any future Israeli government will feel obliged to give less than what is offered in Geneva. Some Israelis also echo the similar doubts: Won't future Palestinian negotiators regard Geneva as a starting point, and demand more? Amidst such scepticisms on both sides the obstacles to Geneva are not only formidable, they are also real. To overcome them there are two key players, apart from the respective leaderships. The first are the Arab states which should endorse the Geneva pact and revive the Saudi initiative, now in limbo. The Saudi initiative already endorsed by Arab states in March 2002 promised Israel full recognition from the Arab world if it returned to its pre-1967 borders. That prospect would hugely appeal to Israelis and reinforce the rationale of Geneva. The EU, and eventually the US might then prefer to back it.

The greatest role however belongs to the people of Israel and Palestine. For too long the polls have shown both sides desperate to make a deal. Yet leadership on both sides failed them. Now it is upto the Israelis and Palestinians to break that paradox. The present initiative independent of the government's backing or participation testifies that the people on either side of the divide are indeed capable of breaking the paradox by demanding that the politicians make it happen. Neither side can say any longer there is "no partner on the other side". Geneva shows there is. All it takes is the will.

Brig ( retd) Hafiz is former DG of BIISS.