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Negotiations Leading to Nowhere

Three martyrs fell recently in Gaza Strip on one day, while two others died the day before and scores were injured. 

The cycle of death continues, and most of the victims are innocent civilians, including women and children. The international community hears and sees, but seemingly this falls on blind eyes and deaf ears. 

The Palestinian tragedy goes on: not only are we deprived of the natural rights we deserve as any other nation, and not only are the siege, barriers, and settlement activities intensifying, but also the assassinations and destruction relentlessly continue, covered by meaningless slogans about the imminent peace with either the Palestinians or the Syrians. 

This catastrophic reality dominated by murder, bulldozers and imposing facts on the ground subdues any slogan, movement or pledges. This deepens the feelings of frustration and anguish within all the sectors of the Palestinian population. 

It also creates more tensions and infuriation while ignoring all the parties talking about peace. 

All this time-wasting might eventually drive the region into violence, and away from the peace overtures. 

More irritating is that Israel rejects the truce proposals suggested by Egypt and is closing the way to peace efforts, bluntly making transparent maneuvers by playing again on the peace tracks.  

Immediately after it slammed the door of any genuine progress on the Palestinian track, Israel manipulated the time factor to misguide the international public opinion. 

Now Israel emerges with the Syrian maneuver, repeating the same scenario: the ongoing settlement activity in the Golan with the aim of doubling the number of settlers there. Concurrently, it misleads the world to believe that a peace process has been activated with Syria under Turkish auspices. 

It is a well- known fact that the majority of Israelis disapprove of a withdrawal from the Golan Heights, as well as from the West Bank or East Jerusalem. 

Oddly enough, while there is a consensus among Israeli observers, analysts and officials that the peace negotiations with Syria have no goal other than to rescue Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from corruption investigations, there are still international, Arab and Palestinian parties who believe in an uninterrupted peace process. 

Unfortunately, global powers have failed to remove the Israeli obstacles in the path to peace. This hypocritical stance could only give Israel sufficient time to implement its plans, especially when these powers have not pressured Israel to move in the direction of a just peace or to lift the crushing blockade imposed on the Palestinian territories. 

This all said, we should call on the Palestinian and Arab sides to undertake a serious evaluation of the current circumstances, and to send an obvious message to the entire world to the effect of rejecting the ongoing negative developments, and the urgent need of new mechanisms that would compel Israel to end its occupation and empower the Palestinian people to regain their legitimate rights. 

Ibrahim Deibes is a veteran Palestinian journalist. This editorial first appeared in Al-Quds.