Nov. 16, 2005

DIPLOMACY AND CHAOS

Allowing Palestinians freer travel, trade at Gaza Strip bodes well for peace

IN an agreement hammered out Tuesday, Israelis and Palestinians set out a plan for opening the borders of the Gaza Strip. In addition to the colossal achievement of giving Palestinians control of one of their own borders, the deal bodes well for progress toward crafting a peaceful relationship between the two perennially tense neighbors.

In September Israel closed Gaza's border with Egypt and restricted the movement of Palestinian cargo into Israel shortly before its unilateral Gaza pullout. The ability of Palestinians to travel and trade, particularly with Israel, their main market, is essential to reviving the anemic Palestinian economy.

International envoy James Wolfensohn had worked for months on this issue, to no avail. Despite the urgent need on the part of Palestinians to control the Gaza crossing, the Israelis feared that the border would become an entry point for weapons and militants into Gaza. Palestinians rejected the notion of closed-circuit television monitoring by Israel.

The speed with which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who arrived on the scene only late Sunday, was able to clear through the impasse is a testament to her skills as a diplomat.

Apparently, the talks began to pick up such movement that she postponed a trip to Asia to continue working through to a resolution.

Wolfensohn told a reporter Sunday that a deal was far from certain. Two days later, after a crucial nudge from Rice, negotiators worked out an agreement that includes opening the Gaza-Egypt land border at Rafah on Nov. 25. Israel is to allow bus convoys between Gaza and the West Bank starting Dec. 15, with truck convoys to follow a month later. At some point, construction will begin on a new Gaza seaport.

Rice played her diplomatic hand amid much chaos. On Monday, Israeli troops killed a senior Hamas militant, Amjad Hanawi, in an overnight raid. Israel is also dealing with political turmoil that came last week, when the Labor Party in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government chose a new leader, who said he would pull the party out of the governing coalition.

The border deal gives a boost to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary election. He is fighting to ward off a challenge by the political wing of Hamas. The arrangement, which confirms Israel's recognition that Palestinians must be able to travel and trade, is a much-needed follow-up to Israel's Gaza pullout, which saw the removal of Jewish settlers.

"If Palestinians fight terrorism and lawless violence and advance democratic reform, and if Israel takes no actions that prejudge a final settlement and works to improve the daily lives of the Palestinian people, the possibility of peace is both hopeful and realistic," Rice said.

The breakthrough shows what can happen when the administration focuses and sustains high-level attention on the Middle East.

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle