A Arafat-Peres meeting?

A possible meeting between Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on the margins of a business conference in Cernobbio, Italy, this week is doomed to fail if extensive preparations do not precede it. The meeting, which is looking at arranging a cease-fire, has to have a context to avoid it from turning into a yet another photo opportunity with nothing tangible to help de-escalate the situation in the Palestinian territories and pave the way for the resumption of final status negotiations leading to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

But the problem is that Peres, who has held several meetings with Arafat and other Arab officials in the past few months where he made several promises which he could not keep, does not seem to have any mandate from hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to make concrete offers to the Palestinians that might encourage them to go the extra mile. Many believe there is no need for any new peace initiatives or gestures of goodwill as the Mitchell report and the Tenet understandings remain the only internationally acceptable peace initiatives on the table.

The ball is now in the Israeli court. The Israelis must understand that only the end of occupation will bring peace.

-- The Jordan Times, Amman