Colin Powell's 'mission impossible'

Riza Sihbudi Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Indonesian Society for Middle East Studies (ISMES) Jakarta

Colin Powell, the United States State Secretary, is in the Middle East in an effort to ease tensions in the region, following the brutal aggression of Israeli soldiers in Palestine. On March 29, Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, ordered his soldiers to lay siege on the headquarters of the Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, in Ramallah city in the West Bank, marking the climax of Israeli aggression in Palestine since September 2000.

Powell's trip this time follows U.S. President George W. Bush's latest address and three resolutions issued by the United Nations Security Council, essentially calling for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories, effecting a cease-fire between Palestinian and Israeli soldiers and encouraging the two parties to return to the negotiating table.

The U.S. first sent special envoy Anthony Zinni to meet President Arafat. Zinni is the first high-ranking foreign official to be received by Arafat since the Palestinian leader was confined to his compound by Israeli forces. Will Powell succeed?

The conflict between Arabs/Palestinians and Israelis seems to be an integral part of Middle Eastern politics, encompassing all sorts of dimensions -- religious and ideological, geopolitical, societal and economic.

In the modern history of the Arabs, none of the Arab countries have ever defeated Israel. Arab history reveals that this failure mostly is largely attributable to their inability to take a united stand. They have resolved to defend the Palestinian nation's struggle for independence but they have never been in full agreement about how to carry out this resolve. In the wars between Arab nations and Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 and at present, there were at most only four of some 20 Arab countries involved (some invariably) in the battles, namely Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

Ironically "fierce-sounding" Arab countries like Libya and Iraq have never been engaged in any battles of Arab nations against Israel. Neither have oil-rich Arab monarchies in the Gulf such as Saudi Arabia and the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). They have only given moral and financial support, the latter incomparable with their huge oil revenue.

A famous Palestinian Christian intellectual, Edward W. Said, once voiced his rejection of the U.S.-sponsored peace treaty formula called the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (DOP). For Said, DOP was merely a symbol.

For example DOP states that Israel still enjoys sovereignty over water resources, security, foreign relations, and its right to veto all things in Palestine.

The issues of the status of Jerusalem city and Jewish settlements are still in the hands of Israel. Sadly, as Said wrote, all data, documents, figures and maps used in the negotiations held from Oslo in Norway to Cairo in Egypt, were drafted by Israel. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was not able to forward a single piece of information that differed from Israeli sources. "(This) relates to our land and our nation, Palestine," Said wrote.

Said quoted a Jewish general who had said that Israel still held the real power in the West Bank and Gaza Strip regions. So, what will Israel concede to Palestine? The general said, "The right to give services to the inhabitants." The statement seemed to suggest, "OK, now the Palestinians are the leaders but we are the true rulers".

Since the signing of Oslo I treaty on Sept. 13, 1993 up to Oslo II (on Sept. 28 1995), which allowed broader autonomy for Palestine to include most of the territory in the West Bank, Palestine has not been able to do much.

Said wrote that Arafat failed to clear the roads in Gaza but could establish five intelligence units assigned with the main job of spying on one another. Said was a member of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) -- a parliament of sorts in exile -- between 1977 and 1991, and a member of the Palestinian negotiating team in the 1991 Madrid Conference.

Palestine's weak position, as portrayed above, allowed Israel to freely dishonor all U.S. sponsored treaties. Israel freely continues to launch aggressive attacks and has seized again areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which, based on the DOP, should have been returned to the Palestinians.

Therefore, it is very likely that the mission State Secretary Powell leads this time will not be fruitful, especially if the U.S. continues to practice its double standards in the region and blocks the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. The latter is the key to the settlement of the endless conflicts in the Middle East.