New hope for Mideast peace

Pledges by leaders of nations, when fulfilled, can become miracles for their people, particularly people who have lived for decades in fear and uncertainty because of war and enmity between two countries like Israel and Palestine.

On Wednesday, both the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers, Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon, promised at a summit meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush acting as chief mediator in the Jordanian city of Aqaba that they would immediately and firmly implement the international peace plan, called the "road map to peace" in the Middle East, so that the two nations and people can coexist peacefully.

While Palestine's Abbas pledged that the two states -- Israel and Palestine -- would live side by side in peace and security and reiterated the Palestinian Authority's "denunciation of terrorism and violence against Israelis wherever they might be", Sharon promised that Israel would start removing some Jewish settlement outposts from the West Bank, saying that the Israelis understand "the importance of territorial contiguity" of the Palestinian people in the West Bank.

The result of the summit, which Bush claims will bring "great hope and change" to the Middle East, will be seen in the coming days and weeks. The noble objectives have yet to be realized due to the complexity of the long and often stalled peace process in the region that has been paid in blood and tears as well as with the lives of thousands of innocent people on both sides of the belligerent states.

Despite the good will and determination of Abbas and Sharon, it remains to be seen whether they can bring about miracles for their people, given the fact that Palestinian militant groups and radical Jewish settlers strongly oppose their commitment to the peace plan.

There is, however, a glimmer of light at the end of the Israeli-Palestinian tunnel considering that this time the peace road map was drafted by a quartet comprising the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, thereby making it more objective and balanced in terms of both Palestine and Israel's interests, not to mention that the summit in Aqaba was also supported by a number of Arab nations.

Other signs showing that the plan could, at least, reduce tensions, if not totally halt violence, in the region are that the hawkish Sharon has backtracked and even revised his own concept of security for Israel through settlement expansion and has agreed to the creation of an independent and sovereign Palestinian nation by 2005, while moderate and reformist Abbas, reciprocating the Israeli gesture, has said that the Palestinian Authority is determined to end armed Intifada or uprising against the Jewish state and people.

Aside from all this, Bush, hoping to see the peace plan well implemented, has promised to assign a seasoned U.S. diplomat to monitor the progress as well as to train and provide support for a "new, restructured Palestinian security service".

Many believe that this time, Washington, trying to win the hearts of Arab and Muslim nations following the war in Iraq, will act more prudently and objectively regarding Palestinian-Israeli issues.

In the final analysis, as the political and economic infrastructures of the Palestinian Authority (state) in many cases are far weaker compared to the Israeli government, it is also Washington's moral obligation to counter the imbalance of power between a strong Israel and a weak Palestine.

We have seen how Bush has succeeded in toppling two governments, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's authoritarian government in Iraq following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. We certainly wish to see that he also succeeds in helping establish an independent, democratic and well-developed Palestinian nation.

Miracles do happen sometimes, and lasting peace in the Middle East may be one of them.