By Ted Belman, Israpundit
Saudi Arabia gave birth to its baby The Saudi Plan just before the invasion of Iraq in the expectation that it would come of age in the Roadmap. Thomas Friedman was the midwife. The Roadmap, making reference to the baby, was announced just days after the invasion. I forcefully recommended that Israel Reject the Roadmap and later traced the genesis of the Roadmap in Perfecting the Unifying Theory. To my mind there was undeniable linkage.
On March '02, JCPA issued a Brief Saudi Arabia's Op-Ed Diplomacy:A Public Relations Ploy or a Serious Initiative? and asked Has Saudi Arabia's Position Really Changed? It thought not.
But it was an unwanted baby even from the beginning. It suffered from child neglect but no one called the parent, Saudi Arabia, to account.
Now, apparently, the Saudis have abandoned its baby. Not to worry, Bush and Olmert have adopted it.
This story is so huge that the mainstream media has ignored it. It doesn't accord with their agenda and spin.On February 8/07, Saudi Arabia brokered the Mecca Accords stressing unity between Fatah and Hamas. This reflected a split with Saudi arabia as to which side to support and also its concerns about Iran.
My take was that S.Arabia stabs the US in the back
Ever since Hamas was elected a year ago, the US has pursued a policy whereby it sought to isolate Hamas and starve it for money while at the same time building up Abbas as the great white hope. It insisted that Hamas recognize Israel, forswear violence and agree to be bound by all previous agreements. It also provided money to Abbas and trained his security forces to take on Hamas.
Saudi Arabia engineered the Mecca Accords whereby they brought Hamas in from the cold, agreed to finance them to the tune of one billion a year and forced Abbas to turn his back on the US and join in with Hamas. Hamas was not required to change its policy one iota.
In one fell swoop, it gutted American foreign policy in the conflict and left them powerless.
On March 4/07, NYT reported on an historic meeting, Saudi-Iran Meeting Yields Little Substance. Was this true? Perhaps they attempted to keep the Muslim world unified in the struggle against Israel.
The US was not pleased and continued their policy of isolating Hamas. This culminated in the Hamas coup in Gaza on June and I speculated Did US order Fatah to take a dive? . Then confirmed my speculation with Yes, the US orchestrated Fatah's dive in Gaza.
I argued only by jettisoning Hamas and Gaza could the 'peace process' go forward. Obviously a huge rift was developing between the US desire to isolate Hamas and the Saudi desire to keep it in the process. Many European countries are joining the Saudis in this effort.
In effect, the pro-Hamas people are aligning with Hama's policy of rejecting the Roadmap and recognition of Israel. It would suggest that there never was an intention on the part of the Arab League which endorsed the Saudi Plan with the addition of the 'right of return' to make peace with Israel.
Undaunted, Bush delivered an insipid version of his vision speech last week. I reported in Bush distinguishes between 'must' and 'should'...In the speech he announced an international conference which Saudia Arabia and others 'should' attend. Within a day Saudi Arabia declined. Why?
Debka reports because of the rejection of Hamas.
In essence then Hamas is supported because it rejects recognition of Israel and all its supporters do too.
What do I think about the 'peace process'? Its all about ending the 'occupation' and not about achieving a peace agreement.
Bush and Olmert have already accepted the Saudi Plan providing it ends in recognition. This the Arabs are not prepared to do. Neither side will yield on this.
Ted Belman is the editor of IsraPundit...
Pertinent Links:
1) Arabs will never recognize Israel - Accept It
2) IsraPundit
No comments:
Post a Comment