Olmert & Our Failure Diplomacy!

Fadi Abu Sada

Olmert: “the path of peace with the Palestinians is too long” This is what Olmert was able to come up with for the Media, after intensive meetings with President Abbas, and several visits of Condoleezza Rice, Tony Blair to the country, in an attempt to prepare for the autumn conference to be held in the United States. What is surprising is that Olmert said this to astonish the people, meanwhile the Palestinian People has been under occupation for sixty years, and never assumed that the road to peace is that short.

It took the Israelis sixty years, to come out with a conclusion to the international community that the road is long, before even the Palestinians! Since when we thought the opposite! Or even that the Israeli side really wants peace!

Olmert also said that Israel will make concessions to achieve peace! which makes a Palestinian kid before an adult to wonder what could be such concessions, especially after a bitter experience in this context, where the negotiation with Israel didn’t reach to anywhere before and neither receive any concessions from their side. 

Olmert, however, speak in very diplomatic way and has good choices of words, unlike Bush, who err always. Olmert continued to say that “the road to peace is full of obstacles”, as if we see the road full of flowers! Or we missed an opportunity when the road was furnished with flowers and now we discover thorns! Strange is this man!

What makes the issue more complicated is that we, the Palestinians, some of us took Olmert’s words as a positive statement. Whereas, others said it’s too negative. But what is more important is that the choice of words that the Palestinians used to respond to Olmert’s statement. 

The Palestinians say : “The coming days are a decisive test to Israeli intentions,” “Good preparation for the autumn conference would be enough to its success”, “The success of the autumn conference depends on the American’s safeguards,” “We are trying to reach an agreement before the autumn conference,” “We call on the Palestinian negotiators to uphold the position of national consensus”. A page can be filled with statements that won’t lead to results yet leaves the Palestinians in untimely grave, without knowing the truth about what is happening.

There is no doubt that our diplomatic techniques is a failure and one of the most important reasons for not being able to reach with our voice to the world not even to the Arab countries nor the moderates in Israel. Our political parties are full of spokes persons, and they are floundering in official statements, that cause confusion to the people. We do not pay attention to this important matter yet we are distracted by the one(s) who will give a statement, and to whom the coming press conference will be, while we know that what we will hear will not change anything no matter what. 

In this way, the autumn conference will not intercede to us. The information that Hamas got about Fateh plans for causing riot in Gaza will not intercede to us, and Maliki’s statement about having documentation that Hamas plans for riots in the West Bank will not intercede to us. Therefore, if this situation continues this way, I personally advise to have a third government with experienced diplomatic people to save what can be saved before it is too late.