In the Middle East, a fresh look at the land-for-peace deal

Will King Abdullah's bid to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict gather momentum?

from the April 4, 2007 edition

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The onus is on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who along with Mr. Ban has been racketing around the region in what clearly is a new flurry of American activity to move the peace process forward. First reaction from Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was not positive. He is balking particularly at a provision in the Abdullah proposal that would have Palestinian refugees return to their original homes in what is now Israel. Many Israelis fear that such an influx would dilute the Jewish character of Israel.

On the other hand, there are also many Israelis, tired of warring with the Arabs, who would welcome a peace accord which would guarantee Israel peace and security. While Mr. Olmert's predecessor, Ariel Sharon, probably had the gravitas to carry Israeli opinion with him in difficult negotiations that might require Israeli concessions, Olmert is in a much weaker political position.

However, Olmert did say there were some "positive elements" in the Abdullah proposal. And at a Sunday press conference in Jerusalem with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he invited Arab leaders to join him in a regional peace meeting in Jerusalem.

Ban Ki Moon's efforts

Meanwhile, Ban, who emerged from relative obscurity as a South Korean diplomat to head the UN, has been a veritable dervish of diplomacy in the Middle East.

In Iraq, he promised Iraqi and American officials that the UN, which had withdrawn from Iraq in 2003 after being targeted by insurgents, would return in greater strength. Although nobody is talking about the insertion of lightly armed peacekeepers, once some semblance of stability returns there could be an enormous role for the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq.

At the Arab League summit, Ban promoted the Abdullah peace proposal and urged the Israelis to "take a fresh look at it."

On the sidelines, he brokered a deal for a UN-African Union force in Darfur and sought reduction of tension in Somalia.

In Lebanon, he urged a crackdown on arms being smuggled in from Syria for Hizbullah.

In Israel, he met with the families of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hizbullah.

On Iran, he rued the Tehran regime forging ahead with its nuclear program "heedless of regional and international concerns."

Peace may not be at hand, but diplomacy is vigorous.

John Hughes, a former editor of the Monitor, is currently a professor of communications at Brigham Young University.

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