Middle Eastern peace activists said they hope a timetable will be created to resolve the long-standing conflict between Palestine and Israel ? and they have a plan to accomplish this goal.
“The only guarantee for success is to come back from Annapolis with something in hand,” said Nidal Foqaha, executive director of the Israeli and Palestinian Geneva Initiative, which resumed discussions to end the conflict after the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks failed in 2001.
“The negotiation process must not be an endless process. The current [Bush] administration will leave within some 14 months, and we think that is an acceptable time for starting a real negotiation and reaching an agreement.”
They said they want the international dignitaries at the Mideast peace conference today in Annapolis to approve the Model Permanent Status Agreement, which offers solutions to the main issues of state borders, capital cities in Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. This agreement was reached in 2003.
“We don?t have to start negotiating from the very beginning. We have a paper [the Model Permanent Status Agreement] that most Israelis and Palestinians can agree on. We may just need some corrections,” said Mossi Raz, an Israeli board member of the Geneva Initiative.
The latest public opinion polls indicate that 70 percent of Palestinians are ready to reach an agreement with Israel and support the Annapolis meeting, Foqaha said. “Failure is not an option for the Annapolis conference. It is the only option to succeed and bring stability to the whole of the Middle East,” he said.
“After years of violence, both sides realize … the Palestinians are not going to disappear and the Israelis are not going to disappear,” Raz said.
