my comments on "road map"
It purports to be both "performance-based" and have "target dates". Can't have both. What do you do, for instance, if your target date is reached, but one or both sides haven't done what they were supposed to do by then? Do you wait till everyone is in compliance, or do you stick to the schedule?
<In Phase I, the Palestinians immediately undertake an unconditional cessation of violence>
So..... who is going to take on Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the parts of the PLO that don't answer to Abbas (or to Arafat)? Those groups have explicitly said they are going to coninue attacks on Israelis. The PA can't stop them, they have neither the will nor the ability. The road map calls on the PA security apparatus to take on these rejectionist Palestinian groups, but it is wishful thinking, to believe they can. If the Israelis are going to take "supportive steps" and do "steps to help normalize Palestinian life", that means less, not more, military activity in Palestinian areas.
Israel, in Phase 1, undertakes "lifting curfews and easing restrictions on movement of persons and goods". I can't see them doing this, until after Hamas has been militarily destroyed. If the Israelis get arm-twisted into doing it, it will only last a few days, till the next terrorist attack.
< Israel immediately dismantles settlement outposts erected since March 2001....Israel freezes all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements).>
This is supposed to happen in Phase 1, which lasts only from now till end-of-May. Not enough time, to even see if the terrorist attacks have stopped. Also, it doesn't say anything about the Walls currently being built.
<As comprehensive security performance moves forward, the Israeli Army withdraws progressively from areas occupied since Sept. 28, 2000>
This, and all further steps, only happens after a cessation of attacks on Israelis. Unfortunately, the mechanism proposed for doing this, is not workable. If the Israelis can't stop Hamas and Islamic Jihad, how can the PA be expected to? |
