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Peace Process

Blair: Peace requires PA to fight terror


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
December 22, 2004

Meaningful peace negotiations between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel can only resume once the Palestinian Authority fulfills its decade-old obligation to eliminate the anti-Jewish Islamic terrorism emanating from territories under its control.

That was the message conveyed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his British counterpart, Tony Blair, as the two met reporters Wednesday following their meeting in Jerusalem.

Blair came to the region to promote his idea of holding a fresh Middle East peace summit in London early next year, an event Israel has already signaled it would not attend.

Blair said he did not expect Jerusalem to send a delegation, as the focus would be on much needed “Palestinian” political, economic and security reforms, with the goal of ultimately jumpstarting the stalled Road Map peace process.

The British leader promised that if the PA were to match Sharon’s planned Gaza withdrawal with true efforts to combat terror, Israel would surrender much more territory in the near future.

Compliance is a requirement

Israel has long insisted the PA’s failure to honor its commitment to disarm and dismantle the “Palestinian” terror groups engaged in the murder of Jewish men, women and children is the primary issue preventing a final peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Blair appeared to endorse that view when he and Sharon held their joint press conference Wednesday.

"There is not going to be any successful negotiation or peace without an end to terrorism," Blair told reporters.

Only the “absences of terrorism” could create a “situation in which a proper negotiated settlement can take place,” he insisted.

Sharon reiterated Israel’s position that with a “full cessation of terror, hostilities and incitement, the door will be open” to negotiate a settlement that will “change, I believe, the life of the Israelis, the Palestinians and change the situation in the region.”

Unfortunately, said Sharon, “We don't see even the slightest step taken by the Palestinians.”

“I understand there are elections now ... but they are not doing even the slightest effort,” the Israeli said.

Whether Blair sticks to the conclusions he reached Wednesday or returns to a policy of disassociating the PA from “Palestinian” terror remains to be seen.

Gaza only the beginning

In response to a reporter’s question, Blair said that if the terrorism against Israelis ceases, “the disengagement from Gaza will not be the last step.”

Many Israelis fear retreating from Gaza and forcibly transferring the area’s Jews from their homes will set a precedent that the West will repeatedly point to until all of Judea and Samaria too are cleansed of their Jewish populations.

Peace summit

In order to consolidate potential diplomatic gains in the wake of Yasser Arafat’s death and in the run-up to the Gaza retreat, Blair has proposed holding a fresh Middle East peace summit in London early next year.

He and Sharon agreed during their meeting that Israel need not take part in the event, as its focus would be on “Palestinian” reforms.

Blair expressed his desire to help the PA implement important political, economic and security reforms so that it could “become a real partner for peace with Israel.”

The goal, he said, was to move the parties into a position to resume the Road Map peace process.

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