Israeli, Palestinian Officials Discuss Rice’s Middle East Tour

Al-Jazeera television at 2002 gmt on 13 January carries live within its daily news feature “Today’s Harvest” three separate interviews with Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, from Jerusalem; Palestinian president’s adviser Nimr Hammad, from Ramallah; and political science professor Muhammad al-Misfir in the Doha studio. The main topic of discussion is US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s current tour of the Middle East region. The interviews are conducted by Khadijah Bin-Qinnah and Hasan Jammul in the studio.

Bin-Qinnah begins by asking Mark Regev if Rice will concentrate during her current tour on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or on Iraq and Iran. He says: “I think all issues will be discussed – Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. But, of course, the most important issue will be the Palestinian issue and our desire to see if it is possible to move forward in the process of a historic reconciliation. This is what all of Israel wants. We want peace with our Palestinian neighbours.”

Asked if Rice is carrying anything new to the region, Regev says: “The meeting is still going on, but I can talk about some proposals. We want to see if it is possible to revive talks on the basis of having two states – Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace. I think it is important for the Palestinians to understand that the Israeli government is not hostile to their justified national aspirations. On the contrary, we want to see if it is possible to build a new Middle East with two states living side by side in peace and security – Palestine and Israel.”

Told that Rice said there would be no specific plans or initiatives during her current visit, and asked about the use of her visit, Regev says: “We do not have to reinvent the wheel. There is a plan, which is the road map. It is a plan that is supported by the United States, Europe, Russia, China and all the UN Security Council member states. It is also unanimously supported by the international community.” He adds: “If we move actively forward with the road map, the Palestinian state can be established sooner than later.”

The presenter then tells him that the problem with the road map is that Israel “does not want to abide by it” and has more than 12 reservations about it. Responding, he says: “On the contrary, the government of Israel has accepted the road map and we, of course, have our opinion. The real problem is that the elected Palestinian government and Hamas are the ones rejecting the road map. They do not reject it because of one or two technical points, but because they are against the idea of reconciliation and against the idea of peace.”

Next to be interviewed is Nimr Hammad. Asked by Hasan Jammul what the Palestinians expect from Rice during her current tour, he says: “We hope that the signed agreements and initiatives will be activated.” He then blames Israel for “refusing to implement the agreements”, which he says “could lead to a real solution to the conflict” if implemented. He adds: “We hope that Mrs Condoleezza Rice has this time come with a decision to implement the road map so that the end of the road will be clear.”

The presenter then asks him: “The main aim of Rice’s visit as she said is reshuffling cards to serve the US interests in the region. Are you required to serve these interests?” Responding, he says: “First, we are not a party to what is taking place in Iraq. If the US Administration is trying to draw up a new strategy for Iraq after the Baker-Hamilton report, this will be another issue that has nothing to do with the Palestinian issue.”

He adds that the Baker-Hamilton report stressed that regional instability will continue unless the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved, noting that the Europeans, too, stressed the importance of solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He then says: “The US Administration cannot only listen and watch things without taking action. The whole international community demands the United States to act on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. I am certain that Mrs Condoleezza Rice will find that all the Arab foreign ministers with whom she meets – be they the six plus two or bilateral meetings – will stress to her the need to solve this conflict. The current situation cannot continue in Palestine. Will the US Administration consider Iraq a priority issue and Palestine a secondary one? If it does so, the US policy will then continue to make the same mistake. Real effort should be made to solve this conflict.”

The third and last to be interviewed is Dr Muhammad al-Misfir. Told by Khadijah Bin-Qinnah that during her tour Rice will try to form a front from the moderate states to confront “the alliance of extremists” and asked if the Gulf states are meant by this, he says: “I believe that the Gulf states are primarily meant by Condoleezza Rice’s tour of the region under the current circumstances for two reasons. The first is that she announced her failure to manage the foreign policy and the war in Iraq. Therefore, and in the wake of the Democrats’ arrival at the two houses of Congress, the Republican US Administration has lost its wings. Accordingly, it will not find finance for its Iraq plan. Therefore, she came to the Gulf region to look for finance even if this is done through threats.”

He adds: “The second reason for which she came is to stress – as she said – that President Bush obtained a promise and pledge from the so-called Iraqi prime minister, Al-Maliki, to fulfil all his promises. He has actually started to fulfil his promises by targeting all the Sunnis in the Haifa or Al-Rashid Street. We saw how he sought the help of all sectarian militias and the US forces in Iraq.”

Asked if the Gulf states will be “forced to help” Al-Maliki or else “their existence will be threatened”, he says: “I see a clear and stark threat by President Bush to the countries he mentioned. These are Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. This flagrant threat says: If we fail, you will be the victims.”

Al-Misfir adds that “if these states do not support President Bush financially and politically to deal with what is taking place in Iraq, especially the effort made to destroy what we call national Iraqi resistance, they will face threats and perhaps ruination.”

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.