MIDDLE EAST:Arabs want Israel to sign up to a Palestinian state, writes Michael Jansenin Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia
The meeting yesterday between Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli premier Ehud Olmert did not satisfy Palestinian and Arab demands for a written Israeli commitment to facilitate the emergence of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Palestinian Authority and Arab rulers insist that Israel must make such a commitment ahead of the US-sponsored regional conference set for November.
While Olmert is prepared to initial a one-page text listing five vague guidelines, Abbas seeks a detailed document which will define solutions for Palestinian refugees, borders, Jerusalem, and Jewish settlements, include a timetable for implementation, and guarantees from the international community that agreements will be honoured.
Abbas, the godfather of the defunct 1993 Oslo Accord, cannot afford another debacle, particularly since he has put himself and his government at risk by joining the US and Israel in isolating and sanctioning Hamas.
Khaled Mishaal, chief of the Hamas politburo, warned that the coming conference could be "a tool to be used by America to impose the US agenda and to embarrass the Arabs into siding with US policy".
Arab rulers are unlikely to do so unless Israel agrees to meet basic Palestinian demands. Both King Abdullah of Jordan and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak have warned that the conference must be well prepared, gaps between the sides must be narrowed, and a deal reached which will fulfil Palestinian aspirations for an independent state. Mubarak said there could be negative regional repercussions if the conference has "no results". Palestinians and Arabs are highly sceptical about the gathering.
Abdel Karim al-Eryani, adviser to the Yemeni president and himself a former premier, said Fatah has been "railroaded into the idea that it can achieve a settlement and Abu Mazen [ Abbas] believes he can be the Moses of the Palestinians" by leading them out of occupation into a Palestinian state.
Speaking on the sidelines of a gathering in Kuala Lumpur, al-Eryani observed that the Arabs believe Fatah and Hamas must reconcile and present a solid front in negotiations with Israel.
Although Egypt and Saudi Arabia had failed to achieve this end, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh began mediation in August, encouraged by the acceptance of a fresh effort by Hamas and Fatah.
Al-Eryani drafted a one-page document which won the support of Meshaal, who was in Yemen for consultations, but Fatah, he said, took a "rejectionist" line.
Instead of trying to reduce tension with Hamas, Fatah has been challenging and provoking Hamas, which took control of the Gaza Strip in June after several days of street fighting with Fatah elements.
On Sunday, Fatah managed to effect a partial general strike in Gaza, observed by shopkeepers, stall vendors, civil servants, and children attending public schools. The strike was called after Fatah activists staged Friday communal prayers in the streets outside mosques where, Fatah claims, preachers are controlled by Hamas.
When Fatah supporters threw stones at Hamas security men, they reacted by beating and arresting protesters.
Fatah previously ordered policemen and government employees to refuse to work under the Hamas government, dismissed by Abbas in July and replaced by an interim cabinet under Salam Fayad, who enjoys the confidence of the US and Israel.
Employees attending work have been warned they will not receive their salaries from the Palestinian Authority, which has just received an infusion of cash from the EU under its budgetary support programme.