After an unexpected full-court press by Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak over the past month, events seem to be accelerating towards better relations in the dispute between Israel, the Palestinians, and the larger Arab world. Israel announced plans to release hundreds of jailed Palestinians in order to both thank Egypt and to bring more enthusiasm to the Palestinian Authority elections to be held next month. On the same day, the Palestinians have finally attempted to reconcile with the Kuwaitis whose oppression they once cheered:

The prisoner release was part of a pact with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. That accord resulted in the release last week of six Egyptian students in exchange for the return of Azzam Azzam, an Israeli jailed by Egypt on espionage charges.

The new release, which could involve 100-200 of the 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, would only include those not involved in the killing of Israelis and who had served most of their sentences, government spokesman Raanan Gissin said.

While the release was mainly a gesture of goodwill to Mubarak, "it shows also our intention to change the general atmosphere and to move forward with the (peace) process," Gissin said, adding that more prisoners could be freed in the future.

"Changing the general atmosphere" refers to the concerns on the part of the PA, Israel, and other nations involved in the peace process that a signficant boycott of the elections will drain legitimacy from the eventual winners. With the death of Yasser Arafat, the region now has a historic opportunity to resolve the status of the territories and the people in them. Even Hamas has signaled, intermittently, a willingness to set aside its war on Israel if the Palestinians negotiate a truce. While this has been heard before, if the elections and truce hold for several years -- the Hamas leader suggested ten years -- and the Palestinians can establish their own democratic state in the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinians would be extremely unlikely to follow Hamas into another war with Israel at the end of the process. Releasing these prisoners can help invigorate the electoral process and give Palestinians hope and confidence in the outcome.

In a related move, the Palestinians themselves did some fence-mending of their own. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and stole their oil fields, the Palestinians ululated with delight. The Kuwaitis, once restored, have never forgotten the Palestinian betrayal and have used their power and money to oppose Palestinian political efforts. Again, Arafat's death gave Palestinians an opportunity to change directions and build more support for a new PA government:

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas apologized to Kuwaitis on Sunday for the Palestinians' support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, making a gesture many here have long demanded as he launched a tour to repair relations with Arab nations.

Asked by reporters about Palestinian support for Saddam's invasion, Abbas responded: "Yes, we apologize for what we have done."

The Kuwaiti government, in a reconciliation gesture to the new Palestinian leadership, had said Abbas was welcome and apologies were not important. Abbas is widely expected to be elected in January to succeed Yasser Arafat, who died in November and had stormy relations with many Arab leaders at one time or another.

Last year, Abbas stopped short of apologizing for Palestinian support of the invasion, calling it "incorrect". This enraged some members of Kuwait's parliament, who called for Abbas to stay out of Kuwait until the Palestinians could bring themselves to apologize. The press conference at the airport in Kuwait City was probably intended to address that demand. The implication is clear that an apology was not possible while Arafat was still alive, nor was a significant change in policy. Now that the old terrorist has gone on to his, er, reward, Palestinians are losing no time in reversing the disastrous course Arafat charted for Palestinians over the past ten years.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference More Signs Of Progress In Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:

» http://coolblue.typepad.com/the_cool_blue_blog/2004/12/when_the_911_co.html from The Cool Blue Blog
When the 9/11 commission issued it's report, it found there were significant ties between Iran and al Qaeda. As recently as last month, an unclassified semi-annual report to Congress on the acquisition of technology relating to weapons of mass destruction [Read More]

Tracked on December 13, 2004 10:31 AM

» Daily Dish from The Cool Blue Blog
When the 9/11 commission issued it's report, it found there were significant ties between Iran and al Qaeda. As recently as last month, an unclassified semi-annual report to Congress on the acquisition of technology relating to weapons of mass destruction [Read More]

Tracked on December 13, 2004 10:34 AM

» An invitation to Kill from The Key Monk
Israel continually does some of the stupidest things as "confidence measures" and "good will," willfully ignoring reality in the vain hope that ANYTHING it does to try to ease tensions with the "Palestinians" will actually work. [Read More]

Tracked on December 13, 2004 10:49 AM