Stalling...?

Who is really itchn' for peace? This past weekend Palestinians Say Olmert and Abbas Are Set to Meet (NYT) in Jericho soon. What are they going to talk about? Well, like fall peace conference idea, it's a bit vague, and all parties are saying stating different purposes for the meeting:

An Abbas aide, Nabil Amr, said the leaders must be ready to hold “political” talks that included so-called final status issues for the creation of a Palestinian state, including borders...But an Israeli government official said that Israel was prepared to “mention larger issues in the realm of the future,” but would not negotiate on these issues at such meetings.

This meeting might be another gesture to bolster Abbas/Fatah against Hamas, and might indeed be nothing more than a gesture. The moderate peacenik foreign minister, Tzipi Livni suggests that both sides focus on the "widest common demoninator," presumably instead of Hard Issues. Prime Minister Olmert has floated a "declaration of principles" between the govs. Ooh, can I make some suggestions? How about an accord stating the respective governments' dislike of dead children? Or perhaps their shared admiration of hummus? And people of both sides must also be in agreement that Lindsay Lohan needs to pull her shit together. This is just a start, of course.

Delays benefit the Israeli side more than the Palestinian. The Hard Issues were left off the table in exchange for photo-ops throughout the 90s Oslo peace process, and in the meantime? More Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Stalling benefits the more powerful side, which can continue to shape the status quo to a position it's willing to negotiate from. And it is hardly radical to say that Israel is the massively more powerful party here.

Speaking of settlements, sounds like there was quite a show in Hebron this morning: Israel Removes Settlers in West Bank. No, not all of them, just a bunch of truly gung-hos who had illegaly (according to Israeli courts) set up in the center of Hebron. The "well-advertised confrontation" could be, and is intended to be a sign of the Israeli government cracking down on unruly settlers. But NYT sees some other intended messages behind the show:

In contrast to the way the Israeli army operates quiet arrests of Palestinians at night in the cities of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli government gave the settlers significant notice. A relatively fierce confrontation served both the settlers and the government, creating heroes among the settlers and allowing the government to show to the world that dismantling the nearly 80,000 settlers who live beyond the separation barrier will not be an easy task.