As his tenure was coming to an end, Mr. Clinton tried his best to secure the agreement of Palestinian leadership on his plans to restart the peace negotiations in the Middle East. He even threatened Yasser Arafat but could not secure his approval to his proposals as they were patently anti-Palestinian.

Exercising its vast military and economic power, US imperialism had brokered the peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel and imposed it on the Palestinians. The agreement, named as Oslo Accord, envisaged a phased implementation leading to formation of a sovereign Palestinian state comprising West Bank and Gaza strip annexed by Israel in 1967 i.e. outside the areas of British Mandate. Second important aspect of the Accord was right of the refugees to return to their homeland from which they have been ousted. This right is very vital to millions of Palestinians who are living in other countries as refugees for periods ranging upto over half a century. It was envisaged that a sovereign Palestinian would come into being by September 2000. The deadline is past but the progress towards that appears all the more distant.

Ariel Sharone visit to Mount Temple or the Al-Aqsa Mosque sparked the widespread protests of the Palestinians. It ignited the already inflamed situation of the accumulated frustrations of Palestinians for the lack of progress towards even the truncated goals promised by the Oslo accord. The protests since then have taken a heavy toll. Hundreds of Palestinians have died and scores of Israeli soldiers have also been killed. The peace accord mandated by US Admn. is on the verge of collapse.

The reason for the lack of progress is due to the intransigence of the Israeli rulers backed by US imperialism. The Israeli rulers are going  back on the agreement. They want to retain their military control over Jewish settlements in West Bank, do not wish to hand over even Arab areas of Jerusalem, wish to retain control of a strip on the west bank of Jordan river (for claim over its waters) and most importantly wish to renege on the stipulation of the right of refugees to return to their homes. It is the last provision which Clinton wanted Palestinian leadership to agree to and did not even hesitate to brandish threats,

It is obvious that what Israel wants Palestinians to concede are not peripheral issues but the very core of the Oslo accord. US-Israel had thought that gradually over the years they would be able to wear down the Palestinians and their leadership to agree to their terms. They in fact planned to make Palestinians fight each other to accomplish their goals.

Even as the Israel govt. of Ehud Barak continued to hold peace parleys, Israel military kept on killing the Palestinians and building up hysteria back home. Mr. Barak paid the price of this duplicity by his resounding defeat at the hands of Ariel Sharone.

But there is no other go for Israel. Mr. Sharone’s victory is more for dictating peace terms. Israel has to realize that it can not suppress and hold in suppression the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians for long. Israel has to realize that it can afford to let the peace process break down as it has more to lose in the long run. So the coming times will see renewing of the peace process. But peace will remain illusory unless US and Israel are willing to concede the legitimate rights of the Palestinians.

The role of US Admn. in the intransigence of Israeli rulers is well documented and known. The most USA can do to promote peace in the region is leave the area alone and let the Palestinians and Israel negotiate their peace.