THE failure of President Clinton to broker nothing more than a cease-fire at the recent Mideast summit in Egypt
may have dealt a final blow to the peace process.
I am not surprised that things have come to this. Life has gotten worse for Palestinians since the 1993 Oslo accords were signed.
Their freedom to travel has been curtailed, and so has their access to Jerusalem. Israelis have increased the confiscation of Arab
land and the building of illegal settlements.
The Middle East policy of the Clinton administration is to blame for much of this backsliding. Clinton has pretended to be an honest
broker in the conflict while relentlessly defending Israel's actions.
Every time the Israelis have refused to comply with the signed agreements, Clinton has pressured Yasser Arafat to compromise on
issues in order for the process to move forward. For example, he persuaded Arafat to allow Israel to remain in 20 percent of Hebron
to protect a few hundred Israeli settlers in the city.
At Camp David in July, despite extreme pressure from Clinton, Arafat refused to commit political suicide by capitulating on the most
fundamental issues: Jerusalem, refugees and borders.
The Palestinians asked only for what they were entitled to under U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242, 338 and 446: the withdrawal
of Israel from occupied territories, the return of refugees to their homes and the dismantling of illegal settlements.
Yes, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak made more concessions than his predecessors ever had, but even these were not sufficient.
Rather than pressuring Israel to comply with U.N. resolutions, Clinton blamed Arafat for the failure at Camp David.
Peace is the only option for Israelis and Palestinians, but such peace must be based on justice, religious tolerance and
accountability, not coercion, threats and savage aggression.
Clinton does not seem to understand that the Palestinians have already given up 78 percent of their land in order to make peace with
Israel. They will not give up any more of it, even if Arafat himself signed such a deal. Why should they? They have been suffering a
brutal occupation for decades, and they want only what is rightfully theirs, according to the U.N. Security Council.
Today, we have more than 100 coffins, mostly those of Palestinians. Make that one more coffin: Oslo is dead.
Tayeh is the Chicago correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
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