"The time has come to move beyond entrenched positions and to take
concrete actions to achieve peace. America is committed, and I am
personally committed, to implementing our road map toward peace,"
said President Bush in the Rose Garden on March 14, 2003.
The Mideast road map toward peace was developed by the "quartet" of the
United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union. It
outlines a broad series of steps that are supposed to lead to a Middle
East in which the State of Israel and a new Palestinian State coexist
peacefully.
The
text of the road map
was released by the U.S. State Department on April 30, 2003. In sum,
the road map calls on both the Palestinians and Israelis to take actions
toward peace. The Palestinians need to fight terror in a decisive
manner. The Israelis need to ease the suffering of Palestinians living
under occupation, to stop settlement activity, and to evacuate illegal
outposts.
At the earliest, after steps are taken by both sides, a Palestinian
State, with provisional borders, could be established by the end of
2003. Final, permanent borders are to be established by the end of 2005
after an international conference, which would settle long-standing
disputes such as the status of Jerusalem.
While the Palestinians are ready to adopt the road map, the Israelis want to make as many as fifteen changes to the plan.
The road map was presented only after Abu Mazen was appointed
Palestinian prime minister. The United States refused to deal with
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat on the grounds that he was
not doing enough to combat terror. Israel wants to see Abu Mazen take
decisive action against terrorist groups before putting faith in this
peace plan.
Israel says they will only pull troops out of Palestinian towns after
the Palestinians have taken "concrete action" to crack down on terror.
"To think that they will make a declaration (against terrorism) and we
will make a move, those days are over. Every time we took unilateral
steps (in the past), we would have a surge in terrorist attacks," said
Ra'anan Gissin, a Sharon adviser and spokesman.
According to Martin S. Indyk, Director of the Saban Center for Middle
East Policy, the quartet's road map will lead to nowhere. Indyk believes
that a more ambitious approach, such as a
trusteeship for Palestine, will be necessary in order to get to serious Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations
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