Stopping Settlements No Substitute for Peace Process

Washington is overlooking some of the crucial preconditions for peace in the region by focusing only on demanding a halt to the construction of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, said an op-ed article on July 20 in the pro-government daily, Al-Watan.



The author’s article, Marwan Qablan, said that the peace process should not be reduced to the issue of settlements despite its importance.



He criticised the new United States administration of President Barack Obama for neglecting other issues that are pivotal to the peace process, mainly the Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab land, a reference to the Golan Heights, a patch of Syrian land taken over in Israel since 1967.



The author criticised Obama for asking Arabs for concessions in return for halting the building of Jewish settlements such as, he said, allowing Israeli planes to land in Arab nation’s airports and granting Israeli citizens visas to visit Arab countries.



Instead of asking the Arabs to normalise their relations with Israel, Obama should set the conditions for Arabs to return to the negotiating table with the Jewish State in order to be taken seriously as a mediator, he said.