By Bilal Al-Hassan

Palestinian acceptance of direct negotiations with Israel without preconditions is in effect a return to square one in the process of political settlement between the two parties. The point of departure is, undoubtedly, the Oslo agreement signed in 1993. Seventeen years of negotiations starting from the Oslo agreement have returned things to zero. The only factor that is new on this occasion is that the negotiations are open and not secret, and that the American side which monitored the Oslo negotiations from afar, is now closely overseeing the Washington negotiations, this time with a magnifying lens.

The similarity between the two "negotiations" does not stop at the return to square one. There are other comparable points that are important to identify.

The first of these similarities is the existence of a cabal of undeclared persons, conducting the negotiations behind the scenes. In the Oslo negotiations, Mahmoud Abbas led this group, and Ahmed Qurei (Abu Alaa), was the one traveling and carrying in secret reports on the process it unfolded. Along with Mahmoud Abbas, there were other people such as Yasser Abed Rabbo, who were consulted, although not needed. The same thing is repeated now, as Mahmoud Abbas oversees the negotiations himself, while Yasser Abed Rabbo sits next to him. The only difference in this setting is that the two men are not asking themselves: What have we done? What have we achieved in 17 years? Why did we return to the starting point? The answer is of course well known, but the capitulators and powerless do not have an answer!

By Dr Ahmed Yusuf Ahmed

The US administration has decided to commence direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians on 2nd September. The Palestinian Authority accepted the invitation on the basis that there will be American assurances regarding the negotiations. A question, however, arises about the development of the issue of direct negotiations since the Follow-up Committee of the Arab Peace Initiative at its last meeting gave the green light to the Palestinian Authority to enter into direct negotiations, and left the timing to it.

After that, we have seen a political row within the ranks of the Palestinian Authority, not to mention the refusal of "Hamas" and other factions to enter into direct negotiations. This controversy continued right until the eve of the American decision, which resolved the situation as indicated. Was all of this a theatrical play where roles were distributed perfectly? I think not, as the Palestinian Authority was looking for Arab cover in order to display some "stubbornness" in accepting direct negotiations as a result of their lengthy experiences with Israeli conduct, and particularly in the phase of indirect negotiations. But it did not find this cover, on the contrary it was subjected to extreme U.S. pressure mixed with "assurances" from the U.S. administration, according to the reports on the September negotiations.

A symposium planned by the Popular and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the People's Party (formerly the Communist party) has been prohibited by the Palestinian Security Forces. The audacious move was made because the meeting provided a forum for opposition to the direct negotiations due to resume in Washington next week. This is an unfortunate development by any standard, but most especially as the manner in which this symposium was stopped confirms that the Palestinian Authority is changing rapidly into a repressive, dictatorial regime in the same mould as other Arab governments. The only fundamental difference is that the Palestinian state has yet to be established; the PA, therefore, still exists under Israel's occupation and obeys its orders.

The Palestinian Security Forces, which are tasked with maintaining security and law and order, acted more like a group of thugs when they broke into the symposium HQ in large numbers. They proceeded to attack the participants, tear up posters and signs containing the title of the symposium and shouted provocative slogans in support of PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

By Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban

After demolishing all the houses of Al-Arakib, the Israeli occupation authorities razed the village cemetery, completely erasing the memory and history of this Palestinian village, as it has erased more than 500 other Palestinian villages since 1948. A few days later, the Israelis desecrated 150 graves in the historic cemetery of Ma'aman Allah in Jerusalem, one of the oldest and largest Muslim cemeteries in the Holy City. This cemetery was once 200 acres in size, containing the mortal remains of thousands of the Prophet's companions, early Muslims, Islamic scholars, leaders and martyrs. That was before the Israelis came along; now only 20 acres remain.

At the same time as the Israeli government's vandalism of Palestinian property, Jewish settlers have burnt hundreds of dunums (1 dunum equals 1000 square metres) of agricultural land in the West Bank as they continue to demolish houses and dispossess the indigenous people. This is given a legal fig-leaf by the "absentee landlord" laws which deny the right of return to Palestinian refugees driven off their land by the Israeli occupation. The same Israeli government which imposes this apartheid-style law on Palestinians uprooted since 1948 calls on Arab governments to return the property of their Jewish citizens who migrated to Israel under pressure from the Jewish state.