Peace plan down
It is pretty obvious that the Middle East peace plan is down, if not counted out, after two near-simultanous suicide bomb attacks today killed two Israelis and injured at least 10 others. The attacks, which was obviosly coordinated, has been claimed by Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group more or less affiliated with Arafat's Fatah movevemt.
Hamas says the attacks is a retaliation for an IDF military operation which killed two of their operatives, when explosives stored in a house exploded during a firefight.
 Just a few days ago, Hezbollah in Lebanon launched missiles against Israel that killed a teenager, threatening an escalation on the northern border which has been calm since Israel withdrew from Lebanon. I cannot help but thinking that this is a coordinated escalation, and then pretty soon fingers will point at Syria, which can charitably be described as a political mess at this time.
This time it is hardly possible to place the blame for the tragedy anywhere but at the Palestinian and Arab leaderships. Even Mahmoud Abbas, while condemning the attacks lay part of the blame on Israeli 'provocation.'
However, the 'road map' peace plan calls for the Palestinians to dismantle its terror operations and infrastructure. In fact, nothing of the kind has happened. While there has been a truce of sorts with an end to the media-attention-grabbing suicide attacks, the militants have instead resorted to kidnappings, stabbings and assasinations of individual Israelis, something that avoids international attention while keeping up the pressure and the body count.
True, the Israeli security fence is seen as a provocation, but given the circumstances with no end in sight of terror attacks, it is difficult to fault Israel for wanting to defend its borders. Truth be told, there has been no sign whatsoever of a Palestinian dedication to the peace plan, no dismantling of terror infrastructure, and not a real cessation of violence. The "good-will" measures of Israel, army withdrawals and releasing prisoners, have just resulted in complains that it is not enough, despite the release of prisoners not even being part of the agreement.
It appears that the Arab and Palestinian leaders are satisfied with the tragic order of things. What always happens in a civil war (which this is of sorts) is that warlords make war into business, hiding behind patriotism to amass personal riches and power. The terror chiefs, like their counterparts in certain war-torn African countries, have no interest giving up their profitable activities. Also, corrupt Arab regimes have found the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a very welcome digression from their failures at home, channeling anger and frustration at Israel and the US, so nobody asks how come the massive influx of oil revenue in the Gulf state has not produced any domestic economic activity worth mentioning, apart from importing luxury items and weapons from the west.
It is getting blaringly obvious that the last things the leaders of Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Yasser Arafat himself, would want now is an end to the war and a lasting peace agreement with Israel. If Mahmoud Abbas has another objective, as many believe he has, he is simply not powerful enough to make a difference.
5:26:57 PM 
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