Yesterday's Geneva launching ceremony - that at which Yossi Beilin told the world, "Peace is just around the corner!" - was dotted with anti-Israel speeches.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, the highest-ranking PA figure involved in formulating the Geneva initiative, threatened that the counter-terrorism partition wall will "cause the Palestinians to lose faith in the solution of two states for two peoples," and said that Israel is on its way to becoming an apartheid state. At least one other speaker referred to the "fascism" of Prime Minister Sharon. Arab speakers praised their fighters and martyrs, while Israeli speakers did not condemn the Palestinian terrorism that has claimed some 1,150 lives in the past ten years.
Former MK Yossi Beilin, the main force behind the Geneva document, said that such talk was a "mistake" and "would harm the peace." He did not forget that peace was still in the air, however, saying, "People will tell you that it's impossible to end the violence, and that the settlement enterprise [in Judea, Samaria and Gaza] is irreversible. Don't believe them. We say to you: Everything can be solved. Don't give up. The peace is just around the corner."
"The document is a virtual one," Beilin said, "but all of us are real, and our heartbeats are also real, and this is the reason that we are committed to fight for peace."
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter took the opportunity of the "peace" conference to blame Israel for the failure of the Road Map. He said that the "wall" Israel built - for the purpose of protecting itself from terrorist attacks - is to blame for the Road Map's failure. "Bush's support for Israel's policy, and his ignoring of the Palestinian nation's suffering, encourage anti-American feelings and even terrorism," Carter added. He even said that terrorism must stop in exchange for acceptance of the Geneva initiative - implying, according to people in the audience, that until then, terrorism could continue.
Israel was forced to swallow another blow as well - not surprisingly at the hands of Yasser Arafat. It had been agreed beforehand that a message from Arafat would not be read aloud at the ceremony - but at the last moment the PA delegation demanded and threatened, and the Swiss hosts gave in. The message from Arafat, who is considered to be the father of modern-day terrorism, stated, "While Israel continues to build a Berlin Wall, we hold out an olive branch."