At the Aqaba Summit of June 2003, Abu Mazen promised, "We will end the armed intifada." Four days later, five soldiers were murdered - four in a joint Fatah-Hamas-Jihad attack at the Erez Checkpoint, and one in Hevron. Three days after that, the #14 bus in Jerusalem was blown up, killing 17 people.
Tuesday morning, before the summit:
Both Prime Minister Sharon and PA Chairman Abu Mazen have already written their speeches, after having reached several understandings in earlier meetings between their staffers. The main issue of consensus is that a ceasefire will be announced - Israel will stop its counter-terrorism activities, while Abu Mazen says he has reached an agreement with all the terror factions for a ceasefire. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, however, say that their agreement is not guaranteed, and that it depends on what Israel gives at the summit - the release of a sufficient number of terrorist prisoners, for instance.
Even if the ceasefire survives the summit and the days following, the threat of resumed terrorism will accompany the diplomatic negotiations of the coming weeks and months. Stalled negotiations have invariably been followed by resumed Palestinian terrorism. The issues of the "right of return" of millions of Arab refugees is still on the table, as are final borders, Jerusalem, settlement blocs and the partition.
Other understandings have apparently been reached on the eve of today's summit. These include the IDF's withdrawal from several PA-controlled cities, as agreed upon in the last Cabinet meeting, and a decision to see the disengagement as part of the Road Map.
The disengagement plan, a brainchild of PM Sharon, would see Israel unilaterally withdraw from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, expel their residents, and abandon the land.
Tuesday morning, before the summit:
Both Prime Minister Sharon and PA Chairman Abu Mazen have already written their speeches, after having reached several understandings in earlier meetings between their staffers. The main issue of consensus is that a ceasefire will be announced - Israel will stop its counter-terrorism activities, while Abu Mazen says he has reached an agreement with all the terror factions for a ceasefire. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, however, say that their agreement is not guaranteed, and that it depends on what Israel gives at the summit - the release of a sufficient number of terrorist prisoners, for instance.
Even if the ceasefire survives the summit and the days following, the threat of resumed terrorism will accompany the diplomatic negotiations of the coming weeks and months. Stalled negotiations have invariably been followed by resumed Palestinian terrorism. The issues of the "right of return" of millions of Arab refugees is still on the table, as are final borders, Jerusalem, settlement blocs and the partition.
Other understandings have apparently been reached on the eve of today's summit. These include the IDF's withdrawal from several PA-controlled cities, as agreed upon in the last Cabinet meeting, and a decision to see the disengagement as part of the Road Map.
The disengagement plan, a brainchild of PM Sharon, would see Israel unilaterally withdraw from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, expel their residents, and abandon the land.