The David Citadel Hotel stands in Jerusalem's Old City. Inside, a large room is reserved for a trilateral meeting between secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
A breakthrough, promised by Rice to end the six-year Palestinian Israeli deadlock is overshadowed by Israeli bulldozers ploughing away at the al-Aqsa Mosque, next to the hotel, reports IPS. This was in February 2007 and the promising Mecca Agreements outlined by Riyadh came to a dusty end among the ruins of Islam's third holiest site.
Another round of talks was scheduled end of November, in Annapolis, Maryland of all places. Far away from bulldozers, far away from the expanding settlements on Palestinian territory, and most importantly, far way from Hamas and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, these talks ended up in the very same pile of rubble that once supported the al-Aqsa Mosque. Rhetoric does not cement the foundation for peace.
Bush's dismal track record at state building and failure to fully appreciate the terrible suffering by ordinary Palestinians further undermines his credibility to make amends. As such, it is difficult not to view any planned peace treaty as hyperbole. And now the siege continues and threatens a greater regional wide war.
The victims will no longer be anonymous.
