A huge achievement. If the armed intifada ends, who can be said to have gained from the 32 months of bloody struggle?
The objective answer: it is a draw.
The Palestinians have suffered terribly. Their infrastructure has been destroyed, their dignity trampled on. Some 2,000 men, women, and children have been killed, tens of thousands injured, 10,000 put in prison. Their homes have been demolished, their trees uprooted, their livelihood destroyed. But their resistance has not been broken. It is as strong on the last day as on the first.
The Israelis have suffered much less, but they too have suffered a lot. Some 800 Israelis killed, hundreds wounded. Fear stalks the streets, the malls, and the buses. Private watchmen, 100,000 of them, are everywhere. The intifada has cost us some $20 billion, the economy is in a deep crisis, there is no tourism and no foreign investment, the quality of life has gone down, the welfare state is collapsing, social tensions are increasing. But the IDF continues to deal blows to the Palestinian population and the settlement drive is in full swing.
The draw has created a mood of hopelessness on both sides. Both have come to the conclusion that there is no military solution.
But when there is a draw between two sides, one of which is a thousand times stronger than the other, it is a fantastic achievement for the weaker.
What has been achieved? What came out of Aqaba? What does the Roadmap present?
The easy answer is: nothing substantial, only words, words, words.
But words, too, are important.
The Oslo agreement was disabled at birth because it did not spell out the final destination: the State of Palestine side-by-side with the State of Israel. The Roadmap clearly defines this aim, confirmed by the whole world and with the agreement of the most rightist government Israel ever had. This is a big step forward, a point of no return.
The spokesman of the settlers has asserted that this is a "reward to the terrorists." And, indeed, this is an achievement of the intifada. Without it, the Palestinians would have got nothing.
The appearance of an inspection team (American, for now) is also very important. We have demanded this for years. The era of deceit is drawing to an end.
The removal of outposts is important, too. Sure, it concerns only a few, which are by themselves unimportant. But to quote again from one of the settlers: Even the removal of one single outpost breaks a national