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Last update - 05:10 22/08/2008
Not even mock summit could solve Mideast conflict
By Cnaan Liphshiz, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: peace process, StandWithUs 

It took only a few hours to secure Gilad Shalit's freedom at the Middle East Students Conference, which ended at Tel Aviv University on Thursday. But larger issues proved more contentious, as the 48 student participants showed they had no chance of resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, even in a simulation.

On Monday, the first day of mock-discussions based on the Arab Peace Initiative, the participants heard that the abducted soldier had returned home after more than two years in captivity. But then things began to go south.

The troubles began with fake news of a major suicide attack in Tel Aviv, prompting the Israeli delegation to briefly halt talks with the four remaining teams, representing the Palestinians, Syria, Egypt and the international community.
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The event's 10 organizers, from the Israel fellowship of StandWithUs, an American-based Israel advocacy group, arranged other potholes, too, in the form of Israeli violations of understandings with the Palestinians.

Then, after Israel agreed to give up parts of Jerusalem and the Arab and international community agreed to nationalize all Palestinian refugees, the Palestinian delegation spurned any compromise on the right-of-return issue.

At one point, the Arab League threatened to cut off all aid to the Palestinians unless they accepted the deal, but the representatives were intransigent, thinking this might be a bluff.

Ultimately, the parties concluded, "The time for a full agreement has not come yet," opting for a 5-year memorandum bypassing the issue of Jerusalem, permanent borders and the Palestinian refugees. Israel nonetheless agreed to recognize a Fatah-Hamas government in Gaza and the West Bank, and to gradually remove all roadblocks in exchange for Hamas' disarmament and a total cease-fire.

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