Israelis, Palestinians Hold Little Hope for Direct Talks

26 August 2010

A masked Palestinian protester holds stones during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah, 20 Aug 2010

Mustafa Murar owns a paint shop in the West Bank town of El Bireh, near Jerusalem. It is on the way to a Jewish settlement, on a road where horrific fighting took place in the Palestinian uprising 10 years ago. The fighting devastated his business.

He says he lost business every day, and it has been only recently that this area opened and business started again. He says he is talking about losses for seven years.

In the past three years of relative calm, the Israeli-occupied West Bank has experienced an economic boom. Murar has been able to restock his shelves and get his business going again.

He says negotiations in 2000 that neither side was ready for sparked the last uprising. He thinks neither side is ready now.

He says negotiations and an agreement, if they are based on real efforts for peace, will be a good thing. But, he says, going by the Palestinians' experience with the Israelis, he believes these negotiations will be fruitless.

Right timing?

Many Israelis also believe the time is not right. After decades of conflict, some like this West Jerusalem resident speaking near the Jaffa Gate of the Old City say there is not enough common ground for meaningful dialogue.