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A lack of obvious accomplishments in talks US President George Bush began with lofty ideals six months ago could change as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits the region yet again. She has visited the region nearly every month since the formal launch of peace talks last year, but nothing has yielded breakthroughs so far, at least not in public view. However, Rice might get something done with regards to Israeli roadblocks. A review of the ones that were supposedly removed will reveal that Israel has been removing just tiny dirt barriers which it calls roadblocks and is only partially dismantling the real big ones after pledging to pull them down. The UN is a witness to this charade. In March, the Israeli government announced the removal of 61 checkpoints or roadblocks in the West Bank, but the United Nations said at the time that only 44 had actually been removed and these were of little or no significance. If anything, the UN report said that as of March, the overall number of obstacles had increased.

The roadblocks are one of the most humiliating and restrictive aspects of the occupation and cannot be underestimated in how they have affected the Palestinian economy. The IMF warned last month that the limping Palestinian economy would contract unless Israel eases restrictions on movement in the West Bank. Help on removing them comes not just from the US; a group of former Israeli generals and senior Palestinian officials has put forward a plan for dismantling 10 checkpoints, including some of the biggest in the West Bank. Israel says the barriers are a necessary response to security threats. If so, why isn’t Israel allowing Palestinian forces to deal with such security? Israeli troops regularly raid West Bank towns searching for activists even though they undermine the efforts of the Palestinian forces doing the exact same thing, as well as the efforts of Mahmoud Abbas in trying to prove he can rein in activists — Israel’s main condition for implementing a peace agreement. Bush and others have sent strong messages that when the Palestinians deploy, and when you’re trying to give responsibility to the Palestinians, it’s important not to take steps that undermine their authority.

Rice’s visit comes as Israel celebrates the 60th anniversary of its declaration of independence in the presence of an enviable number of dignitaries and heads of state. At the same time, the Palestinians are commiserating their Nakba, the day they were driven from their homeland. While Israel will be showered with words of admiration and congratulations, principally by those countries that helped create it, the Palestinians will be huddled together in exile or under military occupation. The only statements making reference to them will be the empty rhetoric of officials calling for peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state amid violence in Gaza and Israel’s continued settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Perhaps, though, this latest Rice visit will provide more than empty slogans.

* This article originally appeared on May 5, 2008 as an editorial for Arab News.