End of Mission

Alvaro de Soto was the UN's Middle East representative for the past two years. He was with the UN for twenty-five years and had a fairly large role in the Cyprus situation. He is leaving the UN and the Middle East and has published a report. Some conclusions from that report:

• The boycott of Palestine after the victory of Hamas was a major error and the Palestinians suffered greatly. The boycott "effectively transformed the Quartet from a negotiation-promoting foursome guided by a common document into a body that was all but imposing sanctions on a freely elected government of a people under occupation as well as setting unattainable preconditions for dialogue".
• Where 100,000 Palestinians used to travel to Israel for work every day, now none do.
• Israel has "essentially rejected" any settlement moves. They have set unachievable preconditions for talks.
• Palestine has done a very poor job of stopping the violence.
• The U.S. has "pummeled into submission" the UN's role in the Middle East.