GAZA CITY: On the face of it, virtually everyone in the Gaza Strip and West Bank seems to agree with President Bush that the Palestinians need to elect new leaders, reform every segment of the government, end corruption and revamp Palestinian security services.

But although the words are the same, when Bush and Palestinians talk about reform, elections and leadership changes, the meaning is entirely different. And even if the goals sound similar, Palestinians say changes need to come from the heart of their leaders and cannot be mandated from outside, or they will never take seed.

“It’s ironic to see the demands of your enemy become your demands, but we do not have the same perspective and understanding,” said Ismail Abu Shanab, a top political leader of Hamas. “The Palestinian concept of reform is totally different from the concept suggested by Bush or imposed by Sharon.”

The huge disconnect has raised doubts here that the Middle East peace initiative Bush outlined in a major speech three weeks ago will ever get off the ground. In his proposal, Bush offered support for a provisional Palestinian state after Palestinians hold elections for new leaders and implement a host of reforms.

That proposal and other ideas will be discussed on Tuesday (today) in New York by the so-called “quartet” that is pushing for a diplomatic solution to the 21-month-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union.

Many Palestinians said that what they want is true democracy and an end to one-man rule; an even-handed broker who also will pressure Israel to make the painful concessions necessary for a permanent peace, such as halting the spread of new Israeli settlements and ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and an end to corruption that has left Palestinian Authority bureaucracies, including security agencies, bloated while unemployment and poverty are rampant. Most particularly, Palestinians said, they do not want US and Israeli inspired changes, especially new leaders rammed down their throats.

Many Palestinians scoff at the notion of campaigning and voting when thousands of Israeli troops and tanks have reoccupied the biggest cities in the West Bank, keeping as many as 700,000 Palestinians under curfews that confine them to their homes for most of the day. —Dawn/The Washington Post News Service.