 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 July 1999 Issue No. 439 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 July 1999 Issue No. 439
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Focus Interview Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters No excuses
By Ahmed Abdel-Halim *
Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian Authority's minister for cooperation, last week suggested that the UN conference on Israeli violations of Palestinian rights be postponed. This is entirely unjustified, and can only be seen as a bid to give Israeli Prime Minister Barak an opportunity to reactivate the peace process. The conference was to be convened in implementation of a UN General Assembly decision, endorsed by a majority of 115 countries and opposed by the US and Israel alone. Amnesty International endorsed the conference, and objected to its postponement on the grounds that, for the past 30-odd years, Israel has persisted in violating the Fourth Geneva Convention by indiscriminately killing and torturing Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
There is no reason to give Barak another chance. His position on several critical issues does not bode well. There have been no concrete changes in Israeli foreign policy. US regional policy also remains the same. The implementation of the Wye Memorandum is staggering; Barak is imposing new conditions for Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon; on the Syrian track, he will not say whether or not he will resume negotiations at the point where they stopped with Rabin.
The US is backing Israel every step of the way, and has taken two initiatives: first, attacking Egypt's call for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction from the region; and second, relinquishing its role as active honest broker in a bid to maintain the present balance of power in the region.
Leaving Arab rights at the mercy of Israel and the US should not be an option under any circumstances.
* This week's Soapbox speaker is deputy director of the National Centre for Middle East Studies.
