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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Reasons for trouble
I am very worried about developments in the Arab-Israeli settle-ent process: the re-ent attacks on Leb-non are entirely unjustified. All they will do is complicate matters further. Surely Israel does not expect that confidence-building measures can succeed when the dust from its brutal attacks has barely settled. Yet without such confidence, there can be no talk of settlement.
I am anxious for two reasons. First, these unspeakable policies are being implemented by a government that hoisted itself to power on the strength of its Labour legacy, and won the elections because Israeli voters wanted peace. Years of Likud government had brought negotiations to a dead end, and the electorate was worn out. I am even more worried now than during times of Likud rule, because Barak's behaviour suggests that this is the best we can hope for from Israel. Secondly, Israel has chosen to respond to Lebanon's legitimate resistance by striking back at civilians and destroying infrastructure. This is tantamount to a war crime -- even if we do not take international law into account, it is inhuman, to say the least. The savagery of the attacks is all the more surprising because they were launched by a government that claimed it sought peace. How can we even think of peace in such circumstances? How can there be hope when Israeli missiles are wounding and killing innocent children? How can the Israelis themselves trust their government, when 57 per cent of them are in favour of withdrawal from Lebanon?
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
