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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 Feb. - 1 March 2000 Issue No. 470 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 Feb. - 1 March 2000 Issue No. 470
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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 Heritage Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Ashes of peace
President Mubarak's visit to Lebanon this week -- the first by an Egyptian president in 41 years -- was a clear message to Israel that the largest country in the Arab world, and the first to sign a peace agreement, will not tol-rate any attacks against another Arab country. The visit also let the Lebanese people know that they will never have to face Israeli aggression alone. Now, other Arab leaders must follow suit.
The Arabs expected that, following his election in July, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak would keep his promises of peace. Peace cannot be made by bombing civilian installations in Lebanon, or by making empty and arrogant threats.
Had Israel's Foreign Minister David Levy any understanding of this region and its people, he would have refrained from making irresponsible statements. His words only fuelled the mistrust many Arabs feel towards Israel. People are asking themselves: Is this really the country with which we are meant to make peace?
The Arab countries agreed at the 1996 Cairo summit that peace was a strategic option. Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians have signed agreements with Israel. Yet this does not mean that we will stand by and mumble ineffectually if it attacks one of our neighbours.
What added to Arab frustration and made President Mubarak's visit to Lebanon even more necessary is the US's stand. Perhaps the US has forgotten Security Council Resolution 425, which calls upon Israel to withdraw unconditionally from south Lebanon. Certain points must be clear: Israeli occupation of Lebanon is illegal. Resistance is a legitimate right. The cause of violence in south Lebanon is not Hizbullah, but Israel.
After Israel's massive attack on Lebanon in 1996, the United States, France and Israel agreed that civilians must not be targeted. They implicitly admitted the Lebanese right to resist occupation. Before Israel's most recent raids, Hizbullah had targeted only Israeli occupation soldiers. Israel, on the other hand, attacked civilian installations in Beirut and Baalbak.
We may be serious about the need for a peaceful settlement; but we do not agree to sign it on the embers of the Arab world.
