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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Storm in a teacup? Storm in a teacup?
By Nadia Abou El-Magd
The saying goes that in politics, there are no eternal friendships or enmities, only interests. The relationship between Egypt and the United States is no exception. And the two countries have not been seeing eye-to-eye on several issues lately.
Egypt and America do not agree on what Cairo should do to facilitate the achievement of a peace settlement in the Middle East. Egypt rejects what it considers American interference and pressure in the case of detained Egyptian-American sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim.
Moreover, Egypt does not approve of the 10-year-old UN economic sanctions against Iraq.
Egyptians tend to be sensitive on how they are perceived and treated by the US. For example, when EgyptAir flight 990 crashed last October in the Atlantic Ocean, Egyptians were infuriated when leaked reports suggested that the co-pilot had crashed it deliberately to commit suicide.
In the past years, several Egyptian movies and plays have expressed resentment against what they consider American double-standards.
A similar reaction was triggered this week by attacks on Egyptian policy and government by prominent US columnists, most notably Thomas Friedman's column entitled The Egypt Game, in The New York Times of 1 August.
In an imitation open letter from American President Bill Clinton to President Hosni Mubarak, Friedman suggested that there was a great deal of frustration with Egypt in senior policy-making circles in Washington and in the Congress for the alleged unwillingness of President Mubarak to be of greater help during the Camp David peace talks. He wondered why the US gave Egypt $30 billion since signing a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Friedman also attacked Egypt's political system, which he described as authoritarian, citing in particular the limits on the freedom of the press and the arrest of Saadeddin Ibrahim.
Egyptian chief editors of national and opposition newspapers responded angrily to Friedman's column. Mahfouz El-Ansari, editor-in-chief of the Middle East News Agency, wrote an article under the title: "In response to the claims and hallucinations of Rabbi Friedman."
Responding to Friedman, Al-Ahram's Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Nafie wrote, under the title "Jewish-American Anger and Distorted Logic," that he was not surprised by the American verbal attack on Egypt because these attacks were to be expected whenever Egyptian and American views disagreed.
"Is it politically logical that the Palestinians end the struggle and leave the situation in Jerusalem as it is, which means accepting the status quo forever?" wrote Nafie.
Nafie also suggested that Friedman learn a lesson from Egypt's history, which dates back more than 7,000 years, before saying that the US has little need of Egypt following the collapse of the Soviet Union. "If the US is at the top of the world now, history has a lot in store, even though history doesn't mean much in your country which goes back a little more than two centuries," Nafie wrote, addressing Friedman.
In the words of Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, "Are we supposed to pressure President Arafat to make concessions on Jerusalem? This is not our job. Concessions are needed from all parties within the framework of international legitimacy, not outside it."
Former American President Jimmy Carter, who mediated between Egypt and Israel until they signed the Camp David Accords of 1978, which led to the peace treaty, wrote in The New York Times on Sunday: "An important principle in negotiation is for the mediator to maintain at least the semblance of neutrality... Statements made since the recent Camp David discussions have aroused concern in the Arab community, and the possible movement of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would create an even greater impediment to further progress."
In an e-mail interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Friedman responded to the Egyptian press attacks: "I have seen commentaries suggesting that the Americans wanted, or I wanted, Egypt to pressure Arafat into giving up East Jerusalem. That is wrong. The pressure was to defer East Jerusalem, while all other issues got resolved."
Friedman said he believes Jerusalem should be shared: Muslim and Christian neighbourhoods go to the Palestinians, Jewish neighbourhoods go to Israel and the two sides share control over the area where the Dome of the Rock and the Wailing Wall are located.
Friedman said he is "pleased that [his] column provoked sharp reactions from Egyptian commentators, and they are entitled to say their piece."
Friedman was given the royal treatment when he visited Egypt in January as part of a tour to promote his book about globalisation, The Lexus and the Olive Tree.
In 1989, Friedman authored From Beirut to Jerusalem, which earned him disfavour with hard-line Zionists. Abdel-Moneim Said, director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, told the Weekly that the latest press war was a "mere policy difference, a bit of tension, but certainly there is no crisis." He affirmed that the strategic, economic and political relations between the two countries are too strong to be affected.
According to Said, the policy difference was minimised by the visit of Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker to Egypt last week. Describing Friedman's column as "too harsh," Said nevertheless felt that "our own press over-reacted and made Egypt look like a country that could be shaken by an article in The New York Times."
Reda Hilal, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs and author of America: The Dream and Politics, described the relationship between America and Egypt as "a Roman Catholic marriage that cannot end in divorce; a marriage of necessity between the world's sole superpower and a major power in the region." The problem, according to Hilal, is the absence of a mechanism for managing the relationship between the two countries.
Although the two countries had launched a strategic dialogue at ministerial level two years ago, it does not seem that it has been able to fulfill its goal of defusing tensions before they erupt into apparent crises.
"The problem this time is that the peace process is in its final phases, but Egypt can't afford to pay the price of the Jerusalem compromises pressured by the US," Hilal said.
On the American Embassy's Web site, Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer described the US-Egyptian relationship as a "pivotal, strategic relationship." Kurtzer also wrote that "US-Egyptian relations are on a solid footing and the strategic partnership is intact. Two confident countries and partners stand ready to further enhance this pivotal relationship."
Similar sentiments were expressed by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on Tuesday. Responding to reporters' questions on the effect of the media war on Egyptian-ties, the minister asserted that "Egyptian-American relations remain strong."
On Sunday, Kurtzer met with Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid to discuss ways of boosting bilateral relations. After the meeting, Kurtzer said he welcomed Egypt's role in supporting the achievement of a just and comprehensive settlement in the region.
