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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Towards a new realism
This week Egypt underlined its position as a key facilitator of moves aimed at securing a just, comprehensive and permanent settlement between Israel and Palestinians. Besides regular meetings between President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the Egyptian leader conferred with Arab, European and Israeli envoys in an attempt to brainstorm formulas that would allow for the resumption of high-level Palestinian-Israeli talks.Egypt does not consider itself a mediator between the Palestinians and Israel but uses its regional weight and international contacts to highlight Palestinian and Arab rights, supported by UN resolutions and international legitimacy.
Egyptian efforts will continue throughout the coming weeks. On Sunday, 27 August, the foreign ministers of the member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference's (OIC) Jerusalem Committee will meet in Morocco to reaffirm support for the Palestinian position that East Jerusalem must be the capital of their future state, and that Islamic holy sites within the city fall under Palestinian sovereignty. A few days later, on 3 September, Arab League foreign ministers will meet in Cairo to reiterate the same stand.
The clear messages Arab and Islamic countries are sending should not fall on deaf ears. And when world leaders meet in New York on 6 September to take part in the first UN General Assembly meeting of the 21st century -- the so-called Millennium Summit -- expectations are that intense consultations on the fringes between US President Bill Clinton, Mubarak, Arafat, Jordan's King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak may represent a final opportunity to formulate a viable agreement between Israel and Palestine.
In October, the Israeli Kenesset will reconvene, and Barak is likely to face a tough time confronting right-wing opponents determined to oust him from office. US presidential elections follow in November.
Feeling the pressure of these deadlines, Egypt is sparing no effort to facilitate a peace deal. What is needed, however, is that Barak show the same determination to reach an agreement rather than simply reiterate proposals that can only lead to more tension.
