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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 October 2000 Issue No. 502 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 October 2000 Issue No. 502
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Lessons in history
By Abdel-Qader Yassin *
Barely a week after the Aqsa Mosque uprising, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, conceded that it was Ariel Sharon's visit to the mosque that brought matters to a head.
Yet the reason behind it is the failure of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and Israel's refusal to implement what was agreed on in the Oslo Accords. The force of the revolt results from the absence of Arab-Islamic solidarity, for which it attempts to compensate. Certainly the Palestinian people's unanimous position throughout the self-rule areas and occupied lands, and the Palestinian security forces' intervention on the side of the people, testify to the historical significance of the uprising. Israel's use of tanks and missiles in putting it down, on the other hand, betrays an incredible short-sightedness, and perhaps Barak's attempt to improve his chances in the elections.
On the part of the Palestinians, the uprising serves to separate the wheat from the chaff -- those who have realised that building up power has become a necessity and those who see the negotiations as the route to peace -- and places the Palestinian Authority in a difficult spot. An inclusive frame of reference for the negotiations, an end to corruption and cooperation with the Israelis, whether in the form of security or information, are only some of the goals that, more than ever, must be addressed.
And the lessons? Religion remains the conscience of national movements in the Third World. Jerusalem is the cut-off point. The Israeli enemy understands only the language of force. The American administration is the wolf disguised as the negotiations' grandma. This uprising is telling, and the formation of an American-Israeli-Palestinian commission to investigate it is a farce.
* This week's Soapbox speaker is a Palestinian political analyst.
