Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 30 Nov. - 6 Dec. 2000 Issue No.510

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Enlarging the circle

By Ibrahim Nafie

The current Palestinian-Israeli crisis has its origins in Israeli intransigence on final status issues to which the current Palestinian uprising was a response. The Al-Aqsa Intifada, and Camp David II before it, demonstrate that while the Palestinians have been prepared to show a considerable degree of flexibility in the interim phases, there are certain lines from which they refuse to budge if there is to be an equitable settlement.

While the US, in view of the current standoff in the presidential elections and its bankrupt credibility as an honest broker in the Middle East conflict, is incapable, at present, of contributing effectively to alleviating the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, a more active involvement of Europe and Russia might help restore an element of evenhandedness and momentum to the peace process. Although the EU adopted a disappointingly equivocal position during the recent Mediterranean Foreign Ministers' Conference in Marseilles, the Arabs could exert greater diplomatic efforts towards persuading European governments that their policy of appeasement towards Israel will only encourage its obstinacy and perhaps contribute to further violence and to a military escalation in the region as a whole.

The involvement of Russia, too, could bode well in resolving the current crisis. Russia, as heir to the former Soviet Union, has a history of close involvement in the Middle East peace process, as a participant in the Geneva Peace Conference following the 1973 War and as one of the sponsors of the peace process that began in Madrid. In spite of the US's repeated efforts to block Moscow's involvement, President Vladimir Putin has been keen to promote a more active Russian role.

The Aqsa Intifada has given the Israeli people a glimpse of the consequences of a complete breakdown in the peace process while simultaneously driving home the fact that the only viable alternative is peaceful coexistence. This is perhaps a major reason why recent Israeli opinion polls have shown that 60 per cent of the public continues to favour a comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians and an even greater percentage supports an end to the conflict with the Palestinians and the Syrians in order to bring peace. It is heartening that the advocates of peace in Israel still outnumber proponents of extremism and violence, a fact that Barak could use to his advantage if he were sincerely determined to work towards a just and lasting peace with the Palestinians.

This has been the goal towards which Egyptian diplomacy has consistently striven, adopting a gradual approach that began with attempts to persuade Tel Aviv through bilateral diplomatic channels to restrain itself, then hosting the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit and finally the Arab Summit. When Israel proved immune to all these attempts to curb the violence, Cairo took the further step of recalling its ambassador to Tel Aviv, delivering in tangible terms Egypt's clear and unequivocal condemnation of Israeli brutality against Palestinian civilians.

Egypt's policy is not calculated to win popular acclaim but rather to bring specific results, these being an end to the violence and a resumption of the peace process in light of the developments wrought by the Intifada, which has affirmed that the Palestinian people and, along with them, the Arab and Islamic worlds, will not accept a partial or degrading peace and specifically refuse to sacrifice one inch of East Jerusalem and to compromise on the sovereignty of the Islamic and Christian shrines it contains.

If Egypt were interested in histrionics, it would have withdrawn its ambassador at the outset and followed this with strident proclamations and bombast. But Egypt has no need to indulge in sabre-rattling. It is acting from a position of strength, in all respects. And, from this position, it has opted for peace and is determined to use every means at its disposal to prevent military escalation and to realise peace without sacrificing any legitimate rights.

If Egypt's policy has had a tangible impact on the Barak government, and recent suggestions have been that it is becoming more open to halting its atrocities against Palestinian cities and PA government targets, ostensibly in the name of retaliation against attacks on Israeli settlements and armed forces, for which in fact the PA had no responsibility, there still remains much Israel must do in order to stop the spiraling violence. Most immediately, Israeli forces must withdraw completely from PA controlled Area A and cease the savage assault on Palestinian civilians. Also, if Israel expects the PA to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of the attacks against Israel, it too should be prepared to investigate and try all Israeli officers, officials and civilians responsible for crimes against Palestinians during the Intifada.

Above all, Israel must demonstrate a more sincere commitment to reaching a viable peace agreement with the Palestinians, towards which end it must show greater realism on final status issues, particularly the questions of the refugees and Jerusalem. Until now, Israel's approach to the peace process has been propelled by tactical moves: if, under Oslo, it agreed to withdraw from certain portions of the occupied territory, this was simply to achieve immediate objectives, to project itself to the international community as a peace-maker, to preserve the ethnic purity of the Jewish state or to reap the benefits of a new Middle Eastern order in which it would be the hub. The Aqsa Intifada has made it abundantly clear that the Israeli formula, inherently racist and despotic, is not only unacceptable, but also the prime trigger to flare-ups in violence.

Sadly, Barak's record reveals he has been consistently unwilling or unable to capitalise on the opportunities for peace, and instead has always been prey to belligerent manoeuvres designed to win short term gains. It is time he and other Israeli politicians learn that policies based on military might only jeopardise regional stability and increase Israel's isolation regionally and internationally.

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