29 March - 4 April 2001
Issue No.527
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 29 March - 4 April 2001 Issue No.527 |
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No surprises, now or later
Ariel Sharon's first visit to the US as Israel's prime minister was a feast of blame shifting and offensive charm. Thomas Gorguissian reports from Washington
Ariel Sharon made his first visit to Washington as Israel's prime minister last week. His strategy was plain: to blame the victims for the failure of the peace process and to drum up US support for continued repression of the Palestinians.
Announcements from both the government and Congress during Sharon's visit alarmed observers. As Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi put it, "I'm worried about this emerging love fest, as though the United States is suffering collective amnesia about Sharon's previous crimes." Certainly Sharon and US President George Bush looked relaxed and comfortable together at the White House.
Less comfortable were Sharon's remarks about who was at fault for the current bloodshed. Sharon claimed that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was the actual threat to regional security. Sharon, during his talks with Bush, reportedly urged the US President "to get tough with Arafat," and warned against inviting the Palestinian leader to Washington for similar talks with the new administration.
Sharon's speech before the annual meeting of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) echoed these allegations. "It is not surprising that the Arab-Israeli peace process has reached a stalemate. Syria is looking east to its ties with the resurgent Iraq and Iran instead of to better relations with the West. The Palestinians are waving the flags of Iraq and Hizbullah," Sharon told members of the largest pro-Israel lobby group in the United States. Returning to his preferred theme for the visit, Sharon elaborated at length on how Arafat "threatened" the peace process.
"Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are returning to the belief that they can defeat Israel by armed struggle. They feel that violence will produce further Israeli concessions. Arafat is willing to destabilise the entire Middle East, including moderate Arab regimes, in order to achieve his goal." Among Sharon's audience were more than 40 senators, about 100 house representatives and dozens of Ambassadors.
Sharon's listeners seemed well and truly taken in. American officials parroted Israel's demand that the Palestinians must "stop the violence" (referring to the six-month old Al-Aqsa Intifada), before negotiations could be revived. Some legislators at the US Congress even suggested including the Palestinian Authority in the State Department's list of "terrorist organisations."
Meanwhile, the AIPAC massed the propaganda at its 2001 policy conference. The conference debated the faltered peace negotiations and the Palestinian leadership's choice of a "path of violence," as well as considering Israel's defence requirements, since it is facing "security challenges on many fronts." Other conference topics included the "Power of the Pump" (the effect of oil on America's Middle East policy), the "Arab street", renewed anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment and normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab countries.
Every AIPAC conference in the previous 10 years has featured a speech by the US president or the vice president. This year, Secretary of State Colin Powell was left to deliver the administration's message. Powell sang most of the melodies that would please his pro-Israeli audience. He told them, "I know, for example, that no Arab state now maintains a resident ambassador in Israel. This is most unfortunate. (Applause)." But he carefully avoided any mention of Jerusalem or Israel's capital. This did not deter Tim Wuliger, president of the AIPAC, who introduced Powell by saying, "this is one community that appreciates your testimony before the House International Relations Committee that Jerusalem is Israel's capital!" This comment drew a standing ovation.
Not everyone in America welcomed Sharon's visit so kindly though. Demonstrations, press conferences and newspaper advertisements in Washington demanded Sharon's trial for war crimes. Several hundred members of Arab and Muslim groups gathered across the street from the Washington hotel in which Sharon spoke to the AIPAC conference to protest.
But overall, Sharon had the run of the pitch. He persuaded Washington to end the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in co-ordinating security issues between Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinian officials, after long experience of Israel's shyness in respecting signed agreements, had demanded the presence of US intelligence officers to guarantee the implementation of deals after the Wye accord of 1998. President Bush's national security spokeswoman, Mary Ellen Countryman, said that freezing the CIA's role was, "in keeping with this administration's approach of encouraging the parties to talk and co-ordinate directly." The decision plainly delighted Israelis who have often claimed that the CIA favours the Palestinians.
The trip ended with the two leaders promising not to surprise each other. Bush told Sharon, "Our nation will not try to force peace, we will facilitate peace and we will work with those responsible for peace." Meanwhile Sharon told Israeli journalists, "We will not surprise each other. I said that I will not surprise them, and they will not surprise us." And given Sharon's cordial reception by the United States, no one else should be surprised either if things don't improve for the Palestinians just yet.
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