12 - 18 April 2001
Issue No.529
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 April 2001 Issue No.529 |
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Keeping the wheels turning
President Mubarak's talks with US President Bush were the focus of discussions between Mubarak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, reports Khaled Dawoud
Following talks between President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Sunday, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa described the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territories as "very dangerous" and "explosive." Moussa said that Mubarak briefed Arafat on the highlights of his visit to Washington last week, where he met with US President George W Bush for the first time since he took office in January. Arafat also met with Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Meguid
Arafat told reporters that he spoke with Mubarak about the escalation in violence by Israeli forces against Palestinians and the leadership's persistence in a laying siege to Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camps. Denouncing the decision by new Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to resume the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, Arafat dismissed the premier's insistence that Jews be allowed to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, noting that the request blatantly disregards the fact that the area belongs to the Muslim community.
Informed sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that despite Sharon's determination to use excessive force against Palestinians, diplomatic efforts led by Egypt and Jordan continue, in the hope of restoring calm and resuming peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Jordan's King Abdullah was scheduled to meet with US President Bush on Tuesday.
On the issue of Sharon's decision to proceed with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak's policy of assassinating prominent Palestinian activists, Arafat said that "we will stand by the word we gave to the new American administration [on adherence to peace negotiations], but this will depend on Israel's commitment [to the same goal]." Arafat added that Israel was "waging a war against Palestinians on all levels -- from air, sea and land." He said that Israel continued to block the delivery of aid donated by Arab and other friendly nations through its control of the borders between areas of Palestinian self-rule and Egypt and Jordan.
Both Moussa and the Arab League's Abdel-Meguid affirmed that Arab countries, in coordination with the Palestinians, would renew a failed attempt to pass a UN Security Council resolution calling for the deployment of an international peace-keeping force to provide protection for Palestinians living under occupation. Poignantly coinciding with the conclusion of the Arab summit in Amman on 28 March, the US moved to block the motion by using its veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council. Abdel-Meguid said that if the US insists on vetoing the resolution, Arab countries will turn to the UN General Assembly.
Moussa, meanwhile, alluded to a joint Egyptian-Jordanian initiative aimed at restoring calm in Palestine and resuming peace talks. He said that the cornerstone in any such effort would be adherence, on both sides, to the "understandings" reached between Arafat and Barak during last October's Sharm Al-Sheikh summit. During the talks, sponsored by former US President Bill Clinton, Mubarak, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the EU, the understandings reached called on Israel to withdraw its troops from Palestinian self-rule areas to the lines maintained before the outbreak of the Intifada in late September. It was also agreed that Israel should end its siege.
"If Israel did not withdraw in accordance with the Sharm Al-Sheikh understandings, [and instead] continued its provocation and siege of Palestinian territories, how can we ask the Palestinians to stop the Intifada?" Moussa said. He added that as long as Israel continues its occupation of Palestinian territories, Arab countries will be obliged to support the uprising -- a stance agreed on by Arab leaders at the Amman summit.
Moussa, who will take over the Arab League's chief post in May, also lashed out against Israel's attempts to deceive international public opinion by claiming that the Palestinians have instigated "violence" against Israelis. "The reality is that this is an uprising by people who are suffering the pressure of Israeli occupation," Moussa said. He added that in light of this, the Palestinians' reactions can only be seen as "a normal response."
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