19 - 25 April 2001
Issue No.530
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 April 2001 Issue No.530 |
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Awkward mediation
The Israeli strike on a Syrian target in Lebanon complicated the already difficult mission of Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah Khatib to mediate a deal between Israelis and Palestinians, Lola Keilani reports from Amman
There were hardly any smiles exchanged during the short visit by Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah Al-Khatib to Israel on Monday. Khatib's mission in Israel -- to convince right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to accept the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative to restore calm in the occupied territories -- was very difficult in the first place. The Israeli strike against a Syrian radar station in Lebanon shortly after midnight on Sunday only increased calls among Jordanians to cancel the visit.
Al-Khatib talking to Sharon during his quixotic mission
(photo: AP)
"The [Israeli] aggression made my visit more difficult," admitted Al-Khatib during a press conference with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres. "The attack is an unjustified escalation that may affect the overall stability and security in the region," he added after his three-hour meeting with Peres.
Jordanian officials had earlier said that, given the anti-Israeli sentiment in the street, the decision to send the foreign minister was not easily made. Jordanian public opinion is increasingly in favour of severing all ties with Israel. The Israeli raid that killed three Syrian soldiers raised the stakes even higher.
"We decided to go ahead with my visit in order to deliver a very clear message: that what Israel has done against Lebanon is not acceptable," the Jordanian news agency Petra quoted the minister as saying.
Al-Khatib is the highest ranking Arab official to visit Israel since Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed last summer. It was also the first meeting between a top ranking Arab official and Sharon since the latter took office last month.
Political analysts had earlier described Al-Khatib's visit as a "difficult mission." Following the Israeli aggression they referred to it as "mission impossible."
"It is not fully understood why the mission was not cancelled following the Israeli attack. First of all Sharon rejects this initiative and the US takes almost the same stand," said a political analyst who asked not to be identified.
Although Peres promised that Israel would "handle the [Egyptian-Jordanian] proposal with full respect," the initiative had already been rejected by Sharon, who repeatedly stated that he would not start any negotiations with Palestinians as long as the uprising continued. Moreover, during King Abdullah's visit to the US last week, President George W Bush reiterated his position that a return to Arab-Israeli peace talks depended on the cessation of violence, a policy almost identical to Sharon's.
Jordanian officials suggest that the Israeli cabinet is divided over how to deal with the initiative. The sharp divisions within the government were accentuated by Peres's absence from Al-Khatib's meeting with Sharon. According to Jordanian officials, Israel will respond to the proposal in a few days.
Also on Monday, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat came to Jordan to meet King Abdullah. They discussed the Israeli aggression against Syrian troops based in Lebanon and Al-Khatib's meetings in Israel. Arafat said the Jordanian-Egyptian proposal that Al-Khatib took to Israeli leaders in Jerusalem was "very important." He added, "Until now, we do not know the official Israeli reaction to this plan."
Arafat said the Palestinian Authority (PA) was waiting for reciprocal steps from Israel on the peace front after the PA took part in security-related meetings with Israeli officials at the US ambassador's residence in Tel Aviv. The Palestinian leader later flew to Sharm Al-Sheikh for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday.
The joint Egyptian-Jordanian peace initiative, calls for a series of "confidence-building measures," including implementation of the Sharm Al-Sheikh "understandings" that called for Israeli troop withdrawals from the West Bank to the lines that existed before the Al-Aqsa Intifada began in late September. The Sharm Al-Sheikh understandings -- sponsored by former US President Bill Clinton, the UN secretary-general and the EU in October -- also called upon Israel to implement all interim agreements reached with the PA, including the planned third redeployment in the West Bank, and an end to its siege of Palestinian territories.
The plan demands a "total and immediate freeze" on all Jewish settlement activities including those in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and annexed in 1967 along with its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the "protection of all Christian and Muslim holy places and sites."
On negotiations, it says the two parties should resume work on permanent status issues, including the fate of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, borders, settlements, security and water issues in line with UN Security Council resolutions.
Both parties should agree to conclude the negotiations within six months of their resumption, the plan says. The proposal, which was prepared on the sidelines of the Amman Arab summit late last month, was marketed in Washington by President Mubarak and King Abdullah during their respective visits to the White House. Jordanian officials said that the proposed ideas received tacit US approval.
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