10 - 16 May 2001
Issue No.533
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 10 - 16 May 2001 Issue No.533 |
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Sticking to the bases
Sharon's policies are leading the region towards a disaster, Egypt warned this week as it continued to push its unrevised joint initiative with Jordan. Nevine Khalil writes from Sharm Al-Sheikh
Egypt's peacemaking efforts were centred this week in the Red Sea resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh, where President Hosni Mubarak held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to take stock of various responses to the Arab proposal for relaunching talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. The Arab leaders also poured over the findings of the Mitchell commission, a fact-finding committee set up to investigate the violence in Palestinian territories.
In talks with Arafat and Jordan's King Abdulla this week, Mubarak asserted that the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative was the only document on the table
Mubarak was quoted on Tuesday as saying that the current situation in the peace process is "very dangerous and explosive," and warning that although a war in the region is unlikely, "terrorism will escalate" if the situation continues. In an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyassa, the president said that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies and actions "will lead to disaster, which will primarily harm the Israeli people." Mubarak noted that Sharon has "chosen violence and has no vision for real negotiations," cautioning the Israeli hard-liner that "violence will not solve anything, but rather lead to more violence."
Mubarak is convinced that the Israeli people want peace, "but some of their leaders lean towards arrogance, which twists the will of the people." He added that the real reason for rising tensions in the region is that Israel has only implemented a third of agreements already signed with the Palestinians. "They should be committed to what they sign," Mubarak said of the Israelis. "Non-implementation is what has led to this explosive situation."
On Sunday, Mubarak and Abdullah discussed ways to end violence and resume talks. The Egyptian-Jordanian initiative calls for a series of confidence-building measures aimed at reviving negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, the ultimate objective being a final agreement within one year. It also calls for a complete freeze on settlement building in any shape or form, a demand which the Israelis reject.
Foreign Minister Amr Moussa insisted that it was "impossible" to revise the main points of the initiative because they are based on the principles of the peace process. Paramount is Israel's withdrawal to positions held before 28 September, 2000, when the Al-Aqsa Intifada erupted. Also essential is the revival of negotiations on previously agreed bases and a halt to settlement building. "We cannot revise the basis of the process," Moussa told reporters after the Mubarak-Abdullah meeting, adding that there was no time limit for the joint initiative.
"The success of this initiative depends on the Israeli government, although progress appears unlikely," Moussa said, adding that Tel Aviv wants revisions, "but has not rejected" the proposal. Sharon has formally informed Egypt and Jordan -- the only two Arab countries to sign peace treaties with Israel -- of his objections to sections of the proposal.
Abdullah was in France on Monday after the Sharm Al-Sheikh talks for a meeting with French President Jacques Chirac, a supporter of the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative. "We hope to work together to find a fair and balanced solution, which first envisions a de-escalation [and] a return to the negotiating table," Chirac said on Friday. "From this perspective, we think that the joint Egyptian-Jordanian plan is a good first step."
On Saturday Mubarak met with Arafat and discussed a follow-up summit to the one held in Sharm Al-Sheikh last October after the outbreak of the Intifada. That summit failed to contain the confrontation in the occupied territories, but did manage to create a fact-finding commission, led by former US Senator George Mitchell, to investigate the cause of the violence. Arafat wants the seven participants in the Mitchell commission -- Egypt, the US, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Israel, the UN and the EU -- to meet again and review the findings of the so-called Mitchell report. Parties received draft copies of the commission's findings on Friday, and are due to submit their comments before the final version is released.
The Mubarak-Arafat talks focused on the findings of the Mitchell commission, which blamed both sides for seven months of violence and called for a halt of Israeli settlement building, but did not promote the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in the occupied territories. "According to what was agreed in Sharm Al-Sheikh, the report must be discussed at another summit, so a new one must be called," said Arafat on his return to Gaza.
The next day, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres rejected Arafat's call for a second summit until violent confrontations come to an end. "There must be a cease-fire. We cannot talk as long as there is firing," a spokesman quoted Peres as saying. In the Al-Siyassa interview, Mubarak said that Arafat cannot stop the Intifada. "Even if he urges his people to end the violence, no one will respond," said Mubarak.
The president urged the US and EU to intensify their roles in the peace process. "The situation is very complicated," Mubarak said. "The US and the EU need to strengthen and activate their roles in order to protect their interests in the region." The EU's high representative for security and foreign affairs, Javier Solana, is a member of the Mitchell commission.
By Tuesday, Mubarak was meeting separately with the foreign ministers of the Netherlands and Canada. Dutch Foreign Minister Jozias Van-Aartsen, on a tour of the region, described the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative as "excellent", stressing Cairo's "key role" in the future of the peace process. After meeting Mubarak in Sharm Al-Sheikh, Van-Aartsen, who had held talks with Sharon and Peres a day earlier, said that the EU was "very committed" to the Mitchell report. "It is a threatening and very difficult situation, and we should all search for an end to it," he said. "The EU will do that together with Egypt."
The top Dutch diplomat supported the convening of a follow-up Sharm Al-Sheikh summit, saying that "any meeting which could break the deadlock would be the right way forward." He added that the basis for such meetings should be the Mitchell report and the Egyptian-Jordanian peace initiative. Van-Aartsen, who left Egypt for talks with Arafat on Tuesday, and Jordanian officials the next day, noted that more players, including the EU, the US, Egypt and Jordan, are focusing on reviving the peace negotiations. "There is broader international involvement than there was a few months ago," he said. "We are all thinking along the same lines."
Canadian Foreign Minister John Manly said his country was "very supportive" of the joint initiative and "will be encouraging the Israelis to take it seriously." Calling the situation "very complex", Manly said that "there is a sense of grievance", and that in order for peace to prevail, "there must be a sense of justice." He urged all sides to "stop the violence and engage in discussions," as requested in the Mitchell report. "It's much better than fighting," he said.
Manly, who will be visiting the Gaza Strip, Jordan and Israel during his trip to the region, has said that his country is prepared to host Palestinian refugees once a final settlement is reached. "We are very conscious of the fact that the ultimate resolution of the refugee issue will have to be negotiated," said Manly. "When there is a negotiated settlement and some refugees want to relocate [outside] the region, Canada will, of course, be willing to receive them."
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