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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A one-sided initiative
I do not know why the Israeli government has been so wily and unpredictable in responding to the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative, arguing to and fro and suggesting "other solutions." During his last visit to Egypt and Jordan, the Israeli foreign secretary announced that an agreement had been reached with the Palestinians -- a claim that turned out to be false. My feeling is that such statements are intended to elude the initiative in question, so that Israel does not feel obliged to abide by it after the Palestinians accepted it and public opinion declared it an appropriate basis for ending the violence and returning to the negotiating table.
In this sad scene, perhaps the most depressing thing is the position of the United States which, though it saw the initiative as a good way of surpassing the crisis, was yet too wary of upsetting Israel. This is why they announced that Israel should work with Egypt and Jordan without referring to the initiative by name. Such a position does not live up to the US's professed role as the greatest world power and the purveyor of peace in the Middle East since 1973. The US should announce its frank opinion in the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative, because without US pressure Israel will never give in to peace or stop its aggressions against the Palestinians.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy
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