24 - 30 May 2001
Issue No.535
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 24 - 30 May 2001 Issue No.535 |
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What is Washington waiting for?
The Palestinians today are experiencing the results of Clinton's folly. Gamil Mattar comments
The Palestinians' ordeal of the past few months is certainly the result of a measure of US complicity. Some say Sharon received a green light when he visited Washington; others, however, contend (without evidence) that Bush's government has not taken a definite decision on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Washington is rumoured to be furious still that Arafat turned down Clinton's Camp David offer. But Barak's government was on the verge of collapse, and most of the Knesset was against him; an agreement concluded with Arafat and Clinton would never have been passed by his cabinet, let alone approved by the Knesset.
Still, for 60 years the legend of "missed opportunities" has been dragged out over and over, like other nonsense that has become part of the Arabs' perception of the Arab-Israeli conflict. References to missed opportunities are no more true than absurdities about "Palestinian violence," which Sharon insists must end for negotiations to resume, or references to colonies as "settlements." Empty words -- peace, enemies of peace, terrorism -- still pepper current discourse. We may describe thus Clinton's alleged wish to end his presidency with a sublime humanitarian achievement (the restoration of peace to the holy land). Clinton, Albright and all the others in any way involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict know perfectly well that, had he been serious about achieving anything at all, he would not have put it off to the last days (indeed, the last hours) of his presidency. Level-headed people on both Arab and Israeli sides were immediately alerted to the potential disaster embodied in his "ideas." Some analysts warned against an extreme-right coup in Israel (which in fact transpired), while others predicted an uprising in Palestine (which happened too). Both are direct consequences of the "Clinton initiative."
I would not attribute the massacre of the Palestinians entirely to Clinton's actions during his last days in office, but I do think he pushed the conflict to the edge of an impossible settlement. In other words, through his conceit, fear of failure and ambition, he managed to convince all the parties that there was no hope of an agreement as long as things remained as they were on the ground. George W Bush's plans (or lack thereof) are the logical result of the "inexperience" characteristic of the most senior officials in Washington today. American politicians seem to believe there is absolutely nothing Washington can do. No wonder, then, that the Bush administration (and US allies in Europe) should bring such unprecedented pressure to bear on the Arab countries to dissuade them from backing the Palestinian Authority or providing the Palestinians with financial assistance, weapons and food. The Arabs have been dissuaded from providing adequate media coverage, and told that any means (not excluding undemocratic means and the use of force) might be used to suppress pent-up popular anger.
So much for the political massacre. The more physical carnage targeting Palestinian civilians and security forces required greater skill. The Arabs have been compelled to stand by and watch as the killing goes on, day after day. If they bow any further to American pressure, they will join Israel, the US, and western Europe in pressuring the Palestinian Authority and people to submit to Sharon. This is precisely what the US is waiting for. One could even see such a development as a condition -- as yet undeclared -- for its intervention, aimed at reactivating peace talks under new conditions on the ground. Arab regimes, meanwhile, could find themselves facing a domestic situation far more explosive than the one they managed to avert only weeks after the uprising erupted, and which threatened the political stability of Arab society and compromised the credibility of many governments.
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