19 - 25 July 2001
Issue No.543
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 19 - 25 July 2001 Issue No.543 |
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A titan's task
The Arab world follows with hopeful anticipation as Amr Moussa, the secretary- general of the Arab League, takes steps to restructure the organisation -- and resurrect it. What with the passage of time, the worsening of inter-Arab relations, the difficulty of the challenges at hand and the bureaucratic entanglements with which the League's own organisations are rife, it has become more of a burden than an aid, complicating rather than servicing collective Arab endeavours.
Everybody knows that renovating a decrepit old building is more difficult than constructing a new one. This becomes even more obvious with the realisation that preserving the decrepitude of the old building -- making sure the Arab League remains in its sorry condition -- has become almost a goal in itself for those who would like pretexts for shunning responsibility, wriggling out of the necessary commitment to a unified collective position and looking for loopholes through which to slip into alternative assemblies that undermine rather than support the League. All this takes place at a time when powerful international forces are seeking to curb the League's role and bypass it in dealing with crises and issues under its jurisdiction.
The Arab League is the only regional institution whose charters, organisations and administrative methods have not changed since its foundation more than half a century ago, undergoing no modifications save for the ennui-induced strokes of the pen that eliminated some of its members. The European Union, by contrast, was restructured a number of times at various stages to suit the political developments with which Europe was being confronted. The Organisation for African Unity, too, was recently reborn as the African Union; whether this rebirth is genuine or simply formal, at least it implies a concern with renewal.
In Moussa's programme, perhaps the most noteworthy development is the appointment of Hanan Ashrawi as the Arab League's media delegate, the first, universally welcomed step in a comprehensive plan. Prioritising the media reveals Moussa's deep understanding of the crucial role it can play in addressing American and European public opinion and tackling the challenges facing Arab discourse. This is particularly necessary given Zionist control of the Western media. Arab discourse must be capable of cutting through the racist stereotypes Zionism creates and diffuses, and which, in defending the right of the Jewish people to a secure existence, emphasise alleged Arab threats to Western interests. This is what Ashrawi was alluding to when she spoke of the importance and difficulty of her job, pointing out the need for civilised, positive media intervention to rectify widespread misconceptions. Yet such intervention, she cautioned, would be worthless without corresponding action by Arab governments.
The difficulty facing Ashrawi -- and Moussa -- resides not in finding an appropriate framework for addressing the Western public convincingly but in the ability to explain opaque, poorly coordinated Arab policies. Arab governments have consistently employed a discourse that differs in tone and content depending on who is being addressed. The Arab and Western public, for example, hear different versions of the same story; so do Arab League officials and Western governments... This has drastically undermined the credibility and power of official statements, no matter who their audience. What remains to be seen is how Ashrawi, her incredible skill notwithstandin g, will tackle this dilemma.
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