25 - 31 October 2001
Issue No.557
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 25 - 31 October 2001 Issue No.557 |
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PR blues
The Europeans have suddenly discovered they can provide the US with great services, backing its military operations in Afghanistan by means of large-scale tours of the Middle East and mobilisation of support for the American coalition against terrorism, as well as efforts to revitalise the Arab-Israeli peace process and deepen cultural dialogue with Islamic countries.
This strategy, itself a result of EU meetings to review European policy in the region extending from the Middle East to Central Asia, has filled airports with delegations of European mediators, including prime ministers and major EU officials. They undertake lightning tours of various Arab and Islamic capitals, bearing promises of an independent Palestinian state in return for cooperation in elaborating a comprehensive strategy for the eradication of terrorism. Some of these politicians came to the Arab world, others headed for the countries neighbouring Afghanistan, which currently serve as launching pads for American missiles and planes. They are undertaking an intensive campaign for solving chronic problems and offering the kind of economic and political support nobody would have imagined prior to 11 September.
The European delegates carrying out US shuttle diplomacy may not understand the conditions of the region. Their premise is the existence of an Arab and Islamic consensus on the need to condemn and oppose terrorism. Without exception, the Arab states have provided all the assistance they could in anti-terrorist activities, and were doing so even before the attacks on Washington and New York. Since the first, however, these states have had two reservations. First, uprooting terrorism will be impossible until the Palestinian question is resolved. Second, the American-British military campaign in Afghanistan must restrict itself to terrorist bases and organisations, and avoid seeking out and punishing innocent Afghans for crimes they have not committed.
Unfortunately for the European mediators, their moves coincided precisely with Israel's decision to re-occupy six Palestinian cities, bomb houses and murder innocent civilians, the pretext being the assassination of an Israeli minister who advocated murdering Palestinian leaders and evicting Palestinians from their homes. Nor have the European mediators made their promises more credible by condemning Israeli aggression. Not one has even attempted to confront Sharon and tell him Israel must stop. They restrict their efforts to tactical manoeuvres -- in essence, public relations intended to mobilise Arab public opinion for America's war on terrorism. This has encouraged Sharon in his folly, allowing him to announce -- incredibly -- that he is applying in Palestine what America demands worldwide. This insanity actually has the support of prominent US congressmen.
It is unnecessary to claim that this is a question of mutual misunderstanding. The countries that exclaim most emphatically that the West bears no grudge towards Arabs and Muslims are those where Arabs and Muslims are subjected to the worst racist attacks. In Austria and Italy, for example, Arabs and Muslims are the victims of vicious hate crimes; some members of the Italian government have even demanded that mosques be closed down and Muslims deported.
In this light, the promises and statements of European mediators must not be taken too seriously, for most promises made in times of war mean very little when the fighting is done.
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