15 - 21 November 2001
Issue No.560
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 15 - 21 November 2001 Issue No.560 |
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Empty-handed
The lightning regional tours and impassioned promises made by European diplomats amounted to very little in the end. Now that President Bush has gone back on his word, finding no reason to greet Arafat when their paths cross in UN corridors, let alone undertake a new Middle East peace initiative, British Prime Minister Tony Blair must be feeling even more uncomfortable than his colleagues.
In talks with Arab leaders, these diplomats had emphasised, above all, that the US's war on terrorism did not imply ignoring the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and that the Bush administration would resume its efforts in that respect, the proof being Bush's announcement of the need to establish a Palestinian state, which he repeated in his last address to the UN -- without, however, making any gesture to consolidate its credibility.
While America and some European leaders, who are interested in making advances in the peace process, continue to point out that Bin Laden's strikes are unrelated to the defence of the Palestinians' legitimate rights, myopic Western diplomats fail to see that the Arab public has already made this connection, even if Arab regimes persist in denying it.
The US administration's disregard of Arab and Islamic public opinion led Bush and his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to declare that, first and foremost, Arafat must "stop terrorism" against Israel. These are Sharon's words; he has convinced Bush that Arab liberation movements like Hamas, Hizbullah and Al- Jihad are terrorist organisations and, like Al- Qa'ida, must be crushed promptly.
Now that the American campaign has achieved some success against the Taliban, and the Northern Alliance has taken control of Kabul, Bush no longer feels the need to calm the Arabs' fears or make promises he will not keep. His advisers have decided that his heroic image could be undermined if he appears on television shaking Arafat's hand in the White House: hence the coincidental "corridor diplomacy." Even this was eventually abandoned, however, in a development so galling that the Saudi foreign minister has openly criticised Bush's failure to keep his promises and his unwillingness to become involved in any settlement.
The Arabs seem to enjoy being the victims of political manoeuvres, but this is a joke. Because Bush, Blair and Powell showered them with praise, they believed they were making a sufficient contribution to the war against terrorism, and contented themselves with Blair's and Peres's references to European initiatives. Yet the instant Israel refuted such claims, Powell, in his address to the UN, was denying that any suggestions would be submitted regarding the Middle East peace process.
The focus has thus returned once again to the need for absolute calm, during which Palestinians must undertake no form of resistance, while the Israeli death squads go on assassinating and arresting whomever they please, and demolishing buildings as they see fit. Meanwhile, of course, Sharon will be busy scrapping Mitchell's recommendations.
American pressures on Sharon are insignificant, European diplomats are doing cartwheels to amuse the audience, and, while Sharon refused to meet Bush, Arab leaders are vainly attempting to persuade the US president to meet Arafat. Through all this, the military campaign in Afghanistan continues. So what, pray tell, remains in the Arabs' hands?
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