6 - 12 December 2001
Issue No.563
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 6 - 12 December 2001 Issue No.563 |
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Arab dilemmas
Arafat's pleas for an Arab summit conference have met with little response, reports Dina Ezzat
A group of Arab foreign ministers and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa will meet Sunday morning to consider Arab responses to Israeli military strikes against Palestinians. Although this will be the second Arab meeting on this issue since the attacks on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat began on Monday, no full-blown summit is being planned. The first meeting involved only permanent representatives to the Arab League, and was chaired by the secretary-general on Tuesday.
"Sunday's meeting will quite possibly be the highest level of meetings that Arabs are going to have on current developments. No top-level Arab conference has been scheduled or even considered," said one informed Arab diplomat. There is "almost a consensus among Arab leaders that a conference is not necessary. Jordan -- the current chair of the Arab Summit -- is not interested in holding one, Egypt is not at all keen on the idea and the Saudis are not keen, either," he added. The "timid tone of statements" issued from Arab capitals in the wake of the attacks indicates, he argued, that Arabs are prepared to do very little to help the Palestinians. "This is exactly what the Israelis constantly tell the Palestinians. They goad the Palestinians by telling them that the Arab world will not even arrange a summit for them, much less offer serious support."
In other words, Arafat's appeal to several Arab leaders to convene an emergency Arab summit will probably fall on deaf ears. Arafat was hoping for a summit even if it adopted no serious resolution, according to Palestinian sources, believing the move would send a clear message to both Israel and the US about Arab support for his presidency, now seriously threatened by Israel.
The Palestinian president, though, was far from optimistic about a strong show of solidarity from Arab states, according to Palestinian sources. "He did not even make a public statement about his request for an Arab summit because he was aware that his Arab brothers might not respond positively -- as has often been the case in the past few months," said one source.
This time around, however, Arafat has a genuine need for strong support. Although Israeli threats to assassinate him may be an attempt at humiliation aimed at undermining his credibility, political support from Arab governments looks increasingly necessary for him to retain his hold on power.
Arafat's greatest hope for a high- level show of support rests on Qatar, the current chair of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The organisation may yet decide to respond positively to his request for an emergency summit. However, the Qataris may find it politically expedient to simply hold a meeting of OIC foreign ministers rather than a full summit. "A summit would have to take tough decisions, and that will be difficult in view of the current situation in Afghanistan. In addition, the Americans do not want to see any political obstacles put in the way of the US envoys to the Middle East, who are already having a very difficult time," said one diplomat.
Moussa told reporters on Tuesday that what matters is not the "meetings in and of themselves, but rather actions that can be adopted to offer Arafat support. Consultations could be conducted in various ways, but what counts is the form of the support."
The secretary-general did not elaborate on the precise political moves that may be adopted by Arab states to back Arafat, though he did reiterate that Arafat does not stand alone and has full Arab support and confidence. "Any attack against Arafat will evoke very serious repercussions and reactions. If Arafat is attacked, then nobody can blame the Palestinians for any act of resistance that they may decide to take against the Israeli military occupation."
Moussa rejected the American statement that Israeli attacks against Palestinian targets on Monday were legitimate self-defence. "There is a contradiction in terms between military occupation and self-defence. One would normally associate self-defence with resistance against military occupation which would make the term applicable in the case of Palestinians, rather than that of the Israelis," Moussa told reporters. He called on Washington to make its position regarding the attacks clearer in order to silence critics who claim that Sharon has received a "green light" from the US to attack Arafat.
This said, Moussa argued that the US "still has an important role to play in containing tension in the Middle East. The US envoys are still in the region and the plan offered by US Secretary of State Colin Powell for peace in the region is still valid. We should give it some more time."
According to Moussa, "the time has come to send international observers to the Middle East." This is the best way to secure an end to the escalation, he said, adding that the presence of international observers would ensure the safety of innocent civilians and allow a return to political dialogue.
Arab attempts to pressure the international community into sending independent observers to the region have repeatedly failed. There was, though, a ray of hope yesterday in Geneva when a meeting of parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention agreed there was a need for international observers in the Middle East. The meeting was boycotted by the US, which earlier this year vetoed a UN Security Council resolution aimed at sending international monitors to the Middle East.
Securing US agreement for some sort of international observer presence is likely to figure high on the agenda of the limited Arab foreign ministers meeting on Sunday. Arab moves should Arafat be expelled from the Palestinian territories will also be discussed. Moreover, the meeting will have to examine the troubling implications of a potential US strike against Iraq as part of the US war against terrorism and the repercussions that such a strike would have on the situation in the occupied territories.
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