31 Jan. - 6 Feb. 2002
Issue No.571
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 31 Jan. - 6 Feb. 2002 Issue No.571 |
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Arafat and after
The Bush administration is more vulnerable to the manipulation of Sharon's government, and contributes with increasing energy to the tragic eradication of the peace process, both by ignoring the facts and by complying with Sharon's prejudiced and utterly illogical claims. The first of these, naturally enough, is the notion that Arafat is to blame for the deterioration of the situation. The Palestinian leader is consequently confined to his office, denied freedom of movement and asked to do the absurd: end the violence by oppressing the Palestinian people rather than working on an Israeli withdrawal.
Perhaps President Bush no longer feels responsible for the mutual bloodletting. But the predicament is graver than the collapse of America's credibility and Israel's failure to coexist with the Arabs. It pertains to the new, post-11 September phase in the Middle East conflict -- one in which America's strategy is based on the intention to change the institutions, values and beliefs of the Arab world. In this way, America imagines, the flaw that gave rise to Bin Laden and enabled him to intimidate America -- indeed, to raise the spectre of US withdrawal from the Gulf -- has been erased once and for all.
Bush and Powell have both stated that Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are solely responsible for terrorism. The US administration is solidly behind Sharon's call to eliminate Arafat. Already various scenarios are envisaging how the Palestinian Authority may change after Arafat is pushed out of his position, and how his removal can be achieved in the least costly way: replacing him by a hybrid leader like Hamid Karzai; selecting a pro-American, pro-Israeli prime minister from among his assistants and keeping him on as a symbol; or by exiling him. The so-called Jordanian solution (annexation of the occupied territories to the kingdom) is again being discussed, with meetings between Bush and King Abdullah planned, and a new arrangement is being cooked up in America in preparation for declaring the Madrid and Oslo accords null and void.
Most disappointing are the futile efforts of Palestinian figures like Saeb Erekat to open communication channels with Peres and his colleagues, not to mention Arafat's protestations of innocence regarding the notorious arms shipment and his pleas for Zinni's return. Why did Arafat deny that he needs weapons to resist Israeli occupation? The siege, the daily assassinations and the state terrorism practiced by the Israeli army against civilians are ample justification. This is the only explanation he needed to offer the US.
Arafat is almost entirely isolated; but other Arab leaders, who are preparing for a summit where they will condemn Israel's aggression and America's caving in to Israeli influence, still have a role to play.
The entire Arab-Israeli conflict has been subsumed within America's post-11 September strategy. Arab states that took the US's side in the "war on terrorism" must reconsider their priorities and redefine their positions in light of the changes in the Bush administration's policies. The US no longer cares about the peace process. If they do not wake up to this reality, we may have to wait another century for an effective resolution.
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