7 - 13 March 2002
Issue No.576
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 7 - 13 March 2002 Issue No.576 |
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The costs of rejection
In his own words, Ariel Sharon is seeking surrender. What hope, then, for peace, asks Ibrahim Nafie
President Mubarak had many issues to discuss with US leaders during his visit to Washington, though none more urgent than ending the bloodshed in Palestine. He brought to Washington an Arab vision for ending the current impasse, one that blends the president's expertise on the Arab-Israeli negotiating process with the initiative -- a clear offer to recognise and fully normalise relations with Israel in exchange for Israel's withdrawal to its 1967 borders -- announced by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.
In intensive rounds of meetings with US officials, Congress members, Jewish organisations and the press, the president explained the tragic dilemma in the Palestinian territories. The crux of the problem, he said, was that the Israeli government has no vision for the phase following the "cooling off period" Sharon calls for. He refuses the discussions which all other concerned parties see as integral to restoring confidence and resuming negotiations. Indeed, Sharon, clearly bent on provoking the Palestinians at every turn and forcing them to act in self-defence, appears to reject the very notion of a halt to violence.
It is no coincidence that each time President Arafat calls upon the Palestinian people to halt all violence against Israel Sharon unleashes a massive offensive and steps up his assassinations of Palestinian leaders. Yet when the Palestinians exercise their legitimate rights to resistance Sharon wails that the Palestinians are terrorists. Little wonder that Mubarak, in interviews with the US press, described Sharon's premiership as "the worst phase of violence the region has seen since the beginning of the peace process." (One of the more telling signs of Sharon's attitudes is his statement to Maarev in which he said that he regretted not having killed Arafat during the Israeli blockade of Beirut in 1982.)
Mubarak, perfectly aware of the mentality of the Israeli prime minister, remains determined to promote any new initiative in a deteriorating situation. He therefore proposed that Egypt host a new round of Palestinian-Israeli talks in Sharm El Sheikh, the purpose of the talks being to break the cycle of violence and kick start the political settlement process. The president revealed he had made this offer to Sharon by phone, but that Sharon countered by asking him to arrange a secret meeting between him and the Saudi crown prince. Mubarak responded that such a request was unrealistic in the absence of Israeli commitment to a viable peace drive. Simultaneously, he made it clear to US officials that it was Sharon who scuppered his offer to host talks between the Israeli prime minister and Arafat in Sharm El Sheikh.
By restating this initiative in his summit meeting with US President Bush on Tuesday Mubarak has posed a direct challenge to Washington to assume its responsibilities as the main sponsor of the Middle East peace process.
Israel's refusal to consider the Egyptian proposal and its foot dragging in responding to the Saudi initiative are incontrovertible proof that Sharon does not want peace. What he wants is to continue his aggression against the Palestinian people, to destroy the PA and to eliminate its figureheads. The Israeli response should also confirm to Washington that it is Sharon, not Arafat, whose policies are responsible for the spiraling violence and are threatening to drive the entire region to war.
If Sharon were serious about ending the violence he would have responded favourably to the Saudi initiative and Egyptian proposal and raised hopes that peace could once more be within reach. This is an opinion shared by many Israeli commentators who have expressed their bitter disappointment at Sharon's reactions. Sufficient here to cite a commentator in Yediot Ahranot of 28 February, who wrote: "The situation in the Middle East has been turned on its head. The Arabs have declared themselves ready to reach complete peace with Israel and Israel is evading the peace proposals."
While in Washington I met with Xavier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, who expressed enthusiasm for the Saudi and Egyptian initiatives and who said that a positive response from Israel and action on the part of Washington would go a long way towards restoring calm and bringing the Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table. While in Washington Solana exerted considerable efforts towards these ends and was in permanent contact with the members of the Egyptian delegation accompanying President Mubarak. He also said that he would meet with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in order to follow through on these efforts.
In his summit meeting on Tuesday, Mubarak urged the US president to intervene in order to stop Israel's belligerence against the Palestinian people. Mubarak stressed that the initiatives were out there, and must be acted upon, the implication being that Washington should assume a more active and constructive role in halting the violence and setting the negotiating process in motion.
While Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was in Riyadh expressing his support for the Saudi initiative and Mubarak was in Washington persuading the Americans to pressure Israel into responding more positively to the Saudi and Egyptian initiatives, Sharon declared that "as long as the Palestinians do not admit defeat a return to the negotiating table will be impossible." This statement epitomises Sharon's attitude and saps any hopes for an end to violence. The Palestinians are supposed to be partners in a peace process aimed at reaching a mutually acceptable middle ground. Sharon, however, admits he is not prepared to enter such a process. He wants surrender talks, in which the Palestinians bow to his demands. Sadly, not only will this policy fail to restore calm or produce a viable settlement, it will exacerbate an already perilous situation.
Unfortunately Washington has given no indication so far that it will take practical steps to stop clashes in the occupied Palestinian territories. Such failure to act, or to put its weight behind the Arab initiatives, reinforces Sharon's bids to elude Arab peace initiatives and can lead only to escalating violence.
Washington should bear in mind that the Palestinian people will never surrender. They will continue to defend their lives and their cause with all the power and will they can muster. And what is also certain is that, if Israel persists in its belligerency and Washington continues to defer, Arab leaders will have to reassess their position in the forthcoming Arab summit in Beirut. The Arabs have offered initiatives and have appealed to the US to show support. But if these initiatives remain ignored, the Arabs will be obliged to consider other options for supporting the Palestinian people in the face of Israeli aggression. And by then it will be too late to act on initiatives that Israel spurned so arrogantly, that Washington failed to back effectively.
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