14 - 20 March 2002
Issue No.577
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 14 - 20 March 2002 Issue No.577 |
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The critical moment
Does the presence of Antony Zinni and Dick Cheney in the region give cause for hope? Perhaps, writes Ibrahim Nafie
Washington has finally decided to take action to stem spiraling violence in the region. To the relief of many who had begun to believe the US had washed its hands of the Middle East, US Vice-President Dick Cheney has embarked on a tour that includes nine Arab countries and in a few days US Special Envoy General Antony Zinni will arrive on his third peace mission to the region.
The visits are a welcome development. For too long the Bush administration's hands-off policy -- ostensibly to let the Israelis and Palestinians wear themselves out so that they will be ready for talks -- was taken by Sharon as a green light to intensify the siege through which he hoped to break the Palestinians' will to resist and impose his own conditions for a settlement. It is particularly gratifying that the US drive coincides with intensive Arab efforts to support the Intifada while seeking practical ways to keep more perilous developments at bay. Among these efforts are the recent Saudi initiative announcing readiness to conclude peace and fully normalise relations with Israel in exchange for Israel's withdrawal to the pre-June 1967 borders and Mubarak's proposal to host direct talks between Arafat and Sharon in Sharm El-Sheikh.
Meanwhile, Sharon remains determined to spurn Arab initiatives and to nip US peacemaking efforts in the bud. In the run up to the Cheney and Zinni visits, he escalated his dirty war against the Palestinians to new heights of savagery, with unprecedented daily tolls of Palestinians dead and wounded. But the US has a new message for Sharon. As the international community joined forces with human rights activists to protest Israeli brutality, Washington, too, can no longer remain idle in the face of Sharon's mounting crimes.
For some time, US Secretary of State Colin Powell's increasingly harsh criticisms of Israeli belligerency have signaled a shift in US policy towards the Middle East conflict. The decision to send in Zinni for as long as it takes to produce results, Powell's insistence that the US will not allow acts of violence to hamper the mission of the US envoy and the decision to send US personnel to monitor the situation in the occupied territories are concrete manifestations of this change.
Egypt welcomes these new US positions and decisions. They reflect a more acute US sensitivity to the realities in the occupied territories. They suggest that officials in Washington are on to Sharon's game of provoking the Palestinians into acts of self-defence and then claiming that Arafat is not working to halt the violence.
At the same time, we must take our hats off to the Palestinians for the steadfastness they and the PA have shown in the face of the occupation army. There can be no doubt that this invincible spirit was instrumental in compelling Sharon to retract his former insistence on a seven-day period of calm before entering into security talks with the Palestinians.
It is up to the Arabs now to capitalise effectively on these developments. Towards this end, Arab foreign ministers meeting in the 117th session of the Arab League Council in Cairo last Saturday reaffirmed the formula of full peace with Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-June 1967 borders. They also approved an allocation of $530 million to support the Palestinian Intifada and the PA.
In this regard, it should be pointed out that the volume of financial support that has already reached the Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Intifada funds is $677.7 million of the $693 million 12 Arab nations pledged to these two funds -- a significant portion of the $1 billion programme approved by the Arab League during the Arab summit in Cairo in October 2000. In addition, of the Arab aid packages, $430 million of the funds destined to the PA have reached their destination.
Yet it must be said that these amounts are not enough. In light of the massive destruction wrought by the Israeli occupation army on Palestinian land and infrastructure and the daily attrition on the Palestinian people inflicted by measures of economic strangulation, much more is needed to offset the hardships suffered by the Palestinian people and to sustain their spirit of resistance. It is also important to heed the complaints that much of the aid is being offered in the form of loans. It is hardly reasonable to saddle the Palestinians with a huge debt burden, particularly at a time when financial assistance should betoken true solidarity with their struggle.
At the same time, however, the PA should appreciate that Arab governments are doing their utmost under difficult circumstances to promote a practical framework for helping to sustain the Palestinian spirit while rallying international forces to halt the aggression against them. In view of such efforts, it is difficult to countenance, for example, Palestinian charges that Arab governments are not doing enough to reflect the will of their people, or such statements as that released by a high ranking Palestinian official to a well-known Arab satellite broadcasting station to the effect that the Palestinian people have defeated the Israeli army which defeated the Arab armies in less than six hours. Such charges, apart from being untrue, are hardly conducive to the spirit of inter-Arab good will and solidarity on behalf of the Palestinian cause.
Above all, with Cheney and Zinni in the region, such incidents underscore the crucial need for the Arabs to get their act together. We are presented with an invaluable opportunity to act in concert to persuade Washington to sustain an active peace-seeking role in the Middle East. It is also an opportunity for the Arabs to persuade the US that its success in this role is contingent upon an accurate reading of the current realities in the region, specifically as regards the second phase in the fight against terrorism. In this respect, the Arabs must adopt a clear stance towards a possible strike against Iraq. While in Washington, Mubarak was unequivocal in stating Egypt's opposition to military action against Iraq, which would be highly contentious and counterproductive. Syrian President Bishar Al-Assad and King Hussein of Jordan were equally adamant on this point. However, such unilateral positions must ultimately lead to a collective Arab message to Washington, the aim of which is to forestall crises as we persuade Iraq to permit the return of international arms inspectors while ensuring that attention remains focused on the Palestinian cause at this critical time.
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