18 - 24 April 2002
Issue No.582
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 18 - 24 April 2002 Issue No.582 |
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Shuffling backwards
A close look at the circumstances under which Arafat's meeting with Colin Powell took place reveals Powell's aims and intentions, and specifically what he intends to do to stop Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, effect a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian land and instigate a new phase in the peace process.
The moment Powell agreed to a meeting while Arafat was still surrounded by Israeli tanks and machine guns, it was clear that the American mediator is in fact part of the Israeli equation. This point was the subject of debate long before the Bush administration decided to make a move, and after the situation had deteriorated to a point of no return. Will the US administration move in the right direction, obeying the dictates of long-term American interests, or will it remain bound by the narrow perspective of electoral calculations, which, in the effort to secure Jewish votes, must doom Powell's venture?
If Powell's task is restricted to effecting a cease-fire without paying attention to the reasons behind the conflict (and, consequently, persuading Israel to withdraw its forces immediately from Palestinian land), he will return to Washington, like Zinni before him, having achieved nothing.
Sadly, there is no room for doubt concerning the US administration's plan to support Sharon to the end, thus avoiding an open confrontation with the Israeli right, which strengthened its ranks on the eve of Powell's arrival by recruiting a right-wing extremist and a proponent of ethnic cleansing into its ranks.
The US secretary of state does not care to see the true dimensions of the tragedy -- Israel's war crimes -- and has not bothered to establish a schedule for Israel's withdrawal. Instead, he has blackmailed Arafat into condemning violence against Israeli civilians in return for a visit under house arrest.
Even now, while Powell shuffles from Arafat's residence to the Israeli cabinet and back, it is possible to know that Sharon and the extremist Israeli right will only lift the siege on Arafat and withdraw the troops on their own conditions, not according to Powell's agreement with Arafat. Powell will have to retreat once again, the way he did when he revoked his demand for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces. Nor does Sharon's call for a regional peace conference to be attended by international parties and Palestinians other than Arafat bode well for peace.
It is impossible to separate what is happening in the region from what is happening backstage in Washington, where some think that the present situation affords an opportunity to eliminate terrorism in the Middle East by destroying Arafat and the Palestinians and implementing Sharon's plan, without fear of the consequences for Arab regimes or the European reaction. Others contend that Israeli military power will not put an end to the conflict, now or in the future, and that America will be risking too much if it proceeds along the lines drawn by the Israeli right.
Bush's decision to send Powell to the region was a response to Arab and European pressure, but other forces within the US administration, like the Zionist lobby, could easily propel him in the opposite direction -- toward the notion that "crushing terrorism" is a realistic goal. In fact, this is likely in the absence of any serious Arab opposition. If Powell returns without imposing a withdrawal, he will have given a signal for violence in the Middle East to rage on.
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