25 April - 1 May 2002
Issue No.583
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 25 April - 1 May 2002 Issue No.583 |
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'The tip of the iceberg'
Arabs are making their voice heard to counter Israel's lobbying of international complicity in a sustained campaign against the Palestinians. Dina Ezzat reports
"What we are seeing now is only the tip of the iceberg. The situation could get even worse. For the past few months, the Israeli government has been dragging the region into havoc. Today it is still doing exactly that," Arab League Secretary- General Amr Moussa told reporters earlier this week.
The devastation inflicted upon the West Bank has strengthened its inhabitants' faith. A Palestinian man prays in the rubble of his destroyed home in Jenin (top). Frightened Catholic nuns hurry down a narrow street in Bethlehem (above), close to the Church of the Nativity, currently in its fourth consecutive week under Israeli siege
(photos:AFP& AP)
Moussa's comments reflected the serious concern in Arab diplomatic quarters about the Israeli government's intentions to launch a new phase of military action against the Palestinians and a new war with Lebanon.
Israel's political and military recklessness is not the Arab governments' worst fear. They are, in fact, much more worried by American support for these policies. "It is totally incomprehensible to describe Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been committing all sorts of violations of human rights against the Palestinian people and their legitimate authority, as a man of peace," Moussa said angrily, referring to a remark made by US President George W Bush more than once.
Moussa believes it is precisely this American perception of Sharon as a man of peace and of the Israeli military onslaught against the Palestinians as an exercise of legitimate self- defense that caused the failure of US Secretary of State Colin Powell's mission to the region. "We had hopes that Powell's mission would succeed. But a mediation launched on the basis of such a preconceived bias could never succeed," Moussa said. If the US carries with this line of thinking, perceived in Israel as a green light for more aggression, the situation will go from bad to worse, Moussa said.
US failure to tighten the leash on Israel has frustrated even Arab officials viewed by Washington as more yielding than Moussa.
"Even those who tried to help Powell feel he let them down by giving in to the Israeli point of view," commented one Arab diplomat, as he expressed disappointment with the way Powell conducted his mission.
According to one other senior Arab diplomat, future visits by senior American officials need to be based on a less biased standpoint. He said the Americans must realise there are limits to what they can get, even out of their best allies. They also need to have more sensitivity for public opinion in the Arab world, which is becoming increasingly opposed to the US.
"So it does not really matter if Powell is going to come back to the region in a week or two, because if he will be doing more of what he just did, it would really not be of any use," he said.
Meanwhile, a team of four -- the European Union, the UN, Russia and the US -- is being seen in many Arab quarters as a potential broker of any future peace talks between Arabs and Israelis. "The US has shown an ugly face during the past few weeks. It has really lost the very basic qualifications of an honest broker. Obviously, you cannot exclude the US, but you can certainly insist on new players, such as the EU and the UN," one Arab diplomatic source said.
A statement issued earlier this month by this group of four regarding the Israeli onslaught against the Palestinians has convinced key Arab players the group adopts a fair approach towards the crisis.
During the past few weeks, the Arab League has given its undivided attention to consultations with the European Union, the UN and Russia. In an unprecedented address by an Arab League secretary-general to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva last week, Moussa strongly criticised US foreign policy in the Middle East and called on the UN Human Rights Commission to assume a bigger role in dealing with the rapidly deteriorating situation in the region. Moussa, along with many other Arab officials, has been in close contact with the UN secretary-general, the Russian foreign minister and key EU political officials on the subject.
In Valencia, Spain, this week Moussa and most Arab Mediterranean foreign ministers -- except for the Syrian and Lebanese -- took part in a Euro-Mediterranean meeting to persuade the Europeans to be more forthcoming in their approach towards the Middle East. "The Europeans have said so many positive things. They have been examining many serious moves to protest Israel's violations of its peace accords and international law. Today we are asking them to act upon their words," Moussa said.
To demonstrate the extent of their frustration with Israel's policies, all Arab participants at the Valencia gathering walked out of the conference room as the representative of Israel -- which is a party to the Euro-Mediterranean group -- began delivering his statement. Moreover, Arab participants refused to pose for the "family photo" that has become a tradition at European Union meetings. They plainly said they would not want to be in a photograph with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
Said one senior Arab diplomat: "While Israel is launching a strong media offensive to lobby international public opinion, Arabs will just have to be present in every forum to tell their side of the story. This said, we refuse to give Israel the recognition it once had when there was a chance for peace."
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