2 - 8 May 2002
Issue No.584
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 May 2002 Issue No.584 |
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Criminal machinations
Following 11 September attacks in New York and Washington Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began his orchestration of the on-going campaign to sell, primarily to US officials, his desire to liquidate the Palestinian Authority as part and parcel of Washington's "war on terrorism".Thus, in recent months, the world has been offered the sickening sight of Sharon, a man whose record of war crimes grows daily longer, drawing parallels between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Osama Bin Laden, between the Palestinian Authority and Taliban.
The US, following a brief pause when, to secure Arab consent for their actions in Afghanistan it reassured Arab capitals of its desire to see progress towards a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, has proved more than receptive to Sharon's propaganda.
US officials were perfectly willing to add Palestinian and Arab resistance groups to the list of organisations accused of backing terrorism, furnishing Sharon with a golden opportunity. For without such tacit US approval the Israelis could never have escalated the campaign against the Palestinian Authority and people to its current levels.
The failure to force Israel to accept the UN fact-finding committee charged with reporting on Jenin furnishes one more example of the way Israel operates beyond international law: that Israel's stonewalling should have succeeded thus far is largely due to American machinations.
Given the willingness of American officials to fall in with Sharon's agenda it is difficult to be optimistic about the likely result of the Security Council's soon to be held deliberations on the Arab resolution seeking to force Israel to accept the UN committee. Yet the decision to form the committee more than two weeks ago was backed by all 15 members of the council, including the US.
What justification will now be found to reverse the resolution? Israel has asked the US to use its veto. Should this happen it will be understood by Arabs as direct approval by Washington of the rampage and random killing of Palestinians engaged in by the Israeli army in Jenin.
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