Issue No. 593
Editorial
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4 - 10 July 2002 Issue No. 593 Editorial |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Why this cul-de-sac?
Two weeks after President Bush detailed his vision on the processes necessary to achieve a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinians nothing has changed on the ground. Palestinian towns in the West Bank remain sites for the random killing of civilians, the destruction of houses, the spreading terror and the suppression of any hope that the current cycle of violence might end.
Instead of addressing this situation the world's capitals are being happily diverted into discussions of the Palestinian succession, following the US president's declaration that the emergence of a Palestinian state is conditional upon the removal of the Palestinians' elected leader.
President Bush insistence on this point managed to puzzle even Washington's closest allies. What is the US administration's aim in leading the peace process down this particular cul-de-sac? And as practically every commentator noted at the time, Bush's declaration had only one effect, and that has been to boost Arafat's popularity.
Nor has any official within the US administration bothered to explain what will happen following Arafat's removal. What will not happen, of course, is the termination of the Israeli occupation. What will not happen is the sudden conversion of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to a cause -- peace -- that is patently at odds with his world view. Sharon does not want peace. He does not want an independent Palestinian state. He refuses to remove illegal Jewish settlements, or even discuss the possibility of allowing Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Sharon and his extremist government are responsible for the escalation of tension in the region, and not Arafat. Yet it is Arafat the Americans seek to remove. What, then, are their priorities?
It is incomprehensible to all fair-minded observers how US officials, who day and night preach the virtues of democracy, can refuse to recognise the democratically-elected leader of the Palestinian people. Worse are warnings issued by the same officials to the Palestinian people not to re-elect Arafat. What kind of democracy is this?
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