Except the US and Israel

Washington and Tel Aviv will not concede that terrorism and the continued Israeli occupation of Arab lands are linked. Almost everybody else, says Emad Gad, can see the connection

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In discussions about international terrorism and how to combat it, Arab nations have adopted the stance that a just and comprehensive settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict will do much to stem the tide. This stance is based on a firm belief that many organisations using terrorism exploit the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands to justify what are essentially unjustifiable acts. In addition, ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people has led segments of the Arab public to sympathise with terrorist organisations, particularly since these organisations emphasise that their operations are a response to Israeli assaults on one hand and American bias towards Israel on the other.

Thus, Arab nations, specifically Egypt, focus on the important task of reaching a just, comprehensive political solution to the Palestinian issue, which they believe will limit the reach of terrorist operations as source after source of public support is closed to them.

The United States and Israel wholly reject this view, denying any link between terrorism and the continued Israeli occupation of Arab lands, most prominently Palestine. Instead, they call for a strict anti-terrorism policy. This US-Israeli view completely divorces causes and symptoms; while it focusses on the symptoms, it ignores the causes.

Arab nations have repeatedly tried to convince the US that its refusal to exert real effort to resolve the Arab- Israeli conflict and Israel's continued aggression against the Palestinians are the primary causes for America's poor reputation in the Arab world. Answers to Washington's questions about the reasons for Arab anti- Americanism can be found in Israel's daily attacks on Palestinians and full American support for Israel in all circumstances. The US need only consider its veto power in the Security Council, used to prevent the passage of any resolution that would condemn Israeli aggression or demand that Israel stop its aggression, to realise that its problem with Arab public opinion lies in its absolute bias towards Israel and its support of the Israeli occupation of Arab lands. The Arab view has begun to garner some understanding recently from several international forces, particularly after intensified Israeli attacks against Palestinians and the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, which now threatens to escalate the violence in Palestinian territories and promises a new series of attacks within Israel as a response.

The assassination of Sheikh Yassin provided the occasion for a renewed debate on the occupation and terrorism. Britain and France condemned the assassination, along with the European Union. "Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism but it may not use methods that violate international law," said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. "We condemn this act. Assassination is unacceptable and unjustifiable and I don't think it will achieve its objectives." French President Jacques Chirac also strongly condemned the assassination, saying that "it violates international law." Foreign ministers of the EU declared that assassination contravenes international law and is incompatible with anti- terrorism efforts. Javier Solana, EU security chief, said the assassination harms the peace process. "This serious act will increase the vehemence of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict," he said.

The response came quickly on Israeli Web sites, particularly News First Class www.nfc.co.il. "The hypocritical Western world speaks," read one response. "It doesn't think for even one moment of the ticking bombs with which we live. There are millions of Muslims waiting for the summons to Saladin's war in Europe, the war of Islam against Christianity. The evils will begin in France. Don't preach to us. We saw how you helped the Jews during the Holocaust. The Arabs want to eliminate us, and the objective has been clear since before 1948. Only a strong Jewish people united against our enemy will prevail. Time will tell."

The UN Commission on Human Rights decided to convene a special session to pass a resolution condemning Israel's assassination of Sheikh Yassin. Thirty-four nations voted for the resolution while three voted against (the US, Eritrea and Australia). Yaakov Levy, Israel's ambassador to the UN, remarked, "This is the first time for the UN to praise the leader of a terrorist organisation." One participant on www.nfc.co.il responded, "It wasn't for nothing that Ben-Gurion said, 'The UN is in ruins.' I think the UN has lost its mind."

After EU foreign ministers issued a statement declaring that the continuation of the Arab-Israeli conflict nourishes terrorist organisations, including those active in Europe, Israeli public opinion began to berate and threaten Europeans. One person wrote to the aforementioned Web site, "European leaders hate Israel and follow the example of Hitler. They want to see Jews on their way to the ovens. If liquidating a serious, nasty terrorist violates international law, they should change the law. Our law stipulates that terrorists should be killed, along with those that send them and their European supporters."

Another person commented, "I swear, they're just hypocrites. Read the following: as if they didn't occupy the Middle East; as if they didn't occupy Africa; as if they didn't massacre African tribes; as if they didn't wipe out Bedouin tribes in Arab nations; as if they didn't plunder the natural resources of entire nations; as if they didn't introduce opium to China and didn't brutally put down rebellions; as if they didn't kill tens of thousands of Aboriginal Australians and force them off the coasts into the interior; as if they didn't launch the Crusades in Arab lands and randomly kill women and children. Do you want more reasons? Let our Foreign Ministry clarify matters to them. They should throw the entire bloody history of Europe in their faces. What hypocrisy!"

Yet a third respondent wrote, "A short time ago, sociologists confirmed that anti-Semitism is an incurable disease. We should not kid ourselves about the possibility of convincing Christian anti-Semites in Europe to stop being anti-Semitic. Anyway, their hearts beat strongly for those who supply them with oil because winter in most parts of Europe is very cold and Europe has no oil. The only time that Europeans appreciated Israel was in 1967, when Israel stopped the encroachment of Islam for them. As soon as there were doubts that Israel would be able to play this important role, it became worthless to the Europeans."

For more information about these and other issues, please visit the Web site of Arabs Against Discrimination www.aad-online.org.