Perpetual discord

Dina Ezzat is shocked by the Arabs' endless ability to accommodate Israeli violations and American arrogance

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Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Moussa, Abul-Gheit and El-Zahhar attending the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers held in Cairo

"There is only one explanation for the unexpected Arab decision to break the economic embargo imposed on the Palestinian people for months. Arab governments are almost certain that it is a matter of days before the Palestinian national unity government is formed. And once this government is declared, the embargo will immediately be dropped by the whole world," commented Omar in a readers' reaction spot on the Al-Jazeera website.

Omar's remarks were printed alongside a story on the outcome of an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers that convened on Sunday at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League. The main topic on the agenda was to discuss a supposedly collective Arab reaction to the recent wave of brutal Israeli massacres against innocent Palestinian civilians.

Omar was far from being alone in expressing dismay -- if not outright humiliation and disappointment -- at the results of the Arab ministerial meeting. Some members of the Palestinian Hamas government -- who had for months been given the cold shoulder by their Arab counterparts -- found it necessary to publicly praise the decision of Arab foreign ministers to finally break an economic embargo that they had religiously observed for close to a year, even when it starved and suffocated Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

However, the readers of Al-Jazeera and other Arab news websites, who for the most part shared Omar's views, did not at all feel obliged to conceal their frustration with the official Arab reaction to Israeli aggression and American arrogance. As a result there was abundant criticism of the humbling and humiliating results of the Arab meeting -- with some suggesting that was better left unconvened since it ended with a new declaration of Arab frailty.

Convened in Cairo with the obvious absence of Saudi, Kuwaiti, Iraqi and Lebanese foreign ministers, the Arab foreign ministers' extraordinary council showed a disturbing willingness on behalf of their states to keep turning the other cheek in response to Israeli aggression and American lackadaisicalness with regard to the Palestinians.

Arab foreign ministers did not even have the courage to openly criticise the United States for the use of their veto -- the second in five months -- to prevent the United Nations Security Council from condemning the Israeli massacre of dozens of Palestinians, including 19 innocent civilians in Beit Hanoun. Of course, all the while, the Americans continued to demand strict security measures on the side of the Palestinian Authority.

The Arab foreign ministers stated that this veto is bound to be perceived as a negative move. Washington was not even accused by Arab foreign ministers as exercising bias -- the very word used by US officials to reject the resolution. "The council [wishes to communicate] its utmost distress at the use of veto by the US [on Saturday night] against a draft Arab resolution presented to the UN Security Council. This veto constitutes an unfriendly stance against Arab peoples and governments. It prevented the council from undertaking its responsibilities. It also sent a message of encouragement for the Israeli aggression. It weakened the chances of peace in the region and undermined the credibility of the US in playing a role to bring about peace to this region," read the statement concluded after long hours of discussions on Sunday evening.

All in all the statement adopted by the Arab ministerial meeting was consistent only in its weakness. Israel was not threatened with the loss, or even suspension, of its relations with Arab countries. "For Egypt and Jordan the issue of suspending diplomatic ties with Israel is simply out of the question," commented a Cairo- based Algerian diplomat. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomat said that this is not even something Arab Gulf countries are willing to encourage.

And unlike previous Arab League resolutions which contained strong verbal support to the Palestinian people, this week's meeting was somewhat sparse with its support to the Palestinian struggle. Indeed, it carefully balanced its limited support with clear demands to suspend militant operations and to free the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit kidnapped by Palestinian resistance on 25 June.

Arab diplomats admit that this week's statement was devoid of any serious or important message to Washington or Tel Aviv. Indeed, when US President George W Bush received the visiting Israeli prime minister at the White House on Tuesday evening, it was unlikely that they would have much to discuss about this statement that seemed to offer Israel and the US rewards rather than political revenge for their aggression and intransigence.

In addition to the incomprehensibly emphasised security demands required of the stifled Palestinian side, the ministerial meeting offered Israel, with Hamas's support, the chance of an international conference on the matter. This conference, which has no clear conditions stipulated to it, would bring together all the Arab countries with Israel and the five permanent members of the Security Council. This golden offer was cushioned against the traditional Arab ministerial rhetoric of asking the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council to censure the Israelis and a general demand for the presence of an international force in the occupied Palestinian territories to provide security for the Palestinian populations. Another demand for an international enquiry in the Beit Hanoun massacre and other Israeli violations was also made by the ministers. Such demands have always been ignored and obstructed by Israel and the US.

The Arab minister's most practical decision was to form a tripartite delegation comprised of the Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, the current chair of the Arab Ministers, Bahraini Foreign Minister Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, and the Arab member sitting in the Security Council, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Ben Jassim, to speak with key international players. In the absence of direct political negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and in view of the inability of the traditional regional players to convince -- or even plead with -- Israel to contain its aggression against Palestinians, many Arab diplomats believe that this delegation could help bring international attention to the huge suffering sustained by the Palestinians.

This week, outgoing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and European Union foreign ministers, during a meeting in Brussels, expressed concern over the deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and stressed the global importance of resolving the Arab- Israeli conflict. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair made an indirect call for an end to the isolation imposed on Syria. Arab diplomats say that it is of primary importance for the Arab delegation to build on these stances in order to garner sufficient support for any diplomatic movement -- no matter how humble -- to resume Arab-Israeli negotiations under reasonable conditions.

However, as Arab diplomats insist, members of the delegations -- especially the usually conflicting Bahraini and Qatari foreign ministers -- need to agree amongst themselves about the exact objectives and political ceiling that they are to abide by. The delegation, diplomats add, would have to secure general consent from crucial Arab capitals to fulfil its mission. In the absence of such Arab diplomatic consensus, the mission of the delegations -- which is bound to be launched shortly -- would be unlikely to produce any tangible results at all.

"If they really come together and join hands and if they really decide not to accord Washington undue courtesy then they could really curtail the Israeli intransigence and induce positive change in the US foreign policy," Moussa said in a press conference following the ministerial meeting.

This is not the first time that Moussa has equated Arab success with Arab unity and an end to the exaggerated affiliation of some Arab countries to the US. Moussa might not have said so but, after six years at the helm of the self- undetermined Arab organisation, it is unlikely that Arab countries will unite -- not any time soon anyway.