Falling to pieces
By Salama A Salama
Arab diplomacy is just as passive as it is clueless. This tempts the international community to act as if the Arabs were worthless -- sometimes even as if international law didn't exist. Nothing has come out of all those meetings and consultations that were held everywhere, from New York to Brussels and Berlin, with a view to reviving the Arab peace initiative. The whole thing was just a show that created headlines and little else. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are fighting each other, and the Lebanese are about to follow suit.
The international community likes to feign interest in the Middle East. Every now and then, Javier Solana shows up in the region to give us the impression that Europe still cares. Meanwhile, the Egyptian press sings the praises of Egyptian mediation in Palestine. And the Saudi press hails Saudi efforts to calm things down in Lebanon.
We've put much effort into the Arab peace initiative. We did all we could to show the world that peace is our one and only hope. The Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers met their Israeli counterpart. Arab foreign ministers met EU officials in Brussels. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa flew to New York for talks. And what came out of all that?
The Quartet issued a statement that was a slap in the face for all Arabs. The Quartet told the Palestinians to stop the violence and release the captured Israeli soldier. But it refrained from asking Israel for anything, apart from telling it to limit casualties among civilians. Israel has been abducting Palestinian ministers and parliamentarians, bombing residential areas, and assassinating Hamas supporters. And yet, none of that seems to bother the Quartet. The Quartet didn't even care to call on Israel to stop building settlements, although Arab ministers went to Brussels specifically to ask for that. Interestingly, the Quartet commended the meetings between President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, perfunctory as they are.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry described the Quartet's statement as lopsided. It said the statement undermined the Quartet's credibility as an unbiased partner. When, I wonder, was the Quartet ever unbiased?
The Quartet has been involved in the conflict for a few years now, and never once done anything to stop the deterioration. The Quartet couldn't get Israel to implement UN Security Council resolutions. All that the Quartet did and all that it still does -- as its recent statement shows -- is give political cover to Israel. The Quartet is going to meet in Egypt soon, but let me tell you now that nothing will come out of this meeting either. Arab countries are hoping against hope that the international community will help them revive the Arab initiative. But the international community knows, deep down, that this initiative was stillborn.
The UN Security Council took action on Lebanon. Citing Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, it issued a resolution calling for an international trial over the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri. Doesn't this tell you anything? Doesn't it tell you that intervention in Arab affairs is now the norm, not the exception? So the Americans and the French got together and pushed through a UN resolution to press for an international trial. That Lebanon's unity is at stake and that the country may fall apart over the trial issue doesn't seem to bother the international community. A civil war in Lebanon, so what? All the better for further international intervention.
With Nicolas Sarkozy in power, France is getting closer to America. And the French are likely to prod the Americans further towards disaster. The French know that the international trial is a time bomb for Lebanon. But who cares? Let one more country fall to pieces.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/848/op4.htm