www.newsandletters.org
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, JULY 2003
Our Life and Times by Kevin A. Barry
World powers try to stabilize Middle East
Under strong pressure from the leaders of the U.S., the
European Union, Russia, and several Arab countries, a serious attempt is
underway to stabilize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the
so-called “Road Map.” This outside pressure comes at a time when both
Israelis and Palestinians have exhausted themselves in a bloody struggle that
has claimed nearly 2,000 lives since September 2000, most of them Palestinian.
While none of these powers, great or small, cares about the fate of the
Palestinian people who have endured a cruel occupation since 1967, they are all
concerned with regional and global stability and especially with undercutting
the appeal of terrorist networks like Al Qaeda. Since it is the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who
has been the greatest obstacle to any viable peace negotiations, the first sign
that something new was afoot came on May 25, when Sharon suddenly and for the
first time pronounced the word “occupation” to describe Israeli control of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Then, on June 3, George W. Bush met with the leaders of
four Arab states--Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Bahrain--and Palestinian
Authority Prime Minister Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas). Bush for the first time came
out clearly in favor of a Palestinian state with contiguous borders. The next day, June 4, Sharon, Mazen, and Bush met.
Beforehand, Sharon made a token gesture, the release of 100 of Israel’s 5,000
Palestinian prisoners. Mazen was the one who really offered an olive branch,
addressing the people of Israel directly when he stated, “We do not ignore the
sufferings of the Jews throughout history.” Sensing a change in the wind, tens
of thousands of Jewish fundamentalists demonstrated in Jerusalem that very day,
with slogans denying any rights to the Palestinians such as “To divide our
land is to defy God.” In the next few days, the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas
movement denounced the Sharon-Mazen-Bush meeting, especially Mazen’s statement
about Jewish suffering. Then, on June 8, in another response to the peace
negotiations, commandos from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the more secular Al Aqsa
Martyrs’ Brigade staged a joint attack that killed four Israeli soldiers. Two
days later, Israel attempted to assassinate a top Hamas leader with a missile,
as it has done so many times before, missing him but killing innocent civilians.
This led to an unusual public rebuke from Bush. On June 11-12, the same cycle of violence that has
doomed so many peace initiatives seemed to have emerged: A Hamas suicide bomber
killed 16 on a bus in Jerusalem and then Israel killed a Hamas leader and
several civilians in a missile attack. By now, 60 people had died since the
Sharon-Mazen-Bush meeting. As we went to press, however, the Road Map had not
broken down. By June 17, Hamas was suddenly indicating that it might agree to a
halt to its suicide attacks. Then, on June 19, the Israeli army dismantled a
small outpost settlement of 25 people during a daylong confrontation with Jewish
fundamentalists. For the first time since July 2000, some serious
negotiations are taking place. Whether Sharon is willing to move beyond small
gestures merely to placate the U.S. remains to be seen. Only real actions can
lead to the achievement of a real two-state solution. --June 21, 2003 |
|
Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Dialogues l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search Published by News and Letters Committees |
