By Dina Ezzat Cairo,18 April 2004 13:00 GMT Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Al-Rantissi Saturday night in Gaza is prompting wide Arab denunciation. A few hours after the assassination was carried out with three Israeli rockets that targeted Al-Rantissi's car, several Arab officials were ready with words of condemnation. "This is an act of state terrorism," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa. "This is an Israeli crime that Egypt strongly rejects," concurred Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher. The Egyptian Parliament also issued its condemnation of "this stupid act that would lead to a catastrophe", said National Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour. Arab condemnation was also echoed in Washington by visiting Jordanian Monarch King Abdullah. "This is an ugly crime that proves Israel's arrogance and its lack of seriousness in working for peace," he said. But beyond condemnation, Arab officials offered no reaction. The assassination of Al-Rantissi compounded by Arab embarrassment on the official level that resulted from last Wednesday's declaration by United States President George W Bush that Israel can maintain settlements in the West Bank and that Palestinians have to give up the right of return. Arab capitals also failed to speak out against Bush's declaration. Three days after the declaration which effectively scraps Palestinian legitimate rights to have an independent state within the 1967 borders and to secure the return or fair compensation of refugees, Arab countries held a meeting that failed to go as far as condemning the US position. The meeting that convened yesterday at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League at the level of permanent representatives issued a two-page statement that stressed the rights of Palestinians and "rejected" the decision of American president to scrap the right of return of Palestinian refugees and the rights of Palestinians to retain all territories captured by Israel in 1967. Last Wednesday, in Washington, US President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon exchanged letters by which the US committed its tolerance of Israel's annexation of several settlement blocs in the West Bank and stressed that the 1948 Palestinian refugees have to abandon the right of return. "Nobody has the right to tamper with or scrap the legitimate, established and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people," read the communiqué issued after the meeting. According to the communiqué, the Arabs "reject the new US stance that could bombard the entire Middle East peace process with all its references as represented in the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy including the land-for-peace Madrid reference and the US letters of assurances addressed to Arab countries in 1991". The communiqué also stressed Arab commitment to the guidelines of peace as stipulated in the Arab Peace Initiative adopted in 2002. "This initiative clearly stipulates that a viable Palestinian state has to be established within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and that a fair settlement has to be reached for the question of refugees," Moussa said. Addressing a press conference held after the meeting , Moussa argued that the new US position offers legitimacy to the illegal Israeli settlement building on occupied Palestinian land and undermines the right of return of millions of Palestinian refugees. Moussa stressed that the shift in US policy on the Middle East that trespasses over all the terms of reference of the peace process will be carefully addressed by the Arab summit when it convenes next month. "An Arab reaction is in the making," he added. This said, Moussa admitted that the US stance could not have been taken had it not been to the overall Arab weakness. "But at the end of the day everybody has to be aware that peace can never be the outcome of injustice and that the only way to end violence is to secure a balanced peace," he stressed. Meanwhile, Palestinians diplomatic sources say that they hoped for some sort of a serious Arab reaction before it is too late. "What we saw on Wednesday in Washington was one of the very last steps taken by the US and Israel to liquidate the Palestinian cause. I believe that the next step will be to overthrow President Yasser Arafat and to dismantle the Palestinian Authority," a Cairo-based Palestinian diplomat told Al-Ahram Weekly. He added: "And once this happens then Sharon will go back on his declared plan to withdraw from Gaza but he would still have the new-set US parameters."
