Holding out for peace

After yet another summit in which the Arabs spelled out their peaceful intentions it is now time for Israel to show its true colours. Nevine Khalil and Soha Abdelaty review the outcome of the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting
The leaders of what are traditionally known as the Arab world's three heavyweight Arab countries -- Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria -- met earlier this week for talks on the ongoing crisis between the Palestinians and the Israelis. While the combined diplomatic offensive that Saturday's tripartite Sharm El-Sheikh summit constituted may have proved capable of temporarily postponing Israel's planned incursion into the Gaza Strip, it did little to change Israel's aggressive and hardline policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians. However, it was an opportunity for inter-Arab consultations and coordination on a number of issues, including a possible international peace conference aimed at reviving the battered Arab-Israeli peace process.
The three-hour summit brought together President Hosni Mubarak, Crown Prince Abdullah and President Bashar Al-Assad, and had the effect of closing ranks among the Arab world's three leading countries. The show of unity that the three leaders presented was brought about even as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon amassed his troops along the Gaza Strip's border with Israel in retaliation to a suicide bombing last week.
A joint communiqué issued shortly before midnight on Saturday stated that the Arabs were still committed to the Saudi-sponsored peace initiative adopted at the Beirut summit in March. The initiative commits all Arabs to peaceful and normal relations with Israel in return for a full withdrawal from all Arab lands occupied in the 1967 war. While recommitting themselves to peace, the Arab leaders also rejected "any form of violence," a statement which was seen by some as undercutting more extreme forms of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. The US has repeatedly called on Arab leaders to denounce suicide bombings by Palestinian militants against Israeli civilians, while the Arabs want Washington to force Israel to withdraw from Palestinian-controlled areas and end its onslaught on the Palestinian people.
Nonetheless, the communiqué later pledged Arab support for the "bravery and resilience" of the Palestinian people in their 19-month Intifada "in the face of Israel's destructive military machine." At the same time, they condemned the massacres perpetrated by Israeli forces in the refugee camp in Jenin, calling for the implementation of UN resolutions regarding the dispatch of a fact-finding mission to investigate the war crimes perpetrated by Israeli forces in Jenin.
Finally, the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria called on all international powers interested in peace to "stand by the rights of the Arabs, and pressure Israel into withdrawing from all occupied Arab lands in order to reach a comprehensive peace in the region."
In their talks, the three leaders reviewed the "dangerous situation" in the occupied Palestinian territories and its repercussions on regional and international security. Crown Prince Abdullah briefed Mubarak and Bashar about his US visit and talks with American officials, saying that his trip meant to "convey the Saudi, Arab, Muslim and Palestinian voice to US decision- makers."
Israel welcomed the summit communiqué as a positive sign that could revive peace talks while Palestinian President Yasser Arafat expressed his gratitude for Egypt's efforts to "protect Gaza from the aggressive assault which Israel was planning." The summit seemed to resonate well with other international players. On Monday Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher met ambassadors from the US, France and the UK who arrived for a briefing on the summit's outcome. According to Maher, all three ambassadors expressed their "comfort" about the summit's results. US Ambassador to Cairo David Welch told reporters after that he received "a positive account of these sessions, particularly with regard to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria's determination to move forward with the peace initiative."
Many observers, however, were critical of the mild nature of the joint communiqué, given that Israel is continuing its operations against the Palestinians. Maher dismissed such criticism, telling Al-Ahram Weekly that the Arabs launched "a peace offensive" in 1996 when they opted for a non-military solution as a strategic goal. While recognising the challenges that confront this "peace offensive," Maher still believes that it can be a very powerful tool. "This does not prevent us from working for peace from a position of strength rather than a position of weakness," he said.
Responding to criticism about the timing and outcome of the summit, Maher noted that Arab leaders "do not succumb to pressure from any party," and that the three-way meeting was "in response to an Arab desire to reach peace." Maher added that there will be continuous Arab consultations in the coming phase aiming to "first, prevent an Israeli invasion of Gaza and ensure that Israel withdraws from the Palestinian territories; and second, support efforts aiming to reach a peaceful settlement based on the Arab initiative and international references."
While Israel appears to have revised, or at least postponed, its invasion of Gaza, Maher remained sceptical, saying that the "danger" was still present. "We have to expect everything... We are aware of all possibilities," Maher said on Monday. "The crisis has not ended. It will only end after Israeli withdrawal, the establishment of a Palestinian state and Israel's acceptance of international jurisdiction,."
According to Maher, Israel's decision to postpone incursions into Gaza "indicates that you can influence their actions... The Israelis are finding themselves more and more in a position of weakness, politically and diplomatically.
"We have also seen that when the world stands firm against their aggressive intentions, they retreat," he said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres stated that the US did not pressure Israel to put on hold its planned assault on Gaza, even while admitting that Washington had cautioned Tel Aviv not to destroy the future of the peace process.
Maher also appeared suspicious of Sharon's idea for a peace conference that would salvage the peace process, especially as the Israeli premier would "decide" who would attend and the topics to be discussed. Maher said that it was "out of the question" that a conference would not include Arafat or discussions about a final peace settlement. Washington has been trying to find a middle ground on which a conference can be held and is planning on convening it in Europe in June. Mubarak's chief political adviser, Osama El-Baz, denied that the Arabs were being pressurised into attending such a conference. "There is an idea that an international peace conference might be held but we insist on the already agreed-upon bases and principles of the peace process," El- Baz said. Arab Secretary-General Amr Moussa, meanwhile, noted that Arab countries would insist on Israel's withdrawal from all Palestinian-controlled areas as a precondition for such a conference.
Egyptian officials also remain dubious as to exactly how peaceful Israel's intentions can be, given the Likud Central Committee's Sunday vote ruling against the establishment of a Palestinian state. At the same time, those same officials played down the decision's importance. "The Palestinian state will not be established by a Likud decision," Maher said. "This decision has no meaning and no value to us." He added that the vote was a matter of internal Likud politics and could neither dictate nor affect the terms of a peace settlement.
Before the Sharm El-Sheikh summit, Mubarak had warned Sharon and US President George W Bush in "urgent" messages against any further Israeli incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas in general and the Gaza Strip in particular. In these messages, Mubarak advised that the situation should be managed with "wisdom and reason. Haste will be met with a similar qualitative response from the other side and only perpetuate the cycle of endless violence and destruction."
Mubarak specifically told Sharon to "proceed slowly and rationally" because any military operations in the Gaza Strip -- which borders Egypt -- would result in much bloodshed and "negatively affect" the Israeli people. Mubarak spoke several times with Arafat both before and after the summit to get a briefing on the Palestinian perspective. Maher and his Saudi counterpart, Saud Al-Faisal, had briefed Palestinian Minister of International Cooperation Nabil Shaath and Chief of Preventive Security in Gaza Mohamed Dahlan until the early hours after the summit ended. "We are putting the Palestinians in the full picture," noted Maher to reporters, while Al-Faisal said that they discussed the steps that the Palestinians consider necessary and what Arab support would be needed.
Shaath, who along with Dahlan was in Sharm El-Sheikh during the tripartite meeting, said that all issues were discussed during the meetings. The topics included the possibility of an international peace conference and took in discussion on the growing feeling among Arab leaders that US policy "will become more balanced and progress will be made towards a final solution." Without going into further details, Shaath added: "It is expected that concrete steps will be taken soon and that the US has guaranteed Israeli withdrawal from [Palestinian] areas it re- invaded."
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