Dealing with 'gangsters'

As Israel steps up its 'targeted assassinations,' Egypt has rejected the idea of an Arab summit, much to the Palestinians' dismay, in favour of trying to convince the US and Europe to save the day. Tarek Atia reports
In a burst of frustration after President Hosni Mubarak refused to lend his support to the idea of holding an emergency Arab summit, Palestinian Minister of International Cooperation and Planning Nabil Shaath made comments to an Arab satellite channel last week arguing that Arab leaders were not doing enough to help the Palestinians. The comments revealed possible differences in Arab policy on the means by which continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinians could be stopped.
An unnamed Egyptian official immediately expressed Cairo's displeasure with Shaath's comments. The next day, Shaath telephoned Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher to explain his position. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Maher said that Shaath "affirmed that what he said was not meant as an insult to any Arab country, but was caused by his dismay at the situation in Palestine. He appreciates the Egyptian role, and the role of President Mubarak, in supporting the Palestinian people."
Shaath told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Palestinians were "grateful to the Arab peoples and governments, particularly Egypt, for everything they have sacrificed to help us." At the same time, Shaath made it clear that the Palestinians also wanted Arab countries to do more. In the Palestinian minister's opinion, "re-defining relations with the US to influence American policy," is one way of doing this. Implicit is the idea of holding US economic interests in the region hostage to a more even-handed US policy. "If the Arab countries can do this without a new summit, then we don't need a summit," Shaath said.
Maher's comments seemed to reflect a similar sentiment, but without going into specifics. "The important thing is action, and we are taking action. I think it is clear that substance is more important than appearance," Maher said. He argued that each Arab country is doing what it is capable of to help the Palestinians.
On the ground, Israeli assassinations of Palestinians are on the rise, and the US has done nothing practical to stop them. With the number of Palestinian dead increasing by the day, and fears of reprisals on the rise, Maher called in envoys from the United States, Belgium and the United Kingdom, to the Foreign Ministry this week to express his concern with the situation, and urge their governments to take stronger positions with Israel to ensure that it stops its transgressions.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Maher, the Belgian ambassador's comments, however, revealed much regarding how the message was being received. Only after being prodded by reporters did he admit that the minister was specifically referring to Israeli actions and not those of both parties.
Pivotal in the equation is America's continued stalling over putting real pressure on the Sharon government to stop its escalation of the conflict.
On Monday, Maher informed US Charge D'Affaires Reno Harnish that "Egypt is surprised that the US does not respond to these actions with the appropriate strength. The Israeli assassination policy goes against the values the US itself espouses."
Much the same sentiment was expressed in a Washington Post editorial last Thursday, specifically calling on the US administration to take stronger measures to convince Sharon to stop. "The United States -- which has the means to convince Israel -- should work towards that goal, rather than issue contradictory statements regarding how they feel," Maher said, referring to the State Department's condemnation, and Vice- President Dick Cheney's seeming justification, of Israel's assassination policy.
To further reinforce Egypt's viewpoint, Mubarak sent an urgent letter to President George W Bush, urging the US to take action. The letter, Maher believes, "will push the American side to take the initiative." As to how long Egypt is ready to wait for such a stronger US position before moving to a different track, Maher said, "We do not set timetables or deadlines... We are making efforts, and if there is an element of pressure that everybody is feeling, it is because the Palestinians are being killed every day.
"I can't tell you today what the next step will be because we take steps and see the results. But we have other plans for political movement," Maher said. "All options are open for political work, whether at the UN, or with the US administration."
Meanwhile, with international opinion moving solidly in the direction of condemnation of Israel, Cairo sees some progress within Israel itself, as the hitherto sleeping Israeli peace movement begins to realise the danger of Sharon's policies for the Israelis themselves. "It is unprecedented that a government has become a gang that assassinates people," Maher said on Monday. "If the world accepts this, it will also have to [realise] that this will [negatively] affect the interests of everybody -- without exception."
Additional reporting by Soha Abdelaty
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