A credible voice

The Arab League will have a bigger say in the Arab-Israeli conflict, writes Dina Ezzat
Hanan Ashrawi, the media-friendly and popular Palestinian figure, has joined the Arab League as commissioner for media affairs. She will become a key player in the political offensive planned by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa aimed at securing an Arab consensus across a broad range of issues, but particularly the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"It is a great vote of confidence that I gladly accept from Secretary-General Amr Moussa who is working to give the Arab League national orientation," Ashrawi told a press conference, held jointly with Moussa at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday.
Since joining the Palestinian negotiating team at the Madrid Peace Process, Ashrawi has been one of the most frequently interviewed Palestinians to appear in the Western media. Her resignation from the Palestinian Authority, while maintaining good contacts with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, and her advocacy of human rights have secured Ashrawi a highly credible profile.
Ashrawi will be based in Palestine. Her mandate will be to orchestrate a collective, politically-oriented media campaign aimed at getting a clear message across to the international community about atrocities being committed against the Palestinians. "It is a highly political task that Ashrawi accepted," Moussa said. "It is not a public relations job."
Both Moussa and Ashrawi agreed that Ashrawi's new post means doing "what the Arab ministries of information have failed to do," that is, offer a credible message that the world can listen to and appreciate. This, they also agreed, must involve close cooperation with the Arab council for ministers of information. "The commissioner will be working with, not instead of, these ministries of information," Moussa added.
One of Ashrawi's first League assignments will be to document Israeli war crimes against Palestinians and other Arabs.
In addition to Ashrawi, Moussa is planning to appoint six other commissioners and a number of special envoys who will handle a political, economic, social and even scientific issues. At least four will cover various aspects of the Palestinian issue, including Jerusalem and peace negotiations. Like Ashrawi, they will be operating from their home cities and acting on a clear-cut mandate.
"Moussa is determined that the League should have a clearer and more integrated role in the Arab- Israeli dispute," commented one Arab League source. He said the commissioners and envoys are only a part of what Moussa has been doing in terms of creating new departments within the League. The source said Moussa has increased the pace of regional and international contacts with regard to the conflict.
The League, the source added, is making progress in returning the Arab- Israeli problem to the fore, something not done since the Madrid conference. "Today, the Americans and Europeans care enough to discuss with the League their political views on the issue."
As useful as they might be, the contacts are not the ultimate objective. The real challenge is to secure an inter-Arab agreement on how to deal with Israel. "Today, despite the beginning of a Palestinian-Syrian rapport that we saw a few months ago, both Arafat and [Syrian President] Bashar Al-Assad do not seem to agree on any single political step with regard to Israel," said an Arab diplomatic source.
Al-Ahram Weekly has learned that Moussa is planning a round of talks with top officials in Arab states that are direct parties to the conflict. Creating a consensus on the next political moves and generating more financial aid for the Palestinian Authority are key issues on Moussa's agenda.
The league's rejuvenated engagement in the Middle East conflict comes at a time of increasing international and regional concern over the situation, not only on the Palestinian-Israeli front but also on the Syrian-Lebanese-Israeli front.
"The situation is very serious. It could get out of hand, with Israel deliberately aborting all peace initiatives," Moussa said earlier this week.
During the past week Moussa has been working the phones with Arab heads of state to assess the potential impact of Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian officials and the bulldozing of dozens of Palestinian homes. "The current high- level contacts will produce a plan of action which will be immediately implemented to confront Israel's increasing aggression," Moussa said.
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