By Salama A Salama There is nothing in the Palestinian or Arab scene to be cheerful about. In the latest development, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he's had enough. Come the Palestinian elections in January, he will not run. Why? Because the Obama administration has let him down by failing to stop Israel from building more settlements. Hillary Clinton was the bearer of the bad news. Having talked at length with Binyamin Netanyahu, the US secretary of state went to Ramallah and Cairo where she bluntly told officials to forget about a freeze on settlements. Talks, she added, should be resumed with no preconditions. So much for those who pinned their hopes on a new US approach to the region on Obama's watch. The Arabs were already stooping far too low. Accepting the resumption of talks on a promise that settlements would be temporarily halted was perhaps asking too little. But even that simple demand was too much for the Israelis to grant. What is obvious to me is that the Arabs are having trouble grasping the magnitude of the failures of the Obama administration. So far, the US administration has failed to come up with acceptable solutions in Afghanistan and Iraq. It cannot fix the US health system. And it lost state governorships to the Republicans. Washington has no reason to change its policy on Israel or the Arabs. The Americans know that the Arabs can be calmed down with sugar- coated words. And sugar- coated was the speech Obama delivered at Cairo University. Obama doesn't know how to restore the trust of Arabs and Muslims. He doesn't know how to resolve Palestinian problems. All he knows is to say the right things while appeasing mighty Israel. Henry Siegman, a top specialist in US-Israeli relations, says that Obama keeps sending envoys to reassure Israel of his loyalty, while exploring ways of placating the Arabs. The Obama administration is unable to make up its mind on the region. The repeated visits by George Mitchell to Israel, Palestine, and other Arab countries only serve to underline the lack of policy. Somewhat they remind me of the shuttle visits Condoleezza Rice used to make near the end of her term. Now we have Clinton touring the region too, except that she keeps saying different things at each stop. Clinton supported Netanyahu's extremist views while in Israel, and then she went to Marrakech to tell Arab foreign ministers that Washington's position on settlements remains unchanged. Finally, she called on Cairo for renewed negotiations without preconditions. Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul- Gheit said that Egypt wants America to guarantee that settlements would be frozen and that negotiations would reach a deal commensurate with Quartet views and UN resolutions. US papers, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, reported that Cairo is voicing reservations about American diplomacy, even as it tries to help Clinton to the best of its abilities. The fact is that the US administration cannot stand up to Netanyahu, notwithstanding Obama's promises of even- handedness. Also, the recent shooting incident involving a Muslim American soldier in Fort Hood in Texas has illustrated the level hatred and prejudice Muslim Americans feel in the line of duty. So far, Obama's efforts to improve ties with the Arabs and Muslims haven't amounted to much. Now Abbas says that he has enough of it all and cannot be president anymore. Perhaps he is right. But the fact is that he could stay put and do everything he could to restore Palestinian unity between Fatah and Hamas. Abbas could rebuild the Palestine Liberation Organisation to become truly a liberation movement, not a self- seeking outfit. But maybe the Americans and the Israelis are already working hard so that someone like Dahlan replaces him.
