Rami G. Khouri: The world tires of the Palestinian cause
[[Rami G. Khouri is director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut and editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star. This article was distributed by Agence Global.]]
The atmosphere in Cairo this week tells us much about the contemporary Arab world’s view of the Palestine cause in relation to domestic issues in every Arab country. Ordinary Arabs and their governments alike seem fed up with the incompetence of the Palestinian leadership, while remaining strongly committed emotionally to the justice and rights of the Palestinian cause. This is emotionally satisfying for Palestinians, but not very promising politically.
The contrast is vividly reflected this week in the national frenzy over the Egyptian soccer team’s World Cup qualifying playoff match against Algeria in Sudan, in contrast with the little attention being paid to the condition of the Palestinians. Years ago, thousands would have marched in the streets of Cairo to express support for the Palestinians against Israel’s occupation and colonization policies. Today, it is a sign of the times that the Egyptian border with southern Gaza remains firmly locked. The Palestinian threat to seek support for an independent state at the United Nations Security Council has received only passing attention, while the authorities are busy organizing an air bridge to send supporters to cheer on their Egyptian national soccer team in Khartoum.
In many ways it is hard to criticize the Egyptians, who broke away from the Arab pack three decades ago and signed their separate peace agreement with Israel. This was followed 15 years later by the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, after the Palestinians tried to negotiate a permanent peace settlement with Israel via the Oslo accords. That attempt failed for many reasons, the primary ones being the Israeli lack of seriousness about ending the colonization of Palestinian land and Israel’s insistence on annexing much of Jerusalem and refusing to deal with the Palestinian refugees seriously. As for the Palestinians, their use of suicide bombings against Israelis represented a fatal blow to the negotiations.
Many attempts to negotiate comprehensive peace in the last three decades have failed, and each time Israelis and Palestinians have fallen back on the same rhetorical positions: Israel says it is prepared to discuss peace arrangements without preconditions (its colonization and strangulation of Palestinian land and society being set aside, presumably, as a non-reality); while the Palestinians accuse Israel of not being serious about negotiating peace. Because Israel is militarily stronger and in control of daily life arteries for Palestinians – like entry and exit points, water, food, electricity and fuel – it tends to define conditions on the ground. The Palestinian leadership, for its part, appeals to the world’s conscience and respect for international law, but with little impact and even less credibility...
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The atmosphere in Cairo this week tells us much about the contemporary Arab world’s view of the Palestine cause in relation to domestic issues in every Arab country. Ordinary Arabs and their governments alike seem fed up with the incompetence of the Palestinian leadership, while remaining strongly committed emotionally to the justice and rights of the Palestinian cause. This is emotionally satisfying for Palestinians, but not very promising politically.
The contrast is vividly reflected this week in the national frenzy over the Egyptian soccer team’s World Cup qualifying playoff match against Algeria in Sudan, in contrast with the little attention being paid to the condition of the Palestinians. Years ago, thousands would have marched in the streets of Cairo to express support for the Palestinians against Israel’s occupation and colonization policies. Today, it is a sign of the times that the Egyptian border with southern Gaza remains firmly locked. The Palestinian threat to seek support for an independent state at the United Nations Security Council has received only passing attention, while the authorities are busy organizing an air bridge to send supporters to cheer on their Egyptian national soccer team in Khartoum.
In many ways it is hard to criticize the Egyptians, who broke away from the Arab pack three decades ago and signed their separate peace agreement with Israel. This was followed 15 years later by the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, after the Palestinians tried to negotiate a permanent peace settlement with Israel via the Oslo accords. That attempt failed for many reasons, the primary ones being the Israeli lack of seriousness about ending the colonization of Palestinian land and Israel’s insistence on annexing much of Jerusalem and refusing to deal with the Palestinian refugees seriously. As for the Palestinians, their use of suicide bombings against Israelis represented a fatal blow to the negotiations.
Many attempts to negotiate comprehensive peace in the last three decades have failed, and each time Israelis and Palestinians have fallen back on the same rhetorical positions: Israel says it is prepared to discuss peace arrangements without preconditions (its colonization and strangulation of Palestinian land and society being set aside, presumably, as a non-reality); while the Palestinians accuse Israel of not being serious about negotiating peace. Because Israel is militarily stronger and in control of daily life arteries for Palestinians – like entry and exit points, water, food, electricity and fuel – it tends to define conditions on the ground. The Palestinian leadership, for its part, appeals to the world’s conscience and respect for international law, but with little impact and even less credibility...