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Analysts
Say Sharon Washington Visit a Failure
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Sharon
in his meeting with U.S. presiednt Bush
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By S.M. Khalid, IOL
Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb.9,2002
(IslamOnline) – U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration's decision to
continue public support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policy to
isolate Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat is receiving mixed reviews
from some American analysts.
Most are opposed to Sharon's very
public intention of cultivating a Palestinian leadership to replace Arafat, whom
the hardline Israeli leader has declared "irrelevant" and "an
obstacle to peace."
While Bush declined to publicly
endorse Sharon's attempt, some analysts argue that the administration has made a
mistake in following Israel's lead of making him personally responsible for
continued Israeli-Palestinian violence.
"The Israelis and Americans
have a habit of trying to personalize things and reducing political and
historical facts into a cartoon reality," said Rami Khoury, currently
studying in the U.S. on a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University. "This is
their way of trying to evade the real issues, which is the fact that the
Palestinian people have launched a resistance movement against the
occupation."
Khoury argued that the vast
majority of people in the Middle East, Europe and Asia, disagree with these
policies and are distancing themselves from the United States on the issue.
"Deflecting attention away
from Israeli and American policies trying to blame all their problems on Arafat
is dangerous in that it aggravates the cycle of violence on the ground,"
added Khoury. "A lot of people are killing each other, and the Israelis and
the Palestinians are suffering."
Khoury agreed with the message
that National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice made Thursday to Israel Defense
Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, that the Israeli policy of restricting Arafat to
Ramallah the last two months was actually strengthening the Palestinian leader
instead of weakening him.
"The policy of dehumanizing
Arafat bolsters him in the short term," said Khoury. "But in the long
term, both Israelis and Palestinians are faced with the fact they have
out-of-sync leadership that they don't deserve and doesn't serve them
well."
Palestinian legislator and Arab
League spokesperson Hanan Ashrawi told IslamOnline she was troubled by some of
Ben-Eliezer's statements Thursday to Israeli reporters outside the White House.
"It's unprofessional and
unethical behavior by Ben-Eliezer to come out and publicly discuss private
conversations with Bush administration officials" Ashrawi said. "But
it also betrays the mentality of some members of the administration. It's quite
alarming."
The Bush administration has
continued to make a shift towards the Sharon government in its reading of the
current situation between Israel and the Palestinians, especially on which side
was responsible for ending the cycle of violence.
The Bush administration no longer
condemns armed Israeli incursions into Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip, home demolitions or the tightening economic blockade of
Palestinian towns and cities.
"It's an unusual moment of
strategic convergence between the United States and Israel," said Robert
Satloff, the executive director of the Washington Center for Near East Policy in
Washington, D.C. "The areas of disagreement are marginal. The big story is
the shift in U.S. policy toward Israel in the last six months. This may not last
forever; nothing lasts forever. It may not last six months, but it's happening
now."
Satloff said that although
Washington and Tel Aviv are now closer, this might not mean much on the ground.
"Are we closer to peace? No.
This is a very serious conflict going on," added Satloff. "It's not
like we're closer or farther away. There is no peace process going on right now
because both sides are engaged in a guerrilla war."
Satloff did say discussions
between Sharon and Bush about an alternative Palestinian leadership weren't
necessarily negative.
"In the short term, you'll
see some people rallying around Arafat," said Satloff. "But you don't
see any demonstrations or rallies of support for Arafat around the Arab world.
"It's important to dispel the
notion that Arafat is indispensable. American presidents and Israeli leaders
aren't indispensable. Surely, is there is anyone who isn't indispensable; it's
this guy [Arafat]. It's helpful to hear more Palestinian voices."
In Ramallah, Palestinian analyst
Mustafa Barghouti strongly disagreed. He said neither Sharon nor Bush had the
right to have discussions about the possible successors to Arafat.
"It's none of their business
who the Palestinian leadership is," said Barghouti. "It's not for them
to decide. The Palestinian leadership can only be decided through a democratic
process and fair elections.
"It's a dangerous discussion.
They're trying to create divisions within the Palestinians, trying to turn or
distract people away from the real issues. This is not about 'Abu Ala' [Mohamed
Qurei] or 'Abu Mazen' [Mahmoud Abbas] succeeding, but about the occupation. The
reason and the cause for all the problems is the occupation."
Barghouti said Sharon's visit to
the U.S. had accomplished little, even though the Israeli leader seemed to be in
strong agreement with Bush.
"It seems Sharon failed
because after his last visit, he promised the Americans that he would come up
with an alternative leadership. He did not do that. So, it is a total failure by
Israel to marginalize and personalize the Palestinian issue. This has failed
because the Sharon position did not last; it's over. He cannot sustain this
policy."
Barghouti said continuing Israeli
attempts to isolate Arafat and cultivate alternative leadership were simply
beyond Israeli or American control.
"No one will carry political
legitimacy of the Palestinians without an election," said Barghouti.
"Arafat has legitimacy because he draws it from two elections, the first
when he was elected to lead the PLO, and the second, when he won the election as
president of the Palestinian Authority. That is the source of his
legitimacy."
"I believe when Israel tries
to support someone instead of Arafat, to replace Arafat, this is like giving
someone else the 'kiss of death.'"
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