PHILADELPHIA, 1 May 2004 — The abrupt implosion of last month’s Arab League summit in Tunis prompted violent expressions of discontent from all elements of Arab public life. While the wisdom of the Tunisian leader’s peremptory measures can only be debated, these events must serve to underscore the desperate need for Arab unity at this critical time rather than to fuel further diplomatic acrimony.
The unfortunate reality is that the Arab world today is a very politically divided land. This sad truth was amply demonstrated in the run-up to Ben Ali’s unexpected termination, an episode that unwound against a backdrop of divergence concerning a host of contentious regional issues. The targeted killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin left few in a mood to extend placatory overtures to Israel. The pre-summit rhetoric of more liberal Arab governments emphatically articulated the need to implement progressive civil reform, something that certain member states are presently unwilling to do. In response to these developments, several Arab capitals dispatched only junior-level delegations to Tunis in a deliberate attempt to discredit any undesirable outcomes of the talks. Ben Ali has dangerously tested the political resolve and resiliency of the Arab League and thereby of the broader Arab world with this untimely postponement. In light of recent unsettling developments in the Palestinian territories, the summit’s abandonment has increasingly perilous implications.
The proposed implementation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s “Disengagement Plan” signals an unsettling shift in the Israeli-Palestinian political balance. It is now clear that what he initially presented as a gesture to revive a moribund peace process is nothing but a unilateral attempt to advance the items of his personal political agenda, and to enhance his influence on the future of any Palestinian state. In Sharon’s skewed version of quid pro quo, Israel will affect a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and from several outlying posts in the West Bank, but will retain “eternal” control over East Jerusalem and four principal West Bank settlements. The right of return for Palestinian refugees whose ancestral lands lie inside Israel’s borders is perpetually refused. Recently Sharon traveled to Washington, where he received a much-coveted endorsement of his plan by his political master at the White House. It now stands to a vote by the 200,000 registered members of his Likud Party next month, which it appears poised to win.
Sharon has sold his plan to Washington as a unique opportunity for progress outside of a peace process that is chronically stalled in the absence of a legitimate and able Palestinian negotiator. Yet he steadfastly refused to make any prolific concessions during Abu Mazen’s tenure as head of the Palestinian government, a man that even the Bush administration deemed a worthy overseer. This intransigence denied him any platform for progress, and he was eventually driven to resignation. Despite Sharon’s conciliatory platitudes, it is clear what his objectives are. And now that the Israeli state prosecutor has threatened his political future by attempting to initiate anti-corruption litigation against him, he is ever more fanatical in his endeavors to expedite their success.
Israel has for decades been able to manipulate the disunity that mars inter-Arab relations. In recent years, it has effectively relegated Yasser Arafat to the status of figurehead in the Palestinian leadership simply by refusing to engage or even acknowledge him as an interlocutor. This has opened a diplomatic void in which the Palestinian government is unrepresented in international discourse. Such a responsibility would ideally be shouldered by a unified Arab world.
Regrettably, this unity is presently in very short supply. Jordan’s King Abdallah II deferred talks with President Bush scheduled in protest at the heinous realignment of US policy, but it is not enough. More is required to avert another instance of humiliating submission. The tentative rescheduling of the Arab League summit is another positive indication, but to reconvene the delegates before Arab governments have demonstrated a genuine willingness to cooperate will ultimately be fruitless. United political action is required to fill the Palestinian void. Arab statesmen must have the acumen to recognize that only through this unity can they establish themselves as a credible force in the eyes of international bodies, and in the corridors of international power. They must unite to defeat Sharon’s plan, for its implementation will have apocalyptic ramifications. Only in this way can they deliver the jeopardized Palestinian cause.
Never before has the premise of Arab unity been called upon as it is now. The course of action taken will dictate regional politics for the foreseeable future. Those in positions to influence these events should take careful note, and act accordingly in the interests of humanity.
— Kern Jackson is a free-lance writer based near Philadelphia, USA.
