The escalation of tension in the Middle East requires urgent intervention. Parties not directly involved in the conflict can work for peace more effectively than the protagonists themselves. The third party in the region is undoubtedly the United States, but there has been a significant US disengagement from any positive role in Palestinian-Israeli diplomacy. Save for its ritual mantra that the PA must consolidate its security forces so that it can arrest, disarm and dismantle Palestinian militias, Washington has been silent in trying to get the conflicting parties together yet vocal in exacerbating the situation.
Last week, the US vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s decision to expand settlements and extend its so-called security barrier deep into the heart of the West Bank. This was at one with the US veto last month of a resolution condemning Israel’s decision to remove Yasser Arafat. Again, while the whole world denounced the Israeli air raid on Syria earlier this month, Washington, having established the precedent of launching pre-emptive wars, could hardly condemn Israel for doing the same.
If the Palestinian Authority is required to put pressure on Palestinian activists, then the United States is required to put pressure on Israel. But the opposite is happening. Instead of criticizing Israel for its raid on Syria, the Bush administration criticized Syria for not doing enough to clamp down on what it claims are terrorist Palestinian organizations Damascus is sheltering.
Perhaps the greatest anger has been reserved for the utterly partisan response of the US to the Israeli Army’s invasion of the Rafah refugee camp. Since the deadly blitz, the camp has been likened to a disaster area. Amnesty International said Israel’s wanton destruction of Palestinian civilian property “could only be construed as a war crime under international humanitarian law.” The American response: The invasion of Rafah could be understood as part of “Israel’s need to defend itself.”
The only positive contribution from Washington these past few months has been to stay Israel’s hand from exiling or assassinating Yasser Arafat, a goal which Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon claimed on Saturday Israel would no longer try to achieve. Israel was not threatening Arafat because it wanted him replaced with a more capable Palestinian leadership. The Palestinian state that Israel is willing to endorse has no place for national figures; only for individuals who succumb to Israeli demands.
America now stands alone in unconditionally supporting every Israeli demand. Still, third-party intervention to activate the peace process is vital because the strongest resistance to that comes from the protagonists themselves, who follow the logic of retaliation, not conciliation.
