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Editor's
Note:
Last month Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Saeed, advisor to the
Saudi Arabian Royal Court, writing in
Newsweek magazine and
Arab News defined the Gaza crisis as different from those that came before and posed catastrophic consequences for the parties and the world at large. However, he had a positive outlook on the early moves of the Obama Administration, especially the appointment of Senator George Mitchell as America's Middle East envoy.
Today, as the major players converge on Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for talks on Gaza relief, we provide for your consideration Dr. Al-Saeed's op-ed from February 14, 2009, which was printed in
Arab News. Separately we are providing an interview
with Mr. Thomas Lippman, adjunct scholar at the Middle East
Institute, on developments in U.S.-Saudi relations in the wake of the Gaza crisis.
This is different, not another mirage
Dr. Abdul Rahman H. Al-Saeed
Common sense and past experience may lead one to think that the furor over the Israeli incursion into Gaza will eventually subside and things will go back to normal. Why should it be any different this time?
At a distance, the massacre in Gaza may look like a repeat of past events but that is looking only at the surface. Yes, on the surface, this is business as usual: Once again Israel is using brute force to subdue foes and getting away with it. But below the surface is the great bulk of an iceberg invisible to the casual observer but growing exponentially with every atrocity committed against the Palestinians. For better or worse, desperate, frustrated youth may conclude that the prevailing world system is incapable or unwilling to address their grievances by applying universal rules of justice.
Indeed, desperate circumstances lead to desperate actions. And therein lies the tragedy of Gaza and by extension that of the Palestinian people. Over the decades, the Palestinian people including the inhabitants of Gaza have observed two things:
On the one hand, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have achieved only meager results. The Arab peace initiative, despite its generous and encompassing nature, has been completely ignored by Israeli politicians eager for electoral success. As a reminder, this initiative envisages Israel�s withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of Palestinian refugees in return for normal relations between Israel and Arab states within the framework of a comprehensive peace. Vision and hope for a better future (for Palestinians) is menacingly slipping.
On the other hand, the siege of Gaza was so brutal and oppressive there seemed scant difference between life and death. Parents saw children dying of malnutrition and lack of medical care. Youth saw their parents suffering from unemployment and anguished by their inability to provide those they loved with even the bare necessities. And beyond all that, they saw an Arab and Muslim world watch with anger the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, saddened but unable to alter the terrible course of events.
Thus, the stage was set and the conditions became ripe for an explosion that threatens to be unlike anything the world has seen. It wasn�t that people�s very livelihood has suffered immensely. It wasn�t that hope (without which life isn�t worth living) has disintegrated. It wasn�t that the future (of generations to come) seemed bleak. It wasn�t even that the idea of having a country of their own (hence dignity and a sense of belonging) was vanishing with every intransigent Israeli response to Palestinian overtures. It was all of this and much more that produced this latest bloody turn of events.
And now, the world has a choice to make: Either allow Palestinians to have hope and a home of their own, or face the inevitable consequences.
For the US and the world community to be active or inactive in tandem with Israel�s wishes (and not necessarily its real interests) is to teeter on the edge of danger. On more than one occasion, the world got close to a resolution of the Arab-Israeli dispute but closure proved elusive.
For six long decades the Arab world was chided � and blamed � for not making peace overtures to Israel. Yet when the whole Arab world produced a comprehensive and generous peace initiative with the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, it was deftly ignored by the Bush administration and Israel. It should be no surprise, then, that a certain amount of skepticism and even cynicism exists among people who have seen the dream of peace disappear like a mirage. It has often been said that the Middle East is the land of missed opportunities. This is one opportunity we cannot afford to miss. Israel cannot (and should not) have it both ways.
As a general rule, blood begets blood, and extremism on this side of the divide feeds and thrives on extreme measures and atrocities on the other. One fears that the radicalization of otherwise moderate and law-abiding Arabs and Muslims (albeit limited in number and scope but harmful enough) is an inescapable result of such calamities.
For those of us who desperately cling to the hope of future coexistence and beneficial relations between the Arab/Muslim world and the West, Western response to Israel�s atrocities has been a huge disappointment. As we survey the wreckage and carnage that used to be Gaza, a few facts need to be remembered:
1. The depth and extent of human and material loss and suffering was colossal, and so should be the effort to bring comfort and compassion to children who lost their parents and parents who lost their children and worldly belongings.
2. An impetus and even a new lifeline has been extended to extremist positions, and the prophets of doom who speak about a clash of civilizations are unfortunately one step closer to realizing their dream. The apocalyptic nature and dimensions of the tragedy could pose a clear and present danger to the valiant efforts at intercultural and interfaith dialogues spearheaded by courageous leaders such as King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
3. Good and desirable causes and values such as human rights and democracy have been dealt with a severe setback, and those who claim that the West applies double standards to various regions and problems have scored a certain plus.
4. A lesson often repeated but little understood clearly states that there are limits to what military might can accomplish in the face of a determined or desperate people.
5. Television, the Internet and the YouTube have projected the full dimensions of this human tragedy. As a result, Israel�s reservoir of world sympathy is at an all-time low.
6. People in this part of the world have been heartened by President Barack Obama�s determination to immediately tackle this issue. Again, the Arab peace plan is the right address and the world community�s full backing symbolized by such efforts as the Madrid conference is sorely needed. Fortunately, both the US and the Arab world suffer no dearth of leaders who combine vision with humility and wisdom. Thus it was no surprise to people who knew the two leaders that only a few hours separated Obama�s inauguration speech from King Abdullah�s statement to the Arab summit in which he declared: �Allow me to announce in all our names that we have overcome the period of disunity, and that we will face the future with total unity and without any discord.� President Obama�s words echoed this generous spirit: �We have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.� But Saudi Arabian leader made it clear that this initiative is not open-ended. Again Obama�s reference to mutual interest and mutual respect between the West and the Muslim world is an essential ingredient in any healing process. Furthermore, the appointment of former Sen. George Mitchell with his impressive record in conflict resolution bodes well for a just and fair solution to this most intractable of world conflicts. His integrity, impartiality and expertise are critical. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put it, �we got a lot of damage to repair.�
7. The Israelis need to remember that living in this neighborhood requires (like living in any neighborhood) a modicum of sobriety and sensitivity to human suffering. Siege under any name is war.
To sum up:
In spite of what many are saying about the end of the peace process or its grim outlook, the latest conflict should instead galvanize the world community in the search for a permanent and lasting solution. The steps taken by President Obama and the Arab summit in Kuwait are clear indications of this trend. Past attempts have failed because some wavered when they needed to insist on pursuing the difficult path to a just solution. In my humble opinion, this path could include the following elements:
1. Israel must immediately lift its unconscionable siege of Gaza and declare a plan to fully compensate the victims there. This should be coupled with a clear apology and a commitment to never resort to such methods and disproportionate force.
2. Israel needs to declare its unequivocal and unconditional acceptance of the Arab peace plan in all its aspects as the framework for meaningful negotiations.
3. The world community must insist on the reconvening of the Madrid conference as it was originally conceived � as the proper mechanism for mediation, arbitration and eventual implementation of a lasting and comprehensive settlement containing both the timeframe and the parameters of a process that is practical and can be implemented.
4. As a result of its deliberations, the conference should be able to create a suitable mechanism for the implementation and supervision of the suggested solution composed of the main parties directly involved in the conflict in addition to governments and individuals known for their neutrality and integrity.
5. The conference would eventually convene to ratify the elements of the solution and to authorize the necessary resources needed for implementation.
This, of course, is not the only prescription for a meaningful resolution to this crisis. But we cannot overemphasize the dangers this crisis poses to the future of this area and to the world. Left to their own devices, the Israelis are likely to engage in more destructive and more damaging exercises. The absence of hope is likely to propel the more desperate and most extreme elements in the Palestinian society. If nothing else, the latest events have made clear the extent to which the two parties are willing to go.
Now that the guns have fallen silent (or seem to), we need to recognize that this crisis is vastly different from any witnessed in this unfortunate part of the world, and its consequences are likely to be catastrophic not only to the parties directly involved, but to the world at large. The benefits of peace as well as the price of war are likely to be equally shared by the inhabitants of an ever-shrinking planet. Closure is not a simple choice, it is imperative. The clock is ticking, and history will not wait much longer.
� Dr. Abdul Rahman H. Al-Saeed is a Saudi academic whose articles appear in a number of Arabic newspapers.
Dr. Al-Saeed's op-ed was printed in Arab News on February 14, 2009
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