Editorial: Dialogue At Times of Massacre 
 
Tuesday, March 26 2002 @ 03:57 PM GMT 

The biggest and most ridiculous aspect of this entire scenario is that Israeli leader Ariel Sharon is being tested by peace initiatives that he has already rejected, time and time again

By Ramzy Baroud, Editor-in-Chief 

Have I missed something here? I must have. 

World media is reporting that the Arab summit of Beirut was aimed at testing 'Israel's resolve for peace,' and President George Bush is telling Arafat to 'get busy' fighting alleged Palestinian terrorism, all coinciding with the Washington Post report on Israeli plans to unleash massive assaults on Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps. 

This is certainly a case of double paranoia and wishful thinking, spiced up with ignorance and political immaturity. 

Let's think about it. If some one slapped you on the face, then punched you and bit your neck so that you began bleeding, extensively, would your response be "how about discussing this over a cup of coffee?" 

Of course not. Resolving the causes that led to all of this kicking and biting should be the least concern as long as the beating up didn't cease. What needs to be done first: the abused party needs to be rescued from his misery and then, maybe, we can talk. 

But no, Palestinians are different, always different. The Arab summit in Beirut will take place just days after the ending of the greatest carnage of Palestinians in many years. over 200, mostly civilians were killed, hundreds more wounded, and thousands of homes destroyed. 

How did the Arab world react to that? Well, some cracked down on Arab protesters who went peacefully to the streets, demanding justice for Palestinians, others revived worn peace initiatives to 'test Israel's resolve for peace', and others went on with their lives. 

And while Palestinians were laying dead in the streets of Jenin, and as Israeli soldiers refused to allow medical workers to collect the corpses (to the point of shooting and killing medical workers), Bush and his pro-Israeli cronies in the government and media stepped up pressure on Palestinians to stop attacking Israel. 

Has the world gone mad? I am sure it has. 

But the biggest and most ridiculous aspect of this entire scenario is that Israeli leader Ariel Sharon is being tested by peace initiatives that he has already rejected, time and time again. 

The Israeli Prime Minster made it very clear when the Saudi initiative was laid open that: yes to normalization with the Arabs, no to every thing else. Meaning that Israel is keenly interested in exploiting Arab economies and laborers and in selling their low quality products in new markets, yet without implementing international law and all of its 'irrelevant' rhetoric that turns Israel off. 

So what are we discussing, whom are we testing and why? 

Let us say that Sharon has failed that test, so what? Do we really expect that the United States government would unleash the hordes on the Jewish State? The worse the US could do is to tell Sharon that his action is 'not helpful', yet stress that it is all Arafat's fault, and that Palestinians need to prove their genuine intentions to end the violence and crackdown on terrorists, and a long, long list of dishonest and demeaning conditions. 

So Bush, once he returned from a Central American trip, began his day back in Washington by asking Arafat to 'get busy' cracking down on terrorists. 

On the same day, the early signs of the Arab summit showed that not much has changed in the political discourse of the Arab leadership. 

Meanwhile, Israel is preparing a massive attack on Palestinians. The Washington Post reported on Monday, Mar 25 that highly placed Israeli officials confirmed that a failure of the Palestinian-Israeli security talks to reach a ceasefire would leave Israel with no option but to lead a "comprehensive military confrontation" against the Palestinians. 

If you are wondering how Israel defines such a "comprehensive military confrontation" look at it from a comparison angle. The last attack on the West Bank and Gaza resulted in the killing of hundreds. But the coming assault is expected, according to the Post to be broader and deeper. 

So are we talking mass killing here? Are we talking Sabra and Shatilla kind of massacres? God, and the Israeli war generals only know. 

But what we know is that facing such brutality and vision of violence with peace initiatives that we knew Israel would reject, simply to present the latter with a meaningless test that will hardly provoke a word of criticism from the US, is the wrong response to Israel's brutality. 

Peace initiatives are healthy approaches to resolving conflicts. True. But maybe, just maybe we can end the massacres first, deploy international observers to the area, and get Israel to accept the basis of such initiatives, international law that is, before we offer dialogue. 

There is a problem of priority here. Palestinians are in need of protection, not lengthy speeches. You don't lecture a starving child about the virtue of giving. Feed him first, then bore him to death with words. 

Arab efforts need to be completely diverted from offering little needed peace initiative (considering that the international law is clear enough) toward providing a form of protection to the Palestinian people. 

The Arab governments, collectively, need to hold the US government responsible for its destructive policy in the Middle East and its constant blame of the victim. 

Finally, Arabs must stand united and use their economic weight and might to get the respect they deserve. 

 

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