Palestinians and Arabs Should Be More Responsible

By Khalid Amayreh* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

Foreign ministers of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) have unanimously adopted a resolution or "policy statement"calling for the creation of a Palestinian state with East (Al-Quds) Jerusalem as its capital.

Rejecting the Israeli annexation of the holy city, which took place soon after the Israeli army seized it from Jordan in June 1967, the statement said that the European Union would not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including East Al-Quds

Israel claims that Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Noble Jerusalem) is part of its "united and undivided" capital, a claim not recognized by the international community, including Israel's guardian/ally, the United States, which maintains that the fate of the city must be decided through bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian officials reacted with a degree of ambivalence to the EU statement, with Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Western-backed government in Ramallah, describing the statement as a "landmark decision" and a "historical step toward the realization of Palestinian statehood."

"This path is going to take us to freedom, which will make Palestinians] be able to live like all peoples around the world as a free people with dignity in a country of our own on the territories occupied in 1967, including East [Al-Quds]," said Fayyad.

Other Palestinian officials, however, were less euphoric and more circumspect in their reactions.

"We had hoped that the European Union would adopt the original Swedish draft," said PA Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat. The Swedish draft called for the EU recognition of Al-Quds as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Erekat and other Palestinian official castigated French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner for currying favor with Israel by opposing the Swedish draft resolution.

Other Palestinian officials spoke of "French perfidy and betrayal", calling on fellow Arab leaders to take a stance against French flabbiness with Israel.

During the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on December 7, Kouchner reportedly warned his European colleagues that a European recognition of East Al-Quds as the capital of Palestine would alienate the Israeli government and make a negotiated settlement even more elusive.

Actions Speak Louder

Many view the European policy as a monotonous repetition of platitudes long echoed by the EU.

There is no doubt that the European statement provides a certain booster to the enduring Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence from decades of Jewish colonialism.

However, unless acted upon, which should be done sooner than later, the EU resolution would remain a futile exercise in international power politics.

Indeed, this is exactly how the apartheid Israeli regime is viewing the latest European posture.

The Israeli media has quoted Danny Ayalon, the number-two man in the apartheid state's foreign ministry, as saying that the EU statement was "nothing new", and that the "EU had made similar declarations in the past".

Ayalon went further in his insolence saying that he did not expect Israeli-EU relations to be affected by the European decision. "Our interests are what counts, even if there is criticism of us in the world."

This shows that Israel, which relies on virtually limitless backing from the United States, does not really take the latest European stance very seriously, or at least seriously enough to make Israel rethink of its present policies which are based on ethnic cleansing and settlement expansion.

Skeptics, who are many, view the European policy statement as a monotonous repetition of platitudes long echoed by the European Union, both as an entity and individual states, but without having any tangible effect on the ground.

Indeed, even manifestly pro-Israeli EU member states, such as Germany, the Netherland, and now Italy, as well as the former East European states which joined the European Union fairly recently, have more or less maintained that any durable peace settlement in occupied Palestine would have to be based on UN resolutions 242 and 338 and the land-for-peace formula.

However, this did not prevent Israel from continuing to effectively liquidate the Palestinian cause by building Jewish-only settlements all over the West Bank, especially in East Al-Quds.

The Same Old Promises

The EU statement would remain just an innocuous statement.

Similarly, the unmitigated liquidation of the Palestinian cause has not really drawn a proactive European reaction that would force Israel to reconsider its brazen temerity and arrogance.

Israel is actually stepping up an already rapid settlement drive aimed at "creating facts" and forestalling the possibility of establishing a viable and territorially contiguous Palestinian state.

The implications here are amply clear. Without meaningful efforts to transform EU policy into a manual for action, the EU statement would remain just an innocuous statement with little or no relevance on reality in the West Bank, especially in Al-Quds.

This reminds us of what one Israeli official once said about American criticisms of Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank: he said: "Let the Americans say what they want, and we do what we want."

The Israeli official tone is likely to be harsher when relating to the latest European step since Israel has always viewed Europe as a "toothless and gutless power" that talks too much and pays a lot of money, but does virtually nothing to affect reality on the ground.

As far as Israel is concerned, this role, affecting reality on the ground, is reserved for the United States, whose continued backing and support for the apartheid regime in Tel Aviv overrides and overshadows any European role.

Realpolitik

The most important part must be done by Palestinians themselves.

Nonetheless, it is obvious that international politics are not charitable field of work where altruism looms large, which means that the European Union will not be more Palestinian and more Arab and Muslim than Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims themselves.

This is what Palestinian politician Abdullah Abdullah alluded to in an interview with IslamOnline.net following the adoption of the new EU declaration in Brussels on December 8.

He said that the responsibility for translating the EU declaration into tangible political realities does not solely rest with the Europeans, but also with Palestinians and the Arab world.

"We must constantly urge the European Union to act on this declaration; we must challenge them to be true to their own words. Otherwise the declaration would go into oblivion," said Abdullah.

Recognizing that Arab and Muslim rights in Palestine will not be given back on a silver platter, Abdullah urges Arab states, in the strongest terms, to match their rhetorical support for Palestinian rights with aggressive diplomatic action in Europe, North America, and elsewhere.

"You want to support the Palestinians? Well, that is fine, but if you are really sincere about this, then make sure there is a constant linkage between vital Western interests in the Arab-Muslim world and Western positions and policies on the Palestinian question; otherwise, none will take us seriously," assured Abdullah

To be sure, the most important part must be done by Palestinians themselves. If Palestinians do not help themselves, no power, Arab or any other one, would help them.

Hence, it is extremely important that Palestinians end their silly game of mutual recrimination and passing-the-buck game. Palestinians shall build a united, solid front against gluttonous Israeli rapacity which would not stop unless the Palestinian cause disappeared into the dustbin of history?

* Khalid Amayreh a journalist based in the Occupied Palestinian town of Dura. He obtained his MA in journalism from the University of Southern Illinois in 1983. Since the 1990s, Mr. Amayreh has been working and writing for several news outlets among which is Aljazeera.net, Al-Ahram Weekly, Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), and Middle East International.