That Gift!

Maher Othman     Al-Hayat     2003/08/1

U.S. President George Bush offered his friend, "the man of peace," Ariel Sharon a map for "Eretz Israel," a plan that was drawn in 1678 that comprised the countries of the region, even Babylon and Assyria. He probably doesn't know that this map doesn't match any historical reality, even if Eretz Israel was mentioned in these legendary borders in some old religious text. There is no use to argue with President Bush, who doesn't even know his mother tongue, breaks its rules and derives words no one has heard of before him, about the insensitivity of presenting such a gift to the Prime Minister of a hostile nation, which has carried out in the core of the Arab world acts of terrorism, murder, slaughter, destruction of villages and farms and eviction of people from their homes. It seems that the President has very basic notions about the Middle East and Israel, convictions nurtured by many Likud supporters in his administration, especially the closest to him, such as his Middle East advisor at the National Security Agency, Elliot Abrams.  

The truth is that Bush's insensitivity in making this gift of Eretz Israel to Sharon translates his lack of knowledge in the history of our region for over 3,000 years. This gesture totally contradicts the Roadmap, which main part calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967, as well as for freezing the construction of settlements on Palestinian territories.

What an American ally presents to his Israeli ally is not our business. What is our concern is the hope that the President of the sole superpower acts to serve peace, security and stability in our region. We don't necessarily want a warm and close friendship with the Bush administration; it would be enough to see it behave in accordance with the UN resolutions related to the Palestinian issue, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

The President changed his tone and discourse. He said one thing to the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and then the opposite when he met with Sharon. There is nothing to be optimist about if the President of the sole superpower changed the content of his discourse regarding the oldest, persisting conflict in the world to fit the situation and demands of one party in the conflict, because this party is supported by a Jewish group having financial, political and media power, that is so strong that it can determine the fate of politicians and legislators to serve its whims and interests.  

That person who wants a second mandate needs to make concessions and pledges to that power that can help guarantee success or is capable of destroying any chance of success. It is important to us, Arabs, to be aware of the margin of maneuver that Bush will have in the next few months in his attempt to remain in the White House for another four years, so that we can know how he will treat us and how we will treat him.

The coming few months are crucial for the ongoing peace process, which hasn't yet started. The entire international community should work on filling the gap that will emerge as a result of Bush and his administration being busy with his elections campaign. If Israel is not convinced with releasing the largest number of prisoners and withdrawing from all the Palestinian territories and lifting the house arrest over President Yasser Arafat as soon as possible, the truce which the Palestinian groups promised to keep for three months would be cancelled and replaced by violence, assassinations, Israeli breaches, violence and counter-violence.