A parade of charlatans [View All]

Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 29 December 2004

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3463.shtml

Supporters of Israel have often accused Arab states of cynically exploiting the Israeli problem and the suffering it has caused the Palestinians to distract their own populations from domestic troubles. But if this has occurred, others, far beyond the region have also found the conflict a useful tool for their own selfish purposes. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is the latest leader to brazenly exploit this tragedy.

During recent crises in Middle East, world powers have found themselves in the awkward situation of embarking on military action which risked inflaming Arab opinion, but needing the assistance of Arab states in order to stage the action. This is true presently as it was in 1991 when the United States led a wide, UN-sanctioned coalition to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi military occupation.

Although the 1991 action was authorized by the Security Council and seen by much of the world as legitimate, people in the region could not fathom why Iraq was expected to comply instantly and unconditionally with UN Security Council resolutions demanding withdrawal or face devastating military action, while simultaneously, the Israeli occupation of Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Palestinian lands since 1967 had never been treated with any urgency despite numerous UN Security Council resolutions demanding Israeli withdrawal and an end to Israel's ongoing efforts to colonize most of those lands with its own settlers.

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....Before the March 2003 Iraq invasion, Blair made bold promises to the Arab world in an interview with the BBC Arabic Service that as soon as Iraq was dealt with, there would be unprecedented efforts to resolve the Palestine situation which would put to rest all doubt caused by decades of Western inaction and double standards. In order to deliver on these promises, and restore lost credibility at home, in Europe and with the UK's Arab friends, Blair needed to demonstrate that his allegiance to Bush over Iraq would be rewarded with influence in Washington that could be used to get the Americans to deal with Israel. But time and again it has been demonstrated that Blair has no such influence and his promises are a devalued currency.



Hasan Abu Nimah is the former permanent representative of Jordan
at the United Nations, and was a member of the joint Jordanian-Palestinian
negotiating team in the Washington peace talks 1991-92.
Ali Abunimah is a co-founder of The Electronic Intifada.