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JVP News Roundup, July 29, 2007 Congress is once again showing its remarkable ability to misunderstand the Middle East and to be more narrow-minded in its decisions regarding Arab states than even Israeli hawks.At issue now is a Middle East arms package that the Bush Administration plans to put into the next appropriations bill. It involves a 10-year commitment to do the following:
The American strategy of flooding the Middle East with weapons, small and large, has already had the effect of greatly increasing the instability of the region. This new wave of arms supplies, crafted to maintain Israel's military superiority while simultaneously enabling America's Arab allies to strengthen their ability to stand up to increasing Iranian influence in the region, is certain to have similarly destabilizing results. That is not to say that the arms deal won't accomplish the goals outlined above, but that accomplishment will come along with other, unintended results. Principled, or even thoughtful, opposition to such a strategy would be welcome. A credible alternative that does not endanger Israel or other US interests might mean:
These measures could be aimed at allaying the concerns over Saudi and Gulf states' acquisition of arms. Stabilizing the governments through enhanced human rights protections would greatly diminish the threat of those governments falling and the weapons ending up in the hands of parties who might use them against Israel, which is a fear in Congress. But all of this is beside the point--Israel's own Prime Minister has already accepted the idea of the US selling these arms to the Arab states. One would expect Congress, then, to follow his lead. Instead, what we get is Congressional saber-rattling that is positioned solidly to the right of the majority of Israeli political parties. There is no questioning of Israel's reception of aid, and even of it increasing, despite the fact that the enhancement of aid is specifically meant to offset the arms sales to the Arab states. Instead, there is blind opposition from key Democrats in Congress only to sales to Saudi Arabia, based on objections to the Saudi's stance on Iraq, and their attempt to re-unify the Palestinian factions. The short-sightedness of this opposition is hard to overstate. Congressional understanding of the Middle East is limited. They hear from "experts" largely supplied by only one side in the discussion, be they from AIPAC or the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP). There are always, of course, lobbying efforts supporting failed hard-line policies, but the educational efforts are just as important. The need for an alternative in Washington couldn't be more clear. Palestinians Stranded In Egypt Perhaps no situation serves as a better metaphor for the Palestinian plight than that of the 5-7,000 Palestinians who have been stranded at the Egypt-Gaza border ever since the Rafah crossing was closed after Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip. Few have taken the attitude that the suffering of these people on the border, where they have been stranded with little support, using up all of their money on temporary housing and food, should be alleviated quickly. Instead, people on all sides have used this dire situation to blame their opponents. The Rafah crossing is administered on the Egyptian side by Egypt, working in consultation with Israel. On the Palestinian side, it had been administered by the Palestinian Authority with European Union monitors. When Hamas took over Gaza, they assumed sole control over the crossing and the EU monitors fled. With the Hamas takeover, Egypt closed the crossing. While this was certainly approved by Israel, it was just as clearly an Egyptian decision. Israel wants the crossing closed because, while the Palestinian side is under Hamas control, they fear that weapons smuggling will increase exponentially. But Egypt's concerns are much stronger, as they fear that the free flow of goods and people over the crossing will not only imply recognition of Hamas' control of Gaza, but will also help cement day-to-day connections between Hamas and their allies, including the Muslim Brotherhood, in Egypt. For much of this time, Egypt has done little to safeguard the welfare of the Palestinians at the border. Some have accused Fatah of blocking the return of the stranded Palestinians. In fact, they have no real influence on this situation. Hamas, on the other hand, has refused any alternative to opening the Rafah crossing, leaving the thousands of Palestinians in limbo. In the early days of their takeover of Gaza, they fired on the Kerem Shalom crossing in order to discourage even aid shipments from coming through. While that has abated, the message was sent that Hamas would enforce their decisions about entrance and exit from the Strip. They have made it clear that they oppose the alternatives proposed by Israel, be it through Kerem Shalom or by the more circuitous route now being proposed that would bring the stranded people up on PA sponsored buses to the Erez crossing at the northeastern end of Gaza and allow them to re-enter the strip there. Though Hamas has not threatened violence if such options are attempted, there is legitimate fear that they will resort to it to enforce their will. Israel, for its part, is screening anyone coming through its territory among the stranded Palestinians. Any who are wanted by Israel would face arrest if they try to return. For Hamas, this is an important point in establishing some recognition that they rule Gaza. With all parties refusing to talk to Hamas, including Israel, Egypt and Fatah, it is impossible to resolve the dispute. At this writing, 101 Palestinians had been brought through Erez without incident. But the possibility remains that there will be trouble, as Israel is only bringing people in at a slow pace, expecting some 700 more this week. Since this will continue to leave large numbers of people stranded and because this will require a large number of individual bus trips, each of which will draw considerable attention, the potential for problems from all sides remain. Still, one might hope that this is the beginning of the end of this crisis and that most or all of the stranded Palestinians will soon be home. In the end, all the leadership bodies--Fatah, Hamas, Israel and Egypt--played politics with the lives of Palestinians, most of whom, perhaps even all, are innocent civilians. That is the Palestinian tale of the past century writ small. In Israel
In the Palestinian Territories
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