| The Dishonest Broker of Democracy |
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| Saturday, 22 September 2007 | ||||||
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The Bush administration acts and talks with a twisted tongue. Tariq A. Al-Maeena,
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In a scathing criticism of US partiality, the outgoing Middle East envoy, Alvaro de Soto, strongly deplored US pressure that negated a fair and unbiased approach to the Middle East equation. The US bullying has damaged UN impartiality, according to the veteran Peruvian diplomat. De Soto who delivered these comments in his “End of Mission Report” after serving in the UN for 25 years added: “The fact is that even-handedness has been pummeled into submission in an unprecedented way since the beginning of 2007.” “At almost every juncture a premium is put on good relations with the US and improving the UN’s relationship with Israel. I have no problem with either goal but I do have a problem with self-delusion,” he stated. “Forgetting our ability to influence the Palestinian scene in the hope that it keeps open doors to Israel is to trade our Ace for a Joker.” Blaming overwhelming influence exerted by the US on the rest of the Quartet, the UN, the EU and Russia, and an “ensuing tendency toward self-censorship” within the UN when it comes to criticism of Israel, de Soto paints a grim picture of the reality of US politics when it comes to justice in the Middle East. He unequivocally states that this Quartet has often failed to hold Israel to its obligations under the road map, the current framework for peace talks, allowing it to continue unrestrained in its designs, aided and abetted by the willing and watchful eyes of the US administration. De Soto reveals that the US actively torpedoed the future of the new Palestinian government that was elected by an overwhelming majority of the people. Hamas wanted to form a broad coalition government with its more moderate rivals, including Fatah, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas. But the US discouraged other Palestinian politicians from joining. “We were told that the US was against any ‘blurring’ of the line dividing Hamas from those Palestinian political forces committed to the two-state solution,” de Soto writes. The intent was to isolate this new representation of the Palestinian people. The US also encouraged the Israeli decision to freeze Palestinian tax revenues. “The Quartet has been prevented from pronouncing on this because the US, as its representatives have intimated to us, does not wish Israel to transfer these funds to the PA (Palestinian Authority),” he writes. “There is a seeming reflex, in any given situation where the UN is to take a position, to ask first how Israel or Washington will react rather than what is the right position to take.” The international boycott of the Palestinian government after Hamas won elections last year was wrong, de Soto adds. Rather than the pressure and isolation actively encouraged by the US, he pleaded for dialogue and diplomacy. When he argued for tougher criticism of Israel based on what he observed, he came up against a “heavy barrage” from US officials to silence any negative comments about Israel. The effect of the boycott was two-fold. Damage the Palestinian economy and promote radicalism, thereby lifting pressure off Israel. “With all focus on the failings of Hamas, the Israeli settlement enterprise and barrier construction has continued unabated,” he writes. De Soto states that the US was clearly pushing for a confrontation between Fatah and Hamas. When fighting started between Fatah and Hamas, de Soto quotes an unnamed US official as saying earlier this year: “I like this violence ... It means that other Palestinians are resisting Hamas.” And killing each other in the process, to Israel’s benefit. Since December at least 600 Palestinians have been killed in factional battles. Although the report also criticizes the Palestinians for their violence, it argues that Israeli policies have encouraged continued Palestinian militancy by extending its settlements and barrier in the West Bank. “I wonder if the Israeli authorities realize that, season after season, they are reaping what they sow, and are systematically pushing along the violence/repression cycle to the point where it is self-propelling,” he writes. And we in the Middle East have to wonder season after season, when will it be that the US finally sheds of the Israeli cloak of deception and becomes an honest broker of democracy. http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=101517&d=22&m=9&y=2007
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