By Munir K. Nasser
Chief Correspondent, Washington, DC
Albawaba.com
The escalating violence in Palestine and wide scale anti-US demonstrations in the Arab world have created a crisis atmosphere in Washington, and sent US officials scrambling to deal with an explosive situations just 30 days from the presidential elections.
Clinton and his top aides engaged intensively in efforts to save what is left of the peace process, and more importantly, to save Barak’s government from collapsing. Above all, they struggled to relieve the pressure on Barak who was considering a major strike against Lebanon and Syria.
They were concerned that such strikes would inflame Arab public opinion and hurt US interests in the region, including hiking oil prices, which have become a hot issue in the presidential elections.
Meanwhile, President Clinton has come under fire from Congress and the American Jewish leadership for not blaming Palestinian President Yasser Arafat “for coordinating the anti-Israel uprising in Palestine.”
Clinton is also coming under pressure from Arab governments for not blaming Israel for provoking the violence. The United States is now reluctant to point a finger at Arafat for fear of inflaming Palestinian and Arab passions in the region and endangering American embassies, which have become the target of angry protests in recent days.
These pressures could help explain why the Clinton administration has limited its public statements, mostly to calling on both sides to restraint themselves and urge them to meet in a summit to resolve the issues between them. This also explains why the US administration did not veto Saturday’s UN Security Council resolution that accused Israel of using excessive force to subdue the uprising to avoid infuriating the Arab world. Middle East experts in the administration, including Middle East coordinator Dennis Ross, CIA Director George Tenet, and Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, had recommended to Clinton to abstain rather than veto the resolution. They believed that a veto could have caused more Arab violence and put American lives at stake in the region.
Initially, American officials took an even-handed approach to the outbreak of violence, mildly blaming Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon’s visit to Haram Al-Sharif by calling it " not constructive."
As the violence escalated, Albright became less neutral in her comments and bluntly accused Arafat of provoking violence. In her interview on NBC TV network on Sunday she declared: "The problem . . . is the Palestinians, in many ways, are putting the Israelis under siege. We are concerned about excessive use of force but also about this siege mentality that is being, really, provoked, in a way, by all the stone-throwers."
Other critics from Congress were more blunt in placing the blame on Arafat. Republican Congressman Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, insists that there is clear evidence that the violence was premeditated and coordinated by Arafat.
According to Edward Abington, a former US consul general in Jerusalem who now represents the Palestinian Authority in Washington, such criticism presumes that Arafat has more control over Palestinians than he actually does. "Everyone assumes that Arafat . . . can turn this on and off like a faucet, and that just isn't true," he told the Washington Post. Moreover, he added, "Every time there's violence, it's always Arafat's fault. What people tend to ignore is the pent-up frustration when the peace process is stalled or seen as not going anywhere. From the Palestinian perspective, Israel . . . wants to use a continuing peace process as cover while it continues to expand settlements and confiscate new land."
Arab and Jewish Protests
Meanwhile, the Middle East tensions have thrust itself into local American politics when Hillary Clinton broke with her husband and charged the United States was wrong not to veto a UN resolution blaming Israel for violence against Palestinians. In her second Senate debate with her opponent Rick Lazio, the first lady blasted the UN Security Council resolution reprimanding Israel for using "excessive" force against the Palestinians in a clear bid for Jewish votes. "I believe it was a wrong move not to veto it," she said during the televised debate. "It was inaccurate and one-sided ... I was very disappointed, because to me the responsibility lies squarely with Chairman Arafat."
In New York, more than 200 Jews demonstrated outside the UN Palestinian mission in support of Israeli actions against the Palestinians. According to press reports, a handful of demonstrators from the militant Jewish Defense League joined in, carrying signs that read "Smash Arab Terror." One member of the Jewish Defense Group ripped a Palestinian flag to shreds as his companions shouted, "Expel the Arabs now!" outside the mission's door.
In related developments, Arab American demonstrations in several US cities have intensified during the week, in protest against Israel's military response to uprisings in the West Bank and Gaza. In New York, an estimated 8,000 protesters turned out for a rally last week, the third in that city since the clashes began. Demonstrations at Israeli missions have also been held in San Francisco and Washington.
In Chicago, thousands of protesters assembled in a sea of red, green and black Palestine flags at the center of the city to demand an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian lands and a US condemnation of the killing of civilians. Organizers of these protests estimate that more than 150,000 Arabs live in the Chicago area, including 80,000 Palestinians, and more than 350,000 people of Arab extraction live in Michigan. There are an estimated 3 million to 4 million Arab Americans living in the United States, including more than 500,000 Palestinians, according to ADC estimates.
Thousands of Arab protesters also turned out for four major demonstrations in the Detroit area in the past week, many of them expressing the same strong anger against Israel, and demanding that the US taxes they pay not be used for US aid to Israel.
In Southern California, police last week estimated that one demonstration in Anaheim drew 10,000 protesters. Demonstration blocked the streets in the city of Anaheim, and chanted patriotic songs and chants protesting the double standard of US policy in which the government comes out strongly for freedom in Yugoslavia but not for the Palestinian people. Other Palestinian protests were held at the Israeli Consulate and a US federal building in Los Angeles. An estimated one million Arab Americans, including 150,000 Palestinians, live in California.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
