Arabs to Olmert: Deal with the Palestinians

For key Arab governments like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the new Palestinian national unity government is a no-brainer. They are not happy with Prime Minister Olmert's refusal to deal with it or Washington's cool response thus far.

First, they believe, anything that stops fighting between the Fatah and Hamas factions is by definition a good thing. Good for the Palestinians, and for anyone who hopes to see a Palestinian government negotiate a peace accord with Israel.

But they also believe that, considering that Hamas won the parliamentary elections last year, a national unity government that now gives President Mahmoud Abbas the green light to negotiate with Israel is a promising new channel through which to lower Israeli-Palestinian tensions and explore a serious resumption of comprehensive peace talks broken off six years ago.

Hamas is still refusing to recognize Israel and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya repeated Hamas's stand that "resistance in all its forms" is a "legitimate right" of the Palestinians. But Arab diplomats believe that while it would be better if Hamas reversed its militancy and accepted the reality of Israel, Hamas's willingness to "respect" past Israeli-Palestinian agreements is a promising step that should be encouraged rather than discouraged. As part of that encouragement, Arab governments want the international community to end its crippling year-long blockade against aid to the Palestinian Authority. A resumption of such assistance, they argue, would strengthen Abbas, the main Palestinian proponent of peace with Israel, more than Hamas, which leads the unity government.

Condi Rice has some decisions to make on all this before arriving back in the Middle East this week. She seems intent on re-starting full-fledged peace talks. But a continued U.S.-led embargo on the Palestinians will undermine her efforts with the Palestinians and their Arab backers. It may help undermine the unity government as well, leaving Rice no Palestinian partner to work with. There are signs that some Europeans will bolt from any U.S. insistence on maintaining the embargo; Norway, which mediated the Oslo Agreement, has already announced its recognition for the Palestinian government.

An Egyptian official suggests that a Palestinian unity government may actually have a better chance of striking a deal with Israel than Yasser Arafat's Fatah group did when made the Oslo Agreement with Israel and saw the deal undermined by Hamas suicide attacks. "We believe that it is better if Hamas is on board," an Egyptian official tells me. "If you corner Hamas, it will have no choice but to torpedo any agreement that Olmert and Abbas seek to reach." Arab thinking is that while Hamas swears never to accept Israel, the Palestinian people as a whole would vote for peace with Israel if Abbas is allowed and manages to negotiate a final deal with Olmert.

As they prepare to host an Arab summit in Riyadh on March 28-29, the Saudis, who sponsored the Arab peace initiative adopted by a summit five years ago in Beirut, and brokered the recent Mecca agreement for the Palestinian unity government, bemoan the shortsightedness of the Israelis and Americans. I received this email from a well-connected Saudi on Sunday:

"Is it too much to ask for you to be good advisors to the Palestinians, to congratulate them on their Mecca Unity Accord and to judge them by their actions? When will you understand that what is needed in Iraq is not more troops but more compassion? When will you see that the Arab world today has its peace movement that is ready to accept a two-state solution and to live in friendship with an Israeli state? It is time for you to recognize the sensible leaders in the Middle East who are trying to chart a new course through compassion, tolerance and forgiveness.

"Those Arab leaders are meeting on the 28th of March to convey a message of peace and hope for the Middle East. The peace proposal to Israel is again on the table and the Palestinian and Lebanese issues are being resolved with earnestness and sincerity. You owe it to at least express some trust, to help us rather than obstruct our attempts for peace. We want to see an end to this constant bickering and setting of pre-conditions. That is not how you build peace and trust between people. Every time Arabs give in to one of your demands they are told that it is not enough. Let us stop these silly games and grow up a little.

"When will we finally hear America and Israel telling Arabs that you welcome our meeting and our efforts, that you support a united Palestinian government and concerted Arab efforts for peace? Israelis must understand that you cannot live in spite or in isolation from the Palestinian and the Arab people. You might be able to achieve a short-lived military victory today but you are not getting any closer to the long-term victory of peace through your current behavior.

"Let us not push the Palestinians towards more extremism at a time when Hamas is looking reality in the face and their leaders are willing to work with the international community to resolve the conflict that plagues their people’s daily lives. You should be helping the Palestinians consolidate this desire for peace rather than be their prison guards, condemning their every move and subjecting them to humiliation. We Arabs are experts on boycotting and we can honestly say that it led us nowhere in dealing with Israel over the past 50 years.

"Wake up America. Wake up Israel. We Arabs are ready to embark upon a new era with you if you are ready to help us build bridges and construct our common future on compassion and understanding rather than on creating more hatred. If we all put our good intentions on the table then we can finally resolve the issues which have divided us for so long and put the suffering behind us. That is what Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela would have known to do."

Part of the problem is with Olmert. He is weak, especially after the disaster of Israel's war against Hizballah in Lebanon last summer. Politically, it is not the time to expect Olmert to be soft on Hamas. Hamas also has to cooperate if Abbas's "green light" will get him anywhere--and if Arab demands for the West to deal with the Palestinian unity government are to be taken seriously. Monday's news was not encouraging: Hamas took responsibility for an attack on an Israeli worker near the Gaza Strip, its first violent operation in four months.

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo