Countdown

Mending Fences?

By AAI
Volume 9, No. 5
Posted on Monday February 11, 2008

That Dog Don’t Wag
The Winograd Commission released its final—and rather critical—report last week on Israeli conduct during the 2006 war in Lebanon, but made the unfortunate decision "not to examine individual complaints about violations of international law." A vague acknowledgement of charges regarding "selection of illegitimate targets, use of cluster bombs, disproportionate harming of civilians and infrastructure in Lebanon and the use of civilians as ‘human shields’ " found itself buried in a brief section of a special appendix towards the end of the 617-page document. The commission met the most damaging allegation—that the use of cluster bombs at the end of the war was egregious and unlawful—with light reproach, recommending only that "non-military elements be involved in assessing the future use [of cluster bombs] in light of international law." Will it take a future commission report on the current policies in Gaza to confirm that the best defense is not always a good offense?

Mending Fences?
The physical border between Gaza and Egypt might have been repaired this past weekend, but according to the New York Times, when Hamas destroyed that barrier, it "also blew a large hole in the Israeli policy, backed by Washington, of squeezing the population of Gaza in the hope that they would turn actively against Hamas." The consequences of this ongoing blockade confirmed that "the whole theory of putting pressure on a population to put pressure on their government doesn’t work," said Sholmo Avineri of Hebrew University. "It didn’t work in Lebanon in 2006, and it didn’t work now."

Not Everyone Fiddled While Gaza Burned
Ten House representatives signed on to a letter written by Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appealing for her to "exert her influence to urge Israel to end its blockade of Gaza." The letter, signed by Representatives Abercrombie (D-HI), Johnson (D-TX), Grijalva (D-AZ), Hinchey (D-NY), McCollum (D-MN), Oberstar (D-MN), David (D-IL), Norton (D-DC), Conyers (D-MI) and Farr (D-CA) highlighted the miserable living conditions in Gaza and reminded the secretary that "the administration has the responsibility and the authority to ensure that Israel comply with international law and protect the Palestinian civilian population." We were encouraged to see these eleven counter the predictable (read: provocative and biased) House rhetoric with humility and humanitarianism.

Courageous Candor from California
When Senator Dianne Feinstein heard that the White House was angry at U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for sitting next to the Iranian Foreign Minister on a recent panel, she recognized the administration’s trifling paranoia for what it is. In a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed, the influential California senator and member of the Select Intelligence Committee stated that "now is the moment for a bold U.S. diplomatic move to begin direct official talks with Iranian officials." Acknowledging that "the process is likely to be painful and difficult," she reasoned that "the rewards [would be] significant…and one day, could lead to a more stable and peaceful Middle East." We agree.

No Delegates in Dubai
Ghassan Grubeiz noted in Al Hewar that "there has been no uniformity of sentiment among Arab Americans on the result of Super Tuesday." Very true, though an (extremely) informal survey finds that Al Jazeera viewers from across the globe favor Senator Barack Obama by a 61% majority, with Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain, the emerging GOP front-runner, nearly tied with 10% and 6% respectively. Whoever the final contenders may be, Grubeiz stresses, "the 2008 presidential election offers a strategic opportunity to tie America with the Arab world not through war and fear of terror, but through ideas and aspirations." No doubt—from Seattle to Sharjah—the world is watching how this plays out.