• Home
  • Perspectives
  • Articles
  • Columns
  • Platform
  • Poetry
    • Literature
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Support
    • Donation Confirmation
  • Write for us
Search
46.2 F
Los Angeles
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Media Monitors Network (MMN)
  • Home
  • Perspectives
    • Jerusalem Israel Palestine Dome of The Rock Golden Dome

      The Abraham Accords undermined much-needed peace with Palestinians

      World Map

      Global disturbing disparities

      Globe Algeria Niger Mali Africa

      There is always a price to pay for befriending the Zionists

      Illegal Israeli Settlements

      Antisemitism claims mask a reign of political and cultural terror across…

      The Flower - Pakistan Monument at Night

      Israel in the vanguard of India’s mounting conflict with Pakistan

  • Articles
    • Man studying religious book

      Ishmael and Isaac: An Essay on the Divergent Moral Economies of…

      Mahmoud Abbas

      May Your Home Be Destroyed

      Netanyahu Lighting Hanukah Candles with His Wife and Sons

      Bibi’s Son or: Three Men in a Car

      The Map of Greater Israel

      The Man Who Jumped

      West Bank - Palestine

      Cry, Beloved Country

  • Columns
    • Progressives Must Fight With -- and In -- the Democratic Party

      Steps Left for Electing Progressives and Defeating Republicans in the Midterms

      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      Nancy Pelosi Could Get Us All Killed

      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      ‘Fortress Mentality’ Among U.S. Leaders Has Trapped Us in a Cycle…

      Progressives Must Fight With -- and In -- the Democratic Party

      Grassroots Organizing Should Dump Biden and Clear the Path for a…

      Corporate Media Are Focusing on Race -- and Dodging Class

      Biden Refuses to Mention the Worsening Dangers of Nuclear War. Media…

  • Platform
    • Hanukkah Lights

      Hanukkah is not hypocrisy

      The Washington Post

      “Preemptive war could risk millions of casualties. But….”

      When they shout: "We strongly condemn…"

      68

      Why Iran won’t attack Israel

      Is One Iraqi’s Self-Hatred Newsworthy?

  • Poetry
    • Literature
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Support
    • Donation Confirmation
  • Write for us
Home Perspectives Enhancing the prospects of Beirut
  • Perspectives

Enhancing the prospects of Beirut

By
Ahmed Amr
-
March 25, 2002
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
WhatsApp
Linkedin
ReddIt
Email
Print
Tumblr
Telegram
Mix
VK
Digg
LINE
Viber
Naver

     

     

    One gets only so many second chances in life. Beirut is getting another chance to take her place as a grand cultural and political center for the whole Middle East. We can only hope that the conference in Beirut will also turn out to be a conference for Beirut, the only Arab capital that has fully tasted the brutality of an Israeli siege. This city, one of the most charming beauties on the Mediterranean, has been ravaged by Israeli tanks and endured months of savage attacks by the Israeli Air Force. Lebanon has paid a terrible price for having a belligerent expansionist Israel on its southern borders. No one needs to remind the Lebanese of Israeli intrigue or the bloody civil wars that plagued their land as a result of the expulsion of the Palestinians. Aside from the Palestinians, who understands Sharon’s Israel better than the people of Beirut?

    This is a chance for the Lebanese and the Palestinians to appeal directly to the American people. To make the most of this opportunity, we hope the people of Beirut will do their part to enhance the prospects for liberating the occupied territories and creating a Palestinian state. There is a lively press in Beirut and it is freer and more eloquent than most of what passes for journalism in the Middle East. For a change, America will lend a serious ear to the voice of Beirut and the narrative of the Palestinians might get a fair hearing.

    Many who have good reasons to doubt might question why this moment is so seriously pregnant with possibilities. But there are also many good reasons why Beirut should welcome the promise of a new birth. After first brushing aside the Saudi initiative, the Bush administration has taken a second look at Crown Prince Abdullah’s proposition. It is not entirely clear why there is such a sudden shift in American attitude. But it seems very real and very genuine. It could be that the United States government has concluded that there is a compelling strategic interest in resolving the Israeli/Palestinian problem. In the mainstream press, the President’s sudden shift in policy has been treated kindly. This kindness often comes from the same publishers and journalists who have been beating the drums for Sharon’s ‘military solution’ and even pondering the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

    But, at the end of the day, In the post 911 world, American national security issues might be of more importance than America’s ‘special relationship’ with a thug like Ariel Sharon. I could speculate about why Bush invited the Crown Prince to his ranch. Or why the Crown Prince was quick to accept the invitation. We could also pay some attention to why, in a very business like manner, the Saudis and Americans have worked out a formula for relocating United States troops to nearby Qatar. It also helps to notice that, in the span of Cheney’s visit to the region, the rhetoric calling for an invasion of Iraq has simmered down to barely to a whisper. The American sponsored UN resolution affirming the need for a Palestinian state was anemic. But it is still a Security Council resolution. Add to the mix, the overtures to Arafat and the public criticism of Sharon. All in a matter of a few weeks after a year of giving Sharon nothing but green lights.

    Because American policy is always suspect on the fabled ‘Arab Street,’ there are those who would dismiss such major modifications in American policy as a full blown charm offensive to pave the way for a war to topple Saddam Hussein. They Could be right. But, up close and personal, there seems to be an obvious change in the posture of the administration. When Sharon predictably burnt his short fuse and went on another killing spree in Palestinian refugee camps, maybe he finally went through all the rope the Americans gave him to hang himself. Maybe, the Europeans finally prevailed in convincing the United States that the struggle for Palestinian liberty was something worth supporting. Perhaps, the State Department dusted off the Israeli Prime Minister’s Sabra and Shatila file. Maybe the CIA walked through a couple of serious scenarios based on serious assumptions about Sharon’s impulsive and murderous behavior during the invasion of Lebanon. In 1982, after coaxing Alexander Haig and the Knesset into allowing him the quick fix of a 25 mile ‘incursion’ into Lebanon, Sharon conveniently left his tape measure in Tel Aviv and spent a whole summer pounding Beirut with American tanks, American F-16s and American cluster bombs.

    Consider this. Before Alexander Haig gave a green light for Sharon’s Likudniks to further plunder Lebanon, with the express purpose of re-igniting the flames of the civil war and smothering the Palestinians, America was more than just another belligerent state in the Middle East. In the last two decades, America has drifted further and further towards overtly hostile policies against the people of the region. It got to the point where the Israeli Lobby basically dictated American policies from Tel Aviv. To confirm this sell out of American national interests, one only needs to look down the roster of the Israel Firsters who came to dominate every vital State department office during the Clinton administration. The revolving door between the Israeli Lobby and the State department was so shameless that hardly a single professional American diplomat was left in a position to influence Middle Eastern affairs. Men of the caliber of George Ball and Philip Habib were replaced with men with the ethnic agendas of Martin Indyk and Dennis Ross. And, of course, the Greek chorus of Yiddish supremacists who dominate the mass media came up with mind warping reasons why the violent repression of the Palestinians and the theft of their land was ‘a vital American security interest.’ Congress, duly servile to its campaign finance requirements, opened a generous expense account for Israeli settlers at our national treasury.

    Two decades later, the folly of these outrageous policies are becoming apparent even to the wizards who recommended them. The exponential increase in the number of American military and civilian casualties, not to mention Arab and Israeli losses, is reason enough to abandon the bankrupt political visions of the militant Israel Firsters.

    So, there might be cause for great hope in Beirut. Perhaps, in addition to refining the Saudi peace initiative, the conference can issue a serious call for an open and serious exchange of views on what motivated American administrations to adopt such a hostile posture for the last two decades. There is an essential need for an open discourse with the Bush administration about the Israeli Lobby’s future role in determining American foreign policy in the region. The destiny of the people of the Middle East cannot be contingent on the good will of media barons like Sulzberger of the New York Times. It is time to demystify America’s intentions towards the Arab people and especially towards the Palestinians.

    The outlines of a two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are predictable. It takes only common sense to figure out what needs to be done. The vast majority of Palestinians are willing to accept partial justice in a small portion of their country as the price of a free and secure Palestinian state. In return, the Israelis must limit their territorial ambitions to the 78% of Palestine they expropriated in 1948. The evacuated settlements will be badly needed for Palestinian refugees. Besides, Israel must not expect any rewards for thrity five years of belligerent land thieving military occupation. As for the right of return, the Israelis flatter themselves if they think that a large number of Palestinians would opt to live in what will continue to be a racist state.

    The precise language of recognizing Israel needs to be mindful of Palestinian history and Palestinian losses. Not a single Palestinian deserved to lose their country to invading Eastern European zealots. Not a single Palestinian village or town deserved to be destroyed. The racist assaults by Israelis against Palestinian memories must halt. Israelis must be prevailed on to teach their kids the true history of the land they inhabit and to honor the native people of the Holy Land. Most of all, they need to lose their old habits of voting for war criminals and giving them license to commit more war crimes against an innocent people.

    I have always believed that if America gets serious about resolving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, it will get resolved. If I am wrong in calling this major shift in American policy, I will be the first to eat my words. In the meantime, the whole Middle East is depending on a second chance in Beirut.

    • TAGS
    • 1948
    • abdullah
    • about
    • accept
    • account
    • administration
    • administrations
    • adopt
    • affairs
    • after
    • against
    • agendas
    • Alexander
    • always
    • ambitions
    • America
    • American
    • americans
    • another
    • apparent
    • appeal
    • Arab
    • arafat
    • ariel
    • Ariel Sharon
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Pinterest
    WhatsApp
    Linkedin
    ReddIt
    Email
    Print
    Tumblr
    Telegram
    Mix
    VK
    Digg
    LINE
    Viber
    Naver
      Previous articleThe Tar Babies
      Next articleOpen Letter to Arab Leaders On the Eve of the Beirut Summit
      Ahmed Amr

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      Jerusalem Israel Palestine Dome of The Rock Golden Dome

      The Abraham Accords undermined much-needed peace with Palestinians

      World Map

      Global disturbing disparities

      Globe Algeria Niger Mali Africa

      There is always a price to pay for befriending the Zionists

      Google Search

      MMN @ Google Play Store MMN @ Amazon Appstore

      MMN @ TwitterMMN @ FacebookMMN Feed

      EDITOR PICKS

      Progressives Must Fight With -- and In -- the Democratic Party

      Steps Left for Electing Progressives and Defeating Republicans in the Midterms

      August 31, 2022
      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      Nancy Pelosi Could Get Us All Killed

      August 1, 2022
      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      ‘Fortress Mentality’ Among U.S. Leaders Has Trapped Us in a Cycle...

      July 25, 2022

      POPULAR POSTS

      167

      The Origin of Freemasonry: The Crusaders & Templars

      April 23, 2003

      Sharon to Peres: We Control America

      November 20, 2001
      Qibla - Kaaba

      Direction of Al-Qiblah

      February 23, 2003

      POPULAR CATEGORY

      • Perspectives13563
      • News6687
      • World5878
      • Asia4836
      • Columns1370
      • Africa923
      • Articles786
      • Australasia611
      • Health598
      ABOUT US
      Media Monitors Network (MMN) is a non-profit, non-partial and non-political platform for those serious Media Contributors and Observers who crave to know and like to help to prevail the whole truth about current affairs, any disputed issue or any controversial issue by their voluntary contributions with logic, reason and rationality.
      Contact us: [email protected]
      FOLLOW US
      • About MMN
      • Disclaimer
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms and Conditions
      • Contact
      Copyright © 2000 - MMN International Inc. All rights reserved.
      Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
      All other brands, logos, and product names are registered
      trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
      ResponsiveVoice-NonCommercial licensed under 95x15
      MORE STORIES
      OIC condemns desecration of Holy Qur’an, calls for joint action to stop its recurrence

      OIC condemns desecration of Holy Qur’an, calls for joint action to...

      January 31, 2023
      Mali: Independent rights experts call for probe into Wagner Group’s alleged crimes

      Mali: Independent rights experts call for probe into Wagner Group’s alleged...

      January 31, 2023