Whose deaf ear?
By Ghassan Khatib, Bitterlemons.org, November 25, 2002
For a long while, it hasn’t really been possible to use the term “Arab diplomacy,” simply because of the differences in strategies and approaches that have characterized Arab activities over much of the lifetime of the modern Arab state. The last two years, however, have witnessed significant developments towards a coherent Arab diplomatic track--evidenced in what was first the Saudi, and then the Arab peace initiative, and later by the joint diplomatic efforts and activities of three prominent Arab foreign ministers, those of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The impetus behind these developments was the Intifada and its regional and international consequences, as well as the events of September 11 and the subsequent war in Afghanistan.

Can Arab diplomacy make peace?
By Yossi Alpher, Bitterlemons.org, November 25, 2002
Since 1977, Arabs and Israelis have created breakthroughs to peace either by means of direct, secret negotiations--or not at all. This was the case with Egypt and Israel, where direct talks in Morocco and elsewhere led to Anwar Sadat's historic visit to Jerusalem. It was the case with the Oslo talks that produced the historic 1993 agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. And it happened between Israel and Jordan in 1994. One additional, little remembered instance was in 1983, when Israel and Lebanon negotiated a peace treaty in direct talks. The treaty proved abortive due to weighty geostrategic factors that Israel ignored, but the principle of direct negotiations was valid. After each breakthrough to peace, Israel and its Arab partner inevitably turned to the United States for material and diplomatic support. In the case of Israel and Egypt, both countries also recognized the need to institutionalize an arbitration arrangement and a peacekeeping force in Sinai.

The Arab initiative and the role of Arab diplomacy
By Marwan Muasher, Bitterlemons.org, November 25, 2002
The security and humanitarian situation in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel has never been worse. The current year has witnessed a total breakdown of trust between the two sides, with an alarming hardening, indeed radicalization, of positions in both camps. This is not an atmosphere conducive to any attempts to resume the political process, or steps to create a new dynamic able to successfully resolve this longstanding conflict. Surprisingly, we are nonetheless witnessing serious efforts to deal with the root causes of the conflict for both sides, most of them being put forward from an unexpected quarter for the Israeli public--Arab states. To the Israeli public, this might seem like a hopeless piece of Arab propaganda. I beg to differ. Let me outline the various steps that Arab states have taken since the beginning of this year to attempt a serious alternative to the bleak options that seem to exist only regarding the conflict.

Good morning to the victor
By Yoel Marcus, Ha'aretz. November 29, 2002
From the moment he opened his eyes this morning, the bouquets, the congratulatory telegrams, the phone calls from Israel and overseas, have not stopped. He climbs out of bed slowly, as if in a dream, the sweet taste of victory still on his lips, splotches of make-up still on his face. Bootlickers will come and go; spin doctors, close buddies and copywriters will drop by to raise a toast. But at the end of the day, the victor will remain alone with himself, and have to decide what to do with this victory. To continue with the vagueness and foot-dragging? With the political inaction that kills hundreds of Israelis and maims thousands every year? Or to exploit the power granted by this victory in the primaries to focus on the issues?

Sleeping with the enemy
By Simon Tisdall, November 28, 2002
This week's furious row over US allegations of a link between the Saudi royal family and the terrorists of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida gang has highlighted a deep fault-line in the Bush administration's "war on terror". Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, says he is "outraged" by suggestions that charitable donations made by his wife may have ended up with two men allegedly associated with the September 11 hijackers. But that has not prevented some barbed US political attacks on the Saudi government, even before an FBI inquiry is concluded. The Saudis have "played a duplicitous game", says US senator Charles Schumer, by effectively buying off terrorists and turning a blind eye to their activities. Richard Lugar, the incoming chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, says "disturbing issues" have been raised, and that the US must insist on a Saudi crackdown on terror financiers.

Articles from the International Solidarity Movement, November, 29, 2002
1) On the Occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, by Amelia Peltz - On this day in 1947, United Nations Resolution 181 was endorsed by the General Assembly calling for the creation of two states on the land of historic Palestine: one Jewish and one Palestinian. /  2) Collective Punishment in Jayyous, by Barbara Thiel - Jayyous is a village of approximately three thousand people, located east of the West Bank city of Qalqilya. It is one of the many areas where contractors, accompanied by border police and the army, are hired by the Israeli Government to build the “security fence”. /  3) They Cannot Wipe Us Out, by Karin, International Women's Peace Service - On Monday morning three women from IWPS, Kate from the US, Megumi from Japan and Karin from Austria, walked down the settler road between the Palestinian village Hares and the illegal Israeli settlement Revava. We went to meet with a family from the neighbouring village, Deir Istia, who plucked up all their courage to pick their last trees left right under the settlement.