Word: intifadas
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...April 1, the Times published a feature story on “suicide martyrdom” in Islam. The article began with references to recent Palestinian suicide bombings, implying that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a religious war between Muslims and Jews. But the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, is not a conflict about religion, nor is it being orchestrated by religious leaders. It is about one group refusing to live under apartheid conditions and another group fighting to keep them there...
...calling for the intifada to be intensified. Will that...
...Iraq. Over the last year, in particular, Iraq has made a very aggressive effort to rehabilitate itself in the Arab world. They've lobbied the Arab street, highlighting the conditions of ordinary Iraqis under sanctions. And they've also given high-profile support to the Palestinian cause during the intifada, which has helped their image on the Arab streets. Today you won't find an Arab leader who would oppose easing sanctions against Iraq. Saddam has basically won the p.r. battle over sanctions in the Arab world, and to some extent in the wider world as well...
...They'll go through the motions of endorsing the intifada, calling on Israel to lift its siege of Palestinian areas, probably also calling for international protection of Palestinian civilians. The only controversy around the Palestinian issue is the fact that only a tiny fraction of the $1 billion promised to the Palestinians by the last Arab League summit has been delivered - in large part because of concern over corruption in Arafat's administration. They'll probably find a way around this by releasing the money in monthly tranches, in order to allow for close scrutiny of how it's spent...
...Absolutely. And that's why Powell had been stressing that it's in everyone's interests for the Arab leadership to avoid pouring fuel on the fire. The only Arab leader gaining from the intifada is probably Saddam Hussein, who is boosting his popularity throughout the Arab world by the support he's offering. So the moderate Arab regimes would like the level of violence reduced, but they can't be seen to be not supporting Arafat and the Palestinians. So it's certainly in their interests to not oppose a measure of cooperation between Arafat and Sharon...