Opinion | Columnists
Try to win the heart and minds of the Arabs
It is, of course, a reassuring sight to see thousands of American citizens and other western nationals being evacuated by their governments from war-torn Lebanon.
- By Ziad J. Asali, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 July 28, 2006
It is, of course, a reassuring sight to see thousands of American citizens and other western nationals being evacuated by their governments from war-torn Lebanon.
But spare a thought, and some serious political consideration, for those not so fortunate, especially the Lebanese and Palestinian people who are presently baring the brunt of the suffering caused by the conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah and Hamas.
The humanitarian dimensions of the ongoing fighting, even beyond those innocent civilians killed or injured, shock the conscience.
On humanitarian grounds alone, the international community, led by the United States, needs to urgently intervene to redress this epidemic of man-made human suffering.
The Arab states, most notably in the Gulf, have a particular obligation to finance the relief effort for their Lebanese and Palestinian brethren.
Beyond humanitarian concerns, however, lies a crucial political issue that those who are seen as stepping in to provide for the needs of the innocent victims of this conflict will perforce reap significant political benefits.
A dramatic public relief effort is strongly in the interests of the United States and its Arab allies.
It provides an opportunity to show that the international community has more to offer the Arab peoples than violence, humiliation and subjugation and give them a reason to feel that American foreign policy has something tangible to offer them.
However, to be truly effective, such a relief effort should be coordinated with an aggressive policy to strengthen and empower moderate, pro-western central governments such as those of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
If moderate actors such as Abbas and Siniora and their fledgling social institutions are unable to meet those needs, and radical groups are, then the political orientation of the public will be deeply and negatively affected.
There has been much talk in recent years about the need to win hearts and minds in the Middle East, but most efforts at American public diplomacy in the region have born little fruit.
A major humanitarian relief effort coordinated by the United States at this time aimed at Lebanon and the Palestinians would do far more to boost the image of the US among the Arab peoples than all the TV and radio stations that money can buy.
If politics is about influencing others with carrots and sticks, the reality is that most Arab people have mostly seen the stick from the US, Israel and their own rulers.
No wonder, then, they are proving hard to win over. It is high time the US moved, and moved quickly, to start showing the Arab people some carrots.
Ziad Asali is President of the American Task Force on Palestine, Washington DC.
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