Sharon’s re-election
THE victory of Ariel Sharon’s Likud Party in Tuesday’s election in Israel must cause pessimism worldwide. It reduces further whatever chances there were for peace in Palestine. The election has given victory to a man who more than any other living Israeli leader is identified with policies for which “hard line” is an understatement. More regrettably, the Labour Party, whose leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres signed the peace accord with Yasser Arafat in 1993, has lost ground. Sharon, most probably, will try to make Labour part of a coalition government, though the party has made it clear it has no intention of joining a Sharon-led government. This means Sharon will have to lean more on parties representing extremist Jews. But the newly-formed Shinui party, which now holds the balance, is unlikely to join a government made up largely of right-wing Jews. In such a situation, Sharon may find it difficult to form a government, and President Moshe Katzav may ask someone else to hammer out a coalition. However, it is too early yet to say that Sharon will not have his way.
In a sense, the election has given a second term to a man whose name is synonymous with massacre and genocide. The current phase of hostilities in Palestine began with Sharon’s ill-advised visit to the Islamic holy places in Al Quds in September 2000. Since then, nearly 3,000 people, mostly Palestinian, have been killed, and the peace process has all but been scuppered. The greatest blow to peace came from Sharon’s decision to reoccupy those parts of the West Bank which Israel had vacated as part of the Oslo peace process. Last summer, Sharon turned his frenzy on the person of Arafat and besieged his headquarters and destroyed all buildings in his office complex. In addition, there were targeted assassinations of Palestinian leaders and missile attacks on apartment buildings. There were massacres, including one in Jenin, but Sharon refused to let a UN team visit the West Bank to investigate the charges.
What Sharon now has up his sleeve is difficult to guess. But it is plain that he would like to use the opportunity offered by the distracting run-up to a likely American attack on Iraq to further Israel’s own agenda. If it were in his power, he would annex the Gaza Strip and the West Bank today, just as Begin annexed Syria’s Golan Heights. However, two things stand in the way: first is demography. In a ‘Greater Israel,’ the Jews will enjoy only a thin majority. In the long run, the higher Arab birth rate will alter the demographic balance in favour of the Palestinians. Second, it is doubtful if the world will let Sharon gobble up the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Al Quds.
What one foresees now is continued violence. Only a revival of the peace process can halt the spilling of blood. Unfortunately, the US, which was a co-sponsor of the Oslo peace process, has chosen to bypass the real issue and focused instead on the person of Arafat and the need for reforms in the Palestinian Authority. These merely constitute a subterfuge to bypass the real cause of violence and strife in the Middle East. The central issue is the Palestinian people’s right to live in peace and freedom in their own land. It is in this direction that America should use its leverage with Israel if it genuinely wants peace and stability in the Middle East.
Fighting in Afghanistan
THE renewed fighting in Afghanistan between US-led troops and anti-government fighters is a disturbing reminder of the instability that continues to plague the troubled country. The recent skirmishes, in which some 18 people died, took place in an isolated and mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan, 100 kilometres from Kandahar. The fighting was so fierce that the US and Norwegian forces had to resort to aerial bombing. The fighters are believed to owe their allegiance to former Mujahideen leader Gulbadin Hekmatyar, who the US accuses of trying to regroup his Hizb-i-Islami forces in the area to launch a jihad against the Hamid Karzai government. They also believe that Hekmatyar has developed close contacts with the remnants of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. While Hekmatyar denies any Al Qaeda link, he has vowed to resist the US forces stationed in the country and topple the Karzai government. The resurgence of violence can only add to the problems of Karzai, who is desperately seeking to bring some semblance of normality to a country ravaged by over two decades of war and civil strife.
Karzai has been facing immense problems trying to extend the writ of his government beyond the confines of the capital. Large parts of the country’s hinterland remain under the control of powerful warlords who remain a virtual law unto themselves. The central government is severely handicapped in its efforts by the fact that it has no proper army or police force. The international peacekeeping force remains confined to the capital because the US and its allies are unwilling to commit more men to police the rest of the country. While the US is helping raise an Afghan army, the process is slow and it could take years before a credible force emerges. With Iraq overshadowing all other problems and considerations, there are fears that Afghanistan may not get the attention it deserves in the coming months. With funds pledged for a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation effort still to materialize, Afghans fear their unfortunate country will once again be forgotten and allowed to slip back into anarchy. Such a fate could prove catastrophic not only for Afghanistan but also for the rest of the region.
A snow-white vista
SCENIC and serene Islamabad turned more picturesque on Tuesday night after a heavy hailstorm covered its roads and the windscreens of parked cars with a layer of grey slush. Before that happened, the city had continued to remain dry for over a month since the first winter rain fell in the capital on December 24. The snow-like vista on Tuesday night after the hailstorm was worth the wait. The hailstorm was most intense in those areas near the foot of the Margalla Hills, and it practically halted traffic as it caused poor visibility. But afterwards, the capital’s main commercial centre and the main artery leading to the Faisal Mosque, were covered with a beautiful snow-white canopy. People came out into their gardens and on the roads to enjoy the spectacle. Residents in Islamabad are used to seeing a very thin layer of frost on the grassy areas, especially after unusually cold wintry nights, but not the kind of thick white blanket on the roads as on Tuesday night. Some patches of this “snow” was still visible on Wednesday morning in certain green-belt areas alongside the roads.
Meanwhile, Murree got its first strong snowfall of the winter on Tuesday, which started in the afternoon and continued into the night. At least six inches of snow fell in Murree to the delight of tourists as well as the residents since business there picks up during snowfall. While snow in Murree Hills is an expected annual phenomenon, the “snow” in Islamabad was a treat — a thrilling experience that will linger long in memory.