04 June 2003
Israeli-Palestinian Two-State Solution Called "Critical Step Forward"
(Arab-American leader Zogby sees need for Palestinian economic
opportunities) (880)
By Anthony Kujawa
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Accepting the road map for Middle East peace and
President Bush's "vision" of a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli
conflict marks a "critical step forward that no one can
underestimate," says James Zogby, President of the Arab American
Institute.
"For the first time everybody in the region agrees to a two-state
solution," said Zogby, who cautioned that the road map will be judged
not by its intentions or vision, but by whether or not the United
States "follows through and forces the parties to take the tough steps
they might not want to make."
Speaking at a State Department forum June 3, Zogby made
recommendations for U.S. policy and discussed findings from his book
about Arab identity, political concerns and attitudes toward other
countries. The book is entitled "What Arabs Think: Values, Beliefs and
Concerns."
We are beyond "photo-op diplomacy," said Zogby, explaining that as the
most powerful party in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the United
States has "a performance standard that must be met."
"If we [the United States] do not apply balanced and even-handed
pressure to both sides then in fact this process may collapse and we
will be held accountable for it in the region," he warned.
Analysis based on the polling firm Zogby International's survey of
3,800 Arab adults in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, the
United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel, and used in the book,
reveals that with the exception of the Palestinian issue and U.S.
Middle East policy, many indicators toward the United States are
positive.
While the United States was viewed as "too unilateral" and "too
arrogant," Zogby said, when Arabs were asked for their views on U.S.
values, science and technology, education, democracy and freedom, and
other indicators, "in almost every case the majority said favorable
things about America."
"Our policy," said Zogby, "drags down the favorables we have in other
areas."
According to the study's ranking of political concerns, the issue of
the "rights of the Palestinian people" ranked third following the
"personal rights" and "health care." When probed with additional
open-ended and closed-option questions, Zogby said, the issue of
Palestine emerges as a defining symbol for "what was wrong in their
own lives and what was wrong in the lives of people in the region."
In response to a question on how to combat the threat of Hamas and
other organizations committing acts of terrorism against Israel, Zogby
said that "if you want to see Palestinians vote for peace and be
invested in peace, then what we have to do is make dramatic
improvement in the lives of people so they once again gain hope that
their lives can change."
Citing youth unemployment rates between 70-80 percent in Gaza
throughout the past decade, Zogby called for policies to create
economic opportunities for Palestinian youth and address the root
causes that foster a culture of hopelessness and terror.
Zogby described terrorism as a "despicable cult of death ... [that]
has come to replace in a sick and tragic way the fact that people
don't have a life and no prospect of a life."
"We have to give them life. We have to give them hope. We have to give
them a reason to find another course. That is the only way to
strengthen the hand of those who want peace. There is no other
option," he said.
The benefits of peace, said Zogby, will help rekindle the hope of
young people. "If you continue to squeeze as we've been squeezing for
the last two years, you will only end up creating more anger and
despair and that is not the recipe to a solution."
As co-president of Builders for Peace, established to promote U.S.
business investment in the West Bank and Gaza following the 1993 peace
accords, Zogby discussed challenges in exporting Palestinian products
and attracting investment when everything must go through an "Israeli
middleman." Zogby called for increased development of public-private
partnerships and incentives to promote U.S. business investment in the
region.
Commenting on the situation in Iraq, Zogby called for a "change in
course" in the U.S. approach, saying the United States should "lower
its profile" and more actively enlist allies, regional partners and
the United Nations in the postwar rebuilding.
Zogby said the rebuilding of Iraq is a critical challenge for the
United States and "too big a job" to carry out alone. The sooner the
United Nations and other regional partners are invested in the process
and have the legitimacy and mandate to assist Iraq, "the better off we
are," he said.
Management of the aftermath of the war in Iraq and resolution of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict are critical to determining the future of
U.S. relations in the Arab world, Zogby said. "[A]t no time in all
these years do I think that the U.S.-Arab relationship has been more
troubled or the stakes higher than they are today," he added.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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