A liberal Egyptian author criticizes the Arab world for exploiting the Palestinian situation, and harshly judges Yasser Arafat for his rejection of the Clinton peace proposals of 2000.

“Although President Arafat has admitted that he was mistaken in his rejection of Clinton’s proposals (Haaretz, June 21, 2002), his words are of no avail. But he should have explained honestly why he rejected these proposals, why it was a mistake, and why admitting the mistake had taken so long. I think the situation deteriorated to a point that exceeds the mistake of rejecting the Clinton peace proposal. That rejection was a link in the tragic chain of errors that included turning to violence (as it is written in the Mitchell Report which was accepted by all sides), forming a direct and organic alliance with the factions of political Islam prior to the negotiations, and transferring the leadership of the Palestinian street to the ‘punks of the Al-Fakahani republic.’(2) Thus, the principle of peace negotiations was completely defeated. This significantly helped the fall of the Israeli left – the center of gravity [of Israeli support for] a peaceful resolution – and with it fell the peace camp.”

“In the clamor of the world battle against terrorism, the violence with a religious nature – particularly that fueled by young men and women who come from poverty, oppression, and despair, who have been brainwashed to carry out suicide attacks against civilians with criminal results – has become a remake of the September 11 events, and a permanent reminder to the world that terror is Arab and Islamic. Thus, the moral weight of the Palestinian issue began to erode; the difference between Sharon’s violence and Palestinian violence faded away; and the third Palestinian transfer – that is, the Jordanian solution – became more imminent than ever, especially if we consider the political vacuum that would be created were the Iraqi regime to be forcibly replaced.”