Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, October/November 1997, Page 93

Saudi Reflections

U.S.-Israeli Plans for Hegemony in the Middle East; Those Who Refuse to Help Themselves

By Khaled Al-Maeena

Things do not bode well for the Arab world.

Recent incidents which have come to light reveal a sinister plan aimed at keeping the region under U.S.& Israeli hegemony.

Mysterious events have occurred which the majority of Arabs know nothing about. Foremost among them was a top-secret meeting in Eilat, Israel, last week between 20 unnamed European countries and Israel. The Arab press hardly reported it, let alone analyzed it. Nobody even bothered to determine the countries attending and why they were there.

What had Israel to do with it? Why was it not held in a European country?

Unanswered Questions

All these questions remain unanswered simply because no probing was done by people here. Another shocking bit of news came from Robert Fisk of the British newspaper Independent. He uncovered the evidence that the missile which blew up the Lebanese ambulance killing four innocent children during Israel's month-long bombardment of south Lebanon a little over a year ago was actually from the U.S. Marines military arsenal. It was not part of the U.S. "freely supplied weapons"; rather it was an integral part of the U.S. Marines arms depot consignment.

How it got to the Israelis and was used by them on innocent women and children is something not only the Arabs should ask. This question should also be asked by millions of Americans who should realize that they are financing death and destruction. However, most Americans will not read the story because the "free" U.S. media will give no space to Robert Fisk's article.

In fact, Fisk has acknowledgment from the U.S. company that made the bombs that this type of deadly material is not given or sold to Israel.

The Arabs are not concerned about such trivial matters as they pack their bags to go to Orlando, Los Angeles, Cannes and Nice.

The U.S.-sponsored peace process is itself in serious trouble. Netanyahu's policies which draw no criticism from Madeleine Albright and her cohorts such as Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk have increased the prospects of war. Already the majority of Israelis feel that there is a greater chance for war under Netanyahu. The U.S. itself is suspect in the eyes of many honorable Arabs. It has twice exercised its U.N. Security Council veto against condemnation of Israel, drawing harsh criticism from the Arab world.

But that's all the Arabs do. They are experts in denouncing and criticizing.

Despite their economic leverage, they put no pressure on the second Clinton administration, which has nothing to lose by adopting a neutral stand. Many forget, however, that the Zionists are grooming Al Gore, the vice president, and he is working behind the scenes so as not to upset his presidential election apple cart.

Now what else is there for Arabs and Muslims?

All but 17 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted for the transfer of the U.S. Embassy to occupied Jerusalem and its becoming the capital of united Israel.

The Arabs shrieked, many columnists wrote—but all these actions had no effect on the United States, which knows that it can get away with murder and even more.

Instead of applying pressure on Israel to respect its commitments and agreements, the U.S. is pressuring the Palestinians at every level. This is the main job of U.S. special envoy Dennis Ross. It is reported that the two countries are currently working on a ballistic anti-missile missile nicknamed Chatz, or arrow in English, which is due to be operational by 2000. And you don't have to guess on whom it will be used!

The U.S. Congress and U.S. administration disagree on almost all issues except when it comes to the Middle East. This is an old game which the Arabs by now have figured out.

The U.S. government is now applying pressure on countries in the Middle East and North Africa to attend the forthcoming Middle East and North Africa Economic Conference due to be held in Qatar in November. Many Arabs believe that such conferences are useless and only serve Israel's purposes.

It will be interesting to note how many Arab countries attend. The majority of the Arabs will be sweating out those lazy hazy days of summer—something they have been doing since 1967.