Beyond Israel: ripple effect of Bush's stand

[Classical_Liberal]

Beyond Israel: ripple effect of Bush's stand

The shift in US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is likely to harden Arab states on other issues such as Iraq.

By Howard LaFranchi and Ben Lynfield

WASHINGTON AND BIDU, WEST BANK – By signaling a major shift aligning US policy with Israel on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Bush may have turned Arab and Muslim sentiment further against the US as he seeks the region's help in Iraq.

One thing is clear: By endorsing three aspects of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral approach to dealing with the Palestinians - Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, permanent retention of some Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and an end to the "right of return" of millions of Palestinian refugees to homes and lands they held in Israel before 1948 - Mr. Bush has upended two decades of US policy.

But at the same time, he appears to have cemented the view widely held across Arab states that the US is no longer the "honest broker" it once was in the Middle East. When Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visits the region to solicit help on Iraq, he is likely to hear more about the Arab perception that the US is once again presenting a set of faits accomplis that run counter to Arab positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"With Arabs and Muslims already so suspicious of the US and with the situation in Iraq reaching a critical point, this change could not have come at a worse time," says Fawaz Gerges, a Middle East expert at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. "This is a flat rejection of the standpoints of moderate Arabs and as such plays into the hands of the radicals and extremists.".........

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0416/p02s02-usfp.html