Brussels, 10/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 10 February after a six-day trip to the Middle East (Israel, Palestine and Egypt), Massimo D'Alema, the former prime minister and former foreign minister of Italy, told a small group of journalists that, in Egypt today, the Palestinian issue is becoming a true subject of internal debate and that relations between Israel and Egypt will therefore grow more difficult.
Accompanied by Raimon Obiols (S&D, Spain), Massimo D'Alema visited the Middle East in his capacity as president of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in order to understand the situation between Israel and Palestine and the influence that the Arab Spring has had in the region, especially with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Italian politician commented that one should be somewhat concerned as the Arab Spring is also reaching Palestine. Hamas is no longer an isolated movement. There are strong links with the new Arab leadership (including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt). He spoke of the growing risk that moderates will be increasingly isolated in the Arab world, with Fatah being obliged to negotiate an agreement with Hamas.
In Egypt today, unlike the situation under Mubarak, the Palestinian issue is a genuine subject of internal policy, D'Alema said. He expects that relations between Israelis and Egyptians will become strained as Egyptian pressure in favour of the Palestinians will be stronger than in the past. D'Alema went on to say: “It would be a mistake for Israel not to understand the new Arab world, which is democratic, with Islamic movements having greater clout and being far more demanding when it comes to Palestinians' rights and the need for serious commitment to peace, respectful of the United Nations resolutions and principles of international law”. In Israel, there are political figures who understand this, especially in the opposition (the leader of the Labour party and the leader of Kadima, Tzipi Livni).
D'Alema came to the conclusion that everything on the ground was “blocked” when it comes to peace talks between Israel and Palestine. He felt there was a “very strong feeling of frustration” in the Palestinian democratic leadership and the risk that consensus will be lost within moderates (those negotiating with Israel). Political decision-makers in Israel consider the new situation of the Arab countries will “marginalise the Palestinian issue”, D'Alema said.
Palestinians have the impression that there is talk of a Palestinian state when this prospect is in fact disappearing, as Israelis are settling on the land. “Regarding the former, it is clear in the Palestinian debate that the idea of the proposed Palestinian state no longer makes sense and that one should prepare to fight for Palestinians' rights in Israel or in land occupied by Israelis. The idea gaining ground is that the proposed two-state solution is disappearing, which should be of concern to Israeli officials”, D'Alema said.
Raimon Obiols explained that, in the context of FEPS, “we shall highlight the need for a new form of EU action in the Mediterranean, with intellectual, political, cultural, ideological dialogue, and proposals from the strategic and political viewpoints for the European External Action Service and the European Parliament on the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the democratic transition process in the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries”. “We are optimistic from the resolve point of view, thanks to what has happened with the Arab Spring, but we are pessimistic because situations are terrible, especially in Egypt (economic and social situation)”, Obiols asserted. He expressed optimism about the possibility of having a “new political cycle in Europe” in the next two or three years. Here, he was referring to the possibility of a centre-left governing in Europe, Germany and Italy.
Massimo D'Alema's visit to the Middle East falls within the framework of the research group on the Mediterranean launched by FEPS in 2009. The next major FEPS event for looking further into these subjects and also into European foreign policy will be the conference, “Call to Europe”, to be held on 26-27 June in Brussels in the presence of many researchers from Europe and elsewhere in the world. (LC/transl.jl)