Reverberations
of the Kasuri-Shalom Meeting
By Dr Shireen M. Mazari
The
Kasuri-Shalom meeting, for many reasons, has had
a major impact both within Pakistan and externally.
Coming almost immediately in the wake of the announcement
that President Musharraf would be addressing the
American Jewish Congress later this month in New
York, it seemed to reflect perhaps an unnecessary
haste by this country in seeking to alter a major
foreign policy principle -- that of not recognizing
the Zionist entity of Israel until the establishment
of a viable Palestinian state. While the meeting
itself does not signify recognition, it does signal
a critical policy shift since earlier we had always
been at pains to deny even informal meetings between
Pakistani officialdom and its Israeli counterparts.
Given the deep commitment felt by the Pakistani
nation for the Palestinian cause since the issue
came to the fore, it has been difficult to accept
the new direction of our policy on Israel in this
sudden fashion. This is despite the fact that President
Musharraf had begun a healthy and expansive debate
some time ago on the issue of Israeli recognition.
And perhaps it was assumed that we are able to accept
sudden shifts of policy. After all, we did so on
the Taliban. But there was a difference primarily
because support for the Taliban had no deep roots
in our civil society and, secondly, 9/11 provided
the psychological shock for the official volte-face.
In contrast, the Kasuri-Shalom meeting took place
with no major international shake up to have pushed
us in that direction, and, most critically, it challenged
the deep-rooted support for the Palestinians within
Pakistani civil society. Of course, Israeli evacuation
of Gaza was cited as a valid reason for rethinking
our approach to Israel, but we cannot forget that
Israel continues to occupy the West Bank and shows
little intent of vacating it. Additionally, Israel
is in the process of integrating the occupation
of Jerusalem within the Israeli state and altering
the demographics of the city. Finally, Israel has
no positive policy on the return of refugees and
other critical aspects of the Palestinian demands
and the internationally accepted peace roadmap.
Instead, Sharon is seeking, with American connivance,
to create his own roadmap, which will offer the
Palestinians a Bantu-type alternative of a non-viable
and totally-dependent "state". That is
why the Gaza pullout has a negative side to it.
This is why it makes little sense to recognize Israel
at present and even official meetings like the Kasuri-Shalom
one have too many costs and few benefits -- unlike
the forthcoming Musharraf address to the American
Jewish Congress which sends a clear message that
we are not anti-Semitic, but opposed to the expansionist
policies of Zionists and their occupation of Palestinian
lands. That there is no harm in informal and non-publicized
meetings between Israelis and Pakistanis is equally
clear because there is a need to engage with the
Israelis in the aftermath of the Palestinians' engagement
with them and the recognition by many Arab and other
Muslim states of the Israeli state. But a high profile
meeting has more benefits for Israel than for Pakistan
at this moment in time, because it does make recognition
imminent rather than conditional. We must not underplay
our value for Israel, given our status as a strong
and nuclear Muslim state with influence and status
within the Muslim World. We may presently be going
through a psychological lack of confidence in assessing
our place in the region and within the Muslim World,
but we are seen as a critical regional and Muslim
World player from outside -- and one that has the
ability to hold out for its critical national interests,
as reflected in the development of our nuclear capability.
That is why we need to ensure that on Israel we
are not pushed into shifts by perceived US pressure
or by an erroneous assumption that such shifts will
undermine or stall the fast-paced Indo-Israeli strategic
nexus. The latter is grounded in very real interests
that exist between Israel and India, and the former
will hardly undermine these simply because we have
chosen to offer it recognition. As for Pakistan
gaining similar access to military hardware from
Israel, we should remember that the sale of critical
Israeli weapon systems need US approval since they
have a strong US technological component. That is
why Israel was unable to sell the Phalcon radar
system to China, but could do so to India. So we
need to assess the direct benefits of recognizing
Israel very carefully alongside the costs, and timing
will be crucial.
The Arab World recognizes the importance of Pakistan
within the Muslim World, and that is why there has
been much discussion and comment in the Arab World
on the Kasuri-Shalom meeting. Even though President
Musharraf had stated that the Kasuri-Shalom meeting
took place after being backed by the Saudi and Palestinian
leadership, the Arabs have been taken by surprise.
This was clear at a conference in Dubai that I happened
to be attending almost immediately in the wake of
the Kasuri-Shalom meeting. Because the Palestinian
leader, Mahmoud Abbas had given his blessings to
the meeting, it was strange to read in the Arab
press, the statement of the Palestinian Deputy Prime
Minister, Nabil Shaath, in which he declared that
the Palestinian Authority was "worried"
about the meeting "because it's not a good
time to start relations with Israel.... It is not
good to give Israel gifts before it really implements
the peace process, not only in Gaza but in the West
Bank and Jerusalem". In Dubai, Arabs gathered
from around the Gulf were disturbed because they
clearly seem to get succor from Pakistan's strong
stance on the Palestinian issue. Even though some
Arab states, including Egypt, had recognized Israel,
there was as feeling that if Pakistan did so, their
cause would be lost. That Iran and Malaysia are
still amongst those that have not moved towards
recognition was not sufficient comfort for them,
and clearly, there is a psychological dependency
on Pakistan by the Arab World though most would
be loathe to admitting it! That is why they would
like us to hold out as long as we can on the recognition
issue.
The Kasuri-Shalom meeting has also reverberated
in the Arab World on another count: It has made
them realize their own weakness and vulnerability
and they feel that Pakistan will talk to Israel
from a position of strength that they do not possess.
So the Arabs are confused because they are in no
position, either morally or politically, to out-rightly
condemn Pakistan's moves on Israel; but they are
uncomfortable with these moves because they feel
they will lose a strong pillar of support for the
Palestinian cause. It is important for Pakistan
to acknowledge this and make its demands on the
Arab World accordingly. For too long we have allowed
ourselves to be taken for granted when we do have
a natural leadership role. We should not allow our
internal problems to cloud the reality of our external
strength within the Muslim World -- especially in
our neighborhood of the Gulf. That is why it is
equally important for us to take them along when
we make our policy shifts on Israel. We are seen
as a source of strength and we need to fortify this
position, not undermine it for transient advantages.
(The writer is Director General of the Institute
of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. Courtesy The
News)
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