There has been lots of good news in the Arab world this week, thanks to the successful uprisings against autocratic regimes ushered in by the glorious Arab Spring and the international community’s encouraging response.
An overwhelming majority or two-thirds (65 per cent) of Americans — more Democrats than Republicans — believe that “greater democracy in the Middle East would be positive for the US”. And in the long run, more than three-quarters (76 per cent) of Americans say democratisation would be mostly positive for the US.

Also, a majority of Americans (57 per cent) say that they “would want to see a country become more democratic even if this resulted in the country being more likely to oppose US policies”.

These were some of the key findings of a new poll conducted by the respected Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development and the Programme on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, directed by Shibley Telhami and Steven Kull respectively.

The poll was released at the opening of the eighth annual US-Islamic World Forum held in Washington on April 12-14.

However, the American view of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, according to the pollsters, was not affected by the uprisings in the Arab world. Two-thirds continued to have a “favourable view” of Israel and the US, not taking sides in the conflict — “unchanged from a Sadat Chair poll conducted last November”. But more than previously (30 per cent versus 21 per cent) felt the US was not trying hard enough to resolve the conflict.

Another upbeat assessment came from the United Nations which declared in a report that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is ready to run an independent state. This virtually echoed a similar finding last week by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. However, the UN noted that the PNA will have to struggle to make further institutional progress due to the restrictions of the Israeli occupation and the breakdown of the Middle East peace talks.

Need for unity

But the UN report said deep political divisions between the PNA and Hamas added another complication to the campaign for Palestinian statehood. This blunt assessment makes it incumbent on the two feuding Palestinian groups to immediately settle their differences; otherwise they run the risk of losing another major battle in September when the UN General Assembly is expected to support Palestinian membership in the world organisation. Obviously, their petty quarrels are not worth that price.

Already, the PNA has more than 100 votes to gain full membership in the 192-member UN General Assembly, the main deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations.

More significantly, membership will give Palestinians the right to challenge Israel’s continued illegal occupation of the Holy Land where in accordance with the 1948 Partition Plan, Israel was awarded 55 per cent of the former British mandate.

After the 1967 war, Israel secured 78 per cent of the country, but in the wake of the 1973 war, it gained full military control of the country as well as significant areas of Syria, Egypt and Jordan.

Another significant turnaround has been the Arab League’s call last Sunday on the UN Security Council to consider an embargo on Israeli military flights over Gaza Strip where 19 Palestinians have recently been killed as a result of Israeli air raids.

The move, aimed to protect Palestinian civilians, mimics the Arab League’s endorsement of the Nato imposing a UN no-fly zone over Libya.

On the other hand, these international moves appear to have crippled all Israeli manoeuvres championed incoherently by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has recently travelled to Europe in the hope of winning European support against UN recognition of the Palestinian state.
Likewise, Israeli President Shimon Peres has lately visited the US for this purpose but it is not yet certain what commitments he has been promised by the Obama administration which seems to be maintaining a hands-off approach on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

This so-called ‘diplomatic tsunami’ forecast by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak is bound to hit Israel hard should the Palestinians win admission to the UN in the wake of the uprisings in the Middle East. Israeli leaders are baffled about the next step which may be revealed if and when Netanyahu comes to the US next month.