Solana’s visit

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was the latest person in a stream of high profile foreign visitors who have been visiting Islamabad in recent weeks to meet with the leaders of the new ruling alliance. Their point of interest being the role this country has in combating the threat of extremist violence. Solana’s was basically a familiarization trip in the wake of the government decision to talk to the local Taliban in order to address the problem of terrorism emanating from our tribal areas. Like the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, before him, Solana supported the reconciliation effort - something the British have already been doing in parts of Afghanistan under their control. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, too, has been extending an olive branch to the Taliban leaders, including their chief and al Qaeda sympathiser Mullah Omer. The objective of these overtures seems to be two-fold: one to isolate and hence weaken al Qaeda leaders and activists; and second, to give due recognition to the reality that the Taliban, after all, are local people who cannot be wiped out, and hence need to be brought into the Afghan mainstream. The same considerations should apply to our situation. However, while supporting the reconciliation effort Solana added an unnecessary ‘if’. It would work, he said, if done within the ambit of law and the Constitution. It is for the government to decide what would work. The end result, not the means should matter to anyone interested in this reconciliation effort.
For our leaders, the EU official’s visit also presented an opportunity to discuss issues involving economic cooperation. They asked for support on Pakistan’s longstanding demand for a free trade agreement, and withdrawal of anti-dumping duty on bed linen exports. As a matter of fact, Pakistan has been telling its well-wishers both in the US and EU - who link poverty with the rise of extremism in the country - that it needs trade rather than aid. And that an important step in the direction would be greater market access. For a time, EU seemed to listen, but not seriously enough. Bed linen, Pakistan’s major export to the European market, came in for a punitive anti-dumping duty. It started with a 13.1 percent duty four years ago. When the exporters protested loudly, the EU sent an investigation team to look into the situation, but the team hurried back home without completing its task, citing security problems. Admittedly, the duty has since been reviewed three times, and gradually brought down to 5.8 percent. Still, Pakistan’s exports have remained at a big disadvantage vis-a-vis its competitors’ like Bangladesh which enjoys zero duty. Meanwhile, the spectre of terrorism and the consequent problems of law and order have led to a substantial decrease in foreign investments, compounding this country’s economic woes. Indeed, some aid money is in the pipeline. That though would bring a short-term respite, contrary to the demands of a prosperous and peaceful society our government and its friends say they wish to build. The EU must take measures, such as a free trade agreement, so as to generate a more meaningful economic activity in Pakistan.


Gaza blockade

REPORTS that Israel has sent a message to Damascus via Turkey saying that it is willing to return the Golan Heights captured in 1967 and, secondly, that Hamas effectively now accepts a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should be cause for considerable optimism. These are major shifts and, potentially, they open the door, if not to peace, then at least to dialogue. Moreover, it is a political fact of life that there will be no peace in the Middle East without involving Syria and Hamas, regardless of whether anyone likes them or not. Yet it is impossible to feel positive about anything on the Palestinian front given what is happening in Gaza. The UN has just said that the Israeli blockade has forced them to suspend their humanitarian operations there. Without UNRWA, the UN’s aid arm, Gazans will starve. It is as dire as that. There is not a single Gazan who is not directly or indirectly affected by its humanitarian work. Not only does it feed almost a half of the strip’s population, it is responsible for education, health and sanitation, even sewerage. Food prices have already soared; the cost of vegetables, for example, has tripled in recent weeks. Without UNRWA to help, the cost of all foodstuffs would soar way beyond the reach of most Gazans. Malnutrition is already commonplace in Gaza; talk of starvation is no exaggeration. Yet despite the extreme gravity of the situation, what do we see the West doing? On Wednesday, the UN Security Council was discussing the crisis, but when the Libyan representative likened Gaza to a Nazi concentration camp, Western diplomats walked out and the meeting had to be closed.
This rare physical protest by Western diplomats is deeply shocking — but so very revealing. They are more interested in protecting Israel’s reputation than in the desperate plight of a community facing starvation. Where is the justice in that? But then is anyone surprised? The truth of the matter is that Israel’s blockade of Gaza is supported by the West — and even by those who criticize it and weep bitter tears at the sufferings of the Gazans. The Libyan ambassador’s response was an emotional one, perhaps overemotive, but it is not one that we entirely disagree with: Gaza has become a giant, horrific prison camp where an entire population is oppressed and punished for the actions of a few. In walking out, the Western diplomats were being immature and, worse, wholly irresponsible. This is no time for diplomatic prancing around. It is time for action to help those who cannot help themselves. How much more responsible it would have been had the American, British, French, Belgian and Costa Rican representatives simply said that they objected to the Libyan ambassador’s words and got on with the all-important meeting? It is actions like this that convince the Palestinians’ friends around the world that the West will do nothing to end Israel’s oppression. That is why it is difficult to have much enthusiasm about its message to Damascus or Hamas’ apparent conversion to moderation.

—Arab News