A Sensible European View on the Middle East

The Daily Star Editorial

A man on the road this week is worth listening to in the continuing

challenge to find the route to stability, peace and prosperity throughout

the Middle East. The German Foreign Minister is on a fast trip to five

countries in the Middle East, at a time when diplomatic movement on the

Arab-Israeli conflict is moribund. Yet Germany's and the wider European

Union's ties with the Middle East can impact meaningfully on the quest for

stability and a normal life for the people of this region, which is why the

German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fisher, is worth listening to. He is

trying, among other things, to refocus attention on the vital role that the

"Road Map" peace process blueprint can play in moving the protagonists back

to a meaningful negotiation. His country's and the EU's views in this

respect deserve a serious, creative, even daring, initiative by Arabs,

Israelis and Europeans to vault over the repeated deadlocks generated by

the American-led diplomatic legacy of recent decades. The lack of

American-mediated successes in the Middle East demands that a more

multilateral approach be considered.

"We have come to the conclusion that the unilateral (Israeli) withdrawal

and the complete dismantling of settlements in Gaza, if it's done in a

proper way and part of the Road Map, could be a real breakthrough to the

peace process," Fischer told reporters in Amman recently. "We have a

unified European position and we must move forward on this position because

we think the region needs a fair compromise based on a two-state solution

between Israel and the Palestinians." Fischer's thoughts on the U.S. role

are sensible: "We need American leadership and American diplomacy on the

one hand, but on the other side I don't believe this could be done alone.

When we talk about our security we are talking about the future of our

neighbour region, the Middle East," he said, adding that Europe's own

interests were at stake.

His visit should rekindle serious exploration of a joint Middle

Eastern-European initiative that could build on the Road Map, the Israeli

withdrawal from Gaza, a rejuvenated pan-Arab peace plan, or any available

new Palestinian ideas.

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Source: The Daily Star, August 30, 2004

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