index1.php en http://www.bitterlemons-international.org [email protected] [email protected] inside.php?id=1bitterlemonsJuly 10, 2003 Edition 1
Edition: The peace process and the role of Arab diplomacy

As more and more books and articles are written about the collapse of the political process in 2000, the importance of the Camp David summit held that July between United States President Clinton, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, becomes increasingly apparent. One of the reasons for the failure of that summit, even if not the main one, was the fact that the leaders...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=2bitterlemonsJuly 10, 2003 Edition 1
Edition: The peace process and the role of Arab diplomacy

If the events of the last three years in the Middle East served to prove anything, it is the ineffectiveness, if not dismal failure, of Arab diplomacy in regional politics. The two major crises that hit the region in Israel/Palestine and in Iraq were allowed to escalate dramatically--one leading to a vicious cycle of violence and the other to a full-scale war--with Arab states doing little more than...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=3bitterlemonsJuly 10, 2003 Edition 1
Edition: The peace process and the role of Arab diplomacy

Arab diplomacy is a rare commodity. Understandingly so, since there is no such thing as an "Arab nation", as it is currently alleged; the 20 odd Arab states have no common foreign policy on most issues. True, the peoples of this region share a basic language, while speaking a variety of dialects, as well as cultural and religious values, mainly Islamic but also Christian, and these affinities generate...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=4bitterlemonsJuly 10, 2003 Edition 1
Edition: The peace process and the role of Arab diplomacy

BI: In what ways has Arab diplomacy changed vis-à-vis the Palestinian-Israeli conflict since the start of the Palestinian uprising? Shaath: During the intifada, Arab diplomacy found itself between two major pulls. On the one hand, the Arab public was extremely motivated by the intifada to take strong actions in its support--especially the Islamic forces in these countries--which pushed matters...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=5bitterlemonsJuly 17, 2003 Edition 2
Edition: The roadmap and the future of the Quartet

One year ago, even as intifada-related violence raged at unprecedented levels, United States President George W. Bush announced a new diplomatic initiative designed to build the foundations for a just and sustainable peace. The president envisioned two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace, security, and dignity, fulfilling the national aspirations of their peoples. He called for...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=6bitterlemonsJuly 17, 2003 Edition 2
Edition: The roadmap and the future of the Quartet

BI: Do you feel that the Quartet is being cut out of the process of implementing the roadmap? Erekat: Yes, I feel that the Quartet is disappearing. Once the Americans decided to take the driver's seat, the Quartet no longer existed. It was agreed upon previously that there would be four committees: the humanitarian committee, headed by the United Nations; the reform and reconstruction committee,...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=7bitterlemonsJuly 17, 2003 Edition 2
Edition: The roadmap and the future of the Quartet

I recently attended a prestigious and private event in Jerusalem where one of Israel's most important historians was lecturing on the country's relations with Europe. I found his message astounding. He asserted that Christian Europe would never be able to acquiesce in the fact that the Jewish people have their own sovereign country. The reason: the rejection of Jesus Christ by the Jewish people--something...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=8bitterlemonsJuly 17, 2003 Edition 2
Edition: The roadmap and the future of the Quartet

BI: Who created the Quartet and the roadmap? Vdovin: The Quartet as such has no specific birth date. Everyone can consider that he first invited other representatives to meet. For example, Michael Bogdanov, then-Russian ambassador to Israel, invited Americans, Europeans and others to meet in his residence around June 2001. Nobody knows exactly who created the roadmap. The roadmap is a collective...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=9bitterlemonsJuly 24, 2003 Edition 3
Edition: The regional ramifications of the Iraq war

In the Arab-Israel conflict, one must admit, wars were sometimes a catalyst for a political process. Arabs and Israelis alike learned the lesson of compromise only after they had exhausted all other possibilities. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir rejected a peace initiative by Egyptian President Sadat in 1972 and condemned the parties to live the trauma of the Yom Kippur War before they could assume...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC inside.php?id=10bitterlemonsJuly 24, 2003 Edition 3
Edition: The regional ramifications of the Iraq war

BI: How would you characterize reactions in the Middle East to the war in Iraq? El-Baz: In general, most Middle Easterners are not sure of the real reasons for the American-British role against Iraq. Many reasons were cited, but most observers noticed that there was no coherent agenda: pursuing weapons of mass destruction, deposing Saddam Hussein, gaining a footstep in a strategic part of the Arab...]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2016 20:59:58 UTC