A Veto to Public Diplomacy
On Tuesday, the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that, to use the resolution’s words, would have declared that "the construction by Israel, the occupying Power, of a wall in the Occupied Territories departing from the armistice line of 1949 is illegal under relevant provisions of international law and must be ceased and reversed." While the US Ambassador to the United Nation’s John Negroponte claimed that the US vetoed the resolution because it "would not further the goal of peace in the region," it is difficult to imagine a vision of peace that would allow a wall systematically destroying Palestinian livelihood and society to be built without accountability or condemnation. Other countries represented on the Council agreed. Absent the US veto, the resolution would likely have passed.
But apart from the overwhelming weakness, not to say outright disingenuity of the Administration’s argument for vetoing the resolution and the catastrophic results of American-caused international impotence for ordinary Palestinians on the ground, the American veto was particularly destructive to the United States’ very own interests themselves. In the short term, the action undermines the US’ self-declared role as "honest broker" of Palestinian-Israeli peace. But in the long-term, the effects are worse, as they do even further damage to an already poor US image in the Arab/Muslim world.
While normally this result would be regrettable, after September 11, it is exceedingly disturbing. Since September 11, both the US State Department and, ironically, its leading critics, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have emphasized the need for the United States to engage in "public diplomacy" to improve its image in the Arab/Muslim world. The ostensible objective of this diplomacy is to "win over the hearts and minds" of Arabs and Muslims around the world by showing them America’s respect for Arabs and Islam as well as our shared values.
To that end, the State Department has spent millions of dollars and even hired a former Madison Avenue Marketing Executive, Charlotte Beers (who later departed), to head its Department of Public Diplomacy. As part of its efforts, the Department created a radio network for the Arab world, Radio Sawa, produced advertisements and documentaries for Arab television and has had leading Administration officials regularly appear on Arab news channels like Al-Jazeera. But for all of the Department’s sophisticated efforts, the US’ veto of Tuesday’s Security Council resolution seems to demonstrate that the Administration–and the State Department itself–has overlooked the most central aspect in speaking to its Arab audience: listening.
According to groundbreaking new polling data from Zogby International on attitudes in the Arab world, at least 70% of Arabs in several Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon, defined the question of Palestine as among their top three issues. The pollster, John Zogby himself, explained the implications of his results, writing that: "Palestine is not a political issue so much as a personal issue. It is self-identifying, emblematic, and defining for Arabs…the Palestine issue is in the bloodstream of Arabs. American policymakers, including those who would engage in public diplomacy, must understand the importance of Palestine for all Arabs as the sine qua non for sincere communications.
Had the Administration understood this importance or indeed been truly concerned with America’s image in the Arab World, perhaps it might have reconsidered its truly lamentable veto of the Security Council resolution (as well, it must be noted, of a previous resolution demanding that Israel not expel Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat). Instead, it vetoed both resolutions and, in so doing, further positioned the United States, in the eyes of many in the Arab and Muslim world, as the singular obstacle to the symbolic, legal and finally physical protection of the Palestinian people from even the most egregious Israeli behavior. The tragic, but predictable results will be further Arab alienation, distrust and suspicion of American actions not only in Israel/Palestine, but also in Iraq and in the region at large. And this, no amount of sophisticated public diplomacy can repair or overcome.
GEORGE NAGGIAR is President of the American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights.