BACKGROUND

The Side Show Moves
To Center Stage

Mideast observers are hopeful that the
non-political multilateral talks make kick-start
the peace process.

DOUGLAS DAVIS

Foreign Correspondent

W

hile the six-month-
old Arab-Israeli
bilateral talks are
still stuck at first base, there
is hope that the new round of
non-political multilateral
talks which open in no fewer
than five capital cities this
month, starting in Washing-
ton and Ottawa on Monday
(May 11), will provide a
gentle kick-start for the po-
litical bilaterals.
The multilaterals were
once widely perceived as a
sideshow to the main event;
the agent for binding the
Israelis, Syrians, Lebanese,
Jordanians and Palestinians
and locking them into a set-
tlement.
Negotiations on a wide
range of non-political issues,
from the environment to
arms control, were regarded
as the region's "peace divi-
dend," the consequence
rather than the cause of a
deal between Israel and its
neighbors.
But now there is talk that
the multilaterals may suc-
ceed by exposing the benefits
to be derived from coopera-
tion rather than confronta-
tion.
More realistic than the in-
cessant drumbeat of
demands from all sides for
political capitulation is a
series of incremental pacts
on non-contentious, non-
political issues that will pro-
duce tangible gains, build
confidence and prepare the
ground for later concessions.
Many of the topics in-
volved in the multilaterals
transcend the Arab-Israeli
dispute and have evoked
imaginative, far-reaching
proposals from Jerusalem
which could go a long way to
filling the still-empty peace
vessel with content.
At the multilateral ses-
sions, Israel, Jordan, the 11
Arab states of the Gulf Co-
operation Council and the
Maghreb region of North
Africa will be joined by
representatives from at least
24 other nations, including
the U.S., Russia, the 12-
nation European Commun-
ity, the six-nation European

Free Trade Association,
China, Japan, Turkey and
Canada.
The Syrians, the Lebanese
and the Palestinians did not
attend the first round of
multilaterals in Moscow last
January and it is not known
whether they will attend
any of the sessions this mon-
th.
Talks on economic coop-
eration will be held in
Brussels and on arms control
in Washington from May 11-
13. Water resources will be
discussed in Vienna from
May 12-14; refugees in Ot-
tawa from May 13-15, and
environmental issues in
Tokyo during the week of
May 18.
Following are the major
issues on the agenda of each
round and Israel's key pro-
posals:

Economic
Cooperation
Many of the region's de-
velopment problems require
regional solutions, and coop-
eration in this field would
provide gains not only in
economic but also in human
gains.
Economic cooperation
could lead to joint research,
the sharing of technology,
the exchange of resources
and the creation of a
framework of common goals.
As the region continues to
modernize and develop, such
cooperation would accelerate

Israel is hoping for
an arms control
agreement that
would eliminate
weapons of mass
destruction.

growth, generate wealth,
expand markets and attract
foreign investment.
Israel is well advanced in
aquaculture — food-
production technologies bas-
ed on seawater — and it has
accumulated expertise in
aspects of energy and in-
frastructure management.
Cooperation in the field of
health through interaction
between scientists and
health workers would have

implications for health prac-
tices and applications for so-
cial development throughout
the region.

The Environment
Hazards to the envi-
ronment underline the
essential inter- dependence
of all states in the region.
The urgent need to protect
the air, the sea and the soil,
to safeguard natural habi-
tats and enhance plant,
animal and human life, also
requires a regional ap-
proach.
Key proposals in this area
include the establishment of
joint authorities to monitor
and control environmental
hazards, to develop and
manage natural reserves
And to protect endangered
species; and cooperative ven-
tures to produce regional
recycling processes and the
creation of common dumping
sites for toxic waste disposal.

Refugees
As a result of the War of
Independence, more than
590,000 Jewish refugees
arrived in Israel from Arab
lands, having been expelled
or having fled persecution.
The property they were forc-
ed to abandon is estimated to
be worth billions of dollars.
At the same time, a simi-
lar number of Palestinian
Arabs left Israel, mostly at
the instigation of neighbor-
ing Arab regimes which
assured them they would be
able to return "with the vic-
torious Arab armies." While
the numbers are roughly
equal, there is a significant
difference in their fate.
The Jewish refugees were
given full Israeli citizenship
and were absorbed as com-
pletely and quickly as possi-
ble.
By contrast, the Arab
world deliberately main-
tained the refugee status of
the Palestinian Arabs as a
political weapon against
Israel. About 1,900 families
who lived in refugee camps
in the Gaza Strip have been
resettled, but Israel's at-
tempt to rehabilitate the
refugees has met with
strenuous opposition.
Despite the Arab world's
calculated neglect of Pales-

tinian refugees, Israel's
peace initiative, published
on May 14, 1989, acknowl-
edged the urgent human-
itarian need to ease their
plight.
It called for "an interna-
tional endeavor to resolve
the problem of the residents
of the Arab refugee camps
... in order to improve their
living conditions and
rehabilitate them," adding:
"Israel is prepared to be a
partner in this endeavor."

Water
The issue of water has
been a source of tension and
conflict between a number of
states in the region; in
future, it could become the
catalyst for peaceful coop-
eration and development.
Israel is proposing the
creation of workshops to
study each area of water

technology and irrigation in
order to coordinate efforts
and make the most effective
use of existing resources.
Other proposals include
construction of a "peace
pipeline" from water-rich
Turkey to Israel, Jordan and
Syria, and construction of a
canal from the Mediterra-
nean to the Dead Sea to ge-
nerate hydro-electric power
for Israel and Jordan.

Arms Control
Military analysts agree
that some form of arms con-
trol in the Middle East is
essential, but likely to prove
elusive at this stage.
Israel is hoping for an
arms control agreement that
would eliminate weapons of
mass destruction, reduce
stockpiles of conventional
armaments and relieve its
economy. 0

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

33