Clovis Maksoud: From Arab League to Arab Unity... Interview with ‘Ammon News’

posted on: Jan 27, 2010

Who would have expected that the will and determination of one man would mobilize an international consensus to move the permanent headquarters of the United Nations from New York to Geneva, after Washington refused to allow late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to give his speech before the UN General Assembly in 1989?

”In the name of the League of Arab States, I resolve to transfer the UN headquarters from New York to Geneva to preserve the dignity of the United Nations,” Clovis Maksoud, Chief Representative of the Arab League in the United States and the United Nations, told US media after meeting then US Secretary of State.

The UN General Assembly hence voted on the transfer, in accord with the decision of the Arab nations, which had rallied around its Chief Representative.

Clovis Maksoud, the prominent Arab lawyer, journalist, ambassador, diplomat and intellectual, carries his devotion and pride in his Arab identity wherever he goes. Despite the reality of Arab disintegration, the variance in Arab governments’ stances, and the vast disunity successfully instilled among the Arabs by the proponents of Sykes-Picot and San Remo, until today, Maksoud bargains on ‘Arab unity’ one day.

In a recent visit in Amman to celebrate the naming of Dr. Reema Khalaf as one of the world’s most influential people in the last decade, Dr. Clovis Maksoud honored ‘Ammon News’ with the following enlightening interview:

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: TWO JOBS, ONE SALARY

Recalling main signposts in his professional career, Maksoud considered his experience with the Arab League to be most valuable, saying “in 1979, I became the Chief Representative of the Arab League in the United Nations and the United States, two posts with one salary.. a valuable experience it was, and I had learned much from it.”

IN 1973, Maksoud had an experience that put him in the spotlight in the U.S. and around the world; “I was delegated by the Arab Summit to justify the Arab oil embargo against the United States. It was a difficult mission, I came to New York to an historic interview with NBC’s then Barbara Walters, who asked “Aren’t you ashamed to appear on TV after noticing the hundreds of cars piled in long lines for hours to get gas?”

“It was a surprising question,” Maksoud recalls, “after a pause in which I reviewed all the possible answers, I said ‘This may be an opportunity for me to apologize to the American people for having to stand for long hours in lines to get gas, but will the day come when Americans will apologize to the Palestinian refugees who have been made homeless and live in poverty?”

‘I RESIGNED FROM THE ARAB LEAGUE FOR REASONS OF CONSCIENCE’

Maksoud holds a unique perspective on the Arab League. He believes it is not an assemblage of governments, but rather of nations, so its representative cannot be responsible only towards the policies of its states, but his duty is also entwined with the pulse of the masses: to bridge the gap between what is, and what should be in providing for the will of the masses.

This is what Maksoud tried to implement throughout his time with the Arab League, ”As for my conviction, conscience, comprehension and commitment to the necessity of creating some sort of Arab unity, I consider the Arab League to be the available ethnic framework towards unity, although not the most suited.”

On the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Maksoud maintained that it was a grave ‘transgression,’ ”I condemned the invasion from the first instance, although it would have created unity between two states, but unity must be voluntary, willful, and a product of the convictions of the masses…

“In August 1990, as the Arab nations called for an Arab summit, I took it upon myself to formulate an Arab resolution to the crisis, away from foreign interference. I was then representative of the Arab League to the United Nations. Among those who supported this direction was His Majesty, late King Hussein, alongside the Algerians and 7 other states, while Arab Gulf states, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon opposed.

The crisis resulted in a schism in the Arab stance, leading Maksoud to resign from the Arab League ‘’for my conviction that all I would do will be against my conviction and conscious.”

“I would be lying to people; so I resigned, I didn’t run away. Running away would be to accept foreign intervention, I wouldn’t have allowed this for myself, and so I resigned.”

“This was a conscience stance so I could live with myself,” Maksoud justified, “I was appointed in this position as a politician not as a diplomat to propagate any formula the governments decided on. That did not sit well with my personal conviction.”

”As long as there is Arab agreement to condemn any Arab state that invades another, then why was the crisis internationalized?”

‘THE ARAB LEAGUE VALIDATES THE LEGITIMACY OF ARAB IDENTITY

On his views of the Arab League, Maksoud said ”here, aspirations blend with analyses, causing absolute objectivity to be absent from my response.”

This [Arab League] is the one available framework, yet its role must not be limited to governments, which in themselves embody Arab disunity. It is not a League of governments only, but it is a league of nations (governments and civil society). From this standpoint, Maksoud began to consider that political work ought to begin by inculcating a culture that is more active and by reinforcing Arab Identity.

The fundamental issue for Maksoud is the need to transform “Arabism” into a concept of “patriotism,” whereas minorities would not feel as if they are undermined. We must do away with what is called ‘minorities’ and instill instead equality in rights and in the sense of belonging in Arab nations, while maintaining space for minorities to preserve their own characteristics.

‘’Duality in language, for example, and preservation of special characteristics of minorities that do not contradict the ‘mother’ identity.”

“In the US for example, the Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture was predominant, then it transformed into a mainstream culture that facilitated for minorities a role in influence and action. There’s a presence of Africans, Arabs, Muslims, and Hispanics. If minorities are discriminated against, their sense of ‘belonging’ will be shaken,” Maksoud finds.

For Maksoud, It is important to affirm cultural diversity and not plurality. Plurality creates fake relations that would in turn lead to conflict. We celebrate diversity as the active ingredient of creativity.

“Plurality is the antithesis of diversity, because it substantiates what differentiates us, whereas diversity crystallizes the commonalities between us,” Maksoud said.

In applying this concept to the Arab League, Maksoud explains, ”the General Secretariat should be entrusted with the future of citizenship/patriotism in the Arab world to muster unity work, its strength comes from its ability to serve as a catalyst to mobilize the masses towards action and to become a bridge between the rulers and the ruled. It should be a medium to acquaint the rulers of the concerns of the masses, and [the General Secretariat] must not leave the masses in a state of confrontation with their regimes.”

Taken the current aspects, the Arab League cannot play this role, Maksoud finds, but with more rehabilitation it may become, and it must play this role especially taken the absence of organized popular movements in the Arab world.

“The Arab League validates the Arab identity, that is why you find me concerned with it, not for the shortcomings of its performance, but for what it is capable of becoming. It has the potential of becoming substantiating unity; the legality of statehood is merely a transitional phase. What is at question here is ”does legitimacy here coincide with legality, and is it implementable?, Maksoud questions.

I had stated in my book “Arabism in the Age of Misguidance” that despite Arab disintegration, Arabism, in its least, provides a sort of internal immunity. If we lose this sense, in Maksoud’s view, societies will completely disintegrate.

This pours directly into the struggle with Israel, if we do not realize this and begin to awaken this conscience, we will be unable to hold steady on our stance. The ones that make decisions on our behalf now are allied with Israel, there isn’t a united solidarity Arab narrative, according to Maksoud.

“I call for binding coordination between Arab nations. I find that factionalism, sectarianism, and racism are byproducts of the loss of patriotic culture, when we failed to identify ourselves as ‘Arabs’ in a united identity.”

Unfortunately, disintegration is going on now among Arabs; Sunnis, Shiites, Maronites, Druze, Gazan, West Bankers, Jerusalemites, Palestinian refugees, 1948 Israeli Arabs, etc.)

PALESTINIAN IDENTITY AND THE COMPLEXITY OF THE OSLO ACCORDS

In Maksoud’s view, the Palestinian identity must be preserved. This is a special situation within the greater notion of Arab identity. The Palestinian identity is part of the Arab identity, and the Arab world must not abandon its nationalistic responsibility in confronting Israel.

“We must affirm here that there’s a ‘state’ system for this that would become the goal that Palestine would have a state,” Maksoud notes. This means that the Palestinian identity is one branch component within the framework of an overall real Arab identity. Statism is merely an official condition.

There isn’t any Arab or Palestinian narrative in confronting Israeli expansionist conspiracies, Maksoud regrets.

On the issue of settlements, Maksoud views that a ‘settlement freeze’ constitutes recognition that Israel is a lawful ‘owner.’ “We must speak of ‘dismantling settlement,’ and not a ‘stop’ or a ‘freeze’ on settlements, whereby we would be saying that Israel is an occupier even if it lasts 500 years. But what Israel is doing is very dangerous. It is attempting to change the geographic and demographic characteristics in an effort to eradicate Arab presence from Palestine.”

Settlements usurp the majority of water resources, Maksoud notes, using 80 percent of the resources for merely 10 percent of the population. “This is a duality of imperialism (occupation) and discrimination in one.”

From this perspective, Maksoud finds that all Oslo Accords are merely “futile exercises in diplomacy”.. Therefore, Palestinian politicians, Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) and others must stop using the notion of ‘settlement freeze’ and call for ‘dismantling’ of settlements.

They must not say ‘no return to the negotiations table without settlement freeze.’ The equation is uneven here, Israel is an occupier, and Palestinians are under occupation. Under this current equation, Palestinians constitute an obstacle in the way of settlement expansion, and the ‘resistance’ turns into ‘rebellion against the state,’ which includes the West Bank and Gaza.

Until now, Israel doesn’t know its limits, Maksoud expressed; It is a member of the United Nations and meets international leaders, although it is a state that violates international law and norms.

“Our struggle is not with the Jews, our struggle is with Israel’s Zionist project, Israel has the right to power, and it convinced the world that it possesses the power of ‘right’!”

ARMED RESISTANCE IS LAWFUL…BUT

On the concept of resistance, Mksoud said ”resistance isn’t only by armed struggle, negotiations is resistance, civil disobedience, demonstrations, resorting to the United nations are all forms of resistance. Armed conflict should be the last resort after exhausting all other forms. Armed resistance is, however, lawful.”

WE PARTICIPATED IN GANGING UP AGAINST GOLDSTONE

On the Goldstone report, Mksoud said that the report was an historic opportunity for us, yet we had failed in taking advantage of it, let alone putting it into use. ”We actually took part in ganging-up on Goldstone himself.”

OBAMA INHERITED BUSH’S ‘DIRT’

Maksoud described the transformation in America’s stance in the new phase, he said: ”neo-conservatives from among those Zionist who ran Netanyahu’s election campaign in 1995-6 penetrated Bush’s administration, and focused on countries neighboring Israel, particularly Iraq, and struck it with the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) false pretext, and Saddam fell into the trap.”

President Obama appears as if he is a ‘sweeper,’ who inherited Bush’s dirt, unimaginably stubborn dirt. He has succeeded until now, in Maksoud’s view, in alleviating the repercussions of the financial crisis, and is thinking of gradual withdrawal from Iraq, yet he has chosen to continue in his war in Afghanistan, differentiating between a war of necessity and a war of choice.

Bush sent more than 165,000 US soldiers to Iraq, while he only sent 30,000 to Afghanistan; this is where the Israeli role and influence on U.S. policies is most apparent.

There is potential for the success of Obama’s policies, Maksoud finds, especially that he came to power accepting multi-polarity in international relations (the United States being the first and most prominent pole, but is not the sole power, there are others). Obama believes in the necessity of dialogue and respect of opponents, even if one is forced to ‘twist the opponents’ arm’ while still maintaining respect.

EGYPT AND THE POSSIBILITY OF LEADING CHANGE; ONCE MORE

In regards to Egypt’s role, Maksoud said ”Egypt must play a different role. Egypt had been a mixing ground between the nationalistic experience and the Islamist one in its struggle against colonialism. Egypt has infused Islam into the national conscience. The experience succeeded and it allowed for both secularism and Islam to exude influence, until the clash occurred.”

The practice of bequeathing successors contradicts the nature of a republican system, Maksoud affirms. The interference by Amr Musa and Muhammad Baradae in Egypt’s campaign climate is important, as it constitutes a shakedown of the stalemate political arena in Egypt. This caused a healthy stir to challenge the political status quo in the issue of ‘bequeathing successors’ which has come to characterize all Arab countries, even republics, except Lebanon.

We hope that what is happening in Egypt would be influential in evoking public debate and lay a foundation for change, and what comes after change must be positive, Maksoud optimistically states.

Realizing quick results to change depends on the level of popular reaction and response, Maksoud adds, and this doesn’t mean that children of heads of state may not run for elections.

SECULARISM IS A MISUNDERSTOOD CONCEPT

In Maksoud’s view, Secularism is not the separation of ‘religion and state,’ but rather it is separating the state from the political referential of religious institutions. In the Arab nationalist concept, Islam is a part of our heritage and our history and remains a fundamental component of it, Maksoud notes.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS ARE KEY TO EXIT FROM THE CRISIS

Maksoud spoke of the impact of the human development reports he contributed into preparing. Maksoud told Ammon News, ”reports on human developments, overseen by Dr. Reema Khalaf, constitute an intellectual infiltration that treats the root causes of problems, even if this is not the goal.”

The reports presented a precise analysis of the Arab condition and focused on the shortcomings in the fields of knowledge, women’s empowerment, freedoms, and good governance, according to Maksoud.

Maksoud explained that the reports provided recommendations in a method that empowers the Arab individual to grab on the elements of knowledge and allow for the empowerment of women and their participation in indoctrinating patriotism, becoming a component that gives immunity to society by means of perpetual development, and exhausting the elements of degradation represented by poverty, tyranny, and despotism of occupation.

The reports envisioned the reality and highlighted its shortcomings, and presented practical recommendations to solve the shortcomings, relying on the principle that ‘self criticism is the best defense against self destruction.’

“The team that helped Dr. Reema Khalaf prepare the reports, and I am one of them, recognizes that it faces dual criticism. How do we pronounce such shortcomings, and Arabs would say that they are aware of them, which means that they admit to them.”

Theoretically, you would figure that when Arabs would say that they are aware of the shortcomings, this would constitute the incentive to treat them, otherwise, the enmity would make use of our ignorance and seize the shortcomings as an opportunity to use against us, Maksoud explained.

One of the main obstacles to perpetual development, according to Maksoud, is the focus on occupation, whether in Iraq or Palestine, as a main distraction from focusing on the foundations of development, and the reliance on the factor that occupation constitutes the main obstacle in the way of development.

“At a time that negative perceptions increased during the last decade, the Financial Times came to consider Dr. Reema Khalaf among the 50 most influential personalities of the last decade, and this is a huge accomplishment,” Maksoud stressed.

“This is an indication that there are Arab energies that must be ‘mustered,’ accompanied by specialized teams of consultative councils and experts such as the ones she cultivated.”

‘WE ARE A RICH NATION, WITH POOR POPULATIONS: WE MUST TRANSFORM WEALTH INTO A REVOLUTION OF DEMOCRATIC CHANGE’

We do not call for, and should not call for immediate unity, Maksoud notes, ‘’because I do not want to give the masses false hopes, that’s why I say that binding coordination within the framework available through the Arab League is the possible transitional phase to achieve in creating the foundation for gradual steps towards unity in its comprehensive meaning.”

This, according to Maksoud, depends on several things:

Utilization of Arab monies (wealth) within the Arab world, to achieve that, there must be stability, meaning that we must treat the issues of stability through awareness of the factors/causes of instability, which are mainly caused by the ‘vertical’ relations among people rather than celebrating diversity and patriotism. These are considered among the priorities of action to guarantee facilitating and finding solutions that may seem now impossible considering the disunity and the lack of patriotic sentiments towards unity among Arabs.

That is way gradual steps are necessary, starting with binding coordination among Arab states and peoples, moving towards economic unity and a joint market, hence forming the basis of a road map towards comprehensive Arab unity.

Sameer Hiyari, Basil Okoor, Fayez Al Fayez
Ammon News

Translated by Banan F. Malkawi
Ammon News

(Ambassador Clovis Maksoud is presently Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for the Global South at American University in Washington, DC.)