Joe Ray

November 22, 2004 - The Star-Ledger

PARIS—There weren’t many, but they were hard not to notice. While masses in the Middle East mourned Yasser Arafat’s death earlier this month by waving Palestinian flags, some in the crowd were waving the red, white and blue of France.
Recognition of the country where Arafat was hospitalized at the end of his life is another subtle reminder that France may hold a key to future peace efforts in the Middle East—assuming, of course, a rapprochement between the United States and France develops.

“There’s got to be a middle road (between the U.S. and France),” says Pierre Hassner, a specialist in Franco-American relations. “And for that, the conflict between Israel and Palestine is key. Each side should push where it helps the most, with France using its influence on Palestine and the U.S. on (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon.

“But I think it’s Bush who’s got to take the first step.”

After winning re-election earlier this month, President Bush declared himself ready to work with Europe on the Middle East and other foreign policy issues. He even spoke of the “great chance to establish a Palestinian state” and said he planned “to spend the capital of the United States” on creating such a “truly free state.”

Soon, talk was circulating at the State Department about breathing life into the Quartet, a group of Middle East negotiators from the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia.

One of the Quartet’s advantages lies in the diversity of its members, which, experts said, could be used to everyone’s advantage.

“The European Union alone isn’t considered a credible partner by Israel,” says Richard Labévière, author of “Dollars for Terror: the U.S. and Islam,” a near-prescient book released in English in 2000 that became a reference work after 9/11. As an ensemble, he argues, “the Quartet functions as a real group of consensus.”

In Israel’s eyes, much of the Quartet’s credibility comes through America’s presence. And France, with membership in two of these organizations, offers credibility among Palestinians and Muslims.

FRANCO-MUSLIM ROOTS
It was no accident Arafat came to France for treatment. With its historical links to the greater Middle East and the Maghreb, France is something of a gateway to the western world for many Muslims. The Franco-Muslim historic tie could be likened to the United States and Britain’s “special relationship.”

Part of this sympathy comes from Muslim citizens within French borders. With a Muslim population that has been estimated between 4 million and 8 million, France, whose total population is around 60 million, is home of the largest Muslim population in Europe.

“What France offers is a historical memory in the Maghreb,” adds Labévière, referring to the northern African region where France once was a colonial power, “along with having a geographic advantage of being a Mediterranean country.”

In the Mediterranean, France also has assumed a mediator’s role in the informal “five plus five” dialogues that bring together foreign ministers from 10 countries along its shores to discuss political and economic issues.

In stark contrast to what many French see as the American “my way or the highway” approach to foreign policy, “(French President Jacques) Chirac has cultivated a good image of France in the Middle East,” says Barah Mikail, a specialist on the region.

“There was a part of Arab opinion who was ready to believe what the U.S. had to say, but the torture changed this,” says Middle East specialist Barak Mikail, “Now the view is that [the U.S.] just wants what’s good for them.” - Photo by Joe Ray

For example, in the thick of the fighting in Iraq in March 2003, while many in the Maghreb held unfavorable views of the U.S., Chirac visited Algeria and was hailed like a king.

And while the United States largely marginalized Arafat, Chirac called him “a man of courage and belief who embodied for 40 years the Palestinian battle for recognizing their national rights” while pledging to work for the creation of “a viable Palestinian and democratic state, living side-by-side in peace with Israel.”

For as inflammatory as some may see that, it is impossible to ignore the credibility gap the U.S. was suffering in large parts of the Muslim world—even before the war in Iraq. Most of the remaining stature the U.S. held on Arab streets evaporated with the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

“There was a part of Arab opinion who was ready to believe what the U.S. had to say, but the torture changed this,” Mikail says, “Now the view is that (the U.S.) just wants what’s good for them.”

As a way to balance Bush’s recent pledge to create a Palestinian state, Mikail also points to a curious backdoor approach that could take advantage of what he calls the French “confidence capital.”

“If France takes an approach first, then the U.S. follows,” Mikail theorizes, “then the Middle East could go with it, but it doesn’t work in the other sense.”

WALKING A FINE LINE
It hasn’t always been rosy between France and the Muslim world.

There were isolated pockets of hard feelings earlier this year over a government move to ban girls and women from wearing Islamic hair coverings in school. And Mikail sees the recent French-American support of United Nations Security Council resolution 1559, which calls on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, as “France looking for a new role in the Middle East.”

The knee-jerk question that comes to mind at this point might be, “Why didn’t the French also sideline Arafat as a terrorist?”

Answer: They were walking a fine line.

“France can’t go along with the U.S. without having the Arab world on their back, but they can’t always go against the U.S. either,” Mikail says. “If they court the U.S. too much, they lose their unique status (in the Muslim world).”

Says Mikail: “Arafat was the voice of the Palestinians. He was considered a terrorist by some, but also the person who led the struggle of a people by others. If they try to push him aside, they push those voices aside.”

In France, the thinking is that without including those voices who mourned Arafat en masse, whatever peace agreement can be reached in the region won’t last.

Mikail, however, warns against overconfidence.

Even if the backdoor idea were to work, “You can’t go against the U.S.”

Joe Ray is a freelance journalist based in Paris.