Muslim nations still wary of roadmap: Envoy
Muslim nations still wary of roadmap: Envoy
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
The United States ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce said his
country had found it difficult to convince Indonesia and other
Muslim countries that the recently unveiled "roadmap" for
Palestinian-Israeli peace was a sincere effort by Washington to
settle the crisis in the Middle East.
Boyce said on Wednesday that the strong preconceptions that
Indonesians held, particularly of the U.S. as a staunch supporter
of Israel, had hindered the objectivity of many here in
appraising the peace plan.
"Maybe it's just a perception that the U.S. and Israel are so
close ... I do not think that the perception that we are
indifferent to the Palestinian plight is correct," he said in a
press conference here on Wednesday.
He emphasized that Washington had similar questions regarding
the credibility of Arab countries and other Muslim nations.
"The perception is that we continue to have a double standard
(on the Middle East issue)," Boyce remarked.
Washington unveiled the roadmap on April 30 just after it
declared victory in Iraq, another issue that had put Muslim
countries and the U.S. at odds.
The peace plan calls for several actions to be taken by both
sides in supporting the proposal of the "quartet" -- U.S.,
Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- for Israel
and Palestine to live side by side in peace by 2005.
Many countries, especially Muslim nations, have received the
roadmap with pessimism, questioning Washington's seriousness in
applying the roadmap and pressing Israel to abide by the plan.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has
officially welcomed the plan but tempered its enthusiasm by
saying it would require full compliance and by all parties to
prove that the U.S. was not using double standards.
Muslim communities around the globe have always been irked by
Washington's support of Israel, especially with its unwillingness
to punish or sanction Israel for wrongdoings -- perceived or
real.
Boyce stressed that Washington had never forsaken the
historical relations between the U.S. and Israel and that certain
communities in the U.S. would always defend Israel
unconditionally.
"Therefore, there are limits to how far we can pressure their
government ... and its policies," Boyce remarked.
He went on to add that as two democratic countries it would be
inappropriate for Washington to impinge upon Israel's
sovereignty.
"This (the roadmap) is a very sincere U.S. vision of the two
states living side by side in peace ... with the process that
officially will end in 2005," the ambassador said.