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US Elections matters a little: Arabs

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November 9, 2000 

CAIRO (AP) - For many in an Arab world caught up in a 50-year-old conflict with Israel and convinced of the United States' strong bias in favor of the Jewish state, it makes almost no difference who occupies the White House.

Never was this sentiment more manifest than Wednesday, when votes were still being counted in an exceptionally close presidential race fought by Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush.

"It makes no difference to me whether Bush or Gore wins," said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a close U.S. ally who has in recent years emerged as a key Middle East peace mediator with Washington's blessing. He spoke after casting his vote in Egyptian parliamentary elections.

The U.S. elections come at a time when many Arabs feel that Washington's blind eye to Israel's excessive use of force in Palestinian clashes is further proof of its unfair Middle East policies. The clashes, which broke out Sept. 28 and sparked anti-U.S. protests across the Arab world, have killed 170 people, mostly Palestinians.

"(The U.S. candidates) don't care for the Palestinians and the Arabs," said 73-year-old Palestinian Khalid Samhouri.

"They only care for Arab oil, their interests and their baby, Israel," said the shopkeeper who has been a refugee in Jordan since the 1948 creation of Israel.

In Iran, where the Middle East conflict is seen by the ruling clergy as a religious war between Muslims and Jews, Hamid-Reza Tarraqi, a leading hard-liner and a former lawmaker said: "Republican or Democrat, both seek to undermine the Islamic system but through different methods. So it doesn't make any difference who is U.S. president."

During his eight years in the White House, President Bill Clinton has become a central figure in Arab-Israeli peacemaking, but many Arabs hold him responsible for what they view as Israel's hardened position on key issues such as the future of Jerusalem and the return of refugees.

If the next U.S. president is to show the same level of interest Clinton had in the search for a Middle East settlement, many in the region seem to prefer Bush over Gore in the White House. The reason: Gore's running mate Joseph Lieberman is Jewish.

"Bush may be better," said Youssef Ashkar, a Palestinian businessman from the refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in Lebanon. "I believe he will be more open to the Arabs and that Gore will be hostile to the Arabs because his running mate is a Jew."

"Victory for Gore, having Joseph Lieberman on his side, would mean direct Zionist influence in the White House," said Ali-Reza Nouri, a reformist lawmaker from Iran.

"Maybe Bush will be a better choice as he'll handle the Middle East without preconceptions," said Fatima Borai, a student at the American University in Cairo. "But neither me nor my friends were really following the U.S. elections. Our primary concern is Jerusalem."