An Adjusted Continuity

​​Arab leaders are attempting to estimate the extent of the upheavals they will be faced with when a president assumes power, who is likely to break with what has been termed, rightly or wrongly, France's "Arab policy".

While western political experts expect no great diplomatic changes, Arab leaders fear this new man, who they do not know well, who has stated, "this policy, a balanced policy, will be continued," then added, "I will guarantee the security of Israel, but I also wish to see a homeland for the Palestinians, a Palestinian state; I want independence for Lebanon, and I would like a relationship with the various Arab governments based on trust."

If nothing unforeseen happens, things are unlikely to change so quickly. The predicted "break" would then be just an "adjusted" continuity, which avoided endangering France's interests in the Arab world. To some observers, the presence of Chiraquie magnates in Sarkozy's camp, people with a better understanding of what is at stake here in terms of foreign policy, ensures a certain consistency.

Close personal bonds with the Arab leaders

Jacques Chirac dominated political life in France for forty years. However his rule as the head of government will leave no lasting memories, despite the sympathy Chirac enjoys as a person. The departure of the man who emphasized that "promises would be made to those who wished to believe in them," will be greatly regretted in the Arab world.

Chirac had formed such close personal bonds with the Arab leaders that when he moved out of the Elysée palace he moved into a Paris apartment given over to him by the Hariri family.

In March this year Talal Salman, leading columnist for the Beirut newspaper Al-Safir, wrote, "despite the criticism we could make about certain positions Jacques Chirac has taken, the reality is that the Arabs will be losing their last friend in the west, whether in Europe or America. Everywhere it is said that under Jacques Chirac France was sympathetic to the Arab cause in general and the Palestinian one in particular. His position on the US-occupiers' war against Iraq was particularly courageous."

The congratulatory telegrams Arab heads of state sent to their new French colleague, have not required days of careful drafting, as was the case after the election of François Mitterrand in 1981; confused and uncertain about the coming to power of a socialist seen as sympathetic to Israel, the Arab leaders needed time to react.

This time even the Lebanese Hisbollah, aware of the importance of France to Lebanon, congratulated Monsieur Sarkozy and expressed their wish for a balance policy, "orientated less towards one particular party in Lebanon or the region."

Solidarity with the Gaullist legacy

Despite Sarkozy's clearly articulated sympathy for Israel, where his election was greeted with pleasure, his final statements as presidential candidate, according to the newspaper Al-Hayat, show that "he has understood that France's Gaullist legacy must be taken into consideration."

To the newspaper's Paris correspondent Nicolas Sarkozy, whose first foreign visit as presidential candidate was to Israel, seems highly aware of his connection to Gaullism, acknowledges his predecessor's policies and "has made it clear that France's friendship with the US does not constitute subordination, nor does it mean that it is impossible to express differences of opinion."

In recent interviews Sarkozy has underlined the prime importance of Israel’s security and his "political bond with Israeli democracy", a leitmotif which he has also expressed at dinners with the ambassadors of Arab countries accredited in France.

Although he has continually emphasized that he will work towards the establishment of an independent, sustainable Palestinian state, which lives in peace alongside Israel, he also described the war Israel launched last summer against Lebanon as an "inappropriate response."

In an interview with the Israeli media, Sarkozy further emphasised that he supported the Riad peace plan, which offered Israel peace in return for an end to the occupation of the areas captured in 1967.

According to the newspaper Le Monde, in 2001, in his book Libre, Nicolas Sarkozy wrote that his bond with the Israeli democracy had for a long time reinforced "an attitude of misunderstanding and even a certain indifference" towards the Arab world, "this universe which I know so little of"and which seemed "foreign" to him at the time.

This acknowledged lack of understanding comes close to another passage in the book where he describes a one-week visit to Syria, making observations on a "hospitality, which is not just proverbial, but entirely real", and "diverse, accomplished, creative crafts."

Five years later the imbalance had not yet been corrected, as the passage from his book Témoignage which appeared in summer 2006 showed, entitled "The Arab World", it contained more lines about Israel than about the "Arab and Muslim world."

Hamid Skif

© Qantara.de 2007

Translated from the German by Steph Morris

Qantara.de

Presidential Election in France
No Unified "Muslim Vote"
None of the twelve candidates in the French presidential elections could count on the undivided support of the Islamic associations. And neither Sarkozy nor Royal can be sure of Muslim votes in the run-off on 6 May. By Götz Nordbruch

France's Middle East Policy
"Chirac of Arabia" Era at an End
A "slip-up with an announcement," wrote the French newspaper Libération of a faux pas by the Socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal during her first Middle East trip. Götz Nordbruch on France's Mideast policy options

Muslim Youths in France
Immigration for the Elite Only
Following last year's riots, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin promised better opportunities for disadvantaged Muslim youths. But the latest proposals would actually make it more difficult for them to integrate into society. By Florian Wagner