Arab Celebrations...and Shaking Hands with Israelis

Ever since Egypt established diplomatic relations with Israel after the peace agreement under the late President Anwar Sadat, the ambassadors of the Jewish state in Egypt have been keen to promote the annual party that the embassy holds on the date commemorating the establishment of Israel. Usually, the opposition newspapers manage to “hunt down” a list of Egyptian attendees and publish it, along with their photos, if possible. These individuals always find themselves defending themselves against the opposition’s campaign against normalizing ties with Israel. The Israeli Embassy in Egypt organizes many receptions; the attendees are limited to foreigners residing in Egypt, and Egyptians who “believe” in peace with Israel avoid taking part or attending, to spare themselves criticism and angry looks. The Israeli Embassy in Cairo resorts to leaking the names of people at its parties in an attempt to hint that prominent Egyptian figures respect the Jewish state and are determined to take part in celebrations, while those who decline to attend have no justification for doing so.

It is exactly the opposite with Egyptian occasions marked by the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv. These are heavily attended; the participation and attendance by Israelis from various political persuasions are considerable. There is a determination by Israeli state officials to appreciate Egypt’s role and status, which is exaggerated. Thus, the attendance by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the event last Thursday, organized by the Egyptian ambassador to Israel, Yasser Rida, was in this vein. The speeches by Israeli officials, in which they affirmed that “Israel hopes peace with the Palestinians will take shape in the coming months, and expand to become a regional peace,” are not convincing, and are no more than protocol niceties that are said at events such as these, without being achieved on the ground. Egyptians do not trust any Israeli government, or its desire or ability to make peace. They never cease criticizing Israeli policies and warning that if they continue, they will not generate peace. One scene that has become traditional is of any Israeli official chasing after Egyptian figures during certain occasions attended by both sides, organized by a neutral party or the embassy of a country with which both sides have ties. It has become customary for the Egyptian figure or figures to leave the place or move to another area, so that they will not be forced to shake hands with a given Israeli official. The non-enthusiastic themselves often find themselves forced to take to shake hands, as in the case of the mufti of al-Azhar, Dr. Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, and anything else can only be a campaign of denunciation; this is followed by justifications being made, or seeing the Israelis openly criticized, to show that the incident was a coincidence, or that the identity of the person on the receiving side of the handshake was unknown.

This Israeli behavior is normal and accustomed to, and cannot be separated from Israeli policies themselves, which claim a determination to see peace. Between the Israeli comments about solving complex problems in the region, there is always a link between peace, normalization, and shaking hands. If the Arabs have conceded much, and have always reduced the level of the demands and done battle over these concessions, then they have not taken a single step toward peace with Israel, despite the handshakes or attendance at Israeli national events, or excessive handshakes or even embraces by Arab and Israeli figures. These have not solved the issue or given land to the Palestinians; they have only resulted in more fighting among the Arabs, and the stopping of the handshakes among them.