http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/620392.html
Last update - 08:17 02/09/2005
Analysis / The motivation behind Musharraf's dramatic step
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's decision to establish open
ties with Israel, as reflected in the meeting on Thursday in Istanbul between
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and his Pakistani counterpart, required
considerable courage.
Israel and the Jews are widely hated in Pakistan, and millions of
Pakistanis still believe in conspiracy theories along the lines of the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion - i.e., that Jews rule the world - and blame
the Mossad for the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Pakistan's
Islamic opposition parties have already announced that today will be a "day of
protest" against the decision, and such protests can turn violent: In January,
when a Pakistani paper gave an interview to Shimon Peres, dozens of
demonstrators attacked the paper's offices in Karachi, beating the guards and
breaking furniture and windows.
Musharraf has been hinting for more than two years that he is
considering some sort of relationship with Israel: For instance, he shook
Peres' hand at the last World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and he has
met with representatives of Jewish organizations during his trips overseas. He
even raised the idea publicly last year, but encountered such a storm of
opposition at home, particularly from opposition parties and religious circles,
that he swiftly dropped it.
Now, using the withdrawal from Gaza as a pretext, he has taken
another step forward. True, his spokesman insisted that the Istanbul meeting
did not constitute recognition of Israel, and that diplomatic ties would be
established only after a Palestinian state arises. Nevertheless, diplomatic
sources in Islamabad told Haaretz last night that Musharraf has made a
strategic decision and will not retract it, even if it generates public outrage.
There are two reasons for this decision. First, Pakistan - and it
is not the only country to think so - believes that Israel and the Jews can
open doors for it in the U.S. government. But the more important reason relates
to India, Pakistan's traditional foe. Over the past decade, Israel has formed a
strategic alliance with India that has generated cooperation in the
intelligence and nuclear fields and expanded trade, and in particular has made
India into a leading market for Israeli defense exports. Musharraf therefore
concluded that a dramatic step such as Thursday's was necessary to try to
reshape this alliance into something less disturbing to Pakistan.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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