Who cares who wins!

For many Arabs, it makes little difference who wins U.S. presidency

November 8, 2000

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- For many in an Arab world caught up in a 50-year-oldconflict with Israel and convinced that the United States is biased in favour of the Jewish state, it makes little difference who occupies the White House next: Democrat Al Gore or Republican George W. Bush.

Never was this sentiment more manifest than on Wednesday, when votes were still being counted in an exceptionally close presidential race that, a day after voting first began, has yet to produce a winner.

The U.S. elections come at a time when many Arabs take what they see as Washington's abetting of Israel's heavy-handed methods in dealing with Palestinians during weeks of clashes as 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, almost all Palestinians.

"It will only be a change of faces, but the U.S. policy will remain the same and has one basic goal: blind and permanent bias in favor of Israel," said Syrian factory employee Marwan Mohammed.

"(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 itdoesn'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.

"It makes no difference to me whether Bush or Gore wins," said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in reply to a question on the future of the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace process after Clinton's departure. Mubarak, a close U.S. ally who has worked closely with Clinton to bring about a Middle East settlement, was speaking after casting his vote in Egyptian parliamentary elections.

If the next U.S. president is to show the same level of interest Clinton had in the search for a Middle East settlement, some in the region seem to prefer Bush over Gore in the White House. The reason _ Gore's running mate Joseph Lieberman is Jewish -- is a reflection of the growing anti-Semitic attitudes among Arabs since the Palestinian-Israeli clashes began.

"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 Jewish."

"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."

In Kuwait, some preferred Bush because of his family ties.

"He is the son of the great leader who liberated Kuwait," said 32-year-old bank clerk Ramadan al-Enezi, referring to former President George Bush, who was in office when a U.S.-led international force ended Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War. "He (George W. Bush) is closer to the Gulf countries and the Middle East and he knows how we think."