Arabs declare jihad
                                                                  and agree $1bn aid
                                                                  deal for
                                                                  Palestinians 

                                                                  Summit: Tough rhetoric but
                                                                  leaders refuse to cut all ties with
                                                                  Israel

                                                                  Special report: Israel and the
                                                                  Middle East 

                                                                  Brian Whitaker in Cairo 
                                                                  Monday October 23, 2000 

                                                                  Arab leaders set themselves on a
                                                                  collision course with the United States
                                                                  yesterday by declaring an economic
                                                                  and diplomatic jihad against Israel. 

                                                                  The emergency summit in Cairo
                                                                  accepted a Saudi proposal to provide
                                                                  $1bn (£690m) in support for the
                                                                  Palestinians. 

                                                                  Under the scheme, $800m will be used
                                                                  to "preserve the Islamic identity of
                                                                  Jerusalem" and $200m - to be known
                                                                  as the Jerusalem intifada fund - will be
                                                                  allocated "to the families and
                                                                  education of the children of
                                                                  Palestinian martyrs". 

                                                                  Saudi Arabia, normally a close US ally,
                                                                  will provide 25% of the money.
                                                                  Individual Arabs will be asked to give a
                                                                  day's pay towards the rest. 

                                                                  Although it is not clear how the $800m
                                                                  protection fund for Jerusalem will be
                                                                  spent, it can be seen as a challenge to
                                                                  those who claim the city as Israel's
                                                                  eternal and undivided capital. 

                                                                  The attitude of the Saudis, who
                                                                  received a pre-summit visit from
                                                                  Madeline Albright, the secretary of
                                                                  state, is likely to worry the US. At the
                                                                  summit, Crown Prince Abdullah openly
                                                                  blamed it for the collapse of the peace
                                                                  process. 

                                                                  Accusing the US of neglecting its
                                                                  responsibilities as sponsor of the
                                                                  peace process, he said: "We
                                                                  anticipated, after the positive stand of
                                                                  the Arab side, that the Israeli side
                                                                  would be chastised or at least blamed
                                                                  for its unacceptable conduct." 

                                                                  Other measures agreed by the summit
                                                                  provide the basis for a continuing
                                                                  diplomatic offensive in the UN, which, if
                                                                  pursued, could put the US on the spot.
                                                                  These include: 

                                                                  •A call for an international
                                                                  investigation into the causes of the
                                                                  recent conflict which, in effect, rejects
                                                                  the inquiry announced by President
                                                                  Bill Clinton at the Sharm al-Sheikh
                                                                  summit last week; 

                                                                  •A call for the UN secretary general to
                                                                  provide international forces to protect
                                                                  the Palestinian people; 

                                                                  •A call for an international tribunal to
                                                                  try alleged Israeli war criminals. 

                                                                  Besides pleasing Arab public opinion,
                                                                  the moves seem aimed at driving a
                                                                  wedge between Israel and Washington
                                                                  by pressurising the US to moderate its
                                                                  support for Israel. 

                                                                  At a press conference after the
                                                                  summit, the Egyptian foreign minister,
                                                                  Amr Mousa, warned: "We mean
                                                                  business. All Arabs, left, right and
                                                                  centre, are angry. We cannot accept
                                                                  the current policy followed by Israel." 

                                                                  But the summit rejected moves to
                                                                  sever all Arab-Israeli links built since
                                                                  the start of the peace process. Egypt
                                                                  had argued that maintaining
                                                                  communication was vital. Instead, the
                                                                  21 leaders decided to halt further
                                                                  development of relations with Israel. 

                                                                  The compromise avoided a rift with
                                                                  Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania, which
                                                                  have full diplomatic relations with
                                                                  Israel. A handful of other Arab states,
                                                                  including Oman and Qatar, have
                                                                  low-level ties, but both froze steps
                                                                  towards normalisation three years
                                                                  ago. 

                                                                  Last week, Oman closed its office in
                                                                  Tel Aviv in protest at the violence.
                                                                  Morocco recently downgraded its
                                                                  relations and Tunisia said it had shut
                                                                  both its liaison office in Tel Aviv and
                                                                  Israel's liaison office in Tunis. 

                                                                  Libya had argued that cutting all ties
                                                                  was the least Arabs could do, and its
                                                                  representative walked out of the
                                                                  summit. 

                                                                  The summit also decided to boycott
                                                                  multilateral talks on regional economic
                                                                  cooperation. Although the level of
                                                                  economic cooperation is small, Israel
                                                                  attaches political importance to it. 

                                                                  Other countries were warned against
                                                                  transferring their embassies to
                                                                  Jerusalem or recognising it as the
                                                                  capital of Israel. Mr Clinton has hinted
                                                                  several times that the US may soon
                                                                  move its embassy to Jerusalem. 

                                                                  While the summit was unified in
                                                                  blaming Israel for the violence,
                                                                  moderates cautioned against doing
                                                                  anything that might make future
                                                                  negotiations difficult. 

                                                                  A prominent Palestinian
                                                                  spokeswoman, Hanan Ashrawi, said
                                                                  the declaration was "a whimper that
                                                                  fell well short of Palestinian
                                                                  expectations".