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Sep 30, 2009
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Egyptian Journalist Hala Mustafa Talks about Normalization with Israel Following Meeting with Israeli Ambassador

#2254 | 03:11
Source: Mehwar TV (Egypt)

Following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Hala Mustafa, the editor of Al-Ahram’s “Democracy” publication, which aired on Al-Mihwar TV on September 30, 2009.

Interviewer: Dr. Hala Mustafa, with regard to the term “normalization” – do you consider your meeting with the Israeli ambassador in your Al-Ahram office to constitute normalization?

Dr. Hala Mustafa: No.

Interviewer: It doesn’t?

Dr. Hala Mustafa: No. I feel that this is a strong word. I hope that we can get rid of it, so that we can act freely, and not just look for one another’s mistakes and judge one another.

[…]

As long as we are part of the international community, and as long as we strive to belong to the developed countries, we need to speak their language. That’s the first thing, in my opinion. You need to understand how the world operates today, because you cannot talk to it in the language of 30 years ago. You cannot use the political discourse of 30 years ago today. The world is developing and changing. Perhaps the reason that Israel was able to gain ground overseas, and that there is more recognition of Israel, its path, and its culture than of Arab culture, is that Israel speaks of the language of the international community. I am not talking about the wars. That’s a completely different matter. But as a system or a culture, Israel is part of the Western world.

Interviewer: They are better integrated in the international system?

Dr. Hala Mustafa: Absolutely. They speak the same language, and know how to talk to them and convince them.

Interviewer: They are more skillful in obtaining their material, political, or moral support.

Dr. Hala Mustafa: Definitely. Their greatest success is in portraying the other side – the Arabs – as extremists, who carry weapons, shout, and make hysterical decisions. This image has become a stereotype, just like after 9/11, when the Muslims’ image became stereotypical and negative.

Interviewer: But some people say that normalization, in the traditional sense – meeting [Israeli] officials, going to [Israeli] theatre shows, going to their film festivals, and going to visit Jerusalem – without having achieved the Palestinian legitimate rights would be giving up a very important bargaining chip.

Dr. Hala Mustafa: The bargaining chip changes from one time period to another. There used to be a consensus that avoiding normalization was a bargaining chip. But we have been using this bargaining chip for the past 20 or 30 years. Should we still be using it today? And when it was used throughout this period – did it prevent the terrible wars that took place in South Lebanon and Gaza, and the Intifada and the problems the ensued with Hamas? Did this embargo or this bargaining chip really bring about change in Israel’s conduct or its policies? How did it do any good? Did it lead the US to stand alongside the Arab world, for example?

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