Pakistan and Israel: Will it work?

One of the latest top news going around these days is the diplomatic talks between Pakistan and Israel. Go into any of the hundreds of coffee shops and people are smoking shisha and watching either football or when the Pak-Israeli talks come on the news and every head turns to listen.

The sensitivity that surrounds any move towards establishing diplomatic ties with Israel is evident from the choice of the word "engagement" rather than "relations".

Of course, the right words have to be very carefully chosen for such a sensitive topic. Any misunderstanding and all hell will break loose, which very often does happen in Pakistan.

Dr Rizvi points to two immediate benefits that Pakistan may be seeking from its change of policy.

"The first has to do with image," he says.

"What better way can there be for Pakistan to prove its moderate credentials by moving towards establishing some kind of ties with Israel?" he asks.

Does Pakistan have to develop peaceful relations with Israel to prove to the international community, especially the West, that is it a peace loving nation and that it is against terrorism.

After the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan joined hands with America to rid the world of Osama Bin Laden, He still got away, but at least Pakistan was in Uncle Sam’s good books. After the London attacks, first thing Pakistan did was shut down hundreds of madrassas and deport the hundreds of students who come from all over the world to attend these madrassas.

I do agree with a lot of things Pakistan’s President Musharraf is doing. Most of the country’s mullahs are corrupt and use their influence on people to do things which they themselves will normally never do. The madrassas are their training grounds. The mullahs cannot be controlled, they can only be slowed down, but for a while only, and then they spring back up.

Pakistan's top religious leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed has already described the Istanbul initiative as a move "against everything that Pakistan has so far stood for".

Qazi Hussain Ahmed is an opportunist. He feeds on the fickle-minded and the illiterate. He once came on TV on a talk show and said that he is a very simple person and has no material things or luxuries to boast of. After which the show’s host asked him, “So what about the Toyota Landcruiser you stepped out of tonight?”

Some Pakistani observers argue that President Musharraf has been resolutely trying to move Pakistan's foreign policy away from its current ideological basis to one rooted in economic self interest.

If by these diplomatic talks, Pakistan improves its standing in the international community; if it helps the local economy; if it improves the standard of living; if it brings about a more liberal way of thinking; if it improves the image of Pakistani’s living abroad; then it is by all means the right step forward.

What remains to be seen now is how successfully Pakistan's foreign office and its affiliated think tanks can sell it to the public.

Damn right!