Algerian diplomacy hits rock bottom
Having proclaimed itself the de facto guardian of the Palestinian cause since the preparations for the Arab League summit on 1-2 November 2023, the regime in Algiers cannot find the right way to play a leading role in resolving a conflict to which the Algerian people attach great importance, to the point of making it a sacred matter.
Diplomacy that is too stilted and ignores the realpolitik of the region to the point of ignoring its basic elements will not be able to play the role it dreams of. A diplomacy that uses much more empty rhetoric and is unable to adapt to the new situation of the Israeli-Arab conflict, marked by the normalisation of relations between the state of Israel and a number of Arab countries and also by the Oslo accords of 1993. These agreements led the Palestine Liberation Organisation to renounce the armed struggle.
It should be remembered that the Algerian regime has lost all direction on the international diplomatic stage since it got bogged down in the civil war of the 1990s, and has lost much if not all of its credibility, despite the appearance of a revival with the arrival of the late Abdelaziz Bouteflika as head of state in 1999. Moreover, it is this same Bouteflika who is bringing Algerian diplomacy back to where it was when he disappeared from the scene as soon as he fell ill in April 2013. Since then, Algeria can no longer boast of playing any diplomatic role in the world. And the bellicose policy of the Tebboune-Chengriha duo towards numerous countries has no prospect of Algeria playing the role it naturally deserves, given its geographical location and economic potential, the merit of its war of independence and the role it played after regaining its sovereignty in organising major political events such as the summit of the non-aligned movement in 1973, the African, Arab and Maghreb summits, not forgetting the convening of an extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly in April 1974.
For the Palestinians, Algeria was the example to follow in all fields. It was also the safest country in which to place their trust. Thus, Algeria hosted the fighters evacuated from Beirut in late summer 1982, the 16th session of the Palestinian National Council in February 1983 and the conference that saw the proclamation of the independence of the Palestinian state on 15 November 1988. Algerian solidarity with Palestine was neither an empty word nor an empty slogan. Algeria used its influence on the international stage to get the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat admitted to the UN on 13 April 1974. He delivered a historic speech, uttering the no less historic phrase "I come to you with an olive branch in my left hand and a machine gun in my right. Do not drop the olive branch".
Algeria's role in support of Palestine is now a distant memory. And it is not the gesticulations of a regime which, through ferocious repression, deprives its people of their fundamental right to freedom of opinion and freedom of expression that will help the Palestinian people to regain their freedom. Just as we can add that it is not a couscous at the Sheraton Hotel in Algiers that will put an end to the differences between the Palestinian factions. The "new Algeria" of the Tebboune-Chengriha tandem no longer has any credibility with either the Palestinians or the international powers. This is why President Abdelfattah Sissi did not consider inviting it to the international peace conference held in Cairo on Saturday 21 October, which was attended by some thirty representatives of countries and international organisations, mainly European and Arab. This is perfectly understandable to any political observer.
Clearly, Algiers did not take kindly to Cairo's slap in the face. As for the official reaction, there was silence. There was no statement from the President of the Republic or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nor was there any comment from the government press. The only thing that was done was to whisper in the ears of a few editors of websites with a small audience that it was Algeria that had declined the invitation. The reason? The presence of the Israeli representative. What a blunder! Israel boycotted the conference, as did the United States of America. So Algeria, if it really declined the invitation, is in the same camp as Israel. The boycotters. Go and understand something about Algerian diplomacy.