Articles by Surendra Bhutani

Arabs, Israel and the World Surendra Bhutani The Arabs and the World of Seventies by Galal El-Rashidi; Vikas, New Delhi, 1977; pp 142; Rs 35.
WEST ASIAN politics is a nightmare for students of this area. It is so fastchanging, that few books remain useful and the present book has become rather stale within a year of its publication. Second, Galal El-Rashidi, an Arab diplomat still in service, has many constraints and thus lacks objectivity in his presentation. While in his preface he aknowledges himself as a true Arab, he completely ignores the personality of Gamal Abdel Nasser in his narration. In the era of de- Nasserisation of Egypt how can a serving Egyptian diplomat talk about Nasser? Third, the title of the book is rather misleading.

December 18, 1976 WEST ASIA Will There be a New US Initiative?
Surendra Bhutani THE news that the US president-elect Jimmy Carter will, at least during the early clays of his administration, concentrate on domestic issues has forced Arab leaders to launch a vigorous drive to once again focus US attention on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arab leaders were disappointed over the defeat of Gerald Ford. It was not that they regarded Ford in high esteem or that he was more sympathetic to the Arab cause; it was only because the Arab leaders knew and "trusted'' Henry Kissinger. On the other hand they have had virtually no contact with Carter or by of his top foreign policy advisers. The irony sharpens when one recalls the gratuitous support extended by Anwar Sadat to Ford during the US election campaign. Sadat had even pleaded that the new US administration should retain Kissinger to negotiate in West Asia. The Israeli leaders on the other hand have always regarded Kissinger as a "traitor'' to the Zionist cause and no tears are going to be shed in Israel on his departure. The Israelis expect that the victory of Carter means the end of

August 28, 1976 ween creation of liquidity and development finance.
The conference felt that only a confident spirit of collective self-reliance on the part of developing countries could guarantee the emergence of the New International Economic Order. Self-reliance implied a firm determination on the part of developing countries to secure their legitimate economic rights in international dealings through the use of their collective bargaining strength. It meant willingness to explore and pursue the im- WEST ASIA mense possibilities of co-operation among themselves in financial, technical, trade, industrial and other fields. The conference adopted an Action Programme on economic co-operation in raw materials, trade, monetary and financial matters, industrialisation, food and agriculture, fisheries, transport, telecommunication, insurance, public enterprises, health, technical co-operation and consultancy services, research and information system, private foreign investment, nuclear energy and international co-operation.

IN the recent (April 12) municipal elections held for the first time under Israeli supervision, Palestinian nationalists gained control of the main West Bank towns in stunning election victories, and have thus raised yet another challenge to the Israeli government troubled by growing Arab unrest. "Nationalist Fronts" demanding the creation of a Palestinian state won majorities on the municipal councils in every major town in the Israeli occupied West Bank, except Bethlehem. In 1972, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), had tried unsuccessfully to boycott the elections, but this time its supporters actively participated in order to demonstrate PLO influence in the West Bank by winning as many seats as possible. Of the 205 councillors in 24 towns and villages, almost seventy five per cent are new faces

Classes and Denotified Tribes Debt Relief Act to extend its scope to all farmers and other rural households owning five acres of land or less. The amended Act is expected to bring relief to small farmers, marginal fanners, agricultural labourers and rural arti sans. According to official sources, the amended Act will also provide for severe punishment to the moneylenders who use coercion in realising loans from the debt-freed rural poor. Coercion by moneylenders would be made a cognisable and non-bailable offence.