Certain sections of the Egyptian press reported Washington's threat to suspend aid to the country.

They reported anger in some U.S. political circles on Egypt's role for a unified Arab stand on the nuclear non-proliferation issue.

President Mubarak himself apprised U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher of Egypt's concern at Israel's nuclear program.

Mubarak also called for a "Middle East nuclear-free zone." He added that Egypt signing a Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty would require a timetable by Israel to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa stated that Egypt insists on refusal to sign the treaty as long Israel is excluded. This is not acceptable, he said.

The average Arab is somehow puzzled by all this. He has seen dramatic changes since the Madrid Conference. The Arabs have been told by the U.S. to make peace with Israel. It should have been the other way around; it is Israel that is occupying Arab lands and holding its population hostage.

The Arabs are under pressure to drop the economic boycott of Israel. They are being railroaded into making an "ever lasting" peace with the aggressor. At the same time they are being asked to overlook Israeli atrocities and repression in the occupied territories. The killings of Arabs continue for frivolous reasons. Rarely does a day pass without another Arab joining the list of the dead.

Israel is also playing the same tune.

It has finally relented, and God knows for what reason, and has given Gaza and Jericho which it squeezes and strangles with impurity.

For the ordinary Arab the issue has become one of survival. It boggles the mind when one imagines the arrogance of these two partners who assume the right to subject those in the area to their political diktat - from the global military politics to geo-economics hegemony.

Backed by a powerful media Israel is being white-washed as a state that wants peace and economic progress.

The United States which has used its military might to overrun Grenada, Haiti and has forced many to submission has overlooked UN- Resolutions 242 and 338, which it had voted for.

So what do we have here? A two-faced, dangerously fuzzy foreign policy. But that is expected. Unlike the Israelis, the Arabs have no powerful friends in Congress. Therefore, they must suffer. But why force us to capitulate.

No Arab country possesses any nuclear arms. They don't have even nuclear projects for peaceful purposes. Arab air forces are not equipped for attack purposes. The United States is totally committed to the defense and military superiority of Israel. Then why all this brouhaha if Egypt and other Arabs refuse to sign the NPT?

It is unfair for the United States to apply pressure through the media and unleash a hostile barrage on those who want equitable treatment.

And away from the nuclear question, which to many is a non-issue, the question of the return of Jerusalem - the key issue - remains.

Without its return, there can be no lasting peace in the region.

The question asked by all Arabs and Muslims is "was Jerusalem not captured and occupied by invading Israeli forces in 1967?"

To talk about peace and to shake hands on the White House lawn will not necessarily bring peace.

To forcibly set up institutions like the Middle East Bank for Development will not help peace. To talk about Israeli technology and cheap Arab labor and capital will not usher in peace. To put the fear of fundamentalism and to contrive its dangers and speak of joint Arab Israeli actions against 'fundamentalist terror' will not bring peace.

People only scoff at such ideas.

"The White man speaks with a forked tongue", said an analyst the other day.