It Is Not Conceivable That the U.S. Allows Israel to Violate One Deadline After Another

By Salim Al-Zanoun

In the Gaza Strip, Israel has implemented 70 percent of the Gaza phase (of the Oslo agreement) by withdrawing from 70 percent of the territories there and retaining authority unjustifiably over 30 percent of the land under the pretext of protecting the settlements and by insisting on keeping the small settlement of Nitzarim, which divides the Gaza Strip in half and provokes the local inhabitants and leads to instability which has caused innocent victims to fall, prompting Shimon Peres and Peace Now and many Israelis to call for the dismantling of this settlement.

Yet, instead of assisting the Palestinian Authority in carrying out its responsibilities, Israel is creating problems for the PNA by imposing collective punishment, closing down Gaza and the West Bank with or without a reason, which has weakened the PNA in the eyes of its constituents and consequently strengthened the opposition. Thus Israel has contributed to unemployment and an economic siege of hunger and has not expended enough effort to encourage the donor countries to fulfill their commitments.

In spite of this, the PNA was able to achieve security and stability in Gaza and Jericho and to prevent operations against Israel from the areas where it had actual control.

As for the West Bank, Israel has resorted to delays exceeding one year in terms of withdrawal and redeployment of its troops. An agreement on this matter was supposed to be celebrated under the auspices of President Clinton here in Washington as specified repeatedly by Peres, yet Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin kept reiterating that deadlines are not sacred. Consequently, the second phase of the Oslo agreement was delayed and Israel kept trying to avoid implementing in the West Bank what was implemented earlier in Gaza by withdrawing from 70 percent of the Strip. President Mubarak of Egypt and his Foreign Minister Amr Moussa did not spare any effort. Neither did President Clinton, who sponsored an Arab-Israeli foreign ministerial meeting to overcome the difficulties.

However, Israel, under the pressure of radical settlers and certain sectors within the IDF, sought to further fragment the second phase by initially proposing "Jenin first." Then it tried to retain control of Hebron by refusing to treat it like other cities which it agreed to turn over to the PNA. Then it raised issues or problems pertaining to the final status stage, such as its decision to confiscate 53 hectares of land in Jerusalem. This placed the United States in the difficult position of having to resort to an American veto at the United Nations against an international consensus represented by the 14 other Security Council members. This issue was the subject of an Aug. 30 discussion by several delegations at the International Parliamentary Union, where a proposal was made by several delegations to deny veto power to the five major powers on the Security Council.

It is not conceivable for the United States, as the premier sponsor of the peace process, to simply watch Israel as it violates one deadline after another.

We blame the United States for leaving the Israeli and Palestinian parties without sponsorship or intervention when what is needed is a more active role as arbiter or clarifier or encourager—an arbitrator who is aware of the provisions of the Declaration of Principles reached in Oslo and subsequent agreements and mediates all the disagreements among the parties in order to avoid endless negotiations whereby the parties lose their ability to proceed with the peace process and in order not to lose this historic opportunity during the lives of Arafat and Rabin and Peres on the basis of which they obtained the Nobel Peace Prize.

Failing to achieve peace during the life of these leaders means taking the area back to the vicious cycle of violence as power is transferred to the next generation which will insist on experimenting with handling the conflict, thus causing many more innocent victims of women and children from both sides.

Mr. Rabin has called for convening the national council to implement Arafat's commitment to amend certain articles within the Palestine National Charter. The PNC, based on its firm belief that the Palestinian decision for peace is a strategic and not a tactical choice, would like to see such a meeting take place under certain conditions and timing in order to guarantee the success of such a task, particularly at a time when the opposition on the Palestinian side is not insignificant, even though it is less significant than the opposition in the Israeli Knesset.

Amending the Palestine National Charter is conditional/dependent on the satisfaction of PNC members that the peace process has achieved most of its goals and that it is not subject to delays and attempts to change the Oslo agreement by creating realities on the ground.

Amending the Charter requires two-thirds of the membership (whether participating or not), and therefore Rabin must help Arafat in offering clear evidence that the following conditions have been fulfilled:

(1) that the Palestinian National Authority has extended its jurisdiction over the rest of the West Bank;

(2) that Palestinian prisoners (all 6,000) are released and are guaranteed the right to participate in the elections;

(3) that the Palestinian elections are held under honest, free, and democratic conditions away from the specter of occupation and under appropriate international supervision, and then allowing the elected members to join the Palestine National Council and to participate in its deliberations. These new members will have significant influence over their colleagues in convincing fellow members of the Council of the need for approving the amendments;

(4) PNC members living in the diaspora must be granted their natural right to return and settle as citizens in their homeland and not as visitors.

The Palestinian side, which in the final analysis would prove faithful to all its commitments, agreements and international treaties, urges the United States to be firmly proactive as the premier sponsor of the peace process. We ask only for a faithful implementation of all the commitments made in the peace agreements. The PNC will continue to fulfill its responsibilities in the service of the peace process despite the contradictions practiced by the Israeli side, which, for example, objected to the application of the PNC for a full membership in the world parliamentary union while at the same time Rabin was asking the PNC to amend certain articles within its Charter.

We also urge the Congress of the United States, through both houses, not to fall victim to Likudist/Zionist lobbying seeking to fragment matters and to prompt the American legislative branch to adopt positions against the Palestinian National Authority, which is struggling for the reconstruction of its country and the rehabilitation of its people by finding appropriate work opportunities for them and establishing security and stability for the benefit of both Israeli and Palestinian citizens.

We also urge the U.S. Congress not to allow domestic political considerations to infringe upon issues that are part of the bilateral negotiations under the sponsorship of the United States of America. The role of Congress as a legislative authority is much more important than to allow political considerations and misleading propaganda about the failure of the PNA to carry out its security responsibility or other propaganda pertaining to financial matters by those who supported and participated in the destruction of the infrastructure of Gaza and the West Bank. We also urge Congress to resist bringing the issue of Jerusalem, which is a final status issue, into the domestic election campaigns by undermining the principled position of the United States which is currently playing the role of arbitrator and which should not seek any selfish interest other than the sponsorship of the peace process and leading both the Israeli and Arab parties to reach a positive conclusion to this process.

In conclusion, we should not forget the role of the United States in supporting and funding the Palestinian National Authority which entered Gaza and we do not forget its convening of the international Donors Conference for the purpose of generating support for the Palestinian economy and the fact that it played a leading role as a contributor to the self-governing area as it continues to expend many efforts in support of continuing Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

Salim Al-Zanoun was a member of the Fatah Central Committee and Fatah representative in the Gulf until 1991. From 1991 to 1993 he served as deputy chairman and in 1993 he was elected chairman (or speaker) of the Palestine National Council, which is the elected legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and as such, the supreme authority representing the Palestinian people. The article is adapted from PNC Chairman Al-Zanoun's Sept. 12 address before an audience of diplomats, government officials and journalists invited by the National Association of Arab Americans Foundation at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. It was translated by NAAA executive director Khalil Jahshan.