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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A state is not a war
By Ali Kazak *After 45 years of conflict and five wars, the PLO and the Israeli government signed the Declaration of Principles (DOP) in 1993. Among other things, the DOP stipulates a "transitional period not exceeding five years, leading to a permanent settlement based on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338".
The interim period must end on 4 May. Then a vacuum will be created which can only be filled by restoring the legal sovereignty of the Occupied Territories and returning occupied land to its owners.
When Palestinian President Arafat said he intended to declare the establishment of the state of Palestine on 4 May, he encapsulated the aspirations of Palestinians everywhere. The international community (with the exception of Israel and the US) can barely wait to recognise the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, freedom and independence.
The establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the Palestinian people's right to freedom, have been the central objectives of the national struggle since the establishment of the PLO in 1964. They are not subject to negotiation; nor is Israel's right to exist.
The establishment of an independent state on 4 May is a right guaranteed by all UN charters and covenants, including Resolution 181 of 1947, which created and defined the internationally-recognised boundaries of a Jewish and a Palestinian state. On the basis of this resolution, Israel was established, recognised and granted conditional membership to the UN, subject to its implementation of Resolutions 181 and 194 -- both of which it recognised.
The declaration of the state of Palestine is not referred to in the Oslo Accords. While there is a clause stipulating that the legal status of the Occupied Territories must not be altered during the interim period, this period ends on 4 May 1999, and we have complied in not declaring the state before this date.
The state will be established on all Palestinian land occupied by Israel, including Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine. We will do everything in our power to achieve this, regardless of the percentage we control at the time of the declaration.
On the historic day, we will not be announcing the birth of the state of Palestine, but its establishment on the ground. We announced the creation of the state on 15 November 1988, and our Declaration of Independence was tabled at the UN. Since 1988, more than 125 countries have recognised Palestine. Palestine is also a full member of the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and other international forums. The UN has also recently upgraded the status of Palestine in the world body.
International public opinion, including a large section of the Israeli population, supports the establishment of a Palestinian state. A Palestinian state is also the only guarantee of the continued existence of Israel itself. Domestically, Palestinians are of one mind as to the necessity of the state's establishment. A decision to delay the declaration by a few weeks or months will be taken only if it is in the national interest of the Palestinian people.
The Palestinians have paid the price for their state. They paid the price when they recognised UN resolutions 181, 242 and 338. They have made huge compromises for the sake of peace. They have paid for their state in blood, with the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who died for their freedom.
A declaration of statehood is not a declaration of war. Any ensuing confrontation would result not from the declaration of statehood, but from the perpetuation of a situation in which Israelis rule Palestinians under the cover of a stalled negotiating process. Palestine will seek peaceful relations with its neighbours and will not react to provocation unless its security interests are threatened. It will declare its commitment to the UN Charter and all international agreements, covenants and treaties. What would constitute a declaration of war, however, would be Netanyahu's reiteration of his threat to invade Palestinian territories again following our declaration of statehood. In such a situation, Palestinians would be obliged to defend themselves.
No government in the world would be ready to support Israel's invasion and final destruction of the peace process. In the current international climate, Israel cannot annex any of the Palestinian territories, but it is still attempting to do so through settlement building and expansion. No country in the world recognises Israel's annexation of Jerusalem; the settlements it is still building are null and void according to international law. In order to reemphasise the illegality of Israel's occupation and settlement of the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories, the European Union recently placed restrictions on goods imported from these settlements.
The Palestinians are prepared to make reasonable compromises to achieve a civilised and just solution to the issues of Jerusalem, the Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlers and settlements.
Jerusalem, which we built over 2,000 years before the arrival of Abraham and the Hebrew tribes to the land of Canaan, is our city. We do not wish to see it torn asunder. We are willing to share it -- with East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine and West Jerusalem the capital of Israel, each run by separate municipalities and administered by a joint council. Principal religious institutions will each be in charge of their own sanctuaries. Our vision of Jerusalem is as a city of peace and coexistence.
The issue of Palestinian refugees must be resolved in accordance with UN Resolution 194, which was supported by the entire world community, including Israel, and which establishes the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland and/or receive compensation if they do not wish to do so -- a right the Jews demanded and won for themselves.
As for Jewish settlements, those built on land that was legally purchased will be allowed to remain, and those built on confiscated land will be returned. Settlers wishing to live in the Palestinian state will be allowed to do so, provided they become law-abiding citizens of Palestine.
It is time, particularly for the US and Britain, to atone for their betrayal of the Arab peoples, from the Sykes-Picot Agreement and Balfour Declaration to the partition of Palestine. The only guarantee the US and Britain can give to assure the Palestinians and the Arabs that they are sincere in their support of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, is their commitment to the implementation of UN resolutions 181, 194, 242 and 338. Anything short of this will not be credible, nor will it bring peace. It is also time for Israel to mature and recognise the existence of the Palestinian people and the fact that Israel was created in their homeland, on their soil, and in their cities.
Israel is a regional superpower. It possesses sophisticated nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and the means to deliver them to every city and village in the Arab world, central Asia and Europe. Yet it still feels insecure, and will continue to feel that way as long as it occupies Palestinian and Arab territories, denies the Palestinian people their right to independence, to return to their homeland, to compensation. It will not be secure as long as it refuses to co-exist with them on an equal footing and apologise for the crimes it committed. Only a just solution will achieve peace, and peace will bring security and prosperity to all.
The Israeli people must understand that right and justice are mightier than force. Their government should abandon its colonialist mentality and prepare the ground for establishing peaceful relations with the Palestinian state.
The establishment of Palestine is the only peaceful alternative; the only other alternative is violence. The Israeli people have a golden opportunity in their coming election to vote for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace for all. Let us hope that, this time, they seize it.
* The writer is head of the General Palestinian Delegation to Australia, New Zealand
and the South Pacific and ambassador of Palestine to Vanuatu.
