Geneva dissension
As Israeli and Palestinian politicians were launching the "Geneva Accord" in the Swiss city, thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in the occupied territories to protest and condemn the "treacherous document", Khaled Amayreh reports from the West Bank
In the Gaza Strip, home to some 500,000 refugees, thousands of people protested against the Geneva Accord, calling Palestinian signatories to the document "traitors" who were "striving to please the Americans and the Zionists at our people's expense".
"I want to know who gave [PA official Yasser] Abed Rabbo and his group the right to sell out the right of return," asked Islamic Jihad leader Mohamed Hindi. "Indeed, who gave them the right to speak on behalf of more than four million Palestinian refugees aspiring to return to their homes and towns from which they were uprooted by force?"
In Gaza City itself, political leaders representing the major Palestinian political factions, including key PLO figures, denounced the Geneva Accord and called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to reject it "publicly and clearly". "Let it be known that those participating in the 'Geneva party' don't represent us, and if they claim that they do, don't believe them," said Abdullah Al-Hourani, head of the PLO Refugees Department.
Likewise, Rafiq Natshe, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, reminded "the Geneva people" that the Palestinian question started with the refugees and would only end "with the refugees returning to their towns and villages".
The strongest attack on the document and its Palestinian signatories came from Fatah official Asa'ad Abu Sharkh who labeled those who signed the accord, "a handful of pigs". The brazenly harsh criticism, say Palestinian pundits, could portend a more serious contention within Palestinian society if the accord were to be officially adopted by the Palestinian Authority.
Earlier on Sunday, at the Rafah border crossing, dozens of Palestinian activists tried to block the 50-member strong Palestinian delegation to the Geneva ceremony from leaving Gaza. However, delegates eventually managed to elbow their way through the crowd, amid shouts of "No to treason, No to treason!"
In the West Bank, protests focussed on Nablus where several political and civic leaders converged at Al-Najah University conference hall to "reassert our commitment to the right of return". Speakers warned the PA leadership against "playing with fire".
Addressing a large audience, Taysir Nasrallah, a Palestine National Council (PNC) member and a co-organiser of the conference, said "It is crystal clear that this (the Geneva Accord) is a treasonous document, therefore lending support to it is nothing short of nationalistic apostasy." Nasrullah warned that even the PLO itself (and its leadership) would lose its legitimacy if it chose to concede on the right of return. "We all know that the right of return was the reason why the PLO was founded in the first place. Hence, the PLO loses its very raison d'être the moment it chooses to forsake the right of return."
Faced with strong public opposition to the Geneva document, Palestinian Authority Leader Yasser Arafat has found himself in a very "unenviable position", using the words of one PA official. According to reliable Palestinian sources, Arafat privately encouraged Palestinian officials who negotiated and signed the accord last month. Indeed, there is an almost total unanimity within Palestinian political circles that PA official Yasser Abed Rabbo would not have dared sign the document had he not been given a definite "green light" from Arafat.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon totally rejected the accord, on the other hand. On Monday, he reportedly described the accord as "amounting to suicide" for the Jewish state.
Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert lashed out at US Secretary of State Colin Powell for planning to meet with Palestinian and Israeli signatories to the accords, calling the step "harmful and very negative".
The signing of the accord by PA officials, although only in their personal capacity, would ultimately weaken the Palestinian stance on Jerusalem and the right of return in any future negotiations with Israel, argues Arab Knesset member Azmi Bishara.
"In the future, the Israelis and the world at large will not accept any new Palestinian claims in connection with the right of return. They will tell the Palestinians you agreed to give up the right of return, so why are you raising this subject once again?" said Bishara during a television interview Monday.
Moreover, there is another potentially disastrous flaw in the Geneva Accord from the Palestinian view point; namely, "recognising Israel as the state of the Jewish people".
This, say many Palestinian critics, could set the stage for the future expulsion of non-Jews from Israel, particularly the 1.3 million Arab-Israelis.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 4 - 10 December 2003 (Issue No. 667)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/667/re1.htm