unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/03/89)
seriously because the world would not allow Israel to go ahead with such a
plan, even the Likud party would not consider that option today. The option
of transferring the population by mass deportation was a desperate one,
considered only by hard-line "hawks" in Israel. Any attempt to consider that
option would lead to civil war. The only logical option was two States with
self-determination for the two peoples. A two-year study by the Jaffa
Institute for Strategic Studies came to the conclusion that the safest and
most reasonable option was a negotiated solution leading to a Palestinian
state.
A recent public opinion poll showed 58 per cent of Israelis believed that
Israel, within five years, would speak to the PLO. If the opinion of Arabs in
Israel were included, the figure would be raised to 70 per cent. But, he
said, Israel did not have five years. With the growing brutalization on both
sides, in five years time there would be more militant leaders. So the
situation was of extreme urgency.
Israel and Palestine were like Siamese twins, he said. The possibility
of an economic confederation, like the European Economic Community (EEC),
presented the best prospect for both Israel and Palestine. If Jordan were
also included, the union would present a strong economic force in the Middle
East. He added that a form of neutrality, similar to that of Austria, offered
the best possibility for a peaceful future for the area.
NABIL SHAATH, of the Palestinian National Council, said both Palestinians
and Israelis were affected by the current struggle. Palestinians had a
humanistic vision of one state, two peoples, three religions. That vision was
not shared by a majority of Israelis. The fears of the Israelis grew not out
of confrontations with Arabs, but from a long history of Jewish persecution.
In 1974, the Council, for the first time, had called for the establishment of
a Palestinian state on only part of Palestine. In 1987, the intifadah brought
in new Palestinian realism and tolerance which led to the 1988 declaration of
independence.
The setting up of a Palestinian state would allow the relationship
between the two States to move from dependence to independence and then to
interdependence. That would lead to a change from one State with two peoples
to two States with two peoples. And that, in turn, would lead from liberation
to cohabitation, from accommodation to co-operation within the context of a
confederation which would allow prosperity.
To end Israeli fears, the occupation must be ended. He said Palestinians
were always accused of lacking credibility, but citing the 1981 cease-fire in
Lebanon, he said Palestinians always stuck to their commitments.
New symbols and new ideas had to be created. He encouraged further
exchanges of ideas and communications between Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and
Israelis.
ABRAHAM BARDUGO, member of the Israeli Committee on Human Rights, said
that the facts spoke for themselves in the occupied territories. The whole
Palestinian nation was fighting and paying the full price for that war. There
was no other solution but two States. He said Israelis were still dreaming
the big dream of 20 years ago, of a "Great Israel", rather than dealing with
the realities of today.
He said the financial implications of trying to put down the uprising
could not be discussed by Israelis. He added that settlers on Palestinian
lands were complaining about their budget. Why should they complain, he
asked, when the 20,000 settlers were receiving the same amount of money as the
150,000 unemployed in the country?
He said Israeli was divided about the reality of the situation. Israelis
had dreamed for 2,000 years about having their State. Why, then, could they
not accept Palestinian dreams? The Palestinians had made up their minds, and
it was in Israel's interest to accept the situation. Time was running out, he
added, and every family in the West Bank and Gaza Strip had someone arrested,
or injured or had lost property, and the situation was getting out of hand.
TAWFIQ ZAYYAD, member of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality in
the Israeli Knesset, said the intifadah was today as strong as if it had
started yesterday. People were being killed and imprisoned daily. He said
the capacity of the intifadah to continue in the face of oppression caused
many people to think.
He said the intifadah was the real peace initiative because it called for
a political settlement which could be reached at an international conference.
All Israelis and Palestinians who wanted peace should support the intifadah.
PLO Chairman Arafat's recognition of Israel's right to exist, coupled with his
comments in Stockholm and Geneva, were compatible parts of the Palestinian
peace initiative. He said only the Palestinians had made concessions, but the
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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