unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/03/89)
INTERNATIONAL NGO MEETING ON PALESTINE
URGES FUTURE REGIONAL ECONOMIC UNION IN MIDDLE EAST
VIENNA, 31 August (UN Information Service) -- Calls for an economic
confederation between Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and Jordan
were made this morning by several speakers at the Sixth United Nations
International NGO Meeting on the Question of Palestine.
Speakers also said all Palestinians should have a right of return. A
number of them said the intifadah had created an emergency which demanded that
no time be lost in solving the problems of the people living in the occupied
Palestinian territories.
During this morning's session, Taisir Aruri, one of the five Palestinians
deported by Israel earlier this week, was introduced to delegates. The
expulsion of Mr. Aruri and four others led to a Security Council resolution
deploring the continuing deportation of Palestinian civilians and calling on
Israel to ensure their safe and immediate return.
A panel discussion entitled, "Two Peoples, Two States: Future Relations"
formed the main part of today's session. The panel consisted of two Israelis,
Hillel Shinker and Abraham Bardugo; and two Palestinians, Faisal Husseini and
Nabil Shaath. A member of the Israeli Knesset, Tawfiq Zayyad, also addressed
the meeting.
Other statements were made by representatives of the Palestine Red
Crescent Society, the Medical Aid for the Third World, the Progressive Labour
Front, Abnaa Al Balad, the Netherlands' Organization for International
Development Co-operation, the Catholic Relief Services, the General Union for
Palestinian Women, the International Youth and Student Movement for the United
Nations, the International Christian Peace Conference and the Progressive List
for Peace - Israel.
The three-day meeting, organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, has attracted representatives of
more than 400 Israeli, Palestinian and other international non-governmental
organizations.
Statements
FAISAL HUSSEINI, Director of the Arab Studies Centre in East Jerusalem,
said he was released in the spring of 1988 after 18 months in detention. In
the early years of the twentieth century, the Palestinian people had two major
aims: to drive the British out of Palestine and to maintain their unity in
the face of the Zionist movement. In 1948, they lost the battle against the
Zionist movement and then lost their cities, villages and land. In effect,
the Palestinian people lost their entire social presence. The pyramid of
Palestinian society crumbled, and the people were scattered around the Middle
East.
He said the intifadah reflected 20 years of Palestinian struggle. It had
brought the struggle for independence back to Palestine. It had also led to
the nineteenth extraordinary session of the Palestine National Council in
Algiers in 1988, where the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) stated its
desire for peace.
Peace with the enemy could only be achieved through dialogue, he said; if
Shamir wanted peace, he would have to talk with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.
The Palestinians wanted to find a solution with the Israelis. Through the use
of limited force, the Palestinian people wanted to make one thing clear, that
they did not want to destroy Israel.
He said Israel had tried to handle the Palestinians as a minority and not
as a people. The Israelis tried to confront Palestinians internally without
recognizing the representative of the Palestinian people which was the PLO.
The PLO believed in elections, but rejected the Shamir plan for elections in
the occupied Palestinian territories. He said the establishment of a
Palestinian state was the key to peace in the Middle East.
He said every Palestinian should have the right to return to his state.
The Middle East should follow the example of Europe and work together to
create a prosperous and secure region for future generations.
HILLEL SHINKER, a member of the Central Committee of the Mapam party and
one of the founders of the "Peace Now" Movement, said several options were
available to Israel. The first option was that of a status quo, similar to
that which existed from 1967 to 1987. The official Israeli policy then was
that the situation seemed manageable. The intifadah had ended that status
quo. The illusion in Israel now was that the status quo of the intifadah was
expensive, but manageable. But in the Middle East, he said, the status quo
never continued for long; either it went forward or back to conflict.
Therefore, a continuation of the status quo was not a real option. The second
option, autonomy, was not considered seriously in Israel today. The third
option, annexation with equal rights for all, would mean that in 20 to 25 year
there would be no Jewish State because Palestinians would outnumber Israelis.
The option of annexation without equal rights could not be considered
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
---
Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations
patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information
patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange
-=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-