” I would like to hold as soon as possible new elections throughout the Palestinian Authority -presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections. But the occupation authorities makeit impossible for us to proceed with so much as voter registration ” said the PalestinianAuthority President Yasser Arafat to a delegation of about 20 activists of Gush Shalom (TheIsraeli Peace Bloc) who this morning visited the presidential compound at Ramallah.
” Does that mean that Muhammad Dahlan would also be able to run for president against you? “asked one of the Israeli activists, referring to the former Gaza security chief whorecently gave several newspaper interviews critical of Arafat. ” Certainly, anyone in thePalestinian territories could run in the elections – but Dahlan called me a few days ago andsaid he does not intend to challenge me ” answered Arafat. He noted that elections areimpossible when voters and candidates cannot move freely between cities and when candidateswho meet Israel ‘s disapproval can be hauled off to Israeli prisons or ” liquidated ” by Apachehelicopters.
The elections issue was later taken up during the impromptu press conference held by theIsraeli delegation on the outside steps of the building, still showing the scars of variousinvasions and incursions by Israeli forces. ” Had the Sharon Government been serious in itsdeclared quest for ‘a credible Palestinian partner it would not have had to look far ” said UriAvnery of Gush Shalom. ” All that would be needed is to facilitate free Palestinian electionsunder international supervision – as was done in 1995, when Arafat was elected by a largemajority – and then open negotiations with whoever wins, the incumbent or somebody new. Butthat is the very last thing our Prime Minster wants. He prefers to continue his enormouscampaign of defamation and incitement, in Israel , the US and the rest of the world, continue tomoan that ‘there is no partner’ and go on with acts of oppression and with the building of wallsand settlements. We of Gush Shalom came here as patriotic Israelis. We came to meet with theperson who got the confidence of the Palestinian people the last time they were asked for theiropinion, and who by all indications would have gotten it again had elections been held now. Wecame to meet the only Palestinian leader who is able and willing to make peace with the state ofIsrael , and to get for such a peace wide support among Palestinians.
Another subject prominent on the agenda of the Israelis’ meeting with Arafat was Sharon ‘sdeclared plan of ” disengaging from Gaza ” . Asked several times if he thought Sharon wouldactually go through with it, Arafat answered ” I hope so ” . He added ” What I don’t understand iswhy Sharon needs 17 months to get ready to withdraw from there. After all, it took Israel justsix hours to evacuate all of South Lebanon , an area more then ten times the Gaza Strip. “
” If Israel does withdraw, we can and will take up management of the Strip. But Sharon iscertainly not making things easy with the widespread destruction his army is perpetratingthere daily. For example, in normal times the Palestinian hothouses around Gaza are highlyproductive, in this very small area they have an agricultural output about 30% of the wholeKingdom of Jordan . But now many of the hothouses are destroyed by the army, these farmers can’tsupport the economy, we have to support them.
The Palestinian Authority’s ability to support people is hampered by the Israeli governmentviolating the agreement on taxes. Since Israel controls all the borders, it was agreed in 1994that Israeli customers will collect the customs duties on the merchandise coming to us,deduct a 3% fee and pass to us the other 97%. In normal times, it came to 70 or 80 million Shekelsper month (14 to 16 million, in US Dollars), This was a big part of our budget, but now for morethan three years the Israelis are depriving us of it, except for a very small part which theygave Finance Minister Fayad as a kind of favor. But we don’t ask for favors, this is our moneywhich we should get from customs like every other government in the world.
Arafat repeated several times his wish for a cease-fire with Israel ” a full cease-fire in boththe Gaza Strip and the West Bank . ” But at the moment Sharon is not willing to negotiate, exceptfor local coordination between military commanders at the Beit Hanoun area [north GazaStrip]. ” We want to reach a cease-fire. I have no problem negotiating with Sharon . I have noproblem meeting him personally, or if he doesn’t want that – through intermediaries. We metSharon and Netanyahu at the Wye River Conference, and we signed an agreement. I have no problemrepeating that. “
One of the Israeli activists remarked that at Wye Sharon had refused to shake Arafat’s hand. “Yes, he refused to shake my hand, but he signed an agreement with me nonetheless. And Netanyahudid shake my hand, even called me his friend. “
The conversation then shifted to the feasibility of a cease-fire with all the Palestinianfactions involved. ” If we reach a cease-fire, I will enforce it on all the factions, I am notjoking. Yesterday, the spokesman of Islamic Jihad, Muhammad el-Hindi, declared that hisorganization will accept an agreement signed by the Palestinian Authority. Haled Mash’al,head of the Hamas Political Bureau, is now in Egypt for talks about a cease-fire. Since he can’tget into the territories, I talk with him on the phone. In 1981, when we were in Lebanon , i signedan agreement to stop shooting missiles on the Galilee . When the people of the Popular Front andthe Democratic Front wanted to go on shooting missiles, I put them in prison. I am not joking, ifwe sign an agreement for cease-fire including the end of shooting missiles on Israel , then itwill stop. “
There was a specific question regarding the ” El-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. ” Arafat answered:This organization is not part of the Fatah Movement; some of the people there say that I am theirsupreme commander, but they get money from Iran via Munir Maqdah [a Lebanon-basedPalestinian officer, who rebelled against Arafat some years ago]. But as I said, I am notjoking. If there is a cease-fire, it will apply to them like everybody else.
The final part of the meeting, Arafat went into historical reminiscences. ” After Oslo , I metin Amman with Rabin and King Hussein. We discussed the possibility of a Benelux-typeframework between Israel , Palestine and Jordan . I got afterwards some feelers from Lebanonof their being interested to be included as well. The murder of Rabin ended all this, I hope thatsome day it would be possible to take it up again. “
For more information:
Gush Shalom Spokesperson Adam Keller: 03-5565804 / 050-6709603