GUSH SHALOM – pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 www.gush-shalom.org/

1. Arafat meets Gush Shalom activists: Calls for cease-fire & new Palestinian elections

2. Uri Avnery answers F.A.Q. re Sharon's Disengagement Plan

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<> Arafat meets Gush Shalom activists:

Calls for cease-fire & new Palestinian elections

Arafat meets Israeli activists – calls for cease-fire with Israel and new Palestinian elections

Gush Shalom Press Release 7.8.2004

“I would like to hold as soon as possible new elections throughout the Palestinian Authority – presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections. But the occupation authorities make it impossible for us to proceed with so much as voter registration” said the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to a delegation of about 20 activists of Gush Shalom (The Israeli 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 who recently gave several newspaper interviews critical of Arafat. “Certainly, anyone in the Palestinian territories could run in the elections – but Dahlan called me a few days ago and said he does not intend to challenge me” answered Arafat. He noted that elections are impossible when voters and candidates cannot move freely between cities and when candidates who meet Israel's disapproval can be hauled off to Israeli prisons or “liquidated” by Apache helicopters.

The elections issue was later taken up during the impromptu press conference held by the Israeli delegation on the outside steps of the building, still showing the scars of various invasions and incursions by Israeli forces. “Had the Sharon Government been serious in its declared quest for 'a credible Palestinian partner it would not have had to look far” said Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom. “All that would be needed is to facilitate free Palestinian elections under international supervision– as was done in 1995, when Arafat was elected by a large majority – and then open negotiations with whoever wins, the incumbent or somebody new. But that is the very last thing our Prime Minster wants. He prefers to continue his enormous campaign of defamation and incitement, in Israel, the US and the rest of the world, continue to moan that 'there is no partner' and go on with acts of oppression and with the building of walls and settlements. We of Gush Shalom came here as patriotic Israelis. We came to meet with the person who got the confidence of the Palestinian people the last time they were asked for their opinion, and who by all indications would have gotten it again had elections been held now. We came to meet the only Palestinian leader who is able and willing to make peace with the state of Israel, 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's declared plan of “disengaging from Gaza”. Asked several times if he thought Sharon would actually go through with it, Arafat answered “I hope so”. He added “What I don't understand is why Sharon needs 17 months to get ready to withdraw from there. After all, it took Israel just six 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 is certainly not making things easy with the widespread destruction his army is perpetrating there daily. For example, in normal times the Palestinian hothouses around Gaza are highly productive, in this very small area they have an agricultural output about 30% of the whole Kingdom of Jordan. But now many of the hothouses are destroyed by the army, these farmers can't support the economy, we have to support them.

The Palestinian Authority's ability to support people is hampered by the Israeli government violating the agreement on taxes. Since Israel controls all the borders, it was agreed in 1994 that 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 Shekels per month (14 to 16 million, in US Dollars), This was a big part of our budget, but now for more than three years the Israelis are depriving us of it, except for a very small part which they gave Finance Minister Fayad as a kind of favor. But we don't ask for favors, this is our money which 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 both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.” But at the moment Sharon is not willing to negotiate, except for local coordination between military commanders at the Beit Hanoun area [north Gaza Strip]. “We want to reach a cease-fire. I have no problem negotiating with Sharon. I have no problem meeting him personally, or if he doesn't want that – through intermediaries. We met Sharon and Netanyahu at the Wye River Conference, and we signed an agreement. I have no problem repeating 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 Netanyahu did shake my hand, even called me his friend.”

The conversation then shifted to the feasibility of a cease-fire with all the Palestinian factions involved. “If we reach a cease-fire, I will enforce it on all the factions, I am not joking. Yesterday, the spokesman of Islamic Jihad, Muhammad el-Hindi, declared that his organization 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't get into the territories, I talk with him on the phone. In 1981, when we were in Lebanon, i signed an agreement to stop shooting missiles on the Galilee. When the people of the Popular Front and the Democratic Front wanted to go on shooting missiles, I put them in prison. I am not joking, if we sign an agreement for cease-fire including the end of shooting missiles on Israel, then it will 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 their supreme commander, but they get money from Iran via Munir Maqdah [a Lebanon-based Palestinian officer, who rebelled against Arafat some years ago]. But as I said, I am not joking. 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 met in Amman with Rabin and King Hussein. We discussed the possibility of a Benelux-type framework between Israel, Palestine and Jordan. I got afterwards some feelers from Lebanon of their being interested to be included as well. The murder of Rabin ended all this, I hope that some day it would be possible to take it up again.”

For more information: Gush Shalom Spokesperson Adam Keller: 03-5565804 / 050-6709603

~~~

<> Uri Avnery answers F.A.Q. re Sharon's Disengagement Plan

Some Order in the Mess Uri Avnery 7.8.04

Ariel Sharon's “disengagement” plan has already made a mess on all levels.

It has sparked a continuing cabinet crisis, an upheaval in several parties, a disorientation of public opinion, confusion in the security establishment and armed confrontations between Palestinian organizations.

The Israeli peace movement is mixed up like everybody else. Some support Sharon because of the plan and even want to join his government, others denounce Sharon and the plan furiously.

Let's try to make some sense of this mess.

1. What does the plan say?

According to Sharon, he plans to evacuate – and probably demolish – all settlements in the Gaza Strip, evacuate the settlers and the army and leave the territory to the Palestinians. According to the plan, the Israeli army will hold on to the “Philadelphi Axis” as an insurmountable barrier between the Strip and Egypt.

As a symbolic gesture, the plan also provides for the dismantling of three small, unimportant settlements on the northern edge of the West Bank.

2. Will it be implemented?

Not at all certain.

The plan was not the result of elaborate staff-work. It was more in the nature of an improvisation, quickly served up to please President Bush. Sharon knew that it would be opposed by the right-wing and the Palestinians, and pull the rug out from under the Labor Party.

The government has officially resolved to confirm the plan in principle, but has not decided to dismantle a single settlement. Such a decision would necessitate another government resolution.

In the meantime, the matter is moving forward languidly. The army is supposed to produce a plan, but insists that the job of removing the settlers should be turned over to the police. The Ministry of Justice has been charged with the drafting of the necessary laws. A committee is supposed to prepare a sliding scale for compensation. The tempo of progress in no way indicates speedy implementation.

But, most importantly: there is no effort at all to mobilize public opinion in favor of the disengagement. The opponents of disengagement, the settlers and their allies, are working with great zeal. They have already won a victory in the referendum of Likud members, they have organized a big “human chain” demonstration, they are preparing further large actions. They manipulate the media with great dexterity. They can mobilize at a moment's notice tens of thousands of settlers and right-wingers. They have at their disposal almost unlimited amounts of money, provided by American Jewish millionaires and Christian fundamentalists.

Opposing this propaganda juggernaut, there is nothing but silence. The Likud is not mobilizing its members for a campaign of support for the plan, the Labor party is busy with internal squabbles about joining the government and the left-wing does not know what to think about the whole affair.

The supporters of the plan console themselves with the knowledge that in all public opinion polls, a majority supports the plan. But this is a wobbly majority, unenthusiastic and unsure of itself. It has not yet been tested in a real crisis. It can easily evaporate.

3. Is there a time-table?

None at all.

Sharon and his people speak loosely about starting the evacuation in March, 2005, and finishing the job by the end of that year. By the look of things, this is idle talk. Since Yitzhak Rabin remarked that “there are no sacred dates”, all Israeli leaders have violated agreed timetables. The natural inclination is always to postpone difficult decisions.

When I met Yasser Arafat this morning, he remarked: “It took Israel six hours to leave South Lebanon, why does Sharon need 17 months to leave the Gaza Strip?”

4. So what is Sharon's real purpose?

The plan suits his grand design to turn all (or almost all) of Eretz Israel into a Jewish State. (Eretz Israel – the Land of Israel – is nowadays understood as identical with Mandatory Palestine, the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan.)

For him, Gaza, a negligible piece of real estate (less than 1.5 % of the country!) is devouring a disproportionate part of Israel's military and financial resources. What is important for him is “Judea and Samaria” – the West Bank, which is 16 times larger. He hopes that the disengagement from Gaza will enable him to annex more than half of the West Bank and to enclose the Palestinians in a number of enclaves that are practically isolated from each other and at the mercy of Israel. In the long run, the aim is to make life intolerable for the Palestinian population and cause it to leave altogether.

5. If so, is there any positive side to the disengagement plan?

In the peace camp, some voices insist that the plan should be supported because it creates, for the first time, a precedent of evacuating settlements in Eretz Israel. Emotionally and politically, this would certainly have a huge impact. (The Yamit area, where several settlements were evacuated in pursuance of the peace treaty with Egypt, is not considered part of Eretz Israel).

The peaceniks who support the plan argue that the long-term intentions of Sharon are irrelevant. The only important thing is what actually happens on the ground – and on the ground 7500 settlers will be removed from the Gaza Strip – if it happens, of course.

6. On the other side, can the plan cause damage?

A disengagement that is divorced from peace negotiations can be very dangerous.

Sharon's people say that they don't give a damn what will happen in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli withdrawal. They are pretending. Behind the scenes, the military and political leadership is planning the installation of a local warlord, who would rule the Strip under Israeli (and therefore also American and Egyptian) protection. Their preferred candidate is Muhammad Dahlan, the former boss of the political police in the Strip.

If this happens, the local strongman may well end up like Bashir Jumail, who was supposed to rule Lebanon under Israeli protection. He was soon murdered. The warlord installed by Israel may be removed and actual power in the Gaza Strip then pass into the hands of the armed organizations that will continue to fight against Israel by all available means, including missiles. The Israeli army will then occupy the territory again, and the whole story will begin again from square one.

On the other hand, if the experiment succeeds, the Gaza Strip will become an “autonomous” area under Israeli control, administered by a local strongman. It will be rather like the South African Bantustans at the time of apartheid. The Palestinian people will, of course, view this as an existential threat and fight against it by all possible means.

7. Can the plan be supported by the peace camp?

Only if the following conditions are met:

(a) The government of Israel must declare that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip constitute one single territorial unit, as explicitly stated in the Oslo agreement.

(b) The disengagement must be connected with the renewal of peace negotiations between the government of Israel and the elected leadership of the Palestinian people.

(c) The disengagement must be implemented by agreement with the Palestinian Authority and the territory must be turned over to it in an orderly manner. The agreement should include arrangements that will guarantee the security of both sides, perhaps backed by an international peacekeeping force.

(d) The “Philadelphi Axis” must be dismantled. Land, air and sea connections between the Gaza Strip with the world must be opened, perhaps under international supervision.

(e) All buildings and infrastructure of the settlements must be turned over intact to the Palestinian Authority or an international institution. Their value may be taken into account when the refugee problem is settled.

(f) A definite timetable must be agreed for the implementation of all phases of the disengagement.

PS:

When I asked Arafat today whether he believes that the disengagement plan will actually be implemented, he answered: “We hope so!”

“I didn't ask whether you hope so, but whether you believe it!” I insisted.

Arafat smiled and repeated: “We hope so!”

# Visit the website of Mandela Institute and help children of Palestinian prisoners to buy a school bag: www.mandela-palestine.org

# The Presbyterian Church in the United States recently took a step towards divestment from companies who profit from the harming of innocent people, whether Palestinian or Israeli. They also say that Israel's “separation wall” being built through occupied Palestinian territory is illegal and shoul d be removed.

As pro-occupation forces are mobilizing to flood the PCUSA with messages condemning their actions, they are in dire need to get support. We recommend signing the petition of Jewish Voice for Peace at ga3.org/campaign/pcusa/eg6i3i41jde38j

# Truth against Truth – opposite views on the history of the conflict in 101 steps

Hebrew www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Heb.pdf

English www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Eng.pdf

# Boycott List of Settlement Products (newly updated)

Now also with list of settlements

Hebrew gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boycheb.htm

English gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boyceng.htm

— www.gush-shalom.org/ (Hebrew) www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English) www.gush-shalom.org/arabic/index.html (selected articles in Arabic)

with \\photos of recent actions \\the weekly Gush Shalom ad \\the columns of Uri Avnery \\Gush Shalom's history & action chronicle \\position papers & analysis (in “documents”) \\and a lot more

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