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Lamia Lahoud. Jerusalem Post: Apr 23, 1993
Palestinian delegates to
the peace talks may be in danger when they return.
SOME Palestinians say
that after next week's round of peace talks in Washington, their delegates may
not be able to go home again.
The point of no return
will be reached if the members of the delegation cannot come back with
substantial concessions from the Israelis, they contend.
Rashid Hilal, a
journalist from Ramallah who writes for the East Jerusalem daily Al Quds, said
people's demands have become more radical.
"At first, the
majority of people were in favor of the peace talks, but now even Fatah's
supporters are frustrated and have a negative attitude toward the peace process.
No one can say at this point if the delegates will be able to return."
Even some of those who
identify with Fatah - the PLO mainstream group headed by Yasser Arafat - are
opposed to negotiations now.
Palestinian opposition
groups, such as the radical PLO factions PFLP and DFLP (the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine), oppose an autonomy deal. They call for a Palestinian state in the
territories and East Jerusalem.
Those two groups and Hamas
are taking advantage of the negative public mood to drum up support for their
own political aims.
A source close to the
Palestinian delegation confirmed rumors that Faisal Husseini and Saeb Erakat
have received threatening letters, and that some of the delegates now have
security guards in their homes. The three most likely to be targeted are Hanan
Ashrawe, Husseini and Erakat. He added that threats to the delegates from Hamas
are taken very seriously.
Hilal said Palestinians
have become impatient with the slow pace of the peace process.
"For a year and a
half, the delegates attended the peace talks without achieving anything. Now
they are trapped, because the people have become more radical. They no longer
want to settle for anything less than a state."
A growing number of
people are angry at the delegates and are beginning to sympathize with the
demands of opposition groups, Hilal said. This will make the peace talks more
difficult, because the delegates will not be able to meet the people's
expectations, he added.
Prior to the announcement
that the Palestinians would join the talks, Hilal said he learned that Erakat,
Zakaria Aghra, Ghassan Khattib and Haidar Abdel Shafi had decided to leave the
delegation should the Palestinians go to Washington.
Hassan Abdallah, a writer
and journalist from Ramallah whom Israeli authorities suspect of membership in
the PFLP, said the delegates have no choice but to attend the talks.
"The PLO started
this process and cannot turn back. But the delegates will have problems with
the people when they return from the talks because they made promises and they
cannot deliver."
MAHA NASSAR, a leader of
the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees and a PFLP activist, said the
opposition groups will work on mobilizing the public to boycott the talks.
"We will not sit
back and wait for the outcome of the negotiations. We will organize sit-ins and
demonstrations all over the territories and in front of the Orient House
{headquarters for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks} and Faisal
Husseini's home in East Jerusalem. We will issue leaflets and call press
conferences to increase the pressure on the delegates not to attend the peace
talks," Nassar said after hearing of the Palestinians' decision to attend.
She is convinced that the
Israelis will not yield on issues of substance.
"The Israelis will
make concessions on human-rights issues. They will promise to return former
deportees and to improve conditions inside the jails. They will also lighten
taxes. But they are not yet ready to address the substantial issues which are
connected to UN resolutions 242 and 338."
According to Nassar, the
delegates' attendance at this round of talks is dangerous because they will be
under pressure to accept Israel's concessions and may approve an unfair
autonomy deal. She said the PFLP will concentrate its efforts on getting the UN
actively involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We have reached a
point where neither the negotiations nor the armed struggle will help us get
our rights. The UN should take responsibility and send its forces here to
protect the Palestinian people."
She stressed that
Palestinians are very angry and frustrated, and will not accept any "minor
concessions."
They remain unimpressed
by Israeli officials' apparent willingness to let Husseini join the Palestinian
negotiating team.
"Israel's decision
to accept Faisal in the delegation is positive, but it comes at a time when it
has no weight at all. It doesn't mean anything to them as long as Jerusalem is
sealed off from the rest of the territories. The people know that Rabin is not
willing to bring Jerusalem into the talks," Nassar said.
Hilal pointed out that
Husseini has two addresses, one in Jerusalem and one in Ramallah.
"The PLO made Faisal
into an important leader because they wanted to include Jerusalem in the talks.
But it didn't work," he added.
At a sit-in Wednesday in
front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency office in Ramallah,
Palestinians expressed their frustration with the peace talks. The demonstration
was organized by local trade unions, which have a strong PFLP influence.
Im Said, 66, said she
attended the sit-in to protest the closure of the territories and to call upon
the UN to pressure Israel into accepting all UN resolutions.
"The negotiations
have been dragging on for too long, and nothing has been achieved. The
delegates only want to give us autonomy. But we want a Palestinian state. We
want all our Palestinian brothers from abroad to have the right to
return," she shouted.
"The delegates
will not achieve anything in Washington. They will return in shame. All of the
people are ready to continue the intifada."
© 1993 The Jerusalem
Post