- The Palestinian
Authority’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, hopes that the disengagement plan will bring the two sides back to the negotiating
table. In an exclusive interview with Ma'ariv online, he promises that the PA
do everything in its power to ensure that the withdrawal does not take place
under fire, and adds that the PA will seek a summit between Abu Mazen and
Sharon even before the start of the evacuation.
The interview with
Erekat takes place in the Geneva Initiative
office in Tel Aviv, where he is attending a joint convention of Shinui,
Meretz and Labour Party youth. A few minutes before discussion begins, the
first reports come in of the attack
in Shfaram. "This is simply a tragedy ", he mumbles to himself as
he reads the reports on the internet. "It is the last thing that Israel
needs now ".
Ten days before the
disengagement the situation remains unclear. Still, Erekat thinks that the
evacuation will not take place under fire, and stresses that the withdrawal
will be organized and nonviolent. "We will do everything that we can to
make sure that our people understand that the disengagement is a day of peace.
We hope that there will be a soft landing, and I think that the Palestinians
must respect the law and refrain from anarchy.
Only if this happens will it be possible to talk about “Gaza today and
what happens tomorrow”.
One of the biggest
fears in Israel today is the growing strength of Hamas in the Strip. Erekat
says that the PA will not allow organizations to remain armed after the
evacuation. "We say unequivocally, everyone has to respect the sovereignty
of the government", he emphasizes. "We believe in political
pluralism, but not in parallel authorities or parallel armed forces. This is
simply forbidden. I’m not saying this
just for Israeli consumption; it’s in the interest of our own people. Abu Mazen has already said there will be
only one legal armed force, and that’s what there will be after the
disengagement. There's no escaping it ".
Erekat is concerned about the message that unilateralism sends. He
and the rest of the PA leadership have been trying for several weeks to run an
information campaign to explain why the withdrawal is taking place. "Today
in Gaza some people say that the disengagement is a victory for the Qassem
rockets and suicide bombers”, he remarks. "We want to convince them that this
is not so, and that the withdrawal is result of international political
collaboration and of the peace process, rather than a unilateral
step".
[You’ve been in all the negotiations with Israel so far. Do you
think we’ll go back now to the negotiating table?]
"I hope so, but I
doubt it. We offered to return to final
status negotiations, but the Israeli government said no. Still, on the day after, perhaps the
situation will be different. I ask myself, what will Israel gain if you don’t
return to the negotiating table after disengagement? Seventy per cent of Israelis want to resume talks. The Palestinian leadership also wants very
much to return to final status negotiations. If these are restarted, it will be
possible to reach a final agreement even on the difficult issues within six
months”.
Saeb Erekat is one
of the most gifted statesmen the
Palestinians have ever had. He is
familiar with every comma in the papers written so far by the two sides, and
remembers every discussion. And he says the solution is not far away. "Both sides made so many errors over
the last ten years”, he says. "We must avoid going back to the idea of an
interim agreement. The government of
Israel must understand that it does not need unilateral actions, but
negotiations with a partner.
We are your partner. We
don’t need to reinvent the wheel. The
contours of the conflict and of its solution are well known. What does Israel
have to lose by maybe using backchannel talks to determine whether or not there
is a partner on our side?”
[Is Sharon a partner
for peace?]
"He executed the
disengagement unilaterally. He wants to solve only his problems, and he’s
making a mistake. I want to solve the problems of both our nations, not just
the Palestinians. I want to make clear to Sharon: your problems are my problems, and my problems are your problems
".
[You would like to convene a meeting between
the leaders even before the disengagement?]
"I think that’s
very important. We need a summit between Sharon and Abu Mazen to in order
resolve the final issues that will ensure the withdrawal is orderly and
peaceful. We hope it will happen. We haven’t raised the possibility yet, but in
the next few days we will offer Israel a meeting”.
© Maariv
online; 5 August, 2005.
Translation, and all errors therein, brought to you by Lawrence of
Cyberia.