The Israel-Arab Reader (91 page)

A Middle East where waters flow to slake thirst, to make crops grow and deserts bloom, in which no hostile borders bring death, hunger, despair, or shame.

A Middle East of competition, not of domination. A Middle East in which men are each other's hosts, not hostages.

A Middle East that is not a killing field, but a field of creativity and growth.

A Middle East that honors so much its history, that it strives to add to it new noble chapters.

A Middle East which will serve as a spiritual and cultural focal point for the entire world.

While thanking you, for the Prize, thanking the many people in uniform and civil dress in many nations, for arriving to this moment of happiness and hope, I believe that all of us remain committed to the process. I thank my family, that stood behind me for such a long journey, and are convinced as I am that this is the best option.

We have reached the age where dialogue is really the only way to run the world.

[Levitzky]: People here in Gaza were seen rejoicing after the terrorist attack. This kind of behavior by your people is unacceptable and quite simply denies them the right to consider themselves part of the human race.

[Abu-Zayidah]: I did not see any rejoicing. But let us say that some of the people here were not particularly upset. This is because the Palestinian people do not feel that the Israelis are giving them anything in return. Neither territory nor honor. The Palestinians are bitterly disappointed. There has been no improvement in their economic and social well-being.

If you were to ask any Palestinian immediately after the agreement, he would have told you that the war between our peoples is over. Now he realizes that nothing has really changed. Except for the abolishment of the night curfew and your army's withdrawal from the refugee camps, nothing has changed. The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are asking what kind of peace is this, with 5,000 settlers controlling 25 percent of the land. What kind of logic dictates that 20 families from Netzarim should control a larger slice of territory than all of Jabalyah, with its 80,000 residents. The Palestinian refugees know they are living in the most crowded place on earth, while 20 settler families are ensconced in luxury a few meters away. I cannot understand why Rabin does not remove Netzarim. What is this stupidity?

[Levitzky]: I think you have gone too far this time. Even a moderate man like Ezer Weizman, who supports reaching an arrangement, has called for a suspension of the process. This should be viewed as a serious warning.

[Abu-Zayidah]: Not only Ezer Weizman. I, too, sometimes have doubts about the process. The problem begins with Oslo. The fact that Israelis and Palestinians met in such a secret fashion in Oslo gave the impression that just by sitting down together, we had already made the required concessions, and now everything would work out. But this was followed by all the mistakes in the world.

[Levitzky]: How, then, can we totally eliminate this hatred?

[Abu-Zayidah]: In the past, I thought that Israelis, or at least the majority of them, were thinking straight and did not hate us. I believed that most of your public understood the situation. Apparently, I must have been wrong. Despite the Oslo agreement, most Israelis still think that the Palestinians as a people do not deserve the same rights as them.

The majority of Israelis think that whatever the Palestinians get is a privilege. It reminds me of prison. That is how relations between the guards and prisoners work. If you behave nicely, you will get half of the Gaza Strip. If you behave even better, we will let you have all of the Gaza Strip. What is this? Is it impossible for you to understand that the Palestinian people have a right to their own state, flag, and passport.

The Israelis see all of us as construction workers, dishwashers, and street cleaners in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. You consider us an inferior people. We are prepared to reach a compromise with you. Most of the Palestinian people are ready to accept a Palestinian state alongside with Israel. How much more blood must be spilled before Israel accepts such a compromise?

[Levitzky]: You Palestinians are shooting yourselves in the foot. Why not learn from Israel's history? Why does Arafat not follow Ben-Gurion's example? You were given a one-time opportunity, and you are wasting it. You cannot get everything at once.

[Abu-Zayidah]: We are not Israel, and Arafat is not Ben-Gurion. You were given a state; we were granted limited autonomy over part of the land. I agree that we had an opportunity to achieve something and that we have occasionally supplied you with excuses to delay the process and to avoid implementing subsequent stages of the agreement.

We also tell
Fatah
members who have reservations about the process that violence will get us nowhere. We tell them that it only exacerbates hatred between our two peoples. We opted for the way of peace and must stick to it. There is no other choice. We constantly say the same thing to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. We really want to stop the cycle of hatred and bloodshed.

[Levitzky]: You say that to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad? That is really a laugh. These are not the kind of people you can just talk to. Bassam Abu-Sharif told [Israel television's Arab affairs correspondent] Ehud Ya'ari that these organizations should be outlawed.

[Abu-Zayidah]: Abu-Sharif should stop shooting his mouth off. What law is he talking about? Does he not know that we have no constitution and no laws? There are not even regulations. We have failed to formulate any rules of behavior here. We are having a hard time making the transition from an underground movement to the building of national institutions. Here in Gaza, we still act as though we were in Lebanon.

[Levitzky]: You sound very disappointed in Arafat. So are we. He does not talk to us, convince us, or take any steps to win the confidence of the Israeli public. What is the matter with him?

[Abu-Zayidah]: I am very disappointed by our inability to create the basis for our future state. Arafat busies himself with small details, which he should not be handling. He should not be issuing building permits for another house or floor. He should not be holding meetings with all and sundry. He is having a bad influence on the behavior of his ministers. He constantly interferes with their work and the work of the senior bureaucracy.

I agree with you that some of those who came from Tunis do not understand the Israelis. The gap is too wide; they do not understand the dynamics or what the Israelis are feeling. This poses a big problem for me and my friends from
Fatah
, who operate in the field. We keep on trying to persuade Arafat to speak to the Israeli public and build trust between the two peoples. So far, we have been unsuccessful.

[Levitzky]: But you, the field operatives, can do something. Where is the Palestinian equivalent of Peace Now? Why did you not demonstrate in the street against the Bet Lid murders? We demonstrated against Sabra and Shatila.

[Abu-Zayidah]: The entire
Fatah
organization is basically Peace Now. Our “Peace Now” is the governing authority. You do not understand what is holding the Palestinians back. The people still feel that you are stepping on their necks and trampling their honor. Although a lot of people told me they were shocked by the Bet Lid murders, the day when we can stage such demonstrations is still a long way off. I wish we could, but this is the result of the harsh reality in which we live.

[Levitzky]: In the end, you will bring about the downfall of Rabin, the man who was willing to sit down and negotiate with you. You will get Binyamin Netanyahu instead. What will happen then?

[Abu-Zayidah]: I am not so certain that it would really be so bad if Rabin were replaced by Netanyahu. What will Netanyahu do? Will he refuse to meet with Arafat? Will he revoke the agreement? Will he reenter the Gaza Strip? . . . If Rabin falls, it is because he did not know how to explain to the Israeli public that full Peace demands concessions. Rabin and the Labor Party cannot go farther than they have come today. This is the most the Israeli public will allow them. When the Likud experiences a few bombings in central Israel, then the Israeli people will ask it what it is doing to guarantee security and why it is not stopping the attacks. What has Israel conceded in this agreement? You make me laugh. So you gave up the Gaza Strip. What a pity. You should have stayed here and eaten shit with us.

[Levitzky]: If Arafat would take the steps required of a leader, calm down the street, and talk to the Palestinian public about reconciliation, then maybe things would be different.

[Abu-Zayidah]: No soothing words will do the trick here. Even if Arafat spoke about reconciliation, his words would be meaningless. There are hundreds of Palestinians in prison. True, they are accused of killing Israelis. They have been imprisoned for 10 or 20 years. But Arafat dispatched them. They remain in prison today, although they support peace. They have thousands of relatives. Can you not understand how destructive this is?

I recognize the fact that we Palestinians are not implementing any confidence-building measures. I would like us to do more, but you Israelis still behave like conquerors, and it is difficult. Approximately 45 days ago, I visited male and female prisoners at a prison in the central part of the West Bank. Believe me, I left frustrated. I felt so small, a member of the PA, sitting opposite female Palestinian prisoners and talking to them about peace.

Then I went to see the male prisoners. They were my reception committee in the prison. They are in prison, and I come in a suit and tie. How can you talk about reconciliation like this? You ask us to forgive all your soldiers, pilots, and officers, who have so much blood on their hands that it reaches their neck. You ask us to pardon them, while you refuse to forgive Palestinians who fought you and have blood on their hands.

The Government of the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (hereinafter “the PLO”), the representative of the Palestinian people.

Within
the framework of the Middle East peace process initiated at Madrid in October 1991;

Reaffirming
their determination to put an end to decades of confrontation and to live in peaceful coexistence, mutual dignity and security, while recognizing their mutual legitimate and political rights;

Reaffirming
their desire to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement and historic reconciliation through the agreed political process;

Recognizing
that the peace process and the new era that it has created, as well as the new relationship established between the two Parties as described above, are irreversible, and the determination of the two Parties to maintain, sustain and continue the peace process;

Recognizing
that the aim of the Israel-Palestinian negotiations within the current Middle East peace process is, among other things, to establish a Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority, i.e. the elected Council (hereinafter “the Council” or “the Palestinian Council”), and the elected Ra'ees of the Executive Authority, for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, for a transitional period not exceeding five years from the date of signing the Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (hereinafter “the Gaza-Jericho Agreement”) on May 4, 1994, leading to a permanent settlement based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338;

Reaffirming
their understanding that the interim self-government arrangements contained in this Agreement are an integral part of the whole peace process, that the negotiations on the permanent status, that will start as soon as possible but not later than May 4, 1996, will lead to the implementation of Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and that the Interim Agreement shall settle all the issues of the interim period and that no such issues will be deferred to the agenda of the permanent status negotiations;

Reaffirming
their adherence to the mutual recognition and commitments expressed in the letters dated September 9, 1993, signed by and exchanged between the Prime Minister of Israel and the Chairman of the PLO;

Desirous
of putting into effect the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements signed at Washington, D.C. on September 13, 1993, and the Agreed Minutes thereto (hereinafter “the DOP”) and in particular Article III and Annex I concerning the holding of direct, free and general political elections for the Council and the Ra'ees of the Executive Authority in order that the Palestinian people in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip may democratically elect accountable representatives;

Recognizing
that these elections will constitute a significant interim preparatory step toward the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and their just requirements and will provide a democratic basis for the establishment of Palestinian institutions;

Reaffirming
their mutual commitment to act, in accordance with this Agreement, immediately, efficiently and effectively against acts or threats of terrorism, violence or incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis;

Following
the Gaza-Jericho Agreement; the Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities signed at Erez on August 29, 1994 (hereinafter “the Preparatory Transfer Agreement”); and the Protocol on Further Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities signed at Cairo on August 27, 1995 (hereinafter “the Further Transfer Protocol”); which three agreements will be superseded by this Agreement;

Hereby agree
as follows: