Democratic Palestine : 38 (ص 25)
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- Democratic Palestine : 38 (ص 25)
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The fundamental and fast-paced changes taking place in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have
taken center stage on the world scene for the past few months, eclipsing the Palestinian intifada and
other major events in the media. These changes have evoked both hope and apprehension among
progressive circles, socialist countries and liberation movements the world over. This article deals with
the repercussions of these developments on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
by Maher Salameh
The changes that are sparked by
perestroika sweeping Eastern Europe
are developing in a somewhat different
direction than what is taking place in
the Soviet Union itself. These changes
have led to unprecedented and monu-
mental events, from the violent over-
throw of the government in Rumania,
to the rise to power of non-communist
leaders as in the case of Czechoslo-
vakia and, even more dramatically, the
expected merger between the German
Democratic Republic and capitalist
West Germany, which will in essence
eventually lead to the dismantling of
the former. On the other hand, the
changes in the Soviet Union prompted
by perestroika and glasnost have trans-
formed the country and brought to the
surface economic crises, as well as ten-
sion among different nationalities, with
some republics striving to secede from
the Soviet Union.
The changes taking place in the
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have
a direct impact on the Middle East
conflict in general and the Palestinian-
Israeli conflict in particular. The reper-
cussions of the changes have altered
these socialist countries’ positions on
four major points: their stand on how
to achieve a peaceful settlement of the
Arab-Israeli conflict; renewal of ties
with Israel; the resurrection of Zionist
activities in these countries; and the
immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel.
The USSR and Palestinian
rights
The starting point of the Soviet
position on the Arab-Israeli conflict,
since 1948, has emanated from recog-
nition of the State of Israel. In the fol-
lowing years, the Soviet Union sup-
ported the nationalist movements that
Democratic Palestine, March-April 1990
came to power in a number of Arab
countries, and backed the Arab cause
in the face of colonialism and foreign
intervention. In the wake of the mili-
tary defeat of the Arab regimes in
1967, and the subsequent Israeli occu-
pation of the rest of Palestine and
parts of Egypt and Syria, the Soviet
Union once again sided with the
Arabs; it played an active diplomatic
role at the UN in support of the Arab
cause and against Israeli aggression
and occupation.
As the contemporary Palestinian
revolution rose in the aftermath of the
Arab regimes’ 1967 defeat, it received
Soviet support politically, diplomati-
cally, militarily and materially. The
emergence of the armed Palestinian
resistance, and the broad popular sup-
port it engendered among the Palesti-
nian and Arab masses put the Pales-
tine question on the international
agenda, and ellicited yet more support
from the Soviet Union.
The first military showdown be-
tween Israel and the Palestinian resist-
ance movement took place in March
1968 at Al Karameh in Jordan. The
Israeli incursion into Jordan, in an
attempt to destroy this frontline base
of the revolution, was met with stiff
resistance which cost the Israeli forces
heavy losses and forced them to re-
treat. This battle has great significance
for it posed the Palestinian armed. re-
sistance as a force to be reckoned
with. Not only did it give the Palesti-
nian masses a great moral boost, it
also ushered in a new era of relations
between the PLO and Soviet Union.
In 1971, the 24th Congress of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
declared support for the Arab masses
and the legitimate rights of the Pales-
tinian people, but without specifying
these rights. The 25th party congress
pointed out that peace would not be
achieved as long as hundreds of thou-
sands of Palestinians were living in
miserable conditions and as long as
they were unable to establish a state.
The turning point in the Soviet-Palesti-
nian relationship, however, came in
1976 when a PLO office was opened in
Moscow, and in 1977 when the Soviet-
Palestinian summit occurred. In 1981,
the PLO office was granted full di-
plomatic status.
The USSR and the peace
process
In 1982, the Soviet Union pro-
posed a plan for the settlement of the
Arab-Israeli conflict after the Israeli
invasion of Lebanon. Unlike the Rea-
gan plan, which was declared at the
same time, the Brezhnev plan sup-
ported Palestinian rights. The second
point of the plan spoke of securing the
invariable nights of the Palestinian
people to self-determination and the
establishment of an independent state,
and facilitating the return of Palesti-
nian refugees to their homes in accor-
dance with UN resolutions(General
Assembly resolutions 194 and 3236)
and appropriate compensation for the
belongings they had left behind. In
addition, the plan reaffirmed Israel’s
right to exist within the pre-1967 boun-
daries; it called for Israeli withdrawal
from the territories occupied in 1967,
including East Jerusalem. The plan
proposed reaching a peaceful settle-
ment through the convening of an in-
ternational peace conference under
UN auspices, attended by the five per-
manent members of the Security Coun-
cil, with the PLO and Israel participat-
ing.
Since then, perestroika and the
new Soviet thinking have resulted in a
rearrangement of priorities and a new >
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