Democratic Palestine : 45 (ص 7)

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Democratic Palestine : 45 (ص 7)

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another serious change, best expressed
by the ongoing «peace» process, since
the Arab states are dealing with the
Palestinian cause as if it can be solved by
political means, dialogue and
negotiations alone under the present
balance of forces. This means that the
Arab regimes as a bloc have officially
relinguished the concept of liberation. In
the process of this transformation, the
Zionist entity is dealt with as a natural
state in the region, rather than a
settler — colonial society. Thus, the Arab
states’ conflict with Israel is no longer
about to whom Palestine belongs, but
about which borders Israel might accept.
As much as various Arab states may
justify their position by saying that there
will be a just and comprehensive peace,
they realize that a just peace is
impossible without a change in the
balance of forces. There is a distinction
between peace and surrender, and what
is taking place is an Arab surrender. If
any Arab state gets some territorial
concessions from Israel, which is
unlikely, this will not change the basic
nature of the deal being planned.
Without addressing the roots of the
conflict, any such «peace» agreement
between Israel and the Arab states will
inevitably be no more than a truce;
renewal of the conflict remains a
constant possibility, if for no other
reason than Israel’s expansionist policy.
Democratic Palestine, August 1991
Resisting the collapse
That is the new Arab situation with
its gloomy outlook and complicated
developments. But in spite of this, hope
still exists for halting the dangerous slide
towards surrender and eliminating the
reasons for it, because neither the policy
of concessions nor reliance on the US’s
alleged neutrality can lead to a just and
lasting peace. Moreover, while the
«peace» process now appears to be
advancing, its avoidance of addressing
the Palestinian factor may spell its
ultimate failure.
It is true that the US efforts have
made considerable progress as of now,
with the help of the Arab regimes. But it
is unlikely that peace can be created
without the Palestinian people’s sole and
legitimate representative, the PLO. If
Baker’s warning to the Palestinians
about their participation in the regional
conference was seriously meant, then he
should recall the reason for the
suspension of his efforts two years ago.
These efforts in fact deadlocked on the
question of Palestinian representation in
the peace process. Conditions may have
changed, but the Palestinian people’s
representative has not. It is still the PLO.
The responsibility for reconstructing
the Arab position so that it could counter
the US-—Israeli schemes, rests on the
PLO, as the key player in any peace
process, as well on the Arab states,
principled
especially those surrounding occupied
Palestine. To reconstruct the Arab
position, there must first of all be a
rejection of the whole
US —Israeli concept of a settlement,
since this leads to capitulation. In
struggling against surrender and for a
just peace, it is equally important to
concentrate joint efforts on supporting
the intifada, enabling its escalation. This
is the most effective means of applying
pressure aimed to isolate the Israeli
occupiers internationally and force them
to comply with the UN resolutions
relevant to resolving the question of
Palestine. If negotiations are to lead to a
just and comprehensive peace, they must
occur in the framework of a
UN-sponsored international confer-
ence. There should thereby be interna-
tional guarantees for total Israeli with-
drawal from the 1967 occupied ter-
ritories and for fulfillment of the Palesti-
nian people’s rights to return, self-deter-
mination and the establishment of an in-
dependent state, with Jerusalem as its
capital, under the leadership of the PLO.
Only continued struggle can hope to
force the US and Israel to accept such a
just and comprchensive peace.
Dateline: August 10th
~]

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Democratic Palestine : 45

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