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A View from the Arab World

(Toronto Globe and Mail) Rami Khouri - A close reading of the American text of last week's statement on Sharon's plan to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza reveals that Bush merely stated in public and gave official American support to long-standing assumptions that are universally held among those who are involved in, or closely follow, Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. These assumptions are that only a symbolic return of some Palestinian refugees to Israel proper would occur as part of any final agreement, while the majority would repatriate or settle elsewhere, and that the large Israeli settlement towns along the former border such as Maale Adumim, Ariel, and Givat Zeev would be permanently incorporated into Israel, in exchange for territory of equal value that Israel would cede to the new Palestinian state. These assumptions were first articulated in the parameters that U.S. president Bill Clinton issued in late 2000. The U.S. statement reiterates and leaves open for direct negotiations almost all the issues that Palestinians and Arabs deem important. It says that final borders must be negotiated by the parties, with any changes to the 1949 armistice lines to be "mutually agreed." Israel gets Washington's slightly vague support on the key issues of settlements and refugees; the Palestinians get reaffirmations that final status agreements will be negotiated between Palestinians and Israelis. The writer is editor of the Beirut Daily Star.
2004-04-23 00:00:00
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