The Palestine Liberation Organization today flatly denied that any of its representatives had signed a document in Paris over the weekend affirming readiness to recognize Israel as a Jewish Zionist State and to live in peace with it on the basis of the 1967 borders. The purported document was shown to newsmen here yesterday by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Matityahu (Matti) Peled, chairman of the Israel Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
Peled, who heads the department of Arabic studies at Tel Aviv University, claimed that he and a “top PLO figure” who he did not identify both signed the document at a private meeting in Paris Jan. 1. But Farouk Kadoumi, head of the PLO’s political section, promptly issued a denial that any PLO personality had signed a document with Peled or had even met with him in Paris. (See separate story from Paris.)
The denial was a severe blow to Peled’s movement which includes such prominent Israeli personalities as MKs Arieh Eliav and Meir Payil; Uri Avneri, publisher of Haolam Haze; and Dr. Jacob Arnon, former director general of the Finance Ministry. All were present at the press conference where Peled hailed the document as an “historic breakthrough.”
Peled said that it represented the PLO’s acceptance of his Peace Council’s manifesto as a basis for negotiations. The manifesto defines Israel as a Zionist State and calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders with alterations to be agreed on by the two parties. The PLO is ready to recognize Israel on that basis. Peled told reporters.
NOT SURPRISED BY SKEPTICISM
Asked when the PLO would announce its recognition, Peled said that Israel would first have to announce its recognition of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. He said also that the PLO would amend its covenant, which calls for the replacement of Israel by a secular state in Palestine, before peace negotiations were completed.
He said he was not surprised by the journalists’ skepticism and that he expected the Foreign Ministry to brand his Paris meeting a smokescreen designed to mislead the public. Other members of Peled’s group admitted that the Israeli government had not been consulted or involved in the Paris meeting though some said they had reported on the talks to certain Cabinet ministers who were personal friends.
Peled identified the PLO person he said he met in Paris as “a top PLO figure mandated to the meetings by PLO chairman Yasir Arafat and the leadership of the Palestinian movement.” He said that this “PLO leader has been active lately in the United States where he endeavored, together with his comrades, to acquaint the public with the PLO’s policy as defined by its leadership.” Some here believed Peled was referring to Dr. Issa Sartawi, a PLO person who held private meetings with a number of American Jews in New York and Washington late last year. According to the Jewish participants, no change in the PLO position was evidenced at those meetings.
MEETINGS WITH PLO SCORED
Foreign Minister Yigal Allon today sharply criticized Israeli circles that engage in so-called negotiations with the PLO and thereby prolong the life of that “dying organization.” In a barb obviously aimed at Peled’s group, Allon told students at the Haifa Technion that Israelis who have contact with the PLO and claim to have reached an accord with it only perpetuate the erroneous impression that the PLO is the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
