Yossi Beilin, a Knesset member from Israel’s left-leaning Labor Party, describes the Palestine Liberation Organization in terms that would make even the most right-wing Knesset member proud.
“Amos Oz described the PLO as the ugliest national movement in the world, and I subscribe to that,” said Beilin, quoting one of Israel’s foremost writers and peace activists.
“But we are not nominating our partners, and I’m afraid that if the PLO is not there, it won’t be a moderate wing that will represent the Palestinians, but a more extreme one,” he explained in an interview Monday evening. “We can’t continue the situation as is.”
Amid sharp criticism from Israel’s Likud-led government, Beilin and six other Israeli lawmakers representing opposition liberal parties are touring the United States this week, trying to promote the seemingly stalled Middle East peace process.
The tour was attacked for taking place in the midst of Secretary of State James Baker’s attempts to reach an agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors on peace negotiations, and for advocating a position that threatens Israel’s land holdings.
“I’ve asked myself, why were we attacked so bitterly?” said Knesset member Dedi Zucker of the Citizens Rights Movement.
“I think that the government is really afraid of people like ourselves being exposed to the Jewish community and exposing the very well-known fact that the majority of Jews and Israelis support land for peace,” he said.
The seven Knesset members have come here ready with the results of a new poll showing that in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, 58 percent of Israelis favor the principle of “territories for peace,” while 34 percent support the creation of a Palestinian state.
The poll, whose findings were released April 14, was conducted under the auspices of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University.
AN UNUSUAL OFFER TO SHAMIR
Shuttling between Washington and New York, and between the East and West Coasts, the Knesset members have scheduled back-to-back meetings with an array of opinion-makers, including members of Congress, major Jewish organizational leaders, labor activists and their own ambassador to Washington.
“We came here to say there is a real willingness to start the process toward peace, and to tell the administration that it shouldn’t despair,” said Tzali Reshef, a lawyer and spokesperson for Peace Now, whose American arm — Americans for Peace Now — is sponsoring the tour.
The seven have also come with an unusual promise: to support Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir if he actively pursues peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
“If Shamir says he doesn’t have a majority in his own party, we promise our own votes and we won’t topple his government,” said Beilin.
Henry Siegman, executive director of the American Jewish Congress, called this offer an “extraordinary political commitment,” and said it would “flush out” the Shamir government on its true commitment to the peace process.
Besides Beilin and Zucker, the visiting Knesset delegation includes: Avrum Burg and Arieh (Lova) Eliav of Labor, Avraham Poraz of the Center-Shinui Movement, Yair Tsaban of Mapam and Mordechai Virshubski of the Citizens Rights Movement.
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