Returning from talks last week in Egypt and Syria, Dr. Gerhard Schroeder, chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Policy Committee and former Foreign Minister, said his meeting with Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat was intended “to serve cooperation among all concerned,” because “without cooperation in the Middle East, a lasting, just and constructive peace is not possible.” Schroeder described the situation in the Middle East as “more complicated and dangerous than many people imagine.”
It was essential, he said, to take stock of the situation on the spot, and to exchange views with leaders in that area. He said the PLO was “a factor in the Middle East conflict that cannot be ignored.” He could not see any danger of his meeting with Arafat being misused for propaganda purposes.
Schroeder refused to divulge who had arranged the meeting last Tuesday with Arafat, but said he had called the Foreign Office immediately after the meeting had been fixed. The government’s answer had signified “neither approval nor disapproval,” Schroeder said. He added that he had not and still did not require the approval of his Party–the Christian Democrats–for his meeting with Arafat. Schroeder informed the Bonn government on his talks in Cairo and Damascus. The Bundestag is scheduled to debate the situation in the Middle East.
MEETING WITH ARAFAT JUSTIFIED
Minister of State Hans-Juergen Wischnewski of the West German Foreign Office sought to justify the talks of Schroeder with Arafat. In an interview with the “Bild-Zeitung,” Wischnewski said that, as a member of Parliament, he “would also have talked to Arafat.” This statement prompted the Central Council of Jews to cable its protest to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Socialist Party chairman, Willy Brandt. They said Wischnewski’s remarks were “incomprehensible,” because Arafat’s organization carried out acts of terror in West Germany.
In the West German Parliament, the Social Democrat Deputy, Bruno Friederich, also defended Schroeder. He said Friday it was the duty of a member of Parliament to get information. Since Arafat’s appearance before the United Nations, the PLO, he said, “had been acknowledged as a political factor,” although for West Germany it was “an incalculable factor.”
Friederich outlined to Parliament the problems of safeguarding peace in the Middle East, against the background of threats to Israel’s existence. He expressed support for secure frontiers for Israel, but also pointed to Germany’s “traditionally good relations” with the Arabs.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
