The Palestinians seem to be seeking the backing of the European Community in a crucial dispute with Israel over representation at the regional peace conference the United States is trying to organize.
Palestinian activist Faisal Husseini, who has conferred frequently with Secretary of State James Baker in recent weeks, seemed encouraged after a meeting here Wednesday night with French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas.
France, which wields considerable influence in the 12-nation E.C., seems supportive of the Palestinians’ right to select their own delegates, including a representative from East Jerusalem.
That issue seems at the moment the most serious obstacle blocking the American scenario.
In Washington, President Bush urged the Palestinians on Thursday to “do everything possible” to let peace talks materialize.
Israel has repeatedly made clear it will not accept a Palestinian delegation that includes any resident of East Jerusalem, anyone connected with the Palestine Liberation Organization or anyone residing outside the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
But according to Husseini, an East Jerusalem resident who holds no official rank but has met with Baker on every one of the secretary’s five trips to Jerusalem since March, East Jerusalem is the “red line” for the Palestinians.
“No delegation can join the negotiations without representation from East Jerusalem,” Husseini said. “Should we accept the non-representation of East Jerusalem, it would mean that the future of East Jerusalem would be decided before any negotiations,” he asserted.
“I am not saying that there is a deadlock with James Baker. I believe there is a point that must be clarified,” Husseini added.
According to French sources, Baker asked Dumas to try to convince the Palestinians not to torpedo his peace initiative.
But Dumas emerged from the meeting with Husseini saying, “It is up to the Palestinians to designate their own representatives.”
He explained that “if one wishes to talk with representatives of the occupied territories, one cannot exclude part of those territories.
“It is then logical to conceive a Palestinian representation from East Jerusalem within the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation,” he said.
“I bear in mind that the Jerusalem issue cannot be treated right away,” Dumas added. “This discussion should be held at a later stage.”
The foreign minister observed that while in substance one could admit the right to examine the composition of a delegation, a right of veto would not be “logical.”
Dumas will attend a meeting of the 12 E.C. foreign ministers Monday in Brussels, where the Middle East peace process will be on the agenda.
Husseini was accompanied at his meeting here by the PLO Paris representative, Ibrahim Souss. He and Nabil Shaath, a diplomatic adviser to PLO leader Yasir Arafat, have been invited by Swedish Foreign Minister Sten Andersson to a meeting in Stockholm on Friday.
Husseini said that like the Israelis, the Palestinians want Jerusalem to remain a unified city, “but in a way no one will be under the other. We don’t want a peace in Jerusalem like a horse under its rider,” he said.
He said that if the substance of the peace talks is going to be “vague and ambiguous,” the “representation will have to be very clear, and in these circumstances, no one can represent the Palestinians but a separate Palestinian delegation headed by the PLO.”
However, Husseini said the Palestinians could “show flexibility” in the composition of their delegation, provided they are “addressed as a people and not as inhabitants of a certain place or as a minority.”
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.
