France upgraded the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization office here Friday. It has been raised from a “press and liaison bureau” to the “general delegation of Palestine.”
The decision was announced Thursday night by President Francois Mitterrand and, while not unexpected, the timing was a shock to Israeli diplomats here.
It preceded by only a few hours the arrival of Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens on his first foreign visit since taking office last month.
The French move has special significance inasmuch as France is a major political force within the 12-nation European Community. It will assume the rotating chairmanship of the body on July 1.
Theo Klein, president of CRIF, the umbrella body of major French Jewish organizations, warned that the decision will only complicate the delicate search for peace in the Middle East.
Several Jewish groups plan a protest demonstration this week. But French political sources have let it be known that Mitterrand’s decision is final and that public demonstrations would only be counterproductive.
Mitterrand told a news conference at the Elysee Palace that the elevation of the PLO office’s status was a consequence of the Palestine National Council’s November meeting in Algiers, where PLO leader Yasir Arafat proclaimed an independent Palestinian state.
ARAFAT INVITATION PLANNED
“There is no Palestinian country, but there is a renaissance of the Palestinian nation, and we had to take notice of this new fact,” Mitterrand explained.
“The PLO made possible what is happening today by its recognition of U.N. (Security Council) Resolutions 242 and 338,” he said. “It is now up to Israel to respond. The peoples of Palestine and Israel will have to coexist as neighbors one of these days.”
Mitterrand did not rule out a meeting with Arafat. “I don’t see any reason why I should not have a discussion with Mr. Arafat like I have with the leader of any other nation in the world,” he said in reply to a question.
According to unconfirmed reports, Mitterrand plans to invite Arafat to Paris in the near future, possibly next March.
The French obviously feel the PLO leader made important concessions at the U.N. General Assembly session in Geneva last month and now deserves “a reward.”
The French are said to want to enhance Arafat’s prestige over more extremist Palestinian groups.
Foreign Minister Roland Dumas said another reason for the decision to upgrade the PLO’s standing was to “balance Israel and the Palestinians” by placing them for the first time on the same level.
The PLO’s new status here is similar to that France has granted to North Korea, with which it has no diplomatic relations, and the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec.
China, Jordan and Qatar, meanwhile, have granted full embassy status to PLO missions in their countries, according to foreign news reports.
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.
