The Palestinians’ failed attempt to seat delegates unacceptable to Israel at this week’s conference in Moscow on Middle East regional issues is seen here as a reflection of tensions within the Palestinian camp rather than a stratagem to circumvent the peace conference ground rules.
The problem is mainly between the local Palestinian leadership living under Israeli rule, which received high marks for its conduct during the three rounds of bilateral talks with Israel since October, and the Palestine Liberation Organization headquartered in Tunis, which is excluded from direct participation in the peace process.
There have been, in fact, two Palestinian delegations since the peace talks opened formally in Madrid on Oct. 30. That is because Israel has remained firm in its refusal to negotiate with Palestinians living outside the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the so-called Palestinian diaspora.
The official negotiating team, headed by Dr. Haider Abdel-Shafi, a Gaza physician, has conformed to the Israeli restrictions. It was accompanied to Madrid, and to the subsequent bilateral talks in Washington, by an advisory group headed by Palestinian activists Faisal Husseini and Hanan Ashrawi.
Both are residents of East Jerusalem, which made them ineligible to participate directly in the talks. Ashrawi, however, became spokeswoman for the Palestinians, and Husseini was regarded as the de facto leader of the Palestinian delegation.
Israel declined to make an issue of the duality.
The Palestinian delegates — those accredited, as well as their “advisers” — have maintained regular contact with PLO headquarters in Tunis. Nevertheless, the Madrid opening and the Washington talks put the PLO in the shadows while boosting the image of the local Palestinian leadership.
That irked the PLO. Palestinian leaders, notably Husseini, came under pressure from radicals opposed to the peace talks, such as Riad Malki of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Had the delegation made any substantial achievements during the Washington round of talks, the internal and external pressures could have been shrugged off.
FEW TANGIBLE RESULTS SO FAR
But the euphoria of the Madrid opening quickly dissipated. The Palestinian delegates, hailed as saviors, returned empty-handed from Washington.
To be sure, Palestinians were, for the first time, treated as equals at a peace conference. But they made no political gains. There was no independence, no autonomy, no change of living conditions in the territories under Israeli rule.
The Washington talks failed to get beyond wrangling with Israel over procedure.
Meanwhile, Palestinian extremists have reverted to terrorism, fatally shooting four Israeli settlers from ambush in the past two months.
The Israelis retaliated with curfews, mass arrests and deportation orders against 12 Palestinian activists, which are now being appealed before the High Court of Justice.
With pressures mounting and their frustrations unrelieved, the Palestinians hoped for a bold victory in Moscow. Maintaining that the Madrid rules did not apply there, an enlarged delegation showed up.
It included senior PLO officials, such as Yasir Abed Rabo, Abdullah Horani and Suleiman a-Najar; Anis al-Kassem of Amman, representing diaspora Palestinians; and East Jerusalemites Husseini and Ashrawi.
But their hopes were dashed when the Americans and Russians agreed that no structural changes would be permitted in the delegations.
The Palestinians boycotted the conference, even though the United States suggested they be included in two of the five working groups on regional problems established Wednesday.
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.
