Israeli officials are reported to be furious over 25 demands the Palestinian leadership is said to have conveyed to the United States and Soviet Union as conditions for bilateral negotiations with Israel.
Israel’s political leadership has dismissed them as “cheap Arab propaganda,” which can only poison the atmosphere before the substantive phase of peace talks begins, Ma’ariv reported Sunday.
According to the Israeli daily, the document presented to the two powers that jointly sponsored the Madrid peace conference is titled ” Confidence-Building Measures Demanded From Israel With the Convening of the Peace Conference.”
The signatories are Faisal Husseini, Hanan Ashrawi and Zakaria al-Agha. They are members of the unofficial panel of six advisers that accompanied the Palestinian negotiating team to Madrid, but not of the delegation itself, which had a cordial first round of direct talks with the Israelis in Madrid on Nov. 2.
According to Ma’ariv, the 25 demands are:
1. An Israeli commitment to fully apply the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to the territories it administers.
2. The fulfillment of U.N. Security Council resolutions relating to the return of Palestinians expelled from the territories.
3. Suspension of the Emergency Regulations, which are a holdover from the British Mandate of Palestine.
4. A reduction of the Israel Defense Force presence in all Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps.
5. The granting of all members of the Palestinian National Council who reside in the territories the right to travel to and participate in all sessions of the PNC, which is the Palestine Liberation Organization’s parliamentary body.
6. The release of all political prisoners.
7. An end to torture in Israeli prisons.
8. An end to restrictions on the freedom of activity and political organizations in the territories, and the cancellation of military decrees related to those restrictions.
9. An end to censorship and the bans on newspapers, books, magazines. songs and plays.
AN END TO PROVOCATIVE PHRASES
10. The reopening of Palestinian universities, colleges. institutions, organizations and unions that have been closed by Israeli edict.
11. Restoration of the local town councils elected in 1976 but removed by the Israeli administration.
12. An end to the use of provocative phrases such as “Judea and Samaria” and “terrorist organizations” by official Israeli elements.
13. Cancellation of taxes introduced by the Israeli authorities since 1967.
14. Return of lands and property confiscated from their legal owners.
15. An end to restrictions on movement in the territories and Jerusalem.
16. Facilitation of family reunification and an end to restrictions on travel abroad.
17. An end to restrictions on exports from the territories and on the development of projects under the auspices of United Nations agencies.
18. An end to the destruction of homes and cancellation of restrictions on construction in the territories.
19. Public disclosure by Israel of the accounts and budgets allocated to the territories.
20. An end to restrictions in the territories on the activites of international organizations, such as the International Red Cross and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
21. Evacuation of Jewish settlers from the St. John’s Hospice in East Jerusalem, Dir al-Sultan and Tomb of the Patriarch/Matriarchs in Hebron.
22. Closure of the Nafha and Ketziot detention camps.
23. An end to restrictions on investments in the territories by individuals and institutions.
24. Cancellation of decrees and laws that prohibit displaying the Palestinian flag.
25. Cancellation of Israeli government control over the East Jerusalem Electric Co.
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.
