Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-05-Speech-2-022"
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"en.20000905.2.2-022"2
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"Madam President, I have very mixed feelings about the peace talks that have been broken down at Camp David. In any case, the extreme time pressure which the participants were under did not serve any immediate purpose. In fact, I wonder what use this “diplomatic pressure cooker” approach has in terms of the final stage of the peace process in the Middle East? It is a tough peace process that needs to provide a lasting solution to the lengthy and complex conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians and between the Israelis and Arabs respectively.
Public opinions on the Israeli and Palestinian sides – invisible yet very tangible – were also very much a player within Camp David. It is exactly because of this key factor on the home front that third parties, whether they are referred to as peace brokers, such as President Clinton, or very committed subsidiary parties to the peace process, such as the European Union, need to guard against exercising excessive pressure in the shape of a punishing time schedule. Is there not a task here for the EU, namely to urge all parties involved to keep the so-called “windows of opportunity” open for as long as possible?
However, my mixed feelings about the failure of Camp David are mainly generated by the uncompromising attitude adopted by the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Yasser Arafat, and the enthusiastic response he received to this at home. The home front hailed him in the Gaza Strip as the ‘Palestinian Saladin’, complete with flags and banners. In popular speech, Arafat has inherited this dubious Arab title of honour from Saddam Hussein.
It is exactly this Palestinian homage
Camp David 2000 which shocked Amos Oz, a recognised Israeli champion of peace and noted author. He put his bleak state of mind into words this summer in a probing newspaper article. "I am sitting in my front room in front of the television and am watching the tremendous reception which Yasser Arafat is being given in Gaza just because he said ‘no’ to peace with Israel. I watch in silence and amazement and I am reminded that the real Saladin made a solemn pledge to the Arabs never to make a pact with non-believers. He would kill them en masse and throw them into the sea. I can see Arafat in his grey-green military outfit. An Arafat, dressed as Che Guevara and greeted as a Saladin: it breaks my heart”.
The author moved on to a crucial topic within the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiation: “the right to return”. Earlier this week, Arafat reiterated this Palestinian political claim in the context of the meeting of the Arab League in Cairo: “We will not accept an agreement without obtaining all the rights we are entitled to pursuant to international resolutions”. So this includes UN Resolution 194 which stipulates the right to return on the part of Palestinian refugees.
Madam President, I am also keen to give you Amos Oz’ view of this increasingly poignant historical burden. In his opinion, this “right to return” is nothing more than an “Arab euphemism” for the liquidation of Israel. In the same breath, Oz adds that he is more than happy to grant the Palestinians the “right to their free and independent Palestine” but that this should not be at the expense of the existence of the Jewish State. This is a view which will hopefully give Western politicians food for thought.
In the foregoing, my aim was certainly not to trivialise the suffering of the Palestinian people. I wish them a life in peace and freedom with all my heart. However, this peace and freedom cannot be brought about if it is at the expense of other peoples’ safety.
Madam President, as a representative of a Christian political party, I am not an unquestioning defender of Israel’s political interests. This is a task which Israel’s leaders and citizens are more than capable of handling themselves. In accordance with the Bible, God’s word, I consider the Jews as His chosen people, upon which lies the divine duty to be a “beacon for all peoples”. Only in religious compliance with this requirement is a true Israeli-Palestinian settlement possible, on the basis of justice from Above."@en1
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