Egypt will not use pressure with the Palestinians
Egypt-Palestine, Politics, 10/7/2000

Usama El-Baz, President Mubarak's political advisor, was interviewed by the staff of the weekly October Magazine. In this interview, he shed light on the dimensions of the Palestinian issue; its past, present and future.

Baz went back to 1977 when the late President Sadat paid his historic visit to Israel. He recollected that the Israelis were reluctant to acknowledge the Palestinians' right of self-determination which will mean then the right of establishing a state and declaring independence. Such an independence will be interpreted on the Israeli official and public levels as destroying Israel itself. Although the Israeli Premier then Menachem Begen admitted the Palestinians' self-rule in an interview to an American TV network, he evaded such an admission.

Baz went on to assert that in Camp David I, we were not deputized to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people at that time. However, the Palestinians refused to negotiate with the Israelis. After the break-out of Gulf War II and the convening of Madrid Conference in 1991, negotiations were resumed on new bases due to the evasiveness of the Israelis regarding the acceptance of the UN resolutions 242 and 338. At that time, the Palestinians were forming a part of the Jordanian delegation and thus they had an incomplete status.

Baz passed over to the secret negotiations held in Oslo between the Israelis and the Palestinians where they reached an agreement, after exhaustive rounds of talks, to be declared later in Washington. At this moment, the Israelis became quite sure of the seriousness of the Palestinians through their keeping the privacy of the negotiations.

After that, it was agreed to implement all accords gradually through stages. The first stage was the declaration of principles followed by the entering of the Palestinian Authority into the occupied territories. The Israelis decided that the Authority will enter Gaza only but President Mubarak saw that it is not enough and required the addition of Jerico in the West Bank. The Israelis responded positively to this requirement. So President Mubarak accompanied President Arafat to the borders to show Egypt's full support to him.

Then came Camp David II where much progress was made but disputes erupted concerning the area of Al-Haram Al-Sharif Where the Israelis claimed that the Temple of Solomon lies under Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock is of special interest for them as it is the starting-point of evolution. All these claims are illogical and irresponsible.

Baz stated that the Israelis admitted before that the Palestinians have the right to put Al-Haram Al-Sharif under their control but it seems that they have returned to their evasive policies. They also proposed the strange idea of God governing Jerusalem. I wonder if God do not govern every place on earth.

Concerning the future of the negotiations, Baz declared that the coming American presidency elections might urge the two parties to reach a settlement within two weeks. He also insisted that Israel's keenness on putting Al-Haram Al-Sharif under her control will lead the negotiations to a halt because the Palestinians will never accept that.

Baz also referred to the hesitation of Barak in taking difficult decisions, lest the Israeli Knesset and public opinion might not accept them, adding that this hesitation will not stop the negotiations at all cases. He also declared that President Arafat can give limited concessions and concerning Jerusalem, he will not be able to do anything without an Arab, Islamic, and Christian consensus because Jerusalem does not belong to the Jews only.

Concerning the Egyptian role in the negotiations, Baz indicated that Egypt is a coordinator and facilitator. He asserted also that Egypt cannot use pressure with the Palestinians to accept what they are unwilling to accept. Egypt may as well help the Palestinians to continue the negotiations, formulate some of their ideas, and providing alternatives for them based on Egypt's wide experience at negotiating with the Israelis.

Previous Stories:
  Moussa highlights importance of Sharm El-Sheikh meeting   (10/5/2000)
  Moussa: situation in Palestine worsens   (10/5/2000)
  Political leadership concerned with incidents in Jerusalem   (10/4/2000)

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