Unwavering Arab standpoints on ME peace
Egypt-Palestine, Politics, 2/3/2001

Egypt's Foreign Minister Amr Moussa Thursday stressed the necessity of realizing just peace within the framework of the international legitimacy resolutions and the Madrid references.

The eruption of Intifada in the Palestinian territories came as a reaction to the Israeli occupation and Israeli Likud party leader Ariel Sharon's provocative visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque ground, Moussa told the BBC progam "Hard Talk".

Moussa hailed former US President Bill Clinton's efforts to clinch a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Moussa believed that Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat would never sign an agreement that fell short of meeting the demands and ambitions of his people. The offer, raised in Camp David, however, was less than those floated in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba.

Moussa said that this time was wasted and the current stage was that of a wait-and-see stance on who would take power in Israel in the February 6 elections for prime minister's post and how he would plan his peace policy.

Also, the peace plans of the new American Administration were not clear enough. The minister said the two sides have to iron out the controversial issues of refugees and sovereignty over Jerusalem in a bid to come to an agreement.

Moussa said he did not dub the peace process as a dead body, expounding that he meant that the Oslo process reached an end.

The process is now dealing with permanent status ideas within the framework of the United Nations resolution 242, the peace-for-land formula, and the Madrid conference frame of reference.

On whether the Palestinians lost their chances with an Israeli Prime Minister who was the best to make concessions, the Egyptian foreign minister said Ehud Barak opened all the files for discussion and it was a chance for both sides to begin negotiating seriously before his government changed its plans.

Moussa indicated that negotiations should not be made under the pressure of the time factor. Commenting on the Taba talks, he said they were serious, with the two sides reaching a stage of understanding that had never been achieved, but the approaching Israeli elections pressed the talks.

The two parties have to work on the resumption of the peace process and talks so as not to waste their efforts after they opened the sensitive issues.

Moussa strongly refused the interviewer's attempt to hold Iran responsible for supporting the movements of Jihad and Hamas to accelerate the acts of violence in the Palestinian territories.

Moussa said the Intifada was a result of the state of frustration the Palestinians lived in because of the peace failure.

It is an uprising of a people living under the oppression of occupation, it does not need a caretaker as it erupted as a result of the state of disappointment and because the peace process is going in a vicious circle, he added.

Moussa said everybody in the Arab world thinks that peace should materialize on the power of international resolutions, Madrid terms of reference, and UN Security Council 242.

Moussa made it clear that all lands occupied in 1967 should be recovered, a Palestinian state set up, and security arrangements taken to ensure safety for both peoples.

Queried whether Arafat had wasted a golden opportunity that might not return for not accepting Clinton's ideas, Moussa said Arafat, of course, will not sign an agreement that does not live up to the demands of his people.

The would-be peace agreement has to be fair and good so that the new generations live with the understanding of peace, and that does not mean in any case that the Palestinians should succumb to Israel because this will make matters worse, Moussa ascertained. On the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland, Moussa said this right is stipulated in the UN resolutions and all member-states voted for it except for Israel.

He believed that the two sides had to think together about the practical steps to be taken, and about Israel's readiness to accept the return of refugees, considering that there would be two states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt follows up Taba negotiations   (1/24/2001)
  Taba negotiations discuss modified version of Clinton's proposals   (1/24/2001)
  Palestinians propose to move negotiations with Israel to Taba   (1/20/2001)

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