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other is represented mainly by the
Labor Pa rty.
The Likud says the problem is sim–
ple: Now we have the land. We have on
this land a foreign community. They
are Palestinians who have been there
for thousands of years. This forei gn
community we can handle. They are
an extension of the Arab bulk in the
east, on the south, on the north-espe–
cially the east, Jordan.
1
f they can Ji ve
with us, "and on our land," they may.
1
f
they cannot live with us, they go
eastward to their base.
Politically speaking, this implies the
possibility of expe lling 500,000
Palestinians at once. Why? Histori–
cally the mass exodus from Palestine
among the Arabs took place only in
wars. Once in 1948 and once in 1967.
To squeeze t hem out by pressure, as
the case is now, is not enough to get as
many Palestinians out as possible. So
if lsraelis have to get them out, they
have to resort to other measures.
Two years ago one of the Likud
ministers carne up with a project in
which he suggested that a new big
camp or town be built in the Jordan
Valley nortb of the Dead Sea, to
bring there the Palestinian refugees
now on the West Bank. " T hat would
make Israelí planning easier in cities
like Berhlehem and Ramallah, be–
cause present refugee camps are
close to those cities.
It
would also be
for security reasons."
It
was obvious that what he meant
by that plan is to bring those Palestin–
ians near tbe River Jordan, four or five
kilometers from our cease-fi re line, so
one day, by scaring them out, these
Palestinians will move- having each
his bundle in his hand-to the river . lt
takes a maximum of one hour to reach
the bank, and the refugees would be in
Jordan. That's one innovative way to
get rid of tbe Palestinians.
We made a big noise about it in
the United Nations, and in confer–
ences here and there. The objective
of this project is quite clear.
The Israelí government has under–
gone a cbange now. T here is a unity
government , with the prime minister
presently from Labor. The answer of
the Labor Party to this question is
what the prime minister calls the ter–
ritorial compromise. I n other words,
the West Bank is to be divided be–
tween Israel and Jordan as a result of
direct negotiations between the two
governments. Jordan refuses this.
34
The pos1t10n of Jordan is that we
cannot speak for the Palest inians be–
cause any negotiations imply, among
other things, compromises. We can–
not compromise any of the Palestin–
ian rights, including their right of
self-determination. lf we do so, wbat–
ever peace we reach will be shaky. It
will not be durable.
It
will give way
to another dispute in the area.
The Palestinian leadership is the
PLO. T he Palestini ans adhere to
the PLO as their representative. The
PLO has no compet itor.
[In 1985] Arafat reached an ac–
cord with King Hussein. This accord
says the PLO is prepared to go for a
peaceful sett lement on the basis of
United Nations resolutions. For the
first time in 20 years the PLO
changes its previous position in pub–
líe. With this position the PLO's ap–
proach to solving the problem has
drastically changed. It stands now for
a negotiated settlement.
The PLO, after its military defeat
in Lebanon, after the long-suffering
of the Palestinian people in Lebanon
and in the occupied territories, be–
Iieves it has no option but the option
of peace. Now the Arabs and the
PLO stand for just peace; neverthe–
less, both Israel and the United
States of America refuse to consider
the PLO as the Palestinian interlocu–
tor in whatever negotiations might
take place.
Jordan now is trying to explain t he
since rit y of the position of the
Palestinian representatives in the
United States- that has been one of
my tasks- on the basis that we believe
in redeemability, not only in religion
but also in politics. People can be re–
deemed . Yes, there are sorne of the
Palestinians who-like General Ariel
Sharon and Rabbi Kahane in Israel–
don't want peace. But 90 percent of
the Palestinians want peace. Let's re–
member that war can be made by one
crazy man, but peace needs at least
two wise men to sit down together.
So we are extending our hands for a
peaceful settlement. The Israelí popu–
lace want peace, too.
1
believe in the
sincerity of the majority of Israelis
who call for peace, but the problem is
what kind of peace? The competition
among their pol itical Ieaders makes
sorne of them say, "No, we will take all
of Palestine and then have peace." We
tell them, " Look, you cannot take my
land and make peace with me. The
principie is land for peace." Many ls–
raelis believe in this, and these lsraelis
in particular consti tute our hope for
the future.
In any case, when we talk about
peace in the Middle East, with Is–
raelis or their friends, Iet's always
remember the better prospects of the
future, rather than the bitter hang–
ups of the past. A conflict that goes
on for 60 years must have precipi–
tated bitterness and distrust. What
we need is trust between us and the
lsraelis. Trust in the future and trust
in our commitment to peace.
Whatever peaceful settlement we
reach in the future should be such
that can ensure a real, permanent,
durable peace for the arca.
Peace to be durable should be based
on
1)
a balanced resolution of the con–
flict; 2) justice; 3) the recognition of
the national rights of the Palestinians
for tbe right of Israel to exist in recog–
nized and secu re borders; 4) the partic–
ipation of the representatives of the
Palestinian people in the peace negoti–
ations; 5) the recognition of the attach–
ment of Arabs and Jews to Jerusalem
without prejudicing the Arab sover–
eign right over Arab Jerusalem.
1
am
a Palest inian myself, born in 1933. In
1939, the end of the Palestinian rebel–
lion,
1
had abad experience related to
the Palestinian problem. It has contin–
ued to-live with me since then . Since 6
years of age
1
can see that
1
have not
been living my normal life. But
1
am
not an exclusive case.
Like me, there are millions, both
among lsraelis and Palestinians, who
don't live a normal life. Normal life
cannot be lived if people don ' t live in
peace. T hat's not normal life.
1
look
forward to the day when
1,
my family
and myself, sit down together in our
living room and talk about vacations,
culture, books, drama, music, rather
than about prisoners, bombs, killings,
reprisals, deportees, arrests- these
terms of nonsense-of sufferi ng, of
depicting Iife as meaningless and a
source of devastation.
What we in the area, both Arabs
and l sraelis- Palestinians, Jordani–
ans, Israelis and Lebanese now–
need most is peace in order to get
back to the normal life we have been
missing for 60 years. o
-~----
Adnan Abu Odeh–
llinister to
the Roral Court of Jordan
The
PLAIN TRUTH