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ian Arabs today live in the occu–
pied Wes t Bank o f thc J ordan Riv–
er and the Gaza Strip.
Th e Camp Dav id acco rd s
called for Palesti nian au tonomy
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
But j ust what "au tonomy" means
i s di s put e d by the pa rtie s
involved.
T he Pales tinian Arabs seek to
set up their own full -fledgcd sov–
ereign Palestinian nation in those
arcas, free of Israelí control and
supervision.
Israel, on the other hand,
rejects the idea of independent
Palestin ian s t a teh ood an d de–
mands ultimate sovereignty over
the occupied territo ries. Is rael
offers the Palestinians only "a
measure of self-rulc," meaning
local control over their own day–
to-day a ffairs.
Israel feels tha t any indepen–
dent Palesti nian state in the occu–
pied tcrritories would bccome a
dire threat to her security- possi–
bly being used as a base for ter–
rorist attacks again.st Israel. Pal–
estinians counter that Israelí pro–
posals for limited self-rule would
simply legitimize the "i llegal"
Israelí occupation.
Camp David is presently
bogged down over just how much
autonomy the Palestinians should
enjoy. This has becomc thc main
obstacle to th e overa ll peace
agreemen't envisioned in the 1978
accords.
Observers generally feel that
the Camp David s talemate is not
likely to be broken until a fter
Israel holds its national clections
June 30. More pessimistic ob–
servers feel that a total collapse of
the Camp David process is a very
real probability.
Secret Document
With many Europeans viewing
Camp David as going nowhere, it
is not surprising to discover that
Europe has been hard at work on
a possible alternative.
A European Mideast initiative
was la un c hed a t a European
Community summit meeting in
Venice in June, 1980. In a joint
policy s tatement on the Middle
East, th e Commun it y (also
known as the Common Market or
16
EEC) called for mutual rccogni–
tion of l srael's right to a sccure
existence a nd of Pa lestinian
rights to self-determination. The
statement also urged that the con–
troversia! Pa lestine Liberation
Organization ( PLO) "be asso–
ciated" with any talks.
" Growing tensions a ffecting
this region const itute a serious
danger," declared Common Mar–
ket leaders in Venice, "and render
a comprehensive solution to the
lsraeli-Arab conflict more neces–
sary and pressing than ever."
Six months passed . On Decem–
ber 2, 1980, the heads of t he nine
Common Market na tions ap–
proved in Luxembourg a docu–
ment--classified SECRET-detail–
ing European options in the Mid–
dle East. The paper was lcaked to
the press soon afterward.
The European Community
document is officially termed a
"discussion document," meaning
that it is subject to possible
change. But insiders say that the
ideas·contained in it will undoubt–
edly form the basis for a future
Commun ity policy.
T he document enumerates four
major points in th e Eu ropean
Mideast initiat ive:
• Israelí withdrawal from occu–
pied territories to pre-1967 posi–
tions
• Self-determinati on for the
Palestinians, to be decided in a
referendum among the world's
four million Palestinian Arabs
• A guarantee for the security
of all states in the region
• A special s tatus for J erusa–
lem.
The secret document brands as
"illegal under internat ional law"
all Is raelí settlements in the occu–
pied territories and favors their
dismantlement. T he international
law being referred to is the
Fou rth Geneva Convention,
which states that " the occupying
power shall not ... transfer parts
of its own civilian population into
the territory it occupies."
Israel has 85 such civilian set–
tlements on the West Bank, 30 in
the Golan Heights region and six
in the Gaza Strip. Their com–
bined popu lat io n i s abo u t
20,000.
These settlements are bitterly
resented by the native Arab
inhabitants of those areas. The
Reagan Administrarion recently
criticized lsrael's continued ex–
pansion of J ewish settlements on
the West Bank as " unhelpful to
the peace process an d ill –
advised."
The Europea n documen t also
suggests a series of demilitarized
zones on both sides o f Is rael's var–
ious borders-policed by the
Uni tcd Nations-and limits on
armame nts and troops in othe r
zones.
Regarding the proposed Pales–
tinian referendum, the document
r ecommends that Palestinian
Arabs be given a choice between
complete independence, federa–
tion with Jordan, federation with
Israel or federation wi t h Israel
and Jordan.
On the future status of Jerusa–
lem, the Community leaders pro–
pose that the Old City be accord–
ed international status, with the
holy sites administered by reli–
gious authorities.
Sadat Plays His " European
Card"
At about thc same time that the
"sccret" European document was
leaked to th e press, Egyptia n
President Anwar Sadat arrived in
Europe on an important diplo–
matic mission.
Mr. Sadat's first stop was the
European Parliament in Luxem–
bourg where he was welcomed by
Speaker S imone Vei l as "a pil–
g rim of peace. "
On February 1
O,
the Egyptian
President delivered a one-hour
speech befare the Parliament–
thc elected representatives of the
Common Market nations. He was
the fi rst head of state from a non–
member nation to address the
Parliament.
The gist of his message?
A call for
m ore European
involvement
in the Middle East!
Sorne d iplomatic analysts sug–
gested that in view of tbe depar–
ture from office of President Car–
ter, the adven t of a Reagan
Administration seemingly more
closely allied to Israel's point of
(Continued on page 43)
The
PLAIN TRUTH