Arafat Defends Palestinian Cause, Condemning Terrorism

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 04, 2002

Arafat Defends Palestinian Cause, Condemning Terrorism

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Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat emphasized in a major U.S. newspaper article Sunday that the Palestinians are seeking only what the free world now enjoys and only what Israel insists on for itself: the right to control their destiny and to live as a peace nation.

The article, printed in the OP-ED page of the mass-circulated New York Times, is apparently designed to rebut the misrepresentation of the Palestinian cause at a time when the United States and Israel are putting increasing pressure on the Palestinians and their leader Arafat.

In the article entitled "The Palestinian Vision of Peace", Arafat said the goal of the Palestinians is to establish "an independent and viable Palestinian state on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, living as equal neighbor alongside Israel with peace and security for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples."

"We seek true independence and full sovereignty: the right to control our own airspace, water resources and borders, to develop our own economy, to have normal commercial relations with our neighbors, and to travel freely," the Palestinian leader said. "In short, we seek only what the free world now enjoys and only what Israel insists on for itself: the right to control our own destiny and to take our place among free nations."

"In addition, we seek a fair and just solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees who for 54 years have not been permitted to return to their homes," he said. "We understand Israel's demographic concerns and understand that the right of return of Palestinian refugees, a right guaranteed under international law and United Nations Resolution 194, must be implemented in a way that takes into account such concerns."

"However, just as we Palestinians must be realistic with respect to Israel's demographic desires, Israelis too must be realistic in understanding that there can be no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if the legitimate rights of these innocent civilians continue to be ignored," he said.

"Left unresolved, the refugee issue has the potential to undermine any permanent peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis," he said. "How is a Palestinian refugee to understand that his or her right of return will not be honored but those of Kosovar Albanians, Afghans and East Timorese have been?"

"There are those who claim that I am not a partner in peace," he said. "In response, I say Israel's peace partner is, and always has been, the Palestinian people."

"Peace is not a signed agreement between individuals -- it is reconciliation between peoples," he said. "Two peoples cannot reconcile when one demands control over the other, when one refuses to treat the other as a partner in peace, when one uses the logic of power rather than the power of logic."

"Israel has yet to understand that it cannot have peace while denying justice," he said. "As long as the occupation of Palestinian lands continues, as long as Palestinians are denied freedom, then the path to the 'peace of the brave' that I embarked upon with my late partner Yitzhak Rabin, will be littered with obstacles."

"The Palestinian people have been denied their freedom for far too long and are the only people in the world still living under foreign occupation." he said.

For the past 16 months, Israelis and Palestinians have been locked in a catastrophic cycle which only promises more bloodshed and fear, he said. "The cycle has led many to conclude that peace is impossible, a myth borne out of ignorance of the Palestinian position."

"I condemn the attacks carried out by terrorist groups against Israeli civilians. These groups do not represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for freedom," he said. " They are terrorist organizations, and I am determined to put an end to their activities."

On the personal attacks on him, Arafat said, "The personal attacks on me currently in vogue may be highly effective in giving Israelis an excuse to ignore their own role in creating the current situation. But these attacks do little to move the peace process forward and then, in fact, are not designed to."

"The Palestinians have a vision of peace: it is a peace based on the complete end of the occupation and a return to Israel's 1967 borders, the sharing of all Jerusalem as one open city and as the capital of two states, Palestine and Israel," he said.

"It is a warm peace between two equals enjoying mutually beneficial economic and social cooperation," he said.

"Despite the brutal repression of Palestinians over the last four decades, I believe when Israel sees Palestinians as equals, and not as a subjugated people upon whom it can impose its will, such a vision can come true," he said. "Indeed it must."

"Palestinians are ready to end the conflict. We are ready to sit down now with any Israeli leader, regardless of his history, to negotiate freedom for the Palestinians, a complete end of the occupation, security for Israel and creative solutions to the plight of the refugees while respecting Israel's demographic concerns," he said.

"But we will only sit down as equals, not as supplicants; as partners, not as subjects; as seekers of justice and peaceful solution, not as a defeated nations grateful for whatever scraps are thrown our way," he said.

"For despite Israel's overwhelming military advantage, we possesses something even greater: the power of justice," he added.

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