Arafat, Peres Support Unofficial Treaty
Oct 14, 8:50 AM (ET)
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
JERUSALEM (AP) - Yasser Arafat and Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres lent their qualified support Tuesday to a symbolic peace treaty drawn up by former Israeli and Palestinian government officials and veteran negotiators.
However, there was growing opposition to the 50-page document from Palestinian refugee groups and Israeli government officials.
Arafat did not comment on the specifics of the deal, which gives Palestinians a state in virtually all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and divides Jerusalem, but largely keeps Palestinian refugees from returning to homes in what is now Israel.
"Our policy is not to undercut any attempt to reach the peace of the brave,"
Arafat said, noting that the document has no official standing.
The unofficial deal envisions a Palestinian state in 98 percent of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip, lands Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
It gives Palestinian refugees - who fled or were forced to flee their homes during the 1948 Mideast war - three options, but blocks the possibility of having them resettle in large numbers in what is today Israel.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators hope to sign the "Geneva Accord" in the Swiss city on Nov. 4, the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an extremist Jew who opposed his peace moves.
The fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of the Jerusalem holy sites had been the main obstacles in Camp David talks in the summer 2000 and several months later in negotiations at the Egyptian resort of Taba. The Camp David talks collapsed without agreement and Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted shortly thereafter.
Peres, who has been a key player in official peace talks and agreements, said the document - which has not been made public yet - has elements that make it a good basis for renewed talks between the sides.
"If in fact the Palestinians renounced the right of return and will recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, there is nothing wrong with this and it can be the basis for negotiations," Peres said in a statement.
Under the new deal, refugees could settle in Palestine or third countries, or be compensated for remaining where they are. Some could go to Israel, but only if Israel agreed to take them in, said Hisham Abdel Razek, a Palestinian legislator who participated in the talks.
Tayser Nasrallah, who heads a committee representing Palestinian refugees, said the negotiators were not authorized to concede refugee rights. "This accord is very dangerous and any agreement that doesn't include the right of return will not succeed," he said.
Abdel Razek and Qadoura Fares, another Palestinian negotiator, said the document offers the refugees a realistic solution.
"No one can imagine that we can reach an agreement with the Israelis on any day that includes the right of return (to Israel.) It's impossible," Abdel Razek said.
Under the treaty, the Palestinians would have sovereignty over the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's walled Old City, while Israel would control parts of the Western Wall which runs alongside the compound.
The Al Aqsa compound is revered by Muslims as the Nobel Sanctuary, their third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina. It is the holiest Jewish shrine, the site of the two biblical temples that were destroyed by invading armies.
Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert accused the Israeli delegation of "signing a quasi peace agreement with official representatives of a foreign entity, in direct contradiction to government policy." He said the document offers Israeli concessions and gets nothing in return, not even an outright renunciation of the right of return.
"Who authorized this group to relinquish Jerusalem, the Old City, Jaffa Gate and the heart of the Jewish ethos since time immemorial: the Temple Mount," Olmert wrote in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot. "The heart bursts with anger, astonishment and shame over those Israelis who signed it."
Israeli Tourism Minister Benny Elon, a leader of the extreme-right National Religious Party, condemned Yossi Beilin, a former justice minister who led the Israeli delegation, for negotiating with the Palestinians.
"He's a collaborator...every time he (Beilin) gets dragged into supporting the enemy," Elon said.
Beilin brushed off the Israeli and Palestinian criticism. "The question always has to be, what is the alternative," he said.
Negotiators said they plan to distribute the document to every Israeli and Palestinian home and hold a referendum. "This accord is the best that the Palestinians have ever signed," Abdel Razek said.
Source: AP/MyWay
URL:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031014/D7U5V22G0.html________________________________
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