The Palestinian National Authority and the recent bombing in Jerusalem

While we Palestinians are still facing the closure and suffering from its devastating impact and collective punishment after the bombing of July 30, the recent triple suicide bombing of 4/9/1997 has complicated the situation further. It is excluded that the target , the form and the timing of these explosions were a coincidence or a surprise for all those who are closely following the peace process, as terrorist bombing occurred before the first re deployment from the Palestinian cities, shortly before the conclusion of the Hebron agreement, while other bombings went off prior to Mr. Denis Ross mission and now before the visit of Mrs. . Albright. It seems as the phenomena of what was known during the Lebanon Civil war as "third cannon" is now emerging in Palestine, aimed to abort any progress in the peace process. Every time when the conflicting parties were about to reach an agreement and to silence their guns, a "third cannon" was activated and directed its fire towards the two conflicting parties, with the aim to inflame the fighting again and again … The similarity between these phenomena in Lebanon and recent suicide bombing in Jerusalem is indicative and significant….

The Palestinian People and the Authority condemn and abhor any terrorist operation aimed at innocent civilians . They perceive the terrorist act as a serious treat to the security and the life of the Palestinian and Israelis Peoples and to their peaceful co-existence. It is worthwhile to note that the press releases claiming responsibility for the bombing originate outside the Palestinian territories and are then publicized locally.

These situation requires an Israeli leadership with high degree of intelligence and wisdom to handle the political backgrounds and causes leading to violence; it does not call for a leadership whose main objective is to derive political benefits and to score point by abusing the innocent victims and the destruction resulting from the bombing. These leadership is rather refining its approach to spread futile accusations against the PA and its chairman as they were the public enemy No. 1 of the Natanyahou government.

In the light of these facts, the P.N.A. would like to pinpoint the following:-

• For the Palestinian People the commitment to peace is a strategic choice, irreversible and irrevocable; it condemns and rejects the terror in all forms and opt for dialog and negotiations to solve any obstacle which the peace process may face.

• The Security and Peace are organically linked and cannot be separated or dislinked; they serve the interest of the Palestinian and Israeli People and our neighbor counties in the region. It has been repeatedly proven by experience that any attempt to impose or dictate Israeli security requirements, without considering Palestinian security and economic needs ,is deemed to total failure and is rather counter- productive.

• By definition, the PNA is concerned with the security and needs of the Palestinian people; the PNA can under no circumstance be primary responsible for the security of Israeli territory and the Israeli citizens, unless it has become an operational tool for the Israelis, which would deprive the PNA from any credibility towards its people and consequently it will not be an equal partner in peace. The PNA evidently respects its commitments and adhere to its responsibilities and would absolutely not tolerate any individual or group to launch any terrorist attack from its territories. The rule of the law would be applied rigorously in these respect. And this is exactly what we achieved, as we foiled several terrorist operations before they occurred, as publicly admitted by Israeli and Americans.

• The present Israeli Government, while not adhering to the signed agreements with the P.A., is refusing to deploy its forces from the occupied rural areas. Consequently, the Palestinian Authority is limited to the cities in the West Bank (3% of territories), while Israel retains until now the responsibility for security matters in the 97% of the area.

• The assassination of our former partner in peace process Mr. Rabin (5/11/95) proved that the prevention of terrorist action cannot be guaranteed 100% and that the suicide bombing cannot be prevented in a absolute manner, as in particular they occur in Israeli territory (the Palestinian citizens in the West Bank cannot enter .Jerusalem where thousands of security forces are patrolling the streets of the city). Consequently, the security coordination requires imperatively that the Israelis respect the Palestinian Partner and refrain from dictating their wills and wishes

• The Israelis government imposes a total closure on the West Bank and Gaza and an internal closure between Palestinian villages and cities, confiscates illegally Palestinian financial resources (taxes, customs, excise etc.) and applies the policy of collective punishment, even without knowing the persons who carried out the suicide bombing or those who are providing them with logistic support and infrastructure. These irrational and short -sighted policy is indeed extremely dangerous and creates an atmosphere of despair and mistrust toward the peace process, paving the way and inviting for more terrorist operations and suicide bombing.

• The Israeli government urges the Palestinian National Authority to arrest hundreds and thousands of Palestinians citizens under the pretext that they are members of "Hamas or "Jihad Islamic", but the Israeli government fails always to produce on the table publicly any evidence which may justify their arrest….. Is that request compatible with the basic principles of human rights? Does the world opinion accept that the PNA launch a wave of arbitrary arrest of thousand of citizens without prove or evidence? Can Israel act in the same manner in the Israeli society or even towards the radical , heavily armed bands of settlers who publicly announce their intention to attack innocent Palestinians. Does this indicate that Israel has to remain a democratic system, but Palestinians should not evolve into a democratic state and society? all the Palestinian recognize one single authority, believe in the political action and in the peaceful approach of the opposition, whereas The PNA will deal very seriously and very -rigorously with any evidence produced again any individual or group, so that the Palestinian law prevails.

• The recent suicide bombings were carried out, not only to derail a peace process, but they occurred to make it more difficult, after it was actually paralyzed since Netanyahu assumed his post as P.M…, these paralysis is the achievement of Mr. Natanyahou who refuses to respect and implement signed agreements between the PNA and government of Mr. Rabin and Mr. Peres and his own government! Until now: there are still 5000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, in contradiction to those agreements. The government of Natanyahou refuses still to open the save passage between West Bank and Gaza, to agree to the operation of Gaza Airport ,to start the construction of the harbor to redeploy its forces as agreed on 7-3-97 and 7-9-97. The Israeli government is still demolishing Palestinian houses, establishing new and expanding existing settlements. Could we not consider these extreme radical policy of Israel as the immediate and logical reason and cause for the high tension in the region and for creating and promoting an atmosphere of hatred and hostility? We should not forget that the building of settlements and the Israeli repressive measures continued during a period without any terrorist operations.

• The visit of Mrs. Alright is very important and the PNA considers it as a chance to reactivate the American role in the peace process. The timing of the recent suicide bombings is not coincidental, but it is evident that some circles are attempting to prevent or abort anew American initiative or new serious approach to lead the Israeli government to fully respect the signed agreements. We hope, however, that these important visit would not into a new pressure on the Palestinian side, without taking into account how explosive the situation is and how deep the suffering of the Palestinian people is, as a result of the repressive measures imposed on us by Mr. Natanyahou and his policy of collective punishments.

• Basically, confronting the terrorism is a political problem, and to fight against it, it is imperative to address its causes and backgrounds and the atmosphere in which it grows and flourishes. These means promoting and moving the peace process forward on the basis of security council resolutions 242 and 338,of the principle land for peace and of the implementation of the interim agreements in preparation for the negotiation of the final status.

• The recent suicide bombing and the repeated military and political disaster in South Lebanon prove that Mr. Netanyahu has totally failed and is unable to provide peace and security to his people without withdrawal from the occupied territories. We are still hopeful , however, that Mr. Natanyahu would be wise enough to draw some conclusions from these lessons. He has to deliver!.

Let us hope that he would re-assess his view and see in his Palestinian Partner a peaceful hand extended to him to achieve a just peace for the two peoples, security for the two sides, coexistence to the benefit of future generation and the peoples of the region.