By Munir K. Nasser
Chief Correspondent, Washington, DC
Albawaba.com
A White House spokesman said Palestinian President Yasser Arafat would meet with President Bill Clinton in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the latest US proposals for a Middle East peace settlement.
Palestinian sources said Arafat spoke by telephone with President Clinton for one hour and it was decided that President Arafat would make an urgent visit to Washington to meet with him in order to ensure there is a common understanding of the parameters that Clinton put forward for moving ahead in peace negotiations. Arafat said Monday that he is ready to discuss the offers made by Clinton, as long as they will not be the sole basis for future negotiations.
Analysts in Washington expect Arafat to raise with Clinton some reservations about the American plan and ask for some clarifications.
The details of the plan became public this week after Newsweek published the minutes of the meeting held at the White House last week with the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. The minutes were recorded by a member of the Israeli team and were obtained exclusively by Newsweek. No documents were exchanged, but Clinton laid out his ideas verbally and methodically while Israeli and Palestinian negotiators took notes.
Newsweek said certain sections are calculated with an ambiguity which is designed to let both sides claim they had stood their ground. Running five pages and containing key concessions to the Palestinians, the plan puts forth a vision of Middle East peace that the United States hopes both sides can live with: a Palestinian state on 94 to 96 percent of the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem and its most sensitive shrine, the Temple Mount (Harem al-Sharif, to the Palestinians); and no return of Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel.
The following are the basic ideas of the Clinton plan, which he said if “they are not accepted, they are not just off the table; they go with the President as he leaves office.”
Territory
Based on what President [Clinton] heard, he believes that a fair solution would 94-96% of West Bank territory (would be designated as) the Palestinian State. The land annexed by Israel should be compensated by a land swap of 1-3%, in addition to the arrangements e.g. Permanent Safe Passage. The Parties also should consider the swap of leased land to meet their respective needs.
There are creative ways of doing this that could address Israeli or Palestinian issues or concerns.
The President thought that the parties should develop a map consistent with the criteria: 80% of settlers in Blocks of Settlements, contiguity, minimum annexation of territory to Israel, minimum number of Palestinians to be effected by the annexation.
Security
The President believes that the key lies in international presence that would only be withdrawn by mutual consent. This presence would also monitor the implementation of the agreement by both sides. It is the President’s best judgment that the Israeli withdrawal should be phased over 36 months, while the international force is gradually introduced into the area. At the end of this period, a small Israeli presence would remain in specified military locations in the Jordan Valley under the authority of the international force for another 36 months. This period could be reduced in the event of favorable regional developments that would diminish the threat to Israel.
Early Warning Stations-Israel should maintain three facilities in the West Bank with Palestinian liaison presence. The stations should be subject to review after 10 years, with any change in status to be mutually agreed.
Emergency Deployment areas - The President understood that the Parties still have to develop maps of relevant areas and routes. Emergency means the imminent and demonstrable threat to Israel’s national security of a military nature that requires the activation of a national state of emergency. The international force would need to be notified of any such determination.
Airspace - the State of Palestine would have sovereignty over the airspace but the two states should work out special arrangements for Israeli training and operational needs. The President understood that the Israeli position is that Palestine should be defined as “demilitarized” while the Palestinian side proposed a “State of Limited Arms.” As compromise the President suggests non-militarized state. This would be consistent with the fact that in addition to a strong Palestinian security force, Palestine will have an international force for border security and deterrence and purposes.
Jerusalem and Refugees: General
The President’s sense was that remaining gaps would have more to do with formulation than with practical reality.
Jerusalem
What is Arab should be Palestinian, and what is Jewish should be Israeli. This would apply to the Old City as well. The President urges the Parties to work on maps that would ensure maximum contiguity for both sides. Harem-Temple Mount: The gap is not related to practical administration but in the symbolic issues of sovereignty and to finding a way to accord respect to the religious beliefs of both sides. The President knows that the Parties discussed different formulations. He wanted to suggest two additional ones to formalize the Palestinian de-facto control over the Harem, while respecting the convictions of the Jewish people. With regard to either one, international monitoring to provide for mutual confidence:
(1) Palestinian sovereignty over the Harem and Israeli sovereignty over the Western Wall a) and the space sacred to Jews of which it is a part; or b) and the holy of holiest of which it is a part.
(2) Palestinian sovereignty over the Harem and Israeli sovereignty over the Western Wall plus shared functional sovereignty over the issue of excavation under the Harem or behind the wall. That way mutual consent would be required before any excavation took place.
Refugees
The President believes that the differences are with formulating the solutions rather than with what would happen on the practical level. Israel is prepared to acknowledge the moral and material suffering caused to the Palestinian people as a result of the 1948 War and the need to assist in the international community’s effort in addressing the problem such as an International commission to implement all aspects that flow from the agreement: compensation, resettlement, rehabilitation, etc. The U.S. is prepared to lead an international effort to help the refugees. The fundamental gap: how to handle the Right of Return (ROR). The President knows the history of the issue and how hard it is for the Palestinian leadership to appear to be abandoning this principle. At the same time, the Israeli side could not accept any reference to the ROR that would imply a right to immigrate to Israel in defiance of Israel’s sovereign policy on admission or that would threaten the Jewish character of the state. Any solution must address both needs and be consistent with the two-state approach that both sides have accepted as a way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The State of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people and the State of Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people. In a two-state solution, the State of Palestine will be the focal point for Palestinians who choose to return to the area, without ruling out that Israel would accept some of these refugees. The President believes that the Parties need to adopt a formulation on the ROR that will make clear that there is no specific ROR to Israel itself, but that does not negate the aspirations of the Palestinian people to return to the area. In light of that, the President suggests the following two alternatives:
(1) Both sides recognize the right of Palestinian refugees to return to historic Palestine;
(2) Both sides recognize the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland;
The agreement would define the implementation of this general right in a way that is consistent with the two-state solution. It will list the 5 possible final homes for the refugees: the State of Palestine, areas of Israel being transferred to Palestine in the land swap, rehabilitation in the host countries, resettlement in third countries and admission to Israel. In listing these options the agreement would make clear that return to the West Bank and Gaza or the areas acquired through the land swap would be a right for all Palestinian refugees while rehabilitation in host countries, resettlement in 3rd countries or absorption into Israel would depend upon the policies of these countries. Israel could indicate in the agreement that it intended to establish a policy so that some of the refugees would be absorbed into Israel consistent with Israel’s sovereign decision. The President believes that priority should be given to the refuges in Lebanon. The Parties would agree that this implements UNGAR 194.
End of Conflict and Finality of Claims
The President proposed that the agreement clearly marked the End of the Conflict and its implementation put an end to all claims. This could be manifested through a UNSCR that notes that UNSCRs 242 and 338 have been implemented and through the release of Palestinian prisoners. The President believes that this is the outline of a fair and lasting agreement. It gives the Palestinian people the ability to determine their future in their own land, a sovereign and viable state recognized by the international community; E1-Quds as its capital, sovereignty over the Harem and new lives to the refugees. It gives the people of Israel a genuine End of Conflict, real security, the preservation of sacred religious ties, the incorporation of 80% of the settlers into Israel and the largest Jerusalem in history recognized by all as its capital.
Final Comments
This is the best that the President can do. Brief the leaders and let the President know if they are prepared to come to discussion based on these ideas. If not, the President has taken it as far as he can. These are the ideas of the President. If they are not accepted, they are not just off the table; they go with the President as he leaves office.
