March 13 1998 - VOL 4 NO 38
by: Joharah Baker
Three Palestinians were killed and five others wounded on March 10 when Israeli soldiers opened fire at their car at an Israeli checkpoint near the village of Tarquomiya near Hebron. The Palestinians, who were workers inside Israel, were coming home from their day labor in a Ford Transit when Israeli soldiers opened fire at their vehicle, claiming that they were trying to break the checkpoint. Ghaleb al-Rjoub 39, Adnan Abu Zneid 34, and Mohammed Danoun 27, who are all from the village of Doura died on the spot. One of the injured was taken to Alia hospital in Hebron for treatment while the rest were taken to an Israeli hospital.
Unsurprisingly, Palestinian and Israeli stories of the incident are contradicting. According to one of the injured, another car was trying to take the transit's place in line so they tried to block it. That is when the soldiers opened fire. One eyewitness a security official in the PA, Lafi Gheith said that the car was not asked to stop at the checkpoint and only after it tried to go through did they open fire. Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu commented on the incident saying that the reports indicate that the car was trying to go through the checkpoint and the soldiers merely acted according to instruction.
The PA expressed its outrage at the incident demanding a joint inquiry commission to investigate the case. Israel has announced that military reinforcements were sent to Hebron and that an inquiry commission was formed. Meanwhile Israeli occupation troops clamped a military siege around Ithna, directly near the checkpoint and called on the PA to maintain calm in the area. However, despite the PA's efforts to calm the rage of the people, violent clashes erupted almost immediately after the incident, the most violent these being on the borders between H1 and H2 in Hebron where more Palestinians were injured.
On the level of internal Palestinian affairs, the third term of the Palestinian Legislative Council was opened on March 7 in Gaza. "An important juncture in the history of the Palestinian people" is how presidential secretary Tayyeb Abdel Rahim predicted the outcome of the third term of the PLC. The Council was opened by a lengthy speech delivered by President Arafat (see pg. 8) in which he called for increased efforts to implement council resolutions and ratify laws. The president also called for unified stances from Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims in the face of Israeli aggressions and policies.
The third term of the PLC came in tandem with the quick deterioration in the already lagging peace process. However, Palestinian council members also acknowledged the need for internal Palestinian reform as well as the national struggle against the Israeli occupation. "If the required change is not made in the next term, a real crisis will occur," stated Fateh Secretary and PLC member Marwan Barghouti. In his speech, president Arafat recognized the fact that "mistakes were made and will be made in the future" but that the council has learned from them and is capable of coping.
Nonetheless, Arafat stressed mostly on the Israeli intransigence in the peace process and their unwillingness to abide by international resolutions reiterating that no progress can be made if only one side is willing to cooperate. Arafat elaborated on Israeli unilateral measures and their repercussions such as settlements, land confiscation and house demolitions saying that they are the major obstacles to peace.
The most recent killings in Hebron have caused yet more tension in the already stagnant peace process. The Palestinian Authority has even called for an Arab summit to discuss the current situation of the peace process which has reached a "dead end." In terms of Israeli redeployment from the West Bank, the percentage game looks like it has gone into round two. Israeli minister of Infrastructure Ariel Sharon stressed that Israel is not willing to withdraw from more than 9 percent of West Bank lands with what he calls a "geographic extension" between Israel and the West Bank settlements. In his meeting with late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's wife Le'a Rabin, president Arafat expressed his frustration with the frozen peace process although Rabin insisted on their being some hope since, according to her, "both sides have come too far to turn back."
However, Palestinian frustration is constantly on the rise. The US nonchalance in urging Israel to abide by signed agreements has reached a level of dangerous high. Presidential advisor Nabil Abu Rdeineh demanded that the United States present its expected initiative as soon as possible, warning that further stalling and maintaining the status quo is an eventual threat of chaos which will spread throughout the entire region. According to Abu Rdeineh, "the US initiative is long overdue" and that the Americans have been absent from the picture as a whole.
The Palestinian insistence on US action has intensified following the Iraqi crisis. The fact that the United States and the UN placed such tremendous importance on the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions makes the struggle with Israel all the more frustrating. Therefore the Palestinians have placed the United States and the international community at large under close scrutiny to see just how far double-standards go.
As for Israel, the gap between them and the Palestinians is growing even wider. Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu's plan which he proposed while visiting Spain last week to reactivate the peace process was rejected by the PA as just a maneuver to divert the issue away from its core which is the implementation of signed agreements. During his visit the prime minister proposed to discuss the opening of the Gaza International Airport and the industrial zones as a way to reactivate the Palestinian-Israeli talks. According to PA planning minister Nabil Sha'ath, this is just one way for Netanyahu to diffuse the pressure which is expected to be put on him by his European and American counterparts. "What is the use of discussing the airport and industrial zones. We have been negotiating over them for the past two years and have achieved nothing."
Crown prince Hasan of Jordan, who arrived in Ramallah on March 9 met with President Arafat in Ramallah where they discussed the peace process and the Arab position. Arafat expressed his appreciation of the Jordanian efforts to activate the peace process in light of King Hussein's upcoming visit to Washington.The prince reiterated to Arafat Jordan's stance concerning his meeting with Netanyahu which his based on international legitimacy, the respect of Palestinian needs and the implementation of signed agreements, in particular, redeployment. "1998 will be the year of redeployment from all vital areas," according to the prince.
However, the future does not look promising especially with the bloodstains so fresh.
by: Alessandra Antonelli
Mohammed Balusha helps applicants to understand the structure and goals of the Ex-Detainees Rehabilitation Program. He does it with a special emphasis since he himself was jailed for 14 months and has been one of the 11,000 ex-prisoners who has joined the program so far.
The Rehabilitation Program started in 1994, after finally receiving the necessary financial support from the European Union and the Italian and Swiss governments. "Before the peace process we contacted many non-governmental organizations, but the rehabilitation program was seen as a political issue and it was rejected by most of them," said the program's general director, Radi Jara'i.
Jara'i, a journalist and Fateh activist, spent 12 1/2 years in almost all Israeli prisons and wasfinally released in 1991. Since then, with the help of the Palestinian Journalists Federation, he has been working to create such a program. He formulated a proposal and refused to be discouraged, despite several rejections of foreign funding. He also presented the plan to Ahmad Qre'i (Abu Ala') seeking help from the PLO. But the time was not right; the 1991 Gulf war had left the PLO in a serious financial crisis.
Only after the Oslo agreement " with the help of the International Labor Organization, which emphasized the rehabilitation of ex-prisoners as a priority in the Palestinian society, and the International Red Cross, which released statistics estimating that 81,000 Palestinians had entered Israeli jails during the first six years of Intifada and some 25,000 had spent more than 12 months inside " did the donors disburse US$15 million, half of the sum estimated for the program's cost.
"The goal of the program is the social and economic reintegration of Palestinians who spent more than one year in Israeli prisons," explained Jara'i. "We aim to facilitate their qualified reentry into the labor market and to enable them to regain their independence."
To implement the project, 14 offices have been opened throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and 50 social workers have been employed. Applications overwhelmed them: in the first three months of activity, the ex-detainees rehabilitation program received 11,000 requests.
The computerized point system selected 5,000 cases. The criteria evaluated by the system include the date of release, length of detention, marital status, employment and health situation.
"I use to work in a tile factory before being jailed," Mufid Hasan Ata says, imprisoned three time for a total of 19 months due to his activities with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. "Now I am holding a regular taxi driver's license and I benefit from free health insurance." Before getting his driving license, Ata trained for six months with five teachers and was exposed to a wide range of information regarding his potential profession. Beaten and mistreated during his detention like many other detainees, Mufid Hasan Ata appreciates the health insurance program for him and his six kids. Thank to an agreement with the Ministry of Health, which reduced the cost by 50 percent, the rehabilitation program has doubled the number of people " from 5,000 to 11,000 " that could afford to take advantage of health facilities.
Education is another program priority. Again, an agreement reached with the then Higher Council for Education granted ex-detainees who wanted to continue their studies a 50 percent reduction in fees. Initially, the fees were completely free since the rehabilitation program was paying the other half, but after a while it was decided to let the students pay the other 50 percent in order to allow more people into the project. Further, for those who had taken the tawjihi (matriculation exam) and, because of their imprisonment, did not score well, a special orientation course has been designed: a four-month course to help the students to meet the criteria to enter university.
"At the end of my studies I would like to become a social worker and enter one of the numerous organization that deal with helping people " exactly the same way I have been helped," said Hassan Salah Ed Deen, 31, who just finished his first semester at Al-Quds University. His cousin, Naji, is not so lucky. A 27-year-old taxi driver with a wife and three kids, he is studying private business at his own expense. He has came to the center trying to ease up his difficult situation by getting some financial help. But he can't. He has been jailed "only" 8 months so he doesn't meet one of the basic criteria to be accepted in the program.
The criteria, as Jara'i explained, have been designed to select the most needy among the many Palestinian ex-prisoners, without discrimination by gender. So far, 23 women have joined the program.
While the demand for the university program has been constantly high, at the beginning only 15 percent of applicants wanted vocational courses that were intended to be the core of the program. In two years, 700 Palestinians have attended these courses and 70 per cent of them, once finished their training, have found a job in the same field.
"Besides the training itself, we provided participants with a complete tool kit, transportation facilities and US$150 per month, trying to make their attendance on the course as easy as we can." Continues Jara'i , "We also provide them with job search assistance after training and our success in getting them employment pumped up the demand for vocational courses to 60 percent."
The private sector collaboration is still lacking, but Jara'i is confident that gradually the contribution of this sector will increase.
The loan project has been particularly gratifying. Agreements reached with the Arab Bank and the Cairo Amman Bank created a program for loans from US$1000 to US$2500. Most were for agricultural purchases, like cows, sheep and greenhouses, or for small business. In addition, the applicants have been trained and had to submit feasibility studies. The Ministry of Agriculture supported this part of the project by backing the people involved, providing technical and professional assistance.
"We are proud to say our 'clients' have reached a high payback percentage," underlines Jara'i, "which has to be done within three years with four percent interest, which is invested in other rehabilitation program sections. The banks take only US$40 in service fees for the whole length of the loan."
At the beginning of the second phase of the program, new issues are being defined. "We realized, through interviews and steady contact with the ex-detainees, that they didn't need only social or economic assistance," said Jara'i, "They also need psychological help. But explicitly psychological help still meets a lot of resistance because it is associated with craziness." New data are encouraging. A joint project with Medicines Sans Frontiers in Hebron, implemented since March 1997, has involved 32 people in a counseling program, and participation is increasing.
The donors had granted financial support for a two-year project involving 5000 people. Looking at numbers and results, the EU and Switzerland renewed their contribution to the program for a total sum of US$11 million for the next two years.
While the Ex-detainees Rehabilitation Program tries to respond in an extensive and more specific way to the needs of Palestinians, it also looks beyond the borders seeking exchange. In the past two years, there have been contacts with delegations from South Africa, Northern Ireland and from the Basque region in Spain. A representative of the World Veteran Federation enters Jara'i's office as soon as I leave, coming to invite the ex-detainees rehabilitation program to join the association.
by: Muna Hamzeh-Muhaisen
Farouk Salameh was a young man in 1949 when his family fled the coastal city of Jaffa and took refuge in Bethlehem. One year later, his father started what became a successful family business, selling falafel and humus from a small rented restaurant called "Eftiem" in the center of Manger Square. "My brothers and I worked alongside our father," says Farouk as he pulls out several old black and white photos from his wallet, showing him and his brothers frying falafel and smiling to the camera, with a picturesque view of the Church of the Nativity in the background. "The Square was a tourist attraction and business was great considering that rent cost us the equivalent of US$1.50 and our operating costs where next to nothing," he recalls affectionately.
Business continued to flourish for the Salameh family until 1966 when the Jordanian government, which then ruled the West Bank, decided to widen Manger Square. "They wanted to tear down the building where we had our restaurant and the Bethlehem municipality handed the eight small businesses in the building eviction notices," explains Farouk.
"My father owned the building and we lived onthe second floor," recalls Anton Andoni. "When we refused to vacate our house, the Jordanian bulldozers tore down the building with our furniture and belongings inside." In addition to losing their home, the Andoni family also lost their coffee shop, located on the ground floor next to Eftiem restaurant.
Not wanting to appear unsympathetic to their plight, the municipality promised the evicted businesses that once the Square was widened, they could rent space in a new four-story municipal building that was going to be constructed in the Square. Meanwhile, the municipality made another offer. The evicted businesses could have a vacant lot, located in the Square and owned by the municipality, on condition that they construct new shops and restaurants at their own expense. Seven of the eight evicted businesses agreed and construction of the new shops and restaurants was completed in less than one month. For the past thirty-two years, the once vacant lot has been home to Andoni's outdoor coffee shop, Eftiem's falafel restaurant, a cab company and three other businesses which have since changed ownership.
After a six-year delay, construction of the municipal building was finally completed in 1972. "When we asked about the space we were promised to rent, we were told that the building could not absorb shops and restaurants," says Salameh. Andoni, on the other hand, contends that when his brother asked then mayor Elias Friej about the promised rental space, the mayor reportedly told him, "stay where you are, nobody is going to say anything to you." So they stayed and business went on as usual, with Eftiem's new restaurant becoming the best-known falafel place in Bethlehem and, along with Andoni's coffee shop, one of the oldest landmarks at Manger Square.
In an ironic repeat of history, the seven small businesses are being threatened with eviction again following a municipal decision to use the area as the site of one of the Bethlehem 2000 projects. Claiming that the shops and restaurants are built on its land, the municipality wants to tear them down, along with the adjacent police headquarters, to make way for a three-level tourist center. "The center will include a museum, a hostel, a convention hall, headquarters for the tourist police, municipal offices and a cafeteria," says municipal council member Ibrahim Rizq. Sweden is funding construction of the new tourist center and a Swedish designer completed a model design of the center this week. "The police headquarters will be torn down in April and construction at the site will start shortly thereafter."
Although plans for the tourist center appear to be underway, Salameh, Andoni and the other business owners have not yet received official eviction notices. Rather, in what appears a round-and-about way, the municipality earlier this year stopped collecting business license fees from them. "We did this in order to send a message to these businesses that the issue [of their eviction] is settled."
Asked if the municipality has not risked losing its credibility by using this indirect approach, Rizq was quick to justify the municipal council's position. "These shops and restaurants are not official tenants and that is why we could not send them official eviction notices."
"If our presence here is not legal, then why has the municipality collected business license fees from us all these years, as well as given us permits as recently as 1995 to renovate our restaurants and shops?" wonders Nichola Andoni, owner of the Andoni coffee shop. "Back in 1966 when we built our new places, the municipality never spoke about a rental contract and all these years we regarded ourselves as owners." Indeed, all the municipal payment slips in Andoni's and Salameh's possession do not show the municipality as the owner. Instead, a slash appears next to the name of the owner in all of the receipts. "We consider ourselves owners of this coffee shop and for thirty-two years, we have built our lives around this business. If we are illegal then on what basis have they been dealing with us all these years?" asks Andoni.
In an attempt to smooth things over, a municipal council committee finally met with the small business owners on February 24 to discuss the situation. "We are going to try and find alternatives for these people, even if they end up getting smaller spaces than they currently have," says Rizq. "We are currently negotiating with the Canadians about the construction of a large tour bus parking lot and shopping center to be located down the street from Manger Square. The shopping Center could be the alternative location for these seven small businesses. They could sign rental agreements and their rent could be different than other rental rates available at the center."
But an agreement with the Canadians has not been signed yet and even if it is signed anytime soon, the shopping center will not be completed till mid-summer 1999, if not later. If, unlike in 1972, the municipality keeps its promise and offers these businesses rental space at the shopping center, who will compensate them for the time that they are out of business?
Rizq claims that most of the businesses have already rented new locations elsewhere. But neither Eftiem restaurant, Andoni's coffee shop, nor the cab company has rented places elsewhere. "These are our places and we will not leave until we are offered a suitable alternative and a reasonable compensation," they insist.
In the end, it appears that plans to develop Manger Square into a more suitable tourist site by the millenium will not be without a price. The police headquarters built during the British Mandate, holds a lot of bad memories for area residents. Many Palestinians were imprisoned and tortured there by the British, the Jordanians and the Israelis. Yet the thought that such a historic building will be torn down rather than renovated is disturbing to many people who view the building as part of Bethlehem's heritage.
Farouk Salameh and Anton Andoni are also part of the heritage. Both have operated businesses in Manger Square since 1950 and neither can imagine himself ever being away from the Square. If the millenium will celebrate the anniversary of Christ's birth in Bethlehem, shouldn't it also pay homage to these men who have become an integral part of the Square's heritage?
Gaza City, March 7, 1998
Brothers and sisters, members of the council,
Let me begin by congratulating you on the opening of the third term of this distinguished legislative council, which will carry on the dedicated work you began over the last two terms. Those terms marked a democratic dialogue and constructive discussions which establishing the ground rules for our political system and help create a state of institutions and law; support and reinforce the foundations and rules of democratic action and genuine parliamentary life on our sacred soil. This is all in the service of our national struggle and our efforts to build our beloved country, Palestine, and to achieve the noble aims of our people " of liberty, independence and national sovereignty.
Your council is one of the fruits of the Palestinian struggle and an excellent indicator of the desire of our people to build national institutions along the way to full national independence. This is particularly so since you bear a direct, fundamental responsibility for our people's present, and are helping to prepare them for the future.
Despite the transitional nature of our situation, we are all doing our best under dangerous and sensitive circumstances to reinforce the moral foundations of...our independent state, in particular adopting the principle of separation of authorities. We must build sound relationships between the legislative and executive authorities and build and develop an independent judicial system, which was destroyed by the occupation like everything else over those difficult years.
On this occasion, I would like to thank the council for the tremendous effort which you have made to pass basic laws, despite the difficult circumstances we are experiencing. These laws conthe foundation for life in Palestinian society within the context of great challenges confronting the Arab region. I would urge you to be aware of the complex political situation surrounding us and to take these circumstances into consideration as you work to formulate this important set of basic laws. Treat this issue with the utmost importance in your new session, including in [formulating] economic, financial and social laws for which there is an urgent and daily need.
In this context I would like to inform you that I personally agreed with the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn...to make a joint effort between the Palestinian National Authority, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), to implement an economic working paper in Palestine this year. This paper calls for the promulgation of over 19 key economic laws, which will be submitted to the Council in coordination with you and the relevant ministries. The working paper calls for taking major steps in privatization, strengthening the private sector's leading role in building the economy and completing the contemporary administrative, financial and legal institution especially in the financial and justice ministries. It also calls for opening the Palestinian market to the world and opening the world to Palestinian products, studying the huge difficulties we are facing in our financial and economic relationship with the Israeli government.
This working paper, the warm response from my friend Mr. Wolfensohn, and the trilateral working team which we formed and which has begun to work with all the help which we have to offer, should alone create a solid regulatory foundation and an open economic atmosphere by the end of 1998. President Wolfensohn and I will follow up this work personally through a monthly activity report. These laws will reach you by the end of this month, so you should be ready to discuss and finalize them as quickly as possible.
Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Despite the newness of the experience and the vulnerability of Palestinian institutions, our grasp of the importance and inevitability of the rule of law, the institutions of state and the democratic system has enabled us to develop a working system which has won the admiration of the world. Despite conflicts between the occupation and the areas under Palestinian sovereignty and despite intervention, pressure and difficulties, the Palestinian performance has increased in both quantitative and qualitative terms. There has been a noticeable decrease in crime, and an increasing move towards democracy, collective respect for the law and an collective commitment to institutionalization.
I also want to emphasize that the mistakes which have occurred have been corrected and others that may occur will also be dealt with immediately. We must not forget that we are still on the road to mature democracy, which we have not yet reached. I would also like to express my appreciation and respect for all the Palestinian human rights organizations and the Palestinian Independent Commissions for Citizens Rights. I urge you to expedite the civil liberties law, so it can be a reference for us all.
The noticeable decrease in mistakes by PNA institutions is an excellent indicator of the increase in the quality of work on the one hand and respect for the law and the system on the other. No one can deny that mistakes have been made and will be made, but the true gauge for a society and the institutions is the number of mistakes. Are they constantly decreasing or continually increasing? The events of 1997 show that they are decreasing and that the [state] institution is on the path to greater growth. I hope that we can maintain this positive trend and build our system on stronger and firmer foundations, so that our institutions will be based on laws adhered to by all. The Palestinian National Authority, which underwent changes after the general elections two years ago, has been playing a key role in what are difficult circumstances. Some of your members have made significant achievements; others tried to do their best. The record reflects both achievements and failures, and this is the nature of government. This is why people choose democracy, elections and governmental change.
Our involvement in political developments and the crisis of the peace process should not divert us in any way from addressing the difficult economic and living conditions which our people are experiencing. We must put forth the time, effort and determination to do the impossible, to improve economic circumstances and halt the deterioration in the lives of hundreds of thousands of our people. We all know the source of the problem " Israeli policies aim to strip our people of all the sources of our strength by using economic methods...such as the repeated closures and the prohibition of work and workers, and blocking the flow of internal and external trade...
Perhaps the occupation [authorities] do not realize the danger that the deterioration of the Palestinian economic situation will harm peace and security in the entire region...More than a third of the Palestinian work force is facing permanent unemployment and another third is suffering from seasonal unemployment. The 1996 gross national product and the standard of living and individual consumption were at least 25 percent lower than 1993 levels, and a quarter of the population of the West Bank and Gaza live under the poverty line. These numbers are not my own but numbers from respectable international institutions. All of this coincides with the organized Israeli usurping of our financial resources...which is carried out openly and which surpasses, according to statistics, US$600 million annually and which encompasses the systematic usurping of natural resources as well, Palestinian water and Palestinian airspace.
I have issued my instructions to the ministerial committee specialized in reviewing and finalizing the draft income tax law as quickly as possible in order for it to be referred to the Council in the coming weeks... it will be a balanced and viable law which takes into consideration the harsh economic conditions, gives patience and strength to the Palestinian citizen, investor and merchant...and preserves our ability to recover our stolen riches from the Israelis.
Before I move to other subjects, I call upon you all to use all your energy to prepare our people everywhere in Palestine to participate in the biggest historical, religious, traditional and national event which awaits us all on the threshold of the 2000th birthday of Jesus Christ, the celebrations of Bethlehem 2000...It is an effort in which all people will be taking part. There is no one person, individual or committee that can achieve success or even a part of it on their own. I call upon you to begin a comprehensive national campaign and a comprehensive Arab, international and religious campaign to prepare for this major event and to build up the elements of its success.
The world, of which we are part, has exerted tremendous effort over the past few weeks in order to avoid a new military confrontation in Iraq over what has been described as Iraq's refusal to abide by legitimate international resolutions and to respect the jurisdiction of the international weapons inspection teams in Iraq. Since day one, we in the Palestinian leadership have taken a cautious stance toward Iraq and its patient people and over the interests of the Arab world. They called upon us to not consider military options and to concentrate our efforts on political persuasian and a diplomatic solutions so as to preserve Iraq and preserve the status of legitimate international resolutions and their implementation. I sincerely hope that what we are seeing is the end of the story, and not the beginning, and that the crisis has been resolved with the agreement reached between the Iraqi leadership and the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
However, this crisis raised new/old questions and it opened old/new wounds concerning the power of legitimate and international resolutions and their potential for implementation ther, and the lack of implementation and indeed their paralysis in Palestine. History has recorded and the whole world knows that Israel has not respected any international resolution for the past 51 years and Israel has not implemented more than a part of resolution 181 concerning its establishment.
All of this gives us a right to clearly ask why the international resolutions should be respected by the Arabs and not by Israel? Iraq, Libya, Sudan and other countries must commit and others are not similarly bound?
However, despite the seriousness of the crisis, there was another dimension. It gave the opportunity for Arab understanding and solidarity through the wise, constructive position of all the Arab leaders...Duty dictates to us all to invest in this positive atmosphere immediately. Therefore I call to convene an urgent Arab summit to review the Arab situation and to achieve full conciliation within the Arab family and to show the Arab stance in demanding the implementation of international resolutions concerning Palestinians and also the Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian territories especially the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people and the right of return for refugees, water, prisoners and detainees, and Jerusalem the capital of our independent state.
It is no secret that the peace process is going through a dangerous period, to the point where the process has almost taken its last breath. The rigidity which the present government and its policies are using towards the peace process is the title for everything. I am not exaggerating if I say that nothing is moving; nothing is going forward, it is actually regressing or has stopped. Our commitment to the process on our own does not seem to be changing anything.
The core of the Declaration of Principles and the agreements which followed was the mutual recognition of the legitimate and political rights of both sides and the building of the peace process to lead to the implementation of resolutions 282 and 338 which includes the retaining of Palestinian lands and the Palestinian people's practicing of their national and inalienable rights , and to achieve the historical interests between the peoples in the region on the basis of equality, compatibility and mutual respect. The transitional agreement also includes arrangements for the implementation of the transitional period which will continue for five years and which aims at reinforcing and building bridges of trust and transferring authorities and building the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital; the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Palestinian occupied lands in preparation for entering final-status negotiations, especially those pertaining to Jerusalem, settlements, borders, refugees, water, prisoners and detainees and other sensitive issues on which depends finding a fair and acceptable solution for the future and fate of the peace process in the Middle East.
In reference to the obstacles set by the Israeli government, Israeli unilateral measures pose a major obstacle and are represented by continuing house demolitions, land confiscations and building and expanding illegitimate Israeli settlements, especially in Jerusalem....
The Israeli government must realize that the issue of Jerusalem is non-negotiable " it is a Palestinian, Arab, Islamic and Christian "red line". There will be neither peace nor stability without the return of Jerusalem. Israel should realize that settlement does not fit with peace nor do the closures and collective punishments. This government still does not abide by signed agreements and it ignores international efforts to further the peace process " which, in turn, threatens to destroy the process altogether.