January 16, 2005

‘Yasser Arafat was a statesman of the stature of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Gandhi. He prepared an effective strategy for the Palestinian struggle for an independent state. Mahmoud Abbas has to take that forward,’ opines Prof Shameem Akhtar

MAHMOUD Abbas’s election as president of the Palestinian Authority after Yasser Arafat’s death represents the commitment of the Palestinian people to a peaceful and democratic transfer of power, and if Israel is interested in a durable peace in the Middle East, it must address the grievances of the Palestinian people, says Prof Shameem Akhtar, former chairman department of international relations, University of Karachi.

He believes that the recent election in Palestine has provided another opportunity to leaders of the Middle East for a peaceful resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

In an exclusive interview with Dawn Magazine, Prof Akhtar discussed the Middle East issue in detail. The following are excerpts from his interview:

Q. How will Mahmoud Abbas’s election to the post of president influence the Palestinian struggle for an independent state?

A. The election process is a manifestation of the Palestinians’ commitment to a peaceful and democratic transition of power. By casting their ballot, despite polarization and difficulties created by Israel, the Palestinians have rebutted the allegations that they are terrorists. The Palestinian struggle is aimed at national liberation. If they resort to any kind of violence, it is the result of Israeli policies. Whenever Israel has tried to block the Palestinians’ peaceful democratic process and denied them their rights, the Palestinians have reacted strongly. Palestinian response is always the result of Israel’s state terrorism. Even in the recent election Israel created obstructions in the way of balloting. It’s a fact. Former US president Jimmy Carter has recently said that Israel did not allow several hundred Palestinians to vote.

Q. Will it be difficult for Mahmoud Abbas to step into someone like Yasser Arafat’s shoes?

A. Yasser Arafat was the father of the Palestinian revolution. He converted their refugee status into a national identity and fuelled the movement for an independent state. Arafat combined armed resistance with the negotiating process, whenever he felt the need for it. He was always ready to go to the negotiating table. His speech at the UN General Assembly in which he made a passionate appeal to the world community not to let the olive branch fall from his hand, was a clear manifestation of his skillful leadership and courage to make unprecedented concessions to Israel. This could be noted in the fact that he agreed to Tel Aviv’s authority over 78 per cent of Palestinian territories, only to achieve a lasting peace. He was a statesman of the stature of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Gandhi. Mahmoud Abbas is his follower. Arafat prepared an effective strategy and Abbas will have to take that forward. He has called for giving up suicide bombing because it had caused a setback to the Palestinian cause. He will take Hammas and other groups into confidence on this question.

Yasser Arafat once said that the Palestinians were ready to have a federal state comprising the Jews and the Palestinians, each enjoying internal autonomy within the federal system envisaged to be secular and democratic in nature, like the one they have in the US. But regrettably both Israel and the West rejected it on the pretext that it would submerge the Jewish identity. It clearly indicates that they want to retain Israel as a racist state through their rejectionist and exclusionary policies. I only hope this time they will not be reckless.

Q. Aren’t these days conditions different from what they used to be when Yasser Arafat made those concessions to Israel for the sake of peaceful coexistence?

A. You must remember that when the Oslo process was initiated, Arafat had also called off intefada. I think Hammas will listen to Mahmoud Abbas provided he does not buckle under US and Israeli pressure.

Q. How has the presidential election contributed to improving the Palestinian image viz-a-viz the western media and governments?

A. It has managed to get rid of the false image created by western observers that the Palestinian struggle is terrorism. It also underscores the need for Israel to strictly comply with the International Court of Justice’s demand to demolish the wall which it has constructed contrary to the fourth Geneva Convention, if it wants the Palestinians to remain peaceful. There will be more pressure on Israel that it should freeze its expansion of settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. What Israel is doing is a bit dubious. On the one hand, it is evacuating illegal Gaza settlements, but on the other hand it’s retaining West bank settlements, which is a serious encroachment on the rights of the Palestinian people. Under the Geneva Convention the occupying entity cannot annex territories. The Israelis will also come under pressure to stop building any new settlements and must grant amnesty to more than 8,000 political prisoners who were not allowed to vote in the election.

The rejection of Palestinian petition by the Israeli Supreme Court in this regard only exposed Israeli barbarism and pointed out that conditions in Israeli prisons were not good enough to permit voting. Ariel Sharon might have a point when he insisted on putting an end to suicide bombings, but there will be pressure now on him to demolish the wall. Unless Israel does that, the process of election will not lead to a lasting peace. This places Ariel Sharon in a very defensive position. But in this regard, Palestinian leadership should also observe self-restraint.

Q. What will be the impact of Hammas’s boycott of the election?

A. Hammas had also boycotted 1996 election of Arafat. This could mean they don’t believe in the electoral process. Many observers will say that by doing so they have cut off themselves from the mainstream. But this time round things are different. Mahmood Zaheer, representing Hammas in Gaza, said that Hammas did not want to undermine and create difficulties for Mahmoud Abbas. Apparently, Hammas has also changed its hardline stance from ‘eliminating Israel’ to ‘liberating territories’ occupied by Israel. It means that Hammas also agrees to coexistence.

Q. What could be the premise of a new peace initiative?

A. The Palestinians have given up 78 per cent of their claim for the sake of peace. What else the world want them to concede? President Bush is making things difficult for negotiations by supporting the idea that Israel should retain some settlements. What Bush is saying will lead to the creation of Bantustan, which the apartheid regime in South Africa used to practise. The Palestinians don’t want any Bantustan.

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