Parliamentary Assembly

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, members of the Council of Europe; greetings. On this occasion I would like to express to you my pleasure at meeting you and at the opportunity you are giving me to speak and to address this august body.

Allow me from this rostrum to convey to you the greetings of our Palestinian people and to express to you in their name, in the name of my brother members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and of the Palestine National Authority, our deepest thanks and appreciation for the continued support and solidarity given by this august Council to our people’s just struggle to achieve just, comprehensive and lasting peace in our area and in Palestine, the land of peace, love and tolerance.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we are meeting you on a day – 13 April 1994 – on which the first results of the Declaration of Principles should have been realised, namely the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area as stipulated in the Declaration of Principles, which has received your support and that of the whole international community and all freedom, justice and peace-loving forces in the world. Eight months have passed since the signing of this agreement at the White House, between us and the Government of Israel, which was supposed to have been carried out and the Israeli withdrawal concluded.

The peace of the brave needs your support and assistance because we are currently passing through a dangerous turning point in which the process is standing still and where the opportunities for making progress and quick results are waning.

I was supposed to have come to you today from Jericho. I think this was on your mind when you extended the invitation to me to address your esteemed Council. Unfortunately, however, the hopes which we all had since signing the Declaration of Principles in Washington on 13 September 1993 did not materialise as had been agreed upon because of the Israeli reticence and hesitation in their commitments and implementation. Indeed, because of this delay, our people suffered from two major massacres, in Hebron and in Gaza, during which more than 90 martyrs and more than 800 injured fell. All this is at the expense of peace. Verily and frankly I say to you, had it not been for our interest in and commitment to peace, to our people and to the international community, the recent massacres were enough to destroy the whole peace process, because the delay in realising and implementing what we have agreed upon in the White House on 13 September 1993, has allowed all the extremists to make this feverish and grave escalation, as has happened recently in Afula, which was perpetrated by Palestinian extremists. These operations, regrettably, are targeted at the innocent Palestinian and Israeli peoples and at jeopardising the peace process. When I arrived today, I was surprised to learn that another operation had been carried out against innocent Israelis. I do not yet know who carried it out.

For our part, we have, since the start of the peace process in Madrid in October 1991, facilitated and pushed forward the peace process and shown the necessary flexibility, the patience and the commitment to the peace process, out of our belief in and desire for just peace, a peace which should end the long decades of war and bloody conflicts in our area and which should provide security, stability and peace to the peoples and states of the region. In conformity with the new spirit of peace, and the steps resulting therefrom, and in order to support the confidence-building measures and modes of cooperation, we have, since signing the declaration, established a number of national institutions in order to play their role in building the Palestinian civic and democratic liberal society and consolidate the foundations of real peace and co-operation among the peoples of the region.

Allow me, Mr President, to point out here, that we expected, and indeed, we hoped, that the government of Israel which came as a result of its declared election programme to realise peace, will adopt the necessary and required steps to rebuild confidence between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and close the chapter of military occupation with all that it entails in terms of violations to human achievements, international conventions and agreements and the resolutions of the United Nations. We have hopes as well, Mr President, that the Government of Israel will work to make peace and not only adopt measures which will guarantee living in peace because no one can live in peace if this peace is not achieved on all levels and in all fields.

The experience of the past eight months since signing the Declaration of Principles in Washington was frustrating and discouraging because the Government of Israel continued its policy of mass killings, detention, imposing curfews and isolating towns – especially the city of Jerusalem – confiscating land, and continued the economic siege, supporting and encouraging the fanatic settlers to continue practising the most horrible acts of killing and aggression against the lives, freedoms and properties of the Palestinian people. Those acts made it possible for the Israeli armed settlers with whom certain units of the Israeli army connived to perpetrate the heinous massacre in the town of Hebron in its most sacred mosque and safest shrine where the righteous victims fell. This is similar to the situation faced by our brothers in Algeria from the secret organisations in the French army (OAS) in collaboration with the French settlers. This massacre was followed by the bloody events by which the Government of Israel punished the innocent Palestinian people with killing, detention, curfews and an economic and commercial siedge. In addition, there were regrettable reactions, which we reject, from Palestinian extremists against Israeli citizens as has happened in Afula.

What happened in Hebron, and before that in the Holy A1 Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and in Bethlehem, Gaza, Nablus and in other places, is a result of deliberate negligence and abominable connivance between certain units of the Israeli army and the extremist, fanatic and racist settlers whose coming from their original countries was facilitated by the Government of Israel which contributed to their training, arming and financing and encouraged them to settle on the Palestinian land and in the midst of Palestinian towns so much so that they have become a second army of occupation and armed gangs that do not abide by law or rules and are protected by the guns of the soldiers of occupation. This has become very clear from the results of the investigation made by the Israeli judicial authorities.

Mr President, the Israeli Government had taken steps to impose collective economic punishment on the Palestinian people. As the result of a decision taken two days ago, 150 000 Palestinian workers would be denied jobs for the next six months and their families would thus have no chance of a decent life. This decision was taken at the very same time that negotiations were going on over greater cooperation in the economic field.

The Israeli settlements have always been, as the international community has come totally to recognise, a major obstacle on the road to peace. Today, and I say it with regret, they have become an alternative to peace. Peace cannot be achieved, despite our full commitment to it, interest in realising it and our work to arrive at it, as long as these extremist hotbeds lie at every turn of the road threatening the peace process as a whole and exposing the life, future and security of our people to grave dangers. This issue, the issue of settlers and settlements, has to be treated thoroughly now in order to protect the peace process, which is witnessing presently an historic opportunity, that might not recur. This opportunity should not be sacrificed for short-term political gains and for purely domestic calculations, because all, especially the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, will pay a heavy price for it.

Mr President, I reiterate in front of your august Council the commitment of the Palestinian people, the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestine National Authority to peace and to the peace process; and I reiterate, as well, that the peace we are seeking, is the just, permanent and comprehensive peace which will achieve security, stability and tranquillity for all the peoples of the region and which guarantees ending the occupation and enabling the Palestinian people to live in their homeland in sovereignty and freedom, a peace where, in order to be achieved, all agreements, commitments and agendas are totally and sincerely respected. Any delay, procrastination, reluctance and manoeuvring, will reflect negatively on all of us, jeopardising the issue of peace, weakening the camp of its supporters and pushing our area into a whirlpool of total confusion, destruction and balkanisation. With great responsibility and with a deep sense of sorrow and sadness I warn, Mr President, that leaving things to move as they did last September will lead us all to a catastrophe which will kill any remaining hope, confidence and credibility our Palestinian people, our Arab nation and the peace lovers might still have in the peace process itself and in the capability, sincerity and seriousness of the international community to help in realising and implementing peace.

The European countries have played, on the basis of their understanding of the continuous plight and sufferings of our people, an active and outstanding role in the international efforts for the adoption of Security Council Resolution 904, to provide international protection to our people as well as in the continued efforts to revive the peace process, and in the call to implement the Declaration of Principles signed between the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation on 13 September 1993 at the White House in Washington.

Now that this resolution has been adopted, we look forward to you and to the whole international community exerting all your efforts for the quick implementation of its articles especially those pertaining to providing international protection to our Palestinian people in Hebron and in the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories; and for the implementation of what we agreed upon two weeks ago in Cairo; and to make this experience succeed by spreading it to the other towns and villages of Palestine in order to ensure a steady start of the final stage and to prevent more victims from falling during the transitional period.

Translating the articles of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 904 on the ground, carrying out sincerely the agreements with the Government of Israel, will bring tranquillity to the hearts of our people and will foster their confidence and their feeling of security. This will make them move forward in supporting the peace process in order to achieve the yearned’ for just peace.

On many occasions and in many regional and international fora as well as in my visits to various European capitals I have talked and exchanged ideas and views on the urgent and necessary need to start building the Palestinian national economy and the institutions of the Palestine National Authority, emphasising that we will start from scratch the process of development and reconstruction of infrastructure and other vital institutions. The scope of the destruction and problems experienced by our people as a result of the long years of Israeli occupation require that we start immediately the process of building. This puts on the shoulders of the Palestine National Authority great responsibilities and challenges in repairing the damage and destruction caused by this long and bitter occupation to the Palestinian economy and to the social network of our people. For the Palestine National Authority to be able to deal successfully with these challenges it is necessary to enable the Palestine National Authority to bear the responsibility of receiving and carrying out, directing, investing and disbursing international assistance and support, in a manner which guarantees changing the painful situation in which our people live, so as to improve their standard of living and to solve the many economic social, health and educational problems building up in front of our institutions. What we are looking for and desire is to achieve this international support through the collective and bilateral co-operation emanating from and based on the relations existing between us.

Developing and supporting these relations will give us more freedom of movement and flexibility to face the many problems which obstruct the wheel of building and construction as we wish it or desire it to be. It is no secret that our people have many human capabilities which have played an active role in building many forms of progress and construction in the Arab orient and the Arab countries. Our people will be able to continue their creative activities and will put all their capabilities into building our civic and democratic society, our free economy and our integrated social institutions, which will form the foundations for peace, co-existence and future cooperation in the area. Our people are able to carry out the operations of building and reconstruction under the best technical and legal terms and in a manner characterised by transparency, seriousness and efficiency under a democratic parliamentary system based on the foundations of freedom of opinion and the freedom to form political parties, a system in which the majority safeguards the rights of the minority and where the minority respects the decisions of the majority. It will be a system based on social justice and equality without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, colour or sex and within the framework of a constitution that ensures the sovereignty of law and an independent judiciary. This is in full conformity with Palestine’s spiritual and cultural heritage of tolerance and peaceful coexistence with other religions over centuries.

We are talking frankly with you about our concerns and as is the habit in our distinguished relations with you, so that you will participate with us in building the future and in avoiding the frustrations which will have negative repercussions on the whole peace process as a result of the mechanism of providing the required assistance. Therefore, I appeal to you to adopt an urgent decision to give us appropriate financial help as a grant or loan, to be put at the disposal of the Palestine National Authority to enable it to meet the needs of the Palestinians – we are starting from scratch, all the infrastructure is damaged or destroyed – and to cover the expenses of consolidating the foundations of the Palestine National Authority, its institutions and structure.

Europe has a basic role in making peace and consolidating its foundations in the area as well as in the process of development in its wider context, whether through governmental support or the development of the private sector, to which we give great attention in all our schemes, projects and contacts, out of our belief in and conviction of its importance and in its great capabilities to create job opportunities, in technology transfer and in the activation of the economic process and joint co-operation.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as you see we live in an age where distances have been shrinking due to the huge scientific and technological revolution that has taken place through the last quarter of this century, and which ushers us into the future with all its challenges. Despite all the injustice, oppression and suffering caused to our people, they possess capabilities, energies and creative abilities which enable them to face the needs and challenges of the coming phase filled with self-confidence and the will to contribute not only to building and developing their own society, but also to contribute to the building, progress and prosperity of the Middle East region and human civilisation. This will foster and consolidate the foundations of security and peace in this important and sensitive region of the world.

We call upon all to contribute to the building of this future, which will guarantee our generation and future generations peace, security and a better life. We look forward to your support and assistance in closing the chapter of the past, of pain and disaster and to open a new chapter of peaceful co-existence, understanding and co-operation, and the resolution of conflicts by peaceful means, dialogue and arbitration.

Once again, from this rostrum, I would like to appeal to you who represent Europe, the neighbour of the Middle East, to help us to save the peace process, to save the hope in our souls. I appeal to you to help us in safeguarding the peace process and in implementing what we have agreed upon and signed – we and the Government of Israel – namely the declaration of peace of Washington, what we have signed and agreed upon in Oslo, Davos, Paris and Cairo and the annexes related to it. These agreements remain until now unimplemented, despite the fact that the fixed and agreed dates for their implementation have elapsed. This is a grave and fundamental issue not only for the Middle East but for the whole world. The peace of the brave needs your support and assistance because we currently pass through a dangerous turning point in which the process is standing still and where the opportunities for making progress and quick results are waning. Indeed, we need your efforts and endeavours to implement what we have agreed on paper and to transform that into tangible realities on the ground, so as not to give the extremists on both sides the opportunity to destroy or delay the process – for the sake of our children and their children – towards a new Middle East where peoples and nations co-exist in brotherhood and constructive peaceful co-existence, leaving behind the sufferings of the past and its repercussions; a new Middle East based on love, goodness and the bright hope for a real peace in the land of peace, the holy land of Palestine, the cradle of the three divine religions.

No voice should be above the voice of peace and no interest should be more precious than the interest of peace. No effort should be spared in order to achieve peace.

A huge historic responsibility falls on all of us. I call upon God Almighty to guide us and to help us and to give us wisdom, resolution and patience to bear such responsibility to achieve peace – the peace of the brave – and consolidate it.

Finally, I express to you my appreciation and thanks for giving me this good opportunity to address your august body.

Thank you.