A leading figure in the Palestine Authority yesterday laid down conditions for ending the uprising against Israel. The Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Mr Mahmud Abbas, announced "confidence-building measures" which Israel should implement along with lifting the siege of Palestinian areas, opening the airport and transferring funds owed to the Authority.
These "measures" included halting settlements and land confiscations, releasing security prisoners and handing over 22 per cent of the West Bank to full Palestinian control. Once Israel implemented these conditions, he said, the Palestinians would renew security co-operation and agree to the convening of an international committee comprised of the UN, China, Russia, Jordan and Egypt to prepare for negotiations.
Mr Abbas, who negotiated the 1993 Oslo accord with Israel, took such a hard line because the Authority is in no position to call for a ceasefire until the Palestinians have made major political gains. Indeed, Dr Ghassan Khatib, a leading West Bank analyst, said the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, "is not trying to stop the Intifada". His ability to exercise "control over the Palestinian people" depended on Israel's "faithful implementation of the agreements" it reached with him, including provisions on withdrawal, prisoner releases and maintaining the status quo on the ground. Once these agreements were "left by the wayside", Mr Arafat lost control, Dr Khatib said.
Mr Arafat was compelled to harden his line last week after Israel mounted a major bombing raid against a dozen targets in the Gaza Strip. He rescinded an order commanding his police not to fire on Israeli troops. He backed away from an attempt to curb the participation of armed members of his own Fateh group in violent protests and attacks against Israeli settlements and settlers, specifying only that operations should not be mounted from within Palestinian self-rule areas.
Mr Arafat's position has also been weakened by the fact that he has not been able to deliver the $653 million in urgently needed aid pledged by Arab governments. They insist that funds should not be channelled through the Authority because of its record of corruption and mismanagement.
