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Palestinian West Bank – Gaza Delegation: 3rd Memorandum to US Secretary James Baker

Palestinian West Bank – Gaza Delegation

[Third] Memorandum to U.S. Secretary James Baker

East-Jerusalem, 20 April 1991

 

HE Secretary of State, James Baker III

US Consulate, Jerusalem

Having reviewed the content and conse­quences of our previous meetings with you, as well as all other relevant follow-up talks and efforts, we would like to point out the follow­ing:

While the Palestinians have demonstrated a genuine commitment to peace through the PLO's sustained efforts at maintaining a posi­tive dialogue and open channels with the U.S., we are still witnessing a perversely ob­stinate and destructive Israeli response which is manifested in two ways:

First, Israel persists in expanding and in­tensifying its settlement activity and its confis­cation of Palestinian lands, while pursuing a policy of horrendous cruelty and repression against the Palestinians under occupation.

Second, Israel is imposing unacceptable conditions and constraints on the peace pro­cess, thereby dictating its own priorities and parameters as preconditions for its participa­tion in the process.

Both are capable of rendering Palestinian participation impossible, and are particularly subversive in that they might be perceived as tainting the American position and efforts with complicity, or at best, with inefficacy.

Unless these Israeli policies and measures are firmly checked and halted, the atmos­phere will be poisoned with hostility and mis­trust, any confidence in the impartiality and fairness of the process will be totally eroded, and the prospects for genuine peace will be seriously jeopardized.

Of special relevance in this context is the victimization of Palestinians in Kuwait – an issue of particular urgency and moral respon­sibility which must be solved immediately. We urge the U.S. administration to intervene actively and forcefully to put an end to the de­tention, torture, killing, and expulsion of members of the Palestinian and other non-­Kuwaiti communities in Kuwait.

The political and moral credibility of the U.S., especially in view of its active role and presence in Kuwait following the Gulf war, is at stake. A firm and uniform stance vis-a-vis human rights violations everywhere must be adopted and applied.

The plight of the Palestinians under occu­pation is rendered even more intolerable by the suffering of the Palestinians in Kuwait. Human rights are universal, and “confidence­-building measures” recognize no boundaries. The peace process must be based on uniform standards of justice, and must be pursued within the framework of legitimacy, comprehensiveness, and foresight.

On the issue of representation, we uphold our right to choose our own legitimate leader­ship and to designate our own credible inter­locutors.

Once again, we would like to reemphasize our allegiance to the PLO, our sole legitimate leadership, and our conviction that only the PLO is empowered to represent, lead and sign agreements on behalf of all the Palestinian people. Any lasting, comprehensive, and just peace must be based on the recognition of this fact.

The substance of the peace process must deal with the implementation of UN resolu­tions and the national rights of the Palestinian people, without digressing into issues of sub­jective interpretation or being made sub­servient to Israel's priorities and its de facto exercise of domination and control.

The mechanism of the peace process is the UN-sponsored international conference, and the comprehensive integrated approach remains crucial to the fulfillment of the rights and needs of all parties involved. A full and sustained European participation during the whole course of the process is essential for ensuring its success and for laying the foun­dations for enhanced regional cooperation and development.

From the outset, the issue of assurances and guarantees must be addressed and settled in order to prevent Israel from shifting the goalposts, carrying out punitive measures against the Palestinians, violating any interim agreements, or sabotaging the process in any other way.

A legal frame of reference has to be adopted clearly and openly for the whole pro­cess, based on international legitimacy, and binding on all participants. The Palestinian delegation must have recourse to a fixed legal reference especially in the prevailing condi­tions of asymmetry in power. In addition, the whole process of negotiations as well as the period of implementation of agreements must be carried out within that legal framework.

The objectives of the peace process re­quire lucidity and un-equivocation. The “land-for-peace” formula must mean an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of all the terri­tories occupied in 1967, including East Jeru­salem, the capital of the future Palestinian state. Israeli withdrawal and the exercise of Palestinian sovereignty over the liberated Pal­estinian lands constitute essential compo­nents of any genuine peace process. The Pal­estinian right to self-determination, the right of return, the right to independence and to the control of our own lands and resources are basic to the exercise of sovereignty.

We understand that these meetings with you constitute exploratory steps for the pur­pose of launching a genuine and effective peace process in the right direction and with the participation of genuine representatives. They must not be misconstrued as either ne­gotiations or tacit agreements. 

The painful and unjust conditions of oc­cupation and the plight of the Palestinians in Kuwait unfortunately continue to undermine the possibility of any real peace process and to destroy any confidence in its potential suc­cess so long as these inequities are allowed to prevail.

On behalf of the Palestinian individuals involved,

(Signed) Faisal Husseini

 

Source: Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. xx, no 4, Summer 1991.