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September 19, 2008
Seeking commonality
Canadian-brokered meeting focuses on peace.
RHONDA SPIVAK
Canada's ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, David Viveash, told an audience of Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem that he was "absolutely convinced that governments don't make peace, people do."
Viveash, who has been based in Ramallah for the last three years, spoke at the Notre Dame Centre in East Jerusalem under the auspices of the Canadian International Development Agency. The conference was titled 1948: Sixty Years After Independence/Nakba.... What is Next? The event was organized by the Palestine-Israel Journal, which is co-edited by Hillel Shenker and Ziad AbuZayyad, and features an equal number of Israeli and Palestinian contributors.
Colette Avital, deputy speaker of the Knesset (Labor), and Jibril Rajoub, former national security adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, each spoke at the event, providing analysis of the current political situation.
Viveash, who is retiring this month from his position, said that, "[Canada believes] it is important to develop public awareness and understanding of the narratives that each party brings to the negotiating table. That's why the work the Palestine-Israel Journal does is so important.... It exposes each side to the other sides view.
"On behalf of the Canadian government, it is a great pleasure to support the Palestine-Israel Journal's efforts in helping people make peace," he added.
"I recognize the state of Israel within the 1967 borders," said Rajoub, who is also former head of the PA security forces. But, he said, "I think that after [Yitzhak] Rabin's assassination Israel started to undermine the authority of the PA and focused on expanding settlements and doing the utmost to strengthen settlements in East Jerusalem."
Rajoub also said he thinks that the Israeli condition of "putting security first, has failed all of the time," and that Israel must take into consideration the Palestinian side's need for a state even before the PA controls terrorism.
On this point, Avital said: "No, I don't agree with it [Rajoub's view]. If you have security for both sides, then confidence will follow, but not if you have it for one side and not the other side. Both sides must have security [before proceeding forward]."
Regarding Hamas, Rajoub said, "I was in the Palestinian National Assembly when we decided on letting Hamas run in the Palestinian elections. Our assessment at the time was that most of the Hamas leadership was pragmatic and would recognize facts on the ground. For this reason and others, we did give the green light for Hamas to run in the [2006] elections.
"It is our problem that Hamas defeated Fatah in the elections ... [but] I believe all parties made a fatal mistake in not recognizing the results of this election," added Rajoub.
On the issues of corruption and democracy, Rajoub said, "Corruption is existing everywhere. We [in the PA] made mistakes at the beginning - we arrested Palestinian journalists. We were a newborn entity. I am pretty sure we made a lot of violations of human rights. Having a third party to monitor and help the Palestinian regime is part of our strategy for the future."
Rajoub also said that any future reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah would have to detail an agreement on how to settle the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict. "Hamas should answer whether it wants a bi-national state, one state, two states or three states. We would have to come up with one political platform, which I think is a two-state solution."
In her remarks, Avital said, "My information, which comes more from Palestinian sources, is that there has been progress [in the negotiations between the Ehud Olmert government and the PA] and the fact is that everything is being discussed, including Jerusalem. But I don't think that in today's political reality, anyone would give credibility to any agreement reached by a prime minister that has been so discredited publicly."
Avital also stated, "According to the knowledge we have, at least 80 per cent of the people in the settlements are willing to come back [to pre-'67 Israel] if provided compensation." She added that if such a law providing compensation were enacted by the Knesset, "I think that it would create a dynamic that would be helpful."
She also indicated that it was important to reach an accord that would provide the Palestinians with an independent state soon. "The more we postpone this state, the more we see a trend in Palestinian society that says we don't want a two-state solution, we want one bi-national state."
Avital also said that although she herself was not prepared to enter into "second-track meetings or negotiations with Hamas," she believed that "there are Israelis who are willing to do this."
Rhonda Spivak is a freelance writer who divides her time between Winnipeg and Israel.
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