OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
AND THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE
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Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Remarks by the Minister of Construction and
Housing of Israel regarding Jewish settlement
in East Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 6 April 1992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Excerpts from a TV interview with Foreign Minister
of Israel David Levi, Jerusalem, 9 April 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Excerpts from a speech by King Hussein at the University of Jordan,
Amman, 12 April 1992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Extracts from the Labour Day speech by President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak,
Cairo, 30 April 1992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Arab-Israeli peace negotiations: chronology of meetings
(October 1991-April 1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
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Since April 1991, at the request of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat has prepared on a monthly basis a compilation of relevant recent statements, declarations and proposals regarding the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, including the question of Palestine and the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East for the use of the Committee members and observers. The present issue covers the month of April 1992.
Reproduced herein are only those parts of the statements, declarations, documents, proposals and initiatives, quoted or summarized, which relate to the Arab-Israeli conflict and the question of Palestine.
Remarks by the Minister of Construction and Housing
of Israel regarding Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem,
On 6 April 1992, at Jerusalem, following a meeting with the heads of Jerusalem City Council and all the leading officials of the Construction and Housing Ministry of Israel, Mr. Ariel Sharon, Minister of Construction and Housing made the following remarks concerning the Government's plans for construction and Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem:
"…
"Jewish neighbourhoods and houses will be within the Old City, both in the Muslim Quarter and adjacent to the walls, in accordance with government policy.
"It is certainly the Government's plan to strengthen Jewish settlement in the City of David [Silwan], on Mount Scopus, and the Mount of Olives. We believe it is very important that there be Jewish life in that area, so we are working on land purchases and planning to promote a programme of reinforcing Jewish settlement in those areas."1/
Excerpts from a TV interview with Foreign Minister of Israel
David Levi, Jerusalem, 9 April 1992
Appearing on the "Meeting" programme of Israel Television Network broadcast on 9 April 1992, at Jerusalem, Foreign Minister of Israel, Mr. David Levi stated the following inter alia with regard to the peace process:
"We want to promote the peace process. We want to achieve peace with our neighbours. This is our initiative, and we have done a great deal to advance it. We have surmounted numerous obstacles and for the first time have reached a situation in which we are facing our neighbours across the negotiating table and discussing peace. We want peace more than anybody else. True, there are difficulties that lie in the attempt by a party sitting at the negotiating table with us to deviate from the principles that have been determined and agreed upon….
"…
"I am referring to the Palestinians. It is not the first time that we have had an opportunity to advance toward an agreed solution to the Palestinian problem, but this should follow the road we have jointly outlined. We should now focus our minds and efforts entirely on beginning the stage involving the establishment of autonomy. Therefore, the whole attempt at playing a sulking game, of not entering a room, of sticking to a corridor and a couch, and later of starting to talk of the second, post-autonomy, stage before we have reached an agreement on the establishment of autonomy – a popular saying could apply here: They put the cart before the horse. All this, including the sulking game, was carried out in public and publicized in the media. Statements to the media, day in and day out, do not promote anything, and we want to promote things. In Moscow too, instead of sitting down with us, as most Arab countries did, they again played the sulking game and did not enter the negotiating room.
"…
"I see no last round of talks. Whenever a war ends, we have a single prayer – let this be the last war. This is the only last thing I hope for. I believe that the nations of the region share our prayer. The opinion of this or that leader may be different, more complex perhaps. This does not mean that this will be the last round. We are interested in continuing, and the election campaign will not halt the process.
"We will go to Washington. We will be all too happy to find a venue for the next round of talks. The closer it is to our region, the clearer will be the importance of the meetings. We are not going to haggle in Washington. We are going to discuss issues. It is really absurd to travel thousands of miles and not meet our next-door neighbours. I hope that this is understood and everyone will see the desire of all parties to make progress toward peace.
"…
"Israel has approved this meeting. We have also offered several venues for the next meeting. We hope that the Arab side will raise no obstacles and that no one will try to freeze the process. We have worked very hard to attain it. We have a great desire for it. We have sacrificed a lot to make progress. I hope the other side is responsible as well.
"…
"Certainly. In Moscow there was, for the first time, a meeting of vast proportions with many Arab representatives. Those who fail to understand the importance of this cannot understand the change coming to our region, albeit slowly. Representatives came from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Morocco, and even some faraway places like Mauritania. It was set up to allow us to see what peace can get us; life not death, construction not destruction, hope not despair. I was very glad that everyone, except for some arguments here and there, spoke about this hope. This is hope for all those who suffered death and pain in this region. I also want to stress that we have managed to set up joint working groups with the Arabs and other countries that wish to help promoting issues such as water, infrastructure, agriculture, medicine, and many others.
"…
"The late Anwar al-Sadat said that before an agreement has been reached, arguments with Israel are often very difficult, but once it signs an agreement, it keeps it to the letter – and it is matched by no one in this. I was very glad to hear the same remark from President Mubarak when I met him in Cairo. We are demanding the same of all the others.
"The document at the foundation of the peace process is the Madrid formula. We will neither budge from it nor will we allow others to change anything in it. If a change is made, it could have serious ramifications."2/
Excerpts from a speech by King Hussein
at the University of Jordan,
On 12 April 1992, addressing the students at the University of Jordan, at Amman, King Hussein of Jordan said the following regarding the Jordanian position on the question of Palestine:
"We are witnessing the circumstances under which our people and brothers in the occupied territories are suffering. We hear and experience them every hour and every day. They adhere to their land and their cause, and they are ready to sacrifice themselves to defend them. They have suffered from expulsion and eviction. For the third time, we welcome large numbers of our sons and relatives who, this time, return to us from our big Arab homeland. It is a state of siege, which might not be absolutely clear, but about which we as Jordanians and Palestinians are annoyed.
"The issue is that our cause is just and strong. The Palestinians assume responsibility for the Palestinian side of it. This side has been able to exercise its right to defend itself, its land, its affiliation to this land, and its future and fate. We have enabled the Palestinian side, as it wanted, to begin the process at a certain stage under an umbrella provided by Jordan to the Palestinian-Jordanian side, along with the other parties in the Arab world and Israel.
"On another level, we have always called for an international conference under the auspices of the five permanent Security Council member States. Now, with the process that has begun with the participation of many States in this world, we have been given more than that. As for the results of the Palestinian cause and the issue of Palestinian rights on Palestinian national soil, the Palestinian side is shouldering its responsibility to explain its cause in accordance with its interpretations and views. Since the 1967 setback, we have been trying to restore the land to its owners and allow them to decide its future and fate. In the early seventies, we voiced such a concept. Let us first regain the land and then the people will choose whatever they want. The land is theirs. Regarding sovereignty in light of resolution 242, we are talking about States on which a battle was imposed, as well as the well-known results of this battle. We are dealing with the resultant situation. We are talking about our land here and about the good people and our brothers who are living on it, regardless of their origins. Here we are one family. We do not accept anything else. We support our people and brothers with regard to their rights on their national soil. We hope to carry out our duty and to play our role in supporting them so that they can regain this right.3/
"Extracts from the Labour Day speech by President of Egypt
Hosni Mubarak, Cairo, 30 April 1992
In his Labour Day speech broadcast on 30 April 1992, at Cairo, by the Arab Republic of Egypt Radio, the President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak explained his country's position in the peace process currently under way:
"We were certainly pleased with the resumption of the peace march. We believe that peace is the foremost option available to all the region's peoples. Peace is the only way that we will achieve security and stability, spare the region the hazards of violence, bloodshed, and the squandering of resources, and enable it to plan for the future and continue the reconstruction march. Above all this, peace is the God-chosen course for the faithful, provided that favourable conditions are available and balance is achieved among the various individual interests.
"No one can deny that the Arab parties involved have come a long way. They did not stop despite the obstacles and difficulties. On the contrary, these difficulties enhanced their will and determination to face the challenge bravely and without fear or panic. I would particularly like to note the courageous Palestinian stand, which seeks peace and the ability to face the challenge. This could have never been possible if the Palestinian people had no great struggle experience which molded their own vision through successive events and a courageous leadership which is capable of safeguarding the trust and shouldering the responsibility.
"Israel should take the necessary measures and meet the Arabs half way and pave the way for a real coexistence which safeguards the interests of each party and guarantees legitimate rights. It is no longer a secret that this requires, first, the recognition of the land-for-peace principle; the end to settlement building in all occupied Arab territories, including Arab Jerusalem; and the end to conditional negotiations and obstacles to peace. These practices will serve no one, achieve nothing, or avert threats. On the contrary, they increase suffering and deepen hatred and malevolence.
"I believe it is appropriate for me to appeal to the Israeli people from this platform, and in these days in particular, to make up their minds and declare their clear willingness to opt for peace and their desire to do what it takes to bring about a historic reconciliation between the Arabs and the Israelis. To every Israeli, I say it is high time to close the curtains on the past, with all its complexities and accumulated problems, and to reach an agreement with all your Arab neighbours which does not reflect the burdens imposed by occupation and hegemony or is based on obsolete concepts of superiority or expansionism. This agreement should flourish under a fraternity based on equality in rights and duties, mutual respect, and collective participation in facing the challenge of reconstruction and survival.
"The peace talks are in progress. There is no alternative to these talks; even in the new world order there is no alternative. This is final. We wish we had proceeded according to the Camp David accords long ago, although some parties are still saying: We are against Camp David. Why do they not say they are against al-Sadat, not Camp David? Does Camp David exist? Camp David told them to withdraw from the land, namely that Israel would withdraw with its military forces from the territories to security points to be agreed upon in (Cairo). There were no settlements or anything else at the time. That was what the accords stipulated. Had the accords been implemented, settlements would not have been built.
"We have regained our land and everything else and we are keeping up with and aiding the peace process. We are making a great effort toward the peace process; we are making contacts with the Americans and the Israelis for the sake of peace so that we can attain the just rights of the Palestinian people. Today 75 per cent of the occupied territories are covered with settlements. We had them in our hands without settlements. Today some still say that they reject the Camp David accords. How nice! Perhaps declaring such a stand would get them more money. These words are obsolete. I forgot Camp David; I no longer know what is in it.4/
"The Arab-Israeli peace negotiations:
chronology of meetings (October 1991-April 1992)
The Middle East Peace Conference took place from 30 October to 1 November 1991, at Madrid, under the co-sponsorship of the United States and the USSR.* The following rounds of multilateral and bilateral negotiations were held between October 1991 and April 1992:
30, 31 October – 1 November 1991 Madrid
28-29 January 1992 Moscow
10-18 December 1991 Washington, D.C.
13-16 January 1992 Washington, D.C.
24 February – 4 March 1992 Washington, D.C.
27-30 April 1992 Washington, D.C.
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* For statements made at the Middle East Conference, see Issue 7 (October 1991) of this publication.
1. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: Near East and South Asia, No. FBIS-NES-92-067, 7 April 1992, p. 16.
2. Ibid., FBIS-NES-92-070, 10 April 1992, pp. 20-22.
3. Ibid., FBIS-NES-92-071, 13 April 1992, pp. 30-31.
4. Ibid., FBIS-NES-92-085, 1 May 1992, pp. 14-15.
The Arab-Israeli peace negotiations:
The Middle East Peace Conference took place from 30 October to 1 November 1991, at Madrid, under the co-sponsorship of the United States and the USSR.* The following rounds of multilateral and bilateral negotiations were held between October 1991 and May 1992:
30, 31 October – 1 November 1991 Madrid
28-29 January 1992 Moscow
10-18 December 1991 Washington, D.C.
13-16 January 1992 Washington, D.C.
24 February – 4 March 1992 Washington, D.C.
27-30 April 1992 Washington, D.C.
Multilateral negotiations on
regional issues (Working Groups)
11-12 May 1992 Brussels Economic development
11-14 May 1992 Washington, D.C. Arms control and
13-14 May 1992 Vienna Water
13-15 May 1992 Ottawa Refugees
18-19 May 1992 Tokyo Environment
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* For statements made at the Middle East Peace Conference, see Issue 7 (October 1991) of this publication.
