[Islam-Online- Europe]

In an interview with IslamOnline Dr. Nabil Amr, Minister of the Parliamentary Affairs and Adviser to PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat for Media Affairs, said Arafat, who had been leading the Palestinian people's national struggle for more than 40 years, is negotiating over issues of destiny.

The Palestinian people are expecting from Arafat to achieve accomplishments through negotiations, and Arafat knows the limits of points accepted and not accepted by the Palestinian people, the minister added.

Liquidation of Palestinian issue:

Answering a question on the possibility of liquidating the Palestinian issue through reaching an agreement that does not satisfy the Palestinian people, Amr said: "Arafat has been negotiating for five years, before which he was a fighter for freedom. He will bring in a solution, which the Palestinians will accept and benefit from. If Arafat hadn't Arafat adhered to these rights, this issue would have ended the day after the Oslo Agreement. Although talk is being concentrated on the declaration of a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, whose capital will be Jerusalem, it will never stop about the issue of the refugees, which is the core of the Palestinian cause. No one can cast doubts on the capability of the PNA, the PLO and Arafat to find a national solution to this more important issue."

Israeli inter-conflicts:

Regarding the situation in Israel, he said: "It is true that there is a sharp internal conflict. There is a conflict over political options; there is a conflict on how to make peace with the Palestinians and the Arabs; there is a conflict over government; there is a conflict in the Knesset; there is a conflict inside parties and in the street. We, the Palestinians, are seriously considering what is going on in Israel. We are working in a well-planned way for reaching our national rights and regaining them from Israel, whether the ruling party is Labor or Likud and whether the Premier is backed by all, half or one third members of the Knesset. Barak wasted precious time, but finally became aware of the importance of peace with the Palestinians."

"We are aware that this matter is in our favor. We will keep working till the Israelis reach a clear fact - there is no hope of Middle East stability unless they admit to the Palestinian people's national rights, enshrined in the resolutions of international legitimacy. We believe that Israeli is getting weaker, and that we are likely to benefit from the internal condition in Israel. Unfortunately, Israel's weakness is not met with power in the Arab or Islamic attitude. That is why matters are getting complicated, despite the fact that they are boosting, even slowly, the Palestinian people's national rights."

Nabil Amr considered the Israeli condition a reason for instability and confrontations. He said: "The possibility of explosion remains, as long as there is no convincing progress in the peace process. A new factor has been added to this explosion - the internal situation in Israel. It was the first time that an Israeli premier went to negotiations, while being threatened with murder if he came back, and while having no legitimate government.

This situation in Israel encourages (people) to believe that internal preparations in Israel for peace are not enough, and the situation may be more dangerous in the future. I am not saying so to intimidate anyone or gain media propaganda. Rather, this is a fact. The Palestinians and the Israelis alike will be harmed."

"As for the Americans, this explosion is a feature of their failure in their Middle East policies. Therefore, the Americans are trying to contain the situation and hold the threads of the game from all sides. If they cannot manage to reach a solution, they will try to prevent it from reachingthe explosion stage. We fear that matters may become out of control of all parties. At this very moment, it is difficult to read developments, and know to what extent the U.S. will continue as a sponsor of the peace process."

Nabil Amr supported the view that Israel would do nothing except recognizethe Palestinian State, when it would be proclaimed. He said: "The Israelis can do nothing at the end except recognize the Palestinian State. However, they are exerting utmost efforts to limit the Palestinian ambitions. The problem is which state Israel should recognize? It is the state that includes all Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, whose capital is Jerusalem that was occupied in 1967, and which has international borders with Egypt and Jordan. Moreover, borders of this state should be demarcated with Israel as well, and Israel should recognize the Palestinian State that would have free foreign relations, sovereign checkpoints and enjoy full sovereignty. This is the state that Israel should tame itself to recognize."

The American situation:

Regarding the American situation, he believed that it was not fair. The PNA deals with the U.S. as being the most powerful state in the world that cannot be disregarded and that has interests in the stability of the Arab world. He said: "We are doing our utmost efforts to face the American pressures. It was not the Israelis, who were negotiating during the Camp David talks. Rather, it was the Americans. I agree that the U.S. loses its neutrality and objectivity when matters are related to Israel. However, it finds itself compelled to work for settlement because the harms of explosion in the Middle East are greater than those of the continuation of the peace process."

Arab & Islamic attitudes:

As for the Arab and Islamic attitudes, Nabil Amr believed that they did not rise up to the required level, and they only voiced old statements and fatwas (religious opinion). He raised questions about actions done "by our brothers in Iran, our brothers in Indonesia and our brothers in any other Muslim country. What have they done for Jerusalem? If fataws are sufficient, we have one hundred thousand Sheikhs in Palestine whose statements are better than those transmitted by radio and TV channels. The Imam of the Aqsa Mosque is facing occupation. The congregation in the Aqsa Mosque is facing occupation. Schoolchildren are facing occupation. We don't want others to lead us with a remote control. In Jerusalem, there are 300,000 Palestinians, against whom tendentious schemes were laid down to compel them to depart. The Jerusalem people have been steadfast under the leadership of Arafat, and their number has been on the increase. However, while we were trying to help the Jerusalem people become more steadfast, accusations were leveled against us. Hadn't this been our policy for years, the issue of Jerusalem would have ended decades ago."

Harvest of Arafat's tour after Camp David:

On the results of PNA Chairman Arafat's tour in the wake of the Camp David summit, Nabil Amr differentiated between the attitudes of the European and Arab countries. He said: "On the European arena, the visits were necessary to brief them on the truth of what had taken place in Camp David, so that the Israelis might not individually narrate a distorted story. The PNA Chairman found European caution regarding the declaration of the Palestinian State. This caution is ascribed to the clear American stance, which announced its absolute rejection of the proclamation of the Palestinian State unilaterally, and the European keenness on maintaining the peace process so that the situation might not explode in the region. These points dictated the cautious European situation. Hence, Arafat's visits achieved success at variant degrees. Unfortunately, the Arab situation did not rise up to the weighty issues raised ."

Palestinian State between declaration & postponement:

Amr cast doubts on PNA Chairman Arafat's unilateral proclamation of the Palestinian State on September 13. He believed that there was a need for postponing the declaration of the Palestinian State for a short time, so that the existing obstacles might be removed. He said: "September 13, 2000 was set during the Sharm Al-Sheikh meeting. It is a hypothetical, not actual, date because the period set for settling the final status issues was insufficient, and Camp David came to provide a new chance and new accounts. In light of what took place in Camp David, the possibilities of final status settlement are better than before, but not in the short run."

On scenarios raised in case the state is declared unilaterally or postponed till a solution is reached through negotiations, he said: "The scenarios are almost known. If the state is unilaterally proclaimed, the U.S. will condemn this proclamation, and this condemnation, in turn, will encourage Israel to adopt aggressive measures against the Palestinian people, and many world countries will hesitate in announcing strong support for the state proclamation. If the declaration of the state is delayed, there will be a kind of popular discontent and accusations and doubts against the PNA credibility will be leveled. However, the Palestinians may understand the reasons for the postponement, if it is accompanied by a tangible progress in the peace process that will lead to achieving the Palestinian people's national rights. The situation will not be easy in both cases. Have matters been easy for the Palestinians before?"