Posted on 05/08/2002 9:41:18 AM PDT by anniegetyourgun
CAPE TOWN, May 8 — Former South African President F.W. de Klerk said on Wednesday Israel and the Palestinians were not ready for an accord along the lines of the 1994 settlement that halted South Africa's plunge into a race war.
De Klerk said his then whites-only National Party and Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) were committed to negotiations, determined to reach a settlement within a limited time and ready to make real sacrifices on matters of principle.
''These elements are not really present in Israel and Palestine at the moment,'' he said in a wide-ranging South African Broadcasting Corp radio interview on Wednesday.
De Klerk shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela, his main negotiating partner, about a year before he handed the presidency to the former political prisoner after the country's first all-race election in 1994.
At least 15 people died in a suicide bombing in Israel on Tuesday that undermined current peace efforts and could trigger a renewed Israeli crackdown in Palestinian areas.
The attack was the first in nearly a month and came as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington. Sharon cut short his visit after news of the attack.
De Klerk said the Middle East conflict needed a new broker to help end the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
''America is seen too much as a close ally of Israel to enable it to play a truly interactive role and a go-between role.
''I think new initiatives must be brought in in the form of people, instances, organisations who will not be accused of having a hidden, private, selfish agendas. They must try to find a role for such people to influence and stimulate such a process,'' he said.
De Klerk retired from politics five years ago and currently heads a foundation dedicated to conflict resolution.
In Israel the situation is different. BUt, if they did grant the right of return, it would soon be very similar to that which existed in South Africa.
One other thing--Arafat ain't Mandela.
And the AIDS capital. If the AIDS/HIV plague continues (self inflicted, mind you), the white Afrikaners may become the majority.
You mean the peace that has devolved South Africa into the violent crime and anti-white racism capital of the world? Some loss to Israel...
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