Posted on 09/10/2002 2:45:07 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement may announce within "a few hours or days" an initiative to cease all attacks against Israeli civilians.
In a statement, a draft text of which was obtained by Ha'aretz, the organization is to state that "in accordance with the higher interests of the Palestinian people, and with our moral values, tolerant religions and belief, we, the Fatah movement reject and we will prevent any attacks against Israeli civilians."
Hussein a-Sheikh, a senior Fatah official in the West Bank, confirmed that the document had been completed, and said that it could be formally announced "within a few hours or days."
But the truce call does not extend to Israeli forces. "We remain commmitted to our legitimate right to resist the occupation of our land occupied in 1967," the text states.
Fatah said the announcement, addressed to "the Peaceful and Progressive People of Israel and the World", was issued to mark the second anniversary of the Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which erupted in late September, 2000.
Israel Radio reported Tuesday that the announcement was the result of two weeks of intensive negotiations between Fatah figures and EU officials led by special envoy Alastair Crooke.
It said the initiative would include the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the militant Fatah wing responsible for large numbers of Israeli civilian casualties in bombings and shootings since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising nearly two years ago.
The statement pledges that resistance to Israeli occupation will continue "until our people achieve their legal national right of return and self-determination, and the establishment of the independent State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital consistent with relevant international resolutions."
The move to call for a halt to attacks follows a Monday speech by Arafat to the Palestinian parliament, in which Arafat condemned all operations targeting civilians, stating that strikes against Israeli civilians were counterproductive to the Palestinian cause.
The parliament was rescheduled to reconvene Tuesday amid widespead internal dissatisfaction with Arafat's leadership and charges of mismanagement and corruption on the part of some of his associates. Arafat has been under strong internal pressure to appoint a prime minister to share power and administration.
Israel, meanwhile, has pressed the Palestinians to shift the focus of authority to others. As an apparent consequence, the text of the Fatah announcement states that "we all reconfirm our support for our elected leader, Yasser Arafat, who is the symbol of Palestinian patriotism. We will resist all external attempts to interfere in internal Palestinian politics. The Palestinian people alone have the right to choose their leaders."
The Fatah text concludes by urging an immediate return to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. "We seek to achieve peace immediately and are ready to fulfill the requirements of this peace upon finding a partner on the Israeli side. The only choice we have is to live side by side in two neighboring states, in security and peace, far from hatred, violence, and war."
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