Beilin, Abed Rabbo come up with draft peace plan

Nov. 25, 2002 Beilin, Abed Rabbo come up with draft peace plan By MATTHEW GUTMAN

The Palestinians are willing to give up on the right of return in exchange for Israel's symbolic acceptance of its "responsibility" for the refugee problem and a token number of returnees, according to an unofficial draft for a final peace accord, drawn up by former Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and the Palestinian Minister for Information Yasser Abed Rabbo.

The unfinished document, leaked just days after Labor Chairman Amram Mitzna indicated his willingness to negotiation with Yasser Arafat, is based along the lines of the Clinton proposals and picks up where the Taba Talks broke down in January 2001, several months into the current Palestinian uprising.

"The goal of presenting the document is revealing whether it is possible to initiate a real and pragmatic peace plan and whether it would be possible to convince Israeli public opinion that the path to peace is still open," Rabbo told reporters Sunday.

Israel would not be forced to recognize the Palestinians s right of return and would allow only a small number of them to settle in Israel. The rest would be allowed to settle themselves in one of five European countries.

Sources in the Prime Minster and Foreign Minister s offices mocked the draft, saying that it "is harmful to the negotiating position of Israel, dangerous to the people of Israel and is laden with electoral politics of the left." Others said that Israel "has only one government, and Yossi Beilin is not it."

Palestinians have been returning to live in Israel for decades under such frameworks as reunification of Palestinians living in the territories with family living in Israel proper, added Beilin.

"These are numbers that will have no impact on the demographic balance, especially because any accord based on the Clinton plan will mean that more than 200,000 Palestinians now living in East Jerusalem will no longer be living in areas under our control, so from the standpoint of the demographic balance, there will be fewer Palestinians under our control," said Beilin, in referrence to the 2000 Clinton plan which called for an almost 100% return of the West Bank, or a commensurate land, and the division of Jerusalem into Israeli and Palestinian capitals.

Rabbo said that the draft would be presented at a signing ceremony in Europe prior to the Israeli elections, in order to show that there is an alternative to Israel s current policies vis- -vis the Palestinians.

But Beilin thought the prospects less rosy. "I am not totally convinced that our work will be finished within a number of weeks," said Belin who has reiterated his belief that the right of return, which he called the "red line of the Zionist peace camp," is unacceptable to Israel, he told Israel Radio Monday.

Sources close to Beilin said that news of the talks were leaked prematurely. Neverthless, the clock is ticking to draw a border between Israel and the Palestinians, as there will be a Palestinian majority west of the Jordan by 2010, the source said. One of the first to launch into talks with members of the PLO in the early 1990 s, Beilin has been meeting regularly with Palestinian counterparts since Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister in February 2001.

Yossi Beilin and the brain-dead Israeli Left are not going to pick up more votes with this warmed over Clinton Plan stunt. Amidst the continuing PLO terror and homocide bombings, this surrender to the PLO deal is yesterday's news.

Assuming the Eurotrash would take them in. It would be more realistic if all the Palestinians were resettled in Iraq, but its beyond the Labor Party's intellect to even propose such a plan to Israeli voters. Amram Mitzna and the party's Extreme Leftists think kissing the PLO's butts will win Jews over to them. All of which shows how much they're in complete denial about the reality of life in Israel today.

Let's be fair to General Mitzna. He never proposed nor endorsed this. Yossi Beilin is to his left, politically. Not that there is very far to the left to go, but if there is a way to get there Mr. Beilin will find it.

General Mitzna does have extreme views. He could go even further to the left to keep Beilin and the Commies on board. Its going to be interesting to see how his soft on terrorism and Arafart is my peace partner views resonate with the Israeli electorate.

Look, I won't be voting Labor in this election. I believe Prime Minister Sharon is the leader we need to keep in office. Having said that... lay off the red baiting, OK? Leftist views does not equate to Communism. Mr. Beilin, as much as he is taking the wrong approach, isn't a Communist and never has been. Amram Mitzna is more likely to move to the right to keep Fuad Ben-Eleizer on board than he is to bend to Yossi Beilin's views.

Just yesterday Amram Mitzna described Yasser Arafat as "a terrorist who has broken all his promises." I think he knows who he is dealing with.

The point is moot anyway. The chances of the mayor of Haifa moving to Jerusalem to take over the national government are only slightly better than the chance that President Bush will invite Saddam Hussein to the White House for tea.

In other words, they're coming out with a surprise peace negotiation in order to get votes for Labor. Actually, I don't think this is a bad thing. If they can get real concessions from the Palestinians, and the Palestinians live up to their side of the treaty, Labor deserves another chance at ruling Israel.

"It would be more realistic if all the Palestinians were resettled in Iraq, but its beyond the Labor Party's intellect to even propose such a plan to Israeli voters......"

You'd think so , wouldn't you?

I don't think there is any way Iraq, or any other muslim ME country will willingly take the Palis. These people have done NOTHING for the last 50 years but sit on thier dead butts in camps, and whine with thier hands out for aid. ( When they aren't blowing up people) The Jordanians got smart years ago and actually carved off a piece of thier land to get rid of the Pali "refugees" they had.

The Palis do NOT make good citizens and even their "Brothers in Islam" know it! All of the whining we hear in Muslim-Land about the "Plight of the Palestinians" is for the cameras, and to keep things stirred up.

No one WANTS these losers! Just my not-so-humble opinion of course! :-)

If they can get real concessions from the Palestinians, and the Palestinians live up to their side of the treaty, Labor deserves another chance at ruling Israel.

That's ain't gonna happen.

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