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Archivierte Meldungen aus den Jahren 1995 - 1999

M'ARIW
Translation of the unabridged version of an article
published in Ma'ariv, October 4, 1999

Uri Avnery:
SAFE (FOR WHOM?) PASSAGE

Something peculiar happened to the two words "safe passage".

When this term was coined in the Oslo agreements, the intention was that the passage will be "safe" for the Palestinians. Now it seems that Barak and his people mean that it will be "safe" for Israel.

Let us remind those that have forgotten (or who never knew): The "safe passage" was already a part of the Cairo agreement (1994), and was mentioned again in Annex 1 of the Interim Agreement (1995). Even in the original Declaration of Principles (1993), it was said that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip constitute "a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period" (Article IV). In order to implement this principle, several safe passages were agreed upon set out precisely on the map attached to the agreement. They were to be opened already in May 1994. Like dozens of other articles, this one too was violated by the governments of Rabin, Peres and Netanyahu.

From the wording and context of the article, it is quite clear that it refers to passages where the Palestinians will move freely between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in order to implement the principle that they are a single unit, in spite of the geographical division. The agreements do not state that the passages will be exterritorial, because they do not deal with Palestinian sovereignty, but it is obvious that this was meant in practice.

Now, after a slight delay of five years and five months, Barak offers to respect the obligation. Respect in a peculiar way. Because the offer is far from the implementation of the original agreement.

First of all, only one single passage is offered. For a Palestinian, it will be easier to fly from Gaza to Rome, using the new international airport, then to travel by land from Gaza to Nablus. And, more importantly, the "safe" passage will be extremely unsafe for him: he will not be sure that he will be allowed to use it at all, and he will not be sure that he will not be arrested on the way. Every trip will be subject to bureaucratic harassment, in the best case, and constitute a wager on his freedom, in the worst case.

The Israeli officers who are conducting the negotiations (if one can call this diktat negotiations) want to make sure that every single phase of the passage will be under complete Israeli control. For the sake of security.

This is a bad omen for the future. The former Chief of Staff, who is the present Prime Minister, has put all the matters concerning peace with the Palestinians into the hands of a group of army, Mossad and Shin-Bet officers. This week it was reported that the Shin-Bet agrees to the setting up of a Palestinian state. This is, too, the opinion of the army and the Mossad, and therefore also of Ehud Barak. But when they say "state", what do they mean?

As far as territory is concerned, they mean to tear away large chunks of land for the so-called "settlement blocs", including the settlements and hill-top outposts that are being built these very days under the auspices of the army. But in the remaining territory - some 15% of Mandatory Palestine - they do not want a real state to be created. They want an entity that will be completely cut off from the surrounding countries. The air and sea ports, the border passages to Egypt and Jordan, the passages between the separate parts of the state itself - all will be under total Israeli control. No person and no goods will pass without an Israeli permit. No Palestinian will come home without Israeli consent. No Palestinian will serve in the Palestinian Police and bear arms without Israeli confirmation. All this under the pretext of "security" - a pretext that justifies practically everything. Even when a Palestinian breathes he may endanger security - after all, who knows whether he does not take away air from a settler?

In international parlance, such an entity is called "Bantustan" - after the "homelands" set up by the racist white regime in South Africa for the blacks (who belonged to the Bantu tribes). The territories enjoyed nominal autonomy, even some trappings of sovereignty, but in reality they where completely under the control of the white overlords.

The dream of creating a Palestinian Bantustan is, of course, ludicrous. No Palestinian will accept such a state. The Palestinians are no Bantus (and even the Bantus did eventually destroy the apartheid regime). The whole plan is based on an abysmal contempt of the intelligence officers for the Palestinian people and its leaders - a contempt that has already brought on us disaster in the past.

The same logic that has already compelled successive Israeli governments against their will to recognize the existence of the Palestinian people and negotiate with Yassir Aarafat, will also bury the idea of the Bantustan. Barak and his people, too, will learn from experience. Pity for the time wasted and all that will happen on the way.

haGalil 10-99

Die hier archivierten Artikel stammen aus den "Anfangsjahren" der breiten Nutzung des Internet. Damals waren die gestalterischen Möglichkeiten noch etwas ursprünglicher als heute. Wir haben die Artikel jedoch weiterhin archiviert, da die Informationen durchaus noch interessant sein können, u..a. auch zu Dokumentationszwecken.


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