SUMMARY

The Palestinian Authority yesterday announced compliance with the Sharm summit understandings, but the announcement (which ran first at 2-PM on Oct. 18 and subsequently) was noteworthy for three factors: 1. It was terse. 2. It was ambiguous. 3. It was conditional on Israel keeping agreements first. (See below for details). In addition, all Palestinian commentators and politicians interviewed stress their belief that Israel will violate agreement.

The broadcasts of October 17-18, after the Sharm summit, stressed Israeli obligations-to withdraw, to lift closure etc-without mentioning reported Palestinian obligations.

The three big achievements of the summit are seen as the inclusion of the UN in monitoring results (through Secretary General Kofi Annan), opening up airport and port, and highlighting Palestinian cause. Iraq has received favorable mention several times for sending aid and for trying to urge a tough line at the coming Arab summit.

Through the broadcasts of Oct 18-19, there has been no clear renunciation of violence. There has been no condemnation of any violence-except by Israelis; Nor has there been any condemnation or even serious criticism of any particular act violence against Israeli civilians, policemen or soldiers (such as the mob lynching or burning of Jericho synagogue), and there has been no general call for Palestinian citizens to exercise restraint or to put away their weapons.

Quite the contrary, VOP continues to identify Israel, Israeli politicians and Jewish settlers as continuing in wanton acts of aggression against the peace-loving Palestinian people.

NEVERTHELESS, THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE IN TONE.

Muhammad al-Sayyad, the head of the Israeli Desk at VOP told Israel Radio (Voice of Israel-Kol Yisrael) that VOP had been instructed to tone down nationalistic messages and music. Mr. Al-Sayyad’s comments, however, are true, but not completely so. Much of the martial music-with explicit blood-curdling lyrics-has been shelved for the moment, but a strong undercurrent of hostility-even threats-remains in the verbal content of news and interview shows and some musical portions as well.

SUMMIT AGREEMENT

Shortly after the Sharm agreement, VOP an agreement was signed. Later, taking its cue from Arafat’s advisor Nabil Abu-Irdeineh, it said the summit ended in understandings, not a real agreement.

REPORTING INCIDENTS

Clashes between soldiers and Palestinians-such as the Giloh shootings in Jerusalem following the summit-are characterized as Israeli aggression and racism. There is no mention of sniping or Palestinian initiation of fire. For example, the Giloh-Beit Jalla incident was reported on Oct17 in the evening and Oct 18 in the morning as an Israeli attack prompted by Jerusalem’s racist mayor ( “hundreds of members of the racist Kach movement led by Mayor Olmert leading the demonstration”). Giloh itself was identified in several broadcasts as “mustmara” (colony) or “mustawtana” (settlement).

The critical sniping attack on an Israeli policeman was offered in the passive voice, without any attempt to identify who the shooter might be. Similarly, the next morning’s broadcast opened with the following item:

“Four citizens were martyred and ten injured in confrontations sparked by the continuation of Israeli aggression against our people.”

INTERNAL DISSENSION

There are some signs of internal dissension (inside Fatah rather than between PA and Hamas), as seen in remarks by Yousef al Kazaz during his commentary on Oct. 19.

DETAILS AND EXCERPTS

October 19-Voice of Palestine 7:00 AM morning headlines (in order):

1. The Palestinian leadership warns against the separatist policy advocated by some Israeli policymakers;
2. The leadership affirms its adherence to the understandings of the Sharm al-Sheikh summit consistent with execution of those understandings;
3. Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Qureia discusses the dangers of the separation policy in an interview;

Interview with AhmedQureia (Abu Ala), Speaker of Palestinian Legislature, 7:05-7:13 AM

“The situation is not just the towns and villages. It is much more dangerous than that. We are not against separation if it is based on the June 4 1967 lines, but we will not allow separation inside our land nor the establishment of lines inside our land.

“The danger of the agreement spoken of between Barak and Sharon is that the first point is the separation policy; the second point is the unilateral annexation to Israel of settlements; the third is the consideration of the Jordan Valley as Israel’s security zone; the fourth point is leaving the question of Jerusalem open for 10 or 15 years without solution. That is the danger and it’s not important which voice expresses it-Prime Minister Barak. It’s important to expose this and fight this before it gets implemented because they believe that force is the only thing that works in the region.

Q: What is your view of the peace process? A: “There’s no question that it has been wounded, and its blood is flowing from the blows it received from the Israeli government. I don’t see any chance of the process being resumed -as spoken of-in the coming weeks, according to President Clinton’s statement.

Q: The language of pressure and threats is not new to the Israelis, then why go back to the dialogue (with the Israelis) if the extremist Sharon is going to be in the government?

A: It’s difficult. The government does not have a parliamentary majority. It’s difficult for Arab parliamentary deputies. I don’t know any country in the world that would open fire on its citizens in such a wicked way that Israel opened fire on its Palestinian Arab citizens in Nazareth, Um al-Fahem, Acre, Haifa and Jaffa.”

Q: What do think about what happened in Sharm al-Sheikh?

A: “This is not an agreement, but a collection of understandings. “We want the protection of our national and personal rights for which our people have struggled. And also not just that, we want the American administration to understand our clinging to our national rights-the right of return, self-determination, an independent state whose capital is Jerusalem–these are not exaggerated (demands) from our standpoint nor are they simply blowing out hot air.”

Commentator Yousef Al-Kazaz: (8:40-10:00 AM) “The Palestinian Ministry of Information condemns the Israeli attempts against President Yasser Arafat, against our elected president. President Arafat clarified the essence of the Palestinian position: “We will defend ourselves, our national legitimacy, the unity of Palestinian homeland from Al Aqsa (note: play on words, means from the furthest point) in the North, from Hebron, from Rafah in the south to Jerusalem in its heart.

“In Sharm al-Sheikh, the Americans, in the person of President Clinton took note of the reality of the Palestinian position for choosing a strategic peace for the sake of national legitimacy, a Palestinian state.

“Any security actions taken on the land by the Israeli occupation will definitely be met by Palestinian security actions no matter what anyone wants or what anyone reacts to it among personalities here or there or anyone inside the Fatah movement. We comfort our wounded who were injured due to the aggression started by Sharon who polluted our holy places in Jerusalem, igniting a bloody war between Israel and Palestine. We mourn our martyrs. They will remain inscribed in our memories, their names on our schools and on our streets.

“We will not abandon our national dream in our Palestinian state, nor will we renounce that dream. We will not be terrorized by Israeli killing and destruction. We have sworn that no trace of Israeli occupation will ever be left in our land. As for the Israelis, if they want peace, if they want coexistence, they have to get out of our land, Palestine.

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