Palestinian People

Jacques Chirac, the first French premier to visit Israel, called Sunday for Palestinian self-determination and an international Middle East peace conference. "How can other peoples and more specifically the Palestinian people avail themselves of the right to self-determination, that imprescriptible right that the Jewish people were among the very first to champion?" Chirac said in a speech. "Israel's right to existence and to security must be unambiguously guaranteed.

Re "Palestinians are being robbed by Israel," Opinion, Feb. 21 Thank you for publishing the hard-hitting essay by Amira Hass on Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax and customs revenue. By documenting Israel's apparent drive to starve and further humiliate an already dispossessed people, Hass exposes the utter sham of the Israeli mantra, "We have no peace partner." Above all, Hass challenges Americans who, intentionally or not, are allowing billions of our hard-earned tax dollars to be used to underwrite the ongoing misery for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

The various warring parties in the Middle East--be they the Palestinians, the Israelis or the Arab states, including Syria--have clearly indicated their desire for a peaceful settlement as an alternative to more conflict. Good intentions are not enough. Each party to the dispute has demands of their own that are in direct conflict with the interests of the other parties. To resolve the issues, it must be primarily understood that the Palestinians are the victims of the present struggle.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday expressed hope that a successfully negotiated vision of a Palestinian state would marginalize the militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. "There will have to come a time when the Palestinian people will have to decide whether the prospect of that state is in their interest, and I think they will decide that it is," Rice said after meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said today that if the Palestine Liberation Organization does not renounce terrorism and recognize Israel, another negotiating representative for the Palestinian people must be found. Sources said, however, that Palestinian leaders in the Israeli-occupied territories have already spurned such a suggestion as "misplaced."

The so-called Prince Abdullah plan--which would offer Israel normalization of relations with the Arab world in return for withdrawal from all the lands Israel seized during the 1967 Middle East War--contains a number of positive proposals for solving the Israeli-Palestinian problem. But it is far from being comprehensive. And it omits any reference to those who should be held responsible for this tragic conflict.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley crossed the Jordan River from the Israeli-occupied West Bank into the kingdom of Jordan on Wednesday and spoke of the "importance of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people." Bradley, who said he is visiting the Middle East to promote business ties between Los Angeles and countries in the region, is expected to meet today with Jordan's King Hussein, whom he described as a "man of vision and courage."

Re "U.S. Should Jump at This Chance to Resolve the Palestinian Issue," Commentary, Oct. 31: Edward Arbington and Amjad Atallah say that the "president should appoint an envoy who will reflect by his or her stature the U.S. commitment to bring this conflict to a close." Further, that "it is time for peace, and the United States must lead the way." Interesting. Though the U.S. has a significant role in the Middle East, in reality, the Palestinians have as much, possibly more, influence than the U.S. They could have accepted the opportunity to have their own state in 1947; they refused.

King Hussein today urged the Muslim world to support the rebellion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where more than 100 Arabs and an Israeli soldier have been killed since Dec. 8. Opening a conference of foreign ministers of the 46-member Organization of Islamic Conference, he said: "The Palestinian people have a rightful claim on us to support their uprising both on the national and international level so that the uprising may bear fruit."