Abbas Declares National Rights of Palestine Key to Peace with Israel
By Genevieve Cora Fraser
President Mahmoud Abbas advised the Hamas dominated opening session of the Second Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC)
that the peace process, which was established by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to build a present and a
future for the Palestinian people in a modern state, must be allowed to move forward if there is to be any hope in
combating Israeli extremism which is attempting to eliminate the political identity of the Palestinian people and its
national rights. Abbas’ comments were in response to statements made by newly elected Hamas members who reject calls for
renewed talks with Israel.
“Our achievements would not have been possible, without the insistence of the PLO on national unity, and its adoption
of the most effective forms of struggle based on carefully examined and studied policies, governed by the national
higher interest for the Palestinian people, and in accordance with international resolutions,” the President reminded
legislators. “The PLO was able to carry our cause to the furthest reaches of the world, to all its peoples, until the
doors of the United Nations opened for us. On that platform, President Yasser Arafat stood in our name, holding an olive
branch, asking the entire world not to drop it. International and regional recognition of our people, the PLO, and our
rights followed. This constituted a political reserve from which we still draw strength and effective international
presence.”
“Likewise, we launched political initiatives with our Arabs and Muslims brothers, expressed through balanced decisions
issued in Arab and Islamic summits. These decisions have placed the national rights of the Palestinian people as the
central cause of both the Muslim and Arab worlds, and in a manner that addresses the entire world with the language of
the modern age,” Abbas said. “The PLO has led this important historic era despite the presence of its leader,
institutions and frameworks in exile.”
In 1988 the PNC met in Algiers and declared the establishment of the State of Palestine in exile through a Declaration
of Independence that accompanied the recognition of United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338. Resolution 242 which was
adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council in 1967 following the Six Day War called for the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, territories that were occupied in the conflict and “the termination of all claims or states of belligerency". The
Resolution also called for the establishment of defensible boundaries for all parties. Resolution 242 was reaffirmed and
made binding by UN Security Council Resolution 338, adopted after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The Palestinian Declaration of Independence was adopted soon after the outbreak of the first popular uprising
(Intifada) in the year 1987. “This political struggle bore fruit when there was an important imbalance in the
international arena as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union and the start of the second Gulf War. These events
necessitated a rethinking and reformulation of new equations for stability in our region. Had Palestine not been present
as a recognized state, and as a PLO that embodies a strong representative political body, the world, with its new
powers, would have bypassed us. No-one would have thought of us in the framework of any international or regional
arrangements,” Abbas explained to the opening PLC session.
“Seizing the opportunity of this presence, a political process was started and the American-Palestinian dialogue, which
was a taboo for many decades, was launched. The peace process was started in Madrid, and we are all aware of its
chapters and developments. At the same time, there were secret channels working which led to the Oslo Accords, and the
mutual recognition of the PLO and Israel. There were many unfounded rumors regarding these Accords, all of which aim at
putting them in question. Most important of these was that the Oslo Accords were signed behind the backs of the
Palestinian people, since the negotiations were managed in utmost secrecy,” Abbas stated in an attempt to lay all cards
out on the table.
“Political action in secrecy is a familiar process in all or most negotiations carried out between two conflicting
parties,” he asserted and reminded the council that the results of the negotiations were made public and presented to
representative political institutions for approval. “This happened when we submitted the Accords to the legislative and
executive institutions of the PLO, which discussed, voted upon, and endorsed them…. Since then, we have accepted and
respected the right of any individual, group or political faction to voice its objection on the Oslo Accords. But we
have not and will not accept any questioning of the Accords’ legitimacy. Indeed, from the hour they were endorsed, they
became a political reality to which we remain committed.”
“Objectively speaking, while we do not consider Oslo to have incorporated all what we want, the Accords have led to the
establishment of the first Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on parts of our homeland. They have permitted the return
of thousands of our people from the Diaspora and exile. They have established this Council,” he reminded the
legislators.
“While Israel wanted the PLC in the beginning to be merely an administrative council devoid of any legislative,
representative, or political content, we imposed it as a body similar in nature to a state’s parliament. We have imposed
elections as the means to choosing members, and we have developed its responsibility and mandate to reach what we have
reached today in the Basic Law – our temporary constitution pending the endorsement of the permanent constitution of our
country.”
Abbas acknowledged that the expectation from the Oslo Accords was that the peace process would end the occupation from
all of the occupied territories in 1967, but “extremists’ in Israel mobilized, leading to the assassination of Prime
Minister Rabin when we were still at the beginning of the path.”
“In reality, it was not a mere political assassination, but an intentional attempt to halt the peace process that was
spearing ahead. It was an attempt to substitute it with a different process consisting of denying the Palestinian
partner, imposing unilateral solutions that are based on the logic of force, and imposing a reality with arms while
continuing the expansion of settlements,” he stresed.
“The subsequent Israeli policies followed a program and implemented measures aiming at the cancellation of the Oslo
Accords. This froze the peace process, unleashed extremism, and destroyed all efforts to create a new atmosphere between
the Palestinians and the Israelis. This all paved the way for the era of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who declared an
open battle against the Palestinian people, and proceeded to systematically destroy the PA’s institutions and
frameworks. During this period, the racist separation Wall was built and settlement activities in the West Bank were
doubled. He introduced an iron fist policy against the Palestinian people everywhere, besieging them and their President
until the latter’s death,” Abbas stated.
Abbas as Arafat’s successor reassured the gathering, “We are pursuing, with our friends all over the world, the reasons
of the late President, our historic leader Yasser Arafat’s death. We will not close this file. The issue of his passing
away will remain open until the truth is out.”
In conclusion he emphasized the importance of “completing the dialogue among all factions and parties to activate our
organization, renew its structures and frameworks, and improve its performance at all levels. We have started this
dialogue a long time ago, and it is time to reach the results hoped for,” he said.
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