U.S. and Israel press for more concessions from Palestinians
1989Adam Wood 1989-01Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 1 →
Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: expect misread words, and now and then a caption or a line from a neighbouring story. For anything you quote, read the scan.
Scan page 1
Israel's right to exist. Arafat also announced "ambiguous" by the State Department, and The U.S. State Department must have P.L.O. chairman Yasir Arafat a little confused. On Nov. 15, speaking for the Palestinian National Council (PNC), Arafat delivered a historic concession that had long been demanded by the United States.
The PNC declared that it would accept U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338, which recognize that the PNC condemned all forms of terrorism. George Shultz had proposed earlier in the year that an international peace conference be held to deal with the Middle East and that each of the participants "accept U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and renounce violence and terrorism."
Arafat and the PNC were now ready for the peace conference, but where was the United States? The PNC declaration wąs called the U.S. government demanded a clearer statement of support for Israel's right to exist.
The U.S. State Department blocked Arafat's attempt to address the United Nations in New York, forcing the U.N. General Assembly to hold a special session in Geneva to hear his proposals. On Dec. 13, Arafat spoke to the General Assembly and reiterated the position adopted by the PNC. The U.N. greeted his presentation with overwhelming support. Surely the United States would reconsider now.
Still no good. Arafat's statement "got a cool reception from administration officials." (San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 14, 1988)
Finally a bite Finally, on Dec. 14, Arafat called a press conference where, for a third time, he recognized Israel's right to exist and renounced terrorism. This time, he got a bite.
George Shultz called a press conference where he declared that the U.S. government was now ready to negotiate directly with the P.L.O. toward the convening of an international peace conference. Negotiations between a P.L.O. delegation and the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia began on Dec. 16.
The San Francisco Chronicle (Dec. 15) noted that during his press conference, Arafat had used the term "renounce" terrorism rather than "condemn." The paper speculated that this may have been a key element in Shultz's turnaround. But it seems a little far-fetched that the United States would hold up international negotiations for a month over one verb.
In reality, the U.S. government understood the historic nature of the PNC's decision from (continued on page 18)