The Geneva Accords are successful, right-wing Rabbis accused of incitment.

December 01, 2003

Today's Contents:

U.S. Welcomes Geneva Accord; Arafat Sends Letter of Support (Ha'aretz), Israeli opposition Continues, Palestinian Reaction Mixed

World Leaders Back Geneva; Rightist Rabbis: Plan is Treason (Ha'aretz), Right-Wing Rabbis Accused of Incitement

U.S. Welcomes Geneva Accord; Arafat Sends Letter of Support

[The Geneva Accords were officially signed today. Over the weekend, opposition in the Occupied Territories crystallized, as some negotiators were severely harassed as they made their way out of Gaza and into Egypt. Shots were even fired at the home of Yasser Abbed Rabbo, the lead Palestinian negotiator of the Accords. Meanwhile, Yasir Arafat, who was said to have been fully apprised and supportive of the negotiations, sent a letter of support, but has not endorsed the Accords. Indeed, over the weekend, Arafat seemed to indicate that he was not going to authorize Fatah members to go to the signing, but in the end, he did. Arafat's reluctance surely stems from the strong opposition among Palestinians to the Accords, opposition which includes leading Fatah figures. Fatah is Arafat's own party. the divided opinions among Palestinians surely pleases the Sharon government.

While 250 right-wing rabbis denounced the Israeli negotiators of the Accords (actually going so far as to say they should be cut off from "the brotherhood of humanity"), world leaders from the Arab world, Europe and even former presidents of the US all came out to show their support for the Geneva initiative. While the Bush administration's support is tepid and geared toward emphasizing the "Roadmap" over and above the far superior Geneva document, the Israeli government continues its harsh condemnation of the accords. Sharon government spokesman Ra'anan Gissin called it the "Swiss golden calf", a reference to the biblical idol, the ultimate affront to God. The lack of strong US support and the almost hysterical response of the Likud government speak well of the potential of the Accords, even while the popular opposition in both Israel and Palestine (opposition that seems to be shrinking, certainly in Israel) points up some of the Accords' shortcomings. This would all seem to add up to a document that needs a lot of work, but remains the best place to start hammering out a real peace. -- MP]

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/366879.html

U.S. welcomes Geneva Accord; Arafat sends letter of support

By Mazal Mualem (Geneva), Arnon Regular and Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondents

GENEVA - U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Monday welcomed the Geneva Accord as one that would advance dialogue between the two sides.

Speaking on the day that the unofficial draft peace plan was launched, Boucher stressed that it was important to remember that the issues dealt with in the proposal would ultimately be decided by the governments, and said that the U.S. remained committed to the internationally-brokered road map for Middle East peace.

"We think the road map is the way to make progress. Down the road of the road map, to abuse the metaphor, we get to the point where these big issues have to be discussed. We think it's worthwhile that people are already considering them, discussing and debating them in Israeli and Palestinian society."

Boucher reiterated that both sides needed to meet their "responsibilities and obligations."

The initiators of the agreement are slated to meet Friday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, where they will update him on the details of the plan.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser also expressed support for the Accord on Monday, calling it "a brave and courageous initiative," which he said "opens the door to peace."

Arafat has been confined by Israel to his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah for almost two years, and delivered his message via a missive read out to the Israelis, Palestinians and world leaders gathered for at the ceremony to launch the Accord.

In the letter, Arafat urged Sharon, whose government has expressed strong opposition to the initiative, to show his support for the plan, which he said was offered the path to a complete and just peace between nations paved by assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. He also proposed a resumption of talks with Sharon.

He also called, however, for the implementation of United Nations resolution 194, which advocates the right of Palestinians to return to lands within Israel's borders.

Arafat also condemned the barrier Israel is building to separate itself from the West Bank, calling it " a racist separation fence."

Speaking at the ceremony, former United States president Jimmy Carter said that in order for peace to descend upon the Middle East, Palestinians first had to renounce violence and Israelis had to choose between peace with its neighbors and settlements.

"There remains one basic choice for the Israelis: do we want permanent peace with all our neighbors, or do we want to retain our settlements throughout the occupied territories," Carter said. "And it is of equal importance that the Palestinians renounce violence against Israeli citizens in exchange for the commitments of this Geneva initiative."

Prominent Israeli and Palestinian politicians and peace activists gathered Monday to launch the Accord. The delegations arrived in leased planes funded by the Swiss government, to attend the launching ceremony.

"It is unlikely that we shall ever see a better foundation for peace," said Carter, after receiving a standing ovation from a packed Geneva conference hall. "The people support it. Political leaders are the obstacle to peace."

Carter also was critical of the Bush administration, saying that while it had been supportive of Israel, it had ignored the well-being of Palestinians. He also criticized the Israeli government for allowing the number of settlements to skyrocket.

Hollywood actor Richard Dreyfuss, master of ceremonies at the event, said that "peace is far too serious to be left exclusively to governments."

"People are terrified of the world they seem to be leaving to their children," he said. "[This initiative] is the people's claim to their place at the table."

The unofficial treaty proposes borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state close to the 1967 lines, giving the Palestinians almost all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and part of Jerusalem. It calls for the removal of most settlements and largely sidesteps the "right of return" for Palestinians. It also divides sovereignty in Jerusalem and gives the Palestinians sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

The tightly-guarded guest list prior to the ceremony, strong opposition from the Sharon government and last-minute dissension Sunday within Palestinian ranks underscored the problems facing the plan that resulted from two years of secret negotiations.

"For the first time in more than a hundred years of conflict a detailed and comprehensive solution was agreed upon which settles the most critical issues of this conflict," the negotiators said Monday in a statement.

Yossi Beilin, the architect of the Accord on the Israeli side, said ahead of the ceremony that the initiative was also meant to bring about a change in government policy. "It is an educational act... We want to bring about a change in public opinion that will then bring about a change in the government's view," he said.

"I'm confident this day will mark a new beginning in progress toward historical compromise," Beilin's Palestinian partner and former minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told reporters. "We've learned from our mistakes. We're building on efforts we made in the past."

Sharon's media adviser Ra'anan Gissin called the Geneva document "a Swiss golden calf" for the Israeli left, and said it was tantamount to Israel committing suicide.

World leaders back Geneva; rightist rabbis: plan is treason

By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/367217.html Fifty-eight former presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers and other global leaders released a statement Monday expressing "strong support" for the Geneva Accord, as a 250-strong group of right-wing rabbis issued an edict branding the Israeli negotiators as traitors who should be shunned by the world.

"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has taken far too great a toll already," said a statement by the world leaders, many of whom were Western European, but also included former Presidents Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, F.W. de Klerk of South Africa and Ernesto

Zedillo of Mexico, as well as the longtime West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher.

Hailed at the two-hour ceremony by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter as offering an end to bloodshed, the plan also won messages of support from King Hassan III of Morocco, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey dubbed it "a little light in the darkness."

Labor MKs Ophir Pines-Paz and Eitan Cabel called on Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein to investigate the rabbinical ruling that those behind the accord are traitors who should be put on trial.

The ruling, released as the Accord was launched in Switzerland, drew calls for a police inquiry from leftists who see it as incitement of the kind that led to the 1995 assassination of then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin by a right-wing extremist.

The rabbinical committee, which has no official status, declared the peace pact an "act of treason" whose negotiators should be "brought to justice and declared outside the brotherhood of humanity."

The rabbis also expressed anger at proposals to grant Palestinian sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

Pines-Paz said that the ruling was tantamount to incitement.

"This madness must be stopped right away," Cabel said. "This insane ruling paves the way for someone to kill those behind the Geneva Accord."

Jewish Peace News Editors: Adam Gutride Ami Kronfeld Rela Mazali Sarah Anne Minkin Judith Norman Mitchell Plitnick Lincoln Shlensky Alistair Welchman

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