JOINT ARTICLE BY THE FOREIGN SECRETARY, JACK STRAW, AND THE NORWEGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, JAN PETERSEN, FOR AL HAYAT NEWSPAPER, FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2003

The international community is facing two simultaneous crises in the Middle East. While disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction is most urgent at the moment, a solution for the violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an equally important precondition for long-term peaceful development in the region.

So the international community must take as much care to address the crisis in Israel and the Occupied Territories as the crisis that results from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. A lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must deliver security for Israel and a viable state for the Palestinians. If we are going to achieve that, we need to get a political process back on track. We also need to tackle the economic plight of the Palestinians and avert a humanitarian catastrophe. And we need to build on, and accelerate, progress made on Palestinian reform. A series of high-level international meetings taking place in London this week is intended to work towards these objectives.

MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS

The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee of donor countries met on 18-19 February led by its Norwegian Chair, and on this occasion co-chaired by the EU. The AHLC was followed by a meeting of the Task Force for Palestinian reform on 19-20 February, led by the UN. Both meetings are hosted by the United Kingdom. The four members of the Quartet - the EU, US, Russia and the UN - are participating in both meetings.

Israelis and Palestinians are now two and a half years into the second intifada. It is far more fierce and deadly than the first. Yesterday’s stones and handguns have been replaced by today’s explosive belts and attack helicopters. The second intifada has claimed more than 2000 Palestinian and 700 Israeli victims, and tens of thousands wounded. We have seen waves of Palestinian suicide attacks on Israeli civilians; a heavy-handed Israeli military reoccupation; a drastic deterioration in the humanitarian and economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and political deadlock.

This is a difficult challenge for the international community. Since the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles (‘The Oslo accord’) in September 1993, donor countries have contributed heavily to the development of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The EU has always been the largest overall donor while Norway has been the largest per capita donor. Priority has been given to rebuilding and modernising Palestinian infrastructure; establishing well-functioning Palestinian institutions; expanding education and healthcare; developing the Palestinian economy; increasing awareness of human rights; preventing corruption; and strengthening NGOs and other key elements of civil society. Assistance to Palestinian refugees elsewhere in the Middle East has continuously been provided through the United Nations and other channels while the fate of the refugees remained unsettled.

During recent years many of these projects have been halted, damaged or destroyed. A majority of Palestinians – not long ago enjoying relatively high standards of living and education – are impoverished and increasingly dependent on food aid. Access to education and medical care is limited; the economy is near collapse; and travel outside or within the Palestinian area is either hard or impossible. Infrastructure is heavily damaged across the Palestinian Area. An entire generation of Palestinian children is growing up in an environment where tanks are more frequently seen in traffic than school buses. Israeli children, on their part, fear every Palestinian as a terrorist. The current violence will mark the new generation on both sides well into adulthood.

POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS

There have been some positive developments. The Palestinian reform process is one example. The international community is assisting the Palestinians in this work through the Task Force on Palestinian Reform. Fully implementing the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ambitious reform program, ensuring a sufficient degree of accountability, transparency and effectiveness, will both benefit Palestinians and assure Israel that the PA can act as a trustworthy and capable partner in the peace process. The progress in the reform process has been uneven, but given the adverse conditions the PA has been operating under, the overall progress has been considerable.

There are also other encouraging signs in an overall situation where it often can be difficult to identify rays of hope. Opinion polls show a majority on both sides for a two-state solution involving, among other things, evacuation of Israeli settlements, an Israeli withdrawal, and an end to Palestinian terrorist attacks. The international community has come together to help the parties get out of the current impasse. We share a vision of two states living side by side in peace and security. We are eagerly awaiting the adoption by the Quartet of a ‘road map’ with clear time lines and benchmarks to assist Israel and the Palestinian Authority in reaching a comprehensive settlement. In a situation where the parties themselves often seem to lack the courage to make the necessary moves towards a peace settlement, it is of great importance that the international community acts to help the parties to take the perhaps painful but necessary steps.

IRAQ

Meanwhile, the pressure on Iraq, firmly based on UN Security Council resolution 1441 and previous resolutions, is at the forefront of world attention. Saddam Hussein should seize his last chance to disarm in co-operation with UNMOVIC and IAEA.

All efforts must be exerted to prevent further escalation in the Middle East should a war in Iraq prove unavoidable. The donor community is making its own contribution with the meetings this week in London. We hope they will take the parties one important step ahead towards greater stability in the Middle East and help re-launch the peace process that both peoples desperately need.

الترجمة العربية

Notes for Editors

 

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