PA approach to end occupation is 'catastrophic failure'

The ex-Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee has called the political approach adopted by the Palestinian Authority for ending the conflict with the Israeli occupation a “full catastrophic failure”. Yasser Abed Rabbo blamed successive leaderships since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 for this lack of progress.

“The Palestinian political plan, which has been in place since Oslo, has failed miserably and totally,” he told a press conference in Ramallah on Sunday. “The bet on a solution that leads to ending the occupation through negotiations has collapsed.” The 5 year period in which to conduct “final status” negotiations has long since passed and did not, in any case, include a commitment to end the occupation. “It was based on a mutual, yet unbalanced, recognition of Israel’s right to exist, in exchange for the recognition of the PLO as the only representative of the Palestinian people,” he explained.

Calling for the restoration of the PLO Executive Committee in an attempt to save the Palestinian national project, Abed Rabbo stressed the need to forget the illusions of the past and not rely simply on the “glorious history” of the movement. When asked about his removal from the Executive Committee, he explained that he was more concerned about the way it was done, without him being present and with no vote or resolution of the full committee.

“Such a decision not only harms me,” he said, “but also affects our shared history, all the Palestinian traditions and national rules of work, as well as the PLO regime as a collective framework for the whole Palestinian entity.” He added that he was not a party to an imaginary power struggle. “It is the PA which is having this struggle, not me.”

The former official expressed his belief that the PLO cannot be restored to its position as the sole representative of the Palestinian people without wider participation, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. “We need to establish a unified leadership that enjoys the support of all Palestinians and responds to their national aspirations.”

Commenting on media reports about plans to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and its leadership, Abed Rabbo described them as “vulgar myths” and said that he was surprised to see the name of the UAE mentioned. “The Emirates is known for its support for our people on national, developmental and humanitarian levels. I do not think that there is any national interest in it being dragged into these imaginary schemes.”

He pointed out that it is the Israeli government, with its settlement and military wings, which is the only entity to turn against the PA, especially the so-called “Civil Administration” in the occupied West Bank, which withdraws the authority’s powers every day. “The Israelis are turning the PA into an empty structure with limited and weak autonomy, as a prelude to the establishment of a permanent joint system that is shared between the authority and the Israeli occupation.”