WEST BANK/GAZA STRIP/ISRAEL: WHEN U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON MEETS PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT IN WASHINGTON, THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE WILL BE THAT OF PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD

Record ID: 399106

  • Title: WEST BANK/GAZA STRIP/ISRAEL: WHEN U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON MEETS PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT IN WASHINGTON, THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE WILL BE THAT OF PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD
  • Date: 23rd March 1999
  • Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP, MARCH 22, 1999 (REUTERS) 1. SV EXTERIOR PALESTINIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY 0.03 2. SLV SIGN READING: "PALESTINIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY" 0.07 3. SLV PEOPLE WAITING FOR PASSPORTS INSIDE MINISTRY 0.11 4. MCU MINISTRY EMPLOYEES WORKING ON PASSPORTS 0.20 5. CU COMPUTER SCREEN WITH PASSPORT APPLICATION 0.23 6. SV/
  • Embargoed: 7th April 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK; GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP; NABLUS, WEST BANK; TEL AVIV, ISRAEL AND BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVADC7JGH16D83WSCPXM81KRJ1XR
  • Story Text: When U.S.President Bill Clinton meets Palestinian
    President Yasser Arafat in Washington, the most pressing issue
    will be that of Palestinian statehood.

    Clinton and Arafat meet on Tuesday (March 23) to
    discuss the Middle East peace process and the prospects of a
    Palestinian state.

    Last year Arafat promised to declare statehood on May 4,
    the day peace agreements with Israel expire, thus fulfilling
    the decades-long dream of millions of Palestinians scattered
    across the globe.

    Israel, which occupied the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza
    Strip in 1967, has announced that the issue of statehood must
    be negotiated on and that a unilateral declaration of
    statehood by Palestinians would nullify the already stalled
    peace process.

    The agreement, which was signed on May 4, 1994, says that
    Palestinians will be given self-rule and that talks would
    begin on final arrangements, to be complete five years later.

    The final-status talks have hardly started.Since the
    agreements don't say what will happen after the date of
    expiry, some lawyers say that Israel could nullify the deal
    and re-occupy the Palestinian areas.

    Palestinian officials said that the declaration is only
    one of several options, but that something must be done to
    fill the legal vacuum.

    Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Korei said
    Palestinians would declare a state of their own because there
    is no alternative.

    Former chief Palestinian negotiator Haidar Abdul Shafi
    explained that for the 1994 declaration to be effective
    Palestinians needed territorial sovereignty.

    Israeli Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was
    sending a special message to the United States, saying that he
    would not accept a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian
    state with Jerusalem as its capital.

    The U.S.administration and European Union oppose the
    declaration of a Palestinian state at this time, fearing that
    it could rally Israelis to support the right-wing prime
    minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in the elections of May 17.

    Nothing is expected to happen in the peace process until
    after the elections.

    Arafat will also push Clinton for a public recognition of
    Palestinian rights to self-determination.

    Meanwhile, Arafat and the Palestinian Authority he has
    headed for the past five years have been quiety building the
    foundations of a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which
    have a combined population of 2.4 million Palestinians and
    over 100,000 Jewish settlers.

    Today, Palestinians travel on Palestinian passports
    through a Palestinian airport, drive cars with Palestinian
    plates and are policed by Palestinian security forces.They
    also send letters carrying Palestinian stamps and pay taxes to
    Palestinian authorities.

    Several countries have recognized the Palestinian areas as
    a separate entity and opened representative offices there.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register