| The Middle East |

The Diplomatic View: Palestine

The Head of the General Delegation of Palestine (GDP) to
Ireland, His Excellency, Dr Hikmat Ajjurri speaks to SIGNAL
about the situation in his fractured country and how the
Palestinians can forge a viable, independent and peaceful state.

Mr Ambassador, could you describe the relationship at present

between the General Delegation of Palestine (GDP) controlled area
of Palestine and the Hamas controlled region of Gaza? Are there
common goals which you feel are being addressed and do you feel
that the Hamas modus operandi has usurped international opinion
about the Palestinian issue?
I think that the impact of the Hamas issue has been overstated.
The fact that Hamas were elected in Gaza does not alter the basic
fact that all Palestinians desire to have their own country. This is
what Hamas also wants, but it does not know how to pursue this aim
in a sensible manner. As a faction, Hamas is less experienced in
the workings of democracy and international relations and they have the path he is following. We know he is
completely failed to sustain the momentum which led them to victory not ready to take the necessary steps.
in the election. The moratorium on settlement building
Although we know that Hamas does not recognise the state was not, as was recently described by the
of Israel, they should have honoured the work of the previous Israeli Ambassador, a “one time confidence
administration, the Fatah government, towards peace. The mandate building measure to encourage the start
given to Hamas by the people of Gaza ended in January of this year, of peace negotiations.” According to the
why have they refused to hold elections? They have refused because 2003 Road Map1 for negotiations, which
they know they will not be re-elected. They effectively conducted Israel accepted, they are required to freeze
a military coup in Gaza and have made no meaningful progress all settlement activity, including natural
towards a better Palestinian State. Essentially, since they will not Below: A growth of existing settlements, prior to
hold the elections, they are ruling by force. They have also fallen Palestinian boy the start of negotiations and to maintain
into the trap of following the way of the Israelis, which is the way of throwing stones the freeze throughout the negotiations.
force. The game of violence and power is an Israeli game. Hamas at an Israeli This is also forbidden under international
did not renew the truce with Israel, which expired on December 19th Merkava tank. law, specifically article 49, paragraph 6,
2008, because they wanted to provoke Israel into a military reaction
which would then turn international opinion against the Israelis
and therefore bolster the Hamas regime. That’s an exceptionally
dangerous tactic when you consider the lives of 1.5 million Gazans.
But there was provocation on both sides. On November 4th 2008,
Israel conducted an incursion into Gaza which killed 6 Hamas
militants; this was when the truce was supposed to still be in force.
I also think that Israel was eager to repair the damage done to the
reputation of its much vaunted military during the 2006 conflict with
Lebanon. What it did during operation ‘Cast Lead’ in 2008/9 was a
crime.

What are your thoughts on the recent talks and their apparent
collapse?
The recent collapse of the talks highlights how the Israeli
administration operates. Jack Katzenell, Associated Press writer,
quoted Prime Minister Netanyahu on 17th January 2002 as saying
“A Palestinian State must never be established”. And that is exactly

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
of the 4th Geneva Convention, which states: “the occupying power
shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into
the territory it occupies.” The UN Security Council has also made
this clear in resolutions 446, 452 and 465 which all demand the
cessation and removal of settlements. Israel has completely refused
to resume even a partial freeze of this illegal activity as required
by the Road Map. Because of this defiance of world opinion, the
Palestinian leadership has reluctantly decided to reconsider its
participation in direct negotiations with Israel.
In relation to the GDP, do you actively represent the Palestinians
that are living within the 1948 Israel and what is your interaction
with that community?
Our relationship is like that of any nation with its Diaspora. We
are part of a different state. The Palestinians in Israel are known as
Israeli Arabs and they are citizens of that country, they carry Israeli
passports. There is no doubt that there is discrimination against
these people, who represent approximately 20% of the Israeli
population. The benefit that they do have is in the elections they
can make their voice heard. There are politicians in the Knesset, the
Israeli parliament, who represent the Palestinian view. They have
also been very supportive of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
This is openly accepted by all sides. That said there has never
been proper Arab representation, at Ministerial level, in any Israeli
Government. This is part of the tactics of discrimination. The Israelis
| The Middle East |
use the pretext of the fact that Arabs do
not serve in the Israeli Defence Forces. I
don’t think this is a convincing reason. The
situation, however, has improved since
the Oslo Accords2, prior to that it was very
bad. Going forward, the key word is trust.
Should there be an acceptable solution to
the ongoing conflict then I do expect things
to improve. I expect and hope matters will
improve at every level because otherwise,
if mistrust remains, the prevailing Israeli/
Palestinian narrative will continue and there
will be no peace in the Holy Land. If there
is no peace in the Holy Land then there
will be no peace in the world. The terrorist
atrocities of the last decade are all collateral
to this conflict. I think the United States,
despite Israel’s best efforts, are starting
to recognise this. An extremist like Osama
Bin Laden dares to speak on behalf of the
Palestinians, saying that unless they feel
safe in their own land then nobody else will
feel safe in theirs. What gave him the right
to speak on my behalf? These people are
disgracing the name of Islam and it makes
me very angry.
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| The Middle East |

As a solution to the Israeli/Palestinian
issue, would you favour a single state
with equal citizenship for Palestinians and
Israelis or would you favour a two-state
solution?
The two state solution is the only viable
option; there is no question about that. The
Palestinian Authority has accepted this as
our main objective. The problem is that the
aggressive seizure of land by the Israelis
will leave no room for the second state, our
state, to exist. Israeli settlements and the
wall they have built will effectively confiscate
40-45% of Palestine. This is unacceptable.
The founding father of the Israeli state,
David Ben Gurion, said; “if I was an Arab
leader I would never make peace with Israel.
That is natural, we have taken their country.”
That said we have reached a stage where we
realise that peace is the only solution that
matters for our people so that is what we
are pursuing.
The ‘Arab Initiative’, signed in Beirut in
2002 and endorsed by Arab nations ever
since, offers a normalisation of relations
with Israel once the territory taken in the
1967 conflict3 is returned. They have taken
22% more of our territory and we have
already given more than they deserve.
United Nations resolution 1814 granted
over 56% of the territory to Israel, which
only had 30% of the population. Since this
resolution in 1948 Israel has managed to
convince the world that they are continually
threatened by their neighbours. We are only
asking that the Israelis return the territory
they took following the 1967 war, a conflict
they started with a pre-emptive strike
after they claim they were provoked by the
Egyptian maritime blockade and the speech
by President Nasser to the United Nations.
The 1967 Palestine borders are what are
acceptable to us and with agreement on
this, we could have peace.
wish to stay and become Palestinian citizens in a nation governed
by the Palestinian Authority then they would be welcome to do that.
However, I believe that it’s a hypothetical question as the Israelis
would want to leave.
What is your vision for the future of the city of Jerusalem?
Jerusalem is Palestine; there can be no Palestine without
Jerusalem. Also, for 1.5 billion Muslims, Jerusalem is home to our
third holiest shrine. Palestinians are considered by Muslims to be
the guardians of these holy places and this holy city. Jerusalem must
be the diplomatic capital of Palestine and under our jurisdiction. If
we lose Jerusalem we lose our identity. We also accept that there
are Jewish holy places in the city, such as the ‘Wailing Wall’ and we
are ready to negotiate to have these places under Jewish jurisdiction.
In a two State solution what would your vision for the Palestinian
state be in terms of economic viability, security, foreign policy and
sustainability - how would you hope to see it developing over the
next decade?
In the future we have to consider the possibilities of being
friends and partners with our Israeli neighbours, we have to reach
agreement at all levels, economically and politically. At present, it is
very hard to grow a state when your state is under occupation. The
system of checkpoints disrupts every facet of Palestinian life. It is
killing the potential for our businesses to grow, for people to get their
produce to markets where they can sell it. Oranges, strawberries,
flowers, olives, the Palestinians grow the very best of these and
in the past we were very successful exporters. We have resources
and in particular we have human resources. We are an intelligent,
educated people. The economic viability of Palestine depends on
ending the occupation. We don’t need support, or handouts, we will
create our own future in our own country if we are given the proper
opportunity. Fundamentally we need to link our two regions, so a
Below: Palestinian 36km corridor between the West Bank and Gaza, the two parts of
security forces on our Palestinian State, is an economic imperative. We have a lot to
parade. contribute to the region.

Do you harbour genuine hopes for the

repatriation of the ‘1948’ refugees?
This is an impossible question to answer
until occupation ends. With economic
growth there will be more jobs and more
opportunities. The Palestinian Diaspora
abroad makes a very large contribution
to our country. They will not all return, we
know that, but they all have the right to
choose. If Israelis currently living within what
constitutes the 1967 borders of Palestine

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The Israelis have said that the West Bank Wall has been a huge
success in security terms. What is your opinion of it and what it
represents for your people?
Was this wall really built for security purposes? The answer is
no. It was built to confiscate land and to ensure the exodus of
Palestinian people because the wall separates Palestinian people
from their farms, from water resources, from schools and public
facilities. Why is it not built along the 1949 Armistice Line or ‘Green’
line? Why is it built between 100 metres and 8,000 metres inside
my land? I hope this wall will never be completed. The security
of Israelis is a very legitimate concern. Hamas have realised
that inhuman methods of attack, such as suicide bombings, are
unacceptable. It is an indiscriminate, random method and we totally
condemn it. The killing of innocent people is always wrong and is
a crime. We hope that Hamas will also stop their indiscriminate
rocket firing because all it is doing is playing into Israeli hands,
allowing them to respond with tactics like this wall and also military
responses. The Israelis know how to provoke us. David Ben Gurion
also said that it “is very important that Israel knows how to provoke
the Arabs into provoking us.” Israeli propaganda is also a hugely
powerful weapon. It is used at every level and at every opportunity.
In the days immediately after the beginning of the ‘Cast Lead’
operation, the former Israeli Ambassador to Dublin had an article in
the Irish Times to justify the war. They were well prepared for this.”
If we look longer term, where would you hope to see your country
and Israel in the next 15-20 years in terms of development and
progress towards a more secure and equal environment?
I am confident in the progress of Palestine as an independent
state because we are right and they, the Israelis, are wrong. We have
history and morality on our side. The world has begun to listen to our
view, despite the best efforts of the Israelis. I think there is also a
sense of guilt on the part of the US and the EU because they have
ignored us for so long. Now, our struggle is in front of people every
day, new media has made the world a very small place and what is
happening can no longer be kept away from people. Also, there is
a sense of exasperation with the situation. Many wars have come
and gone, the cold war itself has ended, there have been huge
geopolitical shifts on the world stage and yet always, for over half a
century, the Israeli and Palestinian conflict has endured. We have
| The Middle East |
tried conflict for so long, is it not now time
to try peace? I believe that the actions of
the Israelis will not fool the world forever.
Its behaviour is becoming more and more
that of a state which acts with impunity and
irrationality. Why are they refusing to meet
EU Foreign Ministers? What gave them the
right to forge passports of other countries,
including Ireland, in order to carry out
assassinations? If the EU and the US do not
exert continuous pressure, then the Israelis
will continue to act with impunity. We believe
that if negotiations fail, like the recent
ones, then a solution should be imposed.
The United Nations should do this. We have
been talking since 1991; the high point was
under the Israeli leadership of Yitzhak Rabin
and the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords
in 1993. Rabin was a visionary and he was
assassinated in 19955 for this. I have such
respect for him and what he tried to do.
Since then, things have gone backwards.
We need new impetus because currently
the Israelis are not sincere about wanting
peace. Their former Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir said, ‘if we are given the chance we
will talk to the Palestinians for ten years
and give them nothing.’ That’s exactly what
is happening. This is the Likud way and
Netanyahu follows it. Israel uses the issue
of external threats to the state to hold Israeli
society together. There are deep divisions
within Israeli society which will rupture
eventually. If the Israelis were serious about
peace they would return the Golan Heights
to Syria and there could be peace between
the two countries tomorrow. Why do we
Arabs have to give them our land to please
them? They have the power; they have the
most powerful army, that is not in dispute.
The Israeli nuclear programme, which they
refuse to discuss, continues to destabilise
the whole region and yet the focus is on Iran
and their programme. I am not a supporter
of the Iranian President Ahmadinejad but
why is it only their nuclear programme which
is under such international scrutiny. Why
will Israel not sign the non-proliferation
treaty? Why will nobody ask them about
the deteriorating condition of their reactor
at Daymona which threatens all around it?
These are all questions that Israel needs
Above: The to answer but there has not been enough
controversial collective political will from around the world
Israeli security to even ask these questions. That must
barrier. change.
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| The Middle East |
What is the relationship like between
Ireland and the Palestinian Authority and
how have you found your own time here as
Ambassador?
Recently our President, Mahmoud
Abbas, was in Ireland and he gave me
documentation of citizenship to give to an
Irish citizen who was on the Gaza flotilla that
was attacked by the Israelis. We want to
repay our Irish friends for their support and
solidarity and offering them citizenship is a
way of doing that.
The Palestinian Foreign Service is still
growing. I am appointed as an Ambassador
of Palestine to Ireland. But since I head the
General Delegation of Palestine I presented
credentials to the Minister of Foreign
Affairs rather than to the President here.
But things are changing, recently Spain,
France and Portugal have recognised our
General Delegations as diplomatic missions
and our Ambassadors in those countries
present their credentials to the heads of
state there. I hope Ireland will follow and I,
or my successor, can do the same here. I’m
very lucky to be in Ireland. This is a unique
country; Ireland upholds its values and is
led by its values on the world stage. Ireland
generally has always been supportive of
our cause. Indeed your former President
– Eamon DeValera – was one of the few to
vote against the partition which created
Israel in 1948. This country believes in
peace, you have never sent your soldiers to
war, you have only sent them in the service
of peace. Ireland, historically, knows what
it is like to live under occupation. Ireland
cannot change the world but at least it
raises its voice to criticise oppression.
This support is greatly appreciated by the
Palestinian people and I am very proud to be
an Ambassador to this country.
‘‘Recently our President, Mahmoud
Abbas, was in Ireland and he gave me
documentation of citizenship to give to an
Irish citizen who was on the Gaza flotilla
that was attacked by the Israelis. We
want to repay our Irish friends for their
support and solidarity and offering them
citizenship is a way of doing that.’’
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Footnotes
1.
The “road map” for peace is a plan to resolve the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict proposed by a “quartet” of international
entities: the United States, the European Union, Russia,
and the United Nations. The principles of the plan, originally
drafted by U.S. Foreign Service Officer Donald Blome, were first
outlined by U.S. President George W. Bush in a speech on June
24, 2002, in which he called for an independent Palestinian
state living side by side with Israel in peace: In exchange for
statehood, the road map requires the Palestinian Authority to
make democratic reforms and abandon the use of violence.
Israel, for its part, must support and accept the emergence of
a reformed Palestinian government and end settlement activity
of the Gaza Strip and West Bank as the terrorist threat is
removed.
2.
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles
on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of
Principles (DOP) was a milestone in the ongoing Palestinian-
Israeli conflict, one of the major continuing issues within
the wider Arab-Israeli conflict. It was the first direct, face-
to-face agreement between the government of Israel and
the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). It was intended
to be the framework for future negotiations and relations
between the Israeli government and Palestinians, within which
all outstanding “final status issues” between the two sides
would be addressed and resolved. Negotiations concerning
the agreements, an outgrowth of the Madrid Conference of
1991, were conducted secretly in Oslo, Norway, hosted by the
Fafo institute, and completed on 20 August 1993; the Accords
were subsequently officially signed at a public ceremony in
Washington, DC on 13 September 1993, in the presence of PLO
chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
and US President Bill Clinton. The documents themselves were
signed by Mahmoud Abbas for the PLO, foreign Minister Shimon
Peres for Israel, Secretary of State Warren Christopher for the
United States and foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev for Russia.
3.
The 1967 Arab-Israeli War or the Third Arab-Israeli War was
fought between June 5 and June 10, 1967, by Israel and the
neighbouring states of Egypt [known then as the United Arab
Republic (UAR)], Jordan, and Syria. The outcome was a swift
and decisive Israeli victory. At the war’s end, Israel had taken
effective control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from
Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the
Golan Heights from Syria.
4.
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a
resolution adopted on 29 November 1947 by the General
Assembly of the United Nations. Its title was United Nations
General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) Future Government of
Palestine. The resolution recommended the termination of the
British Mandate for Palestine and the partition of the territory
into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.
5.
The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin took place on November
4, 1995 at 21:30, at the end of a rally in support of the Oslo
Accords at the Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv. The assassin,
Yigal Amir, a right-wing religious Zionist strenuously opposed
Rabin’s peace initiative and particularly the signing of the Oslo
Accords.