Ramallah, 22-07-07: "An attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the world" was how Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP and General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative today described a public statement by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on an alleged Israeli military withdrawal from areas of the West Bank.
Dr. Barghouthi underlined that Olmert‘s plan constituted only a partial redeployment from parts of the West Bank that does not include the dismantlement of any settlements, a withdrawal from East Jerusalem or the Jordan Valley - which constitutes 24 percent of the total area of the West Bank - and makes no mention of redeployment to 1967 borders.
He added that such a proposal is designed to deform the idea of a Palestinian state with full sovereignty into one characterised by clusters of cantons and Bantustans resting on a system of Apartheid worse than that which prevailed in South Africa.
Dr. Barghouthi pointed out that Olmert was coordinating efforts with some international parties to transform the idea of a Palestinian state into nothing more than a self-governing authority over people – not land – living in a series of disjointed ghettos.
He said that this was yet the latest attempt by Olmert to gain acceptance for the concept of a Palestinian state within interim borders, and to evade negotiations over a final status agreement.
Dr. Barghouthi warned Palestinian parties from falling into this trap of new illusions, emphasising that Olmert‘s proposal was more dangerous than the unilateral redeployment from the Gaza Strip in 2005 in that he is now seeking to impose unilateral plans with Palestinian Authority approval.
He added that this was taking place in the absence of real negotiations on an equal footing, and with the use of Palestinian internal political divisions by the Israeli government to block the road to fruitful negotiations which would lead to a comprehensive, just settlement in accordance with international legitimacy.