David Gerstman
Baltimore Maryland
12/3/97
Baltimore Sun
Letters Editor
To the editor:
Anne LoLordo's report ("Israel Agrees to Cede More Land,"
December 1, 1997) on a recent Israeli Cabinet decision to surrender more
land to the Palestinian Authority (PA), describes the terms Israel
attaches to future withdrawals as "preconditions." It's as if Israel has
heaped new responsibilities upon the shoulders of Yasser Arafat and the
PA. The Israeli demands are neither new nor arbitrary. Israel is
insisting that the PA fulfill the obligations it accepted in the Oslo
Accords of 1993 and 1995 as well as the Hebron Accord earlier this year.
So far the PA's record of compliance is abysmal.
The PA's fight against terror has been sporadic at best; the PA's
police force consists of at least 35,500 men, exceeding the limit set by
Oslo Accords by nearly 50%; the PA refuses to extradite terrorists to
Israel; Arafat has not rescinded the PLO charter which calls for the
destruction of the Jewish State and PA officials regularly engage in
inflammatory rhetoric against Israel.
It's ironic that the article quotes Palestinian official Saeb
Erakat hoping that "·the United States, which gave us guarantees, will
have a say." Though Erakat's wish is that the U.S. will pressure Israel
to carry out a redeployment that's been due since March, LoLordo doesn't
challenge his claim by pointing out that that it was the PA that rejected
that redeployment. Furthermore, it is time that U.S. stood behind its
guarantee and insist that the PA make good on its many commitments.
By her choice of words and her choice of interviewees, Ms.
LoLordo casts the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations strictly in terms of
Israeli obligations and Palestinian expectations. This is misleading.
The unfulfilled Palestinian obligations are the main reason there is an
impasse in the negotiations with Israel. The sooner the U.S. realizes
this and brings pressure to bear on Arafat and the PA, the better.
David Gerstman
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