The Economical Way to Prepare an Accord

["John Gelles" <indexed-savings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I believe this letter (and even the long Accord) need to be
broadcast as much as possible. So I thought of an excuse
-- note the extreme economy is assigning the job of
writing a draft accord to two people (and a few of their
friends ?). Note also that if the Accord makes a difference,
the effect on the world economy may well be enough to
kick off a boom in investment and diplomacy to rival the
best ever years of the past.
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    NYT, OP-ED Section,  December 1, 2003


                AN ACCORD TO REMEMBER

    By YOSSI BEILIN and YASIR ABED RABBO

    GENEVA - Today, civic leaders from across the Israeli
    and Palestinian political spectrum are gathering here to
    publicize what has become known as the Geneva Accord -
    a negotiated but unofficial framework for reaching a
    permanent peace between our two peoples after years of
    bloodshed and lost and shattered lives.

    The accord lays out, for the first time, what a credible
    and negotiable Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement could
    look like. In the process, it addresses all the major
    differences between the parties, including security
    arrangements, the shape of permanent borders, the status
    of Jerusalem, the future of West Bank settlements, the
    rights of refugees and access to holy places.

    The initiative dates to January 2001, when the last official
    talks between Israel and the Palestinians ended at Taba.
    As participants in the negotiations, we both were left with
    the feeling that we could have reached an agreement had
    we been given a few more weeks.

    Unfortunately, our Israeli and Palestinian colleagues in the
    negotiations felt that the gaps were too large to be bridged.
    After the Israeli elections of 2001, when Ehud Barak lost
    to Ariel Sharon, the two of us agreed to try to complete the
    work at Taba - as private citizens.

    We wanted to find common ground and demonstrate to
    both Israelis and Palestinians that despite all the frustration,
    disappointment and, most of all, violence, we could keep
    meaningful discussions going. Our path was filled with
    obstacles. During this period, Israelis were forbidden from
    entering the Palestinian territories; Palestinians, meanwhile,
    found it difficult to obtain permission to enter Israel and to
    travel abroad. Thus, sometimes we would meet at check-
    points, where we negotiated in a car. On other occasions,
    the Swiss government made it possible for us to meet abroad.

    To support our effort, we built broad coalitions.

            On the Israeli side were people who identified with
            the Likud, Shinui, Labor and Meretz parties as well as
            retired senior officials, economists and intellectuals.

            On the Palestinian side were officials from Yasir
            Arafat's Fatah faction, parliamentarians and leading
            academics.

    Finally, in October, we were able to put on the table a 50-page
    agreement, including detailed maps. The document is compli-
    cated and thus difficult to summarize, but its central idea is that
    in exchange for peace with Israel, the Palestinians would at last
    gain a nonmilitarized state. The Palestinians would also get
    sovereignty over the Temple Mount, though Jewish access to
    the holy spot would be guaranteed by an international security
    force. In addition, Israel would have the opportunity to keep
    some West Bank settlements, including many of the new Jewish
    communities constructed on the Arab side of Jerusalem.

    We know that our accord is not universally popular in the
    Middle East. Indeed, opposition to the agreement began to
    mount even before our joint document was made public.

            Hard-liners in Israel have criticized the details of the
            agreement as well as the private, diplomatic process
            we used for reaching it.

            In the West Bank and Gaza, meanwhile, rejectionists
            in Hamas and Islamic Jihad have held angry rallies
            attacking the initiative and those who shaped it.

    Yet, in spite of this opposition, we are pleased that the accord
    seems to be having a positive impact on the negotiating environ-
    ment.

    Copies of our document have been sent to every Israeli house-
    hold and published in the major Palestinian newspapers. More
    significant, a recent survey conducted by the James A. Baker III
    Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and the International
    Crisis Group in Washington found that more than 50 percent of
    Palestinians and Israelis support the fundamental principles
    contained in the document.

    It is important that this interest also be felt strongly in the inter-
    national community. We are pleased that Prime Minister Tony
    Blair of Britain, Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general,
    and Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister, have voiced their
    support for the initiative.

    It is even more important, in our view, that the Bush administration
    and Congress support our efforts and re-engage in the peace process.
    Secretary of State Colin Powell's praise for the accord was gratifying,
    but more American voices are needed to ensure that progress
    continues.

    In the end, however, the Geneva Accord is only a "virtual" agreement.
    The decision-makers - in the Israeli government and the Palestinian
    Authority, in Washington and elsewhere - can use it, modify it or
    ignore it.

            As private citizens, we have done about as much as
            anybody can do in a situation that has become totally
            unbearable. Now it is up to our leaders.

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Yossi Beilin is a former Israeli justice minister. Yasir Abed Rabbo is a
former minister of information for the Palestinian Authority.

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            Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company