Nazir Majally, Asharq Al-Awsat

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 11 January 2004 — Palestinian leaders yesterday reasserted the right to unilaterally declare an independent state in the absence of a peace deal with Israel, responding to Israel’s own threats of one-sided action.

The PLO Executive Committee, one of the Palestinians’ key leadership bodies, met Friday night to discuss the ongoing conflict with Israel and reiterated the right to declare a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Arab parts of Jerusalem — lands that Israel took control of in the 1967 Mideast war.

But the Palestinians’ path to statehood has come under question amid warnings by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he could give up on peace talks and draw a boundary that would leave the Palestinians with much less land than they seek.

The back-and-forth talk of unilateral action reflects frustration on both sides with more than three years of fighting and stalled peace talks.

Yesterday, Saleh Rafat, a member of the PLO committee, said Israel’s actions will not prevent the Palestinians from declaring “an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 border.” But there are no immediate plans to declare a state, Rafat said.

Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat also emphasized that a “two-state solution is the option of the Palestinian leadership.”

From exile in Tunis, the Palestinian National Council declared an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza in 1988 — a move that was never recognized internationally.

In 1999, Yasser Arafat threatened to declare a state again, but backed down after then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would annex parts of the West Bank in response.

Now the Palestinians face threats from Israel that they could be left with far less territory than they’ve sought for a future state.

Sharon recently outlined a plan under which he would withdraw forces from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, dismantle some Jewish settlements along the way and draw his own boundary between Israel and the Palestinians if peace talks remain stopped.

Some Israeli officials believe the Palestinians, possibly even Arafat, are seeking a new strategy: Waiting for demographics to resolve the conflict. Experts have predicted the Palestinians will outnumber Jews in the coming decades.

About 3.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza, in addition to 1.2 million Arab citizens of Israel. About 5.5 million Jews live in Israel.

In an interview on Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei said if peace talks fail and Sharon follows through with his “disengagement” plan the Palestinians would push for a binational state of Arabs and Jews.

Such a scenario would spell disaster for Israel’s Jewish character, because the Palestinians’ higher birthrate would soon put Arabs in the majority.

Israel would then face a choice between giving Palestinians the right to vote or becoming a minority-ruled country like apartheid South Africa.

A decade of peace talks in the 1990s always aimed for a two-state solution, and the latest peace plan — the US-backed road map — calls for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza by 2005.

Eliminating the two-state solution from dialogue could lead to greater Mideast political turmoil.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli peace activists demonstrated yesterday for the release of five national service conscripts, jailed for refusing to serve in the army because of the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Around 400 Israelis gathered on a hill overlooking the “number six” military prison where the men are being detained near the northern port of Haifa, organizers said.

They held aloft placards denouncing “service in an occupation army” and calling for the release of the “conscientious objectors”.

The demonstration was organized by various Israeli pacifist groups and parents of the jailed soldiers.

— Additional input from agencies