Force plays no part in M.E. solution-king

Press, 25 October 1982, Page 8

Force plays no part in M.E. solution-king

NZPA-Reuter Washington King Hassan of Morocco says that the Arab-Israeli dispute has entered a new phase in which force plays no part, and he is calling for the building of bridges between Arab and United States peace plans. The king, who led an Arab League delegation in talks with President Ronald Reagan and other American officials, said yesterday that the presence of the group showed they wanted peace. But he repeated Arab demands that Israel pull back to its pre-1967 borders. The delegation was in Washington to explain a plan adopted at last month’s Arab summit meeting in Fez, Morocco. The plan called for a Palestinian State, but was widely seen as implicitly recognising Israel. Mr Reagan called in his September 1 peace proposal for Palestinian self-rule, in association with Jordan, in the territories now occupied by Israel.

After the week-end talks at the White House King Hassan said that the Reagan and Fez plans would provide the framework for the “noble aim” of peace and co-exist-ence. He told reporters: “You obviously realise that we have now entered a new

phase in the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is no longer a conflict of force, but a conflict of law and rights.” Although Mr Reagan and the Arab League differ fundamentally on the question of a Palestinian State, King Hassan said that the two sides had to work to “build bridges” between the two positions. Israel has rejected both plans. The king noted neither plan stated that Israel should maintain its present borders. The American position is that Israel should trade territory for peace, but should be allowed to make border adjustments for security. King Hassan repeated, however, the Arab demand that Israel pull back to the borders that existed prior to the 1967 war when it occupied the West Bank. The king was questioned about a provision in the Fez plan calling for a United Nations Security Council guarantee of peace for “all States of the region including the independent Palestinian State."

This provision had been interpeted by many as implicitly recognising the Jewish State. Meanwhile, Israel’s Opposition leader, Shimon Peres, contends that chances of getting Jordan into the peace process and achieving an interim autonomy agreement for the West Bank and Gaza Strip would improve if the Labour Party comes to power in Israel. Two Palestinian school children have been arrested and one Israeli was injured during anti-Jewish protests yesterday on the West Bank marking the fortieth day since the massacre of Palestinians in Beirut refugee camps. Three schools were closed and pupils set up road-blocks and hurled stones in demonstrations in Nablus, the West Bank’s largest town. One Israeli driver was injured when the window of his car was smashed by the protesters who blame Israel for complicity in last month’s massacre by Rightwing Lebanese militiamen.