Palestinian claims denied

Press, 28 September 1988, Page 7

Palestinian claims denied

By

JANE ENGLAND

The deaths caused by Palestinian in-fighting exceed the lives lost in their conflicts with Israel since 1947, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in New Zealand said yesterday. “Only recently several people in a village on the West Bank were brutally murdered by the P.L.O. which accused them of having co-operated with Israel,” said the embassy’s charge d’affaires, Mr Ze’ev Luria. He referred to comments made by the guest speaker at the Palestinian Human Rights Conference, Mr Mohammed Shteyyeh. The conference was held in Christchurch two months ago. Mr Shteyyeh emphasised the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s commitment to peace and a two-State solution to the Intifada (uprising). He said that being a Palestinian meant living

with fear every day. The embassy criticised the news media for failing to analyse such statements. “Clear analysis an' 3 realism are essential to the pursuit of peace,” said Mr Luria. “Often the rank and file among the Palestinian population are more afraid of the P.L.O. than they ever had cause to be of the Israelis. “The many thousands of shopkeepers, those tens of thousands of workers in Israel and those thousands who work with satisfaction in the Israeli civil administration. All of them are under severe intimidation by the P.L.O. leadership which happens to be also the leadership of the Intifada.” Israel would refuse to negotiate with the P.L.O. until the organisation renounced terrorism and accepted Israel’s right to exist, said Mr Luria. The P.L.O. had made some vague suggestions

indicating a moderation in its total rejection of Israel’s existence, but its covenant calling for that destruction remained unchanged, he said. Mr Luria said that Mr Shteyyeh, had indicated an unwillingness to accept the existence of Israel including the pre-1967 borders. “He (Mr Shteyyeh) is adept at attracting sympathy and compassion, but this response should not blind people to facing reality. The Israel establishment has been reaching out its hands for peace.” Statements which compared Israel with South Africa were insulting and cynical. Freedom of speech, assembly and movement were respected in the occupied territories. Although the need to restore order in “extraordinary” situations could supersede other considerations, he said.