Middle East peace process is in danger

The following is a statement of the Communist Party USA:

This article was reprinted from the March 22, 1997 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

The Israeli government's decision to build a large new settlement called Har Homa in East Jerusalem is a dangerous provocation that could wreck the Middle East peace process.

From the day he took office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maneuvered and stalled on compliance with the Oslo Peace Agreement including Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank town of Hebron. His announcement that Israel will withdraw from only 9.1 percent of the West Bank in the first of three pullbacks to be completed by 1998 was a slap in the face to all who favor peace and reconciliation.

Now with breaking of ground to build a new settlement in East Jerusalem the message is that right-wing extremists have not given up their expansionist dreams of a "Greater Israel" engulfing the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital. This provocation has already forced postponement of the Oslo agreement "final status" talks focusing on Jerusalem, the future borders separating Israel and a Palestinian state, and the status of Palestinian refugees.

Unless rescinded by the Netanyahu government, this settlement could permanently derail the peace process which is supported by the overwhelming majority of both the Palestinian and Israeli people. The tragic death of seven Israeli school girls this past week proves that delay is costing the lives of innocent people on both sides.

Israel's attempt to lay claim to Jerusalem as its national capital, rejected by the overwhelming majority of nations which keep their embassies in Tel Aviv, stands in the way of resolving the city's special status for three great religions and many peoples. Let Jerusalem become a symbol of peace and unity, not a focus of hatred and violence.

Disregarding public opinion in our country, the U.S. State Department is talking out of both sides of its mouth. On the one side, it expresses regrets at the Israeli settlement decision while on the other it vetoes a U.N. Security Council resolution that condemned it. The State Department's goal is to preserve the U.S. as the dominant power in the Middle East with control of the region's fabulous oil reserves. That is why they pit one nation against another while paying lip service to peace.

Humanity rejoiced when the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands on the Oslo Peace Agreement. Rabin was assassinated by extremists bent on destroying that peace process. All who value peace and justice should act now. President Clinton and Secretary of State Albright should demand that Israel cancel the Har Homa settlement and comply fully with the Oslo accords, including recognition of the statehood rights of the Palestinian people.