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Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s Address at al-Quds University: Statehood in Two Years
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s Address at al-Quds University
Statehood in Two Years
(Excerpts)
Abu Dis, 22 June 2009
[…]
I [wanted] this meeting, which follows the formation of the new government, to be held in the premises of Jerusalem because this city embodies the strife and unity of our people and their determination to be free of the occupation; I also wanted it to be held at the heart of an academic institution so that we can together address the mind, scrutinize current challenges, and define the horizons of the future and of our work to accomplish our national project. In this context, allow me to present to you, and to our people through you, the vision of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of this reality and the specific tasks lying ahead.
On the national and political level, it is clear that the Israeli occupation has benefited from the state of Palestinian fragmentation over the past two years, firstly by consolidating the isolation of the Gaza Strip through the siege and offensive, and secondly by escalating settlement activity inthe West Bank, particularly in and around Jerusalem. Furthermore, Israel has intensified its security measures, including incursions, checkpoints, and arrests, which, if sustained, can only lead to undermining the PNA’s efforts to establish security, public order, and rule of law. These will also jeopardize international efforts to ensure implementation of the two-state solution.
In contrast, the PNA has taken action over the past two years and dedicated all of its capacities to terminate the state of fragmentation and to safeguard the national project by rebuilding PNA institutions and creating the conditions necessary to launch a national dialogue aimed at ending division and restoring unity to the homeland and national institutions in line with President Abu Mazin’s [Mahmud Abbas] initiative announced in early June 2008. The PNA has always considered that the supreme national priority of our people is to mobilize all efforts toward ending the occupation and building institutions of the independent state. The PNA has also devoted its full capacity to confront challenges generated by the internal fragmentation and resulting dangers to the national project and to protect this project from collapse. We recognize the close links between the mission to end the occupation, attain national liberation, promote the ability to persevere, and protect the land and the mission of institution-building as we approach statehood. Consolidation of our internal situation is an essential component of our endeavor.
It is time now to resolve the debate and obscurity surrounding the role and status of the PNA, which has led to dealing with it as if it were a party [...] among others, thereby providing the grounds for a dual authority and resulting in a serious deterioration in security that has threatened the Palestinian political system, the unity of the homeland, and the national project asa whole. The PNA, ladies and gentlemen, constitutes the cornerstone in the Palestinian political system [...] Hence the need to accept its unified status as a home that shelters all Palestinians and consolidates their potential to accomplish our goals.
Despite the occupation, the government has based its action over the past two years on the concept of building toward statehood despite the occupation in order to end it. The idea here is to build the state through creating institutions that are strong and capable of delivering services to citizens in an effective and fair manner and within a framework of a clear vision that aims to create and establish requirements of everything that may expedite an end to the occupation. As I stated earlier, “there is no Palestinian partner for improving the quality of the occupation, there is only a Palestinian partner for ending the occupation.” [...]
Let us, ladies and gentlemen, apply reason. In this context, I call on every one *of our people to unify and support the statehood program, including building, consolidating, and strengthening the state institutions within a framework of good governance and effective management, so that the Palestinian state becomes—by the end of next year or within two years at most—a firm reality that bolsters our people’s self-confidence and ability to make achievements in the aftermath of prolonged decades of occupation and consequent frustration [...]
The achievement of this target within two years is possible and worthy of support. All efforts should be mobilized to ensure its success. This aim will face the entire whole world with the political requirement to end the occupation, as well as to empower our people to live free in their homeland, exercise their right to self-determination, and realize their independent, free, democratic, modern, and stable state adhering to principles of human rights and equality under the law and without discrimination on any grounds.
[...]
To realize our goals, we have fully committed ourselves to achieve the higher interests of our people. We have managed to create international consensus on the need for both parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations in the peace process. The PNA has adhered to its road map obligations and has made progress in establishing the rule of law, ensuring safety and security, promoting the role of institutions and their capacity to deliver public services. All this has elicited an international stance that hopefully will lead Israel to implement its own road map obligations. Those obligations include a comprehensive cessation of settlement activity and incursions, the lifting of the siege, and ending the occupation.
Now that we have succeeded in creating this international consensus, I call once again on all Palestinians to unite and prevent Israel from taking advantage of our internal division to ignore its own roadmap obligations. It is natural to have different political leanings and opinions in the Palestinian arena, as is the case in other democracies. However, it is unreasonable for this political plurality to be used to weaken international support for the Palestinian cause. While embracing our political differences, we should remain focused on our Palestinian national aspiration. We reiterate the importance of continuing the national unity dialogue in a manner respectful of political pluralism without resorting to violence or the imposition of opinions. [...]
Ladies and gentlemen, the need to support our vision is more compelling today in light of the attempts in the Israeli prime minister’s address to circumvent the international position of holding Israel accountable to its road map obligations. Having reverted to the earlier Israeli narrative regarding the essence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict [...] the Israeli prime minister’s address articulated a vaguer and less committed concept of the two-state solution than the June 2003 declaration of the Israeli government, of which he was a member. Based on our bitter experience over the past six years, our people are well justified in having substantial doubts as to whether the current Israeli discourse constitutes the political ground necessary for realizing the two-state solution. In any case, we believe that the international community should persist in demanding that Israel adhere to its road map obligations in order to realize the two-state solution, paving the way to peace in the region. These obligations fall under internationally recognized agreements, including the road map, which the Israeli prime minister failed to mention in his address. To reiterate, these obligations involve a complete cessation of settlement activity, the lifting of the siege imposed on our people, particularly on the Gaza Strip, and the halting of incursions into PNA-controlled territory as a prelude to launching a balanced political process that leads to ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state, and a just and agreed resolution to the refugee issue in accordance with UNGA Resolution 194.
Ladies and gentlemen, in keeping with this position, the PNA expects the international community to meet its political, legal, and moral responsibilities in binding Israel to the foundations and terms of reference of the political process, thereby leading to an end of the occupation. This is the will of our people and our position, which we will never abandon. How can our people have confidence in a political process that aims to end the occupation yet whose first approach is not to cease all forms of settlement activity? [...] [H]ow can Jerusalemites whose city is being isolated, or our besieged and displaced people in the Gaza Strip have confidence in a political process while continuing to be subjected to all these measures? The political process will never be credible unless Israel adheres to and fulfills its obligations, the first and foremost of which are the cessation of settlement activity, stopping incursions, and the lifting of the siege. [...]
[These measures] must be accompanied by renouncing the long-held misconception that an agreement can be achieved by always exerting greater pressure on the weaker party in a conflict, as if there were no limits to the concessions it can make. Besides corroding the structure and parameters of the negotiations process, this issue has reached the point of seriously threatening the possibility of reaching a solution. The parameters of the political process cannot be dictated by what Israel accepts or offers. Israel, and the entire world, must keep in mind the historic and painful concession offered by the Palestinian people in their 1988 peace initiative, when for the first time in the history of the conflict they unequivocally accepted to establish their independent state on only 22 percent of historic Palestine. Unless Israel recognizes he magnitude of this concession and unless an agreement grounded on the implementation of international resolutions is reached, there will not be a just and lasting solution to the conflict.
The 2002 Arab peace initiative, fostered by Arab and Islamic countries, has placed the Palestinian peace initiative within the context of a comprehensive political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict based on the land-for-peace concept. This initiative has provided, and still provides, a historic opportunity for a just and comprehensive peace in the region. [...]
Ladies and gentlemen, realizing our people’s national rights and the establishment of an independent state requires our collective support for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and not in any way to undermine its status as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and to strengthen the commitment to its national program. . . . This also requires that Arab countries intensify their efforts in support of the Arab peace initiative and press the international community to assume its responsibilities in insisting that Israel comply with its obligations and the requirements of the peace process within a clear, definite, and final timeframe for concluding the negotiations process. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the path toward the accomplishment of a just, lasting peace settlement—not to negotiate for the sake of negotiation. [...]
Ladies and gentlemen, based on this vision, allow me to set forth the major components of the PNA’s national agenda and our attempts to operate within a clear framework that ensures further popular support of this agenda, which will enable us to accelerate the building process of the institutions of our independent state. At the forefront of this agenda lies the objective to create all the proper conditions for ending the state of fragmentation, to unify the homeland, and, ultimately, lift the siege imposed on our people and handle the tragic situation under which our people in the Gaza Strip live. Constructively dealing with the existing reality will restore Gaza’s role within the national project and within the process of building the Palestinian state. This demands that we exert greater efforts to expedite and end the state of division within a framework of national consensus that paves the way to holding national elections on their constitutionally mandated date in January 2010. This being a constitutional requirement, it is a natural right of citizens that should not be transgressed.
In parallel, the international community must meet its responsibilities to enable us to rebuild what the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip destroyed. The fulfillment of financial pledges announced at the Sharm al -Shaykh summit conference would enable the PNA to implement its reconstruction program and oblige Israel to lift the siege on Gaza, ensuring the free movement of persons and goods, including necessary construction materials. [...] The international community should persist in pushing for the removal of the siege imposed on Gaza and open all crossing points. I also confirm the government’s ongoing commitment to provide all possible financial support to our people in the Gaza Strip. Over the past two years, Gaza-related government expenditure amounted to USD 120 million per month; i.e., a total of USD 2.9 billion. In this context, the government reiterates its call to avoid policies of alienation which impede our institutions’ abilities to deliver public services, particularly health, education, social, and economic services. The government also affirms its continued commitment to equal and just distribution of services. [...]
Our national agenda is based on the principle of strengthening the rule of law, establishing public security and order, and achieving justice. This includes continuing institution- and capacity-building in the security sector in order to enforce public security and the rule of law in line with respect for human rights and professionalism. In this context, I reaffirm once again that there is no room for more than one authority. The PNA alone has jurisdiction over security, thereby preventing any individual or group from taking the law into their own hands. Establishing security and stability also demands that we structure and develop the justice sector, including all its components, thereby promoting judicial independence, safeguarding its impartiality, and strengthening its ability to deliver judgments fairly by providing equality before the law.
Our national agenda also provides for the fostering of our people’s ability to persevere in order to protect their lands, confront settlement activity and the wall, and defend our presence in Jerusalem [...] The popular committees set up to organize activities against the building of the separation wall, land confiscation, and home demolitions in Palestinian towns and villages such as Bil`in, Ni`lin, al-Ma`sara, Silwan, and Shaykh Jarrah, provide an example for us all to follow. Here, I reiterate the PNA’s support for peaceful popular movements and call on our people to participate more in their activities. I also call on all ministries, official bodies, civil society organizations, and private institutions to uphold their responsibility to prohibit the entry of settlement products into the Palestinian market. I call on all nations to confirm their commitment to international law, particularly the ICJ advisory opinion, and prohibit the import of settlement products. I would also ask that they not invest, either directly or indirectly, in any activity that supports or consolidates any form of settlement activity. [...]
Ladies and gentlemen, since this government took office, we vowed to bolster and build on the achievements made by the twelfth government and former governments through continuing the assumption of our national responsibility in creating an environment conducive of advancing the national dialogue as a high priority on the government’s agenda, the ongoing work to reinforce stability, rule of law and order, and to build strong institutions capable of serving our citizens and protecting their interests, particularly our people in the Gaza Strip. The government will also continue to implement the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP), including all development programs and projects in rural areas as well as the rest of the Palestinian territory in order to support our citizens’ steadfastness and their perseverance in confronting intensified settlement activities and plans to isolate Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and to change its demographic and cultural reality.
We have instructed the various ministries and governmental bodies to develop a detailed work plan driven by the objective to complete and finalize the building of strong, capable, and effective institutions of the Palestinian state within two years. [...]
Realizing our future state requires an intense and extraordinary effort to complete the institution-building process in a manner that will enable the PNA to effectively and efficiently undertake its responsibilities. This requires the adoption of a new approach that entails putting together a detailed work plan addressing all the various elements of governance, administration, and institution-building responsible for securing the necessary components of an independent Palestinian state. [...]
Although the president will always remain the main point of reference for the government, we are also answerable to all of our citizens and institutions, especially in light of the inability of the Legislative Council to function, which we truly hope will end soon. Stemming from our faith in partnering with everybody in order to realize our higher national interests, we are adamant on maintaining open lines of communication with civil society institutions and other organizations.
We also find it appropriate to ask the president and the Executive Committee to call on the PLO Central Council to convene and examine the contents of the program we are designing and the government agenda we are setting. This may constitute one of the ways to reactivate the Palestinian political system, particularly the PLO and its respective bodies, which may also entail rearranging and setting new priorities and developing a national policy agenda that may be outlined in a national document, which the government can develop as part of its contribution to the national effort aimed at streamlining the government’s actions on the political and negotiations tracks.
[...]
Finally, before I conclude my address, I would like to address our Israeli neighbors from this academic institution, Al-Quds University: we have listened to your prime minister’s speech about a week ago in which he predominantly emphasized and referenced the earlier Israeli narrative on the root causes of the conflict and highlighted his own vision for ending it. That, of course, is his prerogative. Nonetheless, there is no need to remind you that we Palestinians have a completely different historical narrative. I do not wish to dwell on our narrative today. However, all I wish to say in this regard is that just as I expect that the Palestinian historical narrative is unacceptable to you, neither can it be expected that the Israeli narrative be adopted as the basis for resolving the conflict, if the resolution is to be fair and lasting. In any event, while it is understandable—not to say eminently logical—for the debate on these two narratives to have taken place in the pre-peace process era, I do not believe it is constructive to revisit this debate today, 16 years after Oslo, 21 years since we Palestinians declared our acceptance of the two-state solution, and 6 years after the Israeli government accepted President Bush’s vision to end the occupation and establish a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security.
Our Israeli neighbors: You have your own history, your pain, your worries and aspirations. We, too, have our own history, and today, we have many worries and much pain. But we have one main aspiration: to have what is a natural right of all nations around the world, which is to live in freedom and dignity in our own homeland. We aspire to establish our state alongside yours through a meaningful peace that sets the stage for normal relations and cooperation in various fields, in the context of good neighborly relations. We aspire to achieve a peace in which both sides can realize the benefits of coexistence and equality in various areas. We don’t want to erect walls, we want to build bridges. We don’t want to exclude you from our lives, but to live with you on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit in the areas of economic development, security, stability, and other areas of cooperation that are governed by the norms of international relations. Toward that end, we are in the final stages of completing the structure of the Palestinian state, which we hope will make a qualitative addition to the region and would contribute to achieving peace and prosperity for our peoples and all others in our region. We also need to finalize a negotiated agreement on all final status issues. This is a must. This is possible and realistic if we share the common goal of making peace and not just simply talking about it [...] This is our land. This is our homeland, and we have no other. The occupation will end and we will build our state. On this land we shall remain. God bless you, and peace be upon you. Thank you.
Source: Journal of Palestine Studies 39, no.1 (Autumn 2009): 165–70.