West Bank Seen Preparing ‘Independence Declaration’

Underground leaders of the Arab uprising in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are preparing a “declaration of independence” to assert a Palestinian claim to the land effectively renounced last weekend by King Hussein of Jordan, a source close to the clandestine group said Thursday.

By moving into the vacuum left by Hussein before the Israeli and U.S. elections this fall, the Unified National Leadership for the Uprising in the Occupied Territories sees what may be a historic opportunity to win political recognition, said the source, who in the past has had extraordinary knowledge about the group’s inner deliberations.

The most important component of the declaration, which would also apply to the Gaza Strip, is expected to be at least an implicit acceptance of Israel’s right to exist, according to this source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Thus, he said, the Palestinians would address perennial U.S. and Israeli concerns that their goal is to eliminate the Zionist state.

If implemented in its current form, the declaration would mark a bold effort by the Palestinians to take the political offensive for the first time since the intifada, or uprising, began last December in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. But it is not expected to be announced for several weeks, the source cautioned, and given the volatile nature of Palestinian politics, it may undergo some changes in that time.

“Such a declaration is a necessity,” he said. “It’s the most important positive political action for the Palestinians since the intifada began.”

At the same time, he added, it could function as “a political stone against all Israelis and Americans,” forcing Israel, the United States and some Palestinian leaders to re-evaluate their positions in the Middle East.

Hussein announced in a speech last Sunday that he was cutting Jordan’s legal and administrative ties to the West Bank, which Jordan ruled from 1948 until Israel captured the territory in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Respect for PLO’s Wishes

Jordan has announced few details of the king’s decision, but he said specifically that “we respect the wish of the Palestine Liberation Organization . . . to secede from us in an independent Palestinian state.”

Although the source described the declaration as a crucial next step toward statehood, he emphasized that the underground leaders are under no illusion that the 1.5 million unarmed Palestinians living under military rule in the two occupied territories can exercise sovereignty over their land.

The underground leaders also recognize the risks involved, he said. Already, a number of leading conservative Israeli politicians, including Ariel Sharon, the powerful former defense minister, have urged Israel to quickly assert its sovereignty over much--if not all--of the occupied territories.

A Palestinian declaration of independence likely would intensify such demands, even though the coalition agreement that underlies Israel’s “national unity” government specifically bars annexation of the territories.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir rejected calls from right-wing Israelis to annex the West Bank in order to fill the vacuum left by Jordan.

Shamir Recalls Camp David

“We are loyal and committed to the international agreement of the Camp David accords, which means we will not put our law in the West Bank,” Shamir told four members of Parliament from the ultranationalist Tehiya Party, his spokesman said.

At the same time, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Israel would “object to the PLO taking Jordan’s place and paying salaries” in the territories.

A declaration of independence could also undermine the uncommon unity that the historically fractious Palestinians have shown since the uprising began. But supporters of the idea argue that Hussein’s action represents a one-time opportunity that justifies a political gamble.

The Palestinian source emphasized that Hussein, by effectively divorcing himself from the West Bank, has added an element of urgency to the political questions that have divided the Palestinians for so long. As a result, he said, “I think consensus can be achieved more easily now.”

It is not yet clear, the source said, whether the declaration will come from the Unified Leadership or from other West Bank personalities supported by the underground command. But both politically and symbolically, he added, it is considered important that it come from the West Bank.

The timing is also uncertain, although one date suggested is Sept. 9, which will mark nine months since the uprising began.

But the objective, the source said, is to act before next month’s emergency meeting of the 450-member Palestine National Council, sometimes referred to as the Palestinians’ parliament in exile, at which Hussein’s announcement will be considered.

A proposal similar to the “declaration of independence” reportedly was discussed at a recent meeting in Baghdad of the PLO Central Council, a consultative body that ranks between the organization’s cabinet-like Executive Committee and the Palestine National Council.

A Spur to Action

On Wednesday, a senior PLO official said in a Radio Monte Carlo broadcast that the National Council next month will consider the creation of a Palestinian government in exile.

Underground leaders here see a declaration of independence as an important spur to action by the council.

“The Palestinians must, within one month, declare a Palestinian state,” the West Bank source said, “so this will be an occupied Palestinian state and not an ‘occupied land.’ This kind of positive, aggressive action is the only kind we can support.”

Proposals to form a Palestinian government in exile have been floated many times before but have gone nowhere because of internal disputes among rival PLO factions. Some of the more militant Palestinians, for example, argue that establishing a government in exile would amount to a renunciation of claims to an independent state on Palestinian soil.

Identities Would Be Secret

In part to address such fears, it reportedly has been proposed that any such Palestinian government would include some West Bank members, whose identities would remain secret in order to protect them from arrest.

For several months a major focus of the intifada has been establishment of “popular committees” to take over the administration of selected functions such as security and education in a number of West Bank and Gaza Strip villages, camps and neighborhoods.

In addition to these rudimentary forms of self-government, there are larger organizations, such as professional unions of doctors, pharmacists, engineers and lawyers, that have operated as branches of government bodies in Jordan.

These groups are a long way from constituting a cohesive governing system, but Palestinians here see them as a seed from which a future independent state can grow.

“What we need from the PLO is support and international recognition,” one Palestinian journalist declared.

2 Governments ‘Paralyzed’

Meanwhile, the Palestinians cannot afford to wait for others to act, the West Bank source declared. He argued that both the Israeli and U.S. governments are “paralyzed at the moment” because of national elections scheduled in both countries for November, and “we want to present the new governments in both countries with an accomplished fact.”

Both the United States and Israel have long opposed the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the occupied territories, and both are bound by written agreements to refuse to negotiate with the PLO. Israel has gone so far as to enact a law banning all contacts between PLO members and private Israeli citizens.

The U.S. and Israeli positions are based in part on the so-called “Palestinian covenant,” which calls for dismantling the Jewish state. Many PLO supporters contend that the covenant has been superseded by various Palestine National Council resolutions, and such prominent officials as Bassam abu Sharif, a key adviser to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, have publicly advocated a “two-state solution” to the conflict. Abu Sharif circulated his conciliatory statement at an Arab summit meeting in Algiers in June.

No Claims to Territory

In theory, at least, this approach means Palestinian renunciation of any claim to territory within Israel’s pre-1967 borders in return for recognition of an independent, demilitarized Palestinian state in the occupied territories, existing peacefully alongside the Jewish state.

The Palestinian source said the proposed Palestinian declaration is intended to shatter the old objections to an independent state.

“You are declaring a state that has certain boundaries,” he said. “Nobody is talking about Jaffa (a formerly Arab town on the Mediterranean coast near Tel Aviv). Everybody is talking two states.”

It is vital, he said, for the PLO to adopt unequivocally the two-state position. But he said it would be better for the underground leadership here to do it first.

So far, the unified leadership has avoided any comment on the Abu Sharif document in the leaflets issued periodically in its name, reportedly because of its inability to reach a consensus. Separately, West Bank activists of the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine have issued their own leaflet condemning Abu Sharif.