What do you think now, today, about the #Oslo Accord# that #Norway contributed to in 1993-95?
Our Palestinian leadership was quite incompetent at that time. I call it an asymmetric trap. We ended up getting less and less, where the asymmetry became larger. We were not equal; we were considered inferior. Like everyone else, I prefer others to see me as equals.
Interestingly, in the #Middle East#, it is said as «equality, freedom, and brotherhood», with equality first?
That’s exactly what I told you about being different but equal. We can accept our differences but must also accept the necessity of equality. It means considering ourselves as equals from the start. Of the three principles – equality, freedom, and brotherhood – one cannot stand alone without the others.
But this happened in Oslo?
Even though there have been some improvements in the last 20-30 years, we cannot accept living in a country as citizens without all the rights as others. That was what Oslo was trying to achieve.
The question is whether a gradual step-by-step implementation of a Palestinian state is right. #Israel has shown itself to take advantage of the situation, taking more and more. One must be careful about what one agrees to. And the facts on the ground have shown a significant difference between what Israel does and what we do.
The UN, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund confirmed that we were functioning.
Israeli #Ehud Barak# spoke positively about you in a recent interview I did. During your time as a leader, you changed a lot on the ground, especially economically?
In 2009, we documented everything in place for a Palestinian state – with the required institutions. We implemented 2800 local development programs and projects throughout the country. Such as schools, hospitals, healthcare facilities, and power supply – to meet people’s needs. The #UN, the #World Bank#, and the International Monetary Fund confirmed that we were functioning.
Yes, at that time, our Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre wrote the same in the New York Times.
Yes, but apparently, it was not enough for Israel that we showed we were «worthy» of running our own state. Apparently, as a proud and free people, we did not deserve a country of our own!
Barak also mentioned that he offered the Palestinians a full 92 percent at #Camp David#, but #Arafat did not accept it. Why?
But 92 percent of the territory occupied in 1967 is about 22 percent of historical Palestine. Nevertheless, around 1998, we were willing to accept something similar.
So why didn’t it happen at Camp David?
I believe the main reason was the proposal regarding Jerusalem. Even though I was not there, I think that was the key point Arafat disagreed with. What Israel offered as a maximum was far from the Palestinian minimum that could be accepted.
Excerpt from an unpublished film interview. From the Palestine supplement in June 2020.
