With a new European peace plan in the works and Israeli elections around the corner, the question now is whether the Palestinians will join Israel at the negotiating table. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad offers his take and hopes talks will be launched ‘on a much sounder basis.’
Almost as essential as having funding – and on that note, you had some harsh words for Arab nations that had promised funding but had not fulfilled their promises. Why is this the case, and don’t they see how the cash shortage is affecting development? I was making a factual statement and I was not intending for it to be harsh. I was responding to a question that asked whether Europeans had paid, and I said Europeans have fully paid. And, as a matter of fact, so have the Americans. Other than the $200 million held up by Congress, money pledged until then was disbursed.That is not something I can say about all Arab donors. Some did, but most didn’t. And that really left us in a situation of extreme financial difficulty.The genesis of our financial difficulties lies in the fact that key Arab donors did not provide the funding pledged or programmed in our budgets and agreed to.That started about two and a half years ago, and with it, financial difficulties started to gather, getting more and more... difficult, to the point where we found ourselves in a crisis situation. But of course, when the government of Israel moved to stop and suspend the transfer of revenues it collected on our behalf, that dealt us a devastating blow because we were already in a very weak position, and that brought us to the point of complete incapacitation.I estimate that what we really need right now to get out of the financial difficulty because of the shortfall is about $600m. minimally. For this year, it is important that we get about $100m. a month to make ends meet. Otherwise, it will not be possible for the PA to overcome its financial difficulties and function normally.Last week, Fatah was welcomed in the Gaza Strip in what some are calling a massive call by the people for reconciliation. Hamas was allowed to hold a celebration in the West Bank under your administration.Are we finally seeing signs of reconciliation? I think those scenes you saw, especially in Gaza, was a scene where the people made a very clear and unequivocal statement demanding an end to the state of separation – demanding reconciliation. It’s definitely what people want, where people are and where we should get.You’ve likened this to the parties in Israel with vast differences that live together. Why is it so difficult for the Palestinians? That’s exactly my point. We should overcome those difficulties to the point of being able to manage our coexistence. And I think it should be possible. You’re exactly right, just like the government of Israel is a coalition of parties that are not all like-minded. Why is it so impossible for us to get together in a like fashion in a manner that allows us to manage that coexistence? When 1,000 Hamas members held by Israel were released in the Gilad Schalit deal, Hamas chided that it produced results while the Fatah-PA only talked.We heard the same taunts after the recent week of fighting between Hamas and Israel. You, yourself, made statements that agreed with that assessment.Has the idea of a peaceful campaign been lost? There’s no question that as a consequence of the events you just mentioned we have sustained what I myself have termed as “doctrinal defeat” in terms of the doctrine espoused by the PA: one of engagement and a non-violent path to freedom.I think it was seriously and severely challenged by the events you have mentioned in terms of the efficacy of this approach, in terms of its capacity to deliver results. I do not take it in a resigned way. It’s something we’ll have to deal with and live with... forever.And that’s the situation right now.The Palestinian Authority relies heavily on Israel in terms of [its] economy. What is that percentage in terms of goods, etc.? Vastly. For example, if you take trade, we’re highly dependent on the Israeli economy, on both [the] import side and export side. Two-thirds of our imports come from Israel. A larger part of our exports go to Israel. We’re dependent. Part of it is proximity, but the larger explanation lies in lack of adequate access to markets that lie outside. We’re not in control of borders. It’s very difficult to try to be competitive, for our private sector to be adequately competitive, given that highly capricious control regime.Some charge that your government is failing to prepare its people for peaceful coexistence because it glorifies those responsible for violent acts. How do you respond to those who say the culture of peace is not being taught? Cultural peace, as a matter of fact, has the greatest chance of gaining roots in a context that actually promises peace. And I think that the beginning was good. When this whole process began, there was a lot of activity that was anchored on this, creating conditions of acceptance of the other; learning more about the other; engaging in discussions. At all levels.We’re not talking about political engagement here, we’re talking about people-to-people initiatives. Some of them are still happening today. It is unfortunately the case that we’re dealing with a conflict that is riddled with difficulties and complexities, beginning with vastly different narratives [and including] hostilities, wars, military conflict and what have you. And when you have a situation like this, you cannot expect to have an environment and a culture that is all okay. The challenge for us is to change it, and I’m a firm believer in it.There are Palestinians who are feeling much more pressure today if they engage with Israelis...Let’s say Ramallah, [for argument’s sake]. You are engaging tomorrow in an activity in the nature of people-to-people discourse with Israelis, and the night before, there is an Israeli military raid on Ramallah. How would that make you feel? Worse! If the night before you’re consoling the family that has lost a young man or woman in the way the Israeli army deals with non-violent Palestinian protests sometimes, how would you feel about going through with that activity? What if settlers had just raided the community? Uprooted trees and terrorized citizens, or worse. Desecrated a mosque. All of these acts retard progress in an environment where a culture of peace would flourish. That should be our goal. And we should really act on both tracks simultaneously.President Abbas is threatening to disband the PA. Western pundits dismiss it as rhetoric. What do you say? It’s not rhetoric in the fundamental sense of the PA going through the difficulties through which it’s going with the grip of the financial crisis being the worst ever.It’s not a question of a willful act of disbanding. It’s not really rhetoric in the sense that under the pressure that the PA is facing, all these challenges and pressures.... the PA will simply cease to be able to function. That is not rhetoric, it’s reality, and we see it every day. There’s an erosion in the ability of the PA to deliver in just about every sphere of government.