Grasping at Levers

No group in the Arab world has monitored the Egyptian-Israeli peace talks with more intensity and concern than the 1,139,000 Palestinians who live on the West Bank and in Gaza. That intensity increased last week with word that the Israeli Cabinet intended to "thicken" (augment) the settlements of Israeli nationals in their midst. The news added a further twist to the Palestinian debate over the Camp David accords, which has been almost as tortuous as the negotiation process itself.

The Palestinians reject the peace agreements in principle, even though the accords promise them an end to the eleven years of Israeli military rule and also guarantee them domestic autonomy. The improvement in the Palestinians' status falls far short of their goal of independence, but some moderate Palestinians believe it would be advantageous to grasp even the tenuous levers of self-government that Israel offers. Says Hatim Abu-Ghazaleh, 42, a Gaza physician: "Our basic national duty is to engage the Israelis in a political dialogue." Adds Abdel Attrif, 61, former mayor of the West Bank village of Ein Yabrud: "Camp David was not that bad. It means an opening for peace, and that is what we on the West Bank really want."

The moderates are hampered in what they say publicly by their hard-line compatriots, who regard as treason any sign of accommodation with the Israelis on the sovereignty issue. Mansur Al-Shawa, 39, son of the mayor of Gaza, foresees a "bloody situation" in the Israeli-occupied territories within the next few months unless moderates and hard-liners agree to make the best of Camp David.

These factional tensions require West Bank political leaders--whatever their private feelings--to insist publicly that only the Palestine Liberation Organization can negotiate with Israel on their behalf. Says Ramallah's Mayor Karim Khalaf, 41: "The P.L.O. is Palestine and Palestine is the P.L.O. Without the P.L.O. there will be no negotiations at all." Israel, meanwhile, still flatly rejects any idea of P.L.O. participation in negotiations. Both Washington and Jerusalem want negotiations on the future of the West Bank and Gaza to include Jordan's King Hussein--a prospect the West Bankers view with mixed feelings. Many moderates believe that Jordanian rule over the territory between 1949 and 1967 was fully as objectionable as the Israeli occupation. Last month, when King Hussein voiced his own skepticism over the Camp David proposals for Palestinian autonomy, objecting to their failure to provide full Arab sovereignty, West Bankers watching the telecast cheered loudly.

But since that time, reports TIME'S Jerusalem bureau chief, Dean Fischer, Hussein and some of the West Bank leaders have had numerous private meetings. In those sessions, the Jordanian monarch has been signaling to West Bankers his willingness to abide by whatever decision they make about their destiny, including the question of Hussein's role in negotiations. In a speech last week, Hussein repeated his adherence to the Palestinian right of self-determination. His attitude seemed to be aimed at accomplishing two things simultaneously: quieting hard-line Arab states such as Syria, Iraq and Libya, while also keeping the door open for Palestinian participation in the Camp David autonomy plan.

Consulting with Hussein is not the only initiative of the moderate Palestinians. In Gaza, a group led by Mayor Rashad Al-Shawa plans to launch a newspaper for the purpose of educating Palestinians in the advantages as well as the drawbacks of the Camp David accords. A delegation of moderates is also preparing to travel to Lebanon to meet with P.L.O. Leader Yasser Arafat. Their aim: to convince him that participation in local elections under the Camp David scheme would not set back the ultimate objective of an independent Palestinian state, and to urge Arafat to prevent bloodshed if moderates decide to run for office under the conditions of that plan. A rally of moderates is now being organized for the West Bank town of Nablus; if it is not disrupted, rally organizers propose to hold a further mass gathering to publicize the fact that not all Palestinians refuse to bargain with the Israelis.

By agreeing on some action, the West Bank leaders are falling more into line with a campaign already being waged by the U.S. and Israel. Representatives of both countries have been beating the drums in the West Bank and Gaza, promoting the positive aspects of the Camp David agreement. The U.S. message, carried by Assistant Secretary of State Harold Saunders, is that 1) Egyptian President Anwar Sadat did not capitulate on basic Arab demands, 2) the future of the Palestinian areas remains negotiable, and 3) Palestinian failure to participate would only play into Israeli hands by ensuring continued military occupation. Meanwhile, Israeli Major General Avraham Orly, chief coordinator for the territories military government, assures listeners that Israel's interest in Palestinian autonomy is genuine, so much so that his government is ready to negotiate a range of issues--taxes, internal security, law reforms, immigration--as soon as the Palestinians are ready to talk.

Those messages are having an effect on leaders who hope to exert some influence on the Palestinians' future if negotiations begin. Says Bethlehem's Mayor Elias Freij, 58: "We can't stop the train just by making statements. We have to come up with counterproposals." And if the train is derailed, the Palestinians could have a much bigger worry: even further creeping expansion of Israeli settlements into the occupied territories. Says Gaza's Al-Shawa: "We're not as worried about occupation as we are about displacement." All the more reason, perhaps, for some moderates to consider boarding that autonomy train.

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