Republican News · Thursday 16 May 2002

Israel rejects Palestinian state

Last Sunday's ruling of the Likud Party in Israel against any future establishment of an independent Palestinian state has become the main obstacle to any peaceful settlement of the Middle East conflict.

The Likud vote came at a heated party convention in Tel Aviv with a party divided between those who support former Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to any kind of agreement with Palestinians, over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In the looming battle for the party leadership, the vote marked a victory for Netanyahu, strengthening the right wing of Israel's Likud-led coalition government.

Sharon had told the assembled party members that Palestinians must end violence and reform their political structures before he would allow any talk of them establishing a state. The party, however, preferred the harder message delivered by Netanyahu, who vowed: "A state with all the rights of a state, this cannot be, not under (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat, nor under another leadership, not today, nor tomorrow."

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said the vote placed in danger any hope of an agreement. He said it showed the true intentions of Israel and would increase the frustrations of Palestinians. "The end game is now clear," Erekat said. "This war is not against terror but to continue ruling 3.3 million Palestinians. It is very dangerous and I hope it will be an eye opener to the world to show them who we are dealing with."

Erekat also worried about the Likud vote implications within the Palestinian territories. "How many Palestinians will wake up tomorrow to say 'we have nothing to lose'?" he asked CNN. "I hope it will be an eye-opener to President Bush." Erekat was referring to the US president's 4 April speech envisaging the possibility of "two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side, in peace and security".

Asked about the vote, US National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said the US government would continue to support the idea of a Palestinian state.

Sharon described the vote as "a dangerous one for the state of Israel, that will complicate its diplomatic efforts." Both sides are considering a US proposal for a conference in the summer to try to restart the peace process.

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Carter in Havana

Former US president Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba on Sunday 12 May, becoming the first serving or former US president to travel to the Caribbean island since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power. ß

Cuban president Fidel Castro greeted Carter at the airport with a handshake and symbolically threw open the doors of the island to the former American head of state.

Castro has been Cuba's head of state during the administrations of ten American presidents. With none were relations less hostile than with Carter's. As president from 1977-'81, Carter helped re-establish diplomatic missions in both countries and negotiated the release of thousands of political prisoners. He also made it possible for Cuban exiles to visit relatives on the island and, for a short time, for Americans to travel there freely.

But the US trade embargo is still in place after four decades and relations are as chilly as ever. The American government also restricts travel to Cuba for most of its citizens.

"It is no secret that for almost a century there have not been optimal relations between the two states," Castro told Carter. "However, I wish to state that in the four years of your tenure as president [1976-1980], you had the courage to make efforts to change the course of those relations. That is why those of us who were witnesses to that attitude see you with respect."

Reading his address in Spanish, Carter said he and the former first lady were visiting "as friends of the people of Cuba and hope to know Cubans from different walks of life". Carter emphasised, however, that his was a private visit and that he would not be negotiating with the Cuban government.

Castro said that Carter could speak with anyone "even if they do not share our endeavours". He added that the former US president could go anywhere - including Cuban scientific centres and could also extend his scheduled visit to the Centre of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology on the outskirts of Havana to include other similar institutions. This was in reaction to recent US charges that Cuba is trying to develop biological weapons.

"You will have free and complete access - together with any specialists of your choosing - to that or any other of our most prestigious scientific research centres, some of which have been recently accused, just a few days before your visit, of producing biological weapons," said Castro, who has vigorously denied the accusations.

While Castro and Carter spoke of the desire to improve relations between Cuba and the US, Carter's visit comes at a moment of tension, following allegations by Undersecretary of State John Bolton that Cuba is seeking to develop biological weapons. Castro denounced those claims as "lies" and challenged the United States to provide the element missing in Bolton's presentation: the evidence.

The timing of the accusation surprised some in Washington. However, it has pleased the fiercely anti-Castro Cuban exile community in Miami which might have felt that the Carter visit was showing Cuban/US relations in too positive a light.

The Cuban exile community in Florida is a powerful political force and is strongly courted by any president. President George W. Bush's brother Jeb is seeking re-election as Florida governor in November. The Bush family already owes a heavy electoral debt to anti-Castro Cubans in Florida, who may well have tipped the state's electoral balance in the president's favour. Now his brother needs their support to stay in the state house.

Cuban American Republicans also hold some key second-level jobs in the Bush administration.