In his column in the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram, Egyptian author Anis Mansour called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat not to miss an opportunity to negotiate with Israel. The following are excerpts from the column : [1]
"Oh Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat],
"In light of the torments of the grave that you suffer in Ramallah, you face no choice but to submit to the counsel of [the late Egyptian] president Anwar Al-Sadat, which [Egyptian] President Mubarak is now reviving for you: Listen to the words of those with more experience, wiser judgment, and clearer vision [than you].
"This counsel is that you, or whoever represents you, sit [and negotiate] and raise the [Palestinian] demands before the eyes of the entire world. You and the entire world know that Sadat and [former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem] Begin adopted a very simple principle – the honorable international custom of 'anything is negotiable.' You must negotiate so you can refuse and agree. No one has demanded and no one is demanding that you kiss and hug [Ariel] Sharon…
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"Abu Ammar, now you know more than anyone else how many opportunities the Palestinian people have missed because of you. This is not my business … but it is your business and the business of your people, which sooner or later will call you to account. Your people are like the folk proverb that says, 'He who cannot see the sun through the sieve is blind.' This sieve is the Middle East and the events that have occurred in Kuwait and Iraq, in the Sudan, and in Libya.
"The Arabs, among whom not a single man's head doesn't ache, do not know precisely what remedy can cure the Palestinian-Israeli headache. Our heart is torn at the sight of the victims in Palestine. The Palestinian people have the right to be sovereign on its own soil, to enjoy respect in its own eyes and in our eyes, and to stand tall among all the peoples.
"Abu Ammar, between you and I there is no dispute on this. But there is a dispute about you. We have reiterated to you many times how the Israelis can exhaust us [in negotiations] and can create problems and crises, and how numerous are the political, party, religious, and ethnic obstacles in Israel.
"You are aware of all this, more than any of us. And since you know this, then the blame falls on you alone, Abu Ammar. If you understand these words, it's a catastrophe, and if you do not understand them, it is an even greater catastrophe. In light of what is currently happening, you understand how bloody the future [of the Palestinian people] is likely to be: There will be a total annihilation of the resources of the Palestinian people.
"So sit and negotiate today, when the truth is with you, and when, despite your weakness, you are still the stronger."
[1] Al-Ahram (Egypt), February 16, 2004.
