Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
30 January 2002
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Aziz Pahad, said today that "the South African Government welcomes the Statement made by the European Union Foreign Ministers in Brussels on Monday 28th January to the effect that Israel needs the Palestinian Authority and its elected President, Yasser Arafat, as a partner to negotiate with both in order to eradicate terrorism and to work towards peace. Their capacity to fight terrorism must not be weakened."
South Africa is greatly concerned at the denial of the freedom of movement of President Arafat by the Israeli Government. It makes no sense for the Israeli Government to continually raise demands on President Arafat to reign in extremists whilst he, himself, is kept under siege.
Since the free and fair elections that took place within the Palestinian Territories in January 1996, President Arafat remains the legitimate, democratically elected leader of the Palestinian people. South Africa strongly believes that it is incumbent on Israel, as a democratic society, to respect the choices of the Palestinian people expressed by way of democratic elections.
"Any attempt by the Israeli Government to impose leadership on the Palestinian people is doomed to fail," commented Mr Pahad.
The South African Government believes that the Israeli policy of virtual house arrest on the elected leader of the Palestinian people, the restriction on the movement of his Ministers and Palestinian parliamentarians has pushed the situation back into the hands of extremists on both sides of the conflict.
The South African Government calls on the Israeli Government to lift immediately the siege on President Arafat and the blockades of the Palestinian Territories so as to allow the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to resume their political and security activities in order to ensure implementation of the Tenet Proposals, the Mitchell Report Recommendations and to resume negotiations, in good faith, on final status issues. We further call on the Israeli Government to transfer the accumulated revenue owing to the Palestinian National Authority and to desist from further wanton and illegal destruction of Palestinian infrastructure.
"We need more Palestinian Authority at this present time, not less. The alternative to the Palestinian Authority is Palestinian anarchy," Mr Pahad re-iterated.
The South African Government restates its unqualified condemnation of all acts of terror and calls on the international community to render assistance to President Arafat and the PNA in combating extremism in the Palestinian Territories.
The Deputy Minister concluded by saying that "the South African Government lends its full support to efforts by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to break the impasse and bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. For its part, South Africa will continue to build on the initiative of President Mbeki who hosted the Three Party Peace Retreat at Spier Estate, Cape Town, 9th – 11th January, in pursuit of the creation of conditions conducive to the resumption of negotiations."
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