WILLIAM K. LANGFAN
Member of the Board of Directors
Freeman Center For Strategic Studies
FAX # (561) 533-5118
June 30, 2010
Dear Editor:
Thomas Friedman in his June 27th article in the NY Times concluded that Israel must leave more of the West Bank in order to advance the “Peace Process.”
Mr. Friedman seems to have forgotten that the previous “Peace Process” divestitures pursuant to the Oslo and Wye Accords resulted in more Israeli deaths and wounded than the total of all the years from 1948 to 1998 (excluding the wars in 1967 and 1973).
Mr. Friedman should carefully examine the 1968 amended PLO charter, the Arafat September 1993 letter to Prime Minister Rabin, the 1996 Palestinian National Council (PNC) vote to allegedly annul the articles of the Charter, the Arafat letter to President Clinton in January 1998, and the PNC December 1998 vote which allegedly annulled the Charter by affirming the Arafat letter to President Clinton.
Both PNC votes affirmed Arafat’s letters which were replete with misstatements of material facts. Neither vote was a vote to annul the Charter. These votes were merely votes to confirm the misstatements in Arafat’s two letters.
Arafat’s letter to Prime Minister Rabin stated, “the PLO affirms that those articles of the Palestinian Covenant which deny Israel’s right to exist; and the provisions of the Covenant which are inconsistent with the commitments of this letter are no longer valid. “Consequently, the PLO undertakes to submit to the Palestinian National Council for formal approval the necessary charges in the Palestinian Covenant.” Arafat had no right to state that the onerous Covenant articles are no longer valid because Article 33 of the 1968 Charter clearly states that only a 2/3 vote of the PNC can amend the charter. The PNC waited for more than 2 1/2 years to allegedly “amend” the Charter. There are two versions of this vote. #1) “It has been decided upon:
- Amending the Charter by cancelling the articles that are contrary to the letters exchanged between the PLO and the government of Israel, and September 9 and 10, 1993
- The empowerment of a legal committee with the task of redrafting the National Charter. The Charter will be presented to the first meeting of the Central Council.”
#2) “The Palestinian National Charter is hereby amended by canceling . . .”
I have been unable to ascertain which language is accurate. Even if we accept the stronger language which is the “hereby amended” language, there is no credible evidence that a committee was ever formed to redraft the covenant, nor that a “redrafted” Charter was ever presented to the Central Council. (Enclosed is a translation of the speech delivered before the vote by Saleem al-Za’anoon, the President of the PNC Council.)
Arafat’s January 1998 letter to President Clinton (almost two years after the PNC vote) stated that the PNC’s resolution is a comprehensive amendment of the Covenant. “As a result, Articles 6-10, 15, 19-23 and 30 have been nullified. . .” “I can assure you on behalf of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority that all of the provisions of the Covenant that were inconsistent with the commitments of September 9/10, 1993 to PM Rabin have been nullified.” There is not one scintilla of evidence to prove that the Arafat listed Articles have ever been nullified.
The December 1998 PNC vote was a raising of arms by the delegates affirming the content of the Arafat letter to President Clinton. Actually it was an affirmation of alleged material facts which never occurred. If we combine the two PNC “charade” votes with the fact that no new Charter has ever been drafted plus the amount of Israeli deaths and wounded since the December 1998 PNC vote, one must arrive at the conclusion that there has been no change in the Charter; nor in the Palestinian leadership mind-set, that the establishment of Israel is illegal and void, and that armed resistance must be resorted to until Israel is destroyed.
If the above analysis has not convinced Mr. Friedman, then he should study the June 9, 1974 PNC Political Program and the March 3, 1977 Declaration by the PNC. The same PNC which allegedly annulled the onerous clauses of the Charter clearly reiterated the position of the Palestinian leadership – “return of the refugees” and destruction of Israel. The PNC program and declarations have never been negated.
Respectfully submitted,
William K. Langfan
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