Washington Times; By Joshua Brilliant, 18.09.05

Palestinian Minister for Prisoners' Affairs, Sufian Abu-Zaydeh, was in Tel Aviv Friday telling Israelis what it was like in his Gaza Strip, free after a 38-year occupation.  "No one sits at home," he said.   The most popular talk is of going to El Arish, in the northern Sinai, to eat fish. Gaza's seaside fish restaurants have a good reputation, but many residents have gone to the strip's southern tip, crossed the sand dunes, the Israeli-built wall and barbed wire fences, entered Egypt -- albeit illegally -- and went to El Arish.
"I asked what they do there. Why are they going? El Arish is like Gaza," Abu Zaydeh said.  The answer was: "'We want to go and see how people travel.' Eighty percent of Gaza's youngsters never left (it)," he noted.  The Gaza Strip is 28 miles long, 3 to 7.5 miles wide and the ability to venture out of that crowded, impoverished area, freely, was irresistible.
Abu Zaydeh belongs to the generation of Palestinians who grew up in the Israeli-occupied Gaza or West Bank, some 15 years ago fought the occupation, spent years in Israeli jails, and unlike the older generation that came with Yasser Arafat from Tunisia, got to know the Israelis.  They are familiar with Israel's democratic system, know what troubles its people, and speak fluent Hebrew.   "They got to know us and today they are our partners," noted Brig. Gen. in the reserves Ilan Paz who recently stepped down as head of Israel's Civil Administration in the West Bank.
     
Abu Zaydeh presented the Palestinian Authority's case to some 100 Israelis associated with the Geneva Initiative.  The initiative's Palestinian and Israeli members, including former ministers, have concluded a proposed peace agreement to prove it is attainable, and are now trying to advance it.
At the meeting in Tel Aviv's Cinematheque, Abu Zaydeh recalled having felt the scenes of Palestinians surging across the border to Egypt were bad for his people and for the Egyptians.  Israel had closed the official Rafah Crossing, removed its equipment and expected it to remain shut until new arrangements are introduced.
It won't hold, Abu Zayeh argued.
Leaving 1.25 million Palestinians closed in Gaza until Israel builds a new terminal at Kerem Shalom, where the borders of Israel, Egypt and Gaza meet, or until the parties agree on a different procedure for crossing, "is very stupid," he said.  Neither the 750 Egyptian border guards nor 10,000 Palestinian soldiers "could prevent people from breathing (free) air. There is either a quick agreement on the (border) crossings or the Palestinians and the Egyptians will reach an agreement among themselves and take Israel's needs into consideration."
The Palestinians want a border crossing without any Israelis around, just a third party that can supervise the crossing, he continued.   The Israelis sought a close check of their own. They said they feared terrorists, including al-Qaida and Hezbollah militants, would enter the Gaza Strip and train local people. They do not believe foreign "supervisors" could stop such movements.
The Israelis expressed concern that Palestinian imports would include weapons and substandard civilian goods that would eventually reach Israel itself.  Using colloquial Hebrew Abu Zaydeh said there would be "no problem" reaching an agreement on how to inspect imports.  The only problem is "the location and the Israeli presence (there). We don't want to see an Israeli presence. They (the Palestinians) want to feel the occupation is over," he asserted.
The Palestinians want an agreement with Israel in order to maintain the customs envelope with the Jewish state. If Gaza is excluded from that envelop, Israel would tax all goods the Gazans export to, or through, it. That would be a major blow to the Palestinian economy because Israel is its main trading partner. Palestinian imports arriving through Israel's port of Ashdod are now taxed upon arrival but Israel passes the proceeds to the Palestinian Authority. If there is no customs envelope, there is a new ballgame.
The withdrawal from Gaza, completed Monday, the dismantling of the settlements is "a big step toward establishing an independent Palestinian state in the (pre) 1967 (war) boundaries, beside Israel," Abu Zaydeh said.  However, he continued, Israel has been moving "at a crazy speed" to complete the barrier it is building in and around Jerusalem and the West Bank.  "We have no problem placing the fence on the 1967 lines and we're even willing to participate in paying for it," he offered.  However, its current route "is madness." Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is thereby "determining Israel's borders and the borders of the Palestinian cantons," he said. 
Sharon talks at the United Nations of peace, wants negotiations, but look at Jerusalem, Abu Zaydeh suggested.  The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be their future capital but at the United Nations Thursday, Sharon stated Jerusalem is, "the undivided and eternal capital of the state of Israel.

"If Jerusalem's (boundaries) run from Bethlehem to Kalandia (south of Ramallah) and from Jericho to Modi'in (at the western foot of the hills) over what shall we negotiate? Are all those stones holy to Jews?" the Palestinian minister asked.

The Israelis have been concerned that the Palestinian Authority's failure to assert its control over armed gangs and the chaos there would turn Gaza into a hotbed for terrorists.  "They're saying Gaza will be like Tora Bora in Afghanistan... That if Bin Laden will get tired of Afghanistan he will come to Gaza," Abu Zaydeh said.  "As much as they try to present the Palestinians as stupid people, they (the Palestinians) do have some sense. They (the Palestinians) know that Gaza ... is a test of leadership, of the rule of law.  "We're not short of problems. There is a tough argument between the organizations on how to go on," he said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Fatah leaders want to negotiate a settlement with Israel while militant organizations such as the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad talk of continuing the armed struggle.

"Public opinion polls show that 90 percent of the Palestinians do not want to see masked (gunmen) in the streets, they don't want to see armed people moving around Gaza. We'll get there.... But we'll do it our own way," he promised.
The Israelis insist the Palestinians dismantle terrorist infrastructure and arrest wanted people, he noted.  "Guys, wanted people have been in Gaza since Amnon Shahak (a white haired retired Lieutenant general sitting in the audience) was Chief of Military Intelligence....
"The Israeli army had all the authority to do whatever it wanted in Gaza and the West Bank. It did not dismantle terrorist infrastructure and did not collect weapons....
"The Palestinian national interest is to build Gaza.... Everybody understands that after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza the business from there ends," he said.
 The Palestinian minister advocated an immediate resumption of peace talks but acknowledged little would be accomplished in the next six months because the Palestinians and Israelis are heading for elections.