SI Executive discusses situation in the Middle East

The critical situation in the Middle East was the subject of a special meeting of the Executive of the Socialist International, held in Madrid on Tuesday 23 April, hosted by the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party, PSOE. Along with members of the Executive, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Hanni Al-Hassan, in representation of the President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, participated at the meeting.

Following an open and constructive discussion, five main points of agreement were highlighted at the conclusion of the meeting, and included in the summary of the debate made by SI President António Guterres, who chaired the proceedings:

1. The holding of a regional peace conference which would include the participation of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, relevant Arab countries, the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations;

2. The establishment of a fully operational single security authority in the Palestinian territories under the Palestinian National Authority, based on a clear commitment by President Arafat to fight terror and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops to the positions prior to 28 September 2000 and the cooperation between the Palestinian and Israeli security forces to fight terrorism;

3. The mutual recognition of the two states within eight weeks and the opening of peace negotiations to handle all outstanding issues, in the spirit of the decisions adopted by the international community, namely UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and in line with the vision of the Saudi peace proposal;

4. The urgent establishment of an economic recovery programme for the Palestinian Authority, with international support, and the immediate implementation of the Mitchell and Tenet plans;

5. The Chair of the SI Middle East Committee, SIMEC, will work with the SI Israeli and Palestinian member parties to prepare a common plan for peace to be presented to the forthcoming SI Council meeting in Casablanca on 31 May - 1 June.