К вопросу о представительстве палестинской стороны на официальных двусторонних и многосторонних переговорах (1991-1993 гг.)

Abstract

The article aims at showing the problem of the Palestinian representation at the official bilateral and multilateral negotiations on the Middle East peace settlement held in 1991—1993. It is shown that the problem contains several issues. They are as follows: the issue of the Palestinian representation as an independent delegation, the problem of the participation of the delegates from East Jerusalem and the representatives of the Palestinians abroad, as well as the issue of the organization of consultations and communication between the Palestinian delegates and the PLO leadership. The research concerns the period from the Middle East international peace conference held on October 30 — November 1, 1991 in Madrid up to the official recognition of the PLO by the Government of the State of Israel on September 9, 1993. After the official recognition of the PLO the problem of the Palestinian representation at the negotiations was solved, insofar the PLO leadership had a right to define a form of the representation and the delegation membership independently. The text of the official invitation to the international conference in Madrid did not contain any provisions indicating a form of the Palestinian representation and their delegation membership nor the status of the bilateral and multilateral talks. That is why during the negotiations the Palestinian side was able to put forward its demands of the Palestinian independent representation, the broadening of the Palestinian delegation membership and the framework for organization of direct consultations between the Palestinian delegates and the PLO leadership. The problem of the independent representation of the Palestinian delegation had been solved by the beginning of the third round of the bilateral negotiations in January 1992. The Palestinian side achieved the participation of the representatives of East Jerusalem and the Palestinians abroad through the formation of the Consulting Committee. The questions of providing communication and the consultations between the Palestinian delegates and the PLO leadership were at the host-countries’ (Spain, the USA etc.) discretion. It is noted that the US position in this respect was stricter and softened only in April 1992. PLO participation in the bilateral and multilateral negotiations is obvious and it can be seen in the presence of its representatives in the delegations as well as in the Palestinian delegates’ consultations with the PLO leaders.