Palestinians reject partition, blame a misunderstanding

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By Joshua Mitnick

TEL AVIV — A top Palestinian negotiator Thursday repudiated his deputy's statement this week that Palestinians would accept statehood in the West Bank first and extend it to Gaza when a reconciliation is reached with breakaway Hamas militants there.

Saeb Erekat, who heads the negotiations department of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, said that deputy Maen Rashid Areikat had misunderstood a question posed during an interview with reporters and editors at The Washington Times.

"The official position of the PLO is that this is not an option," Mr. Erekat said by phone from Jordan. "The state will be in West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem."

Mr. Areikat, coordinator-general and deputy head of the PLO's Negotiations Affairs Department, had been asked in Washington whether it was possible that, "if Hamas somehow remains in power in Gaza, that you could move ahead to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank without Gaza."

"Absolutely, Absolutely," Mr. Areikat can be heard to reply. (click here to listen) "It will be difficult. We would prefer to see a situation where there is national unity. We are not trying to eliminate Hamas. It's a force to be reckoned with. ... But if we don't agree, the PLO is mandated to continue negotiations."

That view would have marked a dramatic departure from the view of the Palestinians and the international community, which considers the Gaza Strip and the West Bank part of the same political unit despite a lack of territorial contiguity.

But Mr. Areikat is not the first to consider a political bifurcation of the Palestinian territories. A Palestinian newspaper columnist suggested several weeks ago that his countrymen come to terms with their temporary rift and establish separate entities.

Gaza could be referred to as South Palestine and the West Bank as East Palestine, the columnist suggested.