[The following article is a historical event.]

locked in a catastrophic cycle of violence, a cycle which only promises more

bloodshed and fear. The cycle has led many to conclude that peace is

impossible, a myth borne out of ignorance of the Palestinian position. Now

is the time for the Palestinians to state clearly, and for the world to hear

clearly, the Palestinian vision.

But first, let me be very clear. I condemn the attacks carried out by

terrorist groups against Israeli civilians. These groups do not represent

the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for freedom. They are

terrorist organizations, and I am determined to put an end to their

activities.

The Palestinian vision of peace is an independent and viable Palestinian

state on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, living as an equal

neighbor alongside Israel with peace and security for both the Israeli and

Palestinian peoples. In 1988, the Palestine National Council adopted a

historic resolution calling for the implementation of applicable United

Nations resolutions, particularly, Resolutions 242 and 338. The Palestinians

recognized Israel's right to exist on 78 percent of historical Palestine

with the understanding that we would be allowed to live in freedom on the

remaining 22 percent, which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.

Our commitment to that two-state solution remains unchanged, but

unfortunately, also remains unreciprocated.

We seek true independence and full sovereignty: the right to control our own

airspace, water resources and borders; to develop our own economy, to have

normal commercial relations with our neighbors, and to travel freely. In

short, we seek only what the free world now enjoys and only what Israel

insists on for itself: the right to control our own destiny and to take our

place among free nations.

In addition, we seek a fair and just solution to the plight of Palestinian

refugees who for 54 years have not been permitted to return to their homes.

We understand Israel's demographic concerns and understand that the right

of return of Palestinian refugees, a right guaranteed under international law

and United Nations Resolution 194, must be implemented in a way that takes

into account such concerns. However, just as we Palestinians must be

realistic with respect to Israel's demographic desires, Israelis too must be

realistic in understanding that there can be no solution to the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict if the legitimate rights of these innocent

civilians continue to be ignored. Left unresolved, the refugee issue has the

potential to undermine any permanent peace agreement between

Palestinians and Israelis. How is a Palestinian refugee to understand that his

or her right of return will not be honored but those of Kosovar Albanians,

Afghans and East Timorese have been?

There are those who claim that I am not a partner in peace. In response, I

say Israel's peace partner is, and always has been, the Palestinian people.

Peace is not a signed agreement between individuals — it is reconciliation

between peoples. Two peoples cannot reconcile when one demands control

over the other, when one refuses to treat the other as a partner in peace,

when one uses the logic of power rather than the power of logic. Israel has

yet to understand that it cannot have peace while denying justice. As long as

the occupation of Palestinian lands continues, as long as Palestinians are

denied freedom, then the path to the "peace of the brave" that I embarked

upon with my late partner Yitzhak Rabin, will be littered with obstacles.

The Palestinian people have been denied their freedom for far too long and

are the only people in the world still living under foreign occupation. How

is it possible that the entire world can tolerate this oppression,

discrimination and humiliation? The 1993 Oslo Accord, signed on the White

House lawn, promised the Palestinians freedom by May 1999. Instead, since

1993, the Palestinian people have endured a doubling of Israeli settlers,

expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land and increased

restrictions on freedom of movement. How do I convince my people that

Israel is serious about peace while over the past decade Israel intensified the

colonization of Palestinian land from which it was ostensibly negotiating a

withdrawal?

But no degree of oppression and no level of desperation can ever justify the

killing of innocent civilians. I condemn terrorism. I condemn the killing of

innocent civilians, whether they are Israeli, American or Palestinian;

whether they are killed by Palestinian extremists, Israeli settlers, or by

the Israeli government. But condemnations do not stop terrorism. To stop

terrorism, we must understand that terrorism is simply the symptom, not the

disease.

The personal attacks on me currently in vogue may be highly effective in

giving Israelis an excuse to ignore their own role in creating the current

situation. But these attacks do little to move the peace process forward

and, in fact, are not designed to. Many believe that Ariel Sharon, Israel's

prime minister, given his opposition to every peace treaty Israel has ever

signed, is fanning the flames of unrest in an effort to delay indefinitely a

return to negotiations. Regrettably, he has done little to prove them wrong.

Israeli government practices of settlement construction, home demolitions,

political assassinations, closures and shameful silence in the face of

Israeli settler violence and other daily humiliations are clearly not aimed

at calming the situation.

The Palestinians have a vision of peace: it is a peace based on the complete

end of the occupation and a return to Israel's 1967 borders, the sharing of

all Jerusalem as one open city and as the capital of two states, Palestine

and Israel. It is a warm peace between two equals enjoying mutually

beneficial economic and social cooperation. Despite the brutal repression of

Palestinians over the last four decades, I believe when Israel sees

Palestinians as equals, and not as a subjugated people upon whom it can

impose its will, such a vision can come true. Indeed it must.

Palestinians are ready to end the conflict. We are ready to sit down now

with any Israeli leader, regardless of his history, to negotiate freedom for

the Palestinians, a complete end of the occupation, security for Israel and

creative solutions to the plight of the refugees while respecting Israel's

demographic concerns. But we will only sit down as equals, not as

supplicants; as partners, not as subjects; as seekers of a just and peaceful

solution, not as a defeated nation grateful for whatever scraps are thrown

our way. For despite Israel's overwhelming military advantage, we possess