RAMALLAH, West Bank — A decade ago, after the
suicide bombings of the second Palestinian uprising, Israelis mostly came to
Ramallah and the Mukata, the West Bank headquarters of the Palestinian
leadership here, in tanks or armored military vehicles. On Sunday, about 300
Israeli students and youth leaders arrived in busloads to meet President Mahmoud
Abbas of the Palestinian Authority for a conversation about the peace
process.
The students applauded Mr. Abbas when he
insisted that there was no alternative to making peace. He tried to allay some
common Israeli fears, declaring, for example, that he did not intend “to drown
Israel with millions of refugees” and describing claims to the contrary as
“propaganda” and “nonsense.” Instead, he said, he was seeking a “just and
agreed” solution to the refugee problem that would be acceptable to Israel.
The Palestinian news media described the
well-publicized event, which was rare in its scope, as part of Mr. Abbas’s
outreach efforts toward Israelis. Mr. Abbas’s conciliatory tone also seemed to
be intended as a way to keep up the pressure on the Israeli leadership.
The Obama administration plans to complete a
“framework” accord in the coming weeks that would be a first step toward a
comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian agreement and serve as a basis for a
continuation of negotiations.
Pamphlets detailing the Palestinian
negotiating positions in Hebrew were placed on chairs in the reception hall at
the Mukata before the Israeli guests arrived.
Although the peace talks resumed last summer,
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have had no direct meetings in recent weeks.
The two sides have met separately with Secretary of State John Kerry and his
team as part of an American effort to come up with proposals to bridge their
differences.
The Israelis’ visit was started by Hilik Bar,
a deputy speaker of the Israeli Parliament and the leader of its caucus working
to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. One Voice Israel, a grass-roots movement,
helped organize the event.
The students and youth leaders were said to
represent all regions and political viewpoints in Israel, though many of them
appeared sympathetic toward Mr. Abbas’s remarks. There was no heckling.
Mr. Abbas said that the Palestinians had
already made concessions to reach an agreement, listing his readiness for land
swaps to compensate for areas across the lines drawn in the 1967 war that Israel
insists on keeping; his proposal for a third-party NATO force to ensure security
after the establishment of a Palestinian state to counter the argument for an
Israeli military presence; and a solution for the refugee issue that is also
fair and acceptable to Israel.
“We want a state with a strong police force,”
he said, alluding to Israel’s demand that any Palestinian state be
demilitarized. “We do not want nuclear weapons or missiles.”
Israel has already rejected the idea of
relying on third-party forces for security. Adding to the challenges Mr. Abbas
faces, his rivals in Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, have
stated in recent days that they will regard any international force in
Palestinian territory the same way they regard Israeli occupation forces, as an
enemy.
Asked by one of the Israeli students how he
intended to integrate Gaza and the West Bank in any peace deal, Mr. Abbas
replied that most people in Gaza supported peace and that his Fatah Party was
working to reconcile with Hamas. That response elicited applause from the
Palestinian side of the hall, where some dignitaries sat with a few dozen young
Palestinians who had also been invited.
Batting away accusations by some Israelis that
he says one thing in Arabic and another in English, Mr. Abbas said, “I speak the
same language with everyone.” (Mr. Abbas addressed the students in Arabic;
simultaneous translations in Hebrew and English were provided.)
After the 90-minute session, several Israeli
students praised Mr. Abbas for his courage, noting the pressure he faced from
Palestinians who oppose any kind of normal ties with Israelis. And in a more
personal aside, Mr. Abbas told his guests that his grandchildren had attended
the Seeds of Peace summer camps in the
United States with young Israelis.
A version of this article appears in print on February 17, 2014, on page A7 of
the New York edition with the headline:
Abbas, Talking to Israeli Students About Peace, Finds a Receptive Audience.
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