Word: khatib
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...preserve Arafat's credibility as leader of the P.L.O. While Rabin's government has thus far fended off no-confidence motions in the Knesset sponsored by the right-wing opposition, Arafat has been shaken by a recent spate of resignations from his own Fatah movement. According to Ghassan Khatib, a West Bank-based official with the People's Party, a constituent party of the P.L.O., the continuing delay in implementing the agreement has only further weakened Palestinian confidence in Arafat. Popular support for the Declaration of Principles ran at 65% in the territories just after the September signing; last week...
...delegation. The World Bank last week outlined a $4.3 billion development plan covering the next eight to 10 years to rebuild the territories' primitive infrastructure. The Palestinians are counting heavily on outside investment from the European Community, Japan, the U.S. and the Persian Gulf states. In addition, says Ghassan Khatib, a member of the peace delegation, "there are a lot of rich Palestinians, and they are eager to invest in the territories for nationalistic reasons. They want a place to belong...
Many in the P.L.O. acknowledge their rivals' ascendancy. "The balance is shifting rapidly to Hamas and away from us," says Ghassan Khatib, a member of the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks. Some Israelis agree. "The fundamentalists," says Eli Rekhess, a political scientist at Tel Aviv University, "look to be Israel's biggest challenge today, not the P.L.O...
...only hope for a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle lies in defusing Hamas' power. For this reason, a growing number of Israeli politicians, including a significant faction within Rabin's Cabinet, now advocate recognizing and speaking directly with the P.L.O. leadership. Beyond that, nationalists like Ghassan Khatib believe that Israel must offer Palestinians concrete proof that negotiations can pay off. "If there is progress in the peace talks, then the P.L.O. will be in a position to absorb Hamas," he says. "Otherwise it will be the other way around...
...noise. The so-called rejectionists are better organized and more determined than ever to upset the talks. Their resurgence has put the Palestinian negotiators on edge and complicated their already tricky task of coming to acceptable terms with the Israelis. "We are a bit disturbed," allows delegate Ghassan Khatib, "to find the people falling into the hands of the opposition...