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Change Of Attitud

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A concession
from Israel was
reason to
celebrate.

INA FRIEDMAN

ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT

of since the opening
of the Madrid Con-
ference had there
been such displays of
jubilation in the Pales-
tinian community. After
waiting for hours in the
choking heat of desert
winds, thousands of
Palestinians gave the first
of 30 deportees to return
to the territories an ecstat-
ic welcome last week.
Drum bands of Boy.
Scouts (an odd anachro-
nism in this sixth year of
the intifada) provided a
booming accompaniment
as the returnees were
borne triumphantly on the
shoulders of exhilarated
young PLO members, who
chanted: "the whole
world's listening," and
"young people can shake
the earth."
Together-with the gen-
uine outpouring of joy, the
welcome at the Allenby
Bridge separating Jordan
from the West Bank was a
way for young Palestinians
cooped up in the territories
since Israel closed off
them off March 31 to let
off steam.
But above all, the mood
at the bridge was one of
pride. One way or another,
their negotiators had final-
ly managed to wring a
genuine concession out of
Israel, and the youngsters
had come to the bridge to
celebrate that, too.
Even the absence of the
usually ubiquitous Israeli
troops — who had orders
not to interfere with the
revelry — played its part
in conveying a hint of
detente, however fleeting,
in the inflamed relations
between Israelis and
Palestinians.
If the scene at the
Allenby Bridge seemed an
uncommon moment of
grace, many people in the
territories have begun to
hope that Israel's decision
to allow the 30 longtime
PLO deportees to return
home was just the first of
many such gestures to
come.
Indeed, there were signs
that the Rabin govern-
ment was prepared to fur-
ther ease the atmosphere.
Late last week Israel

Wellwishers wave to Palestinians aboard a bus crossing the bridge.

agreed to have two
Palestinians from the dias-
pora — Ahmed Khalidi
and Kamil Mansour, two
leading young intellectuals
in the Palestinian world —
take part in the bilateral
negotiations as advisers to
the Palestinian delegation.
And on Sunday the gov-
ernment, although it
decided to continue the
closure, raised the quota of
Palestinian workers
allowed to cross the Green
Line to 33,000, approxi-
mately a quarter of the
number employed into
Israel before the territo-
ries were sealed off to end
the rash of attacks on
Israeli civilians.
The next gesture is
expected to be an easing of
Israel's policy on the
reunification of families,
with as many as 5,000
Palestinians being allowed
back into the territories or,
if they already live there,
having their status legal-
ized.
The Palestinians, in
turn, made their first
move toward breaking the
impasse that has kept the
negotiations with Israel
fruitless for the past 18
months by agreeing to
divide into three working
groups: on the nature and
scope of the autonomy
administration, the control

of state lands and water
resources, and human
rights in the territories.
That was a signal step.
Nevertheless, the sense of
having turned a corner is
so fresh that both sides are
still approaching it ginger-
ly.
The most Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin
allowed himself to express
at the last cabinet meeting
was "cautious optimism."
The following day, Faisal
al-Husseini, the east
Jerusalem Palestinian
negotiator, conceded to
Israel's Army Radio that
there's "an indication" that
progress was finally
insight.

The Palestinians
want administrative
control over Jewish
settlements in the
territories.

Certainly there's a
wealth of work ahead for
the negotiators to trans-
late the new and tentative
mood into even the skele-
ton of autonomy on the
ground.
Nevertheless, after the
long break in the talks,
and parallel deterioration
in the situation on both

sides of the Green Line,
the Israeli government is
so eager to have the
Palestinians assume con-
trol of their own affairs
that it is prepared to
transfer responsibility for
various spheres of admin-
istration — health, educa-
tion, employment, and
other economic matters —
even before an agreement
is reached on the exact
nature of the autonomy
regime.
The Rabin government
regards this shift of
responsibilities as a
straightforward matter,
since the infrastructure
(and much of the person-
nel) for it already exists in
the form of the Civil
Administration. What's
more, granting this aspect
of self-rule to the
Palestinians sparks no
controversy in Israel.
Two other issues, how-
ever — the establishment
of a Palestinian police
force and the future con-
trol of state lands and
water sources — have
already evoked a strong
response from Israelis,
especially among the set-
tler population.
The creation of an
instrument to maintain
law and order within the

DEPORTEES page 52