[........]
Israeli views
Although the PNC met in Gaza on 24 April 1996, it did Not revoke or change the covenant, but only issued a statement saying that it had become aged, and that an undefined part of it would be rewritten at an undetermined date in the future. While the English language press release stated that the PLO Covenant was "hereby amended", the Arabic version of Yassir Arafat's letter on this declaration stated:
It has been decided upon: 1. Changing the Palestine National Charter by canceling the articles that are contrary to the letters exchanged between the PLO and the Government of Israel, on 9 and 10 September 1993. 2. The PNC will appoint a legal committee with the task of redrafting the National Charter. The Charter will be presented to the first meeting of the Central Council.
The New York Times and others [25][26] quoted similarly language (the
ambiguous phrase decides to amend is quoted instead of hereby amended):
Formally, the resolution adopted by the council consisted of two simple clauses. The first declared that the council "decides to amend the Palestinian National Covenant by canceling clauses which contradict the letters exchanged between the P.L.O. and the Israeli Government." The second ordered a new charter to be drafted within six months.[27]
"Peace Watch", an Israeli organization declaring itself to be "an apolitical, independent Israeli organization monitoring bilateral compliance with the Israel-PLO accords"[28] issued the following statement:
The decision Fails to meet the obligations laid out in the Oslo accords in two respects. First, the actual amendment of the Covenant has been left for a future date. As of now, the old Covenant, in its original form, remains the governing document of the PLO, and will continue in this status until the amendments are actually approved... There is a sharp difference between calling for something to change and actually implementing the changes. Second, the decision does not specify which clauses will be amended.
Palestinian views
Reportedly, an internal
PLO document from the Research and Thought Department of Fatah stated that changing the Covenant would have been "Suicide for the PLO" and continued:
The text of the Palestinian National Covenant remains as it was and No changes whatsoever were made to it. This has caused it to be frozen, not annulled. The drafting of the new National Covenant will take into account the extent of Israeli fulfillment of its previous and coming obligations... evil and corrupt acts are expected from the Israeli side... The fact that the PNC did not hold a special session to make changes and amendments in the text of the National Covenant at this stage... was done to defend the new Covenant from being influenced by the current Israeli dictatorship.[29][30]
In January 1998, before the second Gaza meeting,
Faisal Hamdi Husseini, head of the legal committee appointed by the PNC, stated "There has been a decision to change the Covenant. The change has Not yet been carried out".[31]
PLO spokesman Marwan Kanafani was videotaped telling reporters, "
This is Not an amendment. This is a license to start a new charter."[32][33]
Shift of focus to Hamas
In recent years, the subject of the Palestinian National Covenant has almost disappeared from the Israeli public discourse and debate. To a growing degree, especially after the electoral victory in the Hamas movement in the Palestinian elections of 2006, Israeli attention shifted to the Hamas Movement's own Covenant and the positions taken by the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Government.
In general, the new debate has tended to follow a similar pattern to the older one. One side of Israeli public opinion regards the perceived 'extreme' positions on the Palestinian side as a sign that Israel "has no partner", while the other appears to feel more lenient, seeking for signs of "pragmatism" on the opposing side.
