Albright Interview on NBC's Meet The Press
INTERVIEW OF SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT
ON NBC'S MEET THE PRESS
October 8, 2000
Q: Joining us here live, the Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.
Madame Secretary, welcome.
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Good to see you, Tim.
Q: Are we on the verge, the brink, of war in the Middle East?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: We have to do everything we can not to be at the
brink of war because peace is close, and had been. We had been working
very hard on the peace process. The people of the region, I think,
deserve peace, and we are trying everything we can to see if there can
be disengagement. The cycle of violence has to be stopped. It is a
tragedy, and we have been in very close touch with both the parties
trying to get some disengagement here.
Q: The Prime Minister of Israel has said the Palestinians have 48
hours to stop the violence or he will take all necessary means. What
does that mean?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think the very important part to think
about here is that the Israelis feel under siege from the Palestinian
rock throwers and the various gangs that have been roaming around.
Joseph's Tomb, as you pointed out, was just a dreadful thing, because
what had happened is that Prime Minister Barak had actually pulled the
Israeli forces out, and expected the Palestinians to control the
region; and that didn't happen. I think there is an incredible sense
of frustration, the need to try to break the cycle of violence, and
that is what has to happen. We hope very much that it doesn't come to
a confrontation that is even more serious. So what we are working on
is, there has to be disengagement.
Q: Last night in the United Nations a resolution was passed. This is
how Reuters described it, and I will put it on the screen for you and
our viewers: "The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Saturday
that condemns, 'excessive use of force against Palestinians,' with the
United States casting an abstention and allowing the measure to go
into force. The resolution also, 'deplores the provocation carried out
at al Haram al-Sharif September 28 - that's the Temple Mount - a
reference to Ariel Sharon for a visit he made Thursday to a shrine in
Jerusalem's Old City, holy to both Muslims and Jews."
"Excessive use of force against Palestinians." By whom?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: We felt that this resolution had various parts in
it that were on the wrong track here, of blame-placing, of looking at
the issue in a way that did not help the process. I think that we were
concerned about this resolution; it is one that went through the
Security Council. We tried very hard to work it, and felt that it was
important that we abstain on this resolution because of the kind of
language that was in it.
Q: But why not veto it, rather than let it become --
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think, clearly Tim, this was a very
difficult issue, because we tried very hard to get this resolution to
be more even-handed. The problem, as I said, is the Palestinians in
many ways are putting the Israelis under siege. We are concerned about
excessive use of force, but also about this siege mentality that is
being really provoked in a way by all the stone-throwers.
But we have a very important role to play in the peace process. We
have to be the honest broker, the negotiator in this. I think that by
abstaining, we allow ourselves to continue that role. Clearly there
were parts of this resolution that we thought were wrong and
unacceptable, but I think it is very important that we be able to
maintain that negotiating, mediating role.
Q: But by abstaining and not vetoing, it did go into force, a
resolution which condemns, in effect, Israel for excessive use of
force.
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think if we had vetoed it - we have to look at
the whole picture here. One is to be the honest broker, the
negotiator, but also about how this affects the entire region. This
was not an easy decision, believe me; but I think vetoing it would
have created further problems in the region for us as the honest
broker and negotiator, and this was the position we took. While in his
explanation of vote, Ambassador Holbrooke made very clear that we
disagreed with the way that various paragraphs in it were phrased.
Q: The second part of the resolution, as I noted, concerns the visit
to Temple Mount by Ariel Sharon, one of the Likud party leaders in
Israel, on September 28, which Palestinians said triggered this
violence. In fact, the speaker of the Israeli parliament, Mr. Avraham
Burg, said today it was a provocation by Mr. Sharon to go there. Do
you believe that?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that clearly this already came
within a very tense situation. The days before, already there had been
a certain amount of violence, and I have said that I thought the visit
was counterproductive and a mistake.
Q: In Israel they call him the "bulldozer." Is Mr. Sharon taking
"political steps" which really may jeopardize the peace?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think it is wrong for me to comment on the
political situation in Israel and on people's intentions. But I do
think that what is very important here - and we have to keep saying
this - is we can't get stuck in a cycle of violence that cannot be
broken. That is our major concern. What was of concern to me is that
we had worked very hard in Paris to establish certain measures about
how the two parties could work together in order to make sure that the
security arrangements held. They pledged to each other that these
arrangements would go into place; they were going into place, and then
we had the unfortunate issue of the Day of Rage. But I think the point
to focus on here now is not personalities, but on trying to get the
disengagement going and get these people separated from each other.
Q: Do you believe if Yasser Arafat said today to the Palestinians,
stop throwing stones, stop the violence, he has the power to do that?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think Yasser Arafat obviously is the leader of
the Palestinian people. He has been able, in the past, to control
large portions of this. We expect him to be able to control this. It
is a very difficult situation, clearly, because they now are -- this
gang, the Tanzin, these younger people that are throwing the rocks - I
think it is very important to gain control. But this is a very
volatile situation on both sides, and both leaders have to do
everything they can to try to lessen the tension, disengage.
Q: Madame Secretary, we are joined right now, live from Israel, with
the leader of Israel, its Prime Minister, Ehud Barak. Mr. Barak, good
morning. Is the Middle East on the brink of war?
(INTERVIEW WITH PRIME MINISTER BARAK NOT TRANSCRIBED)
Q: Madame Secretary, you just heard that. Rather chilling.
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think that you saw a lot of what we see in Prime
Minister Barak, which is someone who actually has worked very hard for
peace. He has put forward some amazing ideas, I think, gone further
than any previous Prime Minister, even Prime Minister Rabin, but who
is truly frustrated by the fact that this violence has emerged and is
surrounding the people of Israel. He is also a soldier, and so he is
determined to defend his people. But I think you do see his desire to
have peace and to find a partner. The point now is that Arafat has the
opportunity. He has made some very hard decisions in the last seven
years; he has to make them again because the future for the people --
of Palestinians and Israelis - cannot be rock throwing and violence.
It has to be to be able to live together.
Q: But if Mr. Arafat is not able to stop the violence, or unwilling to
stop it, there is no doubt, after talking to Prime Minister Barak,
that the Israelis will do what is necessary, and that could engulf the
entire Middle East.
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, that is why we are working so hard now to
try to get some way for them to separate, to detach these security
measures that we worked out. They are talking - by the way, that is
what is interesting, is that the security people are talking with our
facilitation right now. We just have to keep pushing and working. We
can't give up for the sake of the people. When he talked about the
deaths -- we all are just undone, I think, by seeing the violence and
the deaths, especially of the young people. The future - we have to
work with him and Arafat - is to get them to disengage and work on
getting back on track with the peace process.
Q: And beyond the human toll, it could disrupt the world's oil supply.
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, you know, it is obviously a very important
region, and as you pointed out, this could spread. We have been
talking to all the neighboring countries, trying to calm things down.
It is a dangerous period, but also, Tim, we were close to peace; this
kind of thing happens when you are close to peace. The history of this
has been very complicated with lots of ups and downs, and very bad
periods. We have to get through this and get back on track.
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