Clinton's trip raises hopes for a 'Palestine'

The term "occupied territories" is fast becoming a bit pass.

Today, many of the nearly 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza can send a letter with stamps issued by the Palestinian postal authority, buy shares on the Palestinian Securities Exchange, report a crime to the Palestinian police, educate their children in schools run by the Palestinian Ministry of Education, and even get whopped with a bill from the Palestinian tax authorities.

A Palestinian can also get a host of documents - from a driver's license, to a passport, to a birth certificate - without going to the Israelis or another foreign power, a first in the modern history of people who have also been ruled by the Jordanians, the Egyptians, the British, and the Turks - but never by themselves.

All these tastes of independence would have seemed like the stuff of fiction just five years ago, when a Palestinian teenager could be thrown in an Israeli prison for so much as spray-painting the name "Palestine" on a wall or hoisting a flag in the national colors of red, black, white, and green.

But whether these different ingredients constitute a recipe that will soon yield an independent state of Palestine is the subject of much debate as President Clinton prepares to visit the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Bethlehem Dec. 14 and 15 - the first trip by an American president to Palestinian-ruled soil.

Symbolic implications

Palestinian leaders are gleefully highlighting the significance of Mr. Clinton's visit. They see his arrival in Gaza City - the headquarters of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority (PA) - as a prelude to US recognition of a Palestinian state.

"We consider this visit as very symbolic, especially from a national point of view for the Palestinian people," Ahmed Tibi, a senior adviser to Mr. Arafat, told reporters. "One of the most important things emerging from the Wye Memorandum is President Clinton visiting Gaza."

When he arrives in Gaza Dec. 14, Clinton will see many trappings of independence. First he will be greeted by honor guards and military troops playing the American and Palestinian national anthems, and be whisked past hordes of onlookers waving plastic American and Palestinian flag combos now being churned out in knickknack factories.

Then Clinton will address an assembly of Palestinian officials in a hall that already serves as a legislative council building in Gaza City.

Avoiding emblematic moves

But the president will not fly into Gaza's just-opened airport, because of requests from Israeli officials that he avoid making such emblematic moves that could be seen as de facto recognition of Palestinian sovereignty. Nor will Clinton spend the night in Gaza, owing to a combination of high security risks and scant hotel space - no place is big enough to house the expected entourage of 1,000 for the night.

Moreover, Clinton will avoid addressing Israel's parliament, the Knesset, during the same trip. Though there are reports that Clinton chose to make that omission to avoid Israeli objections that such a visit implies parity between the two legislative bodies, the rankled Knesset speaker says he will boycott all events linked to Clinton's trip.

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