Palestinian envoy pleads for New Zealand's help

By JOHN ARMSTRONG

Yasser Arafat's Palestinian National Authority wants New Zealand to exploit its flowering relationship with the United States to get more pressure exerted on Israel to end its "brutal invasion" of the West Bank.

The request was made by Ali Kazak, head of the Palestinian delegation to Australia and New Zealand, during a Beehive meeting yesterday with Foreign Minister Phil Goff.

He also raised the question of New Zealand's lack of recognition of a Palestinian state and the establishment of full diplomatic relations, and asked for economic assistance.

After the meeting, Mr Goff stressed New Zealand's "even-handed" approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He condemned the "overreaction" by the Israeli military and ongoing Jewish settlement of the occupied territories, and the suicide bombings by Palestinians.

Mr Goff repeated New Zealand's willingness to contribute to a multinational peacekeeping force "if and when" peace negotiations began.

New Zealand had also made a one-off payment of $400,000 towards medical and education needs in Palestinian refugee camps.

He said New Zealand had also told the US that combating terrorism required dealing with the root causes of the "hopelessness and desperation" fuelling that terrorism.

New Zealand would give serious consideration to recognising a Palestinian state when it was declared by the Palestinians and it fulfilled requisite criteria under international law, Mr Goff said.

"We support the right of the Palestinian people to their own state ... We have a relationship with the Palestinian Authority which respects that authority as the representative of the Palestinian people."

But Mr Kazak said New Zealand's position was political. "The requirement of state is there and there is no problem in international law for the recognition of the state."

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