Shultz to Meet 2 American Palestinians; Israel Objects

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State George P. Shultz today arranged to meet with two Palestinian-American members of the Palestine National Council. The decision triggered a storm of protest by Israel, which claimed the two are PLO members.

Shultz will hold the meeting with Edward Said, a professor at Columbia University, and Ibrahim Abu-Lughud, a professor at Northwestern University, on Saturday “to discuss our approach to the Middle East peace process,” a State Department announcement said.

Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley stressed that Said and Abu-Lughud are U.S. citizens. She said the 13-year-old U.S. policy of not dealing with the Palestine Liberation Organization remains intact.

No Policy Change

“There is no change in U.S. policy on negotiating with or recognizing the PLO,” she said. “That policy remains as it has been since 1975.”

The United States, in persuading Israel to relinquish territory to Egypt and Syria, promised in 1975 it would not deal with the PLO. The pledge subsequently was incorporated into U.S. law.

The Palestine National Council is the Palestinian “parliament in exile,” which has close ties with the PLO. The United States holds that some Palestine National Council members, like Said and Abu-Lughud, are not members of Palestinian guerrilla groups but “unaffiliated Palestinians.”

The brief announcement identified Said and Abu-Lughud only as “prominent Americans with an intimate knowledge of contemporary Middle Eastern politics.”

Meeting Protested

The Israeli government, both in Washington and in Jerusalem, protested the meeting on the ground that it violates U.S. commitment and U.S. law forbidding any talks with the PLO until the PLO recognizes Israel’s right to exist and renounces terrorism.

The protest was delivered in Jerusalem by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to U.S. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering. Shamir said he viewed the meeting with “grave and serious concern.”

In Washington, Israeli ambassador Moshe Arad “made his opposition known,” according to State Department officials.

Oakley said Shultz initiated the meeting. “He will discuss the Palestinian point of view,” she said. “They have an intimate knowledge of Middle Eastern politics.”