Airport opening gives hope for statehood

As crew members waved the Palestinian flag from the pilot's window of the Fokker 50, the emotional crowd began a spontaneous celebration of dance and song set to last for days.

"The meaning of the airport is freedom and the feeling that you are a citizen in a country," Shaban Khalil, a man from Gaza City, said jubilantly.

AP PHOTO The pilot of Yasser Arafat's personal plane holds a Palestinian flag after landing his plane for the first time in Gaza's newly opened international airport yesterday.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat smiled broadly and flashed a victory sign on the tarmac as he greeted each of the seven planes that landed yesterday. "This is a preparation for the declaration of the Palestinian state," he said.

Built with $75 million in contributions mainly from Japan, Gaza International has one 2-mile-long runway - long enough to accommodate all but the biggest jumbo jets.

The one passenger terminal for arrivals and departures resembles an Arabian desert palace with arches and multi-colored Moroccan tiles and includes a VIP lounge.

In the first weeks, airport operations will have to rely on some improvisation. Major pieces of equipment, including those for the control tower, are still at the Israeli port of Ashdod. Yesterday's planes were guided in by a portable control panel installed in a van.

Israel, which feared a solely Palestinian-run airport would mean enemies could land at its doorstep or smuggle weapons to the Palestinians, held up the opening for two years over security concerns.

Under the airport agreement negotiated during last month's U.S.-sponsored Middle East summit in Maryland, Israel will continue to control the airspace and can shut down the airport at any time.

With a full-time but discreet monitoring presence there, Israel will pre-approve all flight schedules and passenger lists, although no Israeli will sit in the control tower or operate any area of the airport.

Yesterday, Israeli and Palestinian security agents greeted an Egypt Air flight and collected the passports of the passengers, including Egyptian Cabinet ministers.

As of today, Palestinian officials say no Israeli presence will be visible. Arriving passengers will be transferred by buses from the planes to a security check area in the airport where they will go through metal detectors. Palestinian agents will X-ray luggage and cargo while Israeli monitors observe the security checks from behind one-way mirrors, as they do now at two other crossings into autonomous Palestinian areas.

If Israel disputes an inspection, the passenger and his luggage will be taken to a separate area where Israelis will carry out an additional check while Palestinian agents observe.

Palestine Airlines, which already runs a twice-weekly flight to Jordan from a small airstrip in Egypt, will now operate out of Gaza International. The brand-new national carrier is starting out with a fleet of three planes, including a Boeing 727 - a gift from a Saudi prince.

The airport will also be the permanent home of Arafat's presidential plane. A giant portrait of the Palestinian leader hung from the control tower for the festive opening yesterday and Arafat was on hand to personally greet the planeloads of dignitaries.

Next month, President Clinton is expected to land there too - giving implicit recognition for independence, at least in Palestinian eyes.

Yesterday's opening was a dramatic event in the history of the Palestinian people. Despite the monitoring role, the airport marks a significant loosening of the Jewish state's security grip over the Palestinians.

Years of requests for Israeli permission, often denied, to travel anywhere by land or air are slowly ending. For people in the cramped Gaza Strip, which is surrounded by barbed-wire on three sides and the sea on a fourth, the airport will provide the only unfettered way out.

Palestinians in the West Bank still need Israeli permission to travel across its territory to Gaza but a safe passage route in the works will make the land journey easier.

For Arafat, yesterday was a chance to share the fruits of peace with his people. As the first plane touched down and the pilot and copilot raised Palestinian flags high above their heads, a chant of "Allahu Akbar," - God is Great - rose from the crowd of thousands of Palestinians who had pushed their way onto the airfield to join the celebrations.

"You are a beautiful sight," Arafat told the Palestinian crew in the VIP lounge, lavishly decorated with deep red Oriental carpets and wall mosaics.

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