wfn.org | Arafat warns that the Palestinians are facing 'a disaster'

[ENS@ecunet.org]

For more information contact:
Jan Nunley
Deputy Director
jnunley@dfms.org
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

2000-231

Arafat warns that the Palestinians are facing 'a disaster'

by James Solheim

     (Gaza City) "We are facing a disaster," a grim-faced President Yasser Arafat 
of the Palestine Authority (PA) told a visiting delegation from the United States 
during a morning conversation. "Sorry you are coming in such crucial 
circumstances as we face more aggression. In spite of that, we are doing our best 
to return to the peace process."

     Arafat thanked the delegation for its visit in spite of the difficult 
situation and encouraged the delegation to make a strong push to save the peace 
process.  "With your help we will be able to overcome what we are facing," he 
added.

     "Unless we can put an end to the confusion" between the what the politicians 
talk about and what the military leaders are implementing, Arafat warned, the 
situation in the region could become "very, very dangerous."  He indicated that a 
non-military solution must be found.

     "All of our cities and towns are under siege," Arafat said. "What they are 
doing in Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour is unbelievable--a big crime." The 
three West Bank towns have been shelled recently and the Israeli military 
authorities have made movement difficult in the area.  The economic issues are 
also critical, he reported, since 340,000 laborers have lost their jobs, forcing 
the PA to support "some of our people facing real tragedy."

     "We recognize peace comes with a price--justice," said the Rev. John 
McCullough of Church World Service, the relief arm of the National Council of 
Churches. "We are committed to be an agitating voice to establish justice."

     Bishop Theodore Schneider of the Metropolitan Washington D.C.  Synod of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, told Arafat about the ecumenical prayer 
vigil for peace in the Middle East that began in many American churches on the 
first Sunday of Advent--a vigil that would continue until the violence in the 
region ended and peace is achieved. "Prayer excites God's people to know and 
care," he said. "This is not the way to live--and we know it."

De facto apartheid

     The collapse of the peace process and the renewed intifada is creating a 
social and economic suffocation in the occupied Palestinian territories, a "de 
facto apartheid," argued Raji Sourani, director of the Palestine Center for Human 
Rights in Gaza City. 

     "Nobody should have any illusions about what is happening here," he said.  
"They are building Berlin Walls all over the occupied territories. How can 
victimizing human rights be the price of peace?" he asked. "Who has a real, 
genuine interest in peace?"

     He called the political rhetoric used by the Israelis "very scary."  He said 
that the search for peace is complicated by the guilt resulting from persecution 
of the Jews. "But we are not responsible for the Holocaust," and he argued that 
having been victims does not now give Israel the right to make victims of others. 
"Fair-minded Jews realize that what is happening is de facto apartheid."

     Palestinians are not ready to be "good victims," Sourani said. When pressed, 
Israeli friends told him that "you Palestinians don't exist for us," except 
perhaps as a security problem, and the Israeli Army can handle any threats. He 
concluded that many Israelis think Palestinians should "take what we offer or 
things will continue." But he is convinced that "we exist for them right now--
because of the blood."  

     He talked about the "vicious cycle of blood" and argued that the intensity 
of the Israeli military actions are the worst since the 1967 war.  But he was 
worried that people are beginning to become insensitive to the violence. "Last 
night there was five hours of shelling in a village and it didn't even make the 
news," he said, other than reporting the number of victims.  "We are in bad need 
of your prayers and support," he concluded.

Standing by the truth

     Dr. Haider Abdel Shafi, a highly respected Palestinian leader who led the 
negotiation team at the Madrid Conference, is also convinced that the Israeli 
strategy is to establish facts on the ground, especially through the expansion of 
settlements on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. He agrees with the United 
Nations condemnation of the settlements as "illegal and obstructions to peace."

     Although he had "no illusions" when he went to Madrid, he harbored hopes 
that the United States would adopt a more balanced approach to the peace process. 
"Our hopes were frustrated when we asked the Israelis to stop the settlements." 
He said that he did not know about the secret negotiations in Oslo but concluded 
it was "a bad agreement. 

     "I hope no one expects us to make further concessions. We have already made 
great concessions," he said. "Our demands are legitimate--we want a sovereign 
state within recognized borders with Jerusalem as the capital. And we can't 
understand that the world stands by when they can see the tragedy going on in 
this part of the world." 

     He asked, "Why should Israel be accommodated in its aggression? Basically 
because it enjoys the support of the U.S. government." He said that Arafat had 
been "very accommodating," showing his flexibility and risking credibility and 
the support of his people. "We think he's giving more than he should."

     The doctor admitted that Palestinians had "not done enough and our failures 
are many," especially telling the story to the American society. "It is very 
crucial to try to affect Congress and the Americans about the realities of the 
problems here," he added. "My friends argue that the churches might help. We are 
certain church people are the kind who seek and support truth."

     He concluded, "Despite what we have suffered and are suffering, we are sure 
that people will stand by the truth when they know it."

Staring truth in the face

     The delegation was exposed to the harsh realities of the situation when they 
traveled south of Gaza City and met with farmers whose homes and orchards had 
been destroyed recently.

     Walking through a field where almost 500 trees had been systematically 
bulldozed in the last few weeks by Israelis who claimed that youth were stoning 
convoys of settlers on the nearby road, the delegation met the human face of the 
issue.

     "We ask for international protection," pleaded nine-year-old Maran. She 
described her walk to school, detouring around Israeli tanks recently deployed to 
block the main road through the area.

     The bulldozers came without warning in the early hours of the morning and 
leveled a house where families were sleeping. Members of the delegation sifted 
through pieces of furniture and clothing. "How can you explain this to your 
children when you are trying to teach them peace?" asked one of the farmers. "We 
are here to stay. We're not going anywhere."  Local Palestinians are convinced 
that Israel wants to "eradicate our history and make it difficult to live here."

     In a brief stop for prayers at the chapel at Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza 
City, the delegation was shown fragments of an American-made missile that had 
killed one of the hospital's ambulance drivers.

     Bishop Vincent Warner of the Diocese of Olympia in Washington prayed for the 
hospital "where brokenness is made whole. Heal Palestine, heal Israel and heal 
us. What we have seen here is breaking our hearts and all we can do is turn to 
God."

     At the Gaza border, Constantine Dabbagh, Executive Secretary for the Middle 
East Council of Churches' Committee for Refugee Work in Gaza, urged members of 
the delegation to couple their prayers with action and, accepting the gift of a 
crystal dove, he urged them "to give the dove wings" through their efforts for 
peace.

Meeting with rabbis and Jewish peace activists

     At the end of a long and sobering day, the delegation met with four Israeli 
religious peace activists.  They were very open about their hopes for continued 
dialogue with their Palestinian counterparts.  At the same time their fear for 
their personal safety has been heightened since the outbreak of the second 
intifada.  Midway through the conversation it was reported that the shelling had 
resumed in Bethlehem and Beit Jala with the likelihood of further casualties.

     "Our hearts are breaking every day," said Rabbi Yehezkiel Landau. "This is a 
very dark period. How do we get people to hear the fear?"

     "Do the Palestinians and Israelis hear the fears of each other?" asked 
Bishop Browning of the Episcopal Church USA.

     "You can't blame a people whose humanity has been denied from rising up and 
demanding their rights, argued McCullough…..If one people fail to recognize the 
humanity of another, you cannot blame them when you suffer.  Deal with the 
reality of what created the crisis."

Jim Solheim is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of News and Information 
and is serving as press officer for the peace delegation. To follow the stories 
and photos check the Web site of the "http://www.loga.org/"Lutheran Office for 
Governmental Affairs: www.loga.org. http://www.loga.org/PrayerVigilHome.htm 
Prayer Vigil for Middle East Peace