National Lawyers Guild Oregon Members Participate in Delegation to Palestine and Israel

By Elaine Kelley

Two Portland-based members of the National Lawyers Guild who joined the organization’s Middle East delegation to Israel and Palestine in January of this year also are members of Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (AUPHR). Founded in October 2000 following the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada, AUPHR cooperates with other national groups in pursuing litigation and congressional hearings on Israel’s misuse of U.S. weapons and challenging U.S. economic and security assistance to Israel.

Attorneys Zaha Hassan, an American-born Palestinian whose family is from Al Bireh, and Steven Goldberg, chairperson of the National Lawyers Guild’s International Committee and a member of Congregation Havurah Shalom in Portland, were among those who traveled to Palestine and Israel after the Guild, at its November 2000 annual convention in Boston, approved sending the fact-finding delegation to the Middle East. The group of 10 lawyers and law students, including four Jewish and four Palestinian Americans, traveled in Palestine and Israel from Jan. 20 to 28. They visited hospitals, toured illegal Israeli settlements, met with parents of children killed in Gaza, viewed property damage in Hebron, Gaza, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour. They also met with members of Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations and representatives of the Israeli and Palestinian bar associations to investigate complaints that Palestinian judges were encountering problems getting access to their chambers and that military courts were preventing Palestinians from meeting with their lawyers. Following its visit, the National Lawyers Guild Delegation published a report based on its findings: The Al Aqsa Intifada and Israel’s Apartheid: The U.S. Military and Economic Role in the Violation of Palestinian Human Rights.

AUPRH members plan to lobby elected officials and to educate the public using the report, which cites a long list of Israeli human rights violations—including illegal settlements and bypass roads, measures restricting free movement, discriminatory land policies, brutal responses to political expression, indiscriminate and excessive force, lethal force, destruction of property, and the delay and prevention of medical treatment.

The report finds that “most of the weapons Israel has used and is using in these acts of aggression were manufactured in the United States, jointly developed by Israel and the United States, or financed by the United States.”

It recommends that the Guild call upon the president to report the findings to Congress that a substantial violation of the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 has occurred, and that Congress “pass legislation suspending all current foreign assistance to Israel until Congress, in concert with the Executive Branch, has determined that Israel is no longer acting in violation of the AECA and the FAA.”

While in Israel, Goldberg and three other delegation members visited the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, where they spoke with John Scott, counselor for political affairs, concerning Washington’s supplying of U.S.-made weapons used in the occupied territories by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The list of such weapons, compiled by the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, includes Apache and Huey Cobra helicopters, M203 grenade launchers, MK19 grenade launchers, light anti-tank weapons, naval ship artillery, and an assortment of bullets, grenades and explosives. According to the delegation’s report, counselor Scott conceded “that the United States could monitor weapons sales, could impose conditions on weapons sales, and could delay or cancel the sale of weapons such as the Apache helicopter.”

“None of these actions are being taken,” however, Scott is reported as saying.

In an Arab News article by Barbara G.B. Ferguson, delegation member Goldberg said there was some disagreement among Guild members over publishing the report because of “the large number of Jewish members in the Guild, and the traditional conflict Jews have on this issue.” In the article Goldberg criticized “the lack of coverage by the U.S. media of Israel’s use of force.”

Fellow delegate Hassan, who attended the Friends Girls School in Ramallah, moved to Portland following her 1996 graduation from the University of California at Berkeley law school. She applied for her first job with Tom Nelson, a public utility lawyer and a member of the National Lawyer Guild’s Middle East subcommittee. Since October Nelson and Hassan have gathered a diverse group of people, including Goldberg, under the auspices of AUPHR. Their committees are headed by Muslims, Christians and Jews, Republicans, Democrats, and socialists. AUPHR has four levels of activity, according to Nelson and Hassan: an education program, which sponsored a Deir Yassin event in April that focused on the history of Palestinian refugees; an outreach program working to establish connections with the area’s Jewish community; a lobbying effort to develop a more even-handed U.S. foreign policy; and a litigation plan in cooperation with other national groups to challenge the misuse of U.S. weapons.

“The lawsuit is looking into the legality of American support to Israel on grounds that it’s being used to deprive Palestinians of human rights,” said Nelson. “We’re looking for Palestinians injured by Israel’s use of U.S. weapons to come forward to file a class action in federal district court in Oregon.”

The group’s activities also include raising funds for medical relief to Rafidya Hospital in Gaza and sponsoring a trip to Palestine/ Israel for Oregon journalists and legislators.

Zaha Hassan recalled her initial lobbying of Oregon’s federal senators and representatives. One congressman got angry with her when she questioned the legality of U.S. aid to Israel. “I felt I was in Prime Minister [Ariel] Sharon’s office,” she said, “not in a U.S. congressman’s office.”

The congressman told Hassan that he did not see why Washington should delay moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, she added.

The Portland staff of Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (who received $93,352 from pro-Israel PACS in 1996, when the then-congressman ran for election to the seat vacated by Sen. Bob Packwood) told Hassan, as well as Portland-area church leaders and others seeking to speak with him about his foreign policy record on Palestine/Israel, that the senator generally does not meet personally with anyone who is not a “supporter of the state of Israel.”

In response to Hassan’s request that Oregon’s Republican Sen. Gordon Smith—
ironically, Wyden’s opponent in 1996—a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Near East subcommittee, reconsider his unconditional support for Israel in light of reports from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights that Israel is guilty of using excessive and indiscriminate force against largely unarmed Palestinian civilians, Smith’s Washington-based foreign policy aide told Hassan, “If you don’t like Senator Smith’s position, find yourself another candidate.”

In Hassan’s view, Smith is vulnerable and AUPHR plans to challenge him during his re-election campaign.

Hassan and Nelson also met in Washington with the foreign policy aides of Reps. Greg Walden and Earl Blumenauer. In Portland Hassan and other church leaders and citizens met with Rep. Darlene Hooley’s legislative aide. AUPHR members have yet to meet with Rep. Peter DeFazio.

According to Hassan, so far only Blumenauer has been open to their concerns. “He was very attentive,” she said, “and told us he’s taking an active interest in educating himself.”

In April, Hassan said, Blumenauer, who serves on the International Relations Committee, spent an hour with AUPHR members, representatives of the National Lawyers Guild, Friends of Sabeel, and other citizens concerned about Israel’s gross human rights abuses against Palestinians. “Congressman Blumenauer appears to be much more concerned about being even-handed in fulfilling his responsibilities as a member of the International Relations Committee,” she noted.

AUPHR currently is working on the construction of its Web site. Meanwhile, interested persons may contact members of the group by e-mail: Zaha Hassan (<zaha@uswest.net>); Tom Nelson (<thnelson@thnelson.com>); and Steven Goldberg (<sgold3631@inetarena.com>).

Muslim Educational Trust Holds 5th Annual Awards

The Muslim Educational Trust (MET) held its 5th Annual Awards event June 23 at Portland State University. The annual event is held to recognize members of the organization and other friends in the community for their efforts in leadership and volunteerism.

Giving the keynote address was Dr. Nohad Toulan, founding dean of the Portland State University College of Urban and Public Affairs, and an internationally recognized urban planner who in 1984/85 designed the regional plan for the holy city of Mecca. “We are here to honor individuals who gave freely of their time and expertise in the service of society,” he began. An MET advisory board member, Toulan said that the American Muslim community was still in its formative stages but growing in number. “The fact is that we are neither visible nor do we wield political influence,” he said, noting that in order to carry their political weight Muslims should have “eight or nine members in Congress and many more in state legislatures.”

Toulan described his vision of good citizenship, which he defined as a “bundle of rights and responsibilities, privileges and duties.”

Many Muslims, Christians, and Jews, he said, found it difficult to relate to laws outside the divine realm. Yet, Toulan insisted, “it is those exact laws that guarantee our religious freedom.”

He encouraged “total engagement” as citizens in institutions and democratic systems, and activism in neighborhood associations, school PTAs and various other civic organizations. To understand the real meaning of citizenship in America, he said, means “to recognize that ours is a pluralistic society” in which all individuals and views must be respected and tolerated. He pointed out that it was unfortunate that so many Muslims had lived under totalitarian regimes that claimed an Islamic identity without appreciating the real meaning of the term.

Concluding his remarks, Dr. Toulan reminded his audience that “prior to Islam people were obliged to follow the religion of their rulers” and that “religious minorities were not only not tolerated but also more often persecuted.” As an example he recounted the story of Omar, who in the 7th century refused to perform prayers inside Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre because it could be used as a pretext for less understanding, or intolerant Muslims to take over the church and turn it into a mosque.

Immediately following Dr. Toulan’s address, Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker presented him with the City of Portland’s Distinguished Service Medal—Ÿn award usually given to a police officer or a community member for exceptional accomplishments. The chief recounted a recent example of Dr. Toulan’s extensive public service in which, at the chief’s request, the PSU professor took on a local fund-raising drive on behalf of a young Bosnian Muslim girl who had come to the U.S. for medical treatment and an urgently needed liver transplant facilitated through the World Children’s Transplant Fund, which Chief Kroeker founded in 1988.

The program culminated in a dinner and the presentation of awards to 11 individuals. The leadership award was presented to Muhammad Najieb, resident imam for Portland’s Muslim community, and to Laila Hajoo, president of the American Muslim Foundation. Community service award recipients were Ismat Qayum, a volunteer for Portland’s Islamic Weekend School, Mostafa Arifin, who volunteers as a tutor for refugees, Saira Khan, a long-time volunteer for the Islamic Society of Greater Portland, and Taghrid Elmeligui, a coordinator and teacher for the MET Summer Camp. Student contribution awards were given to Fayza Sohail, current president of Muslim Youth of North America, Anisa Ramjan, a MET volunteer and recent graduate of St. Mary’s Academy in Portland, and Ekaputra Jabar, MET’s volunteer Web page manager. The Friends of MET award was presented to attorneys Nikki Hatton, who helped to form and continues to guide MET as a non-profit corporation, and Michael Sommers, who helped handle the purchase and legal contracts of the MET Community Center.

MET’s purpose is to provide information about Islam to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, dispelling common myths and stereotypes, and to serve the Muslim community’s educational needs. MET activities include an Outreach Program that offers speakers for public forums, an Educational Program for children through the fifth grade, a weekend Islamic school, lectures and workshops, a quarterly newsletter, Al-Hewar, an e-mail information service, and a home page on the World Wide Web at: <http://www.metpdx.org>.

King County, WA Democrats Consider Resolutions on Israel/Palestine

Democrats of King County, Washington’s 34th Legislative District, passed on May 9 a “Resolution for Support of Fair Treatment of Palestinians and Israelis.” The resolution urged all Washington State congressional representatives “not to sign the letter of the House International Relations Committee or the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee blaming the Palestinians for the past six months’ violence and to make a plea for the fair treatment of Palestinians and Israelis.”

According to the resolution, the letters are blatantly “anti-Palestinian” and promote a one-sided view supporting the interests of Israel’s “security concerns.”

Written and submitted by Precinct Committee Officer Anne Eudoxie Francisse, who serves on the King County Affirmative Action and Legislative Action Committees, the Fair Treatment resolution passed on the district level by a vote of 16 to 8 but failed on the county level. The district forwarded it to Washington Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Francisse said.

One “Whereas” clause in the resolution, she pointed out, set an historic precedent with language denouncing the U.S. double standard, and affirming the Palestinians’ basic and inherent right of self-defense.

Francisse also wrote and submitted the “Resolution to Establish an International War Criminal Tribunal for Israel,” which did not make it out of committee and has been referred to federal authorities for consideration. That document contains 18 “Whereas” clauses supporting the “moral and civil duty for U.S. citizens and U.S. taxpayers” to recognize Palestinian human rights, and the “establishment of an International War Criminal Tribunal for Israel.” Francisse said she hopes Senators Murray and Cantwell will accept the language as is and “take any proactive decision.”

Francisse explained that the inspiration to initiate a county-level resolution condemning Israel started with the open letter from eight national Muslim organizations to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging him to recommend to the Security Council the establishment of a war crimes tribunal for Israel. The eight sponsoring groups were the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Muslim American Society (MAS), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), American Muslim Alliance (AMA), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), and Muslim Students’ Association of the U.S. and Canada (MSA).

The open letter to Annan, which appeared in a full-page advertisement in The Washington Times, cited Security Council Resolutions 1166 [1998] and 955 [1994] dealing with “war crimes against humanity” in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda, comparing those to “the brutal nature of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.” The letter lists massacres committed against Palestinians since 1948 and points to Israel’s intransigence in continuing to violate international law.

Francisse also credits statements by Judge Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor for the U.N. criminal tribunals for both the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, who has suggested that Ariel Sharon “should be tried for war crimes in connection with the 1982 massacre of Palestinian civilians in Lebanon.”

[Legal proceedings formally opened June 18 in Belgium against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for crimes against humanity stemming from his role in the 1982 massacre that killed 800 inhabitants of Lebanon’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. The plaintiffs are 28 Palestinian survivors of the massacre. See story p. 9.]

Francisse, who emigrated from Belgium in 1963 and converted to Islam in 1981, , explained that the U.S. veto on behalf of Israel of more than 60 U.N. resolutions constitutes a double standard with regard to the occupied Palestinian population.

While Francisse awaits the final outcome of both referred resolutions, she has submitted a third resolution. The “Resolution to Support the Passage of HR 1266, the Secret Evidence Repeal Act of 2001” condemns the use by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of the secret evidence section of the Anti-Terrorism Law of 1966 as a violation of the Fifth Amendment, citing its use primarily in cases involving Arab and Muslim detainees.

The movement to repeal the use of secret evidence argues that the practice targets immigrants, Muslims and Arabs and that the evidence often is based on rumor and innuendo. Francisse believes it is “impossible” to create a legal defense without knowing the source or nature of the charges against the defendant, and notes that detainess often spend many years in jail. This resolution, studied in Seattle during June, passed in both the 34th Legislative District and the King County Democratic Central Committee.

Elaine Kelley is a Palestinian human rights activist in Oregon working since 1990 to educate Christians in local churches about the Holy Land and its peoples. She lived in the Bethlehem area for four years doing development work for Palestinian NGOs and as development officer of Bethlehem University.