January 1994, Page 61

Arab American Activism

By Catherine M. Willford

Speakers at NAAA Convention Duel Over Statehood, Autonomy, Boycott

Senator Patrick Leahy and State Department consultant Dennis Ross called for an end to the Arab boycott of Israel in their talks to the 21 st anniversary convention of the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) Oct 29-30 in Arlington, VA. In keynote addresses at the convention's two banquets, former Secretary of State James Baker III and Palestinian Delegation spokeswoman Dr. Hanan Ashrawi analyzed the accord on principles of peace recently agreed to by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

State Department Special Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross led the charge on the boycott issue. Commenting that a key U.S. role in implementation of the Sept. 13 accord is creating an environment receptive to peace in the region, Ross said "the Arab states must not be lacking or lagging in this regard; the Arab boycott must be dismantled since this is an impediment to implementation, a relic of a different era, and inconsistent with the progress of peace." Ross added that the administration of President Bill Clinton expects the PLO to campaign among moderate Arab states for an end to the boycott, as "it is in their interest to do so."

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Foreign Operations subcommittee, called the Arab boycott of Israel "anachronistic, self-defeating and senseless," and warned that "as long as the Arab states persist they cannot expect attitudes in Congress to change significantly."

In his remarks upon the peace process after accepting NAAA's Peace Award at the Friday banquet, former Secretary of State Baker stated that "Palestinian leaders will have to use their influence in the larger diplomatic arena and they will have to press moderate Arab states to extend full recognition to Israel and lift the embargo." Baker referred several times in his speech to the relationship between "Palestinian autonomy" and Israeli security.

"Let me remind Baker that it's statehood, not autonomy," Dr. Hanan Ashrawi shot back during her keynote address at the Saturday banquet, "I do not intend to run for office here or anyplace, but I think you heard a campaign speech last night," she said, referring to the Baker speech.

"Very frankly, this agreement could take us to disaster or to statehood, it's up to us," Ashrawi said. She said Palestinians face the hard work of "rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation" following the signing of the Declaration of Principles, "but we must not be afraid to hope." She acknowledged that "a state cannot be built with part of the Palestinian people, we must involve our opposition." Rather than sitting back and criticizing from a distance, "we need accountability and responsibility from everyone." She challenged, "If you want reform, roll up your sleeves and get to work."

ADC Troubled by Settlement of ADL Criminal Case

Following the Nov. 15 settlement of the criminal investigation of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL) by the San Francisco District Attorney's office, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) stated, "We are troubled greatly by a number of features of the agreement, and by what the agreement does not cover."

While pleased that the district attorney has issued an injunction that should prevent ADL and its agents from obtaining further information from public officials, ADC expressed concern over the possibility that the case may have been settled "as a result of political pressure brought to bear by a well-orchestrated campaign." Noting that outrage over the illegal ADL surveillance continues in the civil rights community at large, ADC found it "shocking" that the settlement agreement "does not include an admission of wrongdoing by ADL and Roy Bullock," a long-time undercover employee of ADL who was accused of buying and selling information illegally obtained from San Francisco police files. Another ADC concern was that the settlement agreement does not include any provision for disclosure to the victims of the illegal spying of the information gathered about them by the ADL, and perhaps furnished to the police.

Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine's 2nd International Conference on Palestinian Statehood

Speakers covered topics ranging from women's rights to Palestinian confederation with Jordan at the Second International Conference on Palestinian Statehood, sponsored by the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine on Nov. 18 at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Professor Adrien Katherine Wing of the University of Iowa College of Law discussed key features of Palestinian civil society which could help or hinder the prospects for a democratic Palestine, including human rights aspirations, the role of fundamentalism and political pluralization.

In discussing women's rights, Dr. Wing commented that many Palestinian women "do not want to suffer the fate of the Algerian women who were restricted again to the private sphere after the Algerian struggle for independence in the 1950s." She reported that "President Arafat has said this will not happen because Palestinian women have a higher rate of education, which enables them to obtain professional positions." There are 37 female representatives in the 301-seat Palestine National Council, a percentage that compares favorably to developed nations.

On the subject of religion, Dr. Wing noted that the consideration of the degree of separation of church and state will be key to a democratic Palestine. "The religious elements that are not fundamentalist can be a major asset for democratization," she stated. "Palestinian Christian and Muslim leaders and adherents can all become involved in the secular democratic processes and encourage religious and moral positions in the legislative process, as the church often does in the U.S."

She urged, however, that Palestinian decision makers encourage Hamas to participate in the electoral process. "It is far better to incorporate dissenting voices within a democratic framework than to have them outside as revolutionary forces interested in overthrowing the government," Dr. Wing concluded.

Anis Kassim, president of the Al-Shaybani Society of International Law, also called for inclusionary political policies in a democratic Palestine. According to Kassim, having the "widest possible participation of Palestinians and establishing popular sovereignty" in the context of "developed institutions that would enable Palestinians to share in the production of community values and to share in their equitable distribution" is the soundest guarantee for self-determination.

Dr. As'ad Abdul Rahman of the Amman-based Shuman Foundation discussed the relationship "between an independent Palestinian entity and Jordan." Concentrating on some future confederation of the two, Rahman commented that "a successful confederal relation might work as a catalyst for the formation of a bigger economic bloc in the region."

Or Nir, Washington correspondent for the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, discussed increased willingness by Israelis to consider a Palestinian state in the aftermath of the Declaration of Principles.

Nir stressed that Israeli support of interim arrangements will be proportional to "the amount of quiet, in the sense of personal security and economic terms, that they enjoy as a result of the interim arrangements." He said that Israelis currently are most anxious about continued progress in peace settlements with Syria and Jordan, thus reducing the "likelihood of an attack on Israel from the eastern front, through the West Bank."

Organizations Send Aid to Lebanon

Shipments of medical equipment and pharmaceutical supplies were sent to Lebanon by two Washington, DC-based humanitarian organizations, Save Lebanon and the Rene Moawad Foundation. The shipments arrived in Lebanon in October and November, and both organizations are planning further deliveries. The relief efforts are focused on south Lebanon, in support of the population of that area which is suffering the consequences of last July's week-long Israeli shelling attacks.

For further information, contact Save Lebanon at 915 16th St. NW, Suite 901, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 429-2505. The Rene Moawad Foundation can be contacted at 1730 K St. NW, Suite 1206, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 466-3383.

Israelis, Palestinians Discuss Peace Options at Middle East Conclave

Twenty-seven Israelis, led by Labor Member of the Knesset Yael Dayan, Palestinians, led by senior PLO adviser Nabil Shaath, and Americans met Nov. 12 to 14 at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel in Cairo to exchange views relating to a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The focus of the discussion was a "Two States, One Holy Land" framework for peace authored by John V. Whitbeck, an American lawyer living in Paris. The meeting was sponsored by the Middle East Institute of Washington, DC.

While no consensus was reached on the Whitbeck proposal, wide-ranging discussion produced a remarkable agreement on a variety of issues. Participants expressed unanimous support for the Declaration of Principles signed in Washington on Sept. 13 and hoped that the continuing negotiations concerning interim arrangements would be successful.

The negotiating parties were urged to intensify efforts to halt acts of violence by elements hostile to the peace process, to put a stop to all new settlement activity and, with respect to Jerusalem, to be sensitive to what happens on the ground during the interim period in order to avoid provocations which could prejudice an eventual agreement on the city's final status.

Regarding final status negotiations, general consensus was reached that there will be no durable peace without a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict acceptable both to most Israelis and to most Palestinians, that such a solution must be conceived in a spirit of mutual respect, human dignity and peaceful coexistence, and must be premised on the right of both Israelis and Palestinians to self-determination and to political expression of their national identities. Participants in the Cairo meeting also agreed that it is in the interest of both peoples that their relationship should be cooperative, with open borders, the free movement of people and products, and equitable sharing of a physically undivided Jerusalem.

Participants agreed that, while formal negotiations on final status may not begin for a further two years, groups of concerned people should now be searching, in meetings such as the one in Cairo, to identify possible options to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace settlement in the Middle East.

Catherine M Willford is the circulation director of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.