NGOs Reaffirm Palestine Commitments at Vienna U.N. Meeting

By Don Betz

As the United Nations celebrated its 50th anniversary with ceremonies in New York and around the globe, it also convened its 12th annual international meeting of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on Palestine in Vienna from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, 1995. There were fewer participants than in some previous years, with attendance from North America and Europe down, but there was increased participation by NGOs from Latin America and Asia. As in 1994, there was significant governmental representation as observers. The spirit of the meeting reflected the deep commitment of the NGOs as they called on the United Nations to plan an NGO conference in Jerusalem "or another location in Palestine" in 1996.

A dichotomy emerged from the opening session. Several of the statements by U.N. and government representatives lauded the Declaration of Principles (DOP) of Sept. 13, 1993 and the peace process it initiated. At the same time, NGO spokespersons questioned openly whether this process would, in fact, lead to the ever-elusive "just and lasting peace." As NGO speakers and resource persons discussed the letter and intent of the DOP and the subsequent Cairo agreement, NGO delegates from Palestine challenged the right of the Palestinian National Authority to control the work of Palestinian NGOs.

Among speakers at the four-day conference, Haim Baram, an Israeli journalist for the Jerusalem weekly Kol Hair and a founding member of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (ICIPP), noted that in order to accommodate the Israeli government, PLO/PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat had made extreme concessions which endangered his position. "The PLO has fulfilled its promise to respect the integrity of the state of Israel, and the Palestinian Authority to fight anti-Israeli terrorism with unexpected zeal," Baram commented. Yet Israel still wants to control directly at least 35 percent of the West Bank in any final settlement. He referred to the "Israelization of East Jerusalem" and contended that the "massive attempts to erase the Arab character of East Jerusalem continue with impunity under the current Likud mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert."

Baram captured the conference's attention when he characterized the Israeli settlements as "a lethal time-bomb that could undermine the entire peace process, enhance the extremists in both camps and even trigger a new, bloody and costly war between Israel and at least some of her Arab neighbors." He favored a continuation of the Israel-PLO dialogue, but called on the international community to bring forth an "honest broker," other than the United States. "Peace is too important to be entrusted to the Americans alone," Baram said. He looked to Europe and the United Nations as alternatives.

"Massive attempts to erase the Arab character of East Jerusalem continue with impunity."

Several Palestinian speakers and others contributed to the dialogue on the "right of return." The meeting heard that the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (III) calls for the return of the refugees to their homes, not to Jericho. (Until two years ago the United States position included the implementation of 194. Now the U.S. government is less forthright, leaving the introduction of the issue in the United Nations to the European Union.) The PNA was taken to task more than once for not providing for the refugees when crafting the understandings with the Israelis.

Difficulties of life under occupation were re-emphasized lest the world conclude that peace prevails and all issues have been resolved. Mohammed Daroushe, Knesset member from the Arab Democratic Party, presented Gaza as a "beleaguered island." One-third of Gaza remains under occupation, he told the audience, even as we consider it to be administered by the Palestinian National Authority. "Israel is doing everything to cut the linkage between the people and the land," Daroushe warned. It is ironic, he concluded, that the Palestinians are negotiating to determine what percentage of their own water they will be permitted to keep.

The tension between the PNA representatives and the Palestinian NGOs was palpable. Representatives of the Palestinian NGOs and their international counterparts on the ground in Palestine harshly criticized the PNA for its authoritarian demeanor in relating to the many NGOs there. They also opposed the predisposition of the Oslo agreement, funneling development funds directly to the PNA rather than to the NGOs. The Palestinians present spoke passionately about their commitment to building a Palestinian civil society in which voluntary organizations would be welcomed and assisted. Some speakers depicted the NGOs in Palestine as a countervailing force to governmental control that can assist in the development of democracy in Palestine.

Overwhelming Consensus

The overwhelming consensus was that Palestinian and international NGOs can and must assume important roles in re-directing the peace process. "Their usefulness is, in part, as a bridge between the Palestinians and the international donor aid, between the Palestinian Authority, the international community and Israel," commented Dr. Emma Murphy, lecturer in Middle East politics at the University of Durham in Great Britain. She noted that international NGOs have provided both relief and developmental aid which is needed now more than ever. "Israel has passed many of the responsibilities of provision to the Palestinian Authority, offering it a limited authority to levy taxes to pay for that provision," Murphy stated. "In reality, the Palestinian tax base cannot support the huge developmental and infrastructural needs of a population which has been so ruthlessly underdeveloped by Israel for so many years."

The former head of the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks in Washington, DC, Dr. Haider Abdul Shafi, in an address to NGOs early in 1995, called for a united international NGO structure which can "exert sustained pressure on democratic governments to abide by and remain committed to its proclaimed values that are enunciated in international conventions and U.N. resolutions." The NGOs at the Vienna meeting re-affirmed their commitment to enhancing their network through existing bodies such as the International Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine (ICCP).

NGOs on the ground were portrayed as valuable allies to the professional technocrats of the Palestinian National Authority, "offering advice and assistance as well as financial channels that can operate in collaboration with Palestinian policy-making and decision-making."

"NGOs are more than ever the eyes and ears of the international community in the occupied territories," Murphy declared. "Unless the impediments to Palestinian development are acknowledged by the international community and Israel, the current process will only provide peace at the cost of the long-term regression of Palestinian political and economic rights. NGOs must express this with a unified voice if they are not to become the permanent providers for the Palestinians," she concluded.

The role and responsibilities of the NGO network were widely re-affirmed by the meeting's participants. The NGO coordinating committees promised to continue using their scarce resources in support of the genuine self-determination of Palestinians.

One of the NGO spokespersons sought to summarize the NGO focus in Vienna in the following way:

"Issues such as refugees and the right of return, access to water, control of economic, social and political life, the pernicious and expanding reality of the settlements and the fate of Jerusalem all are the consequences of Palestinians never securing their own self-determination in an independent state, and of the U.N. and the international community never fulfilling a responsibility accepted almost half a century ago.

A Clear Quest

"We know that this struggle has always been about self-determination, about ending an unconscionable, protracted, illegal and immoral occupation, about their attainment of the fullest expression of a people's right to choose their destiny. This saga is about the recognition of the inherent right of a people to govern themselves and to secure their common vision for their children. It is about statehood and the creation of those critical economic, social, political and spiritual circumstances crucial to the vitality of such a state. Beyond the waiting, the legal roadblocks, and the mendacity that has haunted the question of Palestine since it was first introduced in the U.N. as a 'refugee problem,' this is a clear quest for national freedom and independence.

"After 50 years, the time has come for the United Nations to insist that the principles enshrined in its Charter be applied conscientiously to the question of Palestine. The U.N. and the NGOs must remain partners with Palestine until the spirit and the letter of the applicable U.N. resolutions are realized.

"Ours is a duty not yet fulfilled."

Dr. Don Betz, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Palmer College, Davenport, IA, is chairman of the International Coordinating Committee on the Question of Palestine (ICCP).