Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June 1999, pages 103-105

Arab-American Activism

Saeb Erekat Speaks at CPAP on Palestinian-Israeli Relations

The Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine hosted on Feb. 17, 1999 a luncheon briefing with Saeb Erekat, minister of local government of the Palestinian Authority and former chief Palestinian negotiator in the Oslo peace process. Erekat discussed the current status of Palestinian-Israeli relations and future options for peaceful agreements.

Frustrated by the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu regarding the peace process, Erekat criticized the Israeli government’s non-compliance with the Wye River agreement signed at the White House in Washington, DC on Oct. 23, 1998. “The Wye River deadline period was over on Feb. 1 and we still have not seen an Israeli redeployment from 18.1 percent of the West Bank,” Erekat said. “We did not see the opening of the safe passage between the West Bank and Gaza; neither did we see the construction of the Gaza harbor or the implementation of the ad hoc economic committees relating to purchase taxes and other elements; and neither did we see the releasing of the Palestinian prisoners.” Due to this and other policies carried out by the Netanyahu government, “the trust level between us and the Netanyahu government is below zero,” he explained.

Erekat discussed recent changes in Jordan, Israel, and other Arab countries. “I do not think there is any other way to enter the next century in the fields of cooperation, prosperity, and stability other than through the fragile peace process we have now,” he argued. He said putting the peace process back on track would be to the benefit of everyone in the Middle East.

Erekat expressed disappointment with the American involvement in the peace process. “We believe that the U.S. must provide mechanisms that will ensure the implementation of the Israeli obligations as signed in the Wye River memorandum,” he said. When during the negotiations the Palestinians expressed their doubts about Israeli compliance with the Wye River agreement, Erekat said, President Clinton guaranteed its implementation. As yet, however, the U.S. government has not brought this about.

Commenting on the issue of declaring a Palestinian state, Erekat explained that the May 4, 1999 date appeared for the first time in Article 4 of the Wye River memorandum which Netanyahu signed. This date was also ratified by the Russians, Americans, Jordanians, Norwegians, Egyptians, and the European Union, Erekat said.

“Legally, we cannot touch May 4. It is up to these nations to decide, and so far we have not received any official request from these countries about May 4,” Erekat continued. “We urge those people who are concerned about May 4 to get their act together and to try to ensure that the government of Mr. Netanyahu will implement its agreements.”

—Raja’ M. Abu-Jabr

Rituals of Reconciliation and Conflict Resolution in the Middle East

George Emile Irani, professor of justice and peace studies at Georgetown University, spoke on the significance of rituals of reconciliation at the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine March 12. Irani argued that the roots for a durable peace are to be found in the cultural and religious heritages of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity in the Middle East.

He contends that the failure of current negotiations was predictable because the Oslo process was conceived far from the geo-cultural heart of the conflict. A durable peace could be forged if traditional rituals of reconciliation were used, he said.

An alien peace imposed by an outsider is often perceived as not fair or just by the population, Irani declared, and the result is a feeling of cultural disempowerment. He described the Sulh process (the word Sulh—reconciliation—comes from the words for peace Salaam, Shalom), which is carried out by two parties to prevent retribution. The parties seek the help of esteemed impartial mediators, who are given full permission to intervene and arbitrate. They hear grievances from both sides and then the aggrieved party agrees to renounce retaliation and comply with a truce. A symbolic compensation sometimes referred to as “blood money,” is paid. Finally there is a ritual of musafaha, a shaking of hands, with the victim’s family offering bitter coffee to the offender, and the offender serving a meal to the victim’s family, completing the ritual of reconciliation.

There should be an emphasis on honor and face, not just compensation, to resolve conflicts, Irani said. Jews, Christians and Muslims are surrounded by similar daily rituals, and their rituals for conflict resolution are also similar. Formal acknowledgments, apologies, and moral or material compensation for crimes committed against Japanese Americans and Jewish Germans have helped heal past injustices. Israeli leaders should be encouraged to visits sites of destroyed Palestinian villages and apologize. Palestinians should acknowledge the Nazi genocide and how Arabs reacted to the holocaust and even visit the Holocaust Museum to gain empathy. Both sides should re-write their history books.

Americans have not been fair, impartial arbitrators, so perhaps European countries could help be the equalizers, Irani said. Religious patriarchs like the pope and muftis and other respected religious leaders should get more involved. Middle Easterners have been solving problems for centuries, he concluded, and can resolve this one with their own traditional methods.

—Delinda C. Hanley

Arab American Institute Foundation’s Kahlil Gibran Awards

“Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?”

That sentiment, written by Arab-American poet and author Kahlil Gibran and later paraphrased by U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was celebrated at an event sponsored by the Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF) on April 22 in Washington, DC. The Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards honor individuals, corporations, organizations and communities whose work, commitment and support promote tolerance and inclusion. The awards, named for the author of The Prophet, also symbolize Gibran’s pride in his Arab heritage, respect for the freedom he found in the United States and his universal love of humanity.

The black-tie gala was attended by more than 400 people. Honorees included former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor, the Ford Motor Company, the YWCA of the USA and the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (NCNE).

The list of Arab-American presenters was just as impressive: Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, National Public Radio’s popular talk show hostess Diane Rehm, President and CEO of Wisconsin Energy Corporation Richard Abdoo, and President and CEO Yousif Ghafari of Ghafari and Associates.

During one of the many light notes during the evening, Diane Rehm recalled the time a listener called to compliment her pronunciation of the name “Abdullah.” “Well, what do you expect?” she asked. “I am an Arab American.”

In describing the role of heritage in the evening’s festivities, AAIF President James Zogby said that “In giving these awards, of course we are making a statement about those who have received them,” and also “we are trying to make a statement about ourselves, about Arab Americans, about the kind of values that we cherish....Some politicians talk about family, but we live it. They talk about free enterprise but we do it every day. And they talk about education. It was a value that was beaten into us every day of our lives, as were many other values that define us.”

The Ford Motor Company received the Award for Corporate Commitment for its continued support of many programs that include, in Greater Detroit, the Arab Festival, a youth library, and, in 1998, a $400,000 grant for the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) in Dearborn. Ford President Jacques Nasser, who is of Arab descent, accepted the award on behalf of the company and said that Ford strives to be “connected to the community, whether it’s the Arab-American community or any other community that you’re in....”

The NCNE, an organization that works with neighborhood-based organizations to revitalize low-income communities, received the Kahlil Gibran Award for Community Service. NCNE is responsible for the Violence Free Zone project that is ending gang violence in cities across America. Touching on the personal meaning that the Kahlil Gibran Award carries, NCNE founder and president Bob Woodson said that when he was growing up, “it was an absolute delight to meet the words and thoughts of Kahlil Gibran.” He added that “the first Arab American I met was a man by the name of William Baroody, Sr. who saw in this African American the promise to achieve beyond heights of which I had never dreamed.”

Accepting the Award for Institutional Achievement, YWCA Executive Director Prema Mathai-Davis said, “It is an honor to receive the Spirit of Humanity Award...especially when...we’re getting an award from an organization that shares a common goal with us of working for peace and justice and dignity for all people.” During the Gulf war the YWCA worked with the Arab American Institute to respond to incidents of Arab-bashing and to end the harassment of Arab-American children in Chicago and Milwaukee.

Mr. Mayor was given the Spirit of Humanity Award for International Accomplishment for his 11 years at the helm of UNESCO. During that time he was a vocal advocate for designating the Year 2000 as “the International Year for a Culture of Peace” and organized a 1993 meeting between Arab and Israeli intellectuals in Granada, Spain.

A highlight of the evening was the Award for Individual Achievement given to former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. Nominated for the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for his successful chairmanship of the Northern Ireland peace talks, Mitchell’s commitment to service was noted by Secretary Shalala, who said: “When it came to serving his country and the world, George Mitchell just doesn’t seem to be able to say no.”

Mitchell himself chose to focus on what it means to be an Arab American. Many in the audience were clearly moved when he said: “My Arab heritage can be summed up in two words. My mother...I believe that in her life there were lessons that go beyond her family and that were universal....She was the strongest, wisest, most loyal person I have ever known....Her devotion to her family was total. She lived for her children....She understood instinctively that America means freedom and opportunity.... I had an Irish father, a Lebanese mother and an American life. Yaiesh Libnan . God Bless America.”

For many participants, the 1999 Kahlil Gibran Awards were more than a celebration of humanity and heritage. The awards also celebrated the Arab-American community’s coming of political age. Secretary Shalala summarized that feeling: “I can think of no organization whose work is more important than the Arab American Institute and its Foundation. Thanks largely to your vision, your hard work and your commitment, the Arab-American community has gone from what I think was the back of the political bus to a front seat.”

Anisa Mehdi, a correspondent for PBS’s “Religion and Ethics Weekly,” captured the many successes of the evening. “We are reaching beyond our ethno-linguistic community into the greater community of America...embracing the larger world in which we live and how important it is...to really go beyond our ethnicity to our humanity...Because indeed, it is our humanity...that is the spirit of Kahlil Gibran.”

—Paola Zuluaga

Palestine Heritage Society Honors Dr. Edward Said

Archbishop Philip Saliba, primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Diocese of North America, was the principal speaker at an April 3 fund-raising dinner of the Palestinian Heritage Society in honor of Dr. Edward Said, university professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, where he has taught since 1973. Dr. Said is the author of 16 books, which have been translated into 26 languages, and was a member of the Palestine National Council from 1977 until 1991.

At the dinner, held at the Marriott at Glenpointe Hotel in Teaneck, NJ, Metropolitan Saliba saluted Hanan and Farah Munayyer on the 12th anniversary of their founding of the Palestinian Heritage Foundation. The foundation has assembled a large collection of authentic Palestinian regional dresses as well as other authentic examples of traditional Palestinian arts and crafts, which are lent as traveling exhibits to museums and for special occasions all over the United States.

Dr. Said’s life, Metropolitan Saliba said, is consumed by “the tragedy which befell the people of his beloved Palestine. No one has better articulated or worked harder to bring this 20th century tragedy to the attention of the American people.” After discussing Dr. Said’s article in the Jan. 10 issue of The New York Times Magazine entitled, “The One-State Solution: Why the Only Answer to Middle East Peace is Palestinians and Israelis Living as Equal Citizens Under One Flag,” the archbishop said it is similar to a plan he advocated in 1968 which he called “One Land for Arabs and Jews.”

“I hope and pray that the one-state solution of Professor Said will not meet the same fate as my plan, and that his voice will not be one that cries in the wilderness.” Archbishop Saliba said. “Very soon, the Palestinians will have lost everything, rendering any negotiation with the Israelis nearly pointless.”

Though pessimistic in the short run, the archbishop expressed optimism in the long run, predicting that “the Palestinians and the Arabs in general will emerge in the new millennium, picking up all the modern tools of science and technology to rebuild and rewrite the future for their posterity. Thus, beyond the long and dark night, there is a new dawn, a new day and a new history.”

Other speakers paying tribute to Dr. Said, and to the Munayyers and the Palestinian Heritage Foundation, were Prof. Norman Finkelstein of New York University, Prof. Rashid Al Khalidi of the University of Chicago, Richard Curtiss of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and Dr. Clovis Maksoud of American University in Washington, DC.

—R.H. Curtiss