PLO Representative Discusses Implementation Agreement

By Pat and Samir Twair

During a four-day tour of Southern California, Afif Safieh, who heads the PLO delegation to the United Kingdom, drove more than 700 miles to make 14 speeches, meet with editorial boards of three metropolitan newspapers and appear on two radio talk shows.

"Palestine: A State in the Making" was the title of his address to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council on May 4, the same day the peace implementation agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization was signed in Cairo.

Voicing his expectations that Israeli troops would withdraw from Gaza and Jericho in the ensuing days, Safieh expressed hope that, after three months, Israelis would be deployed from the population centers of the West Bank. He predicted that three months after that municipal and legislative elections would take place.

Noting that the international community has pledged a $2.4 billion package to the Palestinians in increments of a half billion dollars a year, the PLO representative said the burgeoning state will need private Palestinian investment as well as international investment.

Stressing that Palestinians have built economic systems throughout the Arab world while being denied the right to do it at home, he voiced confidence in the financial future of Palestine.

He was less optimistic when discussing Israeli settlers. He criticized the international media for citing the figure of 120,000 Jewish settlers in Gaza and the West Bank and not including the 152,800 Jewish settlers living in and around East Jerusalem. The demographic balance in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he stressed, is 1,200,000 Palestinians and 280,000 Israeli settlers.

"The presence of 4,000 settlers in Gaza already has ruined the euphoric `Oslo spirit' generated in 1993," he continued. "The settlers must be withdrawn for the final status agreement to work.

"Settlers do not represent the most adorable segment of Israeli society and they are not at all equipped to be the bridge for future harmonious relations between the two communities," Safieh added. "Leaving them behind is the best recipe for failure."

To remedy historical injustices, the PLO statesman said the settlements should be left as part of the compensation the Israeli state owes Palestinian society.

"The architecture is of very questionable taste," he stated. "But here, too, we are expected to show tolerance."

Safieh categorized settlers as those who moved along the Jordan River for military purposes, others who moved to the West Bank and Gaza for financial incentives, some who are environmental yuppies, and the religious fundamentalists. Citing the latter as the most dangerous, he voiced fears these heavily armed fanatics might enter Palestinian neighborhoods in hope of provoking attacks from Palestinians so the Israeli army would give them protection.

"A Palestinian state should be a Jewish moral responsibility," Safieh charged, calling on the United States to pursue a policy of non-alignment in its foreign policy.

In response to a query about a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation, he replied, "I foresee intimate economic relations with Jordan." He then explained Palestinians already are a numerical majority in Jordan. If the two million Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank are combined with the Palestinians of Jordan, the Jordanians would account for only 10 percent of the population of the confederation.

"We [Palestinians] are the Jews of the Jews and we do not wish to make the Jordanians the Palestinians of the Palestinians," he said to laughter.

When asked how extremist Palestinians can be controlled, Safieh stated, "I think we will have to do a lot of persuasion, not coercion. There is a pragmatic movement within Hamas and we've been encouraging it to join the Palestinian mainstream. I believe Hamas will participate in Palestinian elections if they have a guarantee they will have influence."

Syrian Patriarch Visits

The more than 800 families who make up the congregation of St. Ephraim Syrian Orthodox Church in Burbank celebrated Easter with His Holiness Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, who traveled from Damascus for the religious observance.

The religious leader, who was installed in 1980 as Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, was on his third visit to Los Angeles. While there are about 150,000 Syrians in Syria who belong to the church, there are more than 3 million followers worldwide, with 1.5 million living in India alone.

When asked his opinion of the Israel-PLO peace process, the patriarch responded that, as a man of religion, he prays for peace with justice, but it is up to the politicians to implement it.

In reference to the Vatican's recognition of Israel, the patriarch pointed out the pope as a head of state has recognized Israel and this is a matter of policy, not religion.

During his three weeks in Southern California, the patriarch offered a threefold message: hold onto your cultural heritage; be loyal citizens of the U.S.; and don't forget your ties with the country of your origin.

"Sharing Abraham" Program

More than 275 Christians, Jews and Muslims filled the Islamic Center of Southern California for a May 15 program entitled "Sharing Abraham." Theological views of Abraham were offered by Rabbi Alfred Wolfe, Monsignor Royal Vadakin and Dr. Hassan Hathout.

The second portion of the program dealt with contemporary followers of Abraham from the viewpoints of Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell of the American Jewish Congress, Rev. Dr. Alan Jones of the United Methodist Church and Dr. Maher Hathout, chairman of the Islamic Center of Southern California.

"Abraham couldn't have done it alone," stated Rabbi Elwell. "How can we talk about Abraham without talking about Sarah and Hagar?"

Because little is known about the ancient matriarchs, said Rabbi Elwell, many blank spaces remain to be filled in if a world of peace is to be built. She mentioned a mission of California women physicians and counselors she organized to visit Muslim victims of rape in Bosnia.

Rev. Jones stated he is a native of Halifax, England, which once was the heartland of Methodists, but now is the center of British Islam. He discussed a new Christian theological school that looks at historical figures who didn't have status in the Bible.

Echoing Rabbi Elwell, he described the search for the missing pieces, the stories that weren't told. The dialogue taking place that evening, he said, was enormously significant because it could bring about a social transformation.

Dr. Maher Hathout said the challenge of the dialogue is to disagree in a godly way. He protested the term Judeo-Christian, stating: "It should either be Judeo-Christian-Islamic or Abrahamic. Judeo-Christian is a political term that isolates Islam... When I protest, I'm told they use the term because Christians and Jews share the Old Testament. Who says we Muslims don't share it too?"

During the question-and-answer session, Dr. Hathout was questioned about the status of women in Islam. "From Day One, the Qur'an declared women and men equal," he replied. "The first individual to accept Islam was a woman, the first martyr in Islam was a woman. Women taught and were judges at the time of the Prophet. It is in our contemporary American society that women are degraded and their semi-nude bodies are used for selling products."

In reply to a query about polygamy in Islam, Dr. Hathout stated the patriarchs of the Old Testament were polygamous and it wasn't until the 6th century that the Emperor Justinian banned polygamy from the Christian faith.

In response to a question about the status of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad as prophets in Islam, Dr. Hathout responded: "I'll stick to the Qur'anic formula that all prophets are highly regarded."

Palestinian Flag Day

A festival to celebrate the Palestinian flag is planned for Sept. 25 at a park in Orange County. Arab folk dance and singing troupes will perform and the park grounds will be decorated with the flags of each Arab country. Highlight of the event will be three sky divers who will jump from a plane carrying enormous Palestinian and American flags. On the ground, participants will be standing inside markers spelling out the name of Palestine.