Washington Report, December 1988, Page 35a

Focus on Arabs and Islam

By Catherine M. Willford

Happy Birthday Palestine

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) hosted a November 16 "birthday party" at the National Press Club for the Palestinian state, whose independence had been proclaimed the previous day at a meeting of the Palestine National Council in Algiers. Guests included journalists, prominent Arab Americans, and ambassadors and diplomats representing countries which had already recognized or were in the process of recognizing the Palestinian state.

Speakers included visitors from occupied Palestine, Los Angeles radio and television personality Casey Kasem, and Ellen Siegel, representing American Jews for an Israel-Palestine Peace. Siegel showed the audience a button created by her group inscribed: "two peoples, two flags, one future."

In remarks before the Palestinian national anthem was played and a birthday cake cut for the overflow audience in the press club's main lounge, ADC President Abdeen Jabara paid special tribute to Indian diplomats present, whose country had already recognized the Palestinian state.

"The sheer enormity of this bold and impetuous political move, coupled with the acceptance by an overwhelming majority of the delegates of a two-state solution—one Israeli and one Palestinian—in the mandate territory of Palestine should be the electric shock that will break the continuing cycle of violence and pain," Jabara told the celebrants.

"Spurred by 11 months of the insurrection of an unarmed civilian Palestinian populace in the West Bank and Gaza, the PLO as the entity looked to by virtually all Palestinians for leadership, has now placed the ball for peace squarely in the court of the United States. Coupled with a clear and unequivocal condemnation of 'all forms of terrorism,' the PLO has met the American conditions to become a full partner in a negotiated settlement that will provide peace with security for Palestinians and Israelis alike."

Jabara said the ADC will, in all of its future communications and publications, refer to the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem as "occupied Palestine."

Among other Palestinian "birthday" observances across the United States was a Nov. 16 rally in Brooklyn, NY, addressed by Dr. Clovis Maksoud, the Arab League Ambassador to the United Nations. Neal Saad, president of the Arab Palestinian Community Center in Brooklyn, which has one of the largest concentrations of Arab Americans in the US, told the 900 participants: "The US and Israel should respond positively to the declaration of Palestinian independence if they really want peace in the area."

ADC Complaint Sparks Probe of Israeli Labor Practices

Allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian workers by Israel were considered on November 17 at the office of United States Trade Representative, Clayton Yeutter. The hearing was in response to an ADC petition charging Israel with withholding union protection enjoyed by Israeli workers from 100,000 Palestinian workers who commute daily to Israel from the territories.

"Israel has forbidden all union elections, meetings, and recruitment of new members," ADC President Abdeen Jabara charged in an article in Washington Jewish Week. "Thirty union offices in the occupied territories remain closed by administrative order and dozens of union organizers are incarcerated." If these allegations are substantiated, the General System of Preferences Subcommittee (GSP) could revoke Israel's trade privileges, including customs exemptions for products it exports to the US. When the hearings were scheduled, 11 members of Congress signed a September 11 letter to Vice President George Bush, requesting that he "take steps to reverse" immediately the decision. A State Department memo urged that the inquiry be limited to Israel proper so as to avoid recognizing, implicitly or expressly, Israeli sovereignty over the territories. Both appeals were unsuccessful and the trade representative scheduled testimony by representatives of ADC, the West Bank human rights organization Al-Haq, the Embassy of Israel, the Anti-Defamation League, and the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which subsequently cancelled its participation.

"If Israel has a solid case to present on the workers' rights issue," Yeutter said, "it has nothing to fear from the process."

Council of National Arab-American Organizations Charges Violations

The Council of National Arab-American Organizations sent a November 2 letter to Richard Schifter, assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs, detailing Israeli human rights abuses in the Occupied Territories and calling on the bureau to notify the Israeli government that its practices are in violation of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The act prohibits the US government from funding foreign governments which engage in "a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights." Reports from Amnesty International, the American Bar Association, and Physicians for Human Rights documenting human rights abuses were included in the letter. Council President George Moses of the National Association of Arab-Americans states, "By violating the human rights of Palestinians, Israel is also violating US law.

Palestinian Youth, Like His Country, Survives Against Odds

The Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC), Roots, and the Naim Foundation are coordinating efforts to provide medical aid for 17-year-old Mohammad Abu Aker. Last August, in the Deheishe refugee camp near Bethlehem, Aker was shot in the stomach at close range by an Israeli soldier. The high-velocity bullet shattered his intestines and gangrene set in. Although doctors considered his case hopeless, Aker refused to die and spoke out so eloquently against the occupation of his country that hundreds of visitors turned his Jerusalem hospital room into a shrine. His words were recorded on cassettes and he became a living symbol of the spirit of the intifadah.

Well-wishers arranged for his transfer to the New England Deaconess Hospital of Boston to await a risky intestinal transplant. Preliminary surgery has been completed, but he can take nourishment only through a hyperalimentation system to which he must be connected 12 hours a day. Physical therapy has enabled him to walk, and doctors propose that he return to the West Bank until he is strong enough for the actual transplant.

Dr. Louise Cairtkar of the PHRC has reported "some concerns about his security upon his return," because the Israelis have cited his case as a threat to others. On the night of October 22, she said, soldiers entered three Deheishe homes and told frightened families that if the young men they were seeking did not surrender, "they will be made like Abu Aker." Alexander Cockburn suggested in The Nation that "Americans who paid for the bullet can now help pay for the operation." Those who agree are requested to send contributions to the Naim Foundation, 2812 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 3, Washington, DC, 20008. They should be earmarked for the Mohammad Abu Aker Fund.

Arab American Institute Election Reports

The Arab American Institute (AAI) continues its non-partisan coverage of grassroots Arab-American involvement in the political process with November 10 report citing a campaign of mail and advertisements which "frequently bordered on Arab baiting" used to defeat Republican mayor a candidate George Hanna in Santa Ana, CA. Arab-American successes are also reported. "While we did lose a few heartbreakers, on the whole our record was excellent," said AAI Executive Director James Zogby. Reader interested in the report may contact AAI at 918 16th St., NW, Washington DC, or telephone (202) 429-9210.