Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, April 2000, pages 56-58

Northern California Chronicle

Israeli and Palestinian Peace Advocates Describe Home Demolitions

By Elaine Pasquini

Jeff Halper, coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), and Palestinian engineer Salim Shawamreh toured the U.S. Jan. 13 through Feb. 13 speaking on “House Demolitions: Toward a Just and Viable Peace?” They met with individuals and organizations in 18 cities to bring attention to the repressive Israeli occupation of the occupied territories and ongoing violation of Palestinians’ human rights. The tour was sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, Jewish Peace Fellowship, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Middle East Peace Project and Global Exchange, among other organizations.

On Jan. 28 the Bay Area Chapter of the ADC hosted the speakers in San Francisco. Global Exchange member Noura Erekat spoke briefly on the history of the Palestinian dispossession and gave an update of current events. She denounced the current peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis as “making the strong stronger and the weak weaker.”

Jeff Halper then explained the concept of “matrix of control,” which he considers a main issue in the Israeli-Palestinian situation and an obstacle to a “viable peace” for both parties. He described how Israel is aggressively pursuing its policy of consolidating territory by “creating facts on the ground” in the form of “blocks of settlements.” Because the September date for a final agreement is fast approaching, Halper believes this issue “is urgent in order to prevent apartheid,” and he is afraid the real issues will not be addressed. The Israelis have surrounded the Palestinian self-rule areas with settlements, border crossings, bypass roads, nature preserves and industrial parks, making it difficult for the Palestinians to have any consolidated areas for an autonomous state. Additionally, Israel has appropriated certain holy sites, such as Rachel’s Tomb, located within the Palestinian-controlled area of Bethlehem, and designated it as a “security zone.” The same situation exists at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

With the assistance of slides and maps, Halper described the trans-Israel highway being built which will effectively place the West Bank in the middle of Israel, the Tel Aviv-Amman highway which will divide the country in the east-west direction, and the Ashdod-Amman highway parallel to it. Palestinian homes and agricultural land have been confiscated to provide for these freeways, causing a serious economic impact on the Palestinian economy and displacing many Palestinians from their land.

Because of this network of bypass roads, funded by the U.S., “the entire country is being re-configured,” said Halper. Although 80 percent of Israelis live within the coastal corridor, the West Bank, because of the new highways and bypass roads, will be framed by Israeli freeways. “How is this reconciled to the peace process?” asks Halper. He pointed out the irony of the situation Israel is creating with its complex system of bypass roads and highways in that it is isolating Palestinian self-rule areas and in effect integrating them into the state of Israel.

In conclusion, Salim Shawamreh, 44, spoke of growing up in Jerusalem’s Old City and then in Shu’afat refugee camp three and a quarter kilometers outside the Old City. In 1990, after completing his education and working in Saudi Arabia for three years, he bought a 1,000-square-meter parcel of land in the village of Anata east of the Old City and applied for permission to build a home. For four years he was denied a building permit on the basis that his land “was out of the village zone” or “your land has a slope,” and that his application “lacked sufficient signatures.” He finally built his modest home, but on July 9, 1998 his home was surrounded by 200 Israeli soldiers and his family was given 15 minutes to vacate with their possessions. (See the account of its destruction in “Tri-State News,” p. 52.)

Since 1967, 6,000 homes have been demolished by the Israeli government, displacing more than 30,000 residents. Some 4,000 orders for demolition are presently outstanding. Salim feels his family still lives “under full occupation.” “Where is the peace process?” he asks. For information or to make donations contact Jeff Halper, ICAHD, Rehov Tiveria, 37 Jerusalem, e-mail: < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >, Web site: <http://www.net-a.org/hdemol> (see also p. 52).

Edward W. Walker Speaks on War in Chechnya at San Francisco World Affairs Council

“The War in Chechnya: Islamic Jihad or National Liberation Struggle?” This question was discussed by Dr. Edward W. Walker, executive director of the University of California at Berkeley’s Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on Jan. 21.

“It’s a national conflict,” stated Walker, “not a religious one.” He views the conflict as simply a struggle by the Chechens to defend their territorial homeland against Russia as an imperialist occupying force. According to Walker, many of the Chechnya-based Islamic rebels who invaded neighboring Dagestan in the first incursion last August, triggering the renewed Russian-Chechen warfare, were not Chechens at all. Some Russian government officials even believe the militants were followers of Emil Khattab, a Jordanian citizen who allegedly ran Islamist guerilla-training camps in Chechnya and Dagestan.

Walker said the efforts of these militants to transform the nationalist movement into a religious movement were a failure, as the local population did not support them. Even their allies, the neighboring Ingush, would not take up arms to create an Islamic state.

Although up until now the Chechen campaign has been popular among the Russian public, Walker stressed that it remains to be seen whether support will hold or diminish. He described a scenario wherein after the fall of Grozny the Chechen fighters might fight a guerrilla war, in which case the Russians will face a “determined foe in a hostile environment.” Walker believes “there is no exit strategy” for Russia. He thinks Russia should recognize Chechen independence, but doubts it is likely to happen. According to him, a political solution will not occur, in part because of Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov’s inability to control all of the Chechen fighters, enforce any cease-fire or peace agreement, and persuade the independent militias to lay down their weapons. Additionally, the horrendous social and economic conditions preclude any lasting peace, and alienated and unemployed youths would gravitate toward any militant opposition.

Responding to a question from the audience, Walker said the war in Chechnya, and Russia’s response to U.S. disapproval, is of “fundamental concern” to the U.S., particularly in light of the possibility of a Russia-China alliance and the further possibility of the destabilization of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states.

Shimon Peres Speaks to Four Bay Area Audiences

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, currently minister of regional cooperation, spoke to four Bay Area audiences the week of Jan. 10th, including a capacity audience at the Marin Center Theater in San Rafael on Jan. 13. The Marin Speakers Series sponsored the event as part of its annual presentations of individuals from the entertainment, literary and political fields.

Peres, 76, supports returning the Golan Heights to Syria if Israel’s security needs can be guaranteed. “Peace is more important than any mountain,” he said. He also stressed the importance of Israel vacating its troops from Lebanon.

In a brief comment about his role in the 1993 Oslo agreement, he said, “Good neighbors are more important than good guns. Guns don’t fire by themselves. The best way to silence guns is to eliminate the motives for firing them.” He believes the enormous advances in modern technology have irreversibly changed the Middle East, particularly in breaking down barriers between people and even making traditional war “obsolete.”

One of his goals as minister of regional cooperation is to bring closer economic development and cooperation between Israel and all countries of the Middle East. In the San Francisco office of California Gov. Gray Davis he signed a joint declaration to increase trade between California, Israel, and, hopefully, Arab countries. This declaration was a result of Governor Davis’ trip to the Middle East in October 1999 promoting California businesses, particularly the high-tech industry located in Silicon Valley.

Peres appeared Jan. 11 at San Francisco’s Nob Hill Masonic Center, Jan. 13 at San Mateo Performing Arts Center, and Jan. 14 at De Anza College Flint Center. Peres also met with local Jewish leaders and business executives and spoke at an invitation-only breakfast Jan. 14 sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council.

Nadia, Captive of Hope Author Speaks in Berkeley

Fay Afaf Kanafani discussed her book, Nadia, Captive of Hope, at the University of California’s International House in Berkeley on Jan. 30. The reception was sponsored by Arabica Book Club, with the assistance of the Arab Cultural Center, the ADC Bay Area Chapter, and the Arab Student Organization of Berkeley.

The book, subtitled Memoir of an Arab Woman, and published by M. E. Sharpe in 1999, is an account of Kanafani’s extraordinary life in the Middle East from her birth in Beirut in 1918 until the death of her second husband in 1983. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, subsequent French colonialism in Lebanon and British colonialism in Palestine, the1948 Arab-Israeli war, when her family was forced to flee Palestine, the civil war in Lebanon which erupted in 1975, and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 all had dramatic effects on her life and she tells her story against the background of these events.

In addition to writing, Kanafani, 82, mother of three children and grandmother of eight, creates art on her computer, and is very active in the Arab-American community in California.

Slide Lecture by Sacred Places Author in Corte Madera

More than 100 people crowded into the small lecture room at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Jan. 17 for a slide lecture by Brad Olsen, author of Sacred Places, 101 Spiritual Sites Around the World, published last year by Consortium of Collective Consciousness of San Francisco. Olsen studied marketing and art in his native Chicago before moving to Japan to teach English. In 1990 he embarked on a three-year world tour, an adventure which took him to several continents to visit the sacred sites described in the book. Olsen termed the Great Pyramid of Giza “the No. 1 sacred place in the world.” He discussed a controversy, which he labeled “Nilegate,” referring to age-old and ongoing disagreement among archaeologists about the age of the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx. The audience enjoyed slides of Jerusalem’s Old City, a 225-acre area containing major pilgrimage sites for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Olsen discussed other pilgrimage sites in the area, including the ancient city of Jericho and the nearby caves of Qumran, alleged home of the Essene religious sect. His slide lecture continued down the ancient Silk Road from the Mediterranean through Kashgar, an area of China which is predominantly Muslim, to Xian, the Silk Road’s traditional terminus in China.

Olsen is also the author of World Stompers, the Extreme Adventures travel guide series, and In Search of Adventure. He is executive director of the World Peace Through Technology Organization, whose main goal is to promote global peace by showcasing current technology. The organization’s World Peace and Technology Tour is scheduled to begin in Europe this summer.

Marin County Schoolchildren Send Clothing to Kosovo Children

On Jan. 3, 60 boxes of clothing donated and collected by Marin County schoolchildren, together with 402 sleeping bags donated by a Greenbrae physician, were loaded on a truck to be sent to children in war-torn Kosovo. The project “Child-to-Child” is an offshoot of Kosovo Sleep Safe, an organization formed by Steven Falk of Mill Valley, California, last April to provide sleeping bags for Kosovo refugees. At the time more than 800,000 Kosovars, including thousands of children, had been forced from their homes by Serbian forces. Since then, most have returned to their villages, but thousands of their homes had been destroyed and living conditions remain very harsh. Falk has spoken about the Child-to-Child and Kosovo Sleep Safe projects at schools in the Marin County area and urged students to write greeting cards and collect clothing to be sent to the refugees. For information or donations contact Kosovo Sleep Safe Project via telephone at (415) 458-8200 or (888) 816-5050 (toll-free); e-mail: < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >; or visit the Web site at <http://www. kosovosleepsafe.com>.

Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in Ignacio, California.

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