Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August/September 2000, Pages 90-94

Arab-American Activism

Hanan Ashrawi Discusses Prospects for Peace

On July 13, the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine hosted an informal discussion in Arabic with former Palestinian Authority Education Minister Hanan Ashrawi, who currently is secretary-general of the West Bank-based Palestinian human rights group MIFTAH, an Arabic acronym for the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy.

Regarding the negotiations being held at Camp David, Maryland, Ashrawi stated that the Palestinian side had serious concerns over the fact that Israel had yet to fully implement earlier agreements—namely the third phase of Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Palestinian negotiators opposed attaching these issues to final status negotiations, insisting on Israeli compliance beforehand. Furthermore, Ashrawi indicated, the disparity between what Israel had agreed to in previous negotiations and its subsequent backtracking and delayed implementation undermined Palestinian trust in Israel’s sincerity. Mutual trust is of vital importance, she emphasized, in reaching an understanding that can pave the way for lasting peace.

Ashrawi pointed out that certain Israeli and American “needs” have resulted in conditions and timing unfavorable for the Palestinian side. The obscurity and silence surrounding negotiations at Camp David have been unsettling for Palestinians, Ashrawi said. Through holding separate talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, President Clinton has attempted to reach a common understanding and interim solutions. However, the U.S. premise for a compromise solution is completely unrealistic, Ashrawi argued, in that it mistakenly assumes that each party is perfectly equal to the other in terms of power and legal rights. In fact, Ashrawi explained, any further compromises, beyond what Palestinians already have offered would only entail the surrender of the most basic Palestinian rights.

Ashrawi also pointed out the inherently faulty logic that views any overdue Israeli compliance with previous decisions of the international community as an Israeli compromise, for which the Palestinian side is expected to respond with an equal “gesture.” It is a severe injustice, she emphasized, to expect Palestinians to give up their rights and legitimate claims to their land in return for Israel’s ending of what the international community has deemed for years to be an illegal occupation.

To consider Israeli dismantling of a few Jewish settlements a concession while the vast majority of settlements in the West Bank and Gaza remain in place is an example of such faulty logic, Ashrawi elaborated. Similarly, to describe as a “necessary” Palestinian compromise the relinquishing to Israel of West Bank land illegally seized and populated by Jewish settlers is an attempt to provide legitimacy to an illegal annexation of Palestinian land. “This not only excuses illegal occupation,” Ashrawi asserted, “but it also legitimizes further territorial appropriation of land, which contradicts basic tenets of international law, pertinent Geneva conventions, and U.N. Security Council Resolution 242.”

Pointing out that “peace has to include all areas of contention in order to be a complete and just peace,” Ashrawi emphasized that “the issue of refugees cannot be forgiven nor forgotten. Palestinians are the largest group of refugees in the world, and the issue of their expulsion and usurpation of land and rights has been the longest unresolved, she noted. Ashrawi reaffirmed Palestinian support of U.N. Security Council Resolution 194 in addition to other precedents in international law concerning the rights of refugees.

Ashrawi reminded her audience that the issue of Jerusalem is neither an ideological nor an administrative one. Simply, there is no replacement for Jerusalem. She deemed “unacceptable” an Israeli proposal to turn over to Palestinian control areas of the West Bank near East Jerusalem as a substitute for Jerusalem. Ashrawi explained that, in fact, the official American position on Jerusalem is closer to that of the Palestinian side. For example, the U.S. does not approve of unilateral actions aiming at changing the status quo of Jerusalem, practices in which Israel has systematically engaged. However, Ashrawi added, the U.S. policy has to be translated into solid commitment and action by the Americans.

Israeli policies and attitudes, Ashrawi argued, continue to reflect a mentality of an occupier pressuring the other side through force and might to accept illegitimate arrangements. This is notwithstanding the special treatment Israel enjoys which allows it complete immunity, she added.

Regarding the issue of a Palestinian state, Ashrawi said that it is neither an Israeli “concession,” nor contingent upon Israeli approval. She questioned the position adopted by the media that a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state is somehow threatening to the existence of Israel. Instead, Ashrawi said, the relentless pro-Israeli media coverage is deliberately distorted and unfair to the Palestinian narrative, and warned against attempts to influence decision-makers and present the image of a “weak, powerless” Palestinian side.

“This is a very critical era for us Palestinians, which necessitates stepping up and unifying our efforts,” she reiterated. Palestinians are seeking to articulate a unified position during the current negotiations on final status issues. Expressing her discomfort with the exclusion of Palestinians representing different ideological and political camps from the Camp David talks, Ashrawi explained that it is critically important that the Palestinian presence be representative of the plurality of Palestinian views.

üshrawi noted that Palestinian public opinion is very well aware of the critical phase of negotiations at Camp David, and has not wavered on the right of return for refugees, Israel’s return to the borders of 1967, and Palestinian sovereignty over Jerupalem. Palestinians view the Camp David negotiations, Ashrawi said, as a test of Israel’s commitment to peace.

When asked what bargaining chip Palestinians hold, Ashrawi responded that Israel realizes that any regional integration or normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors is contingent upon the existence of a legitimate peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. She warned, finally, that no person has the right to relinquish the right of return for Palestinians nor Palestinian claims to Jerusalem, and reiterated that it is in the best interest of both sides to find a just resolution, premised on international law, a solution that would address all issues—because “an incomplete and unfair agreement will not last.”

—Asma Yousef

Arab American Physicians Meet in Palestine

The National Arab American Medical Association (NAAMA) held its 17th International Medical Convention in Palestine from June 30 to July 7. More than 250 Arab- American physicians and their family members joined Palestinian medical colleagues for medical sessions at the West Bank’s Birzeit University, visits to local hospitals and refugee camps, and sightseeing tours.

President Yasser Arafat welcomed the U.S. physicians to his office during the convention’s half-day medical session in Gaza City. In a spirited question-and-answer session, NAAMA president Dr. Emil Totonchi and Dr. Jamil Fayez, NAAMA convention chairman, asked President Arafat to stand firm against any outside pressure regarding relinquishing Jerusalem, accepting Israeli settlements, or giving up the right of return for Palestinian refugees in his forthcoming negotiations with Israel.

Al Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem hosted the convention’s June 30 opening ceremony. Keynote speaker Faisal Husseini, representing the Palestinian National Authority, acknowledged the significance of the ceremony’s site in Jerusalem, the “capital of the host country.” Other speakers included Dr. Arafat Hidmi, director of the Makassed Charitable Islamic Society; Dr. Darwish Nazzal, medical association representative and member of the convention’s organizing committee; Dr. Albert Aghazerian, director of public relations and history professor at Birzeit University; and Drs. Totonchi and Fayez.

More than 200 Palestinian physicians joined their American colleagues in exchanging cutting-edge medical information during convention sessions on topics including urology, cancer, vascular and heart surgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, and ear, nose and throat diseases. A busy sightseeing schedule included visits to Jerusalem’s Old City, Bethlehem, Jericho and the Dead Sea, Ramallah, Hebron, Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Gaza, Nazareth, Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, and Nablus. The closing banquet in Jerusalem featured keynote speaker Dr. Azmi Bishara, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset.

NAAMA, incorporated in 1975, is a non-profit, non-political, educational and humanitarian organization of more than 2,000 North American medical professionals of Arab heritage. Next year’s international convention will be held in Damascus, Syria. For more information please contact the NAAMA office in Birmingham, Michigan by phone (248) 646-3661, or e-mail: < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >. This year’s convention was held in cooperation with Palestine’s Ministry of Bethlehem Project 2000, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and the Palestine Medical Association.

—Dr. Jamil Fayez

Journalist John Cooley Speaks on Southern Lebanon

“Just how do you expect people to invest, or bring themselves or their money back here [to southern Lebanon], when from one moment to the next, you or your property might become war victims?” At a June 14 Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine lecture, veteran journalist John Cooley recounted a university professor asking him this question. Following the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation, Cooley pointed out, the Lebanese must address, among other problems, the extreme disparity between the economic conditions of the developed north and the war-ravaged south.

Although Cooley described the “tremendous euphoria of almost any Lebanese I spoke with,” nonetheless, the neglect of southern Lebanon dating back to the WWI period has left its toll. Cooley compared the challenge of reintegrating the north and the south to “trying to rejoin long-separated Siamese twins, one of whom has been growing and developing on his own since severance. The other is desiccated, scarred, undernourished, and weary.”

Approximately 5,000 homes were leveled during Israel’s occupation. The university professor told Cooley of earlier days in southern Lebanon with her husband and their 9-year-old daughter, when she witnessed the destruction resulting from the conflict between Israel and its proxy South Lebanon Army (SLA) on one side, and Hezbollah and other militias on the other. One night, the Israeli air force bombed the electric power station not far from her apartment. “After they set it afire,” she recalled, “and we lost our electricity once again, their helicopter gunships came back and deliberately strafed the fire engines and rescue crews, killing a fireman we knew.”

The Lebanese government is making attempts at reconstruction, Cooley said. The European Union, Arab countries, and the European Investment Bank all have been approached by Lebanon “to develop what one minister calls a ‘mini-Marshall plan’ for the south.” Cooley also told the audience that many times Lebanese authorities arrive to rebuild the south’s infrastructure only to find that Hezbollah, “under orders from its canny and diplomatic chief, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah…is already at work on these rojects.”

In addition, Beirut, along with Syrian authorities—who still maintain significant control in Lebanon—will need to address the 1,700 Shi’i Muslim and Christian SLA mercenaries who surrendered to Lebanese authorities. A number of the 5,000 former SLA members taking refuge in Israel also want to return to Lebanon for trial, Cooley said. Although some of those at the top echelons of power may receive death sentences, those lower in the power structure will likely face lighter sentences. The International Committee of the Red Cross has offered to play a role in this regard as well.

Still, there is a long road ahead. Cooley estimated the cost of reconstruction to be at least one billion dollars. In addition, he said, “success in reconstruction depends on the present armistice as long as there is no comprehensive peace agreement.”

—Wendy Lehman

CPAP Film Series

Washington, DC’s Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (CPAP) is presenting a film series from July 11 to Aug. 15 entitled “Witness to Loss and Exile.” The first film screened was “Al Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948” (Palestine/Israel), directed by Benny Brunner and Alexander Jansse. The film tackles the tragic events of 1948 and discusses how and why 750,000 Palestinians became refugees by the end of the first Arab-Israeli war. It carefully traces the systematic expulsion and forced evacuation of Palestinians from their homeland with the coming of Jewish immigrants from post-World War II Europe, using first-hand accounts of Jewish-Israeli army officers and settlers as well as Palestinians who fled their homes out of panic and fear.

“Collecting Stories from Exile: Chicago Palestinians Remember 1948” (USA) documents the collective nature of 1948 Palestinian survivors’ stories, describing their daily lives prior to the war, their expulsion from their homeland, and their lives in exile. Other films in the series include, “Yoom Ilak, Yoom Aleik: Jerusalem 1948” (Palestine/Netherlands) and “Ma’aloul Celebrates its Destruction” (Palestine/Belgium) on July 18; “Jaffa la Mienne” (France/Palestine) and “Letter from Palestine” (USA), July 25; “Aqabat Jaber: Peace with No Return?” (Palestine/Israel) and “Women Under Siege” (Lebanon), Aug. 1; “See No Evil: The Massacre of Sabra and Shatila” (UK) and “Children of Shatila” (Lebanon), Aug. 8; and “Tale of Three Jewels” (Palestine/ Belgium/UK), Aug. 15.

—Adila Masood

H.S. Public Opinion Poll Supports Palestinian State and Right to Return

The Arab American Institute (AAI), a non-profit national organization committed to the civic and political empowerment of Americans of Arab descent, commissioned a recent poll conducted by Zogby International (ZI) of New York which focused on principles and asked simple, straightforward questions on Palestinian issues and the Middle East peace process.

The results of the July 14-17 AAI/ZI poll of 890 likely voters nationwide were as follows:

1) On the issue of an independent Palestinian state, 66 percent supported the Palestinian right to independent statehood, with only 13 percent opposed.

2) On the issue of Jerusalem, 22 percent said it should be entirely Israeli, 43.5 percent said it should be a divided or shared capital between Israelis and Palestinians, and 14 percent said neither.

3) On the issue of Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes, 74 percent supported their right, with 9 percent disagreeing.

4) Finally, 63 percent agreed and 23 percent disagreed with President Clinton’s handling of the Middle East peace effort.

AAI president Dr. James J. Zogby said these results show that American voters now are more focused on the Middle East issue as a result of increased public exposure to the issue of Palestinian statehood. This, according to Zogby, “has increasingly had a ‘humanization’ effect for the Palestinians and has generated increasing support for the Palestinian dimension.” Zogby also added that “these poll results show that American voters will support a peace agreement that recognizes, in principle, Palestinian rights in a number of areas.”

These issues and the nature of U.S. participation in any final arrangement reached at Camp David may be addressed in a future AAI/ZI poll.

—Adila Masood

AUB Symposium and Benefit Dinner Raises $1.3 Million for Scholarship Fund

Generous donors contributed over $1.3 million to the American University of Beirut’s scholarship fund at a June 15 symposium and benefit dinner in New York City.

˜ymposium speakers included Dr. Edward Said, Columbia University professor and a member of the AUB International Advisory Council; Amb. Richard Murphy, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and AUB trustee; H.E. Dr. Rima Khalaf Hunaidi, senator and former deputy prime minister of Jordan; and former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner, currently vice chairman of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) and AUB trustee. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was scheduled as the evening’s special guest speaker but, due to pressing obligations in Lebanon, was unable to attend.

For their service to the Middle East, Suliman S. Olayan and former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker were presented with University Medals by Dr. Richard A. Debs, chairman of the AUB board of trustees, who presided over the symposium as well.

Co-chairs included financiers David Rockefeller and George Soros; former Sen. George Mitchell; Riley Bechtel of the Bechtel Group; Paul J. Collins of CitiGroup; William Donaldson of Aetna; Nicohals G. Hyack of The Swatch Group; Ray R. Irani of Occidental Petroleum Group; Peter Jennings, anchor, ABC World News Tonight; Richard H. Jenrette of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; John Mack of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter; L.A. Noto, vice chairman, Exxon Mobile Corporation; Hutham S. Olayan of Olayan America Corporation; Walter Shipley of Chase Manhattan; and Douglas A. Warner III of JP Morgan.

The event, held at The New-York Historical Society in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, attracted a standing-room-only crowd of 500. The symposium on “The Middle East: A New Look” was followed by the awards ceremony, reception and dinner. All proceeds benefited the American University of Beirut scholarship fund.

Ambassador Murphy opened the symposium with an overview of the present political situation in the Middle East, and summarized the slowly evolving relations between the U.S. and Iran. “We need to talk to Iran,” the ambassador said, “to transmit the hard lessons of nuclear responsibility that we learned from the Cold War, and persuade it that we have a common interest in nuclear arms control.”

H.E. Dr. Rima Khalaf Hunaidi discussed regional economic issues. She attributed the region’s low annual growth, despite its diversity of resources, to several factors, including regional conflict, a perceived high risk by foreign investors, and flawed government economic policies. The economic future looked bright to Hunaidi, however, because of such positive factors as recent political reforms, adoption of free trade, and a wealth of manpower resources.

Ambassador Wisner noted that the recent death of Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad symbolized the passing of a generation in the Middle East. “Change is underway,” he said. “It is already great and it is accelerating,” he affirmed.

Wisner argued that political Islam no longer is a compelling logic for the central political elites of this new generation. A second factor for change, he added, is globalization and the culture of information technology that is becoming a driving force in opening Arab markets and political systems. Wisner cited as well a growing intolerance of corruption in the region.

Dr. Said said he was not as optimistic about the future of the Arab world as the other panelists. As a result of the region’s disparities and contradictions, the continuing influence of the past, and the dislocation most people feel as a result, he said, “a culture of disenchantment” characterizes the region. Said described the peace process as “the peace of the ruler and not the peace of the people,” and discussed the sense of alienation evident on the street. “Most Arabs feel they are not fully participating in politics,” he concluded.

AUB president John Waterbury looked back at the university’s past and ahead toward its future. “What strikes me looking at AUB’s 134 years” of existence, he said, “is the constant innovation that is and has been going on.”

Noting AUB’s long “tradition of innovation” in the region, he cited among its early achievements the establishment of a medical school, creation of a business administration program, and its becoming a coeducational institution in 1924. That same innovative spirit, Waterbury avowed, is very much alive on campus today, as evidenced by the introduction of new majors such as architecture and computer engineering. and the establishment of a new Graduate School of Business Administration. “AUB has always shown that it knows how to move ahead and how to adapt,” he concluded. “Our institutional legacy allows us to innovate and adapt wisely, yet our center of gravity remains AUB’s undergraduate liberal arts program.”

Following the symposium, Dr. Debs presented the University Medal to this year’s recipients. He welcomed Olayan America Corporation president and AUB alumna and trustee Hutham Olayan, who introduced her father, guest of honor Suliman S. Olayan. Mr. Olayan thanked AUB for honoring him and noted that he has been associated with AUB for 50 years, six of them as a trustee. “AUB is responsible for the education of generations of young people of the Middle East,” he declared.

In his acceptance speech, award recipient Volcker observed, “I don’t think I have ever seen such a successful dinner for an institution that has no direct connection with New York City. I think something significant is going on here.

“Tonight we have heard all about the problems and potentials of the Middle East,” he noted. “And we have seen how AUB has been there for so many years playing a truly unique and constructive role in an unsettled part of the world.”

Established in 1866, the American University of Beirut is a private, independent non-sectarian institution of higher learning operating under a charter from the State of New York and governed by an autonomous board of trustees. From its beginings as a class of 16 students meeting in a rented Beirut house, AUB has evolved to become a major university on a 73-acre campus overlooking the Mediterranean, with some 5,500 students representing more than 50 nationalities. The university offers a rigorous curriculum in the American liberal arts tradition, with English as the language of instruction.

—Lynn Mahoney