September 1990, Page 33, 65

Canada Calling

Arafat Advisor Seeks Canadian Aid, Lobbying at United Nations

By John Dirlik

Yasser Arafat's chief political advisor met external affairs officials in Ottawa and urged the government of Canada to use its leverage at the United Nations "to get the parties concerned to the negotiating table as soon as possible."

Bassam Abu Sharif also asked and received assurances of increased humanitarian aid for Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied territories. Abu Sharif two years ago authored a highly publicized article advocating coexistence with the Jewish state that many believe paved the way for Arafat's subsequent recognition of Israel.

On a speaking tour of several Canadian cities, Abu Sharif stressed that "moderates are now the decision-makers in the PLO." He warned, however, that Israeli intransigence and American complicity were strengthening the hardliners among Palestinians. "Each day we (the PLO) are more and more seen as fools for believing in peace," he said. "Each day we lose more and more the trust our people have given us."

A Thankless Task

Abu Sharif, who still bears the physical scars of a Mossad letter bomb that exploded in his hands in 1972, admitted that moderation can be a thankless tank. "I sometimes feel I am in danger from extremists on both sides," he said.

The PLO advisor cautioned that if Palestinian peace overtures continue to be rejected, "there are those who would return to the armed struggle, convinced that this is the only way to respond to the murder of their family and friends."

But Abu Sharif also insisted that the PLO has not given up on its diplomatic efforts to achieve independence. "We will continue working not only for coexistence with Israel, but eventually for a fruitful exchange between the two states based on economic, social and cultural cooperation."

When asked by a local Jewish newspaper why the PLO has not formally annulled its national covenant which calls for Israel's destruction, he replied, "Our policies have superseded the covenant. The covenant will be amended when Israel ends its occupation." He reminded the reporter that Yitzhak Shamir still considers the West Bank and Gaza as "liberated, not occupied."

One of the highlights of Abu Sharif's visit was his scheduled participation in a panel discussion at the University of Toronto with Mordechai Virshubski, the deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset. So as not to violate that country's law forbidding contacts with "terrorist organizations," Vishubski was not to speak directly to Abu Sharif. The panel discussion, however, took place without the deputy speaker, who at the last moment was called back to Israel because of a possible close vote in the Knesset. But Virshubski, who is a member of the Civil Rights and Peace Movement Party (RATZ), appeared at an earlier press conference with Abu Sharif where he called for a "solution based on two states, Israel and Palestine."

Attempt to Bar Sharon Fails

The Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), an umbrella group representing nearly 30 organizations, tried but failed to obtain a court ruling that would have prevented Israeli housing minister Ariel Sharon from entering Canada.

Sharon, who ended up postponing his visit because of pressing political commitments at home, was to be the keynote speaker at a fund-raising luncheon in Toronto for the Jerusalem College of Technology.

CAF had sought an injunction under the provisions of the Immigration Act that denies entry to persons who have "committed acts and omissions outside Canada that constitute crimes against humanity." But Judge James Jerome of the Federal Court dismissed the bid, calling it "fraught with difficulty." He ruled that Sharon could not be barred because there was "no real evidence that his visit would inflict harm."

Jerome's decision was welcomed by Jewish organizations such as B'nai B'rith and the Canadian Jewish Congress, who had described CAP's court actions as a "publicity plot" and a "pathetic attempt to discredit the state of Israel."

Lawyers for CAF argued that Sharon, as architect of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, was a war criminal responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians. In an affidavit submitted to the court, one of the plaintiffs said that 22 members of her family were among the 250 civilians killed in August 1982, when Israeli jets bombed a Beirut apartment. Odette Manuel, a Canadian of Lebanese descent who lives in Ontario, said the attack took place during a cease-fire and at a time when Sharon was responsible for all Israeli military activity.

James Kafieh, a spokesman for CAF, expressed disappointment over the court ruling and said the principles which forbade Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering Canada for his war role should apply to Sharon. "There shouldn't be one standard for European war criminals and another for Israelis," he said.

A Toronto spokesperson for the Canadian Friends of Jerusalem College of Technology said that they were eagerly waiting for Sharon's rescheduled visit to Canada, but could not confirm the date.

Canada's Labor Movement Expresses Solidarity with Palestinians

In an expression of growing solidarity with the Palestinian movement, the head of Canada's largest labor federation advocated the creation of a Palestinian state.

Shirley Carr, president of the 2.3 million-strong Canadian Labor Congress (CLC), told 3,000 delegates in Montreal that "we call upon Israel to accept a Palestinian state next to its borders." She also called upon Arab countries to guarantee Israel's security.

The official CLC resolution, however, used the term "homeland" rather than "state" and was milder in tone than the proposed resolutions of several CLC affiliates. The Nova Scotia Federation of Labor, for example, had denounced the "death and destruction of the Palestinian people and their homes in lands illegally and immorally occupied by Israeli forces." The Alberta Federation had called upon Israel to allow Palestinian workers to manage their unions "free of harassment and repression."

A Montreal spokesman for Histadrut, the largest union federation in Israel, complained that the president of the CLC was "not telling the whole story." Issie Nachshen said that the CLC had been steadily shifting toward the Palestinian cause in recent years, but maintained that the Histadrut continues to have good relations with Canadian unions.

Observers attribute the increased sympathy for the Palestinians among the labor movement not only to the intifada, but also to a series of CLC study missions to the occupied territories beginning in the spring of 1989. Whereas in previous years the CLC and its affiliates regularly visited Israel on the Histadrut-sponsored tours, that period marked the first time that direct links were made with Palestinian unions in the West Bank and Gaza.

On her return from one of those factfinding missions, CLC president Carr reported that the situation there was "not conducive to normal trade union activity." She noted that headquarters of labor organizations were regularly shut down by Israeli authorities and that union members were forbidden to hold large meetings necessary for conventions and elections.

According to Charlene Gannage, a labor researcher at York University in Toronto, it has become increasingly evident to labor solidarity activists that trade union rights in the territories are "integrally bound up with a political resolution. . . embodied in support for a Palestinian state and direct negotiations with the PLO."

John Dirlik, a free-lance writer from Montreal, Quebec, writes on Canadian and Middle East affairs.