A Special Request for Jewish-Palestinian Reconciliation Information

Dear Friends of Jewish-Palestinian Reconciliation,

We ask you to send us a List of People and Institutions you believe should be mailed a copy of the 24-page “Evening Program and Reconciliation Resource” we are printing for our November 15th San Francisco dinner for 400 Jewish and Palestinian Americans, and others, with Ambassador Dennis Ross, to begin changing the nature of our relationships and invigorating the public peace process.

The Illustrated Booklet has instructional pages on listening, dialogue, and conflict resolution, with inspirational quotes and passages. It has examples of citizen-initiated, grassroots projects that are already bringing Palestinians and Israelis together in dialogue and cooperation. The “Evening Program” portion shows the flow of our dinner event, so people can consider doing on their own communities. The booklet is in English, with just a few passages in Hebrew and Arabic.

Please e-mail to us a list of people and institutions that you believe should receive by mail a copy of this booklet, with their mailing addresses and other contact information. Make the list as long as you wish, but give us an idea of your priorities. We have raised funds for this first mailing, so there will be no charge to the recipients.

That is the most useful thing you can do for us right now. We would greatly appreciate you giving some thought to this project. Your help would mean a lot to us.

Libby and Len Traubman
Nahida and Adham Salem
for our Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group

Libby and Len Traubman
1448 Cedarwood Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403
Phone: (650) 574-8303
Fax: (650) 573-1217
E-mail: LTRAUBMAN@igc.org
Web: http://www.igc.org/traubman

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

Father of Murdered Boy Ponders Contradictory Standards of Extradition

October 30th, 1997

Stanley Boim
18 Brand Street
Jerusalem, Israel

re: Justice for Mr. S & Mr. H

A certain Mr. S journeyed half way around the year from Maryland, U.S.A., to find a place to hide from justice. He did not succeed in his quest. Upon arrival to Israel, he was taken into custody and the wheels of justice began moving to arrange for a fair and open trial to ascertain his guilt. Not good enough! The U.S. government and public opinion rose as one to protest. The victim of the crime was an American citizen and was murdered on American soil. It would seem that only in the U.S.A. is it fitting for Mr. S to stand trial.

The circumstances of a certain Mr. H are somewhat different. He simply acrossed the street into the Palestinian Authority. Mr. H is wanted for the murder of my son, David Boim, an American-Israeli citizen, on May 13, 1996. There is no assurance of a fair and open trial. Should a trial ever take place, the charge would probably be “behavior detrimental to the interests of the Palestinian People.” We have no assurance that Mr. H is in fact in custody or perhaps may be found at the local coffee house.

I would expect no less of our government and of public opinion. Where is the protest and outcry that a murderer of a Jew in the Land of Israel be brought to justice in a country of law and order in the State of Israel?

Lubaviche Advice to Ben Gurion on Who is a Jew Registration Legislation

Following are two letters written by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, to Prime Minister Ben Gurion in 1959, when the Prime Minister asked the Rebbe how to set certain policy to insure the continuity of Judaism, even though the government of Israel was not based entirely on the teachings of Torah….

8 Adar 5719

His Excellency,
Mr. David Ben-Gurion
Prime Minister of Israel

Greetings:

This is in reply to your letter regarding my opinion on the registration of children of mixed marriages, when the father is a Jew and the mother a non-Jew who did not undergo conversion before the birth of the child.

The intent of the inquiry is – as the wording of the resolution has it in the above mentioned letter – “to define instructions that should be in harmony with the tradition accepted in all circles of Judaism, both orthodox and non-orthodox of all trends, and with the special conditions of Israel as a Sovereign State which guarantees freedom of conscience and religion as a center of ingathering the exiles.”

My opinion is absolutely clear, in conformity with the Torah and the tradition accepted for generations, that in these matters there can be no validity whatsoever to a verbal declaration expressing the desire to register as a Jew. Such a declaration has no power to change the reality.

According to the Torah and the tradition of ages which still exists today, a Jew is only a person born to a Jewish mother, or a proselyte who had been converted in conformity with the exact procedure laid down in the authoritative codes of Judaism from ancient times down to the Shulchan Aruch.

The above applies not only to children whose parents or guardians declare their desire to register them as Jews, but to whosoever comes forward to declare his wish to change his status in order to enter the Jewish community.

Such a declaration has no force whatever unless he actually fulfills, or has fulfilled the appropriate conversion procedure as laid down in the Jewish codes in the Shulchan Aruch, as above.


I do not cite sources since there are clear and detailed rulings on the matter in the codes of Maimonades, the Tur, Shulchan Aruch, etc.,

All that follows now is merely an additional postscript, written with the intention of emphasizing that even if the following is not accepted, either in part or in full, this does not distract at all from the finality of the opinion I have outlined above.

The following remarks are merely a reaction to the account of the situation delineated in your letter.

  1. The question of registration, or however it may be described, is not a matter confined to Israel alone. It goes without saying – as explained in your letter – that no one may raise a barrier between the Jews of Israel and those of the Diaspora. On the contrary, all our brethren, wherever they may be, have constituted one people, from the moment of their emergence in spite of their dispersion in all the corners of the world. Consequently, the solution of the problem must be one that is acceptable to all members of the Jewish people everywhere, that is capable of forging and strengthening the bounds between unity of all Jews, and certainly not one that would be cause, even the remotest, of disunity and dissension.
  2. Accordingly, even if you may argue that the present conditions in Eretz Israel call for a special study of the above mentioned question, those conditions do not restrict the problem to Eretz Israel, but, as noted, constitute a matter of common concern to every Jew everywhere.
  3. The belonging to the Jewish people was never considered by our people as a formal, external matter. It has always been defined and delineated in terms of the commitment of the whole being of the Jew, something intimately linked with his very essence and innermost experience.

    Accordingly, any movement which disregards or belittles any of the procedures in this connection degrades the feeling of belonging to the Jewish people and cannot but be detrimental to the serious and profound attitude toward the Jew’s inner link with his people.

  4. To ease the conditions of transition and affiliation to the Jewish people – particularly in the special circumstances of Eretz Israel, surrounded by countries and peoples unsympathetic towards it (that is an understatement) is to endanger considerably the security of Eretz Israel.
  5. What emerges from the above points is that even if an attempt is made to avoid the proper solution to the problem by a compromise, such as substituting for the word “Jew” a word of completely secular connotations, this will not constitute a way out, since the damage would remain both with respect to strengthen the bonds of unity with Jews everywhere, as well as from the point of view of inner strength and security.
  6. Of course, no argument can be abducted from the cases of people who have been converted in the proper manner and have nevertheless caused harm to the Jewish people. On the other hand, there is the possibility that one who merely makes a verbal declaration of his Jewishness may benefit the Jewish people. The demand for a duo conversion procedure is likewise not negated by the fact that there are non-Jewish “saints” who, as the description implies, are for all that, still “non-Jews.”
  7. In the frame of reference in which the question was put, the matter discrimination was mentioned.

Discrimination can, however, only apply to granting or withholding of rights, or meting out punishments; it can have no relevance to the question of Registration which has to do with existing reality.

Let me conclude with the hope and expectation that Eretz Israel in all its aspects, both present and future, should constitute a factor uniting Jew everywhere both orthodox and non-orthodox of all trends, by attuning itself in all its affairs more and more to the name by which it is known among all the peoples of the world – “the Holy Land.”

Yours truly,


His Excellency,
Mr. David Ben-Gurion,
Prime Minister of Israel

Greetings:

Yesterday I sent you my official reply to the question of Registration, and I have to apologize for the delay in my reply till now for a number of reasons. What is written further is not official and not even semi-official. It was once fashionable in certain circles to suggest that the Jewish religion and religious observances were necessary for those living in the Diaspora – as a shield against assimilation. But for those who can find another “antidote: in the place of religion, particularly for those living in Eretz Israel, within their own society, where the atmosphere, language, etc. (apparently) serve as ample assurances of national preservation, the Jewish religion was superfluous – what need had they to burden themselves with all its minutiae in their daily life?

But the trend of developments in Eretz Israel in the last seven or eight years has increasingly emphasized the opposite view: That however vital the need for religion amongst Diaspora Jewry, it is needed even more for the Jews in Eretz Israel.

One of the basic reasons for this is that it is precisely in Eretz Israel that there exists the danger that a new generation will grow up, a new type bearing the name of Israel but completely divorced from the past of our people and its eternal and essential values; and, moreover, hostile to it in its world outlook, its culture, and the content of its daily life; hostile – in spite of the fact that it will speak Hebrew, dwell in the land of the Patriarchs and wax enthusiastic over the Bible.

I do not wish to dwell on this painful subject at all for obvious reasons (especially since I see no need for further elaboration). One of the reasons is that I fervently hope that this calamity will not come to pass. Eventually, members of that generation itself will vehemently rise up against that danger, and will take measures to ward off the evil. Indeed it is just recently that an intense ferment has been felt in Eretz Israel and abroad demanding a spiritual content to life; if a deeper probe is made, it becomes evident that the yearning is for something transcending the reason of man.

The thirst of the youth of our eternal people will certainly not be quenched by rationalizations and theories that are the product of contemporary mortals, which will share the fate of those ideologies which made their debut only yesterday and which are no more today. Here is the place for the Law of Moses and Israel, the Oral and Written Law, our independent values dating from the day the Jewish people stood before G-d, our G-d, at Horeb and the great voice was heard which did not stop: “I am G-d your G-d…You shall have no other gods….”

Needless to say, I do not speak here of a theoretical religiosity which serves only as a purely philosophical world outlook, or as the subject of lectures at weekends and holidays. I speak of a pervading and practical way of life, which includes the weekdays too, and all such matters which are usually termed “secular.” Our faith is, after all, essentially one of practical deeds.

Now is the ideal opportunity to transform the whole canvas of life in Eretz Israel and direct it into the above-mentioned channels. This opportunity is knocking at your door; for you have been granted the ability and privilege to use it to the best advantage, a privilege and opportunity which are not given to every man and the likes of which have not presented themselves for many decades.

It is more than likely that the aforementioned lines will astonish you. Do I really imagine that by means of this letter I can change or influence an outlook many decades old, and in particular the outlook of a man who has seen the fruit of his labors? But, since in my opinion the situation in Eretz Israel is as described above – the situation in itself, the essential truth of the idea, the unique and most wonderful opportunity granted you – it is they which speak, appeal and demand.

I am sure that even without my letter you have often reflected on this But I could not allow myself to pass over this in silence – at a time when I am engaged in writing on the subject of Registration which is part and parcel of the general background outlined above. I felt it my duty to refer to this, at least in a private letter to you.

At this opportunity, and begging apology for the delay, I thank you for sending me your booklet. Let me base my next few words on what you wrote in the booklet when referring to Eretz Israel, I mean the expression “the Holy Land.”

Now the epithet “holy” like that of “Jew”, has had its content defined and consecrated by generations of our people, from the time of the Giving of the Law – when the title “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” was bestowed on us and when the Jewish people were granted the Holy Land according to its borders “the land of the Canaanite and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates” – till the present day and including it.

Yours truly,

P.S.

As for your question with regard to my attitude towards the Holy Land etc., I trust you saw my reply to the question “what is a Jew?,” which has been published both here in America and in Eretz Yisroel. You particularly question with regard to immigration and settling in Eretz Yisroel does not indicate whether it refers to yourself or is it on a general way.

But my answer would depend on the circumstances of each individual, for it is not possible to give a blanket advice on such an important question.

I should like, however, to emphasize one general point. No matter how much is expected of a Jew in regard to Torah and Mitzvahs, wherever he may be, a great deal more is expected of him if he is in Eretz Yisroel, of which the Torah says “It is the land of which the eyes of G-d, they G-d are, from he beginning of the year to the end of the year.” So much so that it is regarded as a Holy Land even among non-Jews.

Our Sages refer to it as “The Palace of the King.” A person wishing to enter the Royal Palace must be prepared to answer such questions as for what business is he there and he must be prepared in every way. It is demonstrated by his conduct and actions that he realizes he is in the Royal Palace. It is unnecessary to elaborate.

May G-d grant that you will succeed in what is your tune and inner purpose in life, namely to spread Yiddishkeit, and in an ever-growing way, and may you have good news to report always.

Arrested Professor Charged with “Collaboration”

On 2 July, the Palestinian Preventative Security Service (PSS) arrested Dr. Fathi Ahmed Subuh. Dr. Subuh is the head of the Department of Education at al Azhar University in Gaza and the Director of the Educational Center in Tuffah.

PSS officers came to Dr. Subuh’s house at 6:30 am, produced an arrest warrant, and took him to the PSS interrogation center at Tel Howa. He has not been allowed visits from his family since his arrest and there has been some confusion as to the reasons for his incarceration.

Hebcom’s Political Correspondent, Amit Lesham, has received information through her contacts within the P.A. that the professor has been charged with collaborating with the Israelis.

Dr. Subuh, is 44 years old, married and has three children. He is the head of the “People to People program” for the Gaza area. In this capacity he has attended dialogues with members of the ” Abraham foundation”. Most recently he met with Gush Etzion Settler Myron Joshua at a discussion group sponsored by the foundation. Mr. Joshua was shocked and concerned when he learned of Dr. Subuh’s detention.

In her report that Ms. Lesham filed with Hebcom she points out that Dr. Subuh is also working in cooperation with Mr. Eddy Kaufman of the Geneva Foundation.

Reportedly the issue of collaboration came to a head when Dr. Subuh indiscreetly asked two questions on his final exams: 1. What were the problems with administrative corruption within al Azhar University, and, 2. A question on the corruption within the Palestinian Authority.

Within hours Dr. Subuh joined the hundreds of innocent Palestinians who have disappeared into the Palestinian Authority Gulag.

UPDATE: 22nd October 1997

To this date Dr. Subuh has not been released from the Gulag. According to sources within the Palestinian Authority, the Doctor has been subjected to both physical and mental torture.

ACTION:

Please do not let this man be forgotten.

Call or fax the Palestinian Authority at:

President Yasser Arafat (972) (7) 822365/6
Justice Minister Freih Abu Medein (972) (7) 822236
Deputy Attorney General Mazen Sisalem (972) (7) 824503
email to: Palestine National Authority: info@nmopic.pna.net
PLO United Nations representative: palestinun@aol.com
Request that this man either be given a trial or released.

Jews and Palestinians Building a Common Future

A Jewish dentist and a Palestinian businesswoman, we with others in our 5-year-old Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group have learned a lot about reconciliation. And we know it isn’t easy.

But after 57 meetings, we have moved from fear to trust, from alienation to cooperation. We can talk. We can listen. We can cooperate. And if we can do it, so can others.

We began in 1992 with a handful of Bay Area families. Rejecting the popular gloom and hopelessness of the endless Middle East violence, we wanted to capitalize on our successes of the ’80s working with the Beyond War movement’s grassroots team-building between “enemies” — prominent Soviets and Americans, then Israelis and Palestinians.

We saw how face-to-face dialogue changed people’s minds and hearts. We knew model-building worked. Realizing that American citizens and government are strongly connected to Middle East events, it was time to put our global experience to use in our own community.

Today we are 30 Americans — Jews and both Muslim and Christian Palestinians, with several “others” who moderate and offer important support. We are in education, medicine, manufacturing, family businesses, and volunteerism. Among us are Holocaust survivors and 20th generation Palestinians.

While learning to work together in our local community, our many concrete projects have included material assistance to hospitals and schools in need, equally, in Israel and Palestinian Gaza and West Bank.

Descendants of Abraham with sister root cultures and languages, we have experienced our cousinhood. And we like it. By meeting face to face, we no longer just “study” or “hear about” each other. We now “know” and thus understand and want the best for one another. It has changed our lives.

“These are the worst of times, so why aren’t you hopeless?” people ask us. “Why do you do it, when others want to quit?”

When we are impossibly separated by our history and suffering, overcome with anger and pride, even deeper inside ourselves we find a stronger belief and knowing. It is the ancient insight of our common ancestor, Abraham, that all is one — we’re totally interdependent and interconnected, neighbors forever. So we want to learn to live together that way, and not waste valuable time.

Also, we Palestinians and Jews believe what sociologist Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Our small dialogue group believes if we can talk, listen and cooperate, so can anyone in the world. Yes, even in the Middle East! It’s just a matter of time.

Like a newborn baby — Jewish or Palestinian — we have crawled, then walked. We’re on our feet, but now feel rushed by what Ambassador Edward Djerejian, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, calls “the worst case scenario,” when violence from both sides is on the rise and the peace process is not moving forward.

“Take bigger strides, walk faster,” crises beckon to our Semitic peace child. “Pick up the pace. Grow up ster,” come the calls from our brothers and sisters and cousins in the Middle East.

Hearing the urgent call for a mature step onto new ground, we could do no less than propose the once unimaginable, unacceptable, impossible. The needed, the dreamed of, the desired — the possible.

So on a Saturday night this November, in a hotel near the shore of San Francisco Bay, 400 Jewish and Palestinian Americans, and others, will meet around dinner tables to begin “Building A Common Future,” to change the nature of our relationships. Perhaps nervously and with shaky legs at first, but with eyes fixed on what we know is possible. And Ambassador Dennis Ross, U.S. envoy to the Middle East peace process, will be there to acknowledge the hopes and limits of government negotiations, and to call forth citizens to participate in reconciliation.

It was Dr. Harold Saunders, former Assistant Secretary of State and negotiator of the Camp David Accords, who defined the “public peace process” and asked citizens to ascend to participate fully, in partnership with governments. “There are some things,” Saunders said, “that only governments can do, such as negotiating binding agreements. But there are some things that only citizens outside government can do, such as changing human relationships.”

In that spirit we will be together on that special Saturday night. We’ll walk toward one another on tried but not yet mature legs, seeking the common ground and relationships we’ve never had but need.

What do we expect? Maybe a few, maybe many, good women and men will go home and redirect their ideas and energies, resources and philanthropy — even their institutions and lives — away from the illusion of individual survival, and toward bridge-building activities. Hopefully, we will make a difference, a ripple of intelligence and inspiration to travel out beyond us, even to the Middle East.

Would a miracle help? Yes, it would. But let’s no longer doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Especially when it’s time.


Nahida Salem is president of the Ramallah Club and its previous Woman of the Year. She lives in Belmont, Calif. with her husband and three children. Lionel Traubman has a practice of pediatric dentistry in San Francisco. He and his wife live in San Mateo, Calif. They have two grown children.


More information about the November 15th relationship- building evening, “Building A Common Future,” is on the Web at http://www.igc.org/traubman/hope.htm. You may call Nahida and Adham Salem (650-593-5769), or Len and Libby Traubman (650-574-8303).


CONTACT:
Lionel “Len” Traubman, DDS, MSD
1448 Cedarwood Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403
Day/415-333-6811 Evening/650-574-8303
E-mail: LTRAUBMAN@igc.org

Sheikh Abdulleh Nimer Darwish Israeli Arab Islamic Movement

IMRA interviewed Sheikh Abdulleh Nimer Darwish, leader of the Israeli Arab Islamic Movement, in Hebrew, on October 24th. The entire interview follows:

IMRA: You made headlines with the story that Sheik Yassin was ready for compromise. Now we hear him say “we won’t compromise on a centimeter of land” and Masha’al is quoted in the Jordanian weekly Star saying “nothing will change the path of Hamas”. How do you see this?

Darwish: Nu.

IMRA: How do you see this.

Darwish: Write this down: One should recall that the PLO before agreeing to UN Resolution 242 and at the same time of the Rabat Conference during the 70’s and at the same time that the conference was taking place, the late Abu Iyad went out to the press and said, and I quote, ‘the armed struggle against the Israeli occupation will continue and the rifle is the only means for liberating Palestine from the river to the sea.’ Half an hour after this Iyad declaration, Abu Sharif, the spokesman of the PLO, came out and declared, and I quote, ‘the PLO under the leadership of Chairman Yasser Arafat, agrees to accept UN Resolutions 242 and 338 and commits to mutual recognition between an independent Palestinian state and the state of Israel.’

What I want to say now, is that the hudna, the agreement propose by Sheikh Yassin, is a proposal. And until the response of the state of Israel is heard to this proposal, it is impossible to silence the Hamas spokesmen who call until now for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. The true test will be after the response of the prime minister of Israel and his serious response to Sheikh Yassin’s proposal, namely the hudna. If after this there are declarations of Hamas people for the destruction of the state of Israeli and its removal from the world political map, then you will have the right to say that they are playing with slogans.

IMRA: During the period you are talking about, the hudna, is this a period during which there is no strengthening of the Palestinian side or what? Right now you have a given situation regarding the balance of power. During this period of cease fire or hudna is there also some kind of freeze so that the balance of power doesn’t change or can each side try to strengthen and try to change balance of power?

Darwish: The balance of power between Israel and the Palestinians? Look, I am astonished by your question. Look, look, in Arabic there is a saying [in Arabic not translated]. The colonialist Zionist movement, since its creation has thought that it is the smartest in the world and with the strongest media presence, and so we say, the Palestinians have come, and they are the wisest. They also have media experience. Yes, as long as Israel strengthens the Palestinians and the Arabs have the right to strengthen. With one goal: to push off the Israeli tendency to conquer more and more land.

IMRA: Every Palestinian I have interviewed to now has explained to me that their approach today is the result of the balance of power and that if that changed in the future it would change their approach. The decision which would be made after the hudnah – after ten years – how would that be affected?

Darwish: I understand the question. I am not a military man, but everyone knows that a peace agreement – if we can it a hudnah or a peace agreement, even an agreement between great powers, does not rule out the choice of the great power to strengthen. Not because it wants to renew the war, but rather in order to deter the other side from starting war. Don’t forget that a military force is not always an attacking force. Today, in the world in the spirit of reconciliation between the powers and blocs there continues the strengthening of forces because military strength today is not a force of aggression but rather a force of deterrence.

IMRA: The agreements between Egypt and Jordan have no dates. They are, for all intents and purposes, eternal. Why here do you talk about only a limited period?

Darwish: I think you have to go back and reread the Camp David Agreement between Israel and Egypt and the treaty between Israel and Jordan and you will find there that it is the right of every generation to reexamine the agreements but there is no right to violate the agreements. This is the very meaning of the hudna. The hudna is for ten or twenty, thirty or a hundred years but it is the right of every generation to reexamine it in order to strengthen it – not to violate it.

IMRA: Is there a problem from the standpoint of Islamic religious law to forgo on the status of waqf [holy land] for all of Palestine?

Darwish: Look. When you agree to a hudna everything is open to deliberations. Right now religious law sets that Palestine is a waqf. And the law gives the possibility for a Palestinian leader to sign an agreement or hudna with the Israeli side. At the time that they are sitting in negotiations on accepting the hudna agreement there the question is raised: do the Moslems and Palestinians leave the area within which Israel has established its independent state as an Islamic waqf or is it now an independent sovereign state with an independent sovereign Palestinian state next to it and we end the entire religious law issue. This is a question which must be examined and I am certain that reasonable answers will be found for it.

Dr. Aaron Lerner,
Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
P.O.BOX 982 Kfar Sava
Tel: (+972-9) 760-4719
Fax: (+972-9) 741-1645
imra@netvision.net.il

Statement of the Catholic Prelate in Israel: No persecution of Christians in Palestine; Do Not Buy Lies!

Dear Friends,

We want you to stand with the Truth and take a position with us.

As Representative of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. I have just finished to talk with Jerusalem asking them about that report: “Today The Jerusalem Post published a government report claiming that Palestinian Christians are being persecuted by the PA.”

This is absolutly untrue, they said, it a big lie. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem assured me that all is untrue and all is lies.

On the Contrary the Head of Christian Churches, they told me, and all Christians are well respected by the P.A and no such things had happened from our Brothers and sisters the Arab Palestinian Muslims against the Arab Christians in Palestine.

We heard about it on the Israeli news only, they told me, and we were very upset. On the contrary harmony and love and respect are the right words to use to define the good relations between Arab Muslims and Arab Chritians. Please stop all kind of cold war against our Muslim Brothers and sisters.

I ask you to assure all your friends, the Media and everybody that they should not buy lies. Recent history shows also absolutely the contrary of the Jerusalem Post report:

  1. The Arab Muslims did not persecute the Arab Christians, they do belong to same traditons and heritage, some Arab Christian Families has the same family names of the Arab Muslims. Some fanatics (created and financed from outside) had created some time, somewhere, anywhere from Muslims side, ( also Christian or Jewish had thjeir fanatics) some tension, but this had never been a policy or a stand of our Brothers and sisters the Muslim Arabs against the Arab Christians. Never.
  2. Before 1920 the Arab Muslims and Arab Christians were living on good terms with the Jews of Palestine. Jews were welcomed in the Arab world, and some even moved into the higher economic strata in these societies, at a time when they were being persecuted in Europe. They were received by Egypt, Iraq, Marocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and others.
  3. For the past millenium, Jews were never persecuted by Arab Muslims (after the Zionist enterprise, Arab Muslims as Arab Christians found that bthe Jewish as people are taking their country they started to consider them as ennemies, and started to resisit and defend their fundamental rights on their home Country Palestine). In contrast to Europe, history proves that Jews were treated better in countries ruled by Muslim rulers than in any other countries.
  4. Arab Christians who are a minority in the Middle East and especially in Jerusalem and the Holy Land have never persecuted Muslims or Jews. The Arab Christians of the Middle East and the Holy Land have nothing to do with the stands taken by apocalyptic Christian organizations in the west, such as The Christian Coalition of the Reverand Pat Robertson, in the United States, or with their philosophies with regard to the Middle East conflict or with the Christian Zionists and their International embassy in Jerusalem.The Arab Christians of the Middle East, should not be held accountable for past persecutions of Jews by European or American Christian groups.
  5. We refuse as both Arab Christians and Arab Muslims the propaganda that wants to prove that there were any studied or willed persecution form our Muslim brothers and Sisters against their Brothers and Sisters the Christians.

    We consider it as a mere propaganda against Islam, a cold war against our Muslim Brother that bebefits only the Zionists and Israel.

    That progaganda should stop because it is absolutely motivated. It could show also that those who are spreading the word about a Muslim persectution against Christians are the people who created that kinds of tensions, if any, between Arab Christians and Arab Muslims in the past to benefit from it.

    The Experience of Lebanon is a proof: When Israel ivaded Lebanon on 1982, one of the Umbrellas was the propaganda saying that Israel was going to defend the Christian Communties of Lebanon against Islam. Nobody to day beleives that. But at that time the media made a lot of innocent people all over the world beleive that Israel was the Savior of Lebanon.

    Please stop all kind of Progadanda against our Muslim brothers and Sister, stop the cold war against Islam, look to the mere truth and stand with it by all good means.

    Please copy and send everywhere, Thanks.

    Fr. Labib Kobti
    Representative of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

    For more information, e-mail me at labibkobti@aol.com, or visit Al-Bushra at http://www.al-bushra.org.

What Does it Mean to Have Yassir and Yassin Walk Hand in Hand

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s decision to free the Hamas leader, Sheikh Achmed Yassin has immediate ramifications for the Oslo process, and also for the future of Israel’s bilateral negotiations with the Palestine Authority, Jordan, Egpyt, Syria and the United States.

From Netanyahu’s point of view, a key factor in Yassin’s release is that Yassir Arafat and the Palestine Authority can never again deny their connection with Yassin or the Hamas.

Until Sheikh Yassin’s triumphal return to Gaza, almost every action of Arafat and the PA were overshadowed by a sympathetic press that usually negated any connection that Arafat or the PA ever had with incitement, fanaticism and terror of the Hamas.

Arafat’s well-oiled public relations system that has served him well for so many years contrasts with Hamas, which makes no pretensions that it is in the business of building an Islamic entity at war with Zionism and the state of Israel. Arafat speaks in two languages. Sheikh Yassin speaks in one.

Well, the “good-cop/bad-cop” game of the Oslo process is over.

From hereon in, Yassir Arafat and Sheikh Yassin will sit shoulder to shoulder and together run the Palestine Authority.

From Netanyahu’s perspective, it serves Israel very well to have a Palestine Authority that openly conducts a relations with the Hamas rather than a PA which maintains those connections with violent Islamic groups and later denies them.

Netanyahu is the most media conscious Israeli prime minister since Israel’s first PM, David Ben Gurion. Bibi recognizes that Israel’s battle is also one of image. Having the world media conjure up the image of a Yassin rather than a Yassir at the head of the PA fosters a new image in the public domain of the world media and in Israeli public opinion.

Perhaps that is why a senior official of Israeli security confirmed to the foreign press only a few days after Yassin’s release that the Israeli intelligence services had already decided to send the Sheikh back to Gaza.

Benyamin Netanyahu was harshly criticized from all sides of the political spectrum for the way in which he has been handling security affairs.

However, Netanyahu is playing for the long run. Israel now has a presidential form of government, with few checks and balances. No longer does the Israeli prime minister have to worry about constant votes of confidence that could topple a government whose popular support seems to be waning. Bibi is not worried about what people say about his security moves in the short run.

Diana’s Death: An Assassination?

Introduction

To Whom This May Concern:

I work as a journalist. It took me bout a week or so after the tragic car crash which took the lives of Princess Diana, companion Dodi Al Fayed and driver Henri Paul to piece together that we, the public, and apparently the press, were being completely manipulated and lied to about the so-called accident. I’m really only scratching the surface of this truly shocking story, as I don’t have extensive financial resources to devote to investigating this story in any serious depth, which it absolutely demands. There are a tremendous number of very troubling inconsistencies and major peculiarities about this event which were never pursued, at least at first, by authorities or by the major news media.

Last Sunday’s London Times (Sept. 21) ran a crucial story which has turned things around substantially; it reports that a highly credible witness, a British attorney, clearly saw another vehicle leaving the crash scene at very high speed in an obvious getaway. This dovetails with mounting material evidence from the crash site proving another vehicle (not paparazzi!) impacted the Mercedes in the tunnel and clearly instigated the disaster — at least in part. Officials also said pointedly that they want to know why “bodyguard” Trevor Rees-Jones fastened his seatbelt not long before the crash. The implication is that he knew something was about to happen — something potentially life-threatening. Professional bodyguards almost never wear seatbelts as they must be ready for any eventuality at any time. The man’s background is British military intelligence.

The mass media really need to realize they have been played by some real masters of the art regarding what was definitely an intentional, meticulously planned and executed murder. The press urgently needs to start asking the great number of questions regarding this mysterious fatal car accident.

Please take a few minutes to read the item I’m sending you. It is a certainty beyond any doubt that the crash that ostensibly killed Princess Diana was an intentional murder and the reporting of the events preceding, during and after the tragedy has been thoroughly manipulated by intelligence agencies.

Incredibly, after major news at the beginning of last week (see first paragraph of report) of physical evidence and eyewitness testimony which had caused investigators to completely reevaluate the case, all mention of the latest turn of events seems to have disappeared from the news. Why haven’t the royal Secret Service, British Intelligence, Interpol, Scotland Yard, etc. shown apparently the slightest interest in investigating what is less and less likely to have been an “accident”? Even the merest indication that it might not have been an accident should have triggered massive investigation by those agencies. The fact that there was none is just unbelievable, especially in light of the latest news I mentioned. It might not be stretching things too far to speculate that itself strongly suggests conspiracy and coverup at rather high levels.

There are far too many holes in the official story. The coverup is relying on the unprecedented and quite unbelievable lack of media scrutiny of the events.

It’s just totally outrageous that this wretched murder could be contorted, spin–doctored and finessed into an being accepted as an “accident” by the whole world. That is almost more disturbing than the assassination itself!

No matter what, we can honor Diana’s memory by standing strong against the forces that in all likelihood viciously took Diana’s life. Diana Spencer consciously set out to use her position of great influence to counteract many of the negative and bitter results of such international policies implemented globally by just such forces, and it seems because of that, in addition to several other “reasons”, she was assassinated.

Part 2

Part of the police case against the paparazzi is that once they arrived at the scene of the accident, they (the paparazzi) failed to assist an injured person. Yet nearly all the photographers are claiming they were several hundred yards behind the Mercedes and that they arrived after the first doctor was already on the scene, an off-duty doctor who had been driving by named Frederic Mailliez.

An email communique sent to an Internet discussion group by someone claiming to be of the photographers who was following the Mercedes the night of August 31 says that he has not only fled the crash site but also the country, apparently because after he took several pictures of the wreckage and the victims, a very alive Diana spoke some extremely chilling words to him. Using an acknowledged alias and routing his letter through an intermediary for his protection, Mr. Merceilles declares (mistakes uncorrected), “I am one of photographer who followed Diana and her companion Dodi Al-fayed until their death in a car-crash. (Paris tunnel — 31 august 1997) I was lucky at that time, while the accident took place, I am 60 metres from the spot. When I heard a very loud sound came from the tunnel, I jumped from one of my friend’s bike (who is now detained) to inspect the scene. I could see a hand of someone waving at us to seek some help. With a terrible shock, I found that was the hand of princess.

I could not see her face clearly, as a warm blood streaming all over her face. She still alive and crying painfully. With “discourage feeling”, I forced myself to take some picture of her — (the pictures and negative are with me now and I am not intend to sell it for profit). From the distance, I could see people already gathering to see what was happening there. I do not understand the world, for accusing us (photographers) for Diana and Dodi death. As a matter of fact, It looks like all people of the world pointing at us as we are the greatest criminal of a crime that we did not responsible. I still remember the words came from Diana’s throat before she died. “Help… someone outside plan to kill us”.

A spokesperson for the Fayeds and the Ritz said that although Dodi had been “examined” by a pathologist in Britain before he was buried, this had not been a full postmortem examination, and that no blood samples were taken.

Lawyers for the photographers have questioned such procedures. “The behavior of passengers in the investigation of a car accident is very important,” said one. Another said he would very much like to know how much, if anything, Dodi had drunk that evening and whether he would have been lucid.

Of course absolutely no postmortem of any kind, which could precisely indicate the direct cause of death, was done on the body of Princess Diana.

Paris police have said that after the accident occurred the ambulance took nearly half an hour to get to the scene. Also the police have confirmed that they were escorting the ambulance back to the hospital but then became separated. The ambulance arrived at the hospital much later and the drivers claimed to have lost their way! This was reported on many European radio channels. Why aren’t the identities and records of these so-called ambulance drivers being released?

Witness accounts recorded by TV crews directly after the tragedy stated that there was an initial impact or explosion, then the sound of metal scraping followed by the sound of a very loud crash when the vehicle hit the tunnel structure. These descriptions were edited out of subsequent broadcasts and have not been heard since. What was the initial sound caused by? If a massive crash could somehow be instigated, the time, location, and condition of the armor-plated limousine would assuredly create some delays in any occupants not killed receiving medical attention, which itself could be of a terminal sort administered by specially assigned agents who, while returning to the hospital in the ambulance, inconceivably lose their way!

Has the scenario being presented — of all those photographers riding motorcycles and trying to take pictures of the inside of a car with tinted windows travelling at 120 MPH, at night, in a dim narrow tunnel — been seriously called into question, as it seems it should? Does anyone really believe that one or more of these paparazzi on motorcycles actually attempted to cut off a large automobile at such speeds? (Nonetheless it’s now certain that at least one other vehicle did intentionally impact the Mercedes in the tunnel.) Does it seem the least bit likely that Diana, Dodi and their bodyguard would drive off in a vehicle with a man supposedly so completely inebriated? Why has it been claimed that Mr. Paul sped rapidly away from The Ritz to evade the paparazzi when there was no antagonism or ill will demonstrated before the Mercedes left The Ritz and video footage shows the car leaving at a reasonable speed?

Although earlier reports had the Mercedes going 120 miles per hour, more recent bulletins from Paris say experts estimated the car’s speed at about 75 miles per hour. Why would anyone drive at such a dangerous speed just to get away from photographers? Photographs can’t cause bodily harm. If indeed the vehicle was travelling even the lower speed, it would seem likely Paul and the other occupants of the Mercedes were trying to get away from something considerably more sinister than photographers. With all the initial hue and cry about the paparazzi being a factor in causing the accident, nearly all still photographs and videos shot before, during or after the tragedy have been seized.

In addition to the inexplicable delay in the arrival of the ambulance and emergency personnel, there were reportedly serious difficulties in removing Diana and the other victims from the specially reinforced body of the limousine, which led to an additional delay of nearly an hour. Also, again inexplicably, during this time Diana was left to wait on the roadside while all the other victims were extricated from the wreckage before she was put into an ambulance. How could anyone not question why Diana was not immediately airlifted out on an emergency medical helicopter but was instead unconscionably made to wait and was then driven at a bizarrely slow pace by an ambulance crew who supposedly couldn’t find their way back to the hospital?! And this in a major modern city like Paris? Not bloody likely! (The ambulance however did manage to conveniently ditch their police escort). Diana was very much alive after the crash, and was in fact sitting up, gesticulating and at one point telling the medics to leave her alone; yet we are told that all the most technologically advanced medical resources that our present-day world and her wealth could command were not able to save her. The public should be told precisely how she died, of what specific medical condition and exactly where and at what time her death occurred, as well as who was present. If she in fact died of heart failure, and there was little or no initial emphasis on head wounds in her case, why was the supposed existence of massive head wounds used as the reason Diana did not have an open casket funeral? Also questionable was the fact that instead of being hooked up to state of the art life support equipment at Salpetriere Hospital, Diana was cut open and her heart massaged directly by a physician.

Despite strenuous contortions and permutations of certain investigators attempting to make unwanted facts disappear or to create the desired facts out of thin air in order to promulgate a bogus and fanciful theory regarding the cause of the crash, apparently some members of the Paris police have decided to actually look at the evidence and listen to the witnesses.

An AP bulletin from Paris dated September 17 does indeed indicate that Paris police now believe a second vehicle was in fact involved in the crash, and possibly even a third. It states, French television reported Tuesday that investigators are considering the possibility that another car was involved in the crash. The report on France 2 said red shards of glass, apparently from brake lights, were found at the crash scene – but that the Mercedes’ brake lights were still intact. Perhaps the Paris police force is reluctant to play along in covering up the awful truth about this miserable and sickening political assassination.

Another item datelined Paris, September 17, reads in part as follows (emphasis added): Authorities investigating the crash that killed Princess Diana are examining parts of a second car that were found at the scene of the accident, a police source said today.

Pieces of a tail light and traces of paint that are not used on the Mercedes car that carried Diana were found at the scene and are being tested in a police laboratory, the source said on condition of anonymity Similar traces were also found on the rear-view mirror of the Mercedes, the source said. An AP news item from later the same day stated that Paris police, based upon new evidence, are considering the possibility that even a third vehicle may have been involved.

The London Times report mentioned at the beginning dated Sept. 21 says that there is a highly credible witness who had provided significant and invaluable testimony on this aspect of the events to the Al Fayed lawyers several weeks ago. This testimony was passed on to authorities but was apparently intentionally buried. Thankfully it has now resurfaced. The newspaper quoted Gary Hunter, a British lawyer who was in Paris on Aug. 31 celebrating his wife’s birthday, as saying he saw a small black car fleeing at high speed from the crash that killed Princess Diana. He saw the car from the window of his third-floor hotel room. Witnesses had initially said they saw a small, black hatchback, possibly a Fiat Uno, near the smashed Mercedes. Hunter said he was watching television when he heard an “almighty crash” at 12:25 a.m. From his window he saw people running toward the tunnel and then saw a car turning from the area by the tunnel exit and roaring down the Rue Jean Goujon, the street below. “I heard the screeching of tires. I saw a small dark car turning the corner at the top of the road. I would say it was racing at 60-70 mph,” Hunter stated. “My own feeling is that these were people in a hurry not to be there. I am confident that the car was getting off the scene…. It looked quite sinister.” (emphasis added.) Hunter said the car could have been a Fiat Uno or a Renault. The Times article also said the lawyers passed the testimony on to investigators, who, incredibly enough, apparently ignored it,.

Certain witnesses interviewed right after the tragedy on CNN said that immediately after the event some people were around the car and that one man in a three piece suit screamed at them in French; that there was ‘liquid on the ground’. Understandably, the witnesses were afraid of another explosion, and so backed away as instructed. Of course, if there was someone in the tunnel just moments after the crash, clearing away witnesses, he would almost certainly be part of any assassination operation. It is now clear that early reports of the crash suggested Diana was injured, but that her life wasn’t threatened, according to the French doctor who treated her for some time at the scene before the ambulance took her to the hospital.

The doctor, who happened by and stopped to help, said she was “moaning, “gesturing in every direction”. Unconscious people do not moan and gesture in every direction. Early interviews with Dr. Frederic Mailliez also have him saying that he saw the Princess thrashing about, and that her condition did not seem desperate.

The presence of this doctor who just happened to be at the crash site when the tragedy occurred could be viewed as questionable; certainly it could have been a coincidence but it may not have been, and we have only his word as to what actions he took which affected Diana’s physical condition. His location gave him an incalculable ability to drastically impact the course of events — especially Diana’s physical wellbeing.

In addition, the Fayed camp claims that at the hospital Diana was able to give a last message to an unknown person in England, so obviously she was fairly conscious for quite some time after the crash. The crash occurred at just past midnight, but Diana was not declared dead until 4 AM. Also, what was this message and who was it to? Did it implicate someone perhaps?

Part 3

Something is terribly wrong about the death of Princess Diana. The factual evidence presented herein makes it fairly clear that her death was no accident. Diana was killed intentionally.

Diana Spencer was a human being of course, with some of the failings and weaknesses which that connotes. However, by most accounts she was a kind, decent person, who demonstrated genuine empathy with the underprivileged, the infirm, the oppressed and the ignored; those traditionally considered to be of lower social standing than she; also, for what it may be worth Diana was a true blueblood royal of England’s House of Stewart. Diana’s constant and wholehearted support for numerous charitable endeavors worldwide, and her extraordinary enthusiasm, energy and more recently direct political activism in so many causes which sought to improve the lives and circumstances of great numbers of humanity was thoroughly commendable, and clearly came from the heart. These definitely were not things she had to do. Diana seemed determined to use her position for the greater good. The tremendous worldwide outpouring of sadness and grief on the part of the general populace also came from the heart and was unprecedented, except perhaps for that following the Kennedy assassination. The response was certainly an indication of Diana’s formidable and widespread popularity. Perhaps Princess Diana’s potential independent financial power by way of her boyfriend, a wealthy movie producer, was becoming a serious political threat to the status quo. The senior Mr. Fayed had been quite influential in bringing about the downfall of the Conservative government which held power for so long in England This fact would have hardly endeared him (or his son) to certain major British power brokers; in fact they detest Mr. Fayed and many liked Diana hardly a little more.. Diana herself was becoming more and more overtly political in her campaign against the use of land mines and in her visits to promote peace efforts in Bosnia, etc. This was a threat to the stated New World Order objective of a destabilized Russia and a wary, edgy Western bloc (Europe, the U.S. and allies). The Royal Family is a major player in the high-stakes game of position within the New World Order, and international arms sales including land mines provide a substantial portion of their necessary operating capital. Some objectives of the removal of Diana as a significant influence in our world could be: to keep Diana from interfering with the further development and education of her two boys, Princes William and Harry; to derail Diana’s ever-more-effective international peace efforts (Great Britain is a major exporter of land mines); to send a message to and set an example for other members of Royalty, other world political figures and the entire human population; and to prevent a marriage to a member of the Saudi royal family.

The fact that her companion Mr. Al Fayed was “colored” or Semitic in race is probably a one of the lesser reasons. The fact that Diana was of the House of Stewart, Britain’s true and rightful royal family, and not of the House of Windsor, the German (Hessian) royal family which usurped the British throne centuries ago and still holds power, could be somewhat of a factor, as is the issue of who would exert the most influence over the further upbringing of her two children, heirs to the British throne. As well, the Royal Family is rid of someone they unquestionably saw as a troublemaker and a source of significant embarrassment; a thorn in their side and a monkeywrench in the(ir) works. In addition, the mainly Conservative power structure in Britain despised her and her humanitarian and peacemaking agenda and resented having to pay for her security. They and other governments may have had concerns about her increasingly political activities in light of her great popularity, perhaps also concerns about her knowledge of (and willingness to make public) certain information which could prove troublesome to the New (One) World Order, or things of that nature. Dodi Al Fayed had in fact purchased an engagement present for Diana the very day of their deaths, and a public announcement of an engagement would undoubtedly have been imminent. It has been suggested by a U.K. correspondent that this provided a powerful incentive in terms of time for British intelligence to remove Diana immediately. Once the news of her engagement to Dodi was made public, any such accident would certainly be considered much more suspicious. This jewelry was in fact initially reported missing from the wreckage (along with approximately 30,000 francs). It reportedly later turned up and was given to the Spencer family. It may well have been intentionally removed by operatives on the scene, and later replaced when it was realized that the existence of the gift was already too widely known. Even a brief but thorough study into the forces which have a measurable and significant impact upon the course of international policy and the political and social conditions in which the human race exists, will disclose the continued importance of royalty as one of such forces and prompt realization that its ability to influence the course of these events is (still) quite substantial. As a general example of such influence, all contemporary national banks in existence today such as The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank are modeled upon the Bank of England, founded by Britain’s King William III as a private, for-profit institution which loans money at interest to the national government to pay government’s operating costs, thus discreetly enforcing tremendous economic control (at least!) over entire human populations.

The Royal Family is a unquestionably a key element of the George Bush’s so-called New World Order, with a considerable network of supporters firmly entrenched in the United States political system. Certainly both Ronald Reagan and George Bush were unabashedly pro-Monarchy in great number of major foreign policy decisions implemented during their terms.

Most assuredly another ardent supporter is Bill Clinton, who was a Rhodes scholar, meaning that he was hand-picked, then groomed and educated at the expense of The Council of Rhodes to one day take his place as a world leader dedicated to bringing about the fundamental objective of the Council — a one-world government. Mr. Clinton, indeed, seemed peculiarly upbeat when making his public statement about Princess Diana’s death; some reports had him smirking during his brief comments. Clinton also didn’t even bother to offered any valid reason at all for his refusal to attend Diana’s funeral. Given that Princess Diana had recently focused considerable energy and attention on the continuing unjustifiable use of land mines and was campaigning vigorously for their global abolishment, the Clinton administration’s current vehement opposition to the recent land mines treaty overwhelmingly approved by 89 nations and widely supported internationally is certainly noteworthy and surprising, even if nothing more than coincidence and bad timing politically for Clinton. Great Britain is one the world’s leading exporters of land mines, Bill! Their production and sale most definitely fill coffers of some of the British Royal Family’s more ardent political supporters.

Following are the four news stories mentioned above regarding the medical condition of bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones. I have emphasized the most important sections and have edited the items slightly for the sake of brevity. In and of themselves these four items indicate deliberate distortion and manipulation of information. This can only be an attempt to suppress the truth, and realistically, that truth could only be that Diana’s death was not a tragic accident but a deliberately and methodically planned and executed political murder. A host of other inconsistencies and highly troubling questions have been raised which the protective and investigative agencies of both countries as well as the mainstream media have almost totally sidestepped. This very fact in itself seems quite suspicious. It should be, indeed it is imperative that the events and circumstances of the tragedy be thoroughly and completely investigated and examined for the slightest indication that it may have been more than a shocking and virtually inexplicable accident! A great number of such indications have just been cited, many of which have been known from the very beginning of the terrible events.

When all is said and done, we have all lost someone special, and it appears clear that once again it was no accident, but a deliberate act intended to deprive the human race of one of it’s brighter luminaries and finer leaders. The late Princess of Wales, Lady Diana Spencer, will be long and deeply missed.

John A. Quinn
all rights reserved

P.O. Box 106
Laytonville, California 95454
(707) 984-7178

“Myths, Lies and Arafat Videotapes on Capitol Hill”

On September 20, 1995, I was in attendance at the House International Relations Committee hearing that took place on Capitol Hill. As the press liaison for the Institute for Peace Education, LTD, I was asked to present the Committee with videotapes and transcripts of Arafat’s lectures to his peole in Arabic, as recorded and transcribed by the Institute.

The overall subject of the MEDFA hearings was sensitive: whether and how to allocate funds to the PLO’s fledgling Palestine Authority, within the framework of the proposed MEDFA legislation which would allocate $100 million a year to the P.A. for a period of five years.

Congress raised concern for two reasons: There were serious doubts as to the nature of Palestinian compliance with the Oslo accords, and if the P.A. held assets of the PLO that it could draw upon.

Though the fact that such a hearing took place has been widely discussed, the content of that meeting has been scarcely reported.

MYTH ONE that pervaded the hearing and the subsequent reports was that the session was promulgated by some kind of Likud lobby on Capitol Hill. However, what I discovered was that there exists no Likud lobby on Capitol Hill. Moreover, the American branch of the Likud is broken into two factions and is not currently functional in the US Meanwhile, the Likud in Israel expressed no interest in organizing, let alone funding, such an activity on Capitol Hill. Rather, several former officials from the previous Likud gov’t CAME TO WASHINGTON ON THEIR OWN during the summer months, as expert witnesses on the credibility of the PLO. They came at the urging of several American Jewish constituent groups, and at the specific request of key Congress people. These former officials, were: Yosef Ben Aharon, who served as Prime Minister Shamir’s Chief of Staff; Yigal Carmon, Shamir and Rabin’s former Chief Advisor on Counter Terrorism, and Yoram Ettinger, who served under Shamir as the head of the Israel government Press Office and later as the Congressional liaison for the Israeli embassy. None of them were even in the United States at the time of the hearing, although Carmon did have the opportunity to provide a private security briefing to the chairman of the House International

Relations Committee at his vacation spot in Upstate New York in mid-August, at which time Gilman viewed the much publicized videotapes of Arafat’s recent speeches to his own people in Arabic that were recorded by the Institute for Peace Education in Tel Aviv.

MYTH NUMBER TWO about the hearing was that its purpose was to halt any possibility of funding the PLO. That the PLO would get promised American funding was a given the question was how and when and under what conditions.

Gilman was concerned that the US Congress had not had any real opportunity to review the data concerning PLO compliance, especially since there was a clear Congressional legal requirement for PLO compliance as a prerequisite for funding by the Palestine Authority – a requirement that was also in Israel’s interest. For that reason, Gilman requested that experts and concerned constituents be given the opportunity to testify on the subject. Gilman also asked Congress people to view the Arafat tapes.

Both the Israeli embassy in Washington and the Israeli consulate in New York contacted Gilman and implored the New York Congressman not to conduct the hearing.

A senior official of the Israeli embassy was particularly upset at learning that the Arafat tapes were going to be aired at US Congress. That same senior Israeli embassy official had previously reported to Congress and to the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations that such tapes do not exist. In July, the embassy official’s story changed a bit. He claimed that the tapes do exist, but that they may have been forged. After Arafat himself attested to their accuracy in a meeting with Israeli media on August 10. 1995, the position of the Israeli embassy was that “some of Arafat’s remarks hurt the peace process”.

MYTH NUMBER THREE It had been widely reported that those organizations that testified for tougher PLO compliance were attacking the peace process and the Israeli government.

It is as if to say that anyone who criticized Yassir Arafat now casts aspersions on the State of Israel.

Yet House Committee member Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York pointedly asked each organizational representative who testified if they supported the Israeli government and peace process.

Every organizational representative at the hearing, including the president of the Zionist Organization of America, responded to Ackerman that they supported the peace process and recognized the Oslo accords as an irreversible international accord. Their expressed concern was that both sides keep the accord. The Congressional record of the testimony show that not one witness criticized the Israeli government.

MYTH NUMBER FOUR mentioned by Arab American activist Jim Zogby, in the Boston Globe of September 28, 1995, was that he was the only Arab organizational representative invited to attend the hearing: The fact was that thirteen Arab organizations were invited, including the PLO, but only Zogby accepted the invitation.

Yet several newsworthy occurrences went totally unreported: UNREPORTED “MEDFA” HEARING NEW ITEM NUMBER ONE; “The P.A. and its record with escaped terrorists”.

The representative of “Peace Watch”, the organization that monitors compliance of the accords, presented a detailed report of the Palestine Authority’s sorry record on the subject of the pursuit of terrorists: How, for example, the P.A. has refused to turn over escaped killers who are now in its jurisdiction, how the P.a. has issued weapons to armed militias opposing the peace process, and how the P.A. has firmly refused to conduct mass confiscation of illegal weapons. When Committee member Congressman Dan Burton of Indiana pressed the “Peace Watch” rep for an overall assessment of the P.A. record on extradition of murder suspects to stand trial in Israel, Peace Watch’s representative answered curtly, “It looks like the P.A. is 0 for 11”.

UNREPORTED “MEDFA” HEARING NEW ITEM NUMBER TWO: THE GAO’s STARTLING ADMISSION ABOUT PLO ASSETS AND THE CIA’s CLAMP ON HIS TESTIMONY. The head of the GAO, General Accounting Office, appeared as one of the expert witnesses at the Congressional hearings. The GAO had been specifically asked by Congressman Gilman to provide a detailed investigative report concerning PLO assets, before the US Congress would consider aid to the Palestinian Authority. At least half a dozen Congresspeople at the hearing quoted British intelligence reports that estimated PLO assets in the billions of dollars.

When the head of the GAO arrived at the Congressional hearing, with a briefcase full of documents detailing the assets of the PLO, the GAO head surprised the Congress by saying that the CIA would not permit him to reveal the contents of his briefcase to the US Congress. A hum went through the committee room.

Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen approached the microphone and asked for an explanation. “The explanation has also been declared classified by the CIA”.

After some bursts of laughter were heard through the committee room, the Congresswoman persisted with a pointed question, asking, “Isn’t it the case that such classification would occur only if and when American national security is violated. How in the world would the publication of PLO assets affect American national security interests?” The GAO head responded only that he could not answer that question.

The US State Department went one step further.

Journalists in Washington reported that a source in the American intelligence community asked that the Washington press corps not cover the Sept. 20th hearings because of the “sensitive testimony” that would take place that day. News agencies that had confirmed that they would attend did not appear.

As a result, the actual testimony of the September 20th hearing was not reported in any major wire service or news outlet in Washington.

Not the tapes of Arafat’s incitement. Not the Peace Watch testimony on the P.A.’s Arafat terror pursuit record. Not the admission of the GAO that the PLO has assets but that the CIA will not let him disclose them. The Israeli embassy in Washington got its wish. It was as if the hearing never took place.

In a parenthetical note, the Arafat tapes were indeed shown at the Congressional hearings. But due to pressures that were brought to bear by the State Department and the Israeli embassy, the committee agreed to hear only one minute of the tapes, where Arafat called for “Jihad”, a holy war on the Jewish state, which Zogby would later explain away as “dedication to a struggle”. Segments of Arafat praising terrorists or declaring that the Oslo accord was only a temporary agreement were not screened for the Congressional Committee.

The Palestine Authority’s response was not long in coming. On September 23, 1995, the P.A. issued a statement attacking the US Congress, saying that they had no right to add conditions to the aid package.

Throughout October, 1995, discussions continued, and further screenings of the Arafat tapes took place in Congress, even though they went unreported in the American press.

By the end of October, 1995, the date by which the aid to the PLO had to be extended, Congress had not agreed to a formula that would tie the MEDFA legislation to the necessary standards of compliance for the PLO and the P.A. to abide by.

On October 31, 1995, Yitzhak Rabin appeared at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee and expressed doubt as to whether the peace process could continue. Rabin also predicted a war with Syria on the horizon. Five days later, Rabin was murdered. During the aftermath of Rabin’s funeral, the Israeli embassy in Washington was able to get the funds for MEDFA reinstated.