unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/03/89)
Israeli Government wanted the Palestinian people to give up their right to be
a nation.
Israel was the only rejectionist side in the Middle East, he said.
Without United States support, Israel could not continue the occupation, and
the Shamir plan was an attempt to take the initiative from the Palestinians.
He said it would be impossible to hold democratic elections under military
occupation. Palestinians had elected the PLO to lead them, and Israel had no
right to say who the Palestinian leaders should be.
TAWFIQ ARAFAT, of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, paid tribute to the
human endeavours of the Palestinian people in their bitter and lengthy
uprising. He said all peace-loving and humanitarian forces throughout the
world supported the Palestinian people. He also paid tribute to the people in
North America and Europe who had seen how their sons and daughters faced
problems when they came to the territories to assist the Palestinian people.
An example of that sacrifice was Dr. Jan Cools of Belgium, who was
kidnapped in Lebanon in May 1988 and kept in a box for five months before
being released in June 1989. While he was a hostage, Dr. Cools' mother came
to the Palestinians to complete her son's mission.
JAN COOLS, of Medical Aid for the Third World, said that during the three
months he had worked in Lebanon, before he was kidnapped, he appreciated the
friendship and solidarity of the Palestinian and Lebanese people. He was
surprised by the extent of efforts made to free him. During his 13 months of
captivity, he had suffered much, and that had helped him to better understand
the suffering of the Palestinian people.
SABRI SAFADI, of the Progressive Labour Front, said the intifadah was a
need, not a lifestyle or a dream. He quoted from Jean-Paul Sartre who said
"not one French man will be free so long as a single Jew is deprived of his
legitimate rights". He said that not one Jew would be free as long as a
single Palestinian was deprived of his legitimate rights.
RAJA AGBARIYAH, of Abnaa Al Balad, said that speaking as a Palestinian
holding Israeli citizenship, he, like the Palestinian people as a whole, stood
by the proclamation of an independent Palestinian state. Referring to the
slogan -- Two States, Two People -- he said the 700,000 Palestinians carrying
Israeli nationality since l948 were part and parcel of the Palestinian people
and must accept the official proclamation of an independent Palestinian state,
with Jerusalem as its capital.
WIM MONASSO, of the Netherland's Organization for International
Development Co-operation, asked how non-governmental organizations could help
bring the Israeli Peace Movement together. He noted that, earlier in the
meeting, it had been stated that the Movement was divided.
NORA KORT, of the Catholic Relief Services, said non-governmental
organizations should keep appealing to their Governments to put pressure on
the United States to pressure Israel to end the occupation. She said without
United States support, Israel could not continue the occupation of the
Palestinian territories.
LEILA KHALED, of the General Union for Palestinian Women, said that
despite international support for Palestinians, repression continued in the
occupied territories. She said it was hard to talk about future relations
between the executioners and their victims.
The Palestinians could not, while fighting for their rights, talk about
future relations with Israel. She said an international peace conference was
the only mechanism to reach a solution.
KOFI KOKRABA PRATT, of the International Youth and Student Movement for
the United Nations, proposed that the West Bank in the future be referred to
as the "Palestinian Bank". He said zionism must be declared a crime against
humanity. The intifadah should be seen as an international struggle by
Palestinians against an international crime.
He said that some African countries were being economically blackmailed
to resume relations with Israel. He proposed a statement commending the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) for severing ties with Israel in 1967.
NIMRA TANNOUS ES-SAID, of the International Christian Peace Conference,
said she was pessimistic, but called on the younger generation to relieve
tension and achieve peace by appealing to their United Nations representatives
to work for a peaceful solution. She said the United States' help and
understanding would lead to a lasting solution to the Palestinian problem.
She said young people in Israel should also be working for a fruitful solution
to the conflict.
MOHAMMAD MIARI, of the Progressive List for Peace - Israel, said that it
was not sufficient to look on the intifadah as something to raise hope and
joy. It was a painful labour before the birth, both individually and
collectively. All Palestinians should try to be close to the daily sufferings
of the intifadah until the birth of an independent Palestinian state.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations
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