A brief introduction to a particularly moving newsletter from Mideastweb.org May 18 2002 After Bibi got thrown out of office, BibiWatch came to an end, partly because Eric Lee went off to London to start Laburstart.org, the leading trade unionist site on the web. Ami Isserof from Israel and Ameen Hannoun from Jordan had already begun Peace A Mideast Dialog Group, which Ariga hosts for them, and when BibiWatch ended, I asked Ami to start PeaceWatch, which Ami, a technical writer by trade and profession, did -- and almost immediately began working on a broader vision. He rounded up a number of people, starting with Yitzhak Zamir, an American-born kibbutznik who lost his son in the stupidity of the Lebanon war, and wrote diaries and conducted corespondence, and mostr importantly spoke out against war, putting his materials together into Survival is Not Enough. Another bereaved Israeli father followed, Yizhak Frankenthal, then of Netivot Shalom, the religious-Zionist peace movement, who wrote a bref report below about his recent meeting with Yasser Arafat, after the Palestinian leader was freed of the Israeli siege around his offices. Ariga hosted Netivot Shalom for its first six years, but now all links to the Ariga url for the movement are redirected to Netivot Shalom's own website). Eventually, Ami started Mideastweb.org, which sent the following two brief articles, one by Egytpian doctor Mohamed Mosaad, followed by Frankenthal's report. Instructions for subscribing appear at the end of the text. Viewpoints/PeaceWatch Presented by MidEastWeb http://www.mideastweb.org May 18, 2002
They only have only each other When the dust of the current Middle Eastern War settles down, the Israelis as well as the Palestinians will discover that they have always been together and alone! They, both of them, suffered, killed and were killed, and they, both of them, were exiled, persecuted, humiliated and sold lots of promises, condemnations and declarations. They share the same past, whatever their role in this past was. And they are still sharing the same present, the same land, the same Holy Land, and the same future as well. The last point, sharing the same future, is unfortunately the most denied fact by both the Palestinians and the Israelis. Instead of facing this simple fact, that scientists could probably even prove genetically, they both prefer to overturn every stone in the our corners of the globe searching for an ally. While Palestinian and Israeli victims are falling every hour, Shaath and Peres tour Europe to convince the Europeans to line-up with their respective sides. Sharon, on the other hand, tried the US. Before his detention, Arafat also tried different countries ranging from the US to Vietnam! The Israelis and the Palestinians thus share, unfortunately, the same myopia. Israel and Palestine are indeed alone. Neither the Israel-backing US nor the Palestine-supporting Europe is paying in flesh and blood. Doing its best, the Arab World presented the Saudi initiative, the content of which was already signed in Oslo nine years ago and declared in the Arab summit even one year earlier. For their part, the Arab masses offered one-week demonstrations plus some good enthusiastic national songs. Will wailing Europe invest its money, again, in the Palestinian lands? Certainly not! Will the US pay some attention to the Arab rage or the Israeli interests before hitting Iraq? Certainly no! Did not Tora Bora occupy the first pages, pushing Nethanya and Bethlehem to the back of the journals once before? Of course, the time will come when Baghdad seizes the limelight, and nobody will care about Israel and Palestine any more. In addition, Palestinians and the Israelis share the same psychological complexes. They both think the US, only the US, can solve their problems. They both have the same fears of each other. They have similar paranoid ideas and beliefs about each other. They have the same persecutory delusions: "they want to destroy us, they don’t believe we should exist, they will throw us in the sea/Sinai…etc". In an industrial and capitalist world, leave alone an information world, they both are still measuring their success by the yardstick of how many square meters each one can take from the other. Moreover, they both suffer from the same egocentric thinking. Both of them believe the world, our world, will be gravely imperiled if the 100 year-old Middle East conflict is not immediately solved. They have maintained the same delusion for decades. Amazingly, they even believe that the entire world will hold its breath and will not move until they reach a solution! The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have the same strategy. Yes, they have one! It is very clear for both of them. Their wise strategy says, “They lose; we win.” Mr. Sharon is calculating his victory according to the destruction he made in the Palestinian lands. How many Palestinians did he kill? How many homes did he demolish? How many trees did he uproot? How many young men did he arrest?… etc. For his part, Arafat is carefully calculating how many suicide bombers he sent. How many civilians did he blow up? How much is the Israeli economy suffering? How much is Israeli tourism suffering?…. Sharon declared that his Defensive Wall operation was successful. He does not think of the moral, political and economic disaster he brought on his people. Arafat said the Palestinians won the battle; he refuses to look around and see first hand the fruits of his "victory." The Palestinians and the Israelis have one future, which they can build only together. In this future they can find no better ally than each other. The simple fact is that they can lose together or win together, live together or die together; there are no other choices! Secure Israel means secure Palestine. Prosperous Palestine means prosperous Israel. The other alternative has already been tried. When both Israel and Palestine are doing well, we can then think of a better Middle East and a better world. However, as long as they are struggling, they will have to suffer alone. They should hurry up and make the correct choice, before the already bored “audience” starts to switch channels to watch the upcoming CNN show of “Iraq Under US Attack”!
Dr. Mohamed Mosaad
My Meeting with Yasser Arafat Yesterday (May 14, 2002) I went to visit Arafat at his headquarters in Ramallah. During the past eight years since the murder of my son Arik, I have been looking for any opportunity to advance reconciliation and peace between our peoples. In the past year and a half, many have tried to make Arafat irrelevant, and demanded of him to overcome his opponents at home, and those who oppose peace with Israel and engage in armed actions. It is absurd to claim that he is irrelevant on the one hand, and to make demands on him that he act in Israel's security on the other. This absurdity is taking a huge toll in human life, on both sides. I went to him to help pass a message along to the Israeli public, to assist those who are willing to stand up to Sharon's unbalanced policies. Sharon's government is unwilling to talk to Arafat, and calls him irrelevant, and one of the consequences is that we have an atmosphere of unrestrained violence in which rivers of blood are spilt. It was important to me to hear about what happened during the peace negotiations, and what his position on the Clinton Plan was. He said that he agreed to the Clinton Plan, but on condition that the Palestinians receive sovereignty over the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. He has not problem that the Western Wall, and Jewish Quarter, and part of the Armenian Quarter will be under Israeli sovereignty, but without control over the Temple Mount, he cannot make peace. When Israelis hear that there is 'no partner for peace,' it is important to give a hearing to the other voices, those of a real partner for peace. The meeting with Arafat was made on a day's notice. It was important to have the meeting, following the Israeli military operation, and before the outbreak of a fresh wave of hatred that could start at any moment. We all need to do everything we can to stop further bloodshed. When I asked for permission to enter Ramallah from the Ministry of Defense, I was told that the commanding general in charge of this area was worried about my safety if I was permitted to go. I told them, that since the Palestinian security forces would be protecting me, I will take responsibility for myself and enter Ramallah on my own, and this is what I did. I realize that this is a violation of the law, and I'm aware of the price that might have to be paid – facing police charges for violating a military order. It is sad, since my organization has always been careful to operate within the confines of the law. But there are moments in life when a person must act in accordance with his conscience and integrity, provided the following is adhered to: not to hurt anyone else, and not to encourage others to violate the law. My visit to Ramallah received much press, ensuring that the message of peace was heard from Arafat. The major daily press reported it, the radio news broadcast details of the meeting, and I was interviewed on television. On one of the news Web sites that placed this news item on the front page, more than 195 comments were posted in response, much of them filled with crazed hate. But many others were in support. I am not alone is supporting this basic message: Sharon and Arafat must sit down with each other and try to reach agreement.
Since 1994 (when my son was killed by Hamas) I have been working only for one thing; that the
tragedy suffered by me and my family should not happen to others. If visits such as mine can
contribute to peace in any way, then I shall continue on this path.
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