Democratic Palestine : 37 (ص 32)
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- Democratic Palestine : 37 (ص 32)
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the French authorities, which was very
similar to the intifada, but still the
intifada is a rare and unprecedented
phenomenon. The Israeli and western
theories attempting to explain the
intifada have been disproved, one after
the other. The intifada is not spontane-
ous; nor is it just religious fanaticism
or a youth rebellion. Rather, the
intifada is an explosion which gener-
ated a permanent flame with a tre-
mendous capacity for renewal.
The Palestinians have made great
human and material sacrifices: Hun-
dreds killed, thousands injured and
150,000 imprisoned at one time or
another. Each and every Palestinian,
even if he remains at home, will face
one of these possibilities: being impris-
oned or beaten, or having property
confiscated. Therefore, it is better for
all Palestinians not to stay home, but
to go out and participate in the
intifada.
World public opinion
If we examine western public opin-
ion, especially in Europe, and public
opinion in many Asian countries, we
see a remarkable increase in solidarity
with the Palestinian people, resulting
from protest against the Zionist
authorities’ repressive § measures.
French President Mitterand, addres-
sing the last session of the European
Parliament, said: There is no excuse
for the continued acts of oppression,
whereby human beings are being
turned into beasts and victims; here,
we see again the eternal contradiction
between the oppressor and the oppres-
sed, the murderer and the victim.
What is happening in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip has been going on for
too long. I do agree with Mitterand’s
words, although his response is not
always appropriate. For example, con-
cerning Lebanon, his statements have
not always been correct, but concern-
ing the intifada, I dare say his words
were quite adequate and timely.
l am very impressed by the western
media’s coverage of the _ intifada.
Despite my appreciation of the Soviet
press, I have not read in Pravda or
Izvestia or even Literanaya Gazeta,
30
good and interesting articles and repor-
tage in support of the Palestinians,
such as those which have appeared in
Le Monde, The Observer, The Guar-
dian, etc. or in the press of Greece.
Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Portugal or even
West Germany, and lately Japan. In
addition to what the Palestinians them-
selves have published, the. best mate-
rials about the intifada have been writ-
ten by objective western journalists.
By the way, I disagree with some
Soviet journalists who, in the name of
a «balance of interests», are equating
the victim and the victimizer. The dif-
ference iS apparent in Mitterand’s
statement, but some of our journalists
do not see this difference. You can
look at one of our newspapers and see
Arafat to the left counterposed to
Shamir on the right, or George
Habash counterposed to Shlomo
Gazit, and so on. If this is what is
meant by a balance of interests, then it
is wrong. [ll give an example of the
balance of interests: Let’s consider
Palestine as a big house inhabited by a
people (the Palestinians); then along
comes another people (the Jews), say-
ing: This is the house of our
forefathers, so give it back to us. Here
the conflict begins. It is obvious that
we have to divide the house in one
way or another, so that both people
can live in it; the question is how to
divide it. Some suggest dividing it into
two equal parts. Others propose build-
ing an additional small room in front
of the house, of the kind usually built
for dogs, where one people (the Pales-
tinians) can live, while the other
people (the Jews) live in the big house.
In fact, this is the essence of both
Shamir’s and Baker’s plans.
Soviet campaign needed
Now is the time for a broad uncon-
ventional campaign of solidarity with
the Palestinian people in the Soviet
Union, because the kinds of meetings
we have been holding are no longer
sufficient. We need big actions like
those which are becoming a normal
phenomenon in our country. We call
them human chains as the chain which
stretched from Vilnus to Talin, or from
Zilnagrad to Gorky Street, or even to
the KGB headquarters, and others.
The Soviet community, along with the
25,000 Arab students in our country
and their friends, should be able to get
permission and undertake to form such
a human chain. There was an idea to
hold a concert in the Soviet Union, at
which international stars and_ rock
music groups would perform. Vanessa
Redgrave proposed the idea, but it was
not met with enthusiasm by our
authorities when she visited Moscow to
discuss it. Moreover, Soviet artists
must not only visit Tel Aviv; they must
also express solidarity with the Palesti-
nians in the occupied territories.
There should also be parliamentary
activities because the work of the
Soviet Supreme Council is no longer
restricted to applauding and raising
hands in assent, etc. The present coun-
cil operates very well. It has estab-
lished a special committee for interna-
tional affairs, headed by Alexander
Tsamakhov who, only two years ago,
was the chairman of the Soviet Solidar-
ity Committee and previously was
ambassador to an Arab state which
was a main party in the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Thus, he has detailed know-
ledge of the conflict. The Soviet Sup-
reme Council should discuss the Pales-
tinian cause, especially in view of the
aggressive Israeli practices in the
occupied territories. Soviet religious
leaders should be more active in sol-
idarity with the Palestinians. Moscow’s
patriarch issued many appeals concern-
ing the situation in Lebanon, and these
were appreciated by the Lebanese. Let
us take the example of Beit Sahour,
the town near Bethlehem, inhabited by
Greek Orthodox Christians - the
descendents of the shepherds who
found the baby Jesus in the manger.
Today, outrageous things are happen-
ing there, with the Israeli authorities
confiscating the property and belong-
ings of Beit Sahour residents because
they refuse to pay taxes to finance the
aggression of the occupation forces
against them. In the center of Beit
Sahour, opposite the church, a deten-
tion center has been set up, where
detainees are held for many days
Democratic Palestine, February 1990 - هو جزء من
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