Democratic Palestine : 40 (ص 14)
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- Democratic Palestine : 40 (ص 14)
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all over the world. People are disillusioned. Look at
what happened in the socialist countries; the situation has
regressed much and there is no longer socialism in Eastern
Europe. In the Soviet Union, thousands of people are turning to
the Quran and the Church - turning to God. As for our Islamic
forces, the Israelis dealt with them in the same way they dealt
with Hamas - they turned a blind eye and let them receive money
from Germany, America, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and even from
the West Bank. They’ve built 13 mosques in Um Al Fahm in the
last ten years. We are only 26,000 persons, but we have 13 mos-
ques. One of them is four stories high, with each story being 500
meters square. It is a big center for sports, it has a library, health
facilities and the mosque itself. We haven’t a real club in Um Al
Fahm, only a basement apartment that serves as one.
Also, we made very big mistakes in Um Al Fahm under the
leadership of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality
(DFPE). The man who had been mayor since 1972 belonged to
the DFPE, and they made very many mistakes. As well, Abna
Al Balad, during the past five years, was in a position that
obliged us to support a coalition with the Communists. This was
terrible; they didn’t do anything in Um Al Fahm. We criticized
them but the people didn’t differentiate between us and them
and they punished all of us. We failedin Um Al Fahm. This was a
very big problem within Abna Al Balad that I discovered only
after the election, I must say. They took 75 percent of the votes -
it was arevolution. Fifty percent of the people who voted for the
Islamic forces had supported the national and democratic forces
- Abna Al Balad, Ansar, the CP, et. al. All of them shifted their
support. They punished us because we made many mistakes.
What were these mistakes?
We didn’t do anything as a council. We didn’t have pro-
jects. There was open sewage flowing through the streets all the
time. The high schools were closed for three months by strikes
because the teachers weren’t being paid. The 15 primary schools
didn’t even have chalk. The situation was very bad. And the
Islamic movement was giving money to the schools before they
entered the council. They succeeded in controlling all the
parents’ committees in the schools. They were the leadership
before the election; the election only formalized their position.
But besides Um Al Fahm, they only succeeded in the small vil-
lages in the Triangle because there all of the population ts
Islamic and it is a very traditional society. In the Galilee, they
succeeded to win six out of 18 seats in Nazareth. They didn’t suc-
ceed in Kufr Kana or other places in the Galilee because there it
is a mixed Christian-Muslim population, and they are less tradi-
tional than the Tnangle.
What are you doing in response to this?
We’re not doing much locally, but they are making many
mistakes. They promised the people everything - not to collect
taxes, for example, and they must. They also promised not to
collect interest on loans because this is forbidden by Islam, but
the law obliges them to do so. It is very easy to be outside the
council and to speak, then everything you say is correct. But
when you are the regime, it 1s different. Now the people are
beginning toreconsider, but they’restillstrong, I must say. They
are new and the people understand this. They say to us: You did
not do anything for ten years, so how can you criticize them so
much, they’ve only been in power for one and a half years - wait.
This leadership change has a strong connection with what hap-
pened and what will happen in the West Bank and Gaza. If there
is no solution, no independent state and we stop struggling, then
Hamas will be the major power in the West Bank and Gaza. And
it will be a black day if this happens.
14
How does Abna Al Balad view the importance of the
intifada and how do you support it?
Our analysis is that an intifada only in the West Bank and
Gaza will not succeed without support from Palestinians living
inside the green line, in Jordan and all the Arab world. But our
Situation 1s not objectively ready to make an intifada. This is a
fact. But this doesn’t mean people don’t want to support the
intifada politically. The strikes that we have organized show that
the people are ready to do everything that the leadership of the
Arabs inside Israel call for. When we asked the people tostrike,
they did and more. When the official leadership called for a
peaceful strike, the people faced and fought Israeli police and
soldiers on «peace day,» Land Day and during the last strike. It
was like the intifada: people with their faces covered with
kufiyehs throwing stones and raising flags. The people are wil-
ling, but they can’t make an intifada because politically and
economically we are not ready. We don’t have a unified national
leadership. We don’t have a strong organization that wants to
struggle more. We are pushing all the time for more struggle.
So you don’t think that the intifada has crossed the
green line.
There is not an intifada going on there; it is the beginning of
what’s going to happen in the future, no more. That doesn’t
mean I don’t want it to happen - I really want this. But we don’t
have an organization that wants to do this, except Abna Al
Balad, and we alone can’t make an intifada; no group alone can
make an intifada. Even if the CP wanted to, they couldn’t doit
alone. The people are always looking for unity; psychologically
and politically it’s correct, but we haven’t the organizations that
have the desire and are planning for this.
As well, the new government in Israel is an example of how
the Jewish community in Israel is moving to the nght. And the
right wing is strong and very clear in its designs: they want to
annex the West Bank and Gaza Strip to make a «big Israel.»
And the so-called left wing - the left Zionist parties - are hesitant
and afraid of the right wing, and they don’t state clearly that they
support self-determination for the Palestinians - a Palestinian
state. Only about 25 Knesset members have agreed to speak
with Arafat and support the idea of a Palestinian state. So you
have about 95 members who are against the establishment of
such a state and against negotiations with the PLO. With the
new government, the coming days and months will be very dark.
It’s a very dangerous time. I think that now the Israeli govern-
ment will increase its racist behavior against the Palestinians in
Israel. Then you will not find left and right; you will not find
Abna Al Balad on one side, and the head of the Local Arab
Councils on the other. All of us must struggle together for our
national rights against this racism. The Israelis are very stupid -
they push us to struggle. The worse things get, the more people
will struggle. For this reason, I feel optimistic about the future in
the long term.
They will kill more Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, but I don’t think our people there will stop the intifada -
they will fight more. Previous to this crime in Rishon Letzion,
the intifada was slowing down; but afterwards all of Israel said:
Oh, the intifada has begun all over again. More killing only
means more struggle against the occupation. I’m not afraid of
people dying; we must pay the necessary price. We must fight -
we have no choice. @
Correction
In DP no. 39 we mistakenly identified the village of Um Al
Fahm as being in the Galilee. It is actually located in the
Triangle. We regret this error.
Democratic Palestine, July-August 1990 - هو جزء من
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