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1987 Narrative Report (QMER).Pdf CONFIDENTIAL -- Nor FOR QUITTATION OR ATI'RIBUTION NARRATIVE REPORT August 15, 1:nn l) Nar,1e and Location of Program: American Friends Service Committee Middle East Representatives Office/ Residence: P.O. Box 9001, Amman, Jordan 2) Reporting Period: August l, 1986 to August l, 1987 3) Goals and objecti ves To provide the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Quaker organizations in England, Canada, Australia, and New Zeal~nd with information and interpretation of events and view­ points in the Middle East; to provide a quarterly newsletter; to arrange for AFSC -connected tour groups to meet political and religious leaders, human rights workers, educators and journalists throughout the region; to eventually speak to audiences in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. In addition, for the coming period, we have received a proposal from within the region that we listen for opportunities to draw a small group of Israeli and Palestinian journalists together, in a neutral setting, so they can discuss their pro­ fessional interpretat ions of each of their societies. 4) Activities carried out during this period: During our time inside and outside Jordan, we prepared for and accompanied a group of 10 people in Jordan and for three sep­ arate individuals to travel in the region: September 1986 - Billie Marchik - North Central Region AFSC Middle East Program Staff - 9-day introductory trip to Egypt and Jordan following her trip to Israel/Occupied Territories with The Nation tour . October 1 986 - United Church of Christ (UCC) delegation 2 day visit in Jordan January 1987 - warren Witte - Director of Informa­ tion Services for Philadelphia office of AFSC-- 3 week, 4 country introductory trip. June 1987 - Everett Mendelsohn - Professor of History of Science at Harvard University and chairman of AFSC Middle East Program Com­ mittee - accompanying trip to 5 countries in 4 weeks . MER Narrative ·Report Page 2 A bre~kout of Middle East Representatives (MER)time , travel, and interview/visits are included in Schulde A. (An"interview" is a formally arranged appointment and a "visit" is a .conversa­ tion on AFSC issues . ) Schedule Bis some detail of the UCC and AFSC individual visits . MER time and visits in Schedule Bare also included in Schedule A. SCHEDULE A. Reporting Period August 1, 1986 to August l, 1987 Numbers of Days and Numbers of Interview/ Visits to Middle East Countries TOTAL JORDAN ISRAEL/ EGYPT SYRIA TUNISIA VACATION w. BANK/ GAZA DAYS 365 193 62 '5 7 26 3 2 Lf- g. 6 ., 0 100 53 17 16 7 1 TRIPS 20 9 4 5 1 Vienna Egypt Jordan INTER- VIEWS/ 647 1 74 232 139 91 11 VISITS SCHEDULE B . JORDAN ISRAEL/ EGYPT SYRIA TUNISIA TOTAL Visits/ Days W. BANK/GAZA Visits/ Days Vi sits/Day s Visits/ Days Billie M. Visits/ Days interviews/ 11 -6 5 - 3 16-9 ' Visits warren's Inter­ views/ 10 - ,4 48 - 9 20 -5 13- 3 91 - 1./ visits Everett's Inter­ 18 -5 56 -9 33-5 26- 4 11-3 14 7- i~ views/ Visits NEWSLETTERS WRITTEN DURING REPORTING PERIOD: # 3 Jordan Update -- November 1986 # 4 Egy pt -- April 1987 # 5 Sy ria/ Internationa l Conference Update--July 1987 MER Narrative Report - Page 3 5) Did the actual activities differ from what was originally planned or proposed? our intention to travel 50% of the time turned out to be 47%, an increase from 35% in the previous reporting period . 6) What problems/ failures were encountered during the reporting period? A constant awareness for us is the arranging of time priorities on two different levels: a) reporting interviews of people we have seen vs . arranging more interviews. b) selecting priority for repeat visits vs. first-time interv iews. We would like to write a newsletter each quarter . We have written three f3nd should have writte n four --a project in which we invest a lot of time with slow results . we want to write these newsletters more often in the coming year. As we s aid in our lilst year's r e p o rt, t her e are 5p ecif ic proble ms that g o with the territory and are part of our work, i.e. : Arab/ Israeli/Palestinian tensions have shifted slightly since the 18th Palestine National Council (PNC) meeting, but are still paramount . -- o ur access to Syrian officials has improved some­ what . As a practical matter, Syrian visas require a 3 0-day wait for Americans (due to the Hindawi affair) as compared to a one day wait a year ago. while we have good access to some Palestinian/ PLO opinion in Jordan and West Bank/ Gaza , PLO officials in Egypt and Syria are not as accessible to us since the PNC. -- Jordanian control of local press and reporters has episodes of tightening and relaxation . A recent example is the government's dissolving of the Jordan Writers' Association and the establishment of a new association controlled by the government . This practice of controlling information occur:s. in each of the countries in which we work and makes us realize how important our work , is and how fortunate we are to be unhampered in our travel and writing . MER Narrative Report -- Page 4 7) Assessment of achievements in relation to the goals and objectives of the project : We meet numerous Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) Representatives doing good work in each of the countries in the region--some in more than one country--but, as far as we know, the AFSC Middle East Representatives are the only PVO's who travel regularly in the region, carrying the issue of peace and j ustice to policy shapers and makers in each country and to the Pale~ tin ian leadership . While our work is issue-oriented, there are very human responses from people remembering previous AFSC workers : a former UNRWA director who told us AFSC staff had saved his life by giving him refuge in their home. a shop keeper in Amman related an AFSC couple's dedi­ cation to a small agricultural cooperative in Jordan . the wife of a former Foreign Ministry official in Israel warmly mentioned the former AFSC program for mentally retarded children near Beershe,v a . a taxi driver in Jerusalem returned a coat we had left in his cab, and explainr:d that '' -i:.he Quakers haa helped my Mother while I was in prison . " on separate occasions, diplomatic advisors to the governments of Eg y pt and Syria recalled their early participation in the AFSC Conference for Diplomats in Geneva . We feel a key part of our work is the interview-­ the human exchange in the middle of those peoples' busy schedules . we are often struck with the variety of r@sponses ta the ~ame inquiry--due to peoples'very different cultures and backgrounds, as well as their power bases , or lack thereof. When we traveled in June with Everett Mendelsohn, he asked, "What are the possibillties, and constraints, for an Inter­ national Conference on Peace in the Middle East?" Some sample responses were : MER Narrative Report -- Page 5 -- Ambassador Paul Beeker, U.S. Ambassador to Jordan-­ "There have to be more United States/Soviet shirt sleeve visits to see if they can get along with each other in this region . .. Jordan is disappointed that the public line of the United States is so muted [toward an International Conference] . .. Jordan wishes the United States could pressure Israel to move along . " -- Murewad el Tal, Director of the Jordan Cooperative Organization (JCO) coordinates Jordan and West Bank cooperatives . When asked about a peace conference, he said, "There will be no peace--! don't feed myself on empty nuts . " -- Mohammed Milhem, member of the Executive Committee of the PNC , Jordan--"! hope an International Conference comes about and all will see that the Palestinians want peace . ... At the PNC in Algiers, a genuine* international conference was unanimously approved for the first time." * "genuine " was used to mean a conference with all members present rather than an umbrella, adjourn­ ing to bilateral talks. Alouph Haraven, Director of the Van Leer Institute, Isra el . "A 5% sway in the vote [ in the Knesset] would change the balance for peace . The Jordan King could make a public r elations TV speech [for a conference] since many Israelis watch Jordan TV casts . .. The political situation in Israel is the most complicated in 40 years." -- Ezer Weizman, Minister Without Portfolio, Israel-­ "The Arab effort to annihilate us ain't gonna work--so now we have to come to a peace negotation . " --Dr . Hatim abu Ghazalah, Director of the Sun Schools for Handicapped children, Gaza-- "The tragedy is that Israel has reached a settlement, which is the status quo . " -- Ibrahim Dakak, Director of the Arab Thought Forum, E . Jerusalem-- "We need an international conference on the Middle East for nothing else has worked for 39 years . ... conferences are mostly theoretical, but they offer the most opportunity [for peace] . " -- Boutrous Ghali, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Egypt-- "An international conference would be mobilization of world opinion .... it would reinforce positions of all moderates; contain radicalism and fundamentalism; stop degradation of West Bank , GAza Strip and the whole region . That is important is to create new momentum for the conference . " Dia Fattal, De puty Foreign Minister, Syria-- ''Instead of a Sadat going to Jerusalem, the United States wants the Arabs MER Narrative Report -- Page 6 to go to the United Nations and start bilateral conferences [with Israelis] . " We have had a year 1 s reporting period filled with scheduled and unscheduled travel, interviews, and writing , as we l l as social invitations and entertaining . 139 people came to our apartment for tea or a meal .
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