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Newsletter of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace September-October 1990 No 43

P.O.B.956 Tel-Aviv, Israel 61008 Editorial Board: Uri Avnery, Matti Peled, Yaakov Phone: (03) 5565804 Arnon, Haim Bar’am, Yaei Lotan, Yossi Amitay Editor: Adam Keller - ISSN 0792-4615 - Assistant editor: Beate Keizer OCCUPATION IS OCCUPATION For several decades, Israelis have become used to Ge’ulah Cohen - a Deputy Minister in the Shamir regarding war as a faraway phenomenon, and to government - already stated in the Knesset: If the relying on the absolute superiority of the Israeli Air Iraqis enter Jordan and our army goes after them, the Force to keep the sky free of enemies. With the onset territory should never be given back to King Hussein! of the Gulf Crisis, and Saddam Hussein’s dire (Ha’aretz, 16.8.1990). threats, the Israelis suddenly faced the imminent Talk was also heard about carrying out a massive threat of an attack by poison-gas-loaded missiles. “transfer” of Palestinians, while the world’s attention is The prospective victims failed to be cheered up by concentrated on the Gulf: An unnamed aide of the possibility of an Israeli nuclear retaliation upon Prime Minister Shaimir was quoted as saying: If we Bagdad. have war with Iraq and the Arabs make trouble behind Israelis clamored for the gas masks which - it was our lines, they will soon find themselves outside promised - were stockpiled in government ware­ (Ha’aretz, 17.8.1990). houses7; but the Defence Ministry proclaimed that The nationalist agitation was further increased the masks’ distribution would be “premature” and when - four days after the invasion of Kuwait - the “cause panic”. Thereupon, gas masks made good bodies of two Jewish boys, stabbed to death, were sales on the free market, at prices of up to 4,000 found in Jerusalem. As usual in such cases, the Shekels ($2,000) for the best ones (made in Germany). murderers were - ahead of any proof - assumed to Those who could not afford such expenses had to be Palestinian. For several days, racist mobs run content themselves with baking soda - which amok through the streets of Jerusalem, stoning and product was said on television to be capable of burning Arab cars and beating up their passengers - countering the effects of poison gas, when cloth with the police present and doing nothing, and only a soaked in it is held properly near mouth and nose. few isolated individuals trying to stem the tide3. Nor were the gangs influenced by public appeals to desist, I made by the father and brother of one of the The first half of August 1990 was a time of low ebb murdered boys. Dozens of Palestinians who happened for the Israeli peace movement. With the rapid to fall into the racists’ hands (as well as two Pakistani American military build-up, the outbreak of war tourists) had to be hospitalized; one Palestinian died seemed imminent. Various grim possibilities were of his wounds. mentioned, especially in connection with the unstable The Jerusalem pogroms increased the feeling of situation in Jordan - the country constituting a bitterness and frustration among the Palestinians, fragile buffer between Israel and Iraq. It was none who already contrasted President’s Bush’s vigorous other than Ratz Knesset Member Yossi Sarid, who - campaign on behalf of occupied Kuwait with his on the very day of the Kuwait invasion - stated opposition to even a U.N. fact-finding mission to publicly: Israel must declare that the entry o f Iraqi occupied Palestine. It is hardly surprising that many forces into Jordan would constitute a casus belli. A Palestinians, feeling betrayed by the International few days later, Sarid’s suggestion was followed by Community, chose to adopt Saddam as their champion. Defence Minister Arens, who proclaimed it to be the The Palestinian leadership - both at PLO headquar­ official government policy2. The Labor Party, of ters and in the Occupied Territories - tried to course, fell in. Thus, for the first time since June maintain a nuanced position, condemning the 1982, an atmosphere of “national consensus” was American intervention but also opposing the Iraqi created in Israel. As a result, non-monarchist Israelis occupation of Kuwait; but in many of the Palestinian find themselves praying feverently for the personal demonstrations which broke out, photographs of and political survival of King Hussein of Jordan. Saddam Hussein and Iraqi flags were carried, and The possibility of the Israeli army entering Jordan the Iraqi President got the unmitigated adoration of started to whet the Israeli Right’s appetite for “an the masses. even Greater Israel”. The Techiya Party’s leader, In the Israeli media and politics, these pro-Saddam demonstrations were used in order to rebuild the Association obtained a temporary injunction from tattered “Palestinian terrorist” image. This tendency the Supreme Court. However, the judges were effected even parts of the left, such as Ratz KM Yossi convinced by a army general who told them that the Sarid, with his long record in the peace movement. house destructions are not a punishment, but an On August 17, Sarid published an article in H a’aretz urgent military operation which must not be put off. entitled “Let them try to find me”, in which he Therefore, the Supreme Court lifted the injunction announced the total breaking off of his contacts with and allowed the army to go on; altogether, 34 houses all Palestinians. Sarid’s article was welcomed with were destroyed. The judges did order the authorities glee by the extreme right; however,-the shock of it to grant compensations and alternative housing to also helped the peace movement to get out of its the destroyed houses’ residents. mood of depression and hopelessness. One by one, • speakers of the left condemned Sarid’s position and reasserted the vital need of continuing dialogue with Whatever the ultimate outcome of the Gulf Crisis, the Israeli government has already made some short­ the Palestinians; Sarid found himself in the minority even within his own party. term propaganda successes, managing to rub some of Saddam’s “Hitler” image onto Arafat. Moreover, On September 19, sixteen dovish Knesset members published an advertisement, reaffirming their commit­ Saddam Hussein’s threats to use gas against Israel ment to maintain the dialogue; Sarid was among the evoked Holocaust memories and guilt feelings in the West; after many years of being an undoubted signatories. A few days later, the dialogue was “Goliath”, Israel can again be credibly depicted as a officially re-launched, with Palestinian activists potential victim. Feisal Husseini and Rasan El-Hatib adressing a large However, the government is far from reassured Peace Now meeting in Jerusalem. However, consider­ able time and effort are still necessary to fully rebuild about the future of its “Greater Israel” project. The trust. claim of Israel to be “America’s strategic asset in the Middle East” (and therefore deserving of unlimited • military, political and financial aid) has been consider­ Upon assuming the Defence Ministry, Moshe ably damaged by the Gulf Crisis. The Israeli Arens instituted a new policy in the Occupied government’s attempts to get included in the mobil­ Territories: the regular military patrols in the isation of “The Free World” were, politely but firmly, refugee camps - which involved daily confrontations rejected by Washington; any Israeli involvement in with the population - were discontinued; the army the confrontation would play into Saddam Hussein’s limited itself to keeping the main roads open, with hands. Bush needed - and found - Arab allies; and only occasional raids into some villages. The number once the Gulf Crisis is resolved, these allies will be in of Palestinian casualties dropped drastically; the a position to demand that the U.S. re-start and Intifada disappeared from the media - and some accelerate the peace process. Israelis believed it to have died out altogether. At the time of writing, the Gulf Crisis has already On September 20, there was a grim reminder. dragged on for two months. War can burst out at any Amnon.Pomerantz, a 46-year old reserve soldier, moment. Such a war, with its totally unpredictable blundered by mistake into the El-Bureij Refugee outcome would bring disaster upon the inhabitants Camp in the Gaza Strip. Surrounded by stone of the Middle East - be they Iraqi or Israeli, Kuwaiti throwing Palestinians, Pomerantz tried to turn his or Palestinian; many who live elsewhere will be hit, car - and hit two youths, who fell bleeding to the too, directly or indirectly. A negotiated settlement - ground. Thereupon, the enraged crowd poured including Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, American petrol upon the car, and set it on fire. withdrawal from Saudi Arabia, UN-supervised free At his funeral, Pomerantz’s mother cried out: Who elections in Kuwait, and the nuclear, chemical and the hell needs Gaza! But for the political right, the El- biological disarmament of the Middle East - could Bureij killing provided a new opportunity to demand provide a powerful impetus for the peaceful resolution revenge and retaliation. El-Bureij Camp was placed of other regional conflicts. The stakes are extremely under tight curfew; rumors filtering out of the high - for the Middle East and for the entire world. besieged camp told of the massive destruction of houses by army bulldozers. The Israeli Civil Rights The editor

The Other Israel P.O.B.956, Tel-Aviv 61008, Israel; Phone: (03) 5565804 Six issues/one year subscription rates: Institutions $50; Individuals $30; Students/unempl.$15. Please send a subscription to: N am e:...... Address:...... I enclose the sum of : $ ...... or: I can’t afford above sums, therefore I send $.... (or equivalent in ...... ) France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland: Jacqueline Grobety, B.P. 345-16, 75767 Paris Cedex 16, France A French translation of leading articles Is available. Britain: Benjamin Cohen, 94 Loudoun Rd, St.John's Wood, London NW8 OND.U.K. Austria, West Germany: Israel-Palastina Komitee, John Bunzl, Biberstr.8/20, 1010 Wien/Austria The Netherlands, Belgium: Uitg. Cypres, Heemraad.laan 33, 1181 TZ Amstelveen, Holland; Phone (020) 410388 Japan: Misako Sono, 1-18-15-205 Kamikitazawa, Setagaya, Tokyo 156, Japan. The U.S.: America-lsrael Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (AICIPP), 4816 Cornell Ave., Downers Grove - IL 60515, U.S.A. Contributions to AICIPP are tax-deductible. A bound copy of Issues 1-33 can be ordered from AICIPP 1. On October 1, as this issue was going into print, the crisis broke out when the Soviet Foreign Minister government suddenly announced that gas masks will and the American Secretary of State were convened be distributes “in a gradual and orderly way” to the in Irkutzk, trying to resolve the Afghan problem. In population. Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, it the changed political climate, regional conflicts have was announced, will also be entitled to masks, but, become much more threatening, and the agreement unlike Israelis, will have to pay the full commercial between the super powers to work together to defuse price. them is certainly one of the most important decisions 2. In fact, Israeli governments since the 1950's were they made. Apparently, Saddam Hussein was not opposed to the entry o f Iraqi or Syrian forces into fully aware of the significance of this new approach, Jordanian territory. However, this policy was never, and thus provided the ministers gathered in Irkutzk until now, proclaimed in public. Moreover, between an additional proof of validity of their new concept 1967 and 1970 considerable Iraqi forces were present concerning regional conflicts. in Jordan, and Israel did not start a war to evict them. The history of the search for a solution to the Palestinian question is not promising. It has been 3. An army officer - on leave from service in the Gaza conducted with the intention of letting it stifle over Strip - tried to prevent an Arab from being assaulted, time. But more recently, the European Community and was himself assaulted. has adopted a position much closer to that embraced AviAlzam, head of the Shmu’el Hanavi Neighborhood by the NGOs. It is expected that by the year 1992, Council, was stabbed after calling upon his neighbors united Europe, together with the Soviet Union, to stop attacking Arabs. would exert greater influence over the conduct of A t the end o f August, the Jerusalem peace groups world affairs and bring the USA to alter its united in establishing a ‘fire brigade’, which would be traditional anti-Palestinian position. prepared to act should a similar outbreak recur; the This should be easier after the crisis over Kuwait. volunteers would drive to the scene, place themselves Whether resolved through negotiations, which is the between the mob and the attacked Palestinians and hope of the whole world, or by military collision, the offer them a temporary refuge in private homes. Also, conclusion will be clear - regional conflicts should the volunteers present on the scene would expose any not be allowed to simmer underground until the fire police passivity. breaks into the open. This was also the conclusion that should have been drawn from the Intifada. But The Gulf Crisis and the Palestinian Question the experience of the Kuwaiti crisis is so much more Second part of Matti Peled's speech at the 7th UN traumatic that the conclusion would certainly be NGO’s conference at Geneva, delivered on August 30. much more compelling. Now, there is very little the NGOs can do about the Kuwaiti crisis. But they can start an intensive activity (...) The basic mistake of those Israelis who within the European Community to urge its political presume to judge the conduct of the Palestinian leaders to heed the lessons of the Middle Eastern leadership in the Kuwaiti crisis is that they are crises and be resolute in upholding the position assuming that the Palestinian question stands on taken by the Community time and again. That is the Kuwaiti legs, whereas in fact it stands on its own legs. solution of two states living in peace, Israel and I might add that unlike the Kuwait problem, which is Palestine, based on all the relevant resolutions of the an appendage to the problem of controlling the oil UN. They should be persuaded that this is the most resources, the Palestinian Problem is that of a people equitable solution and best meets the interests of the urgently in need of exercising their legitimate International Community. They should be urged to political rights. Just now it is my belief that the insist on convening an international peace conference Palestinian people stand at this juncture on the with a clearly defined agenda, including all the threshold of a new era. relevant questions to be discussed and resolved: One welcome outcome of the Kuwaiti crisis is the Palestinian self-determination, the right of return, emergence of the UN Security Council as a body resettlement of refugees and compensation for capable of acting in unison. The position they are abandoned property, regional security and economic taking, with regards to that crisis, is that the use of relations as well as international guarantees. force in order to annex another people’s territory is unacceptable in international relations. While they are busy handling this crisis I am sure that they are • aware of the lesson to be drawn from it, which is that regional conflicts should not be allowed to ferment NGO conference over a long time, unattended to and unresolved. As Since 1983, conferences of NGO’s (Non-Govern­ we have just witnessed, a local conflict can develop mental Organizations) on the Palestinian Question suddenly into an uncontrollable crisis. This lesson have been taking place yearly, under U.N. auspices, will be borne in the minds of those responsible for at either Geneva or Vienna. The first conference got maintaining world order and security. Of course it a great deal of attention (TOI-3, p.6-7), to the point goes against the grain of politicians to deal with a that the Israeli government felt obliged to counter it latent crisis before it explodes. But this time the by press conferences of its diplomats. However, with lesson is conclusive. the passing of the years, the NGO conferences I find it of symbolic significance that the Kuwaiti started to get into a routine, and many regular The following statement was pub­ The Geneva conference, which The conference started with a lished by the ICIPP as an advertise­ took place between August 29 and special message from Yaser Arafat, ment in Ha'aretz, 17.8.1990 31, provided the first opportunity (read by the PLO’s Geneva repre­ OCCUPATION IS OCCUPATION. for Israelis, Palestinians and activists sentative), reiterating that the from other countries to meet and Palestine Liberation Organization The conquest and occupation of a discuss the new situation. territory, against the will of its is undertaking the role o f mediator people, is definitely contrary to the This was apparently realised by in the G ulf conflict and is not party internationally accepted norms, which the Israeli authorities, who made to it, nor does it stand with one party have recently been reconfirmed by considerable efforts to hinder Pal­ against another. the U.N. Security Council. estinian participation. Feisal Hus- The deliberations were concluded The occupation of Kuweit by the seini and Zuhira Kamal were among with a resolution re-affirming the Iraqi army deserves to be strongly those who received restraining condemned. But such condemn­ principle of non-acquisition of ations become ridiculous when voiced orders, forbidding them to leave territory by force - as applying by a government which at the same the country. Other Palestinians both to Kuwait and to the territories time maintains the military occupa­ were stopped at the Airport. occupied by Israel in 1967 - and tion of the West Bank and Gaza Restraining orders were also condemning the American military Strip. issued to Palestinians with Israeli build-up. During the past two years the citizenship: the leaders of the Ibna Israeli government has rejected all In the Israeli media, the most peace initiatives and proposals for El-Balad movement, as well as to attention was given to one event at negotiations; it refused to make Dr. Ahmed Tibi, known for his Geneva - the meeting between even the smallest step towards a role as the liaison between former Arafat adviser Nabil Sha’ath and solution. During two years, PLO Labor Minister Ezer Weitzman two Israelis; Communist KM Goz- speakers have, again and again, liaison and the PLO (T01-40, p.5). anski and Dr. Ruhama Marton of called upon Israel to start peace The Israeli press published in negotiations; these proposals were AIPPHR*. Several of the Israeli all rejected out of hand, and the great detail how Tibi was woken papers quoted Sha’ath’s message occupation continued. Among Pal­ up by policemen at 3 A.M. and to the Israeli people: The PLO is as estinians despair and fury grew; it given the restraining order. Protests committed as ever to peace with was the Israeli government itself were issued by Knesset Members, Israel. It did not make even the that drove the Palestinians into peace groups and Arab organiza­ smallest change in its commitment Sadam Hussein's arms. tions. In short, the NGO conference The Kuweit crisis should be solved to resolutions 242 and 338 and its peacefully, without a flare-up which became a hot news item for days. acceptance o f the two-state solution could set the whole Middle East on • (Ha’aretz, 29.8.1990, A1 Hamishmar fire. If attacked, Israel has the right 27.9.1990). to defend itself - but Israel has no Several Palestinians living under This meeting was a new challenge interest in supporting dangerous Israeli rule did arrive at Geneva - to the “Anti-Terrorist Act” (which adventures. In particular, Israel must some simply because they left avoid military intervention in Jordan, forbids Israelis to meet with PLO before the Israeli authorities barred officials) - less than a week after under whatever pretext; such an the doors. There was also a sizeable intervention would have immeas­ the start of proceedings to remove urably destructive consequences. • PLO delegation. On the Israeli KM Muhammad Miari’s parliamen­ At this very time of difficult and side there was less participation tary immunity, for alleged breach dangerous crisis, we must extend than in previous years, though a of the same (see sep. article). The our hand to the Palestinian people; variety of political parties and Likud and the extreme right were an Israeli peace initiative is more organizations were represented; than ever required. Contray to what quick to demand the removal of the Progressive List, the Com m unist Shamir and his ministers would like KM Gozanski’s immunity as w ell.. to believe, the Palestinian problem Party, the IC IPP, the W om en for Undaunted, she answered a journal­ is not, and will not be, off the Political Prisoners, the Defence of ist’s question: My participation in regional or global agenda. Children Under Occupation group, such meetings is what my voters The unified opposition of the interna­ and Physicians for Human Rights... expect o f me (Ma’ariv, 29.8.1990). tional community to conquest and Israelis and Palestinians mingled occupation is a ray of hope, and is with representatives of a myriad of •AIPPHR - Association of Israeli and bound to have consequences also organizations from all over the Palestinian Physicians for Human for the future of Israel and the Rights. territories under its occupation. world, who involve themselves in The Israeli Council for Middle East issues. There were Israeli-Palestinian Peace many discussions, panels and work­ shops. There were also unsched­ NO COPYRIGHT participants started to feel frustrated uled improvisations, as when fiery Articles published in The Other at adopting virtually the same Haifa activist Erna Mer organised Israel may be reprinted, provided resolutions year after year. a “Women in Black” vigil on the that their content is faithful to the With the Middle East on the sedate Palais de Nations lawn. original, and does not change or brink of war, and the Israeli- I distort it in any way, and provided Palestinian dialogue seriously dis­ Though many subjects were dis­ that the name of The Other Israel, rupted, this year’s NGO conference and its address (P.O.B. 956, Tel-Aviv cussed, the whole conference was 61008, Israel) are mentioned. regained some of its significance. overshadowed by the Gulf Crisis. similar views. That’s all good and that for some weeks the conference No to a Gulf War well. But what do we - as peace preparations were delayed. The following petition is being activists - answer people in the Are women really better? Prob­ circulated by the Committee to street who feel that their safety is ably just more practical. Prevent a Gulf War (CPGW) and solely dependent on Israel’s having Information about the conference was already signed by several hundred an atom bomb - and preventing through: Coalition “Women and Peace", Israelis Iraq from developing one? (And P.O.Box 65190, Tel-Aviv. The occupation of Kuwait by what to say - as a peace activist to I Following statement about he Gulf Iraq has created a new focus of oneself - when in the middle of Crisis was published on September 6: tension in our region, and gave the the night one finds oneself sharing The “Women and Peace” Coalition U.S. a pretext to build up an the fears of “the man in the stands on its position calling for peace street”?) and dialogue between the Israeli and unprecedented concentration of Palestinian peoples, for ending the military forces. The purpose of this What does a peace ideology offer Israeli occupation and for establishing a concentration is not to uphold to an Israeli when - as a side- Palestinian state alongside Israel. Kuwaity sovereignty, but to serve effect of the Bush-Saddam poker The Arab Gulf Crisis and the danger the American economic and strat­ game - Israeli homes have become of war reinforce the immediate need egic interests in the region. “strategic targets”? Are we empty- for negotiations with the PLO, as the An American military operation handed at the very moment of a only way to reach a peaceful solution generally-felt mortal danger? and to prevent the horrors of war. We, can prove a disaster for the whole women, refuse to accept war as a area - including Israel. We call Could the international anti- solution to resolve conflicts, com­ upon the government of Israel not nuclear community perhaps help? plicated as they may be. to participate in such an operation How to explain that, even in this Especially in this period of crisis and to oppose it. hour, the atomb-bomb should not there is a need to persist in the belief The crisis should be solved by be considered a blessing? in the principles of dialogue and in Palestinians in Israel might also finding a peaceful solution. way of negotiations, on the basis of Contact: the U.N. resolutions calling for be interested. As one of them put Nabila Espagnoli, phone: 04-671269 Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. it: Probably Saddam does not or: Chana Safran, phone: 04-664949 We believe that a political solution know that we are also here, and if of the Gulf Crisis, on the basis of he knew he would not care (Nasim Women in Black the U.N. resolutions, will give a Shaker of Jaffa, interviewed in - summer 1990 - new impetus toward implementa­ Ha’ir, August 24). by Debby Lerman tion of the U.N. resolutions on the Women in Black vigils began this Palestinian question, which call summer their 30th month of exis­ for Israeli withdrawal from the Women and the Gulf tence with hundreds of women, in Occupied Territories and for Israeli- more than 32 locations, demon­ Palestinian peace. and dialogue. strating every Friday noon for Contact: CPGW, c/o Roni Wagner, The following information was p ro­ peace and against the Israeli pres­ 20 Eilat St., Holon 58306, Israel vided by Bertie van Gelder. ence in the Occupied Territories. This year, a Women’s Peace This action, started at the beginning Conference will again be held in of the Intifada by a few women, What about fear? Jerusalem. The conference is sched­ by Beate Keizer has grown to be the most important uled to take place on December 28 and visible demonstration against At the call of the Trotskist Matz- and 29. The preparations are made the occupation taking place in pen we demonstrated, at August 9, by virtually all Israeli and Pal­ Israel today, earning it national in front of Defence Minister Arens’ estinian women peace groups: the and international respect and ad­ Office against Israeli participation groups united in the “Women and miration. in a Gulf War. One of the slogans Peace” coalition (among them The demonstration called by read: Arens, you and your family Women in Black, Shani, Women Women in Black in early June, probably have gas masks, already!. for Political prisoners); the big under the motto 23 years of occupa­ The slogan was afterwards taken women’s network “Reshet”; the tion - it’s enough!, was widely up, in a slightly revised version, by Palestinian women’s organizations attended. Waving aside for this the homeless, in their own protest. in the Occupied Territories and occasion the “women only” policy, As the newly created “Committee independent Palestinian women. all the left and peace groups were Against a Gulf War”, we stood on Together, these women represent invited. The response was over­ September 4 in front of the Ameri­ a wider political range than could whelming; a two hour vigil joined can embassy, heroically holding be found working for Israeli- the forces of thousands of activists signs like: Negotiations, only way to Palestinian peace among males. from a wide spectrum of groups solve conflicts! - Iraq, withdraw The Gulf Crisis certainly gave and political parties. from Kuwait/US, withdraw from these women something to talk But the success of the vigils, the Gulf! - Blood more precious about. But there were no Yossi together with the changing political than oil! Sarids; nobody had an impulse to climate in Israel, has triggered an At other places and other times break the dialogue. On the contrary: unwelcome side effect. The strong some dozens of others expressed the dialogue became so intense and increasingly violent actions of fascist groups (Kach, Moledet, organized political action for peace The whole scene was shown on Techiya), are a common occurrence and dialogue is more important the television news. There was also today. Kicking, beating, pushing than ever; that the demonstrations an interview with Avi Brosh, a and cursing, they appear every are not dependent on current handicapped army veteran and Friday, having declared publicly events, but on the historical neces­ peace activist, who said: Rabbi that their aim is to “clean Israel sity of finding a peaceful solution Levinger’s men tore to pieces my from the Women in Black Plague”. to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. placard, on which were the words In one case, insecticide was sprayed Contact: Women in Black, c/o Dita “Thou shalt not kill”. I propose that in the women’s faces. Bitterman, 209 Dizengoff St, Tel-Aviv the honourable rabbi be consistent, These tactics caused several of and tear these words out o f the the vigils to take special security Postnatal detention Bible, too. measures, including in some cases I At noon on September 30, a stepping aside or moving the vigil From Women For Political Prisoners (W O F P P ) we got the enthusiastic caravan of more than a hundred to a safer spot, as was done in message that a two weeks’ publicity peace activists set out for the Gaza Haifa, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. campaign for Rabiha Thiab Hamdan Strip. They intended to reach El- had succeeded in securing her release. The police, when approached for Bureij Refugee Camp, to protest protection, either chose to ignore Thirty-six year old Hamdan, who has been working in the office of the extensive house demolitions the request for their intervention, and continuing curfew imposed by or sided openly against Women in Palestinian leader Feisal Husseini, is a m other of three, and had been under the army (see p.2). Black. house arrest since May 1, 1990. At the entrance to the Gaza After months of struggle, dozens At September 16, she was arrested Strip, their way was blocked by of complaints and many women while on her way to the Ramallah police, to whom she had to report large army forces, commanded by injured, the issue was taken up by the Gaza Strip Military Governor the media. Various articles in the daily. Without any charge being in person. They unfolded their press, reporting the events and the brought against her, she was incar­ cerated in the notorious Russian banners and started a demonstra­ disregard for the situation shown Compound Detention Center of Jeru­ tion on the spot; soon, armed by the police, generated some salem . settlers arrived and shouted abuse police action during the past month, Hamdan’s imprisonment was espe­ at the demonstrators. that will hopefully continue into cially dramatic since it interfered with After some negotiations, three the winter. her breast feeding her three months- Knesset members - the Com­ Encouraged by the lack of interest old baby. C o n ta c t: WOFPP P.O.Box 31811, munists Hashem Mahamid, Tamar shown by the authorities, the Kach Tel-Aviv; p h o n e: 294510 Gozanski, and H’sein Fares of group decided to take the war Mapam - were allowed to enter against Women in black one step the Gaza Strip. They were, however, forward, and started a campaign of Ongoing struggle barred from entering El-Bureij harassment by phone. Several Camp itself - by personal order of women in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv 1 The notorious Rabbi Moshe Defence Minister Arens. Their have, for the past month, been the Levinger, imprisoned for killing a presence on the spot probably victims of obscene and threatening resident of Hebron (TOI-42, p.8), deterred the army from dispersing phone calls. Complaints were filed, benefitted from a special “early some 40 demonstrating Gazan supported by recordings, and by release order” signed by Police women who came to express solidar­ reports that the threats were coming Minister Roni Milo. Altogether, ity with the El-Bureij residents. from well-known Kach activists, he had spent a total of no more sitting in the Kach offices in Jeru­ than three months behind bars. I In June 1989, Israeli army salem. Still, no effective action has Levinger was actually released on sappers blew up the house of Jamil been taken by the police and the August 14 - in the week following Abd-el-AzizTarawi at Balata Ref­ situation is getting progressively the Jerusalem anti-Arab pogroms. ugee Camp, because Tarawi’s cousin worse, with Kach telephoning the When Levinger stepped out of - who had lived with him in the First-Aid centers and sending am­ the Eyal Prison gate, he was greeted house - was arrested and after bulances to the women’s homes; by a group of Mapam demonstrators interrogation signed a confession also, leaflets were distributed with shouting: Racist! Murderer! Go regarding his “involvement in ter­ their names, addresss and phone back to prison! The rabbi’s followers, rorist activity”. By mistake, the numbers. Various meetings of the who had come to give Levinger a explosion also destroyed the house women were held to analyze the hero’s welcome, pounced upon of Ali El-Masri, Tarawi’s neighbor. measures to be taken. them, and a violent confrontation El-Masri should have received Another item on the agenda of ensued. Levinger gave an im­ compensations from the authorities, the Women in Black meetings was promptu speech, railing against but these did not arrive; for a year the political repercussions of the “the leftist traitors” and promising he, his two wives and his six Gulf Crisis. The decision adopted next time I shoot, I will aim better. children lived in a tent provided by by an overwhelming majority was The speech was constantly punctu­ the Red Cross. that there should be no change in ated by the peace demonstrators The El-Masri case came to the the manner or scope of the vigils. whistling, hooting and shouting attention of the Clergy for Peace Moreover, it was agreed that today, Blood merchant! group. The group’s rabbis met with the Army Chief-of-Staff, with ■ In recent months, graffiti calling years - intended to sail demon­ then Defence Minister Rabin and for the expulsion or klilling of stratively towards the shores of with several military governors. At Arabs appeared at numerous walls Israel. last, the authorities granted El- and bus stops in the Haifa area. Peace activists and Parliament Masri the sum of 20,000 shekels Despite several requests from Members of Israel, as well as of ($10,000); together with the aid Arabs as well as from peace groups, many other countries, intended to granted by UNWRA, El-Masri was the authorities failed to have the accompany them. Thousands of able to build a new house. The racist slogans removed. An initiative Israelis - among them writers, Rabbis were invited, as guests of was taken by the Haifa Peace artists and other public figures - honor, to the new house’s inaugura­ Groups Coordination Committee. made known their intention to tion on August 2. At the committee’s call, dozens of greet the ship on the Haifa water­ In the refugee camps, visits by Jewish and Arab peace activists front. (The plan was ultimately Israeli civilians are nowadays ex­ gathered on August 11, took clean­ foiled by the Mossad, whose agents tremely rare; the rabbis’ car was ing tools and spread out through blew up the ship in a Cyprus escorted, from the Balata Camp the main roads. At more than a harbour - TOI-31, p.5.) entrance, by a bodyguard of masked hundred locations, anti-Arab graffiti Together with Miari, two other local youths, armed with clubs, was erased. participants in the Athens press knives and axes. The rabbis were The well-publicised operation conference are also charged: the warmly greeted by El-Masri and went on without a hitch, except at ‘recidivist’ Latif Dori; and Miriam his numerous guests at the ceremo­ the Megiddo-Yagur highway where Elgazi, who had a special affinity ny. However, when the rabbis were officials of the Environment Pre­ to the ship action, having been making their way out, a single servation Authority interfered. herself a passenger on the 1947 stone was thrown from an alley and They claimed that such actions are ‘Exodus’ ship of Jewish refugees. smashed their car’s back window. not allowed without prior authoriza­ Though Dori and Elgazi are not The rabbis’ Palestinian escorts tion from the Environment Min­ Knesset Members, their charge offered deep apologies for this istry. In Israel Environment - and sheets are linked with Miari’s, and mistake, and promised to compen­ Nature - have never been a left- their trial will not begin until the sate the car’s owner. wing cause. question of Miari’s immunity is Contact: Clergy for Peace, P.O.Box Contact: Haifa Peace Groups Coordina­ settled. 8343, Jerusalem 91083; tel: (0)2- tion, P.O.Box 45583, Haifa; phone: I 710892. (0)4-660281. I In April 1990 Ismail Al-Gol, an As the Knesset House Committee began its proceedings, KM Yossi inhabitant of East Jerusalem, was I Sarid remarked: If immunity should detained by the police on charge of be removed from all Knesset Mem­ murder. After a week’s interroga­ Muhammad Miari: bers who met with the PLO, this will tion, Al-Gol signed a confession, Immunity threatened again include some 20 or 30 KMs. Why describing in detail how he had Since Muhammad Miari was first did the Attorney-General single out committed the crime; however, a elected to the Knesset in 1984, no Miari for special treatment? In few days later other suspects were less than five attempts were made answer, Charish claimed that Miari’s apprehended, and Al-Gol was re­ by the right to remove his parliamen­ sin was far more grave than that of leased with no charges preferred.. tary immunity. In three instances, others, since he had ‘not only This induced the B’tselem human the case against him was so weak talked with the PLO, but also rights organization to start investi­ participated with the PLO in plan­ gating the ‘Minorities (i.e. Arab) that the attempt failed in the early Squad’ of the Jerusalem police. procedural stages; once, the Knesset ning the terrorist organization’s majority did decide to deprive him propaganda act’. To support this Testimonies were taken from Al- of immunity, but its decision was contention, the Attorney-General Gol and many other Palestinians overturned by the Supreme Court presented to the committee a interrogated by this squad’s officers. transcript of Miari’s Athens speech, From these testimonies, a grave (TOI-18, p.6; TOI-28/29, p.6). The fifth attempt began at the through which it became clear that picture of systematic torture emer­ Miari had spoken of ‘our ship’. ged. The report was presented to end of August 1990, when Attorney- Adv. Yossi Bard, Miari’s lawyer, the police by Ratz KM Dedi Zucker. General Charish presented> an called upon the committee to The Police Commissioner was obl­ official request to have Miari’s iged to appoint an internal police immunity removed, so that he reject Charish’s request out of hand, on the grounds that Miari investigative team. Five months could be put on trial for having participated in a joint press confer­ had performed a political act, later, the team concluded itswork, ence with PLO spokesperson Basam which is part of his duty to his recommending the prosecution of Abu-Sharif. That press conference voters; the immunity for such acts nine ‘Minorities’ interrogators. took place at Athens, in February is absolute, and cannot be removed. It remains to be seen whether the 1988; it was in connection with Most legal experts agree that this officers-who made public com­ ‘The Ship of Return’ - on board of is a valid judicial argument. Howev­ plaints of being ‘victimised-will er, Knesset votes are usually decided indeed be put on trial. which Palestinians from the Occu­ pied Territories - who had been politically rather than judicially. Contact: B ’tselem, 18 Keren Hayesod St., Jerusalem 92149; ph: (0)2-667271/4 deported during the previous 20 The House Committee’s delib­ erations seem likely to continue ideas in Sweden; she already was violent outbreaks throughout the for several more weeks; should it convinced. Some people did change country, to which both Jews and vote against Miari, the matter will their ideas. There was a Palestinian Arabs fell victim. come for a further vote at the girl who said that she never knew The monument was unveiled by Knesset plenum. In all these votes, that such Israelis as were there in none other than Tel-Aviv Mayor the Likud and extreme right are Sweden really existed. Shlomo Lahat. By this act, Lahat certain to vote against Miari; the Much energy is spent by the made a sharp break with the smaller left-wing parties are certain participants in continuing the con­ authorities' traditional hostility to vote in his favor; the result tacts through writing, talking on towards A1 Rabitah and its work hangs, as always in such crises, on the telephone or visiting each camps. the Labor Party - whose repre­ other. The Israeli Jewish and Arab Past work camps had been mon­ sentatives are so far hesitating and participants are going to meet in itored by a notorious Shabak agent vacilating, often being altogether Givat Haviva; a meeting in Taibeh, (in a fancy car); the organisers absent from the proceedings. including also the participants were accused by the municipality On September 10, after the House from the Occupied Territories, is of involvement in Arab nationalist Committee concluded the first being prepared. conspiracies; and volunteers were round of its proceedings, KM The ideas which Natali already fined for “tresspassing on public Miari and Yossi Bard held an had seem to have become more land”. The only goodwill gesture in impromptu press conference at the important. At the meeting of the all these years had been the placing Knesset House. Miari told to the Holon branch of Peace Now she of green, frog-looking garbage journalists: ‘I regret nothing. If I came to report on the camp, and its containers in neglected areas. This have to go to prison, I will be in resolution. Her parents do not yet year, however, one of the municipal­ good company - with Abie Nathan, agree hundred percent with her ity’s vans arrived at the camp the refusing soldiers, and the prison­ ideas, but she talks a lot with them. loaded with working tools, wheel­ ers of Ansar-3.’ barrows and paints... and the mayor That night, the office of Adv. showed up several times, delivering Bard in Tel-Aviv was set on fire by Constructive protest in Jaffa speeches and making a tour with unidentified arsonists. by Toma Shick his staff along the working sites. Letters of protest to: Knesset House Moreover, Mayor Lahat - for Committee, the Knesset, Jerusalem. The 7th Voluntary Work Camp, the first time in nearly twenty years Letters of solidarity to: KM Muham­ organised in early August by A1 of tenure - invited Jaffa’s Arab mad Miari, 28 Ya'ir Stem St., Ein Rabitah (“League for Jaffa Arabs”) leaders to his office and was pre­ Hayam, Haifa 35475. and the Jewish-Arab Action Com­ pared to discuss their problems mittee was again aimed at improv­ without limiting his time. He prom­ ing living conditions of the A1 ised a fair slum rehabilitation Dialogue of teenagers ’Ajami quarter - where the Pales­ process; support for the 30 homeless by Beate Keizer tinians of Jaffa live. A1 ’Ajami families living in tents at Ajami; inhabitants - young and old - and regular meetings with the From 12 to 22nd of July, 112 together with Tel-Avivians and leadership. youngsters met in an international volunteers from abroad expressed The reasons for Lahat’s sudden peace camp at Tjomarp, in Sweden. for a whole week their “constructive volte-face are not clear. He may Under the auspices of the Interna­ protest” against the municipal have been intimidated by the sharp tional Falcon Movement, this neglect of Jaffa. public reactions to his “Judaisation year’s camp was centered on a The truth is that this year the of Jaffa” statement (TOI-42, p.6). meeting of Israeli youngsters from camp had less participants than Also, he may have been pressured Hashomer Hatzair (Mapam’s youth before, but the enthusiasm of by the Los Angeles Jewish Com­ movement) with Palestinians - of those who did come made up for munity, which in the past already the Occupied Territories, as well as their small number: streets were made its support for the Jaffa from inside Israel - together with cleaned; road-halts were created Rehabilitation Project conditional Egyptian and Swedish teenagers. in a street with many children; a upon Arabs, as well as Jews, benefit- There were ten days of discussions, summer-camp for retarded children ting from it. cultural exchange and just being was maintained; material assistance The A1 ’Ajami residents, for together, eating together, and shar­ was offered to Arab and Jewish their part, were dumfounded by ing the lodgings in Swedish village homeless of AJ ’Ajami’s shantytown; the mayor’s sudden generosity. In homes. playgrounds and gardens were his speech at the work camp’s They also agreed together on a layed out, with a wall painted closing ceremony organiser Nassim resolution, advocating a solution artistically. Shaker summarized: Lahat’s prom­ of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Moreover, a monument In Memory ises sound good; as to whether they by creating two states for two of All Victims of Violence was will be carried out, let’s wait and peoples in the “common homeland”. erected by Farid Abu-Shakra, with see. In the meantime, preparations We talked with an Israeli partici­ the help of volunteers. This was a are made to help the homeless get pant, Natali Shomroni of Holon. last minute addition to the planned through the winter. Natali did not really change her projects - an answer to a series of Al Rabitah, P.O.B. 41083, Jaffa Peace festival breach in the wall of alienation army, whose spokesman at first separating Nazareth from Upper- claimed that Hamarsha “was shot In the summer, a great number of Nazareth, its Jewish neighbor: at while throwing stones”. After a open-air festivals take place in the festival, the Upper Nazareth few days, an official representative different parts of Israel: festivals Singers Troupe appeared in Arab admitted that the soldier who of theatre, cinema, jazz, dancing, Nazareth for the first time in its killed Hamarsha had “acted in with new ones every year. The ten years of existence, and received contravention of standing orders”, festivals - mostly devoid of any loud applause. and was detained for interrogation politically relevant item - seem to At the festival’s conclusion, Dan by the military police. Since then, provide an escape from unpleasant Alamagor told the people crowded no details were given on the soldier’s realities. at the soccer field: Soon you will punishment, if any. A different kind of festival was hear explosions, but they are only • held at Nazareth in the middle of fireworks. May that be the only kind August. “The First Nazareth Jewish- o f explosion heard in the Middle Last honours Arab Peace Festival” - to cite its East! official name - was the brainchild The following story got extensive of Arab actor and playwright Rasan • publicity in the Israeli press: Abbas, who enlisted the help of the Visits to Ya’abed Imad Shakur, Arafat’s adviser well-known Dan Almagor. Over for Israeli affairs, used to be an several months the two - with the 1)OnJuly21, about forty people - Israeli citizen until 1967, when he help of a small, overworked volun­ mostly kibbutz members - partici­ left the country to join the PLO. teer staff - succeeded in organising pated in a solidarity visit to the He is well-known to all Israelis an impressive number of events: a West Bank town Ya’abed. A week participating in meetings with the “peace exhibition” at the Nazareth before, Ya’abed had been the PLO - whom he addresses in YMCA building; street theatre target of a nocturnal military raid. Hebrew. shows, poetry reading and plays in The group, organised by Kav During the Lebanon War Imad Arabic and Hebrew; and the main Adom (Red Line), brought with Shakur, who had the rank of shows at the town’s soccer stadium, them clothes and medicines. At officer in the PLO armed forces, at which many Jewish and Arab the village center, the Israelis were saved the life of Israeli combat singers agreed to perform without received by local activists. Then, pilot Aharon Achiaz. Achiaz’ plane payment. they divided into small groups and got hit by Palestinian guns. Achiaz Even so, the organisers had to went to visit the families whose fell into the hands of Lebanese contend with a chronic lack of sons had been arrested. villagers whose houses were daily funds. Except for the Tel-Aviv 2) During the July raid the wherea­ bombarded. Shakur took him to Cinemateque, none of the insti­ bouts of 25-year old Basel Hamar- the PLO headquarters in Beirut, tutions which support other festivals sha had not been discovered by the where he was held for several was willing to help. The semi-state army. The military authorities, con­ months in rather comfortable cap­ “Amanut La’am” (Art for the sidered Hamarsha an agitator and tivity. After his return to Israel, People) organization made its invested much effort in searches Achiaz went to Sachnin in the support explicitly conditional upon for him. For over two years, he Gallilee, where the the Shakur the non-participation of Palestinian lived in hiding, emerging only for family is still living. artists. special events. A brother of Imad, Suliman The date for the festival, August On the afternoon of August 10, Shakur, had a translations office, 17-18, was fixed months in advance. the army got wind of Hamarsha’s which provided translations from As it turned out, the festival took short visit to his parents’ home. the Israeli press to newspapers place at one of the most tense Five soldiers arrived, entered the throughout the Arab world. He moments of the Gulf Crisis. This Hamarsha family’s house and sur­ sought also to establish a monthly caused the festival to lose some of prised Basel, who was sitting with magazine in Hebrew, to bring its potential Jewish audience, many family members and a friend of the Palestinian views before the Israeli of whom felt that “the time is not family on the roof of the house. public, but this was repeatedly right for going to an Arab city”. Hamarsha was unarmed, and could prohibited by the Interior Ministry. Those who did come were not not possibly escape, the building On August 20, Suliman Shakur disappointed. Among the crowded being 12 metres high. One soldier suddenly died - at the age of 41. spectators, at small halls and under shot him in the head, at point His brother Imad asked the the sky, it was possible to feel a blank range, and the five departed Israeli authorities for a special 24- strong spirit of Jewish-Arab affirma­ in haste. hour safe-conduct to attend the tion and comradeship in spite of A few hours later, as thousands funeral. Of course, this request the threatening war. of shocked Ya’abed residents gath­ was denied. However, it did start a The participation of Oriental ered for Basel Hamarsha’s funeral, public debate in the midst of Jewish singers and artists was very Ratz activist Najib Abu-Rakiya tensions over the Gulf. Shakur’s conspicious; some of them came arrived and wrote down the witness­ request got the public support of directly from the homeless squat­ es’ testimonies. several Knesset Members, as well ters’ rally in Tel-Aviv. The festival The publicity given to this affair as of the (now retired) IDF pilot also succeeded in making a small proved very embarassing to the Aharon Achiaz. market compound, where hundreds of Palestinian Workers’ hotline workers slept in the sheds and warehouses; under by Adam Keller pretence of I.D. checks, the workers were kept standing whole nights, sometimes under pouring Slavery was abolished long before the state of rain; there were also cases of workers who had to be Israel was founded. Yet, in present-day Israel the hospitalised after being beaten up. term “slave-market” is commonly used in everyday Some of the workers’ testimonies were published in speech; it denotes those places where Palestinian the press. The matter was taken up by Or Adorn (Red workers from the Occupied Territories present Light), a group maintaining a Police Brutality themselves, early every morning, in the hope of Hotline. As a result two policemen, implicated in finding an unskilled or semi-skilled job. Most Israeli mistreating the workers, were suspended. Though towns have such “slave markets” on their outskirts; it one of them was later reinstated, the nightly raids on was at one of these that the Rishon Ie-Tzion the vegetable market remain far less frequent. massacre took place. About 150,000 Palestinians go Following this affair, Or Adorn received numerous to work in Israel, at salaries and working conditions complaints from Palestinian workers, concerning which few Jewish workers would accept. both harassment by the police and exploitation by Legally, Palestinians from the Occupied Territories the employers. Or Adom was not equipped to deal are forbidden to stay at night inside Israel’s pre-’67 with the latter, and a new initiative was set up in early territory, except for those with a special, hard to 1990: Kav la-Ovdim (Workers’ Hotline). obtain, permit. In practice, tens of thousands of Members of the group started visiting the “slave Palestinian workers sleep each night in makeshift markets”, writing down the workers’ complaints and lodgings at the industrial zones and slums of Israeli distributing calling cards. The number of telephone cities. Periodically, these workers are subjected to calls to the new hotline increased after an article was attacks by criminals, racist gangs, or policemen. published in the East-Jerusalem daily A l Kuds. The National Insurance Act empowers the National With the volunteer help of lawyer Meir Morgenstem, Insurance Institute - which is a state institution - to the group set out to enforce the workers’ legal rights deduct from the salaries of Palestinians who work in - bringing case after case before the Israeli Labor Israel exactly the same amount it deducts from Courts. So far, some 115 cases were represented, Israeli workers. The Palestinian workers, however, mostly concerning the non-payment of salaries or are not entitled to receive from the National severance pay. In only two cases was a verdict already Insurance Institute welfare payments, unemployment given - both in favor of the workers. benefits, or a retirement pension. The government In some twenty other cases the employers agreed to claims that the money taken from Palestinian settle out of court and accepted most, or all of the workers is placed in a fund “for the benefit of the workers’ demands. One such case concerns nine Occupied Territories’ population”. On the other workers who were fired in 1988 from the Ha’ofim hand, Palestinians do receive payment from the same bakery in Kiryat Gat, where they had worked for National Insurance Institute in case of childbirth, between two and eleven years. Their boss, Shmu’el bankruptcy of the employer, and work accidents. Bahat, claimed that the nine were soldiers o f the Other Israeli Labor Laws are non-discriminatory. Intifada and that they had sabotaged his bakery. Therefore, Palestinian workers are legally entitled to However, at the Labor Court Bahat could substantiate ovetime money and to a paid sick leave, as well as to none of these allegations, and without waiting for a severance pay after a year’s tenure in the workplace; verdict he reinstated the.nine workers and gave them any pay arrears must be paid to them with interest; full payment for the period since they were fired. and - though not eligible for membership in the Several other employers gave up immediately after Israeli trade unions - they are entitled to all pay receiving the summons - considering that it was raises and other benefits won in collective bargaining. better to pay the workers than to pay a lawyer as In practice, however, many employers ignore all of well... these legal requirements; the Palestinian workers Among the cases still pending at the Tel-Aviv are either unaware of their rights or unable to Labor Court are those of Ahmed Ziada, fired after exercise them. Nor can the Palestinian workers rely seven years’ work and told by his employer: Arabs for support on the Histadrut Trade Union Federation. from Gaza deserve no compensation', Dan Derwish, Though the Histadrut headquarters does have a fired after a false accusation of theft; seven dish­ “Department for Palestinian Workers” tucked away washers at the Yad Ezra Halls in Pardes Katz, fired in a corner, the local Histadrut officials - with whom without the two weeks’ notice required by law and Palestinian workers have to deal - are often openly replaced by Rumanian migrant workers. hostile and seek to replace them by Jews. And the Still another case is that of twenty-three Palestinians Histadrut never objected to the discriminatory who cleaned the streets of Tel-Aviv, working sixteen clauses of the National Insurance Act. hours a day for the bare minimum of 40 shekels ($20) • a day, without receiving any overtime pay; moreover, In late 1987, a group of peace activists in Tel-Aviv for several months they did not get paid at all. The succeeded in establishing contact with several municipality disclaimed all responsibility, since the Palestinians employed at the city’s wholesale vegetable cleaners are employed through a labor contractor, market. At that time, the police daily raided the huge Cadori Shishat, and the municipilaty does not inter- fere in his arrangements with his Vanunu trial: serving a ten and half months’ workers. “administrative detention” period selective disclosures Kav la-Oved enlisted the support in Ansar-3. of Tel-Aviv Councillor Dan Darin, On August 30, the Supreme He appealed to the Supreme a member of the Municipal Tenders Court decided to publish some Court, stating that the sole reason Committee, to suspend the munici­ parts of its verdict condemning for his detention is that he wrote pality’s contract with Shishat. Mean­ Mordechai Vanunu to eighteen articles advocating the creation of while, a foreman threatened to kill years’ imprisonment, for revealing a Palestinian state side-by-side one of the workers, Mohammed the existence of an Israeli nuclear with Israel; his appeal was rejected, Jaruba, if he will not cease to arsenal. Thus, for the first time, on the basis of ‘secret evidence’ - demand his salary. A Kav la-Oved the public could catch a glimpse of which remaines secret to this day. representative accompanied Jaruba his super-secret trial. Still, nothing For several years, Yusef Jo’beh to the police station and made sure of what Vanunu said in his own has been living with only one that Jaruba’s complaint was taken defence was published - though kidney. During his current deten­ seriously by the police, and was some of his arguments could be tion, he started to feel great pains, registered. deducted from the judges’ rebuttals. and the prison doctor diagnosed In another startling case, the -A significant section of the stones in the remaining one. Break­ employer is none other than the verdict rejects any distinction be­ ing up the stones necessitates Histadrut Trade Union Federation, tween the giving of secret informa­ medical equipment, which is avail­ which owns the Co-op chain of tion to an enemy agent, and the able at the Jerusalem Hadassah supermarkets. Like the Tel-Aviv giving of it to a newspaper, ruling: Ein Karem Hospital. However, the municipality, Co-op employed - publication of the secrets in a authorities refuse to release him through a contractor - Palestinians newspaper gives them simultaneously or to send him to hospital, and his who worked 16 hours a day for 40 to all enemy countries and to all situation deteriorates rapidly. Yusef shekels. After the strikes and their agents, as well as to all the Jo’beh is the father of four children, curfews which followed the Rishon terrorist organizations; therefore, it aged nine to sixteen. le-Tzion massacre, they were fired is twice or thrice as grave. Letters o f appeal to: Defence Minister Moshe Arens, H a ’kirya, Tel-Aviv, Israel; without receiving their salaries Gideon Spiro, spokesperson of even though they were officially Letters of solidarity to: N a ja h Jo ’beh, the Committee for an Open Trial c/o Palestinian Federation of Women's registered. to Mordechai Vanunu (COTMV) Action Committees (PFWAC), P.O.Box This revelation - and the very made an appeal for improvement 51284, East Jerusalem, via Israel. existence of Kav la-Oved - proved a ofVanunu’s conditions of impris­ The Education Ministry recently great embarassment to the His­ onment, demanding an end to his felt the need to introduce a new tadrut. The Trade Union Federation total isolation, and contrasting Va- subject into the school curriculum, announced that it would open four nunu’s treatment to the favorable compulsory for all 17- and 18-year legal offices of its own, which conditions and pardons given to old highschool pupils. The subject would receive the complaints of members of the Jewish terrorist is named “A human being in workers from the territories and underground, which carried out uniform”. As defined by the Ministry take these complaints to court murderous attacks on Arabs. it will have three main themes: when this was deemed necessary. Contact: This, however, applies only to the COTMV, P.O.Box 7323, Jerusalem. the duty o f military service and the Palestinians who register at the damage caused by political refusal; Israeli Employment Bureaus - the duty to obey orders, and the 28,000 in number. They are far Urgent appeal ways o f distinguishing “manifestly outnumbered by the “unregistered” The Other Israel received an appeal illegal orders”, which should not be workers, whose employment in from NajahJo’beh of East Jerusalem. obeyed; Israel is officially illegal, and to Her husband is in administrative the basic rights o f a soldier who whom the Histadrut refuses any detention - and suffers from a faces trial. kind of help. kidney disease. He is one o f the The program is to include case It is not yet clear how the His- many thousands o f Palestinians in studies, workshops and analysis of tadrut’s legal offices will work out. Israeli prisons - drowned in ano- the legal background. As a test case, Kav la-Oved has nimity, with only specially severe (Continuation from page 12) referred to the Histadrut a case of cases getting any attention. G’vul the desire for the fall of a duly registered worker whose pay Over the past twelve years, jour­ prison walls, and of the walls was witheld. nalist Yousef Jo’beh was, time and blocking Israeli-Palestinian peace. Contact: again, placed under administrative This year, far more activists than Kav la-Oved (Workers Hotline), detention without ever being char­ usual participated in the “New Ahad Ha’Am 62, Tel-Aviv; ged with any crime. When out of Year on the Mountain” ceremony phone: (0)3-246239/3900661. prison, he was for several years of September 21; in face of the Checks can be made out to: forbidden to leave the confines of Gulf Crisis and the danger of war, “Kav la-Oved", BankLeumi, Ahad his town. His family’s bookshop in many members of different groups Ha’Am Branch # 811, Account # Ramallah was closed down for felt the need of acting together. 357770/38. long periods. Currently, he is Yesh G ’vul, P.O.B. 6953, Jerusalem Over a long period, the military authorities Yesh G’vul abandoned the method of repeated call-ups. Now, private conscience-public debate however, the use of this method - which is extremely by Chanoch Livneh harsh upon working people - seems to have been resumed. While there is a limit to how many days a Over the past months, refusing military service in year reservists can be ordered to perform military the Occupied Territories has become an issue of service, many refusers receive a new call-up order, growing internal controversy in different Israeli shortly after being released from military prison - political parties. It began with the conference of the since the prison days “don’t count”. (Labor-affiliated) United Kibbutz Movement, where One of the victims is the man about whom the Ratz about 30% of the delegates signed the Yesh G’vul controversy started, Ofer Gur Aryeh; another is petition. Shortly afterwards, debate was ignited inside the Ratz party. The Ratz representative on the Dubi Chiyon - known as one of the editors of the United Kibbutz Movements’ magazine. For the Ramat-Gan Municipal Council, Ofer Gur-Aryeh, press, the most interesting case was 27-year old was sentenced to 28 days’ imprisonment for refusal to Danny Endwald of Tel-Aviv. Till recently, Endwald serve in the Occupied Territories. On July 26, an was more known from the sports pages than for any advertisement appeared in Ha'aretz, signed by 43 moral or political involvement; as a member of the Ratz town councillors - headed by Oman Yekutielli, Israeli National tennis team, he participated in Deputy mayor of Jerusalem; the councillors expres­ several international matches. However, about a sed solidarity with Gur-Aryeh and declared their year ago Endwald became religious and decided to intention to welcome him at the prison gates upon his drop his athletic activities, in order to devote his life release. to the study of the Scriptures and the Talmud. The Forty-Three encountered strong reistance At the same time, he was called for military service from the party’s leadership. Knesset Members Yossi as a guard over Palestinian prisoners in the Ansar-3 Sarid and Ran Cohen demanded that the Party Detention Camp. This experience was extremely Secretariat issue a condemnation of military refusal, painful, and in July 1990, Endwalder was imprisoned and thus force the Forty-Three - who in fact include when he refused to repeat it. There were three most of the party’s middle-rank activists - to retreat consecutive periods of detention - of 7, 14, and 28 from their position. KM Sarid even threatened to days respectively. He already received the fourth split the party over this issue. call-up - though now he got a “period of grace”, However, Ratz ‘Grand Old Lady’, KM Shulamit being ordered to report to Ansar-3 in January 1991. Aloni showed herself sympathetic with the Forty- Endwald is determined to refuse this command, too. Three. She was quoted in Ha’aretz (3.8.’90) as saying: if 500 officers would refuse, this would change the • whole political situation. The Gulf Crisis is, of course, a source of grave The internal debate in Ratz got very much press concern to members of Yesh G’vul. At a meeting attention and helped to place the issue of refusal on held in Jerusalem in mid-August, the movement the public agenda. The Ratz debate ended (for the affirmed its opposition to, and condemnation of any time being) with a compromise resolution, which occupation - in Kuwait as in Palestine; it reiterated expressed the opposition of Ratz, as an organized the urgent need to terminate both occupations by political party, to refusal - but also recognised as way of negotiations. legitimate the decision of an individual soldier to The participants discussed at length the difficult disobey orders which contradict the dictates of his situation which could arise from any Israeli involve­ conscience. ment in a Gulf War: a poison gas attack on Israel Two weeks later, the Ratz “Young Guard” (which would make it “a War of Survival”, uniting all comprises the members aged up to 31 years) Israelis; at the same time, the entry of the Israeli convened a meeting of its own, which adopted a army into Jordanian territory could fuel expansionist resolution praising the refusers as “the defenders of dreams on the right. In case of war, there is a special democracy”. need to be alert to the danger of large-scale Meanwhile, teachers from Mapam-affiliated kib­ deportation of Palestinians being carried out while butzim held a special debate at Kibbutz Giva’at public attention is diverted elsewhere. Haviva, with prominent speakers from inside and I outside the party. No formal resolutions were Yesh G’vul has developed a tradition of climbing adopted in this case, but most of the participants on the Jewish New Year the mountain - overlooking clearly supported the refusers’ act of conscience. Military Prison-6, where imprisoned refusers are On July 30, the public debate was reflected in the held. On the mountain top a ceremony is held, editorial of Ha'aretz: including such Jewish New Year customs as eating The willingness o f soldiers to refuse and be imprisoned apples dipped in honey, and blowing the Ram’s must serve as a warning to Israeli society; it is the Horn. The latter act - which caused the walls of symptom o f a moral crisis, whose depth should not be Biblical Jericho to fall down - represents for Yesh underestimated. (Continued on page 11)

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