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Washington Report, December 2005, pages 61-69 Waging Peace HCEF Calls for Assistance to Holy Land Christians
OVER 300 persons representing 19 states and five foreign countries attended the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s (HCEF) 7th International Conference Oct. 21 and 22 at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, MD. This unique conference united many Christian denominations in working toward solidarity in supporting Christians and creating peace in the Holy Land. Many Christians who live and work in the Holy Land spoke of the hardships they face as a result of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. HCEF president and chairman Sir Rateb Rabie echoed this assessment, adding, “The situation today is more critical and desperate than ever before, but with the joint commitment of Arab and Western Christians, we are stronger than ever.” The theme of this year’s conference, “United by Faith for Action,” called attendees to collective action in support of Holy Land Christians, by offering Western Christians a concrete means to contribute to the long-term preservation of the rich Holy Land Christian culture and tradition, which faces extinction as a result of the current climate. The theme was reflected both in the ecumenical gathering of participants and in the riveting testimony from speakers, who included internationally recognized spiritual leaders, scholars, authors and ambassadors. Even the conference’s honorary committee included religious leaders representing all denominations. Immediately preceding the conference, HCEF convened an Inaugural Partners Summit of Christian organizations working in the Holy Land to identify both immediate and long-term opportunities for working together to expand their support of the Holy Land Christian community. Since HCEF outreach spreads to all ages, the conference also targeted a young adult audience. Together with the Holy Land College Community (HCCC), HCEF also hosted special training seminars for nearly a dozen college students to help them develop campus programs to educate other students about the plight of Palestinian Christians. In addition to unifying efforts being made by the Western faithful on behalf of their Holy Land brethren, presentations also included discussions of divisive forces, including Christian Zionism. According to panelist Rev. John Hubers, probably 10 million to 20 million Americans are Christian Zionists.
Experts from the Christian and secular media presented their perspectives on the advantages and challenges of reporting the issues in the Middle East. While the secular media have the audience and means to reach almost every American, its coverage can be driven by appealing headlines and distorted to its owners’ or readers’ predisposition. As Washington Report on Middle East Affairs news editor Delinda Hanley noted in her address, “Most Americans who just glance at newspaper headlines or tune into TV or radio shows for news have no idea that Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims, are in danger every day.” Another distinguished panel discussed the spiritual isolation of Christian communities in Israel and Jordan. Karim Kawar, Jordanian ambassador to the United States, spoke about the special status Christians have in Jordan, while drawing from memories of his youth. Partners for Peace provided HCEF with its closing session. Three women from Jerusalem—Sherene Abdulhadi, a Muslim Palestinian, Roni Hammerman, a Jewish Israeli, and Amira Hillal, a Christian Palestinian—expressed their hope for peace in the Holy Land. Conference attendees were inspired by this image of peace embodied by the women onstage together. St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, HCEF partner and conference host, offered a beautiful, spiritual settingfor the many sessions on education, cultural sharing, emotional connection, and sober consideration of the challenges facing Holy Land Christians. In keeping with the theme, St. Luke’s pastor Connie Miller said in her opening prayer, “To be Lutheran is to be Ecumenical.” Several flags from many parts of the world, including the Palestinian flag, hung from the ceiling of St. Luke’s nave. Many tables were set up around the conference displaying the various HCEF programs, such as the Olive Wood crafts, Child Sponsorship, and the Holy Land Pilgrimage. Reverend Theodore Schneider, former pastor of St. Luke’s and now bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Metropolitan Washington D.C. Synod, gave a moving keynote address on the importance both of building a solidarity with our Holy Land Christian brethren and remaining steadfast and united in our quest for peace in the region. Those attending the HCEF awards banquet, held Friday, Oct. 21, at the Holiday Inn Select in Bethesda, MD, celebrated the impressive works of the award recipients. The Most Reverend Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land, was the keynote speaker and the recipient of the Living Stones Solidarity Award for the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. The award was also presented to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Division for Global Mission. HCEF co-founders Fr. Emil Salayta and Rev. Dr. Roy Enquist received the HCEF Award. Expressing his concern for the state of the Holy Land, Reverend Pizzaballa stated his support for the efforts of HCEF and its works to build peace and solidarity in the Holy Land. “The participants renewed their commitment to build solidarity with the Christians of the Holy Land by uniting their faith and taking immediate action to save our Christian heritage,” said HCEF president Rabie. While the conference provided a hopeful exchange of information, most participants acknowledged that it is also difficult to hear of the suffering that their Holy Land Christian brothers and sisters must endure. For more information, visit the Web site <www.hcef.org>. —Samar H. Moussa Al-Haq Director Randa Siniora on Collective Punishment and Occupation
Despite the positive public perception of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, Israel is still violating Palestinians’ legal protections against collective punishment under international law, argued Randa Siniora, general director of the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, at an Oct. 11 briefing at the Washington, DC-based Palestine Center. Even in Gaza, she stated, where Palestinians are now free of Israeli settlements and internal checkpoints, violations of Palestinians’ human rights have not changed. Israel continues to practice cruel and illegal forms of collective punishment on the Palestinian civilian population. Al-Haq, a leading Palestinian human rights organization, documents Israeli violations of the basic rights of people, pinpoints trends in human rights issues, launches campaigns based on its findings, provides legal aid to individuals, and does extensive legal research. Siniora discussed Al-Haq’s anti-collective punishment campaign, which began in January 2004 and focuses “not only on the wall, but all its implications,” with a special focus on East Jerusalem. The International Committee of the Red Cross defines collective punishment as “penalties of any kind inflicted on persons or entire groups of persons, in defiance of the most elementary principles of humanity, for acts that those persons have not committed,” Siniora noted. Throughout the occupied territories, she explained, Israel collectively punishes Palestinians in five major ways, namely: mass arrests; house demolitions; movement restrictions; property destruction; and construction of the annexation wall. She cited a United Nations declaration that states, “The impact, if not the intent, of the measures imposed by Israel has been the collective punishment of the [Palestinian] civilian population.” Siniora made clear that Al-Haq believes Israel fully intends to punish Palestinian civilians. According to Siniora, 400 Palestinians have been arrested in Israel’s “First Rain” offensive launched on Sept. 24. For the most part, these arrests are en masse and arbitrary; in some cases, anyone within a certain age range was arrested. Al-Haq defines home demolitions as separate from property destruction. The former occur when a home is demolished because one family member is wanted by the Israelis, Siniora said. Property destruction, on the other hand, lacks even this justification; the most common form of property destruction taking place now is the demolition of houses and other buildings which are “too close” to the annexation wall. Al-Haq also defines the wall Israel has been and is constructing on Palestinian land in the occupied territories as an “annexation wall,” rather than an “apartheid wall” or “separation fence.” The wall’s sections are much more substantive than a simple fence, she pointed out. Instead, they involve trenches, razor wire, motion detectors, military roads, and so forth, and can reach 19 feet to 30 feet high near populated areas. When completed, the wall will be 416 miles long, effectively annexing 10.1 percent of the West Bank into Israel, including the best agricultural land and the West Bank’s major aquifer. “This is creating facts on the ground to create new borders,” said Siniora. While gates exist in the wall to allow farmers access to their fields, “these gates are completely controlled by the Israeli military,” which opens and closes them at arbitrary times. Also, in order to access their land on the other side of the wall, Palestinians must undergo a long, deliberately frustrating process to obtain proper permits. It is especially difficult for Palestinians to obtain permits for buying and selling land. This is an extremely important point, Siniora explained, because if land goes uncultivated for a period of three years, Israel defines it as “absentee property” and confiscates it. If the intent of the wall were purely to enhance Israel’s security, the Al-Haq director argued, “it would make more sense to build it on the 1967 border.” By building the wall in such a way that it cuts farmers off from their land, Israel has shown its intent to annex that land. The wall also has made a huge impact on Palestinians’ freedom of movement. A normal trip between Ramallah and Jerusalem takes approximately 15 minutes. For Siniora, a resident of Jerusalem who commutes to work in Ramallah, the journey now takes over an hour, and the return two, due to checkpoints. “We don’t have traffic jams,” said Siniora, “we have checkpoint jams.” Israel also uses mobile checkpoints, which appear and disappear at arbitrary times and places. The result is that “villages are becoming totally disconnected from cities. In the whole Palestinian daily fabric of life, we see complete obstruction.” Social and family events have been severed. “What we’re talking about,” said Siniora, “is dividing the West Bank into small prisons.” Another form of collective punishment and obstruction of Palestinians’ free movement is the Israeli military practice of placing Palestinian territory under curfew, whereby even journalists and medical personnel are unable to leave their houses for fear of IDF snipers. Residents in the old city of Hebron spent over half of the last two years (370 days) under curfew, due to the presence of 400 “extremist” Jewish settlers who live in their midst and can move around freely. Residents of other Palestinian cities have experienced similar restrictions. Although Israel is a signatory to the Fourth Geneva Convention, Siniora said, to date the country’s High Court of Justice has dismissed its obligations under this law, often using “military necessity” as an excuse. However, she noted, the Fourth Geneva Convention is clear that collective punishment is not acceptable under any circumstances, even in the case of military conflict. Siniora emphasized that any state which has signed the Fourth Geneva Convention is obligated under the terms of that Convention to ensure that its standards are respected by other signatories. Thus, the international community has a legal responsibility to pressure Israel to respect its obligations. Rewarding Israel for disengaging from Gaza overlooks what Israel is doing elsewhere in the Palestinian territories, Siniora concluded. Al-Haq is concerned that, in the wake of Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip, the international community has warmed to the Sharon government despite its ongoing violations. It is therefore circulating a petition to urge governments around the world to take responsibility and ensure Israel’s respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention. —Courtesy The Palestine Center Israeli Journalist Haim Yavin at Palestine Center
The Washington, DC-based Palestine Center hosted famed Israeli television anchorman Haim Yavin on Oct. 25, to discuss and show clips from his five-part documentary series, “The Land of the Settlers.” Yavin briefly introduced the screening by saying that he lost hope for peace at the onset of the second intifada. This spurred him to take his camera and go out and talk to Palestinians and Israelis, because he believed the key to peace was to listen to each other’s narratives. The footage included some morbidly fascinating glimpses into Israeli life not usually accessible to an American audience. When Yavin gestured to the crowds in line at a checkpoint and asked a guard if he felt any sympathy for these people, the guard responded, “What people?” Conversely, another soldier spoke eloquently about how “crappy” he felt enforcing policies he deemed immoral and illegal. It was Yavin’s footage of settlers, though, which portrayed a virulent hatred and racism difficult to watch, that may permeate the fog of ignorance enveloping so many Americans. Yavin’s film may expose U.S. audiences to the racism that drives Israel’s apartheid policies, but if the clips shown at the Palestine Center are indicative of the entire movie, they will not get the entire story. In addition to the scenes of settlers and soldiers spewing hate, there were segments of grief-stricken Israeli funerals and an interview with an Israeli mother whose son was killed in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. These are important stories, and certainly part of the Israeli narrative, but Yavin showed no footage of Palestinian funerals; interviewed no grieving Palestinian mothers. Why Yavin neglected to show Palestinian suffering at that level was perhaps explained during the question-and-answer session that followed the screening. This reporter asked Yavin, who had stated in his opening remarks that he was in favor of Israel’s annexation wall, to answer a question he was asked by a Palestinian man in the film—if the wall was for security purposes, why build it so far inside the West Bank? Rather than answering that question and subsequent follow-up questions along the same line posed by other audience members, Yavin expounded repeatedly on the tragedy of suicide bombings. Calling himself an ardent Zionist, Yavin admitted that some mistakes had been made regarding the wall. However, he declared that one could not compare “surrounding people and making them go through checkpoints” with someone “strapping a bomb to themselves and walking five minutes to a café and blowing it up along with 25 children.” Yavin failed, however, to mention Israeli bombings of Palestinian apartment buildings, bulldozing homes with the occupants still inside, or the killing of Palestinians, including children who have been killed at rates many times those of Israelis. Instead he argued that, although the thesis of his film was that the occupation causes terrorism, the onus was still on the Palestinians to stop terror before Israel took steps to stop the occupation. As the questions and answers grew more heated, Yavin leaned forward on his tiptoes, pointed his finger at the audience and said, “Make no mistake, we will not be ghettoized again.” —Sara Powell Yossi Beilin: Looking Beyond Gaza
Brit Tzedek v’ Shalom (Jewish Alliance For Justice and Peace) hosted Meretz leader and Knesset member Yossi Beilin for an Oct. 23 talk at Manhattan’s B’nai Jeshurun synagogue. The Israeli parliamentarian opened his remarks by observing that, after Gaza, Israel finds itself at a crossroads. “If Gaza first becomes Gaza last, the frustration of the Palestinians will be so great I believe it will result in a situation even worse than before,” he said, referring to the second intifada. Withdrawal from Gaza, in Beilin’s view, demonstrated to Israelis that it was possible to tear down settlements and return land to the Palestinians without bloodshed or civil war, as many in Israel had feared. But it also strengthened the hand of those advocating a risky new tendency in his country: unilateralism. “People have fallen in love with unilateralism,” he noted. “It means you don’t have to talk to the Palestinians, or compromise with the Palestinians, or reach an agreement with the Palestinians.” According to Beilin, Israelis on the right, the left, and in the center think this is a good idea, as does the prime minister himself. “Sharon could have said to Abbas, ‘I know you. I like you. Let’s have an agreement on Gaza,’” he pointed out. “Abbas begged him to talk to him about Gaza. But Sharon preferred unilateralism.” Beilin instead advocates a permanent agreement with the Palestinians, two states living side by side in peace, with Israel withdrawing to its pre-1967 borders. The big debate now, he believes, is between those favoring a permanent solution, and those favoring unilateralism—which, apart from everything else, he said, would fail to satisfy Palestinian demands, even if Israeli settlers vacated up to 80 percent of the West Bank. That would still not be good enough. Beilin returned again and again to the dire demographic consequences for Israel should a two-state solution fail and occupation prevail. It will only be a matter of time, he warned, before Israel is confronted by a Palestinian majority within its borders. He said there are already Palestinians who are saying, don’t trouble yourselves with issues such as the pre-’67 borders, or compensation for the refugees. We don’t want anything from you. All we want is one man, one vote. We can wait. “Who in the world will be able to say to the Palestinians, when all they are asking for is one man one vote, or one person one vote, ‘With all due respect, the Jews are the chosen people,’ and expect that to make a difference?” he asked. Beilin recalled a conversation he once had with Kadura Fares, a Fatah member and, along with him, a signatory of the Geneva Accord. Beilin asked Fares what he would say to those Palestinians in favor of “don’t rush, wait.” Fares asked him a question of his own. Let’s say, he supposed, we finally did have the right to vote. Where would you stand, liberal and democrat that you are? “Will you be there on the front line,” Fares asked, “saying yes, the idea of a Jewish state is over, the majority should determine our future? I don’t think so. I think you will fight against us.” Beilin admitted to being frightened. “I don’t want to be a minority,” he confessed, “but one person one vote is something I can’t say no to.” —Robert Hirschfield ANERA Pledges to Raise More Money to Aid Palestinian Projects
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) hosted its annual dinner Sept. 17 in Washington, DC, where it is based, on the theme, “Education Creates the Future.” A reception beforehand featured beautiful handicrafts and art to be bid on at a silent auction to raise funds for ANERA’s ongoing projects to aid refugees. Founded in 1968, ANERA has worked with 3.2 million Palestinians under occupation, 60 percent of whom live below the poverty line on less than $2 a day. Last year ANERA distributed more than $13 million in medical and relief supplies, including daily nutritional snacks to preschoolers. At the dinner, ANERA honored many of its loyal long-term donors, including Marjorie Anderson, a retired teacher from Pennsylvania, and retired Ambassador Richard Parker of Washington, DC. ANERA also payed tribute to the group Playgrounds for Palestine (PFP), founded in 2001 by Susan Abulhawa to provide traumatized Palestinian children living under occupation with a place to experience some of the normal joys of childhood. ANERA aided PFP in the construction of playgrounds in Hebron and Bethlehem in the West Bank, and in Khan Younis and Rafah in Gaza. Other playgrounds are planned. The evening’s guest speaker was Moa’taz Dajani, the executive director of Al Jana, Arab Resource Center for the Popular Arts, located in Beirut, Lebanon. Dajani presented a screening depicting some of the programs Palestinian refugee children have participated in throughout Lebanon. Children are first encouraged to record their lives and histories in written and photographic form, he explained, while older children are given video cameras to produce films. The theme of the projects is to encourage refugee children to express and claim their rights and their identity. For more information, or to make a donation, visit ANERA’s Web site, <www.anera.org>. —Sara Powell Nathalie Handal Globalizes the Palestine Center
Palestinian poet, writer, playwright, editor, and cultural and literary activist Nathalie Handal read from The Lives of Rain, her new collection of poems, at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC on Sept. 21. She began with the whimsical “Even,” followed by the intimate “In Search of Midnight,” then led her audience to the Lebanese border with “I Never Made It to Café Beirut, Nor, I Heard, Did You.” She gave voice to the Palestinian Diaspora in Latin America with “Caribe in Nueva York,” “El Almuerzo de Tia Habiba” and “Blue Hours.” The second half of the program featured an interview with Palestine Center cultural coordinator Jessica Robertson Wright, followed by an open discussion that, with Handal confirmed as an expert, largely focused on issues of the Palestinian Diaspora. Handal’s books, The Lives of Rain, The Neverfield, Traveling Rooms, and The Poetry of Arab Women: a Contemporary Anthology, along with information on upcoming projects, are available through her Web site, <www.nathaliehandal.com>. —Matt Horton Soliya Project Connects U.S., Arab World
Remi Raidan and Marwa Abou Dayye, two student participants in the Soliya Connect Program, screened their short film on post-Hariri Lebanon and spoke at Washington, DC’s Bus Boys and Poets Café on Sept. 20. The students were accompanied by Soliya president Lucas Welch and facilitator Julie Shumacher. As part of the Soliya Program, the two students from the American University of Beirut collaborated on their film with an American student from the University of Maine-Machias. Using the latest video conferencing technology, Soliya brings students from the United States and the Middle East together to improve intercultural awareness and understanding. Currently the program is partnering with 12 schools, including Harvard, Tufts, the American University in Cairo, Virginia Commonwealth, Birzeit in the West Bank, Clark, Philadelphia in Jordan, American University of Kuwait and University of Qatar. Upon completing the program, students are encouraged to “stay connected and have influence on their broader societies.” The students’ film on Lebanon was the first attempt at what the program calls “collaborative action projects.” Raidan and Abou Dayye set out to make a film on the feelings of the Lebanese street by asking two questions: “How is President George Bush’s foreign policy related to the events in Lebanon?” and “Is the Syrian occupation of Lebanon like the U.S. occupation of Iraq?” They interviewed demonstrators in Martyr’s Square following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, as well as restaurant-goers in downtown Beirut, residents in Raidan’s mountain village and shopkeepers in Masnaa, at the Lebanese-Syrian border. For more information on the Soliya Connect Project, visit its Web site at <www.soliya.net> or call (646) 485-5089. —Matt Horton Hip-Hop Group DAM on Tour
Palestinian hip-hop group Da Arabian MCs (DAM) performed Oct. 8 at Alwan for the Arts in New York City’s financial district. The performance was their third and final one of a whirlwind tour of New York City. Representing Lydd, a Palestinian ghetto near Ben-Gurion airport, DAM are the first rappers from the Arab world, best known for their song “Meen Erhabi?” (“Who’s the Real Terrorist?”), and for their much anticipated role in the forthcoming documentary “Slingshot Hip-Hop: The Palestinian Lyrical Front” by filmmaker Jackie Salloum <www.slingshothiphop.com>. DAM (Tamer Nafar, his brother Suheil, and Mahmoud Jreiri) performed alongside Detroit rapper Invincible and New York’s Palestinian poet laureate Suheir Hammad, who read pieces from her new project, “Zatar Diva” (available through her website <www.suheirhammad.com>). DAM hopes to release a new album shortly and return for a tour. For more information on DAM and the Arab world’s growing hip-hop community, visit <www.dam3rap.com/> —Matt Horton Artist/Author Ellen O’Grady’s America Tour Hits the Heartland
North Carolina artist and author Ellen O’Grady presented her artwork on the big screen in the Ames Public Library auditorium on Oct. 8, and talked about her book, Outside the Ark: An Artist’s Journey in Occupied Palestine. “I’m a painter and a writer,” said O’Grady. “This book of paintings and stories was put together after I returned from Palestine in 2002.” O’Grady lived and worked in occupied Palestine from 1989 to 1995, training Palestinian schoolteachers in the West Bank and Gaza to teach art and working with children doing art in schools. She returned to Palestine in 2002 as an International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist, and worked at a school for the deaf in Gaza. Since the January publication of her book, O’Grady has been traveling the country talking about Palestine to any audience willing to listen. Her book addresses the issue of how some stories get hidden from the public, she says: “As I share this work with different audiences, often people will come up to me and talk about their hidden stories.” O’Grady recalled that when she spoke at schools in poor neighborhoods in New Orleans last spring, children there related to Palestinian children whose parents can’t always protect them from violence. During her early years as an activist, O’Grady said, she took an academic approach, using facts and statistics when talking about the conflict in Palestine, but eventually she realized that she had more useful, more effective tools. Ultimately, her art began to inform her activism and her activism her art. “As an artist and as an activist, I’m trying to share a story, trying to share knowledge with people,” O’Grady said. Outside the Ark, she explained, is her way of dealing with the pain and the violent reality of the occupation, to which she was a witness for many years. “It’s a way of dealing with the weight of the violence and the knowledge that people here don’t hear the stories,” she added. Outside the Ark personalizes various aspects of the Palestinian experience, stories that far too often go untold. “The book is stories of individuals I know in the West Bank,” O’Grady said. “It’s written to offer a window into the realities of the occupation. It tells stories of my friends.” The Ames audience was appreciative of the compellingly rendered paintings from O’Grady’s book, and the accomplished artist/activist’s thoughtfully articulated stories brought an immediacy to her experiences with her friends in Palestine. The question-and-answer session following her presentation took on the flavor of a conversation among old friends. This segment of her tour will take O’Grady to Ankeny and Des Moines, IA; Columbia and Kansas City, MO; Lawrence, KS; and Denver and Lafayette, CO. For more information visit her Web site, <http://www.ellenogrady.com/outside/>. —Michael Gillespie Ames Interfaith Council Program Explores Christian-Muslim Relations
Dr. Jane Smith of Hartford Seminary and Prof. Edward Gaffney of Valparaiso University School of Law were featured speakers at the Ames Interfaith Council’s Oct. 22 fall program at the Iowa State University (ISU) campus. Smith, co-director of the Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, discussed “The Perils and Pleasures of Interfaith Encounter.” “A very big challenge on our agenda,” she said, “is the growing number of evangelicals who are not interested in dialogue, and the shrinking number of liberal Christians who are interested in interfaith dialogue.” Even Christians who are interested in interfaith dialogue, Smith pointed out, sometimes make assumptions that turn out to be counterproductive. Illustrating some of the pitfalls of interfaith encounter, Smith described some of the ways in which Christians, often inadvertently, offend Muslims and members of other faith traditions. Some Muslim women have complained that well-intentioned Christian women are sometimes perceived as trying to liberate Muslim women from their religion, said Smith, and Muslim women generally don’t want to be part of that. Other Christians have structured interfaith encounters in ways that are not conducive to dialogue, she noted, by wanting “to talk about salvation or redemption or other concepts that work for Christians but don’t quite work for Muslims.” Most Muslims are not interested in having that conversation, said Smith, until it is structured in a way that addresses their concerns, too. Many Muslims, for good reason, fear that some Christians express interest in interfaith dialogue merely as an introduction to conversion efforts, said Smith. Her own institution, Hartford Seminary, once had a focus on missionizing or evangelizing in the Middle East, she pointed out. “How do we foster a sense of relatedness—relationship to each other—while still clearly recognizing and honoring the distinctions that we have?” asked Smith. A panel discussion moderated by Ames Interfaith Council vice chair and ISU sociology professor Stephen Aigner featured Smith, Gaffney, Ames city council representative and ISU professor Riad Mahayni, and ISU physicist Dr. Rabia Moussa, who is currently involved in post-graduate work at the Ames Lab. Gaffney, co-producer of “Holy Land: Common Ground,” later presented excerpts of the film and talked to an audience in the Regency Room about the soon-to-be completed project. The film, narrated by Martin Sheen, focuses on Israelis and Palestinians who are working together for peace in the Holy Land. For more information about “Holy Land: Common Ground,” contact Prof. Gaffney and co-producer Alicia Dwyer at <edward.gaffney@valpo.edu>. The Ames Interfaith Council’s fall project events were co-sponsored by Time For Peace, an ISU student organization. —Michael Gillespie Dr. Said Aly Examines Gaza Withdrawal
Dr. Abdel Monem Said Aly, director of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, provided an Egyptian perspective on Israel’s recent withdrawal from Gaza at an Oct. 12 presentation at the Palestine Center in Washington, DC. His lecture focused on “Managing Gaza’s Transition after the Israeli Withdrawal: A Critical Point in Egyptian-Palestinian Collaboration.” Dr. Said Aly addressed several key questions about the withdrawal, including how big a role Egypt would play in Gaza’s political and economic transformation, how the international community could aid Gaza’s transformation, and how the current situation in Palestine might affect Egypt’s own political and economic reform. The Egyptian government supported Israel’s disengagement plan, Dr. Said Aly said, because Cairo saw it as a “seductive” way to take a step toward peace. While “everyone in the Middle East is looking at Palestine as a lost cause,” Dr. Aly described the Egyptian government’s desire to get involved as “courageous.” Currently, Egypt’s primary role is securing the Gaza/Egypt border, where approximately 750 Egyptian soldiers are stationed. Egypt also is training the Palestinian Authority border guards. Dr. Said Aly was very clear in saying that Egypt has no interest in a broader security role. He specified that Egypt will provide economic assistance, but that, in his opinion, Palestinians are fully capable of “starting over” on their own. The best thing the international community can do for the situation, Dr. Said Aly argued, is to make sure that the peace process continues. “We have a positive diplomatic step,” he stated, but the recent withdrawal needs to be linked to the “road map for peace” in order to ensure that “Israel doesn’t come back.” Dr. Said Aly said he believes that if the current situation in the Gaza Strip fails to progress toward sustainability and peace, then a third intifada is possible. Such a development, he warned, could distract Egypt from its current path of open and transparent discourse on domestic issues, and inhibit political and economic reform. For more information visit the Palestine Center’s Web site, <www.palestinecenter.org>. —Banafsheh Saifollahi Sheehan Meets Police, Not Bush
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the White House on Sept. 26 to support Cindy Sheehan and the Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization of families who have lost loved ones fighting in Iraq and who seek to have a speedy withdrawal of U.S. military troops. Sheehan wanted to meet with President George W. Bush and have him explain why the country is at war in Iraq. Following the White House’s denial of an appointment, Sheehan and the Gold Star Families joined hundreds of activists who tied pictures and names of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians to the fence of the White House then sat down on the sidewalk where 384 people participated in civil disobedience against the war in Iraq. Sheehan, who had never been arrested in her life, was taken first, as protesters shouted “The whole world is watching!” Following the arrests, which stretched over the course of the afternoon, the protesters were booked, fingerprinted, photographed and released with a $50 fine—some as late as 4:30 a.m.—at a remote police station across the Anacostia River in DC. —Matt Horton A Shi’i Crescent: What Fallout for the U.S.?
Discussing “A Shi’i Crescent: What Fallout for the U.S.?”, the topic of the Middle East Policy Center’s (MEPC) Oct. 14 conference, were Juan Cole, Kenneth Katzman, Karim Sadjadpour, and Ray Takeyh. The 41st in MEPC’s series, the conference convened in the U.S. Capitol Building with the aim of fleshing out the dynamics of the Shi’i rise to power in post-invasion Iraq. Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan, opened the conference by commenting on the development of the Iraq’s majority Shi’i Muslims from a somewhat provincial group to a much more urban group within the Ba’ath period (1968-2003). Literacy programs initiated by the Ba’ath worked, said Cole, and “Iraqi Shi’i became more like the Iranian ones.” With increasing levels of literacy, the ability of Iraqi Shi’i to become absorbed into the world of Shi’i politics also increased, and tribal factors became less important. Clerics became “the last men standing,” Cole said, and mediated between Iraq’s government and governed. Rival Shi’i clerics acted as community leaders, with Grand Ayatollah Sistani and Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr the chief antagonists during the 1990s. According to Cole, the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussain blew “the lid off of a situation which was underneath already boiling.” Suddenly, he explained, the clerical politics of Sistani and al-Sadr combined with the politics of groups such as Al-Dawa and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). The electoral success of SCIRI in 2005, Cole noted, was like an Iranian dream from the early 1980s come true. Katzman, a Middle East affairs specialist at the Congressional Research Service, argued that since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, “U.S. relations with Shi’i Islam…have come full circle.” The main “terrorism threat” to the United States during the 1980s, he noted, were Shi’i Islamist groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to Katzman, the “threat from Iran and Iranian-inspired Shi’i extremism” was so acute that the Reagan and Bush administrations backed Iraq, even though they had a “distaste for Saddam Hussain’s regime.” In the aftermath of the Iraq-Iran war, which ended in 1988 with Iraq the military victor, Saddam Hussain “apparently perceived the U.S. would tolerate Iraqi hegemony,” said Katzman. After the Gulf war expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait and destroyed much of Iraq’s infrastructure (civilian and military), Washington supported Shi’i groups that were attempting to destabilize the Hussain government. SCIRI and Al-Dawa were two of the groups the U.S. supported in the 1990s, Katzman noted. With the events of 2001 and the current Bush administration’s decision to target Sunni Islamist groups globally, Katzman said, “the very same Shi’i Islamist parties that led the U.S. to tilt toward Saddam Hussain in the Iran-Iraq War are now the U.S.’s closest allies in Iraq.” The de facto situation in Iraq, where the United States is “essentially the protector of the Shi’i Islamist parties,” has irked not only Sunni Iraqis, but also neighboring states such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, he said. In his discussion of Shi’ism in the Fertile Crescent, International Crisis Group analyst Sadjadpour focused on Iran. “I don’t believe Iran is interested in creating an Iranian-style theocracy in Iraq,” he noted, describing Tehran’s policy in Iraq as one of “managed chaos.” Iran wanted the U.S. to suffer for its invasion of Iraq, he added, and thereby weaken the chance that Iran would be attacked next. At the same time, according to Sadjadpour, Iran is wary of the breakdown of all order in Iraq, fearing a scenario similar to Afghanistan in the 1980s. It doesn’t want a repeat of the Afghan refugee crisis, he said, nor does it want “territorial breakdown in Iraq.” That could lead to an independent Kurdistan, and hence to severe unrest in Iran’s Kurdish region. Once Iraq has stabilized with a Shi’i-led government, Sadjadpour concluded, Iran wants “to see the Iraqis take over their own country.” Takeyh, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that Iran no longer instigates revolutionary upheavals elsewhere. Sadjadpour agreed, and suggested that Iran would like to gain regional hegemony through increased Shi’i participation in leadership roles in neighboring countries. The views of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s new government, Takeyh continued, including its attitude toward nuclear negotiations, are similar to the old. He characterized Iran’s new leadership as “refreshingly indifferent” to the United States. —Brock L. Bevan |
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