Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2001, page 59

Southern California Chronicle

“Honest Broker” Dennis Ross Declines to Use Word “Occupation,” Prefers “Israeli Control”

By Pat and Samir Twair

Stating that a peace agreement should have been worked out between Israel and Palestine in December 2000, Dennis Ross, former President Bill Clinton’s senior adviser on the Middle East, said the worst may be yet to come.

“An Insider’s View on the Middle East Peace Negotiations” was the title of Ross’ April 12 talk, presented at a Seeds of Peace reception in the Los Angeles home of Betty and Stanley Sheinbaum. Ross, who now is a fellow at the pro-Israel think tank Washington Institute for Near East Policy enumerated lessons learned from the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations of the Clinton administration.

The first is that both sides learned there is no alternative to the cause of peace. “In 1993,” Ross said, “Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization recognized each other’s identity, and once that threshold has been crossed, it can’t be undone.”

The choice is to be neighbors living in perpetual struggle or to find a path for peaceful coexistence, he continued, “but I can’t say that we’ve seen the worst.”

Lesson two, Ross said, is that no one can impose peace. “The Israelis can’t use military force to extinguish Palestinian aspirations,” he noted. “There is no way violence will get Israel out of the West Bank.”

Lesson three, according to Ross, is that there can be no unilateral solutions: “Israel would like to wish away the Palestinians, but this won’t work any more than a Palestinian unilateral announcement of statehood.”

Ross’ fourth lesson was that there must be a negotiation process that takes place within a sensible environment.

Elaborating on this point, Ross stated: “We [the U.S.] made a big mistake by negotiating peace between the leaders—not the public.”

Admitting that this set the stage for the current impasse, Ross said, “Realities on the ground must match the table talk. Palestinians continued to incite [Israeli] grievances, [and] Israel shouldn’t have expanded settlements, demolished houses, besieged [Palestinian] cities.”

Stating that Palestine Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat failed to encourage his people to settle for peace, Ross said the U.S. did not do enough to push each side to address the fundamental needs of the other. Stressing there should have been more people-to-people contact, Ross emphasized that the challenge ahead is to get back to where both sides were in December by creating a code of conduct to deal with the issues of security and statehood.

Lesson five, Ross concluded, deals with the paradox of the U.S. role in facilitating both sides to take a lead.

During the question-and-answer period that followed, it was pointed out to Ross that it is difficult for the impoverished Palestinians to negotiate with Israel, a regional superpower besieging their cities. Ross replied that if the standard was equality for both sides, there would be no negotiations.

Ross made the highly questionable claim that in the December negotiations, Washington offered as much as $20 billion to $30 billion in reparations to the Palestinians. Under this proposal, Palestinians could return to land under Palestinian control, but not to Israel.

Another question posed to Ross concerned an American rabbi’s boast that 11 “warm Jews” are in the top negotiating and policymaking positions. From this, it would appear the Palestinians never had a chance.

Ross, a Jew, responded that he is strongly supportive of Israel, but that the U.S. shouldn’t adopt programs acceptable to all Israeli positions. The former diplomat never once mentioned Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, but did allude to Palestinian impatience over Israeli “control.”

During a photo session, the Washington Report told Ross that, only four days earlier, Palestinian negotiator Hanan Ashrawi had told an audience of 700 that the Israelis had accepted some Palestinian offers, but that Ross and his team rejected them.

Ross replied that he did not take Ashrawi’s comments seriously. If this were true, he countered, why didn’t the Palestinians solve their problems without American brokers?

The program concluded with a presentation by Palestinian and Israeli Seeds of Peace teenagers Adham Rishmawi, 19, and Aviv Liron, 18. Seeds of Peace was founded nine years ago by Hearst newspapers journalist John Wallach and brings together teenagers from war flashpoints to a camp in Maine. The organization operates a center in Jerusalem, where teens from both sides gathered to mourn the murder of Asel Asleh, 17, a Seeds of Peace graduate who was shot Oct. 2 at point blank range by Israeli security officers.

Adham praised the opportunity Seeds of Peace gave him to meet Israelis his own age and, despite initial hostilities, to become friends. “What I didn’t hear Ambassador Ross mention is security for the Palestinians,” he said. “If it comes down to security or land, I want security.”

In response to a query about how he will treat Palestinians when he fulfills his military obligation, Aviv said: “It will be very difficult to go into the army after Seeds of Peace. I will be in a position of authority and I will convince my men that Palestinians are human.”

The Israeli teenager commented that after his Seeds of Peace experience, his parents were upset when he told them he wanted to visit friends in an Arab village.

Adham, on the other hand, said his family didn’t object to his making Israeli friends, but his peers said they could not trust an Israeli.

When asked what they wanted the U.S. to do, Adham said the Palestinians ask Washington to seek human rights for everyone in the Middle East. Aviv called upon Americans to have the maturity to know war is not the solution. “After the Seeds of Peace camp,” the young man said, “I know coexistence can work.”

MPAC Confers Award on Yusef Islam/Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens, the 1970s singer and songwriter who gave up superstardom to observe the Islamic faith as Yusef Islam, stated May 5 in Los Angeles that “it is high time Muslims actively inform the West of the true precepts of Islam. Take a chance with the media and convey the message of Islam,” urged the soft-spoken musical icon as he received the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Entertainment Media Award.

Also receiving awards with Islam were VH1 producer George Moll and his team who produced the documentary, “Cat Stevens: Behind the Music,” released in October 2000.

MPAC praised the VH1 production for accurately portraying the reasons behind Islam’s spiritual journey from mega star to “Mecca star.” It commended the documentary’s positive portrayal of the Islamic faith, and for conveying the singer’s efforts to establish orphanages for Muslim victims in Bosnia, his founding of Muslim schools in England and support of dozens more charities with royalties from his music.

Islam’s religious beliefs have been so distorted by the media that he was hesitant to meet with Moll, it was noted. Eventually, however, the producer convinced Islam of his sincerity in portraying the motivations of a superstar who set aside his career at its apex in order to convert to Islam.

In accepting the award, Islam said: “When VH1 first approached me, I shuddered. I was trying to get away from the popular spotlights shining on me with the ferocity of the public’s glare.”

He saw Moll’s offer as a threat and an opportunity, he said, but he accepted it in the spirit of the latter, in tracing the footsteps of his spiritual journey.

Previous recipients of MPAC’s Entertainment Media Awards include: Warner Brothers, producers of “Three Kings,” a film depicting the plight of the post-Gulf war Iraqi people; director Spike Lee and the producers of “Malcolm X”; actor Morgan Freeman and the producers of “Robin Hood—Prince of Thieves” for their positive portrayal of a Muslim character; and Karen Armstrong for her writings about Islam, Jerusalem and the Crusaders’ Holy War.

Rabbi Beerman’s 80th Birthday Celebrated

In Los Angeles, the name of Rabbi Leonard Beerman is synonymous with the labor movement, nuclear disarmament, the struggle for civil rights and justice for the Palestinians. What is especially unique about this progressive religious figure is that he founded the Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles’ prosperous West Side and has remained a part of it for more than a half-century.

More than 1,000 friends and supporters gathered May 4 at Leo Baeck Temple for “A Celebration of Words and Ideas,” a shabbat in honor of Rabbi Beerman’s 80th birthday.

A stellar collection of religious leaders and lifelong friends described the intersection of their lives with Rabbi Beerman’s. They included Rabbi Sanford Ragins, who succeeded him as senior rabbi of the temple after Rabbi Beerman’s retirement in 1986. Grace, passion, brilliance, stubbornness, orneriness, and father were a few of the descriptions Rabbi Ragins used in portraying Rabbi Beerman as both a trend setter and trend resister.

In their tribute to the rabbi, Judith Viorst read a poem she composed for him and Milton Viorst noted how they initially met during protests against the U.S. war in Vietnam. “But we really bonded in our views over the troubles in the Middle East,” he recalled, “and that Israel and many American Jews are falling short in the struggle for peace.”

Viorst said he and the rabbi were in Jerusalem in 1977 when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made his historic visit there “and he turned the conflict around. Too many times, it has been turned back, but Leonard never turned around,” Viorst said.

Dr. Maher Hathout of the Islamic Center of Southern California recalled his first encounter with Rabbi Beerman when both were speaking about the Middle East at a bookstore. “Both of us were viciously criticized, Hathout noted, “but I knew that from that point onward, my destiny would be tied with this rabbi in the struggle for sanity and justice in the Middle East.

“Few people stand bigger than themselves,” he continued, “but Leonard Beerman has become a symbol for justice. At moments of despair, he embodies empowerment to me. To me, Leonard Beerman is my brother.”

Symposium Dispels Jerusalem Myths

“Israeli fundamentalists who say they must excavate for King Solomon’s stables beneath the Haram al-Sharif are exploiting a myth; most archeologists agree Herod destroyed all vestiges of Solomon’s temple.” So said Christian scholar William Baker at an April 30 seminar hosted by the Orange County Muslim Public Affairs Council.

Joining Baker on the podium were Dr. Maher Hathout, spokesman of the Islamic Center of Southern California, Dr. Laila al-Marayati, who sits on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, Aslam Abdullah, editor of the Minaret, and Sami Odeh. Waleed Shindy was emcee of the program, entitled, “Jerusalem: Dispelling the Myths.”

Speaking from the perspective of a scholar of early Christian history, Baker, who is the founder of Christians and Muslims for Peace, said he excavated in Jerusalem with the Near East Institute of Archaeology from 1968 to 1970.

“Jerusalem has been rebuilt 44 times and was referred to in the Tell Amarna tablets as Ur a Shaleem (city of the people), and as Uruk Salem (City of Peace) in Aramaic,” he noted. “I can verify that there are no remains of Solomon’s temple on what Jews refer to as the Temple Mount. It is as if Herod purposely did not want any traces of Solomon’s structure to remain.”

Stating his belief that Jerusalem should always be an open city, Baker said: “I am opposed to any entity who claims ownership of Jerusalem and bans others from entering it. Jerusalem should be the capital for all three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, not the F-16s,” he concluded.

Dr. Hathout noted that records of the 12th century BCE make some reference to Israel, but said the trap of history is for any group in the Middle East to claim “I was there first.”

“No one racial group of the ancient Near East can claim it is pure,” Dr. Hathout asserted. “The fallacy of the historical argument that any land should revert to whoever was there first is its absurdity. Why, out of all similar circumstances in the world—North and South America, Africa, New Zealand, Australia—does the Jewish claim become a valid argument? If we wish to apply this example across the board that all land should go back to its aboriginal populations—fine—but not just to Israelite claims.”

Dr. al-Marayati described a recent trip she made to Israel/Palestine and her group’s inability to visit Gaza and the West Bank. She stressed the Israeli government’s refusal to Christian and Muslim Palestinians to visit their holy sites in Jerusalem

The most holy Muslim site, the Haram al-Sharif, she said, has repeatedly been a flash point for the murder of Palestinians. Just last October, seven Palestinians were mowed down by Israeli troops. In 1996, three were murdered and, in 1990, 17 were massacred on the sacred ground.

In light of intensified confiscation of identity cards, demolition of homes, denials of house repairs, curfews and Jewish encroachment into the Arab quarter, Dr. al-Marayati said, international protection is needed for the safety of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

Sami Odeh said he lived the first 24 years of his life in Jerusalem, and that the Palestinians will never need a Theodor Herzl to justify their claims to the land.

During the question-and-answer period that followed, one person asked why Arab states don’t come to the rescue of the Palestinians and declare a jihad.

Baker responded that jihad is a propaganda word used as a hot button to invoke images of saber-rattling Muslims for Western audiences, whereas in fact jihad translates as the “war within one’s heart.”

Dr. Absalam argued that all Arab states should defend the Palestinians. At present, he said, there are two perceptions of what is taking place in Palestine: the Israeli view of tyranny and the Palestinian perspective of justice.

“Where is the worldwide ummah [Muslim nation] to help the Palestinians?” Baker asked.

Syrian Ambassador in L.A.

On his first visit to Los Angeles since he was appointed Syria’s ambassador to the U.S., Dr. Rustom al-Zoubi addressed members of the Syrian Arab American Association at an April 22 brunch in the Holiday Inn of La Mirada.

The envoy reiterated Syria’s position that it will only accept a peace with Israel which includes a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights and a just and comprehensive peace for the Palestinians. Noting that Syria’s economy is thriving, Ambassador al-Zoubi stated that Lebanon and Syria concur it is in the best interests of both nations to keep their economies linked. He further stipulated that Damascus is trying to strengthen ties with all Arab capitals to forge unity in achieving common goals.

Several Syrian Americans present questioned Syria’s policy of charging $15,000 to any male wishing to return who did not serve in the military. Many asked that this amount be reduced to a more reasonable price. The diplomat said he would take their request to the proper authorities in Damascus.

Muslim Heritage Awards Tradition Born

Muslims have been in Los Angeles for at least five decades, and on April 7 the Islamic Center of Southern California honored individuals who helped plant the seed of Islam in the area.

In welcoming more than 250 guests to the Pasadena Hilton Hotel, Nadir El-Farra commented that he took growing up Muslim in Los Angeles for granted, but realized the time had come to thank the pioneers who established an Islamic identity in Southern Californa.

In the early 1950s, El-Farra said, families gathered in each other’s homes to celebrate Eids. Eventually, they mustered a down payment on a building in East Los Angeles. In the 1960s, the growing Muslim community began conducting services in a house on St. Andrews Place, a few miles west of the downtown center. In 1979, Muslim leaders raised funds to buy a large building at Fourth and Vermont.

“Many were fearful we would never have enough worshippers to fill the building,” El-Farra noted.

Physician Hadi Salem, who came to the U.S. 50 years ago as a Muslim Egyptian Fulbright scholar, said that donations from Iran and Kuwait made it possible for him in 1967 to recruit Muslim scholar Dr. Muhsin Elbiali as director of the Islamic Center on St. Andrews Place. That same year, Dr. Salem, Dr. Sabri El Farra and Mustafa Siam submitted a request to the University of Southern California to establish a chair in Islamic studies taught by Dr. Elbiali. So distinguished was the late Dr. Elbiali’s work at USC, that Al Azhar University in Cairo commended his work.

Dr. Elbiali’s sons accepted his posthumous award and noted that as children who attended their father’s lectures at St. Andrews Place, they had no comprehension of the impact he made on a community which was then laying its foundations. They recalled a TV show their father pioneered with a rabbi and a priest entitled, “Today’s Religion.”

Honoree Jane El-Farra recalled how her late husband, Dr. Sabri El-Farra, endeavored to establish the chair in Islamic studies at USC and how concerned he was that his grandchildren might assimilate into the general culture and not observe Islam.

Smiling at the room full of Muslims, Mrs. El-Farra said how grateful she was that her husband’s dreams of perpetuating Islam in his family have become a reality.

Patricia and Abed Awad received their award from Dr. Abdel Mageed Ahmed, chairman of the ICSC board.

In accepting her award, Mrs. Awad joked that she was called the mother of the budding Islamic community in the 1960s because she often cared for the children while parents were praying.

“When we started, we were in our 30s, and now the members of the first youth group are in their 40s,” she said. “Through volunteerism, we came to know each other very well, and now we are a family enveloped by the Islamic community.”

Also receiving Heritage Awards were Ruthalene Akbarut, widow of Orhan Akbarut, and Siham Siam, widow of Mustafa Siam.

Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journalists based in Los Angeles.