Diana Buttu Addresses Prospects for Peace, Grave Humanitarian Crisis in Palestine

By Elaine Pasquini

On July 23, PLO legal adviser Diana Buttu was in Gaza City, one mile from the heavily populated residential neighborhood which Israel targeted in its most devastating military air raid on Gaza to date. Sixteen people—including eight children ages 18 months to 15 years and two-month-old Dunia Matar—were killed. An additional 150 civilians were injured and an entire population terrorized when the Israeli air force dropped a one-ton bomb from an American-made F-16 fighter jet on a Gaza City apartment building.

Five days later, Buttu spoke of the experience at a public forum at the First United Methodist Church in San Rafael presented by the Marin Peace and Justice Coalition. “The bombing raid was a horror that nothing can prepare you for,” she told the small group of activists.

In her one-hour talk, followed by a half-hour question-and-answer session, the PLO adviser discussed Oslo, Camp David, the grave humanitarian crisis in the occupied territories and how to move forward.

The Palestinians, Buttu explained, had hoped a “viable” Palestinian state would emerge as a result of the Camp David talks in July 2000. To them a “viable state” meant control of their borders, water and air space, personal freedom of movement, movement of goods and services, and the ability to have a trade policy. “Palestinians want to be free of occupation just like any other state,” she stressed, “and especially free of military checkpoints and curfews.” On her last trip to Palestine, Buttu said, she spent over six hours at an Israeli military checkpoint, one of 120 in the West Bank, which equals one checkpoint every five miles.

Buttu told the audience that illegal Jewish settlements are the primary obstacle to peace. More illegal settlements were built during the term of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak than in any other time, she pointed out. From 1993 to 2000, she said, the number of settlers doubled—from 200,000 to 400,000. Although settlements in Jerusalem are rarely mentioned by the Israelis or the media, half of the illegal settlers, or 200,000, now live in occupied Arab East Jerusalem.

The right of Palestinians to return to their former homes inside Israel is another major issue which was not resolved at Camp David. Because her Palestinian parents emigrated to Canada in 1967, the right of return is a personal concern to the Toronto-born, Stanford-educated Buttu. “It’s distressing to me that my parents are unable to return to their homeland because they’re the wrong religion,” she said. “They’re Muslim, not Jewish.”

Displaced Palestinians, Buttu insisted, should have the option of returning to Israel. There are creative ways to address the issue, she pointed out, including timetables and a phased return of refugees. Also, she noted, many Palestinians have re-settled in other countries and would not want to return to Israel.

The decline of Palestinians’ living standards in the occupied territories, Butto continued, is one disturbing result of Israel’s occupation, curfews and checkpoints. USAID reports that currently 30 percent of Palestinian children under the age of six suffer from chronic to acute malnutrition. In addition, some 50 percent of families live below the poverty level—defined as living on less than $2 a day—and unemployment is running at 70 percent.

Buttu urged her audience to demand accurate and unbiased reporting from their local newspapers and television stations and to contact their congressional representatives to press for an end to financial aid to Israel and to hold Israel accountable.

Arab Cultural Center Holds Annual Banquet

“Rebuilding for the Next Generation” was the theme of the Arab Cultural Center of San Francisco’s annual banquet held July 27 at the Westin Hotel in Millbrae, California. PLO legal adviser Diana Buttu (see above) was the guest speaker. Buttu’s analysis of the current situation in Palestine was well received by the 250 banquet attendees.

Three $1,000 educational scholarships were presented to local college students. David Kashou received the 5th Annual Kamel Ayoub Scholarship, Lena Salaymeh the 3rd Annual Raffoul Assily Memorial Scholarship,and Dena Takruri was awarded the 10th Annual Arab Cultural Center Scholarship.

Palestinian Resistance Poetry Class Creates National Controversy

After three months of widespread publicity, criticism from pro-Israeli groups, and a re-writing of the course description, a new class on Palestinian resistance poetry debuted Aug. 27 at the University of California at Berkeley. The main target of the media maelstrom was Snehal Shingavi, a 26-year-old Indo-American who is a fifth-year graduate student and co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine. “I wish people, instead of focusing on me, would read the poems we’ll be studying,” Shingavi told the Washington Report. He said he felt the course would provide an important opportunity for students to read about the Palestinians living under occupation and in exile through their own words. “The material should be seen as a valuable contribution to literature,” he added.

Scolding articles—which have appeared in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to the Jerusalem Report—cite the following phrase in Shingavi’s catalog course description: “Conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections.” The young graduate student acknowledged the description “might have been better worded,” but said he was caught off guard by the negative reaction and overwhelmed by the amount of criticism. “I was amazed that the class is contested by people who have not even read the material,” he said. “I never felt people would feel intimidated, but honesty about political ideas causes problems.”

Although Shingavi received numerous hate e-mails, on the positive side, the class has generated interest in bookstores across the country that want to carry the books listed in the syllabus.

Shingavi explained that he was inspired to create the freshman English course entitled “Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance” after reading the works of Mahmoud Darwish, one of the foremost voices for the struggle for Palestinian independence. Shingavi emphasized that he was particularly moved by Darwish’s recent book, The State of Siege. In addition to Darwish, other Palestinian poets included in the curriculum are Ghassan Kanafani, Tawfiq Zayyad, Suheir Hammad, Samih Al-Qasim and Fadwa Tuqan.

The Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay requested the class be cancelled, but Chancellor Robert Berdahl declined to do so. However, Chancellor Berdahl did take the highly unusual action of having the 17-member class, which includes two pro-Israel students, monitored by an English department instructor, who will sit in on each class session.

The graduate student/activist stressed that he hoped the course would awaken students’ interest in Palestinian poetry as an art form, as well as bring awareness to the Palestinians’ tragic situation and their struggle to be free of Israeli occupation.

Dr. Zahi Hawass Expounds on Golden Mummies, Preserving Egypt’s Treasures

Dr. Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities, was the speaker and guest of honor at an Aug. 30 dinner at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco. The event was hosted by the Consulate General of the Egyptian Press and Information Bureau in celebration of the “Eternal Egypt” exhibit at San Francisco’s Palace of Legion of Honor (see June/July 2002 Washington Report, p. 80). Consul General Afaf El-Mazariky and Press Counselor Ahmed Sharaf opened the evening with introductory remarks.

Dr. Hawass related the discovery of what has become known as the “Valley of the Golden Mummies” in Egypt’s western desert some 225 miles southwest of Cairo. The excavations, which began in 1999 at Al-Bahariya Oasis, near a temple dedicated to Alexander the Great, eventually unearthed 234 mummies. Many bore masks covered in gold leaf. The mummies and the pottery, coins, and jewelry found in the tombs date to the Greco-Roman period (323 BCE to 400 CE). Five of the mummies have been removed to a new museum near the site, with the rest remaining in situ. Dr. Hawass insisted that mummies should be covered and protected, and not placed on public display.

Discoveries and renovations have also been continuing on the Giza plateau. In 1999, Dr. Hawass and a team of Egyptian scholars and workers completed a 10-year renovation of the Sphinx and adjacent temple. That same year, a new cache of tombs was discovered in the area which was determined to be the tombs of the pyramid workers. This exciting discovery, Hawass stressed, proved that Egyptians built the pyramids and de-bunked the often-discussed idea that the monuments were built by foreign slaves.

This year the Khufu—or Great—Pyramid will be closed for a one-year renovation. The large numbers of visitors entering the pyramid, Hawass explained, raised the level of humidity to 85 percent and led to cracks on the walls. The presence of salts also has contributed to deterioration of the giant structure.

The eminent archeologist is passionate about preserving the tombs, monuments and temples of ancient Egypt. Although only an estimated 30 percent of Egyptian antiquities have been excavated, Hawass advocates a moratorium on new excavations in order to concentrate on conserving the existing sites. “Without preservation, the monuments will disappear in 100 years,” he warned. And, Hawass said, although tourism is extremely important to the Egyptian economy, mass tourism was “dangerous to the monuments.” Site-preservation activities are underway at the Giza plateau, including a new entrance, parking area, and underground visitors’ center in order to control tourists, souvenir vendors, and camels.

In addition to uncovering ancient Egypt’s exquisite treasures, authoring books on his discoveries, appearing on television programs and lecturing worldwide, the energetic 55-year-old archeologist said that training young Egyptian archeologists was one of the most rewarding aspects of his long career.

Dr. Hawass also gave a well-attended 2-hour slide-illustrated lecture at San Francisco’s Palace of Legion of Honor on Aug. 31.

Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance photojournalist based in Ignacio, CA.