Conference discusses strategies for Palestine

By Phil Stanford and Stan Thompson

RAMALLAH — An international conference in Jerusalem on June 7-10
commemorated 50 years of dispossession of the Palestinian people. The conference
overwhelmingly rejected the Oslo accords and discussed the need to develop
democratic political alternatives, as well as moves to rebuild solidarity
around the world.

 Around 800 participants attended the “50 years of Human Rights
Violations — Palestine Dispossessed” conference, organised by the Palestinian
Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (LAW).

Speakers and participants included representatives of non-government
organisations, academics and solidarity activists from all over the world.
Palestinian participants came from within Israel, the occupied territories,
refugee camps and the diaspora. Hanan Mikhail-Ashrawi and Tayeb Abdul Rahim
from the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) also attended.

Discussion focused on the post-Oslo accords period. There was little
disagreement from participants that the accords, rather than beginning
a peace process, had furthered the dispossession of the Palestinian people.

The first Oslo accord, signed in 1993, was promoted as signalling the
end of the Israeli military occupation and the beginning of self-determination
for the Palestinian people.

In fact, it granted only limited administrative autonomy. Israeli military
forces were redeployed to more strategic posts in the occupied territories.
Settlements have continued to expand, and Israel is attempting to remove
Palestinians from the 70% of the West Bank which remains under its military
and civil control. These and other fundamental issues have been deferred
to final status talks in 1999.

US academic and author Norman Finkelstein argued that the failure of
the PLO negotiators to fulfil the aspirations of the Palestinian people
was the result of the military and financial weakness of the PLO at the
time of negotiations. Finkelstein characterised the Oslo process as “the
final stage of conquest”.

Israel has accelerated the pace of land confiscation and house demolitions,
tightened controls at borders and restricted even further the right of
movement of Palestinians. The supposed autonomy of the PNA has been disregarded
by continued intervention of Israel in the occupied territories.

This applies pressure on the PNA to arrest opponents of the Oslo accords,
labelled threats to Israel's “security”.

As a consequence of this, and the PNA's own desire to quell internal
opposition, Palestinians now face arbitrary detention, arrest and torture
from the PNA security forces as well as from the Israeli military.

There was considerable debate over the goal of a separate Palestinian
state. Strong arguments for a bi-national or democratic secular state also
surfaced during the conference. There was general agreement on the need
to reach into Israeli society to find allies to further the Palestinian
cause.

With the virtual dissolution of the PLO into the PNA and the general
disorientation that has followed the signing of the Oslo accords, there
is no political force to provide the framework for these crucial debates.
Many participants argued for the need to build a democratic alternative
to the PNA leadership, which would facilitate these debates, mobilise Palestinians
and provide a focal point for international solidarity.

The final panel included Harry Derksen from the ICCO (a progressive
international church body) and Na'eem Jeenah from South Africa. Both speakers
argued that the South African anti-apartheid struggle highlighted the need
for the development of a political leadership that could provide a clear
focus for international solidarity movements.

Activist working groups meeting throughout the conference echoed this
sentiment and devised strategies for the consolidation of international
solidarity movements.

To ensure the momentum of the conference is maintained, a “Land and
Freedom” campaign was launched to provide a focus. Future plans include
international actions on December 10 and 11, which respectively mark the
50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the passing
of United Nations Resolution 194 (calling for the right of return of refugees).
International actions will culminate in May next year, when final status
negotiations are due to begin.

An encouraging feature of the conference was the large number of young
people from around the world who participated, particularly in the activist
working groups.

Conference participants organised a demonstration in the Jerusalem area
of Silwan, the site of a recent Israeli settler confiscation of four Palestinian-owned
houses. The houses were taken under the racist Absentee Property Law, which
allows the confiscation of property owned by Palestinians who live outside
the country.

The peaceful sit-in was violently broken up by Israeli police and soldiers,
and six demonstrators were arrested. Two participants required hospital
treatment. Yvonne Fredricksson, from the Swedish Palestine Solidarity Group,
remarked: “If they treat international visitors this way, imagine how the
Israeli army must treat Palestinians”.

[For more information about the conference, the Land and Freedom campaign
and the situation facing Palestinian people, visit the LAW web site at
<www.lawsociety.org> or e-mail <law@lawsociety.org>.]

From GLW issue 322