| Background material from | |
Gush Shalom Press release, 28 June 2003
Uri Avnery's address to the meeting
Founding Conference of the Israeli-Palestinian Action Group for Peace
This morning in Ramallah, a hundred Israeli peace activists elude
military roadblocks in order to meet like-minded Palestinians.
"We welcome the increasing move towards Hudna (cease-fire) and the chance to break the cycle of violence, bloodshed and killing of innocent Israelis and Palestinians - but a cease-fire can be no more than one step in the right direction. A stable and lasting peace cannot be achieved without putting a complete end to the occuaption which is the root cause of the hatred and bloodshed. Leaders, politicians and diplomats cannot be relied on to do the job alone. There is needed a daily struggle for peace, a grassroots struggle, a joint struggle of commited citizens from both sides, acting together."
The above sums up he mood among two hundred Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, public figures and intellectuals who gathered this morning in Ramallah on the West Bank to attend the founding conference of the "Joint Action Group for Israeli-Palestinian Peace."
In order to get there, the Israeli participants had to find their way through the army roadblocks at the entrances to Ramallah. After several dozen Israelis mingled among Palestinian pedestrians at Kalandia Checkpoint on the south side of the city, soldiers blocked the entrance. The remaining activists, however, traveled by backroads and eventually made it to the conference hall. A few hours later, when they were exiting the city, soldiers at Kalandia wrote down meticulously names and ID numbers, threatening the Israelis on their way home with prosecution for having broken a military order - the three-year old order forbidding Israelis from entering the Palestinian cities ("Area A").
"Our most important declaration is the fact that we are here, peace- seeking Israelis who came to meet peace-seeking Palestinians and establish together a joint organization. The government wants to prevent Israelis who want peace from going into Ramallah; this is a privilege only of soldiers and settlers. But we are here to say to you, our Palestinian friends, that we are not enemies; that the joint enemy of all of us is the occupation, and the joint purpose - peace between the state of Israel and the state of Palestine", said Dr Lev Grinberg of Ben-Gurion University.
"I am happy to receive and host here so many peace-seekers", said Hanan Ashrawi, one of the main Palestinian organizers. "The approach common to all of us here, to Israelis and Palestinians alike, is based on the concept of security - not military security, but human security, creating mutual trust and recognizing the humanness of the other. Even the most difficult problems outstanding between the two peoples, such as settlements, refugees and Jerusalem, must be squarely faced and equitably solved, rather than swept under the rug."
Uri Avnery, who had a central role in bringing about the conference, mapped out a plan of action for the new body: - setting up a committee of experts to prepare within three months a detailed draft peace agreement, dealing with all the difficult issues; - a "Truth and Reconcilation Commission" on the model of the South- African body chaired by Bishop Desmond Tutu, with the ail of looking at the history of the past century and trying to formulate a version which both peoples can recognize; - a joint media bureau, which would actively engage the Israeli, Palestinian and international media; - an operations committee, charged with preparing demonstrations, campaigns and struggles, for example against the Separation Wall which is systemativally depriving Palestinian of their lands, or against the roadblocks which severely disrupt daily life.
"We want to confront the feeling of despair among both peoples, both of whom lost the belief that there can be a different future. We want to tell both peoples that they have a partner for peace, that there is somebody to talk to", said Yehudith Har'el, a driving force behind the initiative. "From here, from Ramallah, we want to give a message to both our peoples. There is an alternative to the policy of occupation and bloodshed. An alternative based on recognizing each other's rights; of ending the occupation through evacuation of settlers and withdrawal of the army behind the '67 border. The refugee problem must come to a solution by agreement between the two sides, cooperation with the international community and basing itself on the relevant UN resolutions."
The principles enumerated by Har'el, are in fact those set out in the new organization's manifesto. Naim el-Ashab who took part with her in drafting the text - already signed and published by more than a thousand people - remarked that this document is the result of dozens of preparatory meetings of Palestinians and Israelis over the past two years, starting from a small nucleus and gradually extending to more people on both sides. "This body must monitor the actual implementation of the roadmap, see to it that it does get to its official stated purpose - end of the occupation and creation of a viable Palestinian state which is the only way to achieve peace. The roadmap, originally created as a joint document of four international actors is more and more usurped by a single one of the four, one which has been showing itself as biased all too often. This poses the danger of the whole thing being derailed." He concluded by calling for the stationing of international forces, to ensure disengagement between two sides who have shed so much of each other's blood in the past thousand days.
Former Knesset Member Tamar Gozanski had been delayed at the army road-blocks and arrived an hour late. "Sharon and Bush are trying to sell old merchandise in a new packing. They both know that the great majority even of Israelis is weary of war, occupation and bloodshed. Both of them know that it is impossible even to contemplate a solution without talking of "creating a Palestinian state." But their using this concept is emptying it of the original content. Sharon means to create Bantustans and call them a state. We have to start using new language, and take care to be very precise about what we mean and not give up for example on the '67 borders."
Dr Gabi Baramki, former President of Bir-Zeit University, spoke of the two army roadblocks created at the Surda area, between Ramallah and the town of Bir-Zeit, which force students and lecturers to trek daily some two kilometers by foot, there and back. "This is a sadistic measure, which serves no Israeli security need whatsoever, the only purpose is to make our life difficult, to make it more difficult to maintain the normal academic life of our university." Bir-Zeit students also took up the same point: Israeli activists, some of them students or lecturers themselves, expressed interest in the suggested joint protest at the Surda roadblocks. Some Israeli and Palestinian students already exchanged phone numbers and email addresses on the spot.
Participants called for solidarity with the Palestinian prsoners held by Israel and who have started a hunger strike. Specific mention was made of Marwan Barghouti. "If he would be able, he would be here with us." said Hanan Ashrawi. Also mentioned was the other imprisoned Palestinian legislator, Husam Khader.
The Israeli refusniks - with their dramatic court martial sessions in the past week - got an applause. "They have been put on trial for their refusal to serve the occuaption, but now they put the occupation itself on trial" exclaimed a very proud grandfather, and himself a veteran peace activist, Reuven Kaminer.
The supreme sacrifice of Rachel Corrie was commemorated. (It was in the past days that the army's legal branch officially declared that the Corrie file is closed, with nobody prosecuted.)
A delegation of conference participants met shortly with President Arafat, who was reported to welcome the joint initiative.
For background:
Uri Avnery +972-(0)50-306440
Hanan Ashrawi - +972-(0)2-585 1842
Yehudit Har'el +972-(0)56-263145
Lev Grinberg - +972-(0)52-227432
For video footage:
Natasha Dudinsky - 972-(0)53-475496
Kathy Vasana - 972-(0)67-371606
B.H. Yael - 972-(0)51-939976
Uri Avnery*
28 June 2003
Today an important event took place in Ramallah. Three hundred personalities, half of them Palestinians, half of them Israelis, took part in the founding conference of the first wholly integrated joint peace organization - the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Action Group for Peace.
This followed the publication, two months ago, of a joint political statement signed by 1,500 Palestinian and Israeli personalities.
The occupation forces tried to prevent the Israelis from reaching Ramallah, some of them had to walk two kilometres in the heat to evade the checkpoints.
I was invited to give one of the keynote speeches. I would like - however immodestly - to publish it here in full:
Dear Friends,
Today we come together, Israelis and Palestinians, Palestinians and Israelis, to create something completely new: a Joint Action Group for peace.
Not for a hudna (truce), not for some temporary compromise, not just another little step in an endless step-by-step process, but for a real peace, for a just peace, for a peace with dignity, for a peace between equals.
What we are trying to do is completely new. We do not want to set up just another framework for cooperation between enemies, but a completely integrated task force. Not an Israeli movement with a Palestinian tail, nor a Palestinian movement with an Israeli tail. But an organization in which we all, Israelis and Palestinians, shall be full partners, united by a common vision of a free Palestine and a free Israel living together, side by side.
Of all the people I have met in the long fight for peace, the one whom I miss most at this meeting is Isam Sartawi, who was murdered 20 years ago. He would be sitting here. His spirit is with us.
Sartawi was a patriot, a former feda'i, who believed that the only way for the Palestinian people to achieve their national aims is to win the hearts of the Israeli people. In the same way, I believe that the only way for Israel to find a secure and prosperous future is to win the hearts of the Palestinian people.
Sartawi believed that the battle for Israeli public opinion is not just one task among many, but that it is the main front in the Palestinian struggle for liberation. In the same way, I believe that the battle for reconciliation and justice together with the Palestinian people is the main task of every real Israeli patriot. And we are the real Israeli patriots.
When we created the slogan "Two states for two peoples", we did not mean separation. We certainly did not mean two ghettos living side by side, each surrounded by high walls and electric fences. On the contrary, we meant close neighbourly relations, cooperation, partnership, open borders, free movement of people.
In order to convince our own peoples that this is possible, that this is not simply a dream of naive peaceniks, we must prove in our day-to-day activities that we can work together and speak together with one voice. It is a tragedy that, in all these years, especially since Oslo, no joint peace organization has come into being.
Of course, we have often met in action. We have many common memories. We have been beaten up together, we were tear-gassed together, we have demonstrated together many times. But there was never the one thing that was needed: regular, systematic, continuous joint action, day after day, week after week, month after month. We must now correct this historic mistake, which has had grievous consequences for peace.
We are meeting in dark times. Targeted assassinations, suicide bombings, the killing of women and children have become routine events. On both sides, people live in a state of fear, hopelessness and apathy. But we have no reason to lose hope. Looking back on the decades of our struggle, we see a steady move towards peace.
There were times when almost all Israelis denied even the existence of the Palestinian people. "There is no such thing as a Palestinian people," said Golda Meir. Today, there is hardly an Israeli who denies it.
Many years ago, when we raised the idea of two states living side by side, we were a tiny minority on both sides. Today, the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians accept this idea, and the whole world supports it.
Thirty years ago, when we established the first contacts with the PLO, we were considered traitors. Today it is official Israeli policy.
Seven years ago, in a joint demonstration with Faisal Husseini (Had he lived, he, too, would be sitting here!) at the wall of Jerusalem, we broke the Israeli taboo and declared that Jerusalem will be the capital of two states. Today this idea is generally accepted even by those who hate it.
We are still very far from victory. Many hardships and much suffering still lie ahead. But if we act together, with vigour and determination, our vision will prevail.
We must be the lighthouse, the fixed light that gives the direction and shows the way.
What can we do in practice?
I propose the following actions:
* Set up joint expert committees to prepare within three months the full text of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, including detailed solutions for all the problems - borders, Jerusalem, settlements, refugees, security, water - and present it to the public, showing that such an agreement is possible. If some disagreements remain, we shall say so candidly.
* Set up a joint Committee for Truth and Reconciliation, on the South African model, in order to examine the history of the last 120 years and establish a true picture, acceptable to both peoples.
* Set up immediately a joint press office, to address the Israeli, Palestinian and world media.
* Set up a joint operations staff, to plan public campaigns and demonstrations.
These are only a few ideas for discussion today. I am sure that many of you have more. Let's put them on the table.
The main thing is, let us do it together and carry it through, until the peace which we all desire comes to this beloved country.
Some weeks ago, when we met Yasser Arafat, some journalists asked him when will peace come. He said: Both Uri Avnery and I will see it in our lifetime. Arafat is 74 years old, I shall be 80 in a few weeks. So let's get moving!
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*Uri Avnery is an Israeli journalist, writer and peace activist. © Uri Avnery