Raymonda Tawil, a Palestinian activist and journalist from Nablus on the West Bank, claimed here that the Fatah organization as well as other Palestinian groups recognize the right of Jews in-Israel to “self-determination,” but added, however, that the Palestinian people want to restore their rights as well in territories that have been part of Israel since the creation of the state in 1948.
Addressing some 30 people at a meeting organized by the Committee on New Alternatives in the Middle East, Ms. Tawil spoke emotionally about the plight of her people “under Israeli occupation,” and accused the Israeli authorities of persecuting the Palestinians and of “blowing up houses and murdering innocent people.” According to her, “very few of the Israelis want to hear the voice of the Palestinians.” She spoke bitterly about Mrs. Golda Meir who, according to Ms. Tawil, “always says that a Palestinian people does not exist at all.”
At one point, when she was describing to her audience the “persecution” of Palestinians by the Israelis, she was asked by the JTA reporter about Jews in Arab lands who have been persecuted for years and about the fact that some half-million Jews have left the Arab countries without being allowed to take their belongings with them. Ms. Tawil, visibly irritated by the remark, denied any mistreatment of Jews at any time in the Arab countries.
Meir Payil, Moked leader and member of the Israeli Knesset, who was also invited to address the meeting, responded to Ms. Tawil’s denial by noting that in 1941 a full-scale pogrom against Jews took place in Iraq. Payil and Ms. Tawil arrived here Monday for a separate three-week lecture tour across the country. Their trip is sponsored by the Committee on New Alternatives in the Mideast.
Payil, who is a historian, called for recognition of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination but said at the same time that the Palestinians on their part should declare their recognition of the Jewish State. According to Payil, the main problem is that while the Yom Kippur War was a military victory it was, nonetheless, a “political failure.” The Israelis, Payil said, are not aware of this distinction nor that the Israeli government has lost, as a result of the war, its “freedom of strategic action.”
Referring to the Kiryat Shemona massacre. Ms. Tawil said: “It is very sad…the hatred is growing in both sides…each side talks about revenge.” She warned that if Israel insists on its present policy in regard to the Palestinians then “another Auschwitz can happen in Israel….I don’t want this to happen,” she said, pointing out that the hatred against Israel is tremendous and that Israel is surrounded by many Arab countries.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
