A Palestinian conference on philanthropic matters that turned into a pro-Palestine Liberation Organization rally in East Jerusalem over the weekend has Israeli officials angered and puzzled over how to deal with such political manifestations in the future. The conference, organized by Dr. Amin Al Hatib, head of the Union of Charitable Organizations in East Jerusalem, was billed as a discussion of the problem of philanthropic agencies on the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
It opened Friday at the East Jerusalem YMCA with a march of children wearing Tee shirts imprinted with the Palestinian flag, singing nationalist songs that referred to “Arab Palestine” and “Arab Jerusalem.” It closed yesterday with attacks on Israel, calls for a Palestinian state under PLO leadership and denunciation of the autonomy plan for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Few of the speakers at the three-day gathering restricted themselves to charitable issues. An entertainment by children depicted Israeli soldiers suppressing Palestinian demonstrators. A girls’ choir sang songs of love for “Arab Jerusalem.” A dance team waved scarfs dyed black, white, red and green, the colors of the Palestinian flag. The audience rose for two minutes of silence in memory of the “holy warriors” who fell.
Most of the pro-PLO mayors of West Bank towns were in the audience, notably Bassam Shaka of Nablus and Fahed Kawasme of Hebron along with pro-Jordan Mayor Elias Freij of Bethlehem and Anwar Nusseiba, former Defense Minister of Jordan. Israeli officials were particularly disturbed by the presence of foreign consular officials including the U.S. The latter said he came because he was invited and rejected any political significance in his presence.
Israel normally bans events of this type. But the West Bank Military Government did not interfere, partly because the conference was billed as social and philanthropic and partly because it was held in East Jerusalem where the Military Government has no jurisdiction. Officials at the Prime Minister’s Office explained that the Premier’s advisor on Arab affairs took no action because, traditionally, he deals only with Arabs living within Israel’s pre-1967 borders. Asked by reporters to comment on the political coloration of the conference, Hatib said “We did not intend to have any political expressions but I do not regret that these took place. This is the way the people express themselves.”
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