Three prominent American Jews have expressed dismay over the Israeli Defense Ministry’s decision last week not to issue travel passes to two leading Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to attend an international symposium on the Middle East at the San Diego State University.
Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, vice president of the World Jewish Congress, Dr. Rita Hauser, former U.S. delegate to the United Nations, and Stephen Shalom, said in a joint statement that the decision not to allow former Hebron Mayor Mustapha Abd A-Nabi Natshe and Gaza lawyer Fayez Abu-Rahme to join them in high level meetings to explore ways to move the Mideast peace process forward harms the cause of peace and damages Israel’s image as a serious seeker of peace.
They noted that, ironically, Abu-Rahme is one of two Palestinians who was approved by the Israeli government as a potential Palestinian representative in peace talks between Israel and a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. “If he was acceptable then, why is he a security risk now,” the three asked.
Israeli security sources said the two Palestinians were denied travel permits because there was a concern they would use the occasion to meet with hostile elements, but did not elaborate.
‘A POLITICAL NOT A SECURITY ACT’
“Denying travel permits to these Palestinians because of ‘hostile elements’ with whom they might meet does not seem to constitute sufficient ground for such action,” the joint statement said. “Barring Palestinians known for their moderate voice from participating in a constructive dialogue appears to be a political and not a security act.”
The San Diego conference, which had been scheduled to take place January 19-23, has been postponed, as all participants, including the Israelis, felt that Palestinian participation from the West Bank and Gaza Strip was essential to such discussions, Hertzberg, Shalom and Hauser noted. They expressed the hope that the Defense Ministry’s decision “would be reversed and that it would not constitute a precedent for future actions.”
Natshe and Abu-Rahme were to have been part of a large Israeli delegation. The invitees included Knesset members Abba Eban, David Libai and Shulamit Aloni; Prof. Shimon Shamir, a leading expert on Mideast affairs; Hanna Seniora, editor of the East Jerusalem Arabic daily El-Fajer; Hatem Abu-Ghazale, a Palestinian educator from Gaza; and Dr. Sare Nusseibeh of Bir Zeit University in the West Bank. The latter three Palestinians were apparently not subject to the Defense Ministry’s travel ban.
Other scheduled participants in the conference were former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Samuel Lewis; former Assistant Undersecretary of State Harold Saunders; former Israeli Justice Minister Haim Zadok; Israeli writer and journalist Amos Elon; a number of American Palestinians; and six leading Egyptians, some of whom are currently in the government.
The conference was to have been hosted by the Fred Hansen Institute for World Peace. The Institute, established at the San Diego State University in 1979, has been a major initiator and sponsor of joint Israeli-Egyptian collaborative ventures in the fields of oceanography, marine biology and arid lands agriculture.
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