Palestinians Launch a Campaign to Win Sympathy, Backing from E.c.

Palestinian diplomats have embarked on an all-out campaign to win sympathy and political backing from the European Community.

The campaign, which was launched here this week, was spearheaded by Palestinian spokeswoman Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who is a chief adviser to the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace talks.

On Tuesday, she told a packed meeting in Parliament, “For 40 years, we were silent. Now we are speaking out.

“We are going to challenge not just your minds but your hearts as well. We’ll win the world over,” she said.

The meeting following a daylong lobby of members of Parliament by Palestinian sympathizers, timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Israeli capture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the Six-Day War.

But pro-Palestinian sources in the House of Commons stressed that it was also aimed at influencing British politicians just a month before the United Kingdom assumes the presidency of the E.C., which is Israel’s biggest trading partner.

In an interview, Ashrawi made it clear that enhancing the E.C.’s role in the peace talks is a Palestinian priority.

“The E.C. is more evenhanded than the Americans, and it recognizes our right to self-determination,” she said. “We think that while they have not so far been creative enough, they have the will and the means to make a major contribution to the peace process.”

‘JUST A FEW HUNDRED’ LOBBYISTS

Ashrawi has recently traveled to several key E.C. member countries, including Holland and Portugal, from which Britain will take over the E.C. leadership in July.

Ashrawi, who visited the Netherlands last week, told a Dutch newspaper that Holland may contribute its know-how to build a seaport in the Gaza Strip.

Ashrawi and Nabil Sha’ath, political adviser to Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat, said a deep-sea port would enable Palestinian exporters to ship their products directly to the European market, bypassing Israel. They said a Palestinian export office would be opened for that purpose, to be run by two Palestinians being trained in Holland.

And a Palestinian source has said that Ashrawi has also been invited by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to visit Germany.

The Palestinian move to win favor in Europe follows tensions between Israel and the E.C. over the E.C.’s policy of linking trade relations with its settlement policy in the territories.

There was also a sharp disagreement over Jerusalem’s reluctance to see the E.C., some of whose members are major arms suppliers to the Arab countries, take part in multilateral talks over Middle East arms control.

Pro-Israel sources in Parliament said they were pleased that “just a few hundred” people went to lobby their members of Parliament on behalf of the Palestinians. There was also satisfaction that an early motion broached to coincide with the lobby had been supported by only 32 members of Parliament.

However, there was concern about a turnout estimated at about 500 for a public meeting held Tuesday in the House of Commons grand committee room. Hundreds more, including a large number of MPs and diplomats, were unable to enter.

Ashrawi, introduced by the meeting’s chairman, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir David Steel, described the Israeli administration of the territories as “brutal.”

Ashrawi accused Israel of trying to sabotage the peace process and repeated accusations that the Israelis are employing plainclothes “death squads” to kill Palestinian activities.

But she said the Palestinians are determined to continue the peace talks, which she characterized as “flawed, unfair, unjust but the only peace process we have.”

She clashed several times with Moslem fundamentalists in the audience, one of whom called for “a relentless jihad (holy war) against Israel,” rather than peace negotiations.