Subscribe Feed (RSS)As an addition to our already jam-packed schedule, we were able to get an audience with senior government officials from Hamas. The Palestinian Legislative Council building had been bombed during the Israeli attack, so we met under a UNICEF tent in the parking lot. Ahmed Baher, acting speaker of the PLC, greeted us with thanks for our “human feelings” and for having brought toys and medicine for the children of Gaza. The elected speaker, Abdel Aziz Duwaik, is currently being held in an Israeli jail. Baher emphasized how important it will be for Obama to be fair in his treatment of the issues.
Medea spoke, reminding everyone that during his campaign for president, Obama said he would talk to everyone and was greeted with great applause for his emphasis on diplomacy. But also warned everyone that there were still strong elements of pressure trying to push him in the other direction, for example, our Congress! “The world will be a better place if we just talk to each other and our trip is an example of citizen diplomacy.” She talked about the petition launched by CodePink calling on Obama to go to Gaza to see with his own eyes the effects of the siege and Israel’s 22-day attack. And while she admitted it was highly unlikely that Obama would travel to Gaza, our hope is that with continued pressure at least George Mitchell might make the trip. He has been to the Middle East three times without ever setting foot on the Gaza Strip. Medea echoed sentiments felt by all when she said she was ashamed of our government and all the military aid going to Israel. “Instead,” she said, “our tax dollars should be going for schools and medicines and other life giving resources.”
Norm Finkelstein then spoke, and laid out what we began to call the “grand plan.” He said our number one priority should be to break the siege. He called on Palestinians to organize a mass demonstration in the Gaza Strip. “But it has to be non-sectarian. We can’t be seen as supporting Hamas. Our first concern has to be Palestinian rights.” The march would be led by prominent international figures who have been critical of Israel’s policies, such as Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson and John Dugard. At the head of the march would also be Gazans seeking medical treatment abroad who have been unable to travel because of the siege as well as university students who have been awarded scholarships at foreign universities. He called on universities in the U.S. to organize fundraisers to send at least one student delegate to Gaza for the march as well as a satellite hook-up to broadcast the march into campuses throughout the U.S.
We were all given scarves from the PLC and stood on the steps in front off the bombed out building for a group photo. We were all floored when we were then invited to tour the remains of the parliament building, through which we could see the sky as well as the Mediterranean from the huge holes and collapsed roof.
The media like to refer to Palestinian administrative buildings as Hamas headquarters, and while Hamas is currently the elected government in Gaza, these are Palestinian institutions. Try to imagine the capitol building in Washington or your state being bombed!
The following evening we met with women of Hamas – 20% of Palestinian parliament is made up of women! We broke into small groups to learn more about their positions. Most of the questions centered around the difference between Fatah and Hamas, with many expressing frustration with Fatah, feeling that their strategy of continuous negotiations and giving in too much to Israel had been a failure. Huda Naim, who had been with Hamas since 1987, told us she chose Hamas because it is rooted in Islam. “It is best when rights are supported by a religion, not just one person’s ideas, which can then be taken away at any moment.” We talked about how George Bush had also used religion to carry out the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and asked how that differed. She replied that Hamas was using religion to promote rights, but things got lost in translation and distorted through cultural filters so at times it was difficult to comprehend the answers. One of the Catholic members of our group talked about the separation of church and state, and the fact that she followed U.S. law but turned to her religion for moral guidance. She asked why Hamas felt it necessary to impose religion by law. Huda Naim replied that no one was forced to follow Islam. “We have some co-ed universities, and we don’t like it but they exist.” She did say she and fellow Hamas leaders would like to see Palestine as an Islamic state with Sharia law imposed.
We had done what many Western political leaders had refused to do: simply listen to the elected leaders of this war torn area and try to understand their positions. We also tried to explain ours, and hopefully our desires to stand by the people of Gaza who have suffered so much, helped to open their eyes as well.
Category: in gaza
