Interview with Majed Nassar
A Palestinian view of Sharon-Barak
The following is excerpted from a translation of an
interview in French with Dr. Majed Nassar a week before the
Israeli election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. It appeared in
the Belgian newspaper Solidaire.
"Why should Sharon be worse than Barak? The latter was
already a disaster!" Palestinian doctor Majed Nassar doesn't
mince words.
"The Intifada will last if there are not just peace
proposals." Nassar thinks that the Palestinians should continue
their resistance because "we have right on our side."
Dr. Majed Nassar lives in Beit Sahour, a village near
Bethlehem on the West Bank of the river Jordan. He is director
of the Palestinian "Union of Health Work Committees"--10
medical centers in Gaza and on the West Bank.
As a surgeon, he has treated scores of victims of shootings
by the Israeli army and settlers in the past months. And he is
the father of two teenaged sons.
"The second Intifada that is raging through the occupied
territories is very strong among the youngsters," he said.
"Many of them are ready to take great risks and even risk their
lives in the struggle against Israeli occupation. It is hard to
keep them home."
Anger and frustration among the Palestinians is very
intense. "The territory around Bethlehem is closed from the
world outside. Tourism--traditionally the source of income in
this place of pilgrimage--has been stopped completely."
As a result, he explained, "40 to 50 percent of the working
population has no job.
"In the occupied territories a quarter of the population is
now under the level of poverty. Besides, you have the many
clashes with the Israeli guards who react at the throwing of
stones by shooting with the intention to kill and by bombing
villages like Beit Sahour and Beit Sala.
"Grenades and rockets hit less than 500 meters from my home.
Others were not that lucky."
Does Nassar believe that the wearisome negotiations between
the Palestinian authorities and the Israeli government have any
chance to succeed in these circumstances?
"Everything depends on which proposals are made. If it is
once again an Israeli-U.S. dictate that the Palestinians have
to swallow, then you can forget it, even if there is enormous
pressure on the Palestinian negotiators.
"Don't forget that Clinton threatened Yasser Arafat until
the last moment with a full-fledged war from Israel with U.S.
support. Barak was only negotiating to survive politically.
"Some say that if Ariel Sharon is elected prime minister,
the situation will get worse. I wonder if this is so. Barak was
only elected as premier thanks to support from the Arab
Israelis. And yet he didn't bring any improvement to the peace
process in the past one-and-a-half years.
"The number of settlements and roads between the settlements
has increased rapidly. He threatened to start a war against his
neighbors and he made a mess of the Intifada. So you cannot
call him a statesman. For us the difference with Sharon is very
small."
A lot of observers fear that the second Intifada could still
last very long. Dr. Nassar explained: "You must not forget that
the Palestinians have right on their side to oppose this bloody
occupation. How long it will last depends on the will of the
people to go on with the resistance.
"And it is not a question of weapons, because Israel has a
lot more weapons. If we give in, we will lose still more than
we have lost already: the greatest part of our land, and many
good folks among our people. Then we will lose ourselves.
"Don't forget that we already tried once to get peace
through the Oslo agreements. But we have seen nothing from the
peace dividend. Every day houses are blown up, fields are
occupied by settlers and orchards are cut down. Our land is
dying. The world should not let this happen."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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