fight the imperialists,' " he says. Thus,
the leaders make themselves appear
necessary, he says. Who else could fight
this horrible enemy?
It was the manner in which Israel was
established, not its mere existence, that
continues to vex Arabs, says Mr. Saati. "It
was never, 'Please, we need a homeland.' It
was imposed. That started things out
wrong and everything follows." Though
Mr. Saati harbors no hatred for Israelis,
he says it's not a place he would like to
visit. "If I go to Israel, I'll be interrogated
and strip searched."
And he supports the establishment of a
Palestinian state because "every human
being has the right to a homeland." He
believes this is the view of King Hussein
of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak. Some other Arab leaders,
though, "couldn't care less about the Pa-
lestinians."
He believes a Palestinian state would
begin to solve problems in the Middle
East. But more is needed, he says. Arabs
need to learn Jewish history, and Israeli
students need to study the Arab past.
This is the only way to diffuse hatred, he
says.
To walk down the streets of Jerusalem
today is to be skeptical that anything can
be done to quell Israeli-Arab hatred.
Arabs generally stay in their own areas;
Israelis rarely venture outside their-
neighborhoods, and then never at night.
In eastern Jerusalem. Israeli flags fly
above closely guarded buildings. Few
people on are on the street in the late
afternoon. Many of the stores are. already
closed.
Just across the street from the Ameri-
can Colony Hotel, where many American
journalists stay while in Israel, is an
unassuming building. But inside are the
offices of two of the most outspoken Pales-
tinian rights advocates in Israel today:
Lea Tsemel, a Jewish woman, and
Jonathan Kattab, head of Al Haq, a
human rights group based in Ramallah.
Mr. Kattab, a lawyer, has an office fill-

Amir Denha and, below, Sid Shaheen.

ed with books tracing alleged Israeli
abuses of Palestinians. Many were taken
from reports in The Jerusalem Post;
others come from Al Fajr, the Palestinian
paper.
A native of Bethlehem, Mr. Kattab be-
lieves he should love Israel. "As a Chris-
tian, I am supposed to love my enemy," he
says. "Israel is my enemy."
Unlike many of his American counter-
parts, Mr. Kattab doesn't couch his
thoughts in polite words or gentle expres-
sions about international conferences. He
calls Israel "a hostile, belligerent
presence right in the middle of the Arab
and Muslim world."
And that means seize the day, he says.
He says peace is possible now, perhaps
more than at any time in the past or the
future.
"The Palestinians have come to accept
the reality of making peace" not because
they have become convinced of the
legitimacy of the Zionist cause but because
they are desperate for peace.
If a Palestinian state is established, the
Arab states will have no choice but to
come to terms with Israel, he says.
"They're not going to be more Catholic
than the pope."
Mr. Kattab cares little about Israel's
military might. "So you have power," he
says. "For how long? 50 years? 100? Come
on now, do you want to live here or just -
die here?"
Only with a Palestinian state will Israel
achieve peace, he says. Only by meeting
with the PLO can Israel survive.
"(As a Palestinian) I am offering you
something nobody else can," he says. "I'm
offering you legitimacy."
He remembers his childhood home in
Ramallah, now occupied by Jews. This
land, he says, "It's ours. Come with me
and I'll show you the house where I was
born. I'll show. you the tree my uncle
planted.
"Do you think I want to give this up?
There's only one reason. My children," he
says. "We have to sit together without
liking each other precisely for that
reason. We have to sit together because
we want to live." ❑

"The Jewish mothers are
crying; the Palestinian
mothers are crying.
Their children are being
killed. When is it
going to end?"

Sid Shaheen