This Week
Cover Story/Searching For Peace
Independent Voice
Arafat man in Jerusalem is going against
the Palestinian trend.
GIL SEDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jerusalem
T,
he top Palestinian official in
Jerusalem has some ideas for
ending the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict — though they may
not be acceptable to his own people.
Sari Nusseibeh's suggestions come as
some Israelis believe the Palestinians
have tired of the intifada (uprising).
"They thought we would break down
after a few months," Maj. Gen. Moshe
Yialon, the Israel Defense Forces' _
deputy chief of staff, said in a radio
interview over the weekend. "They are
frustrated that we did not break, and
they are now deliberating whether the
intifada has exhausted itself, and
whether it is time to change direction."
Nusseibeh — recently appointed by
Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat
as minister in charge of Jerusalem affairs,
replacing the late Faisal Husseini — is
among those Palestinians who have been
trying to suggest a new direction.
Nusseibeh earned a Ph.D. in Islamic
philosophy from Harvard University
and serves as president of Al-Quds
University in Jerusalem. He is the son of
the late Anwar Nusseibeh, who served as
minister of defense in Jordan in the early
1960s.
Like his father, Sari Nusseibeh often
has expressed unorthodox views on
resolving the century-old Israeli-
Palestinian conflict. In the 1980s, he
served time in Israeli jails for engaging in
alleged subversive activities.
He also has been physically attacked
by fellow Palestinians for expressing
moderate views.
Dose Of Reality
During the past few weeks, Nusseibeh
raised Palestinian ire with comments he
made in a series of public appearances,
as well as with statements that appeared
in the Arabic- and Hebrew-language
press.
He made clear that in exchange for a
peace deal with Israel the Palestinians
would have to give up the "right of
return" for refugees who fled or were
forced to leave their homes in Israel dur-
ing the 1948 War of Independence.
Such a demand is a "deal breaker" that
Israel would never accept, for fear of
Right Choice?
Zinni as diplomat raises questions of _possible bias.
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Washington
upporters of Israel are split on
the choice of retired Marine
General Anthony Zinni as the
State Department's senior
adviser on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A former commander in chief of the
United States Central Command, Zinni
is being recruited to jump-start negotia-
tions between Israel and the Palestinian
Authority. He is expected to mediate
discussions on security cooperation and
is slated to visit the region later this
week to work with committees from the
two sides toward a cease-fire.
Announcing the appointment during
a Mideast policy speech Monday at the
University of Louisville in Kentucky,
11/23
2001
16
Secretary of State Colin
Powell described Zinni
as "a distinguished sol-
dier, Marine, with long
experience in the
Middle East, particu-
larly on security issues.
He will be an invalu-
Gen. Zinni
able addition to our
team."
As the head of Central Command
from 1997 until his retirement last
year, Zinni was the senior American
officer dealing with a host of Middle
Eastern countries, but not Israel.
Israel issues are handled by the U.S.
military's European Command, in part
to separate the two sides of the Arab-
Israeli conflict and shield the com-
mand from potential Arab accusations
of bias toward Israel.
undermining the Jewish identity of the
state, Nusseibeh said.
Israelis of all political stripes consider
the demand that some '800,000 Arab
refugees and their 4-5 million descen-
dants be allowed into Israel as a veiled call
for the elimination of the Jewish state.
In return, Nusseibeh said, Israelis
must understand that the Palestinians
demand all the land Israel occupied in
the 1967 Six-Day War. This means that
Israel would have to give up all its settle-
ments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
and turn over all of eastern Jerusalem.
Nusseibeh's comments about the
refugees might have aroused less out-
rage among Palestinians just a year
and a half ago.
It was only after the collapse of peace
talks last year that Arafat revived the
demand that the right of return be part
of a final settlement with Israel.
Before that, it was implicitly under-
stood under the Oslo accords that
Palestinians would not demand to return
to Israel once they had their own state.
After more than a year of violence,
however, Palestinians are not inclined to
hear that they too must make conces-
sions for peace. Just the same, Nusseibeh
is optimistic that his people ultimately
will listen to his ideas.
"Although there is a lot of criticism of
these views on the Palestinian side, this
does not indicate that these views could
not be acceptable" to the Palestinian
people.
INDEPENDENT VOICE on page 19
Some pro-Israel activists therefore
believe that Zinni will take a pro-Arab
bias.
"He's the wrong man for the job,"
one leading Middle East analyst said.
"He will bury himself in the details of
finding an accord, when the issue is
achieving Arab acceptance of Israel."
Added a defense analyst for one
Jewish organization: "His background
is self-evident. He needs to demon-
strate his ability to be even-handed, at
best, if he is going to take this on."
In an 1998 interview with the
Middle East Quarterly, Zinni acknowl-
edged that the Central Command
essentially works on behalf of Arab
states in the region, and that the failure
of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
would harm the command's mission.
"The topic is always being rammed
down our throats," Zinni said of the
peace process. "It is the most impor-
tant political factor in the region and
affects every single person there. If the
peace process continues to go south,
we have big problems."
❑
Responding To Powell
"I'm aghast ... Colin Powell over-
stepped his bounds. I believe there
eventually will be a Palestinian state,
but unless it's formed by negotiations
with Israel, all we're doing is setting
up another war, and this will be a big
one of extermination of Israel.
BecauSe if there's a separate state,
they're not going to be confined to
kids throwing rocks."
— Arnold Michlin, Waterford,
American Arab and Jewish Friends
"It was rather positive — clearly an
attempt to be balanced and provide an
opening of dialogue and resolu-.
tion. [It] reaffirmed the position
of our administration regarding the
need for us to be actively engaged."
— Hannan Lis, Farmington Hills,
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces
"He clearly recognized that Israel
can't make any concessions while
under fire. I think reading his state-
ment, it's clear he recognized that the
root of the conflict isn't settlements,
but Arab rejectionism of Israel's right
to exist as a Jewish state."
— Ken Gold, vice-president
of American Jewish Committee,
Greater Detroit Chapter
"I thought it sparked inside of me —
and it should spark inside of all of us
— a great desire to connect myself to
the deep spiritual and activist work
we need to do in the Jewish commu-
nity so we continue to see that the
U.S. remains Israel's true friend. As
a Jew, I have to do the work to
remind my local and national legis-
lators that I and my community
care about Israel and that we don't
take their support for granted. It's
time to applaud the Israel lobby.
Hand-written letters work."
— Rabbi Scott Bolton, director of
community learning, Hillel Day
School of Metropolitan Detroit
"I am much encouraged by the
comments of Secretary Powell and
the broad principles that he set
forth in his speech yesterday. The
final arrangements, if and when
they come, will depend not on the
caliber of the guns nor the width of
the national territories, but on the
breadth of vision of those charged
with bringing about a just result."
— Rudy Simons, Southfield, music
publisher, businessman,
human rights activist
— compiled by
Sharon Luckerman, staff writer