||

~ In 1969 Golda Meir reiterated
4 long-standing premise of: the
Zicnist movement when she
Stated there is no such thing
aS a Palestinian people. She un-
derlined the most notorious

‘Used since the onset of the
Zionist movement — “A land
Without a people, a people with-
Out a land.”

This means, that when the
Zionists started their campaign
for the establishment of a Jewish
National home in Palestine, they
Stated to the public at large that
he country they wished to ob-
ae is a country without a peo-

e

The country was inhabited. It
lad a people who had existed
Sn that land since time imme-
Morial.

, The Zionists have consistent-
ly denied a Palestinian presence.
“hen they were confronted with

l¢ Palestinian reality, they
ttied to denigrate the national
Culture and national affiliation
of the people who inhabited the
land. We must remember that
the Zionist movement emerged
1 the 19th Century when Euro-
Péans in general (and the Zion-
'St_movement is a European
Movement) thought of Afro-
Asians as backward people who
Would in fact benefit from Euro-
‘Pean influence. This is the major
Wstification for European colo-
Nalism.

Anwar Sadat’s pro-American
‘Slance in Middle, East affairs
threatens Arab unity and peace
N One of the world’s most ten-
Sion ridden spots. -

The Egyptian -Israeli Sinai
veteement, and Sadat’s recent
Isit to the United States did
“Nuch to disturb the delicate

Race that_rests over the Middle
ast,

: Sadat has pitted his own
Suntry’s interest in American
‘ Onomic and _ military aid
8ainst Arab unity and a signi-
ier Israeli withdrawal from
_*gally occupied territory.

4 Strategically the Sinai accords
enefit Egypt only slightly — al-

. est 90% of the Sinai peninsula
“Mains occupied by Israel.

mete agreement lengthens the
| ta € away from the conference
le at Geneva where an over-
Bits Settlement for all nations
| ;-Rcerned can be devised, as
Biss €r the table agreements be-
®en the U.S. and Israel during
*80tiations for the Sinai settle-
peut include an American pro-
Mig Not to join in efforts for a
th “East settlement by others
Would bring about propo-

Stat detrimental to Israel. Arab
Which and the Soviet Union,
sik co-chairs the conference,
Pal Be On the participation of the
bt ne Liberation Organiza-
Israel an equal basis. To date,
Of di Tefuses to have any type
aiogue with the PLO, stating
battlefieny only ‘meet on the

Military Aid
Egypt’s main gain from the

Slogan — one that has been

Excerpts of a speech deli-
vered at a public meeting in
Toronto last month by Dr. I.
Abu-Lughod, Senior Consult-
ant to the Palestine Social Re-
search Centre in Beirut and
Director of Graduate Studies
at North Western University.
A Palestinian, Dr. Abu-Lug-
hod is the author of eight
books, the best known being
“The Transformation of Pa-
lestine” and “The Arab-Israeli
Conflict.”

We hope to provide our
readers with a background of
the Palestinian struggle for
justice. This is the first of
four parts.

They, therefore, denigrated
their national culture or they
denied them their national affiili-
ation — a denial that became
embodied in the British mandate
over Palestine in 1917 at the
time of the Balfour Declaration
— when it spoke of the civil
rights of the non-Jewish com-
munities in Palestine who were
92% of the population. So you
have a situation where the 8%
define the other 92%.

He is Now a ‘Terrorist’

As a result, you find very little
mention in Zionist literature of
the Palestinians. They were

fighting, but were not mention-
ed. After 1967, as the Palesti-
nians. mounted their resistance,
harassed the Israelis, campaign-

Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, with U.S. secretary of state Kis-

ed for the freedom of their na-
tional homeland, the new identi-
ty of the Palestinian was sud-
denly discovered by the Israelis
—he is now a “terrorist”. There-
fore, when you are dealing with
a “terrorist”, you hunt and de-
stroy him.

At no time in the entire his-
tory of the Palestine-Zionist
struggle were the Palestinians
recognized as human beings, in-
habiting their own land and hav-
ing their own aspirations. Under
pressure from the world com-
munity, Tel Aviv is being forced
to deal with the Palestinians but
has said it could not possibly
have a dialogue on two assump-
tions: first, the Israeli denial of
the reality of the Palestinian
presence. Second, viewing your

Je

singer, on one of his earlier visits to the Middle East.

Sinai agreement is military and
economic aid from the U.S. The
accords called for total aid of
$650-million for Egypt, but since
Sadat’s visit to the U.S. it was
announced that the Administra-
tion is to ask Congress for eco-
nomic aid totalling $750-million.
Speculation on Sadat’s requests
militarily run as high as $5.5-
billion.

At the same time as Egypt re-
ceives aid, the U.S. will continue
pouring money into Israel. This
year. for instance, American ml-

litary aid to Israel will amount

to $2-billion, with negotiations
underway for this to include
nuclear capable, long-range Per-
shing missiles. All together over
the next five years, the US. is
expected to provide Israel with
at least $10-billion in aid.

American foreign policy in the

Middle East favors resumption
of the Geneva conference, only
as a last resort. It runs contrary
to that of Arab states, including
Egypt, by supporting Zionism,
non-recognition of the PLO and

the Palestinians’ right to the

creation of their own state. The
U.S. has consistently voted
against pro-Arab resolutions in
the United Nations and its as-
sociated organizations.

Lasting Peace

The Soviet Union, on the other
hand, favors a solution in the
Middle-East that would provide
a lasting peace to the satisfac-

tion of all nations involved. It

sees the Geneva conference as

the only viable way to reach .

such a settlement.
A recent article in the Soviet
paper, Pravda, says: “The Soviet

7

opporent as a “terrorist” means
the only form of dialogue can be
dialogue on the battlefield.

The Arab-Israeli conflict in-
volves more people than just the
Palestinians and the - Zionists.
But, when the United Nations
recognized that the Palestinians
constitute an important party
and an indispensable group to
the process of peace in the
Middle East, they recognized an
obvious reality — that the basic
conflict in the Middle East is
one between Palestinians and
Zionism.

Urban, Young and Modern

Let’s look at those people who
“don’t exist.” When Palestine
was dismembered in 1948, its
Arab population was about

1,398,000. Today, the Palesti-

Palestinian fight for identity

First in a series on the Palestinian struggle for justice

nian population is 3.5 million.
This figure is approximate be-
cause the Palestinians do not
have an authority to conduct a
census and have been under an-
other political jurisdiction for 29
years. About half are citizens of
a number of other countries.
The other half under Israeli oc-
cupation are on the Gaza strip,
the West Bank, or are Israeli
citizens.

- Close to 60% of the Palesti-
nians are under 20 years of age.
The majority are either urban

- or rapidly becoming urbanized.

As a whole they are highly edu-
cated with 11 of every 1,000
people attending higher learning
institutions despite the absence
of a Palestinian national author-
ity. They are urban, young and
modern.

A camp for Palestinian refugees. Today, thousands of the people
Zionists insist do not exist still alive in the camps.

Union and other countries of the
socialist community have al-
ways been firmly convinced that
aggression should be resolutely
checked, that the lands legally
belonging to the countries that
were attacked (in the 1967 war)
should be given back to them
and that every state has a right-
to free and independent develop-
ment. This in fact concerns not
only the Middle East, but is an
international question of prin-
ciple. .

“For this reason the Soviet
Union has always been of the
opinion that a lasting and just
peace in the Middle East can
and must be achieved on the
basis of the complete withdrawal
cf Israel’s troops from all Arab
lands it occupied in 1967; satis-
faction of the legitimate natio-
nal rights of the Arab people of
Palestine, including their right
to the creation of their own
state; and the ensured indepen-
dent existence and development

of all states and people in the -

Middle East.

Long History of Support

“For the achievement of a set-
tlement on this just basis, there
1s an appropriate international
mechanism — the Geneva Peace
Conference on the Middle East.
All aspects of settlement can be’
examined and decided at this
forum, and it must be attended
by all sides directly involved,
the PLO included, and also the
USSR and the USA as co-chair-
men of the conference.”

Soviet support of the Arab
world has a long history, and
Egypt is no exception as a reci-
pient of Soviet aid. Since 1952

. threatens Arab unity

the Soviet government has given
political, military and economic
support to Egypt, notably includ-
ing the joint Aswan dam con-
struction at the opening of which
a joint declaration said: “The
Aswan has become a true exam-

ple of healthy, equal relations .

between states, a graphic proof
that the new developing coun-
tries can achieve great success
in strengthening their political
and economic independence in
cooperation with socialist for-
ces.”

A recent communique issued
jointly by the Soviet Union and
Syria indicates there are possi-
bilities for ,a just settlement:
“The leaders of the Soviet Union
and Syria have discussed the
present Middle East situation
and its influence on the interna-
tional situation as a whole.

“Both sides stressed their de-
termination to do everything in
their power to restore and safe-
guard the legitimate rights of
the Arab people, including the
Palestinian Arabs.” :

Where
his heart lies

WASHINGTON — President
Gerald Ford made an embarras-
sing, though telling, slip of the
tounge Oct. 28. At a dinner
given in his honor by visiting
Egyptian president Anwar Sa-
dat, Ford proposed a toast to
“the great people of the govern-
ment of Israel.” *

“Excuse me — of Egypt,” he
quickly corrected himself.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 14, 1975—Page 7

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