By Phil Stanford and Stan Thompson
RAMALLAH â An international conference in Jerusalem on June 7-10 commemorated 50 years of dispossession of the Palestinian people. The conference overwhelmingly rejected the Oslo accords and discussed the need to develop democratic political alternatives, as well as moves to rebuild solidarity around the world.
Around 800 participants attended the 50 years of Human Rights Violations â Palestine Dispossessed conference, organised by the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (LAW).
Speakers and participants included representatives of non-government organisations, academics and solidarity activists from all over the world. Palestinian participants came from within Israel, the occupied territories, refugee camps and the diaspora. Hanan Mikhail-Ashrawi and Tayeb Abdul Rahim from the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) also attended.
Discussion focused on the post-Oslo accords period. There was little disagreement from participants that the accords, rather than beginning a peace process, had furthered the dispossession of the Palestinian people.
The first Oslo accord, signed in 1993, was promoted as signalling the end of the Israeli military occupation and the beginning of self-determination for the Palestinian people.
In fact, it granted only limited administrative autonomy. Israeli military forces were redeployed to more strategic posts in the occupied territories. Settlements have continued to expand, and Israel is attempting to remove Palestinians from the 70% of the West Bank which remains under its military and civil control. These and other fundamental issues have been deferred to final status talks in 1999.
US academic and author Norman Finkelstein argued that the failure of the PLO negotiators to fulfil the aspirations of the Palestinian people was the result of the military and financial weakness of the PLO at the time of negotiations. Finkelstein characterised the Oslo process as the final stage of conquest.
Israel has accelerated the pace of land confiscation and house demolitions, tightened controls at borders and restricted even further the right of movement of Palestinians. The supposed autonomy of the PNA has been disregarded by continued intervention of Israel in the occupied territories.
This applies pressure on the PNA to arrest opponents of the Oslo accords, labelled threats to Israel's security.
As a consequence of this, and the PNA's own desire to quell internal opposition, Palestinians now face arbitrary detention, arrest and torture from the PNA security forces as well as from the Israeli military.
There was considerable debate over the goal of a separate Palestinian state. Strong arguments for a bi-national or democratic secular state also surfaced during the conference. There was general agreement on the need to reach into Israeli society to find allies to further the Palestinian cause.
With the virtual dissolution of the PLO into the PNA and the general disorientation that has followed the signing of the Oslo accords, there is no political force to provide the framework for these crucial debates. Many participants argued for the need to build a democratic alternative to the PNA leadership, which would facilitate these debates, mobilise Palestinians and provide a focal point for international solidarity.
The final panel included Harry Derksen from the ICCO (a progressive international church body) and Na'eem Jeenah from South Africa. Both speakers argued that the South African anti-apartheid struggle highlighted the need for the development of a political leadership that could provide a clear focus for international solidarity movements.
Activist working groups meeting throughout the conference echoed this sentiment and devised strategies for the consolidation of international solidarity movements.
To ensure the momentum of the conference is maintained, a Land and Freedom campaign was launched to provide a focus. Future plans include international actions on December 10 and 11, which respectively mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the passing of United Nations Resolution 194 (calling for the right of return of refugees). International actions will culminate in May next year, when final status negotiations are due to begin.
An encouraging feature of the conference was the large number of young people from around the world who participated, particularly in the activist working groups.
Conference participants organised a demonstration in the Jerusalem area of Silwan, the site of a recent Israeli settler confiscation of four Palestinian-owned houses. The houses were taken under the racist Absentee Property Law, which allows the confiscation of property owned by Palestinians who live outside the country.
The peaceful sit-in was violently broken up by Israeli police and soldiers, and six demonstrators were arrested. Two participants required hospital treatment. Yvonne Fredricksson, from the Swedish Palestine Solidarity Group, remarked: If they treat international visitors this way, imagine how the Israeli army must treat Palestinians.
[For more information about the conference, the Land and Freedom campaign and the situation facing Palestinian people, visit the LAW web site at <www.lawsociety.org> or e-mail <law@lawsociety.org>.]