BASMA ABOU-SHARAR, a media worker for the Intifada Committee in Amman, Jordan, was in Australia late last year to bring information on events in the Israeli-occupied territories on the West Bank and in Gaza. MIRIAM TRAMER of Green Left Weekly met Basma and discussed these issues with her.
Basma said the Israelis are making no commitment to withdraw from the territories and are refusing to discuss the borders between Palestinian lands and Jewish settlements. They are offering only administrative autonomy without legislative autonomy, which is no autonomy at all. No overall Palestinian Council/government is proposed for the occupied territories. The Israelis refuse to discuss basic resources like water and land.
The Israelis seek to divide the West Bank from Gaza geographically. A Palestinian requires a pass every time she or he wishes to cross a border; a journey from Gaza to the West Bank, for instance, requires four passes, two for leaving Gaza and then Israel and two for returning again, said Basma.
The Israelis declare the status of Jerusalem "not negotiable". At the same time, they are increasing the size of Jerusalem daily by expropriations of land and transfers of the people. Jerusalem has tripled its size since 1967.
Basma says that the trend is to expand it so that the West Bank will be divided virtually in half. More than 50 Palestinian villages would be expropriated in the process. The aim is to link the Jewish settlements and separate the Arab ones from each other.
Gaza is very densely populated. Despite this, 25 Jewish settlements have been built in Gaza, and this eats up the agricultural resources of Palestinians. The project is to make life insupportable and force/persuade the Palestinians to leave.
Houses continue to be destroyed, trees uprooted and land confiscated. In the 10 months to December, 10,225 Palestinians had been arrested.
Basma said that collective punishments are routine — electricity, water and telephones are regularly cut off. Military helicopters fire missiles at houses and destroy them.
The children's education is being affected by school closures. According to Basma, illiteracy is appearing for the first time in many years. Four thousand books are banned to Palestinians in the occupied territories, including Palestinian folklore and
children's stories.
"Indirect" expulsions are occurring as a result of discriminatory immigration regulations. For instance, Israeli laws prohibit anyone born in Jordan or their children staying with a spouse on the West Bank. In the last 15 months, 60,000 people have been expelled from the West Bank and Gaza because they were not born there.
Punitive taxes are forcing Palestinians to leave. These taxes, said Basma, have increased considerably in recent years, particularly in Jerusalem. While Jews have the same taxes, they receive much more assistance with housing and other needs.
Despite all these attacks, Basma said, the Intifada is now much stronger. After a year of the "peace process" with no result, the leadership is united and more people are joining the struggle.
Basma believes that the Israeli government is not working in the best interests of Israelis when it puts obstacles between Israelis and Palestinians. "It is now very difficult for Palestinians on the West Bank to meet Israelis inside Israel. Lack of communication breeds distrust. People are afraid of the unknown."
Basma said the Israeli education system was very unhelpful. "Arabs are portrayed as savage and inhuman. Israeli children see Palestinians as devils.
"I am not against the wish of the Jewish people for a homeland. They must treat people in a human way if they are to retain it. To live in peace, either power must be shared between the two communities in a single state or the territory must be divided into two states", Basma concluded.