Jewish Unit Hears Arafat Ally Call for Joint Talks

In a rare meeting between a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and a liberal Jewish group on Saturday, a former aide to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat said peace in the Middle East will be achieved only if Jews around the world urge the Israeli government to negotiate with Palestinians.

“With enemies like you, who needs friends,” said Afif Safieh to about 350 members of the New Jewish Agenda, who support his notion that Jews and Palestinians must communicate. The New Jewish Agenda is holding its biennial convention through Sunday at UCLA.

“You can’t make peace with people who you never talk to. It is in the interests of Israel, the Jewish people and moral decency, for Israel and the PLO to sit at a table with other Arab states and the superpowers and negotiate a settlement that would allow for the self-determination of both peoples,” said Safieh, who has taught for the last two years at Harvard University as a visiting professor.

Most American Jews do not realize that many Israelis do not support all the policies of the government of Israel, Safieh said. “You all shouldn’t feel bad if you think Jews and Palestinians should meet. That does not mean you don’t support Israel,” he said.

Government Criticized

Israel’s government creates situations that make it impossible to include the PLO in Middle East negotiations, Safieh said.

“In 1985 after the terrorist bombings in Rome, the Israeli government accused the PLO of assisting the terrorists. That was their reason for excluding us from the peace process,” he said. “Then, when it came out that the PLO had nothing to do with the bombings, the government said there was no reason to include the PLO in the peace meetings because they aren’t a terrorist force.

“We just can’t win,” he said.

The PLO of 1987 is more moderate than most people think, Safieh said. “It’s taken some convincing, but the majority of the Palestinian people are ready to compromise,” he said. “With some political education, and after facing regional and international realities, the Palestinian community is in total agreement.”

Safieh called the New Jewish Agenda an “asset” for the Palestinian people. The New Jewish Agenda, founded in 1980, claims a national membership of more than 4,000 people with 40 chapters nationwide. While strongly committed to the State of Israel, the organization is a leading Jewish critic of that country, which it believes should not occupy the West Bank and Gaza.

The liberal group also is vocal on nuclear disarmament, Central America, civil rights and feminism.

Safieh was joined at the two-hour afternoon address by other critics of Israel’s policy toward Palestinians.

“If we don’t shake hands, we’ll end up shaking guns,” said Latif Dori, the head of a recent Israeli delegation that met with PLO leaders in Romania. Dori is scheduled to face trial in Israel for violating an Israeli law that forbids contact with PLO leaders.

“Safieh’s talk here today demonstrates that Palestinians are willing to talk,” he said. “It destroys that lie.”

Palestinian author Orayb Najjar said she hesitated before accepting an invitation to talk at Saturday’s conference because she feared the audience would not be sympathetic to her point of view.

“I had my doubts, but they’ve been destroyed,” Najjar said. “I’m so happy to see that you all understand. I just wish the Israeli government did, for all our sake.”