Interesting. The NYT reports today
Interesting. The NYT reports today that Israel has agreed to withdraw from Sari Nusseibeh's offices, saying that the action had "brought Israel a rebuke from the Bush administration." They described Nusseibeh as a "moderate," which he is. The article also mentioned that Shimon Peres, the Israeli foreign minister, has announced that Israel is prepared to withdraw from some West Bank cities and release 10% of the $600 million in Palestinian funds it froze 22 months ago.
The WaPo also reported the withdrawal from Nusseibeh's offices, but did so in the context of the Peres announcement, putting the Nusseibeh item about a third of the way into the article. The WaPo characterized Nusseibeh as "the chief representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Jerusalem," and offered a detail about the agreement signed with Israel in exchange for reopening his offices: he is not to use the premises for political activity.
The Jerusalem Post quotes Nusseibeh as saying,
"I signed an affirmation that this university is a non-governmental organization, an academic institution. It will not be a representation office for the Palestinian Authority."
They've only inconvenienced him, however. He said he would continue his activities elsewhere. Basically, it boils down to this: Israel is harassing the man. Is it because he shows promise as a possible successor to Arafat, a successor who will be reasonable, intelligent, and humane? In short, a serious partner for peace? I hope not. That would certainly give the lie to any number of Israeli statements about the desired outcome of the situation, especially considering Sharon's repeated (and quite justifiable) insistence that he will not deal with Arafat.
Or are they harassing him because, at the time of the IDF action at his university offices, Nusseibeh was:
"...holding secret talks in Greece with Ami Ayalon, a former chief of the Israeli Shin Bet security service. During the informal meetings, Nusseibeh and Ayalon discussed compromise proposals on some of the thorniest issues dividing the two sides, including the refugee issue. The draft is now being considered by Palestinian intellectuals."
One of the things observers remarked upon during the last-ditch efforts by Clinton to achieve some sort of legacy-making Middle Eastern peace accord was how well the heads of the Israeli and Palestinian security forces got along with each other during the marathon negotiations at Camp David. Not the heads of the military forces, mind you, but of the local police. The people who actually have to implement all of the orders and commands and schemes that the politicians come up with on a day to day basis. Those are the people in the streets, dodging the rocks, firing the bullets, and making the arrests, day in and day out. Those are the people with real, first-hand, practical knowledge of how things are for the ordinary citizens on both sides of the conflict.
And those are the people Nusseibeh is trying to work with.
You can read a translation of a recent interview with Nusseibeh here. It's quite clear that the man is being very, very careful with the words he speaks in Arabic. If, as he claims, Israel is out to crush the Palestinian enterprise, then he's probably a target of the Israelis. If that's not true, then he's still a target of several Palestinian factions and in danger of getting a bullet in the head and being hung by his feet from a lamp post. He's well aware of that.
In Jerusalem, reliable on-the-scene observer Tal G. wrote on July 15 (1:27PM), nearly a week after the IDF closed Nusseibeh's offices:
"I haven't had much to say about the Sari Nusseibeh affair - that's partly because the media here hasn't been giving it a lot of attention. The weekend papers were much more interested in the now dead 'Jewish village' bill. It might be that Nusseibeh has a higher profile abroad than he does here."
Fascinating. A Palestinian of great intellect and insight walks on a razor's edge, putting his life in danger by voicing reasoned opinions about the nature of the conflict and its possible resolutions, and the Israeli media makes nary a peep.
There also wasn't much of a peep here in America about the White House statement concerning Israel's actions of July 9. This is the "rebuke" mentioned in today's NYT, and it was issued on July 10:
"The recent closure of Mr. Sari Nusseibeh's Al Quds University offices in Jerusalem is a troubling event. The President has called for opening the political landscape to moderate voices. This action does not contribute to the fight against terror, does not promote reform of Palestinian institutions or advance the other goals outlined by the President in his June 24, 2002 speech. We are discussing the situation with the Israeli Government."
Which answers the questions I asked on the same day:
"Isn't this the sort of man that President Bush had in mind when he demanded new Palestinian leadership?
Or was that just empty rhetoric?"
The answers seem to be: yes, he is, and no, it wasn't.
