February 23, 2001
The speakers picked up today where Ateek left off last night - Palestinian lawyer Jonathan Kuttab, Israeli activist Roni Ben-Efrat, Palestinian academic Eileen Kuttab, and Israeli journalist (whose beat covers the West Bank and Gaza) Amira Haas. Ateek's theme of justice, regardless of the oppressor, continued.
Palestinian lawyer Jonathan Kuttab speaking at the Sabeel Conference.
Arab-Israeli MK Azmi Bishara speaks at the Sabeel Conference.
Given the corruption of both governments and the collapse of the current two-state-based peace process, voices began to call for a future (currently more "science fiction" than reality) of a single, binational, constitutional democracy. As regional groups gathered later in the day, it was clear that this vision had caught hold of many imaginations. It was as though those who supported Palestinian rights and had been stunned by both the collapse of Oslo and the Intifada were beginning to regroup and gather themselves, rallying around other ideas.
Over dinner we visited with Israeli peace activists before returning to hear the highlight lectures by Arab Israeli Knesset member Azmi Bishara and South African Imam Farid Esack. Esack presented the most compelling story of the whole conference thus far, relating his experiences as a Black South African seeing the end of apartheid. Throughout the conference, people had pointed towards the parallels between apartheid-era South Africa and Israel/Palestine (sanctioned discrimination based on race/religion, forced relocation of peoples from their homes, the failed solutions of creating "independent" states which in reality remained isolated, fractured islands - economically, militarily, and politically controlled by the ruling regime). More than once, it was related that after the apartheid regime fell, Bishop Desmond Tutu called on those faithful supporters of justice in his homeland to turn now to the injustices in Palestine. And so everyone was excited to hear Imam Esack.
He bagan his talk by telling us that he was stopped and questioned in the Tel Aviv airport. When asked why he was in Israel, he said he was going to the Sabeel conference (something people were encouraged NOT to do, as it was a guarantee for a long wait and hassle). The security person hustled to get her superior, who asked more questions. Was he going to speak at the conference? Yes. What was he going to say? He was going to discuss the occupation and apartheid. Remarkably, no more security questions followed, but, he said, they needn't have feared, because in his opinion, the occupation bears little similarity to apartheid in South Africa. The Sabeel audience caught its breath. Rather, he said, the situation faced by Palestinians today far surpasses the conditions faced by Blacks in apartheid South Africa, in terms of the violence, randomness, ferocity, and sheer venom of the Israeli occupation. He called on the international community to hold both peoples here to reasonable standards of morality and justice. And he questioned the reality of the term Holy Land - "Land is not sacred. Only God is sacred." Amen.