Israeli activist defends and justifies Palestinian support for Iraq in Gulf

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PITTSBURGH-Last month I was able to interview Lea Tsemel, an attorney who has devoted her life to defending the human rights of Palestinians victimized by the Israeli authorities both in Israel and in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza.

Tsemel was in Pittsburgh as part of a tour sponsored by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the United Electrical Workers Union, and the Political Speakers Forum Board of Carnegie Mellon University.

Born in Israel, Tsemel was raised in a Zionist family and became radicalized during the 1967 war, when she was a law student. She was appalled by the atrocities of the war and began asking questions, studying politics, and became a socialist and anti-Zionist.

I asked her to describe the current situation in Israel and the occupied territories in relation to the war moves in the Persian Gulf.

"Something very interesting has happened among the 'left' in Israel," she began. "As you know, for quite a long time, especially after the Palestinian Intifada [uprising], the Zionist left in Israel has called for negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Their slogan has been "To get peace, you have to deal with the enemy. The idea was, 'We don't admire them, we don't love them, but we have to talk peace with them.' "Then came the invasion by Iraq of Kuwait, and Palestinians, both in Israel and the occupied territories, dared express their support for Saddam Hussein. I don't think it was support for him as a person, or support for his history. It was support for a hero who dared come out against the imperialist powers that are taking advantage of and exploiting the treasures of the area, which ought to belong to the Arab world.

"The reaction of the Zionist left was horrible and patronizing, saying more or less, 'How dare you! How can you be supportive of him? We don't want to have anything to do with you anymore.' The attitude of these liberal figures toward the Palestinians was like they were educating a naughty child."

I äsked if support for Iraq was just the position of the PLO, or if it had an echo among Palestinians in general.

Tsemel responded: "I'm not sure it is a formal position of all the Palestinian organizations, but of course there is much more support for Iraq among the grass roots, much more. I don't think the Palestinians are for the occupation of Kuwait. But I think they admire the person who related to the Arab people and stood up to American imperialism as someone should have done a long time ago."

Intifada's "small fire"

I asked about reports in the American press that the Palestinian Intifada had begun to die out in recent months. [This interview was conducted before the Israeli massacre of 19 Palestinians at Temple Mount.] "No, I don't think it's dying," Tsemel said. "It continues as a small fire. It is very difficult to carry out the Intifada now when public attention is elsewhere. Among the concessions the Palestinians made knowingly and willingly was to carry out a peaceful struggle. That is, mainly strikes, some stones, but no weapons. The benefit of this kind of struggle was that the world was watching and identifying with it. But in the present situation the world is not watching; it is ignoring the Palestinian struggle.

"So I think right now the Intifada is having more of an internal impact. People are educating themselves on how to survive under strike conditions, and deepening their conviction that they have to have their independence, otherwise there is no future."

Finally, I asked Tsemel to tell us about the case of her husband, Michael Warschawsky, who is presently serving an eightmonth prison term which began in July.

"About three years ago," she began, "Michael was the director of the Alternative Information Center, which attempted to make available information that you don't read in the daily newspapers, information from the Israeli and the foreign press. It was a center for left, anti-Zionist, and non-Zionist activity.

"One day the security services and police raided the office and closed it. Michael was charged with possession of materials belonging to an illegal organization. You should know that all of the components of the PLO are considered illegal organizations.

"He was charged with possession of the typeset draft of the beginning of a book in Arabic that teaches people how to sustain torture during interrogation.

"Michael was arrested and released on bail. The trial took a long time, in the district those who refuse are often singled out for court of Jerusalem. He was acquitted of most of the charges but found guilty of one—-possession of this booklet which explained how to sustain torture during security forces interrogations. He refused to identify the person for whom the typesetting was done.

"He was sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment. In his appeal before the Supreme Court, the punishment was reduced to eight months. Right now he is in the prison at Ramle in Israel. It is quite a privileged place, compared to the prisons where my regular clients are held. It's a prison for white-collar offenders.

"We hope that later on, when Palestinians are sentenced to a similar short period of time, they can demand to have the same easy conditions as in this white-collar prison."

I asked if Warschawsky can receive letters, newspapers, and books.

"Yes, he can. He has received hundreds of letters. His address is: Michael Warschawsky, P.O. Box 13, Ramle, Israel."

Asked what message she would have for people in the United States who are concerned about the danger of war in the Middle East, Tsemel replied: "I think America should leave the Middle East immediately."

are considering loosening up certain restrictions, which would include granting certain cultural rights such as the right to speak Kurdish (now illegal). Before doing so, however, they will try to isolate and crush the mass movement, which otherwise would only be fueled by the passage of such measures.

The Kurdish nation is the largest in the world without a state of its own. Tribal rivalries and state borders have been major barriers in preventing the Kurds from carrying out a successful struggle against their oppressors.

In addition, rather than waging a united fight for self-determination, various Kurdish organizations have sought alliances with rival governments (for example, the Kurds of Iraq with the Iranian government, and the Kurds of Iran with the Iraqi government) and even with North American imperialism. This has further hindered the struggle.

There is no doubt that the governments of the region and the United States will do all within their power to trap and deflect the struggle of the Kurdish masses, which at this point is still fragmented and isolated. The possibility of a new genocide in the manner of Halabje, a village in Iraq where thousands of Kurds were massacred through chemical warfare in March 1988, is always an overhanging threat.

The success of the Kurdish stuggle for self-determination will depend to a large degree on the development of an independent leadership with the consciousness needed to avoid these pitfalls and the ability to link up with the struggles of the working class of the states that rule them.

N NOVEMBER 1990 g

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...I think they admire the person who related to the Arab people and stood up to American imperialism...