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2 - 8 November 2000
Issue No. 506
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Blaming the victim

By Thomas Gourgissian

The US House of Representatives passed a resolution last week condemning the Palestinian leadership for what it described as "encouraging the use of violence against Israel." Resolution 426, which passed 365-30, was authored by Representative Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman of the International Relations Committee. Although the resolution is non-binding, it expresses how "overwhelmingly" the House takes sides by adopting the Israeli interpretation of the current violence in the region.

In a press release issued after the vote, Chairman Gilman justified the stand taken by the House, saying, "In the past several weeks, we have seen the situation in the Middle East spiral almost out of control. The underlying cause is that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat is attempting to dictate Israeli concessions at the negotiating table through the unbridled use of violence. Today Congress, together with our friends in Israel and elsewhere, says 'No' to that sort of violence."

Gilman also used this opportunity to criticise the Arab summit, held in Cairo last week, saying, "An Arab summit fixed all the blame for the current violence on Israel. The summit called for rollbacks and freezes in Arab relationships with Israel and made no reference to any of the concessions that Israel has made in the peace process. It implicitly endorses the use of force by the Palestinians."

The administration's position, on the other hand, was reflected in the words of Philip Reeker, the deputy spokesman of the State Department. After saying the resolution "obviously reflects the sense of Congress, and, therefore, sort of speaks for itself," Reeker stated the administration's view "which is that the focus should be on calming tensions in the Middle East, in the region, and bringing an end to the violence and getting the parties back to the negotiating table. I don't think we find that resolution helpful in that respect."

Resolution 426, which was adopted after about one hour of debate reads as follows: "... the Congress -- (1) expresses its solidarity with the state and people of Israel at this time of crisis; (2) condemns the Palestinian leadership for encouraging the violence and doing so little for so long to stop it, resulting in the senseless loss of life; (3) calls upon the Palestinian leadership to refrain from any exhortations to public incitement, urges the Palestinian leadership to vigorously use its security forces to act immediately to stop all violence, to show respect for all holy sites, and to settle all grievances through negotiations; (4) commends successive administrations on their continuing efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East; (5) urges the current administration to use its veto power at the United Nations Security Council to ensure that the Security Council does not again adopt unbalanced resolutions addressing the uncontrolled violence in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority; and (6) calls on all parties involved in the Middle East conflict to make all possible efforts to reinvigorate the peace process in order to prevent further senseless loss of life by all sides."

In the debate four congressmen expressed their strong opposition to the one-sided resolution. "We should offer words of consolation for all the loss of life and injuries," Jim Moran, Democrat from Virginia, said. "We should call for acts of violence to be halted on all sides in the conflict and call upon all parties to find ways back to the negotiating table no matter how difficult that task may be. We should not be engaging in taking sides and thereby further inflaming the rage and the despair," he added.

The Arab American Congressman Nick Rahall, democrat from West Virginia, confronted the majority of supporters by saying, "If this body wishes to pass a resolution of support for Israel, then let us do it honestly, straight-forwardly; not this way. Not through a resolution that is rife with bias and prejudice against the Palestinian people." He also said "... by passing this resolution, we abandon our role as an honest broker and take a step that undermines negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."

"This legislation is simply not in the best interest of the United States, Israel, or the Palestinians, and is damaging to the prospects of peace in the Middle East," Rep. John Dingell, democrat from Michigan, said. Explaining his view, he said, "It focuses on assigning blame for violence rather than stopping it. It is unfair and biased, and in condemning only one side of this conflict, it jeopardises the American ability to negotiate peace as a fair and honest broker. It also endangers American lives and economic interests, and places our Arab allies in a precarious position."

Some observers and Arab activists tried to be less pessimistic, saying that what were previously considered taboo issues, such as the biased American policies toward Israel and Palestinians' rights, were raised in the debate.

"America should be an even-handed peacemaker. Our goal should be a secure Israel living at peace with its neighbours; but in achieving this noble, yet difficult goal, justice for the Palestinian people has to be part of the formula," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Republican from California, argued. "And that is why this has been able to go on for so long, because no one has been willing to accept that the Palestinians and their rights have to be brought into consideration. All of these years, they have been ignored and not treated as human beings; they have legitimate claims that need to be addressed and honestly addressed," he said.

This resolution comes only a few weeks after the House passed bill 5272, the "Peace Through Negotiations Act," which would "prevent US assistance to and diplomatic recognition of any unilaterally declared Palestinian state." Last week there were some efforts to cut part of the US$100 million aid to the Palestinians because of the violence in the region. For the time being, however, these efforts failed.

Related stories:
Shifting borders
The Intifada this time
'Those times are over'
Snipers, gunships and now death squads
'Our blood is sacred too'
Blaming the victim
Exporting typhoid and guns
It's war -- virtually
Arab journalists join the fray
Blinded by the truth
Deciphering ZNN
The message is the medium
Also see Focus on Intifada 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000
and Focus on Intifada 19 - 25 October 2000

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