21 - 27 June 2001
Issue No.539
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 June 2001 Issue No.539 |
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Many strengths, one voice
Many organisations support Palestinian rights in Jerusalem. A new body aims to help them speak as one. Rasha Saad reports
Many are those who support Palestinian rights: but their strengths are diffuse. Hence the need for bodies that reach out and involve the scattered Arab organisations in the struggle. These are the tasks assumed by the General Conference for the Support of Jerusalem (GCSJ). The GCSJ was started late in 1996 during an urgent meeting of the International Islamic Confederation of Labour, after Palestinians rioted in horror when Israel tunnelled under Al- Aqsa mosque. The founding committee of the conference was established in May 1997 to defend Palestinian rights in Jerusalem. Since then, the GCSJ has been coordinating labour groups and others in their efforts to restore the rights of the Palestinians. Recently, representatives of the organisation visited Cairo.
Uniting the strengths of the Arab and Islamic professional unions, and labour syndicates, was high on their agenda. The delegation of the non- governmental organisation was in Cairo as part of an Arab tour; members met with officials and Egyptian trade unions leaders. The GCSJ's objective is to create popular pressure against Israel in a way that helps realise Palestinian rights. The GCSJ does not restrict itself to labour unions in the Arab and Islamic world, but also acknowledges the role that émigré Islamic workers in the US, Europe and elsewhere could play in promoting those rights. Indeed, these groups may be better placed to influence Western public opinion. According to Said Al-Hassan, a member of the GCSJ founding committee, that opinion is misled by Israeli propaganda. "I have a strong belief that facts are not fairly presented," he says. "For example, I was watching an Israeli woman on television saying that 'we have been here for thousands of years, and we are going to stay,' yet the Israeli state was created only in 1948!"
One initiative the GCSJ has taken is to coordinate activities among all organisations that support Jerusalem, not only those with a labour membership. According to Al-Hassan, the founding committee of the conference, which started with the labour unions, has now expanded to include different organisations in Morocco, India and Britain, among others.
The GCSJ's main task is to coordinate these different groups and inform Palestinian officials of its activities. As a non-governmental organisation, the GCSJ is also keen to preserve its independence, "in order not to be enslaved by a political agenda of the decision makers in any country."
The group is recognised by both official and non- government bodies. Al-Hassan, has been invited to several conferences which support Jerusalem in the past few years, the latest being the Tehran conference of last month. He has also been in contact with officials of Orient House in Jerusalem, "because we are aware of the importance of integration between the popular and the official efforts, and, second, to help narrow the gap between the man on the street and decision makers," Al-Hassan told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Mindful of its role as a coordination network, the GCSJ has no fund of its own, but it backs several projects initiated by other organisations and helps raise funds for them. Citing an example, Al-Hassan said that the GCSJ supports and lobbies for the 'Buy a Time in Jerusalem' call initiated by the late Faisal Al-Husseini. Al-Husseini's call urges Palestinian businessmen to buy lands in Old Jerusalem to counter attempts by extremist Jewish groups to overwhelm the Arab presence in the occupied city. Al-Hassan describes the call by Al-Husseini, whose sudden death in late May shocked the Palestinians and the Arab world, as "the product of the deep suffering which he endured in confrontation with the Israeli occupation and a full comprehension of the disaster in Jerusalem." He also describes the death of Al-Husseini as "a great loss," but vowed to "continue his struggle for Jerusalem."
The GCSJ also plans to offer financial support to investments in Palestinian areas as a prop to the Palestinian resistance in times of closures. But are these efforts overshadowed by the violence and daily killings inflicted by Israel on the Palestinians?
"On the contrary," insists Al-Hassan. According to him, the Intifada has returned the issue of Jerusalem to prominence. "The Jerusalem issue should not be restricted to our right to pray in Al- Aqsa mosque and to exercise religious rituals," he thinks. "Palestinians inside the self-rule areas now have a sacred belief in their right of return. The Intifada succeeded in showing us that support of Jerusalem lies in defending our right to exercise religious, cultural and citizenship rights fully."
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