JEFF HALPER
Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Halper said today: “What Sharon did in Jenin was severely undermine the Palestinian capacity for resistance. In Ramallah, he severely undermined the Palestinian capacity to govern by devastating everything from the education ministry to the land registry. The Palestinian Authority, what was becoming a fledgling mini-state, is becoming a set of cantons, with Israel exercising a matrix of control over it. The West Bank is being divided into three sections, and Israel wants them to serve Israel, not to be an integral unit.”
CHRIS TOENSING
Editor of Middle East Report, Toensing said today: “Talk of reforming the Palestinian Authority is welcome. Where was it throughout the 1990s when the Authority was imprisoning its political opponents? Political change needs to come from within. Most welcome of all are the calls Palestinian NGO leaders made for an end to the occupation and a new election of Palestinian leadership that will be accountable to its people. Palestinians have been calling for reform for years; it’s not the place of the U.S. and Israel to impose it. Further, it’s ironic that the U.S. talks about democracy in the Arab world when it’s chummiest with monarchs and presidents for life like Mubarak.”
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NED HANAUER
Director of Search for Justice in Israel/Palestine, Hanaur said today: “While Sharon’s government says it has nothing to hide in the Jenin refugee camp, its refusal to allow a UN fact-finding mission into Jenin suggests otherwise.”
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REV. GRAYLAN S. HAGLER
Pastor at the Plymouth Congregational Church UCC, Rev. Hagler will be participating in protests against Sharon’s policies today in Washington, D.C.
GEORGINA REEVES
Reeves, who is British, has been living in the Bethlehem area for seven months and is working with the International Solidarity Movement, a group of people who are trying to protect Palestinians. She said today: “Five American members are currently being detained by the Israelis; they have not been charged with any crime; they are being denied legal counsel and have started a hunger strike.” She is also able to discuss the situation at the Church of the Nativity.
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ADAM SHAPIRO
A member of the International Solidarity Movement, Shapiro is currently in California. He said today: “Israel clearly sees the International Solidarity Movement as a threat. We are helping get the word out about their policies and help to provide Palestinians with material relief, since Israelis cannot treat us as badly as they treat Palestinians.” Shapiro was in Arafat’s headquarters as it was under siege by Israeli troops.
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
