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Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Guilford College links to pro terrorism Quaker school in Ramallah brings jihad and Sari Nusseibeh on campus

Guilford College links to pro terrorism Quaker school in Ramallah brings jihad and Sari Nusseibeh on campus

February 8, 2007

://www.guilford.edu/about_guilford/services_and_administration/friends_center/report9.html

Hate Crime Ratchets Up - "The War Has Comes To Guilford Campus"

February 6, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - According to confidential sources, at approximately 11:45 am on Sunday February 4 a student on the North Carolina campus of Guilford College was confronted, "cornered" in the words of a party familiar with the incident, apparently by the same trio that are currently the object of a Greensboro Police Department Investigation [see Muslim Hit Team Prowling Guilford College].

The three dressed in thugwear - two wearing toboggan type headgear and one in a trench coat - hurriedly exited one of Bryan Hall's suites into the quad area just outside, "busting out the door" telling the student that they "were looking for the football players" who had been involved in the January 21 assault.

The leader of this group stated threateningly that they, "were going to take care of what didn't get taken care of the other day." He then opened his trench coat and motioned under his arm suggesting that he was carrying a concealed weapon.

The three then rapidly left the area, fleeing in a dark green 1995-96 Nissan Maxima whose registration plates had been removed.

Our source provided additional corroboration that the trio sped through 3 stoplights before they shook pursuers.

With this latest escalation in what appeared just two weeks ago to be a minor dust-up between students but is now boiling into the national consciousness as a serious matter, the parents of the accused are - understandably - in a state of, "deep concern...over the security of the students."

A Guilford community member familiar with the case made the terse observation to PipeLinenews.org that, "the war has come to the Guilford Campus."

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MIM: Guildford College has brought the war to campus themselves through their ties with the Friends School in Ramallah. Two of three students who are claiming to have been beaten are Guildford studentss who were recruited from th FSR.. In 2005 Faris Khader and Osama Sabbah savagely beat a Jewish student and Sabbah was suspended.

MIM: Here is an account by a student who says she is from 'Jerusalem, Palestine' at Guilford who gushes that the course she took at Guilford called "Voices of Liberation" appealed to her because she was "on the side of the resistance" and it helped prepare her to "see what I can do to help my people and my country down the road.." Apparently the only things the course did not teach her was that their is no country called Palestine or a Palestinian people and the Jerusalem is located in a country called Israel.

Tamara Asad, '04

Growing into Yourself

I'm Tamara Asad, and I just received my degrees in political science and peace and conflict studies. I'm from Jerusalem, Palestine.

This next year is going to be an important one for me. I'm taking a year off from academics to do an internship with a local law firm. Then I'm headed to Miami, Florida to go to law school.

I owe so much to working with my professors at Guilford. They really helped me not only focus my interests, but also develop those interests and my innate skills into something that would be helpful for me down the road.

I came to Guilford knowing what I wanted to do, and I stuck to it. But I also I added another major, and did two concentrations. I got involved in the community, in different clubs and organizations. The worst thing I could have done was to not explore my options.

I actually came pretty close to doing exactly that. When I came in, I chose the group of people that I wanted to associate with, and it took most of my first-year to get beyond that. It's something that I think a lot of international students do, and shouldn't—they get to America and find someone from their country and just stay with them. I think that international students serve as sort of unofficial diplomats, and by sticking together we're not taking advantage of the opportunity to introduce ourselves, and our cultures, to this new, different place.

Guilford taught me that you can be yourself all the time, and that you'll be most successful as that person. You don't have to put up a face or do something in order to satisfy other people—all they really want to see is you. Every person is a unique individual, and ever unique individual can get somewhere in life if you really work on developing that individual and not some pretty mask.

It was so interesting being with so many different people, who had so many different experiences, in all of my Guilford classes. One of my favorite classes was Voices of Liberation with Shelini Harris. I'm from a place of extreme religious conflict, and I'm on what is considered the side of resistance, which may explain why the course appealed to me so much. This was a class where the students had many different mentalities and perspectives, which made the class really powerful. It was really inspiring for me, and definitely helped me see how I can do to help down the road for my people, my country. I took a lot away from that class.

I've definitely grown since coming to Guilford. I look back to the person I was four years ago and don't even recognize her. Guilford taught me better communication skills, to be accepting of other views, to not be stubborn, as I generally am. Really, the most valuable thing I've learned is to listen, and to open my eyes; there are more options than I could ever have expected. http://www.guilford.edu/campus_community/profiles/alumni/asad.html

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GC Chaplin Max Carter has longstanding ties to terror supporting individuals and groups in Ramallah and has met people such as FSR alum Hanan Ashrawi and terror leader Yasser Arafat.

Here are some accounts of Carter's 30 year long record of activities Ramallah.

Not long after that visit, Jane and I traveled to Israel and Palestine as members of the international committee consulting with Ramallah Friends on the use of their newly renovated meetinghouse. We had a very moving 10 days in the region, meeting with a wide variety of Israelis and Palestinians who are working for peace, justice, and reconciliation - all of whom see enormous potential for a role the Quaker facility in Ramallah can play in bringing together and supporting peace and justice groups. At the end of our time in Ramallah, the committee and the Friends meeting established the Friends International Center in Ramallah to support the ongoing worshiping community of Friends, encourage the community and culture of the area, and facilitate the work of peace and justice groups. The Greensboro paper ran a piece on our visit, and we will present an interest group at NCYM (F) yearly meeting sessions on the trip.

https://www.guilford.edu/about_guilford/services_and_administration/friends_center/report9.html

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http://www.guilford.edu/about_guilford/news_and_publications/releases/malino_journal.html

Saturday/Shabbat, July 10
Beit Lehem No problem at check point. Two hour tour and presentation by Nuha Khoury of the myriad educational, cultural, and artistic activities of the Lutheran International Center of Bethlehem. Nura Khoury has degree from University of Michigan in Medieval Islamic History, but is devoting all her time to the Center. She was in Greensboro with two other women in the spring. The Jewish member of the group works with Maya in Machsom Watch. Visit to the church of the nativity, including St. Jerome's grotto and an area outside and below the Greek church with lots of bones, supposedly from children who were murdered by Herod. Lunch at restaurant, which for the first time in four years was having a large group of tourists -- Israeli Arabs from Haifa. Went to Al Quds University, but our meeting with Sari Nusseibeh was cancelled. Two hours in East Jerusalem. Drove to Ramallah via bypass road which avoids the Qalandia checkpoint. View of rapidly expanding northern Jerusalem settlements. No problem at checkpoint entering Ramallah, which occurs just after an illegal outposts consisting of a handful of caravans. Greeted by our liaison to the school and surpervisor for our time in Ramallah, Muhammed Saleem, who teaches algebra and calculus at the Friends Boys School. Settled at school in two modern apartments, part of new science complex currently under construction, funded by ASHA -- American Schools and Hospitals Association. Pizza at one of the restaurants owned by family of Guilford student Nadine Khoury. Ice cream at parlor owned by family of Guilford student, Lara Rukab.

-------Sunday, July 11
Tour of Girls school; meeting for worship--comments by Jean Zaru about her effort to persuade others they need to combine prayer and action/ (I spoke about our trip, about planting and uprooting trees, and recited part of the priestly benediction for peace. Max interpreted the scriptural passage in which Jesus curses the fig tree in terms of the possibility of hope today for peace; Joshua sang a Quaker hymn in Kswahili and spoke about the role and power of women for peace; Larry spoke about parallel between his work for racial justice in US and the struggle for justice here.) Meeting with Assistant Director of PACE (Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange), Hanna Abdel Nour. He spoke about the work of Pace before and since the intifada (he teaches electronics at al Quds). Since PACE can no longer do the kind of cultural touring it used to do, it is now working on reclaiming ancient archaeological sites and giving local communities an understanding of their heritage and pride in the sites so they will care for them. We had an interesting discussion of "Arab" presence in Palestine and Hanna identified the Idumaeans with an Arab presence in the centuries before they were converted to Judaism. He then talked about how difficult the situation has been since the intifada, freely admitted both Arafat and Sharon were a disaster for their peoples etc. Told a story about a family of Israeli Arabs from Haifa and Nazareth who moved to Jerusalem for work, couldn't find housing despite their perfect Hebrew, once people saw their names, and moved to Ramallah. They then had trouble with employers because the checkpoint made it impossible for them to always get to work on time. The response of their employer was: Move to Jerusalem. Eventually they returned to the Galilee. Hanna took us on a tour of some archaeological sites in Ramallah -- ruins of Turkish chan; remains of Byzantine church on the spot where Joseph and Mary realized they had forgotten Jesus (we went into the mosque built near this site), cemetery of the martyrs where dead martyrs have been buried since 1967 -- explained how only after '67 did people in Ramallah understand what happened in '48. (In 48 people from Ramallah had a hard time with the refugees from Israel); from the cemetery we could see the Jewish settlement of Psagot, which has had a very tense relationship with Ramallah. Stopped at a point from which we could see Beitin (Arab village on site of Beit El), and the Jewish settlement of Beit El, and the headquarters of the Israeli administration of the West Bank. Roadblocks were also visible. Returned to Friends School via the Muqata where Arafat is holed up in a compound mostly in ruins. A few of us went to see Mystic River at the al Kasaba theatre.

Monday, July 12
Worked 8 a.m-3 p.m. in blistering heat. 5:30 p.m. Attended large meeting with Arafat in the Muqata. The meeting was part of a conference of El Bireh expatriates, with 3-4,000 participants, mostly from the U.S. Muhammed's son, Sharif's drum corps performed. Lots of Orthodox clergy in elaborate garb. Speeches by mayor, and others and then rousing speech by Arafat. "Next year in al-Quds (Jerusalem)" repeated over and over again. No trembling lip. Kept trying to fix his medals which weren't on straight. Like a cartoon character that came to life off the funny pages, or a live version of the Israeli character on Partsufim. Lots of v-signs. Compound full of rubble, rusted cars etc. As we left, prime minister Abu Ala and others drove into the compound for a meeting with Arafat to report on their meeting with U.S. representatives of the administration, Hadley and Abrams. 8:30 p.m. meeting with Ghassan Katib, journalist and minister of labor in PA. Discussed wall and the battle within the Arab community. U.S. dismissal of UCJ ruling reinforces those who oppose pursuing the conflict through law rather than violence. Clear data on the radicalization of the population in past three years due to poverty, lack of hope in political process, and Israel's continued regular use of violence through incursions, etc. Poverty is result of unemployment due to home demolitions, destruction of infrastructure, roadblocks, and checkpoints all of which raise the cost of doing business and disrupt all aspects of daily life, including economic life. No short-term hope, but conviction that in the long run, both sides will recognize that violence can't solve the problem. Bemoaned the bias of Bush administration evident in response of Hadley and Abrams.

Tuesday, July 13
Worked 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Talk by Ali Jibrawi, a political science professor from Bir Zeit. He is working on the election commission for Palestinian elections, as well as on the commission for Iraqi elections. Made a fascinating observation about the Six Day War: its speed, which Israel glorifies, was also a savior for Palestinians, because it made it impossible to transfer a large part of the population which might have happened, as in '48, had the war gone on for months. Essentially agreed with Ghassan Katib although he advocates that the PA disband, thereby forcing Israel to assume responsibility for life in the territories. His comments about the precise content of the Supreme Court decision about the wall were a little off. Three of us went to "21 grams" with Sean Penn in the French-German Cultural Center. The film was part of the first Ramallah film festival. As part of the festival, there was a competition for best screen play which was won by Muhammed's son, Sharif. The prize was a video camera.

Wednesday, July 14
Visit to Al Haq, the Palestinian human rights center founded by Raja Shehadeh. Viewed a 45-minute video produced earlier this year as part of a new initiative opposing the collective punishment of the occupation. Brief discussion. The person who spoke to us is a volunteer from Hendersonville, N.C. Took taxis to the Qalandia checkpoint where one has to leave the cab, cross the checkpoint by foot, and get another cab or bus to Jerusalem. Small merchants line the checkpoint. Luckily the crossing didn't take long. The wall abuts the checkpoint and will eventually replace it, along with an underground tunnel. Met with Sari Nusseibeh. (Sari Nusseibeh is a professor of philosophy and president of Al Quds University in Abu Dis. Along with Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel's General Security Services (Shin Bet), he produced one of the two widely discussed proposals for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.) Nusseibeh is charming, winsome and optimistic by nature. Spoke about the success of getting signatures on the Nusseibeh-Ayalon statement. (140,000 Palestinian; 200,000 Israeli. Using Fatah and other leadership in territories to help to get signatures.) He is deeply committed to nonviolence, and told a fascinating story about his mother (who hasn't yet signed the statement) to whom he posed the question of how her grandfather would have reacted had a seer-rabbi, who was able to foretell the Holocaust, had asked that the Jews be allowed to return to Palestine to escape annihilation. She was insulted that he even had to ask such a question. Nusseibeh is married to a daughter of the former leading Oxford philosopher, John Austin, He clearly thinks for himself, and is gutsy enough to pursue what he thinks is right. For centuries his family has held the keys to the Holy Sepulchre, but he acknowledged that they since the arrival of the Ottomans, they don't have as much authority as they used to have. His wife, Lucy, is very active in non-governmental non-violence initiatives, and heads an organization called Mends. Returned to Ramallah. Two hours cleaning the remains of a large Byzantine Church nearby the Friends School, which has been used as a trash dump by passersby. The remains, which are mostly Crusader, were built on Byzantine ruins. The church stood until mid-19th century when it was abandoned because the Christian population of El Bireh, which was originally a Muslim/Christian village, like Birzeit, moved to Ramallah. PACE and Muhammed's local club will take responsibility for maintaining the site.) Dinner for Guilford students — past, present and prospective—along with their families at Darna, another restaurant owned by the Khourys. Maisa Zeedani, a rising sophomore, is the daughter of Said Zeedani who has a PhD in philosophy from Wisconsin. He and Sari Nussiebeh make up about one third of the philosophers at Palestinian universities. Said has spent the past four years running the human rights organization Hanan Ashrawi started, but next year he'll return to teaching at Al-Quds university. Since Avishai and Edna Margalit will be in N.Y., and Sari Nusseibeh and Lucy will be in Cambridge, and Said and his wife will come to Guilford to visit Maisa, I will try to organize a small Israeli-Palestinian philosophy conference at Guilford. Evening at the Zeedanis. They regaled us with stories of their encounters with the Israeli Army's attempt to search their apartment, and while it was evident that they were scared to death at the time, today they can joke about all its oddities. Said's wife looks so much like a Jewish Israeli (They're both Israeli Arabs, he from Tamra, near Ibillin, and she from a village near Ako) that soldiers on many occasions, as well as people at the Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem where she worked for twelve years, were certain that she was Jewish. (The next day, Violet Zaru also told fascinating stories of when the Israelis reinvaded in 2002, and how, because she didn't resist their search of her house etc., one of the soldiers took her aside and apologized for their need to disturb her. The same soldiers, in other homes, broke everything in sight. Violet also reminisced about pre-'48 Palestine, when she taught in Jerusalem and had Jews as her best friends.)

Thursday, July 15
Visited a play center founded 25 years ago by British Quakers in the Amari Refugee Camp, and subsequently taken over by the small group of Quakers who make up the Ramallah Friends meeting here. Violet Zaru who has played a major role in the play center is at least eighty. When she retired from her regular job twenty years ago, she began her work with the play center. She was inspiring and captivating as she proudly showed us the center's new building attached to an elementary school built by UNRWA and USAID. We also met the teacher who has been there for twenty years. The children who attend are five years old and must come from the Amari Refugee Camp as well as be on welfare, which means that there is essentially no earned income in the family. The descriptions of the impact of one year at this school on its "graduates," and the deep, loving, and joyful commitment of both Violet, and the Muslim teacher, (whose name in Arabic means "faithful") were invigorating. It is the kind of impact that UJA visits to absorption centers must have on Jews and non-Jews, less sensitive than I to the way these visits are part of a large-scale propaganda effort. In our visit to the camp, there were no motives other than to see one of the many small miracles than can take place in an area so bereft of a rational basis for hope. I contributed some money to the school, as well as the money Marilyn Chandler, Executive Director of the Greensboro Jewish Federation had given me for charity. (It is a Jewish tradition to give money for tsedaka (charity) to people traveling to the Holy Land.) Completed work at Church. Dinner and discussion with Raja and Jeanette Daoud and three of their children, Nisreen, Amal and Simon. Raja's family was one of the founding families of Ramallah. In 2002, because they live near the Muqata, their front wall was torn down and the rubble was used to block the street. Their garden with olive trees was also torn up, but one of their friends recovered one olive tree, which they replanted and which still stands. One of their daughters lives in Boston. Raja and Jeanette met and married within a month and went to the States where Raja studied at Berkeley and then went to Business school to become a CPA. He quickly became aware that he could do better with a market, which he had for many years before returning to Ramallah to head the first share-holders company. Markets in San Francisco, now owned by Chinese, were once owned by Palestinians. His brother-in-law is a partner with Willie McCovey in a new restaurant in SF. Raja's father was the Justice minister in Jordan for many years and Raja has many books his father edited and wrote in the 1920s and 1930s about legal procedure etc. When they sought a name for their son, Simon, they decided that Raja's father's name, Samaan, was too old- fashioned so they chose Simon. Jeanette doesn't look at all Palestinian, and she is often thought not to be. Jeanette expressed negative feelings about Islam, contrasting Christian emphasis on love and forgiveness with the need for vengeance which she said was in "their?" blood. Her daughters took exception. Both Raja and his father went to the Friends School, which gives a sense of the elite education it provided for generations. (Raja Zeedani had told us a story about the disbelief of an Israeli soldier when she told him they although they were Israeli Arabs, they lived in Ramallah because there was no school in Israel for her children that could compare to the Friends School.) Raja Daoud told a story like Violet's about the soldiers in 2002 searching the house, making him go first, hands behind his head, and then asking why there were so many beds for just him and his wife. He explained, "Because of you, everyone has left." Raja hasn't gone to Jerusalem in four years. Jeanette told the story of the Israeli Jewish woman who taught piano out of Jeanette's house and who had become a member of their family, but who cut off relations after the outbreak of the first intifada because of fear of coming. They reminisced, as had the Zeedanis, about how good things were in the '70s, when relationships between Israelis and Palestinians were much better. Raja Daoud also talked about how he used to go to Tel Aviv etc. Amal, who is a pharmacist and who works in public health talked about the horrible day she had just had going back and forth to Nablus through nine check points. We discussed suicide bombing and the resentment, revenge and humiliation underlying it.

Friday, July 16
8-2 p.m. Painted fence and railings at Girls School. Visit to the mayor of Birzeit, Anton Saad whose son, Ya(k)oub will be coming next year with his friend Faris to Guilford. (A friend, Eva, will be going to Elon.) Anton and Hannan Saad have three daughters, including an engineer, one who just graduated in Business Administration. Sat under olive trees in back yard where they served musakkan. Wonderful breeze; lots of wild cats. Showed us water system they use to capture water, since Israel doesn't allow much water to flow into Arab villages and towns. Maronite Christians and have lived in Birzeit, a mixed Muslim-Christian village of about 4,000, for several hundred years. Anton is minister of Commerce in the PA and for seven years has been mayor of Birzeit. Toured Birzeit with Anton, saw new mosque, as well as old Birzeit which included a house for visitors (the name is from same route as "aliyah") and the remains of a Greek church built in 1870. Met with the priest from the large Latin church which was built with help from Argentina and is called after the Virgin of Guadalupe. The church housed 300 refugees in '48 who then settled in Beitin, Jalazon, and other places. Also met a group of three Presbyterians from D.C. there for the second year helping in a summer camp. Anton spoke of peace, which he was certain would come in 10-15 years. Said the situation was worse for Israel than Palestinians. Israel could dominate the Middle East with its economy. But it has no other place to go, while Palestinians can live in many Arab countries, and therefore peace is more essential for Israel, but Israelis don't understand this. His equanimity in describing the interruptions in daily life and the inability to carry out plans for commerce etc. was amazing. His love of the land and the village were evident. The founding families were four Christian and two Muslim families. The priest emphasized brotherhood between Christians and Muslims going back to the advent of Arabs here. Anton explained it's impossible for Palestinians to leave territories through Ben Gurion. They have to go to Allenby and then Amman. The trip to Allenby used to take three hours. Now it takes about seven hours, and about ten to return. The depth of the disruption is evident. The extent of Palestinian diaspora life also became clear, once again. Most of Anton's family lives in the U.S. and returns from time to time. Yakoub's cousins in the States urged him to come there to study, even though all of his sisters went to Birzeit. On our walk we saw the old Birzeit university in town, and on the way from Ramallah we saw the large campus of the current university of 7,000.
On return to Ramallah we were stopped at a checkpoint thrown up between Birzeit and Ramallah. No idea of the reason. Cars backed up on both sides. Two Israeli jeeps blocked road. Shots fired in air. IDF may have been searching for someone. Stuck about 45 minutes. Easy to imagine the myriad circumstances, which would have made even this brief disruption difficult. In our case, it only caused us to miss a movie we planned to see. Two ambulances got through without incident.

Saturday, July 17
Met Violet at Friends Meeting house. Built around 1910 in a then empty but now bustling area equidistant from the Boys and Girls schools, it has now been restored to its original condition after lying mostly in ruins for many years. Violet talked about having become Quaker because of the love she was shown at the Girls school. The Meeting House was used for 10 refugee families after '48, who then moved to camps and elsewhere. The garden is beautiful and we planted twelve trees to add to those already planted. The symbolism of planting trees, when Israel has destroyed so many Palestinian trees, and when Israel continues its ritual planting with no comment about the IDF destruction of trees was a powerful experience for me. There are only about three people left in the meeting, and the building might be used for a peace center. Shopped at embroidery store. Wandered through old Ramallah. Ran into priest and Presbyterians from Birzeit. Drinks at Darna. Melkite embroidery store. Returned to PACE and talked with its director, Adel Yahya. Like others, he calmly discussed how difficult the situation is, how corrupt Arafat et al. are, and how he believed peace would come. Holding off second edition of the PACE guidebook of Palestine until more tourists come. Expressed sense we were courageous to come and how much he appreciated it. The PACE store sells only things from villages they are working with. Before intifada, they worked with some Israeli biblical archaeologists. Dinner at another Rukab restaurant followed by long walk around the city including beautiful vistas from the western part of Ramallah, sunset and views of coastal plane. Many beautiful new apartments. Lively scene at Club where basketball tournament was going on. Max broke his arm there in 1970-71 (a revelation to Jane!)

Sunday, July 18
First meeting in restored Friends Meeting House in about twenty years. Ice cream at Rukab's with Allyn Dhynes and his wife, who work for World Vision, including on a project of USAID and know Larry Garber, currently head of USAID who was just appointed executive director of the New Israel Fund. Husband's grandfather owned house on King David where the silver and goldsmith Yossi has long had a shop/studio. The grandfather worked as doctor in Tiberias. Fled to Beirut in '48. Returned to help during typhoid epidemic and was imprisoned in Ramallah. Treated Palestinian prisoners as well as Jews. Eventually released on condition he forgo all rights to land and not return. The Dhynes live in Beit Safafa. Visited cousin of Salibah Hanhan, owner of the Jerusalem Market in Greensboro, and long-time friend. Aida teaches at Friends Girls School and has taught all four of Muhammad Saleem's sons. (Muhammad taught Aida's children in high school.). Aida's husband, Michel Karkar is Salibahs first cousin (mothers were sisters). He loves Salibah like a brother and appreciates what a splendid human being he is. Michel is head of the table tennis federation in Palestine, and has won countless medals over the years. He has traveled all over the Arab and non-Arab world as a player and administrator. Michel and Aida have five children, the oldest of whom is getting an MA in creative writing in South Africa and has studied with recent Nobel laureate, Coetzee. They have triplets, who have just finished their second year in college, two at Bethlehem University and one at Bir Zeit. The girls go to Bethlehem for a month or two at a time because of the difficulty in getting back and forth. Fine and loving family. Hospitality emerged effortlessly -- homemade lemonade; cookies; coffee; chocolates; water, and an invitation to dinner at Zarours the following evening. The daughters looked at pictures of their friends who are at Guilford and noted they had gained weight -- too much junk food, they hypothesized. The son is studying business and will go to Gulf States to make money before going to USA to get MA. One of the children went to George school for a year. Ping pong teams have hard time because they can't get together. But one of the members of Michel's team beat the person ranked 36th in the world recently. Michel is on his way to Tunis. Like Adel Yahya and others, he calmly discussed how hard things were, but hoped for peace. Evening at Muhammed Saleem's. Usual gracious hospitality. He is one of eleven children. Showed us a book with his family genealogy and a history of his village, Beyt Nebala. The village had 4800 people. He visited its ruins with his father after '67 and knows exactly how it looked. Now there are 30,000 from his village, 8,000 the general Ramallah area including Ramallah, Jalazon and other villages. They meet every year. The genealogy was incredibly elaborate with tree diagrams. The history of the village referred to Benny Morris's work. It outlines the village and refers to the expulsion orders. Two Jewish settlements, C'far Truman and C'far Nehemya are on their land, as is much of Ben Gurion airport. Muhammed has four boys. He works three hours a day at his club which has 600 students, including 180 who play football. The message of the club is to stay out of trouble, not to use drugs, etc. He loves to work with young people. His wife has gone back to school and is now finishing in social work. She was a student of his when he began teaching 24 years ago. He went to university in Amman. On walk home saw signs equating swastika and Magen David as well as many pictures of young martyrs, of Yassin and Rantisi, of Bargouti and even a few of Said.

Monday, July 19
Meeting with Abed Rabbo co-leader, with Yossi Beilin, of group that produced the Geneva Accord about the Accord and about his efforts as Abu Mazen's second in command to bring about reform in the PA. He emphasized the way in which both Bush and Sharon failed to follow up Aqaba with anything substantial; he also acknowledged Arafat's undermining Abu Mazen. He is worried about the fighting in Gaza and thinks that it's terrible for it to be going on now, when there is really no clear evidence that the withdrawal will even take place. It was clear as Abed Rabbo described the Geneva Accord and especially its most controversial part for Palestinians, the handling of the refugee problem, that Muhammed didn't agree with him. In talking to Muhammed as we left, he confirmed this. He doesn't agree on the refugee issue, but he emphasized people have a right to their views. After Rabbo, we went to Pace. I told Adel we had just met with Abed Rabbo, and he said: "the most corrupt of them all. "Adel has no use for any of the people in the PA, and cavalierly expressed the view that the violence in Gaza would spread to the West Bank, starting in Nablus, and that it would be the end of the Arafat regime. (Apparently Tamara Assad's father, Assad Assad, expressed similar views to Jane and Max.) When I asked Adel whether there were people to step in to leadership who weren't corrupt, he seemed to think there were. Adel also mentioned that his father-in-law lost 500 dunams of citrus orchards to the wall in Qalqilya. He's in his 80s, and is so depressed he will no longer eat any citrus fruit. Dinner at Zarours with the Karkars. Over dinner it emerged that both Michel's family and his wife's family lost citrus groves near Lod, not far from Muhammed's village. Michel had lived in Katamon before '48, and also had property in Beit Safafa. He worked for fourteen years for the Israelis dealing with health issues. Aida Karkar has a sister living in San Diego, one in Greece, and others elsewhere. Michel, one of nine, has brothers all over the world. All of his brothers received college degrees. Michel also mentioned that Salibah owned land near Lod as well. Salibah was imprisoned for a few months by the Jordanians. He was rounded up as part of a group, although he hadn't done anything. Salibah studied at AUB after graduating Friends school and then returned and taught at the school for a number of years. He was in Jordan during '67, and never came back. Jane reported that Assad Assad's mother died a few months ago, in part as a consequence of the fact that her olive orchards were destroyed by Israel because kids were throwing stones from there. The wall is also going up near them.

Tuesday, July 20
Return to Beit Shmuel. Free time. 4 p.m. Conversation with Rabbi Naamah Kelman on the struggle to establish non-Orthodox Jewish religious life in Israel. Naamah Kelman is a senior administrator of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem, and a leading member of the Reform movement in Israel. Dinner at Jerusalem Hotel Restaurant near Garden Tomb with AFSC representative, Kathy Kamphoefner. Kathy wrote her Ph.D. thesis on women's literacy in Egypt. She described the extraordinary range of NGOs working in I/P (506), and the NGO conference she hopes to have next year. Described her experiencee with the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron, and how she was able to identify and work with IDF soldiers who hated being stationed there. Mentioned the photographic show of IDF pictures from Hebron that was raided when it went up in Tel Aviv, but is now on exhibit at the Kenesset. 8 p.m. Discussion with Ruth Gavison of the Wall in the context of a two-state solution to the I/P conflict and in light of the Hague and Supreme Court decisions. Ruth defended the wall (which had been universally attacked and decried by everyone we met in Ramallah) and argued that the ICJ ruling was unrealistic because the 200,000 settlers living near the Green line make it completely impractical to build the wall on or inside the Green Line. Ruth's hope is that the Gaza disengagement, assuming it's complete, and the need for the Palestinians to take responsibility for rebuilding their institutions once separated from Israel by a Wall, plus the calm that the Wall would bring could make it possible for the sides to build enough trust in each other to resume negotiations and ultimately create a federation. Ruth Gavison is the Haim Cohn professor of Human Rights in the Law Faculty of the Hebrew University, past president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Israel Supreme Court nominee, and winner of the Emet Award for lifetime contribution to Israeli society in the field of law and public policy.

Wednesday, July 21
Tour (with Adel) of Dead Sea region including climbing Massada, swimming in the Dead Sea, visiting the "home" of the Dead Sea Scroll sect in Qumran (including conversation with Randall Price who is leading a small dig at Qumran and who heads WorldWide Ministries and has authored numerous books about the secrets of Qumran, the rebuilding of the Temple, etc.), touring Hisham's palace and Tel Jericho. Last supper in Jericho next to Tel and in view of Qarantel. Jerusalem. Ben Gurion airport. Group and their bags searched with fine tooth comb. (The next day, I went through without any search, no doubt due to conversing in Hebrew, mentioning that I was a rabbi, and explaining that my trip to Ramallah had to do with Quakers, which just mystified the security person.)

July 2, 2004

MIM: Several of the people from Ramallah mentioned above atttended the colloquium held at Guilford in 2005 once again showing that there are zero degrees of separation between Friends College activities in Ramallah and Guilford. Faux moderate Sarid Nussibeh the head of Al Quds University a Hamas stronghold in Jerusalem was also a speaker. His children also attended the Friends School.http://sari.alquds.edu/

Al-Quds University President
Sari Nusseibeh, Ph.D.

Address: P.O. Box 51000,
8 Nur ed-din Street, Jerusalem
Telephone: ++972-2-6274979
Fax: ++972-2-627716

Nusseibeh was appointed directly by Arafat to head Al Quds -the university which fittingly boosts a "museum"in honor of the terrorist known as Abu Jihad:

Abu-Jihad Center for Political Prisoners' Affairs

This unique Center was established in 1999 to commemorate and document the development of the Palestinian prisoner movement. A major effort to collect data and information about all Paletinian prisoners has begun and the Center has already aquired a large collection of original documents (letters, literary works, political papers) as well as hand crafts. The Center was named after the code name for Mr. Khalil Al-Wazir, one of the founders of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fateh), whose specific charge was the political structure of Fateh in the Occupied Territories, and who maintained close contacts with the prisoners from his headquarters abroad. The Center, now located in rented offices in Ramallaha will soon be relocated to a special museum style building now under construction in the University's Abu Dis campus. This museum will host an archive of documents as well as exhibit the hand crafts of the prisoners. It is hoped that it will also be a center for researchers and students who wish to study the evolution of political thought amoung prisoners, thier interaction with their colleagues outside jail, as well as their personal histories.

The Director of the Center, who was himself taken prisoner at the age of 16, and who managed to learn to read, write and to finish his schooling while in jail, and who later studied for a higher diploma at Al-Quds University, embodies the spirit which it is hoped that the museum will present to its visitors.

http://www.alquds.edu/centers_institutes/acppa/index.php

Director Mr. Fahed Abu Al-Haj Tel: +970-59205-897.

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http://www.masada2000.org/SariNusseibeh.html

Nusseibeh Supports Violence

Nusseibeh praised "Jihad fighters":

Nusseibeh appeared in a panel discussion on Qatari Television on June 29, 2002, alongside Hamas official, Khaled Mashal, and Mrs. Umm Nidal, the mother of a suicide bomber, who encouraged her son to carry out the attack. Nusseibeh said; "When I hear the words of Umm Nidal, I recall the Koranic verse stating that 'Paradise lies under the feet of mothers.' All respect is due to this mother, it is due to every Palestinian mother and every female Palestinian who is a Jihad fighter on this land." (Translation courtesy of MEMR1.)

Nusseibeh said he "'does not condemn" suicide bombers:

On the Arab web site on June 24, 2002, Nusseibeh explained why he signed a recent statement saying that, for tactical reasons, the Palestinian Arabs should refrain from attacking "civilians within Israel"' (i.e. within the pre?1967 borders): "We did not address our brothers in the various resistance factions to chastise them, or to condemn them, or depict the resistance as terror, or to de-legitimize it. None of these words appeared in the communique." (Translation courtesy o f MEMR1.)

Nusseibeh supported "the use of force":

Speaking to the Jerusalem Arab newspaper Al Fajr in August 1993, that "military means against Israel are vindicated by Israeli practices" and that he supports "the use of force against Israelis as a means of support of our negotiating position." (As quoted in the Cleveland Jewish Times, Sept.8, 1993)

Nusseibeh praised hijacking:

In 1986, Nusseibeh called a terrorist hijacking of an Israeli bus "a very daring attack." (Jerusalem Post, July 3,1986)

Nusseibeh's role in "intifada" violence:

Nusseibeh played an important role in the mass Palestinian Arab violence (intifada) of 1987-1989. In bills of indictment brought against seven leaders of the violence in Lod Military Court in 1989 (bill 108/89 and 109/89), the Israeli Government prosecutor stated that Nusseibeh served as a conduit for money "for financing the 'intifada"', and that Nusseibeh was responsible for "drawing up reports and leaflets for 'intifada' purposes such as instructing 'intifada' activists," including leaflets which called for "throwing firebombs" at Israelis and "fighting with knives." (A summary of the charges appeared in the New York Times on May 5, 1989 and May 21,1989.)

Nusseibeh refused to condemn the murder of two elderly Jews:

Shortly after a terrorist attack in Jerusalem in May 1989, the Jerusalem Post interviewed Nusseibeh and reported: "Nusseibeh refused to condemn outright the slaying of two elderly men at a Jerusalem bus stop last week, saying the attack had to be considered in the context of frustration at Israeli actions." (Jerusalem Post, May 8, 1989)

Nusseibeh justified murdering Arabs suspected of cooperating with Israel:

During the "intifada" of 1987-1990, Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered more than 1,000 fellow Arabs. Although the victims were accused of "collaborating with Israel," the majority were actually murdered to settle personal scores, clan rivalries or because of alleged violations of Islamic religious strictures. Nusseibeh defended the murders. "The question to be asked is not why there are more killings, but why has there been a re-emergence of collaborators in the last two or three months." Nusseibeh maintains that the death penalty is only inflicted on suspected collaborators as a last resort after all other means fail and only when there is very little likelihood of a mistake. "The local collaborator is very conspicuous. A killing is usually the end of a long process. Collaborators are usually well known in a village. If a family does not stand up to defend one of its members, that is also a sign that he is a collaborator." (Jerusalem Post, May 8, 1989)

..

Nusseibeh Demonizes Israel

Nusseibeh compared Israel to Satan:

In 1987, he endorsed Arab rock-throwing attacks against Israelis, saying: "I think it is a kind of exorcism to throw a stone at Satan." (International Herald?Tribune, June 4, 1987)

Nusseibeh said Israel "born in sin":

Nusseibeh said that the "heart of the problem" in the Middle East" is that "'Israel was born in sin." Uerusalem Post, January 8, 2002)

Nusseibeh called Israel "a racist Zionist entity":

In a 1986 article, Nusseibeh described Israel as "a racist, Zionist entity" and called for a three stage plan of consolidating the Arab position within Israel, increasing the Arab population, and then "the final stage will be the stage of a Palestinian democratic and secular state, achieved as and when Arab Palestinians naturally become a majority." (Jerusalem Times, May 9, 1986)

Nusseibeh's Aid to Saddam:

In January 1991, Nusseibeh was imprisoned by Israel. A statement from the Defense Ministry explained: "The detention follows his activity of collecting security information for Iraqi intelligence, especially after the missile attacks on Israel. He acted as coordinator for forwarding security information to various elements, including PLO elements abroad, for the Iraqi intelligence. (Jerusalem Post, January 30, 1991)

Prof. Michael Widlanski of Hebrew University has written: "During the 1991 Gulf War, Nusseibeh was caught contacting Iraqi intelligence officials in order to help direct the Scud rocket attacks of Saddam Hussein in which four Israelis were killed (one directly) and many wounded from 39 missile strikes. "While the rockets were falling it became clear to us that this gentleman was telephoning the Iraqi ambassador in one of the neighboring countries to tell the Iraqis where to shoot the missile," stated Col. (Res.) Shalom Harari, former Arab Affairs Advisor for the Israeli Defense Ministry. Nusseibeh was arrested by Israel's counter?intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, and put in administrative detention without trial for several weeks. After the Gulf War ended, Israeli officials, under pressure from the Israeli Left, allowed Nusseibeh a kind of "plea bargain" under which he voluntarily left the country for three years, said Harari, today a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. (www.themedialine.org, Dec. 28, 2001)

..

Nusseibeh's Attacks on America

During the Gulf War, Nusseibeh authored an extremist anti-American article which appeared in the Arabic language edition of Al Fajr on January 23, 1991 (for the English translation, see the edition of February 4, 1991). He wrote that when Iraq invaded Kuwait, "War generals, military strategists and the military-industrial complex in the United States were 'rejuvenated' with this recent development... They saw in this invasion a golden opportunity to test their machines and theories and to revive their industry and profits ... The forces of aggression got themselves together to start the annihilation process using the most advanced and sophisticated weapons of mass destruction and dropping hundreds of tons of explosives on Iraq which exceed the power of the bomb on Hiroshima ... In order to further humiliate the Arab world and rub the Arabs' nose in the dirt, the war in the Gulf was dubbed the 'six hour war.'"

..

Jewish Leaders' View of Nusseibeh

Conference of Presidents: Nusseibeh is no moderate.

In a statement on July 11, 2002, responding to the media's claims that Nusseibeh is a "moderate," the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations pointed out that "The comments and actions of Prof. Sari Nusseibeh contradict media reports ... The portrayal of Prof. Nusseibeh appears to belie the facts as demonstrated in some of his recent comments." The Conference then quotes Nusseibeh's statements endorsing violence against Israelis [see above] and noted that "In 1991, he served time in prison for providing precision missile-targeting information to Iraqi sources."

The Conference also stated: "Prof. Nusseibeh's predecessor, Faisal Husseini, was similarly lionized by many as a moderate. In fact, he played an important role in coordinating terrorist activities and was informed of each attack in the Jerusalem area. Documents found by Israeli forces corroborated Husseini's direct role in the violence and terror."

World Jewish Congress: Nusseibeh is a "con man" and liar:

The Vice President of the World Jewish Congress, Isi Leibler, has written: "Nusseibeh's behavior does not imply 'moderate' dissent from Arafat. It is more likely a propaganda weapon ultimately controlled by Arafat??a man who has established a consistent tradition of speaking with a forked tongue ... At best he is a propagandist playing his role in a good cop, bad cop performance orchestrated by Arafat. At worst he is a straightforward con man." (Jerusalem Post, Jan. 24, 2002)

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http://www.alquds.edu/gen_info/index.php?page=trustees

The Board of Trustees is the highest authority in the university, and oversees all its affairs.

History

While the university's bylaws were being formalized in the early 1990s, the university was overseen by a coordinating board, which represented the governing boards of the four founding colleges. The Coordinating Board consisted of the following members: Sheikh Sa'ad Eddin Alami (Chair until 1993), Mr. Mohammad Nusseibeh (Chair until 1997), Sheikh Abdul Azim Salhab, Mr. Adnan Husseini, Dr. Ahmad Zeiter, Sheikh Ali Tazziz, Dr.Daoud Tlil, Dr. Diab Ayyoush, Mr.Hasan Al-Qiq, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, Mrs. Mahira Dajani, Dr. Najwa Kamal Rshaid, Ms.Rana Immam, Dr. Rihad Issawi, Dr. Salim Ma'touk, Dr.Yaser Obeid,

Role of the Trustees

The Board of Trustees decides university policy and approves all its administrative and academic statutes and regulations. It approves the annual budget and appoints official auditors. The Board appoints the university's president, vice presidents, assistants to the president, and deans. It approves promotions, as recommended by the President and university councils.

As the university's overseeing body, the Board of Trustees supports the university's independence and takes all necessary measures to uphold its standards and to ensure the fulfillment of its mission. It directs the raising and development of university funds and organizes their proper investment. It supervises the progress of the university, with the purpose of enlarging its influence. It evaluates the graduates' capabilities to respond to the needs of society and the university's delivery of its educational mission.

Names of Al-Quds University Board of Trustees

  1. H.E. Dr. Abdul Salam al-Majali
  2. H.E. Ahmed Quri
  3. H.E. Dr. Anis Mohammed Al-Qaq
  4. Dr. Daoud Hanania
  5. Dr. Emil Jarjoui
  6. Mr. Fawzi Ka'wash
  7. Dr. Ghazi Hanania
  8. Dr. Hanna Michal Farraj
  9. Dr. Issa Khater
  10. H.E. Jamil Abdullah Othman
  11. Mrs. Maha Awwad Abu Shusheh
  12. Dr. Mohammad Mustfa Alami
  13. H.E. Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh
  14. H.E. Dr. Mohammed Z. Nashashibi
  15. Prof. Mujeed Kathemi
  16. Dr. Munib R. Masri
  17. Prof. Rasheed Khalidi
  18. Mr. Sami Al Halabi
  19. Dr. Samir Shehada Tamimi
  20. Mr. Shukri Bishara
  21. Hajj Zaki Ghoul

--------------------------------------

Note: The trip to Israel and Ramallah chronicled by"Rabbi Jonathan Malino was sponsored by the FUM "Friends United Meeting" They give their address as 101 Quaker Hill Drive in Richmond Indiana and are the primary source of funding for the Friends School in Ramallah. Their address is on the website.

Note: The co-leaders of the trip were Joseph Malino Professor of Philosophy at Guilford College -Max Carter – Director of the Campus Ministry, Guildford College

Jane Carter- Middle School Math Teacher at New Gardens Friends School.

In his account of the Guilford trip to Ramallah Joseph Malino and the others met with Said Zeedani and his wife Raja. Saad is the assistant to Sari Nussibeh and a philosophy professor at Al Quds University , His wife Raja, is a producer with Middle East Broadcasting and was formerly chief translator of the Palestine Press Services aka the Palestinian National Authority State Information Service .

The PPS stated aim is to "counter Zionist propaganda …with a goal to removing the occupation."The IPC website is replete with posters of Yasser Arafat and Arabs attacking Israelis.

In 2005 Saad and Raja Zeedani were invited by Joseph Malino and Max Carter to be speakers at the Voices for Palestine colloquium at Guilford.

The colloquium was funded by ‘Guilford College organizations and the Guildford Initiative on Faith and Practice. They also received a grant from the Lilly Foundation.

Part of the colloquium took place at Guilford College and other parts were held at the New Garden Friends Meeting school where Max Carter's wife is a teacher.

Saad Zeedani stated that "violence deliberately targeting civilians could be defined as terrorism but argued that "justified violence, targeting military institutions could provide ‘more urgency to a solution'. He recited canards proporting to show Palestinians in Israel were discriminated against adding "We live in a state for Jews.."

His wife Raja Zeedani's background contradicts his claim entirely. Her family moved from the West Bank to Jerusalem in 1987 where she grew up worked alongside Jews and won an award for her management of the Hyatt hotel .She was educated in Jewish schools . Nonetheless Zeedani disingenuously termed the Arab Israeli fighting an issue of a clash between "colonizer and colonized." And told the group "My head is Israeli my heart is Palestinian.."

Both Zeedani and her husband are Israel citizens and moved to Ramallah so their children could attend the Friends School.

There was a discussion with students afterwards to discuss their ‘biases concerning the conflict'.The students included Joseph Malino's son David (who studies at UNC) and Guilford student Maisa Zeedani (the daughter of Saad and Raja Zeedani.)

According to a report of the colloquium ended with a 'propaganda session' with "Said Zeedani leading a small group discussion .The conversation stemmed from Zeedani's experiences as a Palestinian."

'Rabbi' Malino summed up the colloquium's purpose as "connecting Guildford's core values and the community outside."

Guilford Chaplain Max Carter gushed: "What Malino has done here ought to be used as a model to make the dynamic of learning open to the community."

"Students were incorporated into this brilliantly." This is what colleges are about,learning".

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http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=1893

Palestinian Double Talk - Professor Sari Nusseibeh
By Motti Morell
PR Ambassadors Letter #36 | July 15, 2002

There's nothing new in the fact that Palestinian leaders speak peace and tolerance in English, and hate and Jihad in Arabic.

Into this distinguished list of double-talkers we are honoured to introduce Prof. Sari Nusseibeh.

Long hailed as one of the few Palestinian peace leaders, and having scores of admirers among well-meaning Israelis who regard him as the great Palestinian hope for peace, it still well behooves to scrutinize the messages he delivers in Arabic.

1. Prof. Nusseibeh calls for a cessation of homicide bombings on civilians, not for moral reasons, but for tactical ones:

The time: June 22nd, 2002
The place: Al Ayam Palestinian Daily newspaper
The Form: An advertisement paid for by the European Union and signed by Sari Nusseibeh and a few dozen other signatories.
The text: "We, the undersigned, based on the fierce defense of the future of our just national goal, and the protection of the honour of our national struggle and our brave Intifada which are blamed as terrorism, raise out voice and demand a cessation of the bombings that target Israeli civilians inside Israel.

Bitter experience teaches us that these actions have provided and will provide Sharon with the alibi to continue and increase the incursions and assassinations.

Moreover, these actions impede the nurturing and development of a resistance movement inside Israel against the occupation and the settlements".

The meaning of this text is clear: we don't care if you continue to murder Israeli civilians inside the West Bank and Gaza, but bombing them inside israel is bad PR for us. President Bush is beginning to get really fed up with us and the world public opinion is beginning to call us terrorists and is turning against us.

Moreover: Whereas in operation "Defensive Shield" the world demanded Israel to withdraw immediately, (and we didn't ask you to stop then, because this tactic was apparently working), this time Sharon entered our towns to curtail the terror and the world does not tell him to stop. So we better take a recess from homicide bombings for the time being.

Moreover: these homicide bombings interfere right now with our efforts to build a resistance movement among the Israeli Arabs to serve as a fifth column.

2. Just 4 days later, Prof. Nusseibeh Expresses admiration and encouragement to the terrorists and their mothers, live on TV (pictures from the actual TV program)

Haled mash'al Um Nidal Sari Nusseibeh

The time: June 29th, 2002
The place: Al Jazeera TV program
The form: A panel with Prof. Sari Nusseibeh, Haled Mash'al, leader of Hamas political wing, Um Nidal, the mother of the Hamas terrorist Muhammad Farkhat who entered the Israeli village of Atzmona on March 3, 2002 and murdered seven Israelis. His mother Um Nidal encouraged her son to commit the suicide mission and also appeared in a farewell video on the eve of the attack, where she sends her son to his death.

Sari Nusseibah says: "When I hear the words of Um Nidal [the terrorist's mother], I recall the noble [Quranic] verse stating that ‘Paradise lies under the feet of mothers.'

"All respect is due to this mother, it is due to every Palestinian mother and every female Palestinian who is a Jihad fighter on this land. I do not wish to mix political statements and political commentary with the respect every Palestinian feels for every Jihad fighter..."

For the benefit of his Arab listeners, the venerable professor hastened to draw a clear distinction between his political statements (which he makes in impeccable English) and what he really feels about Jihad and terrorist attacks (which he asserts in Arabic)...

To wipe out any misunderstanding with his Arab audience, Prof. Nusseibeh also referred to the advertisement he signed in Al Ayam 4 days earlier. He explained: "In our [communique], we referred to this kind of martyrdom the armed operations with explosives [targeting civilians in Israel]…. I wish to emphasize that we did not condemn [the operations]…. We appealed as brother to brother, to consider this issue… so as to examine the benefit and damage of operations against civilians within Israel."

The full text of Nusseibeh's words in Arabic is to be found on the Al Jazeera Website:http://www.aljazeera.net/programs/open_dialog/articles/2002/7/7-2-1.htm

In addition, on the Arab news site Albawaba, Prof. Nusseibeh repeats his explanation that "The communique that I, along with hundreds of others, signed, was clear. We did not address our brothers in the various resistance factions to chastise them, or to condemn them, or depict the resistance as terror, or to de-legitimize it. None of these words appeared in the communique… [Our] aim was to convey a message that there is a need to reexamine the benefit of the [martyrdom] operations within Israel in the context of the goals we seek to accomplish."

REEXAMINE. See? REEXAMINE. We never said a word against it as long as we thought it brings results. But now when this tactic is bringing us flak from world media, maybe we should reexamine the benefit...

Prof. Nusseibeh's earlier actions also demand consideration.

In 1991, he served time in prison for providing missile-targeting information to Iraqi sources.

He appeared on Al-Jazeera TV in December 2001 supporting the Palestinian "right of return" and the "stages" strategy towards eventual annihilation of Israel.

Since Oslo, so many Israelis preferred to disregard Arafat's calls in Arabic to destroy Israel, until they woke up to face the bitter reality. Even Yossi Sarid said in an interview in Maariv a month ago: "If there is one mistake I regret, it's when I was Minister of Education, we were presented with evidence of the Palestinian Authority's schoolbooks promoting hate and incitement and I preferred to disregard it. We were hoping that somehow it will come out all right in the end".

Surely now there will still be peace-loving Israelis who will say about Nusseibeh what they said yesterday about Arafat: "But he has to placate the Palestinian extremists..." Or: "It's just accepted Palestinian rhetoric, nothing to be concerned about..."

After more than 500 innocent Israeli victims, we'd better be concerned. We'd better believe what these gentlemen say in Arabic, not what they say in English.

Maybe there is a Palestinian who truly wants peace with Israel, but he has yet to be found.

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