Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Palestinian journalist speaks at Washington State U. on West Bank conditions
By Glenn Harman
Daily Evergreen (Washington State U.)
06/14/2007

(U-WIRE) PULLMAN, Wash. — The real story of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank is seldom reported, according to a Palestinian journalist.

Hisham Abdallah, a Palestinian journalist from Ramallah in the West Bank, spoke on the Washington State University campus Monday night about the conditions and struggles that face Palestinians in the Israeli controlled West Bank.

"I think he presented a very under reported side of the conflict," said Bob Grossklaus from Lewiston, who attended the lecture. "He represented everyday Palestinians very well." According to Abdallah, the international media and the American and Israeli governments have been misleading about the true nature of what Abdallah called the "Israeli occupation of Palestine." "What we need to know are facts, rather than propaganda and official slogans," Abdallah said. "We need to know, what occupation means, what it does to people." The West Bank, under Israeli control since June 1967 when the land was seized from Jordan during the Six Day War, has been a controversial subject ever since the occupation began. Although there is a Palestinian government of sorts, it is powerless and is subject to Israeli conditions Abdallah said.

Forty years later, Palestinians still suffer, Abdallah said. Hundreds of thousands fled the region, but more than 3 million Palestinians still call the West Bank home.

Abdallah said Palestinians without identification, which is required at all times, are frequently arrested and held for years without access to lawyers or family visits.

"One of the main things that has prolonged the conflict, and even produced more conflict, is that all the time no one wanted to deal with the real ingredients of the conflict, that this is an occupation," Abdallah said.

Since 1967, Israelis have demolished more than 63,000 Palestinian homes, imprisoned more than 700,000 Palestinians, and utilize more than 500 roadblocks in the West Bank, Abdallah said.

The construction of the 430-mile long West Bank Barrier, built ostensibly by Israel for security purposes, has further complicated matters, hampering commerce and travel, and isolating communities in the area.

The Israelis have recently built more than 400 miles of roads in the West Bank, all bypassing Palestinian settlements. Palestinians also have to get special permits to pass checkpoints or to enter West Jerusalem.

Abdallah said that, even as a journalist and an Israeli citizen, he cannot reach his office in the Jewish capital on some days. Abdallah said Israelis have employed such measures to keep Palestinians "out of sight." By not admitting they are occupying another country, Israel does not have to admit that they are responsible for what they do to Palestinians, Abdallah said.

The economic situation in the area is deteriorating as well, Abdallah said. Without the ability to access any markets, Palestinians in the West Bank have few ways to make a livelihood he said. The Israelis have ceased contributing financial aid to Palestinians since Hamas, an Arab political group that refuses to acknowledge the sovereignty of Israel, took over the Palestinian government.

Abdallah said aid from the European Union and other donors no longer flows like it should, which has resulted in humanitarian problems.

According to Abdallah, the key to solving the conflict is for Israel to end its occupation of Palestine, returning to its 1967 borders and relinquish its control of East Jerusalem.

Until the occupation ends, Abdallah said there is no real chance for stability in the region.

"One of the main misconceptions is that most Palestinians and Arabs are terrorists and are out there to destroy Israel," Abdallah said. "Once you perceive people in this concept, there is a fundamental wrongdoing. This misconception can lead to serious fallout." Abdallah, a journalist with 20 years of experience reporting in the Middle East, is teaching a summer course about the media and the Middle East for the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication, a position that will end on June 15.

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