Just peace

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by Naomi Bloch

Palestinian Salim Shawamreh and Israeli Jeff Halper are on a cross-Canada mission. "Our idea is to mobilize groups to work effectively to support a real peace process--and to be critical," explains the anthropology professor and coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

Palestinian engineer Shawamreh knows firsthand about demolition, as he is currently building his third house in three years, after the first two were demolished by the Israeli Civil Administration. The pair hope to give Canadians a different perpective from the coverage commonly disseminated in the media. "You see the negociations and the leaders meeting, and then there are treaties or agreements, but that's only half the picture," says Halper.

"In 1993, at the time of Oslo, we had about 100,000 Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem, and the same in the West Bank," says Shawamreh. "Now we have 200,000 in the West Bank and 200,000 settlers in Jerusalem."

Halper suggests that people should not be fooled by Barak's apparent concession of 95 per cent of Palestinian land. "Israel only needs five per cent if it's in the form of strategically placed settlements, roads, checkpoints and border controls to completely control the life of Palestinians, and to render any future Palestinian state essentially non-viable."

The team's trip from the Middle East was sponsored by numerous humanitarian groups. The duo spoke to Montrealers at Concordia last Sunday and, after a private meeting with the Jewish community, moved westward. "If we want peace, we have to construct it for both nations," says Shawamreh. "It should be a just peace, a fair peace for it to grow and last forever."