Talking with Palestinians in Egypt

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...QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PLO Talking with Palestinians in Egypt BY ADAM ZAGORIN YASIR ARAFAT Cairo As the 32nd session of the United Nations General Assembly was getting under way in New York last month, U S Ambassador Andrew Young urged a plebiscite to determine if the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) "is truly representative of the Palestinian people " He thus raised a ticklish point about the PLO, whose standing has been a stumbling block to reconverning the Geneva Middle East peace conference For not only has the guerrilla group been repeatedly denounced by the Israelis, but reactions to it—even knowledge of its existence—vary widely among the approximately 2 million people it presumably speaks for Here in Egypt, for example, where some 50-60,000 Palestinians reside, questions that I posed to students, "rank-and-file" refugees and local PLO leaders themselves about the organization and its right to negotiate for a state brought a broad range of responses My first contacts were some of the roughly 16,000 Palestinian students spread throughout Egypt's university system I was cordially received at one of their social clubs in a middle-class suburb here, and after being taken on a tour of the place, sat down with about 15 students to discuss politics First to speak was an 18-year-old, who said his father "worked" as a commando for the Palestinian side in the Lebanese civil war He and his 10 brothers and sisters live on a small pension from the local PLO, he said, plus money his father brings home on his two yearly visits "Any West Bank or Gaza state created by a Geneva conference will destroy us as a nation," he claimed, "because it will simply serve as a market for Israeli industry " Several students disagreed, maintaining that return of the occupied territories would be merely the initial step in the recovery of the whole of Palestine One young man, who identified himself as a Marxist, went further "Our people will have to fight two struggles First, against those who compromise for the West Bank and Gaza and then against the Zionists " Other joined in, calling Yasir Arafat a "bourgeois" for having hinted he might accept UN Resolution 242 (which implies recognition of Israel's right to exist) in return for a homeland Someone labeled Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat "our enemy" for having befriended the U S All agreed that no matter what the outcome of Geneva or the PLO's position, the struggle for Palestine would go on indefinitely, since imperialist America would continue supporting Israel and the Palestinians would never settle for less than all Adam Zagorin, a new contributor, is a student at Columbia University's School of International Affairs their land A medical student m his mid-20s seemed to sum up the group's feelings "I want my son and his son to keep fighting I spent three years working in the camps in Iraq and my grandfather was killed by the Irgun near Jaffa You Westerners always think we will forget and give up " Similar contempt for Egypt was expressed by Azzam al-Ahmet, vice-president of the General Union of Palestinian Students in Egypt, who deplored what he called the "government's moderate position on the Palestinian problem " He underlined the tensions between young Palestinians and Sadat by noting that since January, 15 students had been charged with interfering in the nation's internal affairs and expelled—not an unusual occurrence, he said But unlike those at the social club gathering, he had few complaints about Arafat and thought there was no chance the PLO Chairman "would ever seriously support Resolution 242 The Palestinian people would not accept it " Curious whether the students' level of political consciousness was shared by the average Palestinian, I next stopped at a slum quarter in Cairo, where 34 Palestinian families live alongside a much larger number of Egyptians One of the Palestinians, Ahmet Saqr Daoud, inhabits a mud-brick home covered by a tin roof eight feet above a dirt floor His furniture consists of burlap-covered beds and assorted other aged pieces, in back, there is a tiny courtyard with a donkey in the middle When I visited Daoud, his wife was in a government hospital and two of his three sons were gone (they work abroad), yet he was surrounded by people—his grandchildren and daughters-in-law, all of whom live there as well Daoud refused to give his age, but he looked at least 60 He said he was born in a small village near Jaffa, and lived there until "the Israelis came and started to kill people We went away with our camel to Fakkous [near Cairo) I live by selling lemons now, but before this I worked as a laborer carrying cement, I earned seven pounds {$12] every 15 days " While conceding that his family had been poor in Palestine too, he nevertheless expressed a desire to return to his home and village Still, Daoud does not attend political meetings In fact, he has never heard of Yasir Arafat or the PLO Mrs Zeinab Muhammad Hassan and her family occupy a smaller house of similar construction around the corner from Daoud Her husband died many years ago, leaving her to raise six girls, four of them now married "My daughters married Palestinians," she said, "and I want their two younger sisters to do the same I do not want them to marry Egyptians because Egyptians will want to stay in Egypt, but one day we will have a country and then the whole family must go there She and her daughters had never heard of Arafat or the PLO either My final group of conversations was with PLO leaders in Cairo Sevid kemal, effectively deputy foreign minister, seemed an at table man He was dressed in an impeccably ironed salan suit and low, pointed black boots 1 asked him it the Palestinians would be content with a West Bank state and if not recognizing Israel meant perpetual violence between the two peoples The answer to both questions was No "Armed force is not the only way," Kemal told me "If we get our state on the West Bank or Gaza we will still continue our struggle—but it could be by peaceful means I believe in peace, and though no one is willing to recognize Israel that does not mean blood will be spilled Look at your country, the United States—you haven't yet recognized China " Later, I met with Gamal as-Sou-rani, the PLO representative in Egypt Our appointment was delayed as Sou-ram reportedly conferred with officials at the Soviet embassy about a planned trip to Moscow When he returned, 1 asked him whether the PLO truly spoke for all Palestinians There could be no doubt about it, he insisted Moreover, there were no important divisions within the movement and none had surfaced at a recent PLO national council meeting in Damascus When asked to compare the mood of his people now and at the end of the 1973 war, he commented, "The October War was the first time an Arab army was fighting since 1948, there was unity and the oil weapon was used Now we are frustrated The Arab nations are speaking about peace and naturally if their position was militant they could get more " Did he feel, then, that Egypt was undercutting the Palestinians'' He became very upset at the suggestion "You in the West don't understand that Palestine is Arab land You don't want to understand it Even il the Palestinians would disappear tomorrow, the tight would go on because it is an Arab problem ' 1 asked whether the PLO would take the West Bank and Gaza it it were ottered "Of course, we would take it, but only as a In si step " "Then the Israelis would be tools to gi\e it back'" 'Us Sourani concluded...