Marking Balfour Declaration's 80th Anniversary, Edward Said Calls For Arab-Jewish Reconciliation and Reconsideration of Binational State

Laurie King - Irani

The Palestine-born Columbia University professor delivered his hour-long presentation before a standing-room-only audience November 2, the final day of the annual convention of the Association of American University Graduates in Washington, DC. In addition to his moving personal reminiscences and incisive political analysis, Dr. Said challenged his audience with an eloquent and carefully reasoned plea for Palestinian-Jewish reconciliation and an open-minded reconsideration of the option for a secular, democratic, binational state.

Recounting his childhood memories of the 30th anniversary of the Belfour Declaration (the document issued during World War I in which the hard-pressed British government declared that it "view[s] with favor" the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine so long as it does not prejudice the rights of the indigenous inhabitants), Said said that as a 12-year-old schoolboy in Jerusalem he had neither the awareness nor the vocabulary to comprehend the significance of the Declaration for his family's future. He recalled only that some older cousins cursed the British and spoke in somber tones about the deteriorating situation in the Holy City.

Early in 1948 members of the extended Said family fled their homes in Jerusalem, relocating in Cairo, where the pain and chaos of their new refugee status was never discussed in detailed political terms.

"My only memory is that there had been a crisis," Said said. " The metaphor which best described it was that of a huge medical emergency and immense human suffering that had to be attended to immediately. I did not think of it in political terms."

Said recalled visiting the family of an elderly relative in Cairo after the catastrophic events of 1948. He found the man psychologically shattered and his daughters virtually mute, living in a shabby, scantily furnished apartment in the suburb of Heliopolis.

When he returned to his own comfortable Cairo home later that day, he searched for words to ask his father what had happened to his relatives. "They lost everything, just like us," was his father's restrained reply. When the young Said looked at him quizzically, his father clarified his statement with one word, "Palestine."

As the years went by, Said obviously gained the awareness, vocabulary and courage to discuss the political dimensions of the loss of Palestine, becoming the best known of many eloquent spokespersons for the Palestinian diaspora. He told the AAUG audience that his growing political activism made his family anxious, not proud. Shortly before dying, his father told him, "I am worried about your political activism; I am scared of what the Zionists might do to you. Be careful!" It is to the world's benefit that Said ignored this piece of fatherly advice.

Turning from his own recollections, Said outlined the reasons for Zionist successes and Arab failures during the past 50 years. From his personal study of the founding texts of Zionism, he concluded that while Arabs have constantly changed their goals and shifted priorities, Zionists have always had a consistent and clearly stated goal.

While Arabs have rarely made serious attempts to influence world opinion, Zionists have maintained a century-long publicity campaign to convince the world of the integrity and worth of their endeavors. And, most importantly, Zionists have always had a compelling, unified vision. The lack of such a motivating vision in the Arab camp is, according to Said, the primary reason why Palestinians now find themselves in the worst state they have experienced since the advent of the crisis of 1947-1948.

Citing a "lack of democracy" and "rampant corruption" at "the root of the multifaceted problems facing the entire Arab world," Said continued:

"The current Arab situation is truly depressing. So many resources, human and otherwise, are just not being tapped. In spite of the size and potential of the Arab world, the average Arab feels a sense of impotence. Economically, the Arab world is a disaster area. The combined GNP of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt is still lower than Israel's GNP. Exports are going down throughout the Arab world, and the per capita income has been declining at a rate of 2 percent each year. For the rich in these countries, it is a tax-free zone; the poor are the only ones paying taxes. Meanwhile, illiteracy and health problems are on the rise among children and youth. There is no excuse for this state of affairs, and it all stems from a lack of vision, leadership and democracy in the region."

Said related that he and his friend and colleague, Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, recently had an informal meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Responding to their concern, Annan commented, "I really don't understand what is going on; all the leaders of this area give lip service to the plight of the Palestinians and constantly make speeches condemning U.S. hegemony and Israeli intransigence. But when you talk to them privately, every Arab leader is concerned with only one thing: America.

The Wye Plantation Meeting

John G. Merriam (Ph.D), via e-mail. We, too, have been critical of the Palestinians for seemingly being unable to put forth their case in written, usable form themselves and also being unwilling to find some native speakers of English to do it for them. That said, however, it's clear that even if they did both it would get very little pickup in the so-called national press. We say this because, for example, our regular contributors Rachelle Marshall and Maureen Meehan do a first-rate job of describing the facts on the ground, the former from Northern California and the latter from the West Bank. If they, neither of whom have research assistants, can do it, so could the correspondents of The Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, etc., if their editors, publishers and producers wanted them to.

The Usual Same Response

Anonymous, Providence, RI
We wish you had signed your letter, particularly since you checked off the boxes describing yourself as a North American-born Arab American, Christian American and Jewish American. Sounds like all our relatives by blood and marriage in one package. Anyway, letters from readers and writers like you make us feel we're not alone. How about giving us your personal story for our "Seeing the light " or "Pre-Israel McCarthyism" series?

Said Said It All

It is true that Americans are ignorant of the plight of the Palestinians because of the Israel lobby and others, as Dr. Said wrote, but where is the counter-lobby of the Palestinians? And what about hounding the media with their truth?

Like many others, I am appalled at what is happening in Palestine. The American government is in the pocket of the Knesset. As a taxpayer I am outraged at the billions we pour into their coffers. Yet, never a peep from the Arabs about how terrible it all is. I'm sure they yell someplace, but not in the United States.