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Synagogue Applauds Palestinian's Ideas
Diplomat speaks on North Side amid heavy security
by
Gary Wisby
Staff Reporter
As Published in the Chicago Sun-Times,
October 2, 2002, page 20
A top Palestinian leader carrying a message of nonviolence and mutual acceptance was warmly received Tuesday at a North Side synagogue.
Sari Nusseibeh, president of a Palestinian university and Yasser Arafat's chief representative in Jerusalem, told more than 300 [600] people at Temple Sholom, "Force simply does not work."
The Harvard-educated leader added, "We live at each other's doorsteps. We cannot build a future on the basis of killing and hatred."
Security measures at the synagogue, 3480 N. Lake Shore Dr., were highly visible. Everyone who attended got a once-over with a metal-detecting wand, and walkie-talking-carrying security guards were in evidence.
They showed to the door a few audience members who shouted angrily during Nusseibeh's speech. At another point, cries of "Shut up!" "No, you shut up!" were exchanged.
But most of the listeners liked what they heard, awarding Nusseibeh a standing ovation at the close of his remarks.
A peaceful solution must include mutual recognition by Arab and Jew of the other's right to exist, removal of Israeli settlements from a Palestinian state, and the sharing of Jerusalem, he said as the audience applauded.
The right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, while "sacrosanct", is outweighed by the need to live in freedom, said Nusseibeh.
"It is a price that has to be paid. Refugees will be repatriated to the Palestinian state," he said.
Following Nusseibeh to the lectern was Menahem Brinker of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a founder of the Israeli peace movement. The first step to peace requires the realization that there is no military solution, he said.
The people are more ready to accept this than government officials, Brinker said, adding, "Leaders are sometimes less intelligent than the people led by them."
Without peace, the standoff will continue. "Israel's military superiority is balanced by the almost infinite readiness of Palestinians to sacrifice," Brinker said.
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