Right-wing members the Jewish community in Israel and the US have launched a misinformation campaign against Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, the leading Palestinian advocate of peace and reconciliation with Israel, who serves as the PLO's top Representative in Jerusalem and president of Al-Quds University. The propaganda crusade is aimed at discrediting Nusseibeh at precisely the time when he has intensified his efforts to persuade Palestinians to end attacks against civilians in Israel and to chart a new path back to the peace table with Israel. Palestinian ultra-nationalists, too, have launched a campaign asking Palestinian Authority President Yassir Arafat to dismiss Nusseibeh from his post in Jerusalem. Jewish and Palestinian extremists are joined unwittingly in an unholy alliance to abort any new peace initiative.

Nusseibeh's critics employ the tried-and-true tactics of calumny: they cite selectively from Nusseibeh's public comments, ignoring a mountain of counter-evidence, while peddling tendentious or downright misleading interpretations of the quotations they offer. They recycle unproven, false allegations without questioning their reliability. Why defame Sari Nusseibeh? A successful new peace initiative is dangerous to radicals on both sides. It would compel Jewish extremists who support the Israeli settler movement to confront the inevitable need for a Palestinian-Israeli territorial compromise: two states for two peoples living in peace, a state of Palestine on the West Bank and Gaza for the Palestinian people, and a Jewish state of Israel. It would require Palestinian radicals to accept the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state, and to devise a just solution to the refugee problem within a two-state framework. The radical Jewish right is able to keep such proposals off the agenda so long as they can convince Americans and Israelis that there is no Palestinian peace partner. As a leading Palestinian moderate and peace advocate, Sari Nusseibeh's defamation is essential for the triumph of the ultras. We offer here a point-by-point rebuttal to the misrepresentations of Nusseibeh's courageous work for Palestinian-Israeli peace which have been circulated by his critics.

MYTH: Sari Nusseibeh is a wolf in sheep's clothing, using moderate language in English when speaking to the Western press, "while supporting terrorism and anticipating Israel's destruction" when speaking "in Arabic." (1)

FACT: Nusseibeh's Appeal to Stop Suicide Attacks: Among his many efforts to persuade Palestinians to abandon suicide bombing, Nusseibeh authored a major "Appeal" published on June 21 this year in the Arabic-language newspaper Al Quds calling on Palestinians to cease all attacks on civilians in Israel. The appeal, which was eventually signed by 650 prominent Palestinians, noted that such attacks "augment hatred between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples" and "kill all possibility for the two peoples to live in peace side by side in two neighboring countries."

FACT: The Nusseibeh-Ayalon Agreement: On September 3rd this year, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz published the Nusseibeh-Ayalon Agreement, a historic statement of basic principles for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict written by Nusseibeh and Ami Ayalon, former chief of Israel's Shin Bet security service. The Agreement provides for an unequivocal Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish state, a complete renunciation of the demand for a "right of refugee return" for Palestinians to Israel, and demilitarization for the Palestinian state. The proposed agreement is to be entered into between the Palestinian people and the Jewish people, each recognizing the other's historic rights to the same land, while accepting the need for a historic compromise, resulting in two states for two peoples. Akiva Eldar reports in Ha'aretz (9/3/02) that Nusseibeh and Ayalon "plan a petition campaign to collect signatures supporting the document on the streets of Tel Aviv and Ramallah"—in Arabic and Hebrew.

FACT: The Palestinian-Israeli Coalition for Peace: Nusseibeh is one of the most senior Palestinians involved in writing the Joint Declaration for Peace issued in July 2001, an important call from leading Palestinian and Israeli peace advocates for an end to violence and a return to negotiations, and in organizing the Israeli-Palestinian Coalition for Peace.

FACT: Al-Quds Peace Memo: In a recent five-page memo in Arabic distributed to all 5,500 students at Al Quds University, Nusseibeh outlined his views to his own student body. He reiterates his basic belief in support of peace with Israel, and explains to his students why his beliefs are defensible.

MYTH: Nusseibeh only rejects terror on tactical not moral grounds. In the Al Jazeera interview, Nusseibeh "expresses admiration for terrorists and acceptance of terror as valid, when it brings positive political results." (2)

FACT: Nusseibeh has clearly and consistently condemned Palestinian terrorism on moral as well as on pragmatic grounds. The Jerusalem Post reported on June 20 this year that "Nusseibeh is one of the few Palestinian officials who have publicly said that suicide attacks are immoral, besides hurting the Palestinian interest." Upon his appointment by Arafat, Nusseibeh delivered a speech to an overflow crowd of Israelis at the Hebrew University, as reported in The New York Times (October 17, 2001). "He criticized the Palestinian uprising as hopelessly mired in bloodshed and argued that a peace agreement incorporating a Palestinian state could only be reached if the Palestinians abandoned a longstanding demand for the return of refugees dislocated in war more than 50 years ago to their former homes in Israel. 'The Palestinians have to realize that if we are to reach an agreement on two states, then those two states will have to be one for the Israelis and one for the Palestinians, not one for the Palestinians and the other also for the Palestinians,' he said…The uprising has alienated even moderate Israelis, he said, degenerating into what he called sterile violence. 'We're telling the Israelis that we're going to kick you out: it's not that we want liberation, freedom and independence in the West Bank and Gaza, we want to kick you out of your home,' he said. 'And in order to make sure that the Israelis get the message, people go out to a disco or restaurant and blow themselves up. The whole thing is just crazy, ugly, totally counterproductive. The secret is to get the Israelis to side with you. We lost our allies.'"

MYTH: In an interview on Al Jazeera TV (July 14, 2002), Nusseibeh "denied that he condemned suicide bombings—he has respect for those Jihad fighters—and he does not reject terror as a political tool. Both in the interview and the petition…[the Appeal]—Terror is not rejected but is to be evaluated by its political results." (3)

FACT: Selective and Misleading Quotation: In the Appeal to cease attacks against civilians in Israel, Nusseibeh and his co-signers state in Arabic, in a key passage which is completely ignored by his Jewish critics:

"We strongly believe that actions of this type aggravate the current critical situation and augment hatred between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. Besides, such military attacks deepen the gap between the two peoples and lead to a further deterioration of the situation. They also kill all possibility for the two peoples to live in peace side by side in two neighboring countries…There is a need for people involved in such operations to reconsider their actions, which we believe only heighten tensions between Palestinians and Israelis, and drive them toward war and destruction devoid of all logical, humane, or political rationale."

The objection that the petition did not condemn such attacks overlooks the fact that Nusseibeh has issued such statements many times in Arabic, Hebrew and English. The statement lays out the immense havoc wreaked on the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence, the growth of reciprocal hatred, and the slide towards wider war which such acts bring in their wake. It is crucial to recognize that Nusseibeh is less concerned with moralizing, or in "indulging in [the] sentimental talk" of denunciation, as he said on Al Jazeera, than he is with getting results, influencing Palestinians to reconsider their support for such acts. If moral condemnations are not the kind of arguments which are likely to sway larger numbers among the Palestinian public to oppose suicide attacks against civilians, and other reasons will be more effective—such as the ones Nusseibeh and his co-signers used—it is difficult to understand why his Jewish critics would not welcome seeing many fewer Palestinians supporting or volunteering for the killing of Israeli civilians.

MYTH: "In the [Al Jazeera TV] interview, Nusseibeh expresses his explicit admiration for the terrorist's mother, in her sending her son to be killed for Jihad…The very act of participating in an interview with both a Hamas leader, who defends and explains his procedures in choosing suicide bombers, and the mother of the suicide terrorist who killed 5 teenagers, without distancing himself from the hatred he heard, lends his approval to mass murderers." (4)

FACT: False Interpretation of Al Jazeera Comments: After publishing his appeal to end Palestinian attacks against civilians in Israel, Nusseibeh accepted various invitations from the Arab media including one from Al Jazeera TV to explain his point of view to the Arab world. In the latter interview, representing the opposing point of view on the panel in defense of suicide attacks against Israeli civilians were the leader of Hamas in the Arab world and the mother of a suicide bomber. The mother was invited to the program in a blatant effort to buttress the Hamas leader's political arguments with an appeal to public emotion. Nusseibeh took pains to neutralize the emotional appeal of the mother by emphasizing that while every Palestinian feels respect "for every resistance fighter and every Jihad fighter and everyone who believes that there is no life possible under occupation, and…no life other than independence and honor…one must also distinguish between the Shahada-[martyrdom]-seeker who targets military targets, and [one] who targets civilian targets." He reiterates to his Arab audience that attacking Israeli civilians damages the Palestinian cause, and suggests that Hamas reevaluate whether they should continue supporting such acts which have done little but undermine the chances for Palestinian independence. From his Al Jazeera comments it is abundantly clear that he does not "lend his approval to mass murderers."

Suppose a veteran Peace Now leader had gone to a Jewish settlement to debate the ultra-nationalist settlers and made remarks about respecting their commitment, courage, and loyalty to the Jewish people. Would we think he had abandoned his peace principles?  No, we'd think he was playing good politics, and trying to show he was loyal to the Jewish community despite his political disagreements with the settlers. This is especially true if the person were someone like Nusseibeh, a politician trying to get things done and not a pure ideological or prophetic voice.  It's quite clear that Nusseibeh was trying to show that he still sides at heart with his fellow Palestinians, and respects their sacrifices, even while disagreeing with their tactics, not that he was abandoning the principles that had led him to condemn terrorism and Arafat's unwillingness to negotiate responsibly at Camp David and beyond.  He did not rescind, even in the quotes his critics cite, either his endorsement of a two-state solution or his criticism of the attacks on Israeli civilians.

MYTH: The Calendar: An "official student calendar" at the institution Nusseibeh leads, Al Quds University, displays maps of Israel encircled by the Islamic moon and two swords. "The encircling of all of Israel represents Islamic 'Palestine' replacing Israel, through the sword. The calendar's dedication on page 1 continues the violent themes," dedicated to the mothers who produce suicide bombers as martyrs to Allah. The calendar is by "The committee representing the women students—Student Council," "The Faculty of Religious Promotion and the Foundations of Faith, Al-Quds University." Jewish critics claim that this calendar "offer[s] some insight as to the beliefs and opinions of Sari Nusseibeh." (5)

FACT: The offending calendar was clearly published by an independent committee of women students at Nusseibeh's university. Nusseibeh's critics offer no evidence that he ever approved the calendar, or that he is even aware of it. This amounts to little more than an attempt to tar Nusseibeh through guilt by association. There are undoubtedly anti-Israel publications at universities by student committees and groups throughout the United States and the world. Would it be fair to impugn the integrity and political commitments of the presidents of all other universities on the basis of such publications by student groups on their campuses as well? In recent months, since Nusseibeh has vocally expressed his views, he has come under attack in various student leaflets circulated on his campus. The recent five-page memo he sent in Arabic to the entire student body of Al Quds University testifies to his principled opposition to terror attacks against civilians in Israel and his ongoing commitment to peace.

MYTH: Spying for Saddam: According to Arutz Sheva, the radio station of the settler movement, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said "that Nusseibeh is not the moderate that some Israeli politicians believe him to be. [Landau] noted that during the 1991 Gulf War, Nusseibeh contacted Iraqi intelligence officials to help direct the Scud rocket attacks on Israel." (6)

  FACT: No evidence has ever been provided to support the allegation that Nusseibeh helped direct Scuds at Israel during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Sari Nusseibeh categorically and absolutely denies the charge: it is a total fabrication. Nusseibeh was never tried in a court of law over the 1991 charge for jeopardizing Israeli security; he was never presented with evidence of his offenses, or given an opportunity to confront his accusers in the courtroom and to provide counter-evidence. He was never found guilty of the charge, because no trial ever took place. Why was Nusseibeh never tried under Israeli law if he committed such grave crimes endangering Israeli security—as were others who were accused of espionage at the time? Why, if he was guilty of such egregious offenses, was he not locked up for many years after a conviction on the charges? Under the American way of democracy and the rule of law practiced in civilized countries, including Israel, people are considered innocent until proven guilty. Despite this, Nusseibeh's right-wing critics brazenly recycle a baseless shopworn allegation.

Nusseibeh was arrested and placed in "administrative detention" for a few weeks. His arrest was an attempt at harassment under the cover of the Gulf War by the right-wing Israeli government in power at the time. The statement on Arutz Sheva about Nusseibeh's alleged 1991 action was made by the current right-wing Israeli cabinet minister who has been harassing and arresting Nusseibeh during the past year, and closing his offices at Al Quds University repeatedly, on the grounds that Nusseibeh's work on behalf of the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem undermines Israeli sovereignty over a "united Jerusalem," in violation of the Oslo Accords—the very Accords which Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has recently declared a dead letter. "Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer lambasted Public Security Minister Uzi Landau's decision to close Nusseibeh's office…terming it "stupid" and saying he planned to raise the issue in the cabinet. 'It is inconceivable that a moderate, who publicly speaks out against terrorism and the right of return [for Palestinian refugees] and is likely one day to sit across from us at the negotiating table, should be subjected to such humiliating treatment by Minister Uzi Landau,' he said." (Ha'aretz, July 12, 2002)

FACT: Sarid denies Nusseibeh Iraq statement attributed to him: In the July 11, 2002 edition of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations' "Daily Alert," the Conference provided a series of unsourced bullet points questioning Dr. Nusseibeh's leadership as a Palestinian moderate. One of those points stated, "In 1991, Nusseibeh was arrested for providing missile-targeting information to Iraqi sources. After reviewing evidence, opposition leader Yossi Sarid told an interviewer that if he had been judging Nusseibeh, he would not have given him three months imprisonment but ten years." On July 16, 2002, Americans for Peace Now (APN) released a statement from Knesset Member Yossi Sarid, head of the Meretz Party, in which he flatly denies making a statement regarding Dr. Sari Nusseibeh that was attributed to him in a recent document issued by the Conference of Presidents. The closing of Nusseibeh's offices was heavily criticized by the Israeli Peace Now movement, Likud and Labor cabinet officials, members of the Israeli opposition, and the White House. In his statement of July 14, 2002, issued from his office in the Knesset, Sarid said: "Yossi Sarid is a personal friend of Dr. Sari Nusseibeh and considers him a moderate, responsible and courageous Palestinian leader. The attack on Dr. Nusseibeh by the government of Israel is a combination of evil and stupidity. There is no more fitting candidate for an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue in the near future than Dr. Nusseibeh. The incident mentioned in the Conference of Presidents material that took place eleven years ago remains a mystery, a mystery in which there is more hidden than revealed. The words quoted in my name were never said by me and, furthermore, they are not relevant today. Today, Sari Nusseibeh is a leader who should be encouraged and not repressed."

Palestinian ultra-nationalists are vehemently opposed to Nusseibeh's peace advocacy and willingness to embrace pragmatic compromises to end the bloodshed between Israelis and Palestinians. Al-Awda, a worldwide Palestinian group which calls for the replacement of Israel with a single Palestinian Arab-majority state in all of historic Palestine—what is now Israel, the West Bank and Gaza—demands an unfettered right for all four million or more Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to Israel. Al-Awda vociferously opposes Sari Nusseibeh's positions, and has launched an ongoing campaign to have President Arafat remove him from his post as the PLO's representative in Jerusalem. (7)

After a joint appearance with Ami Ayalon and former Senator George Mitchell in Minnesota on September 26, 2002, Ziad Amra, a spokesman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Minnesota called the Nusseibeh-Ayalon vision "disheartening and disappointing" and described it as "basically a cave-in to most of Israel's demands masquerading as a compromise." (8) If, as some right-wing Jewish groups claim, Nusseibeh were not genuinely seeking peace with Israel, affirming its right to exist as a Jewish state, opposing terrorism, and working to enlist Palestinians to join him in ending terror and returning to peace talks based on the Nusseibeh-Ayalon Agreement, it is puzzling indeed why so many ultra-nationalist Palestinian groups and activists oppose his proposals and seek his dismissal.

Nusseibeh's right-wing Jewish critics question whether he is "a moderate by Western standards—openly rejecting terrorism, promoting peace and reconciliation with Israel through negotiations," in the words of Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch. Nusseibeh has taken very great risks to criticize the Intifada and the unwillingness of some of his fellow Palestinians to accept a Jewish state and renounce, therefore, their "right of return."  That he holds such positions is very well known among Palestinians, enough to prompt calls for his dismissal. No one who looks at the full record of Nusseibeh's career and extensive work in promoting peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians since the late 1980's—including his most recent Appeal to end Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians and his co-authorship of the Nusseibeh-Ayalon Agreement—can reasonably conclude that Nusseibeh does not reject terrorism against civilians, or that he does not advocate peace and reconciliation with the Jewish State of Israel through negotiations. Nusseibeh is without question a moderate by Western standards. And that's precisely why he's such a threat to extremists on both sides who must malign and discredit him lest he succeed in foiling their cherished ultra-nationalist designs.

(1) Itamar Marcus, "Special Report—Sari Nusseibeh—A Moderate By Whose Standards?" (7/29/02); Palestinian Media Watch, The United Jerusalem Foundation, http://www.unitedjerusalem.org/ index2.asp?id=123921. See also "The Palestinian Debate Over Martyrdom Operations Part II: A Palestinian Communiqué Against the Attacks," MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 101, July 5, 2002.
(2) Marcus, "Special Report-Sari Nusseibeh-A Moderate By Whose Standards?"
(3) Marcus.
(4) Marcus.
(5) Marcus.
(6) http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=26831. See also "Arafat's Most Likely Successors Include Terrorists, A Holocaust-Denier, And A Spy For Saddam: Part 2 of 2: Mohammed Dahlan, Jibril Rajoub, Sari Nusseibeh," ZOA BACKGROUNDER, The Zionist Organization of America, Feb. 12, 2002, http://www.zoa.org/pressrel/20020212a.htm.
(7) The campaign is described on their website:  http://www.al-awda.org/. Chicago-based P alestinian activist Ali Abunimah, Vice President of the Arab-American Action Network, agrees with Al-Awda and sharply attacks Sari Nusseibeh for his recognition of the need for Palestinians to compromise on the "right of return" to make possible a peaceful two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in our lifetime. Abunimah recently published a harsh assault on the Nusseibeh-Ayalon Agreement on his website, The Electronic Intifada. (Ali Abunimah, "Palestinian Rights in the Document Shredder: The Nusseibeh-Ayalon Agreement," September 7, 2002, http://electronicIntifada.net) Abunimah rejects the only realistic path which will enable Israelis and Palestinians to put a permanent end to the bloodshed, a two-state solution between a Jewish state and a Palestinian state.
(8) Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 9/27/02