Affirming the Law and National Will, From Babylon to Beirut

Rami G. Khouri

I attended a gathering of Palestinian refugees in Beirut last week that

demonstrates — more than anything I have experienced in my adult life — why

the Palestine refugee issue and quest for statehood remain so strong, even

in the face of the combined political and military force of Israel and the

United States. A group of around 30 adult men and women activists

representing Palestinian refugee non-governmental organizations spent hours

in a Beirut hotel conference room methodically discussing the draft of a

Palestinian constitution. A professor from Birzeit University provided the

link with the Palestinian people in Palestine itself.

Why is this so significant, even moving? Why should Israeli Premier Ariel

Sharon and the Israeli people take notice of this? Why should U.S.

President George Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, who

rarely speak of Palestinians other than those few who bomb Israeli

restaurants, take more notice of these exiled Palestinian refugees debating

the fine points of law? Because the moral force, political aspirations and

real world pragmatism of the Palestinians is reflected in the Beirut group

debating the constitution far more than it is in the restaurant bombers.

The actual discussion mirrored debates similar to those that occurred in

all other societies that achieved sovereignty and that govern themselves by

law. The various speakers — political leaders, community elders, lawyers,

university professors and local activists — commented in detail on the

draft. The specifics related to clarity of language and eliminating

ambiguity, separating political doctrine from constitutional issues,

ensuring that constitutional provisions will be implemented equitably

(unlike many existing Arab constitutions), insisting on no discrimination

on the basis of gender, religion or ethnicity, striking a balance between

secularism and religiosity, clarifying references to historical landmarks

(such as UN resolutions) and, most of all, coming to grips with the

uncertainty of whether the constitution would apply to a sovereign

Palestinian state that would still have many of its citizens living in exile.

The event was most impressive for what it revealed about the Palestinian

character. Here is a national community whose land is occupied; whose

people at home are being subjected to daily military attacks,

assassinations and land expropriations by Israel; whose people in exile

often live in very difficult conditions in refugee camps; whose economy and

normal daily life are shattered; whose case only receives lip service from

other Arabs and friends; and who are treated by the world's superpower as

little more than a violent nuisance that can be handled with colonial

disdain. The Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are in the most difficult

situation of all, with limited personal and legal rights to work and

travel, no right to own land or property, and considerable political

opposition from forces in society that blame them for Lebanon's troubles.

Yet, despite all this, they gather for hours, democratically discussing the

fine points of a constitution that does not exist, for a Palestinian state

that is unlikely to be created any time soon, on a land that is occupied

and still being colonized by Israel. Their darkest hour, for the exiled

Palestinian refugees, is also their finest moment: democratic,

participatory, full of hope and faith, wedded to the law, anticipating a

normal life in which citizen rights are protected by constitutional

guarantees. This dynamic must be better appreciated by Israel, the U.S. and

the world, because it represents what makes the Palestinians tick, what

inspires them and what they seek to achieve. This is why the Palestinians

are so proud, and can endure so much pain.

I was struck by the historical parallels between what the Palestinian

refugees are doing here in Beirut and what the exiled Jews did in Babylon

two and a half millennia ago. In both cases, exiled communities endured

hardships, remembered their roots, fortified their national integrity, and,

most importantly, codified their sentiments into laws and political

doctrines guided by divinely inspired moral values of justice, equality,

dignity and compassion. Parts of the biblical books of Isaiah and

Deuteronomy were probably compiled and written during the Jewish exile in

Babylon after 586 BC, as elements of the Palestinian constitution are being

written by exiled Palestinians in Beirut in 2003. God — or something

equally powerful and benevolent — must guide both these peoples.

Ariel Sharon and his American supporters must recognize that many more

Palestinians spend time writing constitutions than bombing restaurants.

Sharon's and the suicide bombers' approach will only aggravate and expand

the terrible cycle of mutual killing in Palestine and Israel. The way to

stop is to reach out forcefully to those who are trying to affirm and apply

the rule of law, inspired today by the moral values first codified in

Babylon long ago: equality among people and justice as the guiding

principle of society.

# # #

Source: The Daily Star, October 2003.

Visit The Jordan Times website at: http://www.jordantimes.com/