Speaking Event Coverage from Jerusalem - Khaled Abu Toameh

Khaled Abu Toameh - West Bank and Gaza correspondent for the Jerusalem Post and U.S. News and World Report and a documentary filmmaker.

January 5^th 2007 at the Jerusalem Gate Hotel presented by Stand With Us - Israel to a Winter 2008 Birthright group.

• Israeli Arab, has Palestinian mother from the West Bank, born in Tulkarem in 1963
  

• Worked for PLO, as reporter licensed by the Israeli government because in those days you had to work for the PLO

• Graduated from Hebrew University, 7 years Jerusalem post

• Foreign journalists don't face any problems in Israel, no intimidation, they can write anti-Israeli stuff

  • Journalists covering the Arab world stay in Israel

• US journalists cant speak to Hamas

• 20 years adviser to foreign journalists

  • NBC Palestinian Affairs producer

• Has to work in Israeli newspapers to practice real journalism

• No free media in Arab world

• Palestinians got exposed to good things inside Israel

  • Hoping Arafat would set up democracy

  • Oslo implementation was bad, bad partner

  • Note: Says “we” in reference to Israel

• Palestinians never saw the fruits of peace, Arafat stole the money

  • Built a casino opposite refugee camp

  • Gave Suha Arafat $100k a month for shopping in Paris

  • Lost faith in the process because of corruption

• Arafat promised 100% or nothing, didn't sign anything at Camp David

• When you ask 12 year old in refugee camp what he wants to be when he grows up, he says I want to be suicide bomber

• In 2005 Abbas said I will fix corruption and build institutions, that was his platform, 60% gave a mandate in elections

• More Palestinians killed in internal fighting than by Israel

  • More lawlessness

• January 2006 Hamas ran on change and reform, appropriated Abbas' platform

  • Put Israel destruction on bottom of list of platform

  • Good governance against PLO

• Free and democratic election went for Hamas

  • Worst violence in territories between Fatah and Hamas

  • Not between bad and good, between bad and bad

  • Fighting over money and power

• Mistakes by us and Europe, didn't tell them to reform, gave them guns and told them to

• “PLO can never be reformed”

• When Palestinians saw US giving money to Fatah

• Egypt sealed border and made Fatah knock on Israel's door, Israel saved them dumped them to West Bank

  • Hamas is a very dangerous regime, Iran is in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon

  • PLO only in west bank because of IDF

  • If he were Olmert he couldn't give any land to Abbas

  • PLO weak and corrupt, not legitimate

Question and Answer Session:

• We don't know in west Hamas has provided social services

  • Hamas was doing what PLO should be doing

  • vote was combination between ideology and services

  • Hamas came into vacuum in Gaza

• American influence in Arab country

  • Why doesn't the US tell gulf countries to help

  • Law in Lebanon says Palestinians cant work in 72 professions

  • In Kuwait they are banned by law from buying apartment

• Iran

  • [In Iran] I wouldn't be standing here talking to you, [I wouldn't be allowed]
    

  • Ahmadinejad: Muslim Hitler

    • Will kill him [Khaled] if he speaks out against the regime
      

  • [Khaled] Hopes students will bring him [Admadinejad] down

• How can we as Americans influence the situation?

  • All about education, talk to PLO demand something for your money, they are dependent

  • This generation more radical then last

Closing remarks

• Dictators are radicalizing people

  • We are suppressing reformists

Jerusalm Gate Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel