BY GUSTAVO HERRARTE
This column is written and edited by the Young Socialists
(YS), an international organization of young workers,
students, and other youth fighting for socialism. For more
information about the YS write to: Young Socialists, 3284 23rd
St., San Francisco, California, 94110. Tel: (415) 824-1429.
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AMES, Iowa - The Young Socialist Club at Iowa State University (ISU) sponsored a forum here March 11 entitled "Palestine: Why There Is No Peace." The program included a video, Jerusalem: an occupation set in stone?, followed by talks by ISU graduate student Stephen Gasteyer and Ray Parsons, a member of the United Steelworkers of America and the Socialist Workers Party.
Gasteyer related his experiences living in the Israeli- occupied territories. Both speakers highlighted the ongoing resistance of Palestinian workers, farmers, and youth to the dispossession of their land. Among the 35 participants were a number of Palestinian students from the West Bank and Gaza, who enriched the discussion.
The video exposed the discrimination in housing faced by Palestinians in the occupied territories. Large areas are designated as "Green Areas" by the Israeli government and no Palestinian is allowed to build or farm there. Palestinians retain property rights on the land but they are not allow to live or use it. Authorities demolish Palestinian dwellings that allegedly violate these regulations. The restrictions on the free movement of Palestinian people in Jerusalem was discussed. Special permits are granted to some for work or study in Jerusalem, but these permits are temporary and the government closes the main entrance to the city at will.
The forum took up Washington's role in supporting Tel Aviv. Conditions for Palestinians in the occupied territories have worsened since the October 1998 Wye River accord brokered by Washington. The setbacks Palestinians face are also a product of the policies of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leadership, who rely increasingly upon support from the U.S. government, turning their eyes away from Palestinians who continue to resist.
In his presentation Parsons stressed that these fighters live in a world of increasing working-class resistance and national liberation struggles, from Ireland to the fight of the Kurdish people in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and have more opportunities to build solidarity than ever before.
Two people bought Militant subscriptions and several others picked up copies of the paper featuring a two-part series by a recent reporting team that covered the Palestinian struggle in the West Bank and Gaza.