The New York Times · 27 March 1988

CP-1988-114

Palestinians Turn Ire on Collaborators

By JOHN KIFNER

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Transcribed from the clipping

BEIT SAHUR, Israeli-Occupied West Bank, March 26 — Bicharra Qumsaya kneaded the black worry beads in his right hand as he scanned the faces of his neighbors crowded into the Greek Orthodox Church. He wore a well-tailored dark suit and the traditional white Arab headdress, held in place with a double black band. “Dear brothers,” he began softly.

“I’ll be glad to be your servant and I swear never to betray you again. My home is open to you.” Through the early 1980’s the stout, 65-year old Mr. Qumsaya, his four sons and a handful of associates were riding high as Israeli-appointed Palestinian leaders.

… Two Palestinians, Majed Hussein Dheeb, 19 years old, and Awad Qassem Ibrahim, 30, were shot dead by Israeli soldiers during protests in the little village of Kufr Thilth near Nablus today. A third Palestinian, Ayed Salah, died of gunshot wounds suffered Friday night during demonstrations blocking roads near the village of Zawata.

… In this largely Christian village of about 8,000 next to Bethlehem, hundreds of men and women crowded into a basement room of the big stone Greek Orthodox church late this afternoon to hear Mr. Qumsaya repent. “Was what you did for the Israelis right or wrong?”

Ibrahim Jabber, 40, a former president of the church’s social club, asked in a challenging voice. “Wrong.” Mr. Qumsaya replied. “If the Israelis offered you a post again, would you take it,” Mr. Jabber pressed. “No,” Mr. Qumsaya said.

“You are invited to come to the church tomorrow to offer Confession for your sins,” said the Orthodox priest, Father Issa Musleit, a stern, bearded figure in the black stovepipe hat of his sect.

How this transcription was made

Transcribed from a scan of the printed page. The page carries no masthead, running head or folio, so the date is not fixed from a printed date line; it rests on the slide label, corroborated by a dateline of 'BEIT SAHUR, Israeli-Occupied West Bank, March 26', by the uprising being described as '15-week-old' (it began on 9 December 1987) and by a Tiffany advertisement on the same page carrying the notice 'T. & CO. 1988'. The newspaper is identified from the printed credit line 'Special to The New York Times' under the byline. THE EXCERPT CONTAINS TWO ELISIONS, each marked with an ellipsis, so that the three Palestinians killed and the exchange inside the church both sit inside the record's press text. The printed 'would you take it,' with a comma where a question mark belongs, and '65-year old' without the second hyphen, are as set and have not been repaired. Read from crops magnified to between fourteen and sixteen times page scale.

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