Palestinians seek to break link to violence, show peace image

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JERUSALEM — After being linked with violence for decades, Palestinians are nurturing a new image based on the gentle message of the olive branch. The Madrid peace conference, where the grandfatherly Haidar Abdel Shafi stood at the podium and delivered an eloquent recital of his delegation’s national cause, was the first step in the Palestinians’ image make-over.

“In some ways, we succeeded in changing the Palestinian stereotype,” said Ziad Abu Zayad, an adviser to the Palestinian delegation at the conference. “This was an opportunity for us to show the whole world our real face and our real intentions, and to try to stand firm against the propaganda that misrepresents us.”

But leaving behind their reputations as terrorists won’t be as easy as swishing an olive branch through the air. While the Palestinians may be anxious to forge a new name for themselves in the world, Israel is equally anxious to keep the Palestinians firmly zipped into their old wolf’s clothing.

Zayad acknowledges that the Palestinians, led by the Palestine Liberation Organization, have made mistakes in the past by using violence to grab the world’s attention. “They were old mistakes that were used against us, that were used by the other side to destroy the image of the Palestinian people,” he said. “I hope that such mistakes will not be repeated.”

But even as the Palestinians at the peace conference were garnering praise for their new cooperation in the peace process, Israeli officials were accusing them of inciting violence and sponsoring terrorism. Israeli police, who remain suspicious of any Palestinian gathering that smacks of nationalist overtones, broke up several Palestinian peace demonstrations during the Oct.

30-Nov. 1 Madrid conference. Even though the rallies celebrated peace, they could have easily dissolved into violence, a police official said. Not all the Palestinians in and outside the occupied territories approve of the peace negotiations, and many have promised to use violence to stop them.

On her way to Madrid, the Palestinians’ popular spokeswoman, Hanan Ashrawi, had predicted that a rise in nationalist fervor would likely cause an escalation in the intifada, the Palestinian revolt against the Israeli occupation.

Israeli government officials used that comment to blame Ashrawi when a bus carrying Jewish settlers was sprayed with automatic gunfire on its way to Tel Aviv, killing two Israelis, two days before the Madrid conference began. “The role of spokeswoman does not conform with instigating violence,” said Yossi Olmert, director of the Israeli Government Press Office.

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Cite this clipping

"Palestinians seek to break link to violence, show peace image," Houston Chronicle, 10 November 1991, p. 29A. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1991-042. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1991-042