Uneasy
Days
By Bassem Eid
Since the
establishment of the Palestinian Authority after the Oslo peace
agreement in 1993, I have never faced such a wave of criticism,
slander and defamation, as I now face. The public reaction to my
criticism of the execution of two collaborators by the PA, could
have led to my own ‘execution’.
What made the last
execution of death penalty by the PA different was the criticism
and slander I received from both public and official sources. On
Sunday, the 14th of January 2001, I was invited to a
TV program in Ramallah, by al-Quds Educational TV. The program
(Space for Opinion) presented by Maher al-Dasouqi, who was
detained (and tortured, according to his sayings) by the PA in
October 1999, discussed the subject of “collaborators and the
execution of death penalty against them”. The program started at
8:00 p.m. and lasted for 90 minutes. Many people who telephoned
live during the program criticized my position, nevertheless, I
enjoyed the program. I returned home after 10:00 p.m. without
any feeling of danger or fear.
The following day,
there was a discussion between the PA’s Minister of Justice
Freih Abu-Medein and the human-rights activist Raji al-Sourani.
When the Minister mentioned my name in the dialogue, al-Sourani
replied by saying that “Bassem Eid is an alien to human rights”,
and so Mr. Sourani chose to criticize me instead of defending
himself.
The following night
I heard that there was a discussion on al-Mahd local TV in
Bethlehem on the same subject, I was surprised to hear that my
name was mentioned several times in that discussion, and some
people demanded the prosecution and killing of myself. When I
phoned the Director of that TV station, he said: “it was freedom
of expression”.
On Wednesday, the 17th
January, I was invited again to al-Quds Educational TV, to
resume the program on the same issue. Later that day I was asked
to meet with an representatives of an international
investigation committee, so I asked my office manager to call
the TV station and apologize for them, and so did she. In the
evening, while I was meeting with the foreign committee, I
received a phone call from my wife who informed me that Maher
al-Dasouqi opened his program by saying he invited Bassem Eid
who refused to attend and didn’t apologize. People then phoned
the program live on the air to say that I ran was afraid, and
they explained that there might be some ambiguity in the matter.
My children at home, specially the older son Mohammed, where
shocked with what people said about their father on the
television.
On Friday at about
midday, a friend of mine phoned me to say that the Mufti of
Palestine Ikrimeh Sabri, in his speech at al-Aqsa Mosque called
all human rights organizations as collaboration agencies who
work for the interests of the Western countries. Thus, the wave
of criticism for human rights bodies spread and escalated.
Finally, I can only
say that although there are limits for human rights, yet there
are unlimited violation to them.
*
Bassem Eid is the Director of the Human Rights Monitoring Group
in East Jerusalem |
