A Radical Roadmap for Peace between Palestinians and Jews

Seattle, Washington

On July 9, 2003, Dr. Tikva Honig-Parnass and Toufic Haddad addressed an overflow crowd at the University of Washington School of Social Work on "A Radical Roadmap for Peace Between Palestinians and Israelis." The two journalists co-edit Between the Lines, a radical journal dealing with the grassroots realities in Palestine and Israel. Speaking on a fundraising and educational tour of the northwest, they presented a unique image as a Jew and an Arab who are working together for an end to the oppression of Palestinians. Their presentations were sharply critical of Zionism, the Jewish state today, the Palestinian Intifada and the Bush peace plan.

Tikva is a longtime anti-occupation activist, sociologist, and Jewish Israeli feminist. She lives in Jerusalem and for ten years was a main writer of the Alternative Information Service. Toufic, a Palestinian-American writer and organizer, was born in Kuwait and has lived in Palestine since 1997, first in the Beit Jibrin Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, where he co-founded a progressive educational center, and now in Ramallah.

The Freedom Socialist Party took the lead in bringing Tikva and Toufic to Seattle and helped organize forums in Portland and Los Angeles. They also spoke in San Francisco and Chicago.

Co-sponsors of the Seattle event were Another World Is Possible, Arab American Community Coalition, Arab Center of Washington, Campus Radical Women, Freedom Socialist Party, Hayaat, International Socialist Organization, Jewish Voices Against the Occupation, No War Against Iraq Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Committee, Political Staff Workers Union, Local #1, Salaam Cultural Museum, Tikkun Community of Seattle, and Voices of Palestine.

Nuha Mousa, Voices of Palestine, welcomes the speakers. An overflow crowd of 185 braves a sweltering, air-conditionless room to express their concerns about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Tikva explains that a state cannot be both democratic and Zionist. Touvic assails the Bush "roadmap" as a remake of the failed Oslo Accord. Linda Averill, FSP candidate for Seattle City Council, identifies corporate attacks on U.S. workers' standard of living with Bush administration policies in the Middle East. The speakers listen closely during a discussion in which both pro-and anti-Zionist views were expressed. Judith Kolokoff, Jewish Voices Against the Occupation, raised over $1,000 in a fund pitch at the event for Between the Lines. An additional $665 was raised from door donations, refreshments and the contributions of sponsors. Tikva greets the daughter of a former colleague while Toufic meets the leader of the Palestine Solidarity Committee. Ziayad Zaitoun, Arab American Community Coalition, staffs one of the many literature tables. Attendees look through the many books and pamphlets displayed by Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party

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