23 September 2005

Interview Saleh Abdel Jawad

Bitterlemons: How do you feel the issue of the synagogues left behind in ex-settlements in the Gaza Strip was handled?

Saleh Abdel-Jawad: I would have preferred if the Palestinian Authority had behaved differently. In Muslim civilization, tolerance was always one of the supreme values. I would have preferred, especially since everyone knew the issue of the synagogues would be exploited politically by Israel, that they had been left intact, at least for the moment.

But there are mitigating circumstances. First, the Israeli Army's rabbi had already performed rites over these buildings to de-sanctify them a few days before the withdrawal. Secondly, these synagogues were built on occupied lands and from the start they should not have been there. Third, we can't separate these synagogues from their political and geographic context. They were, after all, part of settlements that made the lives of the people around them not only difficult but almost unbearable.

Finally, part of the popular Palestinian reaction was informed by bitter experience with Israeli practices in the past and the present vis-a-vis Palestinian religious sites. After 1948, Israel destroyed around 418 villages. In a few cases, because of the intervention of individuals, some mosques, I can think of 20, maximum 30, remained intact. But in each of these 418 villages there was at least one mosque or church. In other cases, mosques were turned into bars. To name just two, I can think of one in Cesaria and one in old Jaffa. I saw a mosque in Zakaria that is now being used as a garbage dump. Several mosques were also turned into stables for horses.

Q: Yet you say you wished the PA had handled things differently. How exactly?

A: I would have liked that, despite everything I said above, we had saved these synagogues. Perhaps we could have used them as places of social benefit. At least I think they should have been left for the moment until their future was determined. The PA knew that Israel wanted to make an issue out of this, and I think it was foolish to have allowed them to do so.

Q: But could the Palestinian Authority have protected them in view of the obvious passion of people on the ground at the time of withdrawal?

A: Yes, I think it could. I know they only had 48 hours to prepare, but no one discussed things properly. I understand there were fears that if the synagogues remained they might have been claimed in the future by Israel. Nevertheless, even if the PA had decided to destroy these buildings, I think they should at least have preserved them until proper plans were laid.

I understand there was a lot of passion on the ground, but I think the PA could have preserved the buildings. They did so with some of the greenhouses. I heard some people put forward arguments that since Israel in the past has destroyed mosques and was only leaving the synagogues as a political trap, the buildings had no claim to protection, but I would have handled it differently.

Q: In other words, you felt that the fact that Israel has destroyed mosques does not provide justification for not protecting synagogues?

A: I don't accept the argument that because they destroyed our mosques we can destroy their synagogues. What is at stake here is religious liberty. For years, I haven't been able to go to Jerusalem to pray at Al-Aqsa. That is my right and one I want to preserve. While these synagogues do not have the same historical connotation, even for the settlers themselves, all religious sites must be treated with respect.

Saleh Abdel-Jawad is a a political scientist at Birzeit University in Palestine. He is currently working on a history of Israeli massacres of Palestinians in 1948 for the Max Planck Institute. This text is published with the permission of www.bitterlemons.org, an online newsletter where it first appeared.