George S Rishmawi Speaks at UC-Irvine

On November 22, 2010, George S. Rishmawi, a Palestinian activist, spoke at UC-Irvine sponsored by the Olive Tree Initiative. Rishmawi was introduced as a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the current coordinator of the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies, which organizes tours of the Palestinian territories by foreign tourists and fact-finding tours for those interested in the region. He is also working for the Palestinian Rapprochement Center Between peoples (PRC). According to the moderator, Mr Rishmawi was invited to speak at UCI because he happened to be in the area.

http://www.sirajcenter.org/

Rishmawi's appearance at UCI and his participation in the UCI Olive Tree Initiative has aroused much controversy within the Orange County Jewish community since the OTI's travel to the Holy Land (Jewish students) is funded by the Rose Project  which was established by the OC Jewish Federation. (I have been informed by the head of the UCI Hillel, Jordan Fruchtman, that Hillel is not involved in funding the OTI.)

In addition, there was some confusion over the identities of George S. Rishmawi and George N. Rishmawi, who is apparently his cousin and is head of the Palestinian Rapprochment Center Between People (PRC) and the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC). If you do Internet searches, there is a lot of confusion between the two persons. In a recent letter to the community, the OC Jewish Federation described George N Rishmawi as "a despicable character".


"While the names are only separated by a middle initial, these are two different people with two different points of view. George S., who is coming to campus, has met with Jewish students on previous OTI trips and is not, to our knowledge, a member of the International Solidarity Movement (a well-documented anti-Israel enterprise), having cut his ties to ISM in 2004. By contrast, his cousin, George N., is the despicable character being described in the circulated email."
(OC Jewish Experience)

Below is a PRC webpage with both individuals pictured.

http://www.pcr.ps/read/staff-and-volunteers

(The "despicable character" is the one on top.)


In his talk, which lasted for about 15 minutes, Rishmawi described his life in the Palestinian territory (West Bank).He began by describing an event several years ago which launched him into non-violent protests against Israel. (This is apparently the First Intifada, which began in 1987.)  During this period, the Israelis came in, closed down schools and established controls on the Palestinian populace. Since then he has been involved in non-violent protest activities against Israel. He considers Israel an occupier and that this occupation results in daily inconveniences in travel for the Palestinians as well as overall harassment and humiliation.

He also described his affiliation with the Palestinian Rapprochement Center Between People, in which he was initially invited to participate in dialogues during the above-described period-which also included refusals to pay taxes. He said that he is still involved with the PRC.

Currently, Rishmawi states that he is involved in non-violent protests as well as organizing tours of Palestinian areas (via the Siraj Center).

Here are some points from his talk and answers to questions.

At one point, he stated that Israel should grant more concessions to non-violent protests, which could reduce violent actions. (I am paraphrasing.)

At one point, Rishmawi said that he does consider suicide bombing as a form of terror and that he didn't believe in it. He continued by stating that he considers any violation of international law as a form of terror.

In answer to a question from the audience as to whether he favors a one-state or two-state solution, he stated that he didn't care as long as life became better for him and his people.

In answer to another question about the anti-Semitic images of Jews from within PA (Palestinian Authority) media including cartoons depicting Jews as evil, he skirted the issue by stating that negative feelings about Israel are a result of occupation and injustice-not from images in the media. (Again, I am paraphrasing.)

Another questioner asked him what was it that precipated the Israeli crackdown that he had described from several years ago (First Intifada ?) since that had not been mentioned. Rishmawi countered that nothing could justify the closing of the schools.

My question was if he was still involved with ISM directly or indirectly. His answer was that he had no further association with ISM, that he had left ISM several years ago, and that he didn't know what they were doing (now).

Below is an entry from the PRC website describing its relationship with ISM.


http://www.pcr.ps/read/pcr-history


"In 2000, we mobilized our dialogue group and international friends for actions to reclaim the military base that was located on town land and was a major issue in the community. We successfully held nonviolent protests at the base (even getting inside the base by the hundreds) and this success led to the formation of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). PCR was heavily involved in ISM for five years, during which it had employed around ninety percent of its efforts and finances to support ISM. PCR hosted ISM in its headquarters until 2005 when the headquarters was moved to Ramallah."

Below is what Wikipedia says about the PRC:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Center_for_Rapprochement_between_Peoples

Mr Ghassan Andoni, a professor at Birzeit University, is mentioned as co-founder of both the PRC and ISM.

Here is a description of George N. Rishmawi which connects him to ISM. (Again, I would treat this with caution. Several Internet sites have confused the two Rishmawis.)

http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/authors.php?auid=1352

At this point, I would say that it is still (at least for me) to determine if there is a current connection between George S Rishmawi, the PRC and ISM. I think we may safely assume that the 2008 and 2010 OTI trips included contacts with both George Rishmawis. I also think more clarification is in order.