July 30, 2006

Ambassador Afif Safieh, Head of the PLO Mission to the United States spoke about the Middle East crisis at St Mary's church in San Francisco on July 27. The talk was sponsored by the Middle East Program of the American Friends Service Committee, headed by Allan Solomonow and US OMEN (United States Organization for Medical and Educational Needs) which raises funds for supplies for Palestine, headed by Roger Soudeh.

Born into an East Jerusalem Catholic family that had to relocate from West to East Jerusalem because of the 1948 Israeli Independence War, he received his BA from Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium in 1972.

As a student he became involved in Palestinian politics, and beginning in 1976 became part of fledging Palestinian Statehood movement.

He has spent the last years as part of the Palestinian Negotiation team trying to broker a settlement with Israel, spent 15 years as the Palestinian Representative to Great Britain, and beginning in 2005 became the head of the PLO Mission to the U.S.

He spoke optimistically of a final settlement with Israel, envisioning a two-state solution. Although admitting that his advice has not always been followed by the leadership, he forcefully and eloquently articulated a strategy where Palestinians would lay down their arms and become a peaceful resistance movement along the lines of the American Civil Rights movement headed by Dr. Martin Luther King.

He also pointed out that the strategy followed by the Palestinians for the last 58 years has not worked, and that a smart person would do something different to achieve his aims.

He is spending about 5 days in San Francisco and the Bay Area speaking on Radio, Television, and to various groups.