YOUNGSTOWN Residents with ties to Mideast give views

Optimism for peace in the Middle East appears to be in short supply.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Regardless of their national origin, Mahoning Valley residents with ties to the Middle East say they abhor violence and believe negotiation is the way to achieve peace in that region.
But beyond that, as expected, Jews and Arabs have completely different perspectives on recent violence there.
"You wonder when will be the next time and who's going to get hit. The only feeling you get is you want to fight against it," Dotan Chobotaro, an Israeli graduate student in economics at Youngstown State University, said of terrorism.
He said his initial reaction to the terrorist bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa was one of "anger and frustration."
Cholotaro said his family lives in Haifa and usually travels by car, but he is familiar with the area of Haifa where the recent bus bombing occurred. He closely follows events in Israel.
An Israeli naval reservist who once served on active duty in the Israeli navy, Cholotaro said that, if he were to be called and told he's needed to defend Israel, "I would go yesterday."
One of his brothers was a captain and another brother is now serving in the Israeli army, he said. "I wouldn't leave them to fight a war and stay here," he said.
"We're a peaceful nation. Even though we were fighting for the last 50 years for our existence, we did it only because we were attacked. We never had any colonial desires,'' he said.
'Frightening': "It's so frightening, not only here, but in Israel too," Shirley Kessler of Boardman, said of terrorism, adding that her son, brother and four grandsons live in Israel.
Her son, Howard, whom she described as "an ardent Zionist" moved to Israel 27 years ago shortly after college and resides in Jerusalem, she said.
Two of her grandsons are in the army in Israel, where military service is mandatory for young men and women.
"I wonder if there ever will be peace. It just seems that they don't have any value for life," she said of terrorists. "I don't think they want to talk. They're too busy killing," she added.
"I hope for peace for all people of the region, but when I see those terrorist attacks, I am totally disheartened and very concerned about the future,'' said Myra Benedikt of Liberty, whose daughter, Lesley, resides in Tel Aviv. "I'm very concerned about the safety of my daughter and all Israelis," she said.
"I'm not sure in this climate of violence how they'll get back to the [negotiating] table," said Benedikt, who is president of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation.
"This situation has been getting worse and worse," said Husam Rafeedie of Youngstown, president of the Arab Community Center in Liberty, and a native of the West Bank town of Ramallah, where his brother lives.
Rafeedie, a Palestinian who was in the Middle East during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, during which Israel first occupied Arab territory, said the only optimistic time was in 1991, when the Oslo accords were reached.
"Then everything turned out to be ink on paper and nothing really happened on the ground," he lamented.
Under occupation: Rafeedie said he condemns violence, but he added that 3.5 million Palestinians have been under occupation since 1967 in the world's longest occupation. "They are not terrorists. They are trying to be free," he said.
Calling Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a warmonger, Rafeedie said the United States needs to tell Israel to end the occupation and allow establishment of a Palestinian state.
Negotiations should follow the pattern of the Oslo accords, and a United Nations peacekeeping force is needed in the region, he said.
"I'm definitely saddened by what is happening in the Middle East. The violence and the counterviolence cycle is just too much," said Dr. Aly Mageed of Canfield, a native of Alexandria, Egypt, whose family lives in Egypt.
"The Palestinians did not go out to seek the destruction of anyone. Others came to their land that they never left and they threw them out," said Dr. Mageed, a pediatric cancer specialist.
"These are people with no national identity," he said, adding that, for 53 years, their home has been "a worn-out tent."
The Israelis must negotiate with the Palestinians and agree to withdraw immediately from occupied territory and stop construction of illegal Israeli settlements on Arab lands, Dr. Mageed said.
"It's a feeling of sadness that innocent people get killed," said another physician, Dr. A.S. Saleh of Canfield, a Palestinian who was born and reared in Damascus, Syria, and has two brothers living in Syria.
Major events, such as the recent terrorist bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa, get significant press attention, but little or no notice is given to the deaths of several people each day on both sides, whether they be Palestinians or Israeli settlers in occupied land, he observed.
Dr. Saleh said negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, with intervention by major world powers, should be followed by placement of United Nations or other observers to monitor any peace accord.