Palestinians’ difficulties seen close up

Press, 19 October 1982, Page 17

Palestinians’ difficulties seen close up

Palestinians living in Qatar were preserving their national identity by fostering their cultural activities, said Dr William Shepard, of Canterbury University. Dr Shepard, of the philosophy and religious studies department, has just re turned from a three-day stay in the small Gulf state of Qatar, where he met the ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Tham, and visited the Palestinian compound. He also tried to enter Lebanon to catch up on events there, but was unable to get a visa. In Cyprus, he had been told that it now took two weeks to get a visa, and he supposed that this was to make it easier for the Lebanese Government to carry out its policy of getting anyone opposed to the leaders out of the country. Dr Shepard said. Palestinians .comprise 20,000 of Qatar's population of about 250.000. Dr Shepard said that he was interested in how a group such as the Palestinians kept their identity when they had no country of their own. He had seen in the Palestinian compound in Qatar that they were making a conscious effort to continue their cultural activities. In addition, the. war feeling • was still strong, and slogans round the compound mentioned the continuing revolution.

During a talk session, one woman had stood up. pushed her son of about 10 years in front of her, and said that until the recent massacre of Palestinians in Lebanon she had wondered about sending him to die for the liberation of Palestine, but now she was absolutely sure that this was right, he’said. The sheikh had taken a very hard line on Jerusalem. Dr Shepard said. Jerusalem was the third holy city for Muslims, and there was no way that they would share it with Jews. Gaza, including Jerusalem, should be an independent Palestinian State, the sheikh had said. He had said that if the Zionists were able to hold Palestine, they would eventually expand and endanger the security of Qatar, and Qataris felt’a solidarity with Palestinians as Arabs and Muslims. Dr Shepard said. While in Qatar, he had visited an experimental citrus fruit orchard in the desert, and had seen how the gas produced when drilling for oil was being used for steel and fertiliser works. Dr Shepard said that his trip had been organised by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and financed by the Government of Qatar. Two journalists, a Presbyterian minister from Wellington. and four Australians had been on the trip also.