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CNN Live Today

Interview With Adam Shapiro

Aired April 30, 2002 - 13:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Adam Shapiro is a Jewish New Yorker. He has been living in the Middle East for the past few years pushing for Palestinian rights. He came to national attention about three weeks ago after he spent the night in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah. This while the Israeli military action was taking place around him. Adam Shapiro, back stateside in Washington, joins us now. Good afternoon.

ADAM SHAPIRO, PALESTINIAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Good afternoon. Thank you.

HEMMER: Tell us what it is like to be back and tell us what kind of reaction you have gotten from either Jews or Israelis, not only here but also overseas?

SHAPIRO: It is very good to be back, and at the same time a little bizarre. As I walk around the streets of Washington, D.C. and you see life and movement, it is a stark contrast to what the situation was like in Ramallah, where I would be the only person walking on the street trying to deliver food and medicine and the only people were cars passing me were tanks or armored personnel carriers.

HEMMER: You know, Adam, some people say you are a traitor. Do you think you betrayed the Israelis on this?

SHAPIRO: I mean, I'm an American citizen. I don't feel like I have betrayed anybody. The work we are doing, is the work we are doing with the International Solidarity Movement, is to try and bring about peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. We believe the best way to achieve this is by ending the occupation and establishing two independent and free states.

HEMMER: Is your family still receiving death threats?

SHAPIRO: They have been receiving death threats and they still have police protection outside their home.

HEMMER: What are you doing in D.C., Adam?

SHAPIRO: I'm here, I have been invited to speak to a few different groups, Jewish and non-Jewish groups, about my experiences and what I have seen on the ground over the last month and what international civilians, Americans and Europeans and others, can do to try and help the situation. HEMMER: When you were inside that compound, the six men the Israeli government want to apprehend, where were they and where were they in relation to Yasser Arafat?

SHAPIRO: That I don't know. I did not -- when I was in there, I was only in there for 24 hours. And I did not see those men inside. That's not to say that they weren't there, but I just did not see them.

HEMMER: Adam, what does it suggest that the military operation, although not completely wrapped up from the Israeli perspective, there have been no suicide bombings in about two and a half weeks if you look at the calendar. What is the suggestion there?

SHAPIRO: I mean, the suggestion is is that overwhelming military force can force a population down a certain number of levels of development, of livelihood. People have been locked in their homes as prisoners, all people. And so, yes, if there is a military occupation of every inch of Palestinian territory, I would expect that it would be very difficult to carry out such...

HEMMER: Do you think it might...

SHAPIRO: ... not just suicide bombings but life in general.

HEMMER: Do you think it might also suggest that it was just strictly bad P.R. in the Western world for the Palestinian suicide bombings to continue?

SHAPIRO: I think first and foremost, we must say that it is -- it should be condemned, the suicide bombings, and all acts of terrorism would be it by actors, individuals, groups or states. I do think that, unfortunately, the suicide bombings confuse the issue for the rest of the world in that the Palestinian cause for freedom and for rights is a just cause. Suicide bombings are not a good way to go about achieving these rights, and it should be condemned at this point.

HEMMER: What do you think Yasser Arafat will do once he obtains that freedom?

SHAPIRO: I hope Yasser Arafat goes out and continues to be the leader of the Palestinian people and shows his people the way forward in a very difficult and traumatic and time of great loss. And I hope he can provide some hope for his people, and I hope that Prime Minister Sharon can find a way to provide hope for his people also.

HEMMER: I asked you about your family before. How have they felt about your activity in Ramallah?

SHAPIRO: My family understands that I'm doing it because of what I see for myself. They have been to the region, both to Israel and to the West Bank and Gaza, and they have seen for themselves. And they support me because they believe what I'm doing is ultimately right. I'm working for peace and co-existence and security for both peoples. And helping a people -- this time, the humanitarian work we were doing is really helping people survive.

HEMMER: Are you going to go back?

SHAPIRO: Yes, I plan on going back.

HEMMER: When?

SHAPIRO: Sometime in June, provided that I'm allowed back in. Unfortunately, Israel controls all of the borders and so it is not possible to enter into Palestinian territory without getting Israeli approval basically to enter through one of the airports or...

HEMMER: How did you get out then, Adam?

SHAPIRO: I left through the airport. I was searched like anybody else.

HEMMER: So you went through Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv and you had no problem other than a regular security check?

SHAPIRO: Just a regular security check. I answered their questions and was allowed out.

HEMMER: They knew who you were?

SHAPIRO: I'm not sure.

HEMMER: Thanks, Adam. Adam Shapiro, back in D.C.

SHAPIRO: Thanks.

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