Copyright: Copyright 1994 Dennis Turner


The Six Day War
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Links Master


Six Day War Internal Links 1


Six Day War Links 2


Arab Anti-Semitism
Arab Anti-Semitism   Example  Example   Links  Links Links  Links

Anti-Semitic statements by  leaders of Arab states.  /  Example  /  Statements by PLO. / Statements by other "nationalist" or "secular" Palestinians.

Anti-semitic statements by Islamic fundamentalists

The Koran: Contempt of and hatred for Jews

The birth of Islam  Comment  Quote

Hatred for Jews among Islamic terrorist groups.

Commentary about anti-semitism in Islam  / Islam - theology precluding equality of non-Moslems,  tolerance of opposition and personal rights.   /  Dhimmi - history of the degrading and humiliating legal status of non-Moslems in the Arab world  /  List of degradations and disabilities.

ADL report: Islamic terror groups in America

Arab support for Hitler

CAMERA report on anti-semitism in Hamas

Arab terror groups

Terror attacks on Jews/Israel by Arab terror groups


example1
Article 7(of Hamas' Charter): ..."The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:  `The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees.  The stones and trees will say O Moslem, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...'"


Example 2
"Six million descendants of monkeys [i.e., Jews]3 now rule in all the nations of the world, but their day, too, will come. Allah! Kill them all, do not leave even one!" (Imam Sheik Ahmad Ibrahim, HAMAS leader, in a sermon at the Palestine Mosque in Gaza).


Example 3
* In a statement on July 28, 1989, Yasser Arafat's political adviser Bassam Abu Sharif said, "The moment will come when every Palestinian child takes a knife and kills an Israeli."


The Koran: Contempt of and hatred for Jews
The Koran: Contempt of and hatred for Jews Links

Quotations from the Koran

Statements about contempt for Jews in the Koran

Short article: The Koran is filled with calls for war and vengeance against Jews.  Quote


Quotations from the Koran
Quotations from the Koran Links

...some(Jews) you slew and others you took captive.  He (Allah) made you masters of their land, their houses and their goods, and of yet another land of which you had never set foot before.  Truly, Allah has power over all things.*

-The Koran, The Clans, sura 33

* emphasis added by Joan Peters in Chapter 8 of From Time Immemorial

"O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protector s to each other. Amongst you that turns to them is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust" (Sura 5:51).

"Why do not the Rabbis and the doctors of the law forbid them from thei r habit of uttering sinful words and eating things forbidden? Evil indeed are their works. The Jews say: 'Allah's hand is tied up,' But be their (the Jews) hands tied up and be they accursed for the blasphemy they utter.... But the revelation (Mohammad and Islam) that cometh to them from Allah i ncreaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the day of judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah doth extinguish it; but they strive to do mischief on earth. And Allah loveth not those who do mischief. If onl y the People of the Book had believed and been righteous. We should indeed have blotted out their iniquities and admitted them to Gardens of Bliss" (Sura 5:63-65).  Commentary

"Say those who forge a lie against Allah will never prosper, a little enjoyment in this world! And then, to Us will be their return, then We shall make them taste the severest chastisement for their disbelief ' (Sura 10:69-70).

"But those who dispute concerning Allah after he has been accepted, futile is their argument in the sight of Their L-rd: on them is wrath, and for them will be a chastisement terrible" (Sura 42:16).

"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans."(Sura 5:82)

"But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war."(Sura 9:5)


Comment 1
The accompanying commentary printed in this edition of the Qur'an states: "The argument of the whole verse may be thus stated, The Jews blaspheme and mock, and because of their jealousy, the more they are taught, the more obstinate they become in their rebellion."


Commentary about contempt for Jews in Islam
Commentary about contempt for Jews in Islam Links  Links  Links

Hatikva Information Series:  Islam.  Church and State are not divided in Islam as in the West.  There is no concept of limited rule, toleration of minorities, or opposition to authority.  Islam is supreme; there is no equality under the law.  Non-Moslems, particularly Jews, are inferior and have a formal status known as dhimmi.  Arab socieities have no objective than to subjugate non-Moslems into the world of Islam.  They cannot tolerate the existence of a sovereign  Jewish   state in their midst.  It is a negation of Islam itself.  To explain it, Arabs construct wild conspiracy theories and indulge in extreme anti-semitism.

Hatikva Information Series:  Dhimmi.  The humiliating, semi-human theological and legal status of "protected" non-Moslems in Arab societies.  A brief look at the history of Jews in Arab lands, and varieties of degradation they were forced to suffer.  /  Short list of disabilities and humiliations


The Koran is filled with calls for war and vengeance against Jews
The Koran is filled with calls for war and vengeance against Jews Links

ISLAMIC QUR'AN TEACHES HATRED OF JEWS, By OHEVET CHALOM REGIS

The Islamic Religious Book, the Qur'an (Koran), is filled from cover to cover with anti-Semitic passages that call for vengeance and A war against "the People of the Book." "O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. Amongst you that turns to them is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust" (Sura 5:51).

In many ways the Qur'an makes little distinction between Jews and Christians, referring to both groups as "the People of the Book" which refers to the Bible. Yet ironically, Islam is supposedly distilled from Jewish Scriptures and customs, as well as the Christian Bible, both of which they cond emn and pledge allegiance to in the same text without any rational, theological pattern.

The common charge railed against both groups is the rejection of Mohammad and his religion--Islam. Additional, more grave charges are railed against the Jews alone for being what the Qur'an states as "blasphemers of Allah." "Why do not the Rabbis and the doctors of the law forbid them from thei r habit of uttering sinful words and eating things forbidden? Evil indeed are their works. The Jews say: 'Allah's hand is tied up,' But be their (the Jews) hands tied up and be they accursed for the blasphemy they utter.... But the revelation (Mohammad and Islam) that cometh to them from Allah i ncreaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the day of judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah doth extinguish it; but they strive to do mischief on earth. And Allah loveth not those who do mischief. If onl y the People of the Book had believed and been righteous. We should indeed have blotted out their iniquities and admitted them to Gardens of Bliss" (Sura 5:63-65). The accompanying commentary printed in this edition of the Qur'an states: "The argument of the whole verse may be thus stated, The J ews blaspheme and mock, and because of their jealousy, the more they are taught, the more obstinate they become in their rebellion."

The secret of understanding the Qur'an lies in their seat of interpretation. The Torah states that the L-rd G-d disciplines those whom He loves, those whom He calls sons (Deut. 8:5). Yet the Islamics have derived much of their anti-Semitic dogma from prophetic Scriptures in the Tanach (Isaiah , Jeremiah, Hosea) that speak of warnings and judgments against the people of Israel. They have perverted the intimate dialogue and tragic struggle between G-d and His chosen people to prove to themselves that the Jews are evil and that they, the Moslems, are G-d's righteous arm of judgment. Wit h this they seek to justify their ancient hatred for the Jews dated back, beyond Jacob and Esau, to Isaac and Ishmael.

The Nazis also claimed that they had to kill the Jews because "they were evil and were the cause of all that was wrong with Germany and the world." Nazis spread their murderous point of view during rallies, programs, and anti-Semitic campaigns, and also produced a seemingly endless supply of anti-Jewish propaganda. Yet the Qur'an is more deadly than all of that, because it professes to be the very words of G-d. In Nazi Germany, Hitler stated that he was to be the only god of the people as he proceeded to burn down synagogues, knock down cathedrals and murder millions of the "People of the Book." But Islam claims that Muslims are moved by divine authority and claims superior positioning to the G-d of Israel and the Holy Land based on the Quranic teachings. Their explosive religious fanaticism, on the verge of combustion, is even more deadly than the Nazis' nationalistic madness. UN documents reveal that Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, sought Hitler's help in implementing an Arab version of the "Final Solution"--Jerusalem Post, 8/3/91 In a letter he wrote to Hitler he stated, "It is clear that the Jews have accomplished nothing in Palestine, and all their claims are lies. All the accomplishments in Palestine are due to the Arabs, and not the Jews. I am resolved to find a solution for the Jewish problem, progressing step by step, without cessation " Arafat, a close relative of the Grand Mufti, has broadcast his objective which is to complete what was left undone in World War II.

Many historians are concerned about the possibility of another holocaust coming upon the Jews from this and other politically violent coalitions who demonstrate an unquenchable thirst for Jewish blood.  Much of this concern is based on genuine facts. The Bible foretells that at the time of the end of the age when the Moshiach will come to rule over the Earth from Jerusalem, the Jews will return to the land from all over the world to prepare for his coming (Jeremiah 25:5-8; Micah 4:17). We can see this prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes as plane-loads of Ethiopian, Russian, Syrian and other Jews begin to fill up our Land. Yet with this blessing come the enemies of the Jews, the Moslems, in hot pursuit of ourselves and our loved ones, as they espouse their erroneous belief that our G-d has called them to destroy us. In the Qur'an we read "Say those who forge a lie against Allah will never prosper, a little enjoyment in this world! And then, to Us will be their return, then We shall make them taste the severest chastisement for their disbelief ' (Sura 10:69-70). Could this be the time of Jacob's trouble foretold that will come upon us in the end of this age? (Jeremiah 30:7). "But those who dispute concerning Allah after he has been accepted, futile is their argument in the sight of Their L-rd: on them is wrath, and for them will be a chastisement terrible" (Sura 42:16). This clearly states that Allah is not even the same god as the G-d of Israel by showing definitively that the Jews have a different L-rd by the Qur'an own admission.

Historically, Allah was worshipped prior to the seventh century in Arabia by Arabs and Africans as one of many familiar deities. Allah was known to them as the moon god (Encyclopedia of Islam). At the time Mohammad was trying to be accepted by the Jews as their final prophet, Allah was a pagan deity. Mohammad took Arabic culture and pagan religious beliefs about Allah and combined them with some of the Jewish Scriptures he was able to acquire. When he was rejected for the last time by the Jews, he turned violent and organized war against them.

Those who follow Mohammad and the Qur'an are following in his footsteps with the same agenda to this day. In Sura 5:82 we are warned, "Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans." And Sura 9:5 states, "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war." The only way the Qur'an claims that a Jew, who is categorized in these passages as equivalent to a pagan, can be saved from being murdered, is to convert to Islam and wors hip Allah, the moon god of Arabia. It is becoming clear that the Middle East conspiracy against Israel has as its ultimate goal the institution of Allah worship and that of other pagan deities in G-d's Temple in Jerusalem, which includes the eviction of G-d and the annihilation of His People.

 	Once we comprehend the horror of this, we will realize that the current "peace process" is a counterfeit, based on false premises.  There will be no lasting, true peace because the Moslems will never permit it nor do they desire it. The peace we pray for and have awaited for so long will only come at the time when HaShem vindicates His Name and brings our redemption by His own hand. May it be very soon!

Until that time, we will not be free of our foes nor will we cease being the scapegoat of a troubled world looking for someone to blame for its unsolvable problems. Let us not be naive or unprepared for what is to come by doubting the intentions expressed by those who hate us without cause. But let us be prayerfully aware so that we may be ready for all the challenges that are ahead, not faint of heart, but courageous in spirit as an army led by the great and victorious warrior Joshua.


Quote 1
...But the revelation (Mohammad and Islam) that cometh to them(the Jews) from Allah i ncreaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the day of judgment...(Sura 5:63-65).

The accompanying commentary printed in this edition of the Qur'an states: "The argument of the whole verse may be thus stated, The Jews blaspheme and mock, and because of their jealousy, the more they are taught, the more obstinate they become in their rebellion."


Mohammad combined the pagan god Allah with Scriptures
Mohammad combined the pagan god Allah with Scriptures Links

Historically, Allah was worshipped prior to the seventh century in Arabia by Arabs and Africans as one of many familiar deities. Allah was known to them as the moon god (Encyclopedia of Islam). At the time Mohammad was trying to be accepted by the Jews as their final prophet, Allah was a pagan deity. Mohammad took Arabic culture and pagan religious beliefs about Allah and combined them with some of the Jewish Scriptures he was able to acquire. When he was rejected for the last time by the Jews, he turned violent and organized war against them.


The Birth of Islam
The Birth of Islam Links  Links

Short article on the ancient origin of Jewish life in Arabia, and its destruction by envious nomadic bedouin tribes during the birth of Islam.  Comment  Quote

Short: Mohammad combined the pagan Moon-god Allah with Scriptures, but when Jews rejected his claim to be their final prophet, his rage knew no bounds.


comment 1
A non-politically correct fact:

Islam was invented in large part to justify the mass-murder of prosperous Jewish communities in Arabia and the theft of their irrigated farms by envious, pre-agricultural nomadic beduoin tribes.


Quote 1
...some(Jews) you slew and others you took captive.  He (Allah) made you masters of their land, their houses and their goods, and of yet another land of which you had never set foot before.  Truly, Allah has power over all things.*

-The Koran, The Clans, sura 33

* emphasis added by Joan Peters in Chapter 8 of From Time Immemorial


Arab support for Hitler
Arab support for Hitler Links Links  Links

Excerpts from letters and messages to Hitler by Arabs, raging against Jews.


Letters and messages to Hitler by Arabs, raging against the Jews
Letters and messages to Hitler by Arabs, raging against the Jews Links Links  Links

Quote from letter to Hitler by Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, promising his own "final solution."

Quote from open letter by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Hitler in 1953, when Hitler was thought by some to be alive but in hiding.


Letter from Grand Mufti to Hitler, promising his own "final solution"
Letter from Grand Mufti to Hitler, promising his own "final solution" Links  Links  Links

UN documents reveal that Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, sought Hitler's help in implementing an Arab version of the "Final Solution"--Jerusalem Post, 8/3/91 In a letter he wrote to Hitler he stated, "It is clear that the Jews have accomplished nothing in Palestine, and all their claims are lies. All the accomplishments in Palestine are due to the Arabs, and not the Jews. I am resolved to find a solution for the Jewish problem, progressing step by step, without cessation " Arafat, a close relative of the Grand Mufti, has broadcast his objective which is to complete what was left undone in World War II.


Open letter from Sadat to Hitler
Open letter from Sadat to Hitler  Links Links  Links

It was Sadat who published a letter to Adolf Hitler in September 1953, when several news agencies reported that the dead tyrant was still alive: "I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart," he wrote seven years after the horrifying account of the Holocaust had become known "You may be prou d of having become the immortal leader of Germany. We will not be surprised if you appear again in Germany, or if a new Hitler arises in your wake."


Hatred of Jews among Islamic terror groups
Hatred of Jews among Islamic terror groups   Links  Links  Links

Contempt for Jews is a theological axiom for Islamic terrorist groups.  The Koran demands that Jews live in abasement and humiliation as punishment for rejecting Muhammad.  Islam's slaughter and subjection of Jews is the primary vindication of their claim that the vile Jews counterfeited the Bible, and that G-d revealed the truth to Muhammad.  The existence of a sovereign Jewish state - of Jews that stand on their hind legs, rather than slithering on the floor, peeping and squeaking like Shimon Peres - is an affront to Islam beyond all reckoning.  Thus, the murder of Jews and the annihilation of Israel is the core objective of all Islamic terror groups.

Quotations: Anti-semitic statements by Islamic fundamentalists

Extract from Camera report. / Hatred of Jews in Hamas / Hamas' Ten Principles of Faith / Hamas' defence of terror-murders of Israeli Jews / "Highlights" of Hamas' Charter. / Extreme anti-semitic comments from Hamas leaflets

Islamic terror groups in America: Report by the Anti-Defamation League.

Brief Descriptions of Several Islamic Terrorist Groups by the ADL.

Arab terror groups

Terror attacks on Jews/Israel by Arab terror groups


Camera Report on anti-semitism in Hamas
CAMERA Report on anti-semitism in Hamas  Links   Links  Links  Links

Even more than most Arab institutions, Hamas is characterized by an extreme hatred of Jews.  The theology of Hamas requires that Jews be eradicated, pure and simple.  Hamas represents somewhere between 25% and 40% of Palestinians, depending on which poll and which local election you're looking at.  Yasser Arafat has included Hamas in his Palestinian National Authority.  If President Clinton included some white racist group in his government, a group that openly and fervently sought the eradication of all blacks, nobody would expect blacks to give Clinton an army ten miles from their population centers, if they had a choice.  Only Jews are expected to do that.

Information about Camera

Anti-semitism in Hamas:  Short review

Hamas' Ten Principles of Faith

Examples of Hamas' glee over dead Jews

"Highlights" of Hamas' Charter

Choice, Anti-semitic excerpts from Hamas' publications.


Information about Camera
Information about Camera  Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

CAMERA ON CAMPUS

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America

Vol.4, No.2 Spring 1993

For original copies and information, contact CAMERA: P.O. Box 428, Boston, MA, 02258.  Tel (617) 789-3672 FAX (617) 787-7853

Vol.  4, No.  2

Spring 1993

The CAMERA Media Report ispublished by the CAMERANational Media Resource Center

Editor: Andrea Levin

Associate Editor:Tamara Indianer

Contributors: Jon Haber, Leora Sallis,

Rachel Temkin, David Wolf

Electronic version prepared by:Charles S.  Cramer

Copyright (c) 1993 by the Committee forAccuracy in Middle East Reporting inAmerica.  All rights reserved.

Permission granted to reproduce this information without changes or additions 	to individual stories, segments or articles.  Reproduction may be in either mechanical or electronic form, provided that this copyright statement is included.


Anti-semitism in Hamas: Short description
Anti-semitism in Hamas: Short description  Prev  Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

Hamas (The Islamic Resistance Movement) is a fundamentalist Islamic organization that first appeared in Gaza and the West Bank in the 1970's.  Originally, the organization concentrated on urging people to be observant Muslims, and it gained influence and power in universities, educational insti tutions, and mosques.  The outbreak of the intifada in 1987 and the emergence of "Islamic Jihad," a rival organization advocating violence, spurred Hamas to emphasize militant activity.  The ideology of Hamas combines zealous, pan-Arab Islamic religious notions, Palestinian nationalism, and viru lent demonization of the Jewish people.  Hamas, which views Palestine as a sacred trust (waqf) belonging exclusively to Muslims for all eternity, is sworn to the destruction of Israel and to the killing of Jews.


Hamas' Ten Principles of Faith
Hamas' Ten Principles of Faith  Prev  Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

The 10 Hamas Principles of Faith:

1.	Hamas has vowed to wage a holy war for Palestine, against the Jews, until the victory of Allah is attained.

2.	The land must be cleansed from the impurity and evil of the tyrant conquerors.

3.	Under the wings of Islam, coexistence with members of other religions is possible.  When Islam is not ruling, hypocrisy, hatred, division, corruption, and oppression prevail.

4.	According to the prophet's order, the Muslims must fight the Jews and kill them wherever they may be.

5.	Hamas aspires to establish an entity in which Allah is the supreme goal, the Koran is the constitution, jihad (holy war) is the mean, and death for the sake of Allah is the supreme aspiration.

6.	Palestine is a holy Islamic asset (waqf) until the end of time.  Therefore, no one may negotiate or forsake it.

7.	It is a personal religious rite for every Muslim to carry on with jihad until the land has been salvaged.

8.	Hamas opposes international discussions, negotiations, and peace arrangements of any kind.  Sovereignty over the land is a religious matter, and negotiations about it mean giving up on part of the believers' control over it.

9.	The Jews have taken hold of the world media and financial centers.  Through revolutions, wars, and movements such as the Freemasons, communism, capitalism, Zionism, Rotary, Lions, B'nai B'rith, and so forth, they aspire to undermine the foundations of the entire human society in order to dest roy it, cultivate their evil and corruption, and conquer the world through their favored institutions such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, and the Security Council.  Their plots are described in detail in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

10.	Hamas opposes the secular state which the PLO wishes to set up in Palestine because it would be an anti-Islamic state by nature.  However, if the PLO were to adopt Islam and make it its guiding light, all members of the Hamas movement would become soldiers of the liberation and 'set the fire

 that would quell the enemy.'

*The 10 _Principles of Faith_ as summarized by Raphael Israeli of the Hebrew University's Truman Institute, HA'ARETZ 1 Jan 1993, FBIS 5 Jan 1993


Examples: Hamas' reaction to terrorist attacks
Examples: Hamas' reaction to terrorist attacks  Prev  Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

Hamas and the kidnap-murder of Israeli policeman Nissim Toledano:

Hamas termed Toledano's murder the latest phase in its aim to "liberate Palestine from Zionist occupation." The killing was said to be the "first in a series the organization plans to take to force Israelis to `leave Palestine.'" (Amman, Jordan Times, December 15, 1992, as quoted in FBIS 16 De c 92)

Hamas and peace negotiations:

Ibrahim Ghawshah, spokesman for Hamas in Amman, '...has said that Hamas denounces the negotiations and announces to the world that dialogue with the Israeli enemy can only be held through the barrel of a gun...He said that the recent operation by Hamas [the murder of Nissim Toledano] was aimed at breaking the arrogance of the Israeli occupation in front of world, Arab, and Palestinian public opinion and at proving that occupation troops can be pursued and killed...'(Amman SAWT AL-SHA'B 17 Dec 92, as quoted in FBIS 17 Dec 92)

Hamas and the murder of Shin Bet officer Haim Nahmani:

The "Islamic Resistance Movement-Hamas issued a statement today affirming that the Israeli government understands only the language of bayonets and that the jihad against the Israeli soldiers and border guards is legitimate and acknowledged by all norms and values and is recognized by the UN charter." (Paris Radio Monte Carlo in Arabic 4 Jan 93, as quoted in FBIS 5 Jan 93)


"Highlights" of Hamas Charter
"Highlights" of Hamas Charter  Prev  Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

The Charter of HAMAS:

Introduction: ..."The Islamic Resistance Movement emerged to carry out its role through striving for the sake of the Creator, its arms intertwined with those of all the fighters for the liberation of Palestine...Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious...The Movement is but o ne squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah's victory is realized..."

Article 6:..."[The Islamic Resistance Movement] strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine..."

Article 7: ..."The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:  `The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees.  The stones and trees will say O Moslem, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...'"

Article 8: "Allah is the target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution; Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of wishes."

Article 11: ..."Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [sacred property] land...It, or any part of it, should not be given up..."

Article 13:..."There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.  Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors..."

Article 14..."Liberation of Palestine is then an individual duty for every Moslem wherever he may be..."


Anti-semitic excerpts from Hamas' leaflets
Anti-semitic excerpts from Hamas' leaflets  Prev    Links  Links  Links  Links

Examples of leaflets distributed by Hamas:

Leaflet #65 (October 21, 1990): "Every Jew and settler will be a target for murder; his blood and possessions are expendable." (IDF Spokesman, Information Branch, 17 Dec 90)

A special leaflet distributed in the Gaza district (mid-November 1990): "We call upon all the strength of our people and our fighters to increase their attacks with knives, grenades and guns against the cowardly Jews wherever they may be...The attacks of our fighters will reach the Jews within t heir homes and will turn their days into darkness and their lives into an intolerable hell." (IDF Spokesman, Information Branch, 17 Dec 90)

In an interview in Britain in May 1990, the official spokesman of HAMAS stated that "`We cannot avoid the fact that the time has come for the struggle against the enemy to be fought not only with the machine-gun and the bomb, but also with the plane and the rocket.  This is the way that it will be possible to reach an understanding with the Zionist enemy.'" (IDF Spokesman's Unit, The HAMAS Background, Dec 1992)


ADL Report: The (Islamic) terrorist threat to America
ADL Report: The (Islamic) terrorist threat to America  Links  Links  Links  Links

For years American authorities ignored Islamic terror groups in America.  While those groups were advocating the annihilation of Israel, and raising funds and providing logisitical support for terrorist groups targeting Jews in the middle east, they were of no interest to the FBI.  The FBI remained uninterested while these groups assassinated Rabbis in America, and advocated and financed the extermination of Coptic Christians in Egypt.  In the end, they forgot the Islamic terrorists also regarded them  as infidels.  America was reminded of this by the bombing of the World Trade Center.

Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Moslem Brotherhood are closely related groups with similar tactics and objectives - the annihilation of the Jews, and the destruction of secular regimes in Moslem countries.

American supporters raise funds for these groups, promote the causes of Islamic terrorists, and provide legal, logistical, and moral support.  American laws are so lax that in recent years Hamas, the terrorist group intent on annihilating Israel, and Sheik Rahman, intent on overthrowing President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, actually headquarter their operations in the United States.

Islamic Terrorism in America:  A report by the Anti-Defamation League:

Introduction: Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Moslem Brotherhood

Holy War:  Now or Later

Refuge in Mosques

Support From Abroad:  Money No Object

Haven in the Land of the Free

"Positive Works" in America

Our Battle is With the Jewish Enemy Today

Support for Hamas' Jailed Leader

Brother Nosair:  Victim of an International Political Conspiracy

Ramadan is the Month of Sacrifice

Advocating Violence:  "The Intifada Must be Rejuvenated"

Preaching Holy War From Brooklyn

The "Brooklyn Jihad Office"

Afterword:  Terror at the Twin Towers

Conclusion

References

Appendix of Islamic Terrorist Organizations


Introduction: Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Moslem Brotherhood
Introduction: Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Moslem Brotherhood  Next   Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and The Muslim Brotherhood: The Terrorist Threat to America 1993

The Anti-Defamation League

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." (The Martyr Imam Hasan al-Bana, of blessed memory.1 Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS).

"Kill so many Jews that they will eventually abandon Palestine."  2   (Ibrahim Sarbal, Leader of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine -- Al-Aqsa Brigades).

"Six million descendants of monkeys [i.e., Jews]  3   now rule in all the nations of the world, but their day, too, will come. Allah! Kill them all, do not leave even one!"  4  (Imam Sheik Ahmad Ibrahim, HAMAS leader, in a sermon at the Palestine Mosque in Gaza).

Throughout the Middle East, from North Africa to Iran, extremist voices are being raised in the name of Islam, demanding political power and the destruction of Israel. Inside of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, the echoes of this phenomenon have produced two movements, HAMAS and the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, both of which seek to undermine the Jewish State from within.

HAMAS, the Arabic acronym of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine, officially came into being in August of 1988.  Founded as an alternative to the secular Palestine Liberation Organization, HAMAS offers its activists the total rejection of Israel together with absolute salvation.

The acronym HAMAS, taken from the Arabic Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya Islamic Resistance Movement, literally denotes "zeal" or "enthusiasm." The HAMAS Covenant, however, interprets its name to mean "strength and bravery."

HAMAS is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Sheik Hasan al-Bana; and subsequently spread throughout the Arab world. The Brotherhood shares with HAMAS a complete rejection of Western values and Communism and calls for the establishment of a pan- Islamic state founded on the basis of shari'a, or Islamic law. To attain this objective, the Brotherhood promoted the concept of an ideal Muslim state to be ruled by a Caliph, the title bestowed upon the successors of the Prophet Muhammad at the beginning of the Islamic empire.

The two movements similarly share the view that Israel is the theological archenemy of Islam; and, in this capacity, Israel acts as the agent of the West in the region.

Throughout its history, the Muslim Brotherhood has been supportive of the Palestinian cause. During the anti-Jewish riots in British Mandatory Palestine of 1936 and 1939 the Brotherhood supported Haj Amin al-Husseini,5 the Mufti of Jerusalem and leader of the Arab Higher Committee. Brotherhood members were sent from Egypt to participate as fighters together with the Palestinian Arabs, an effort that was repeated during the 1948 war.  6 Volunteers from both the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement and its newly formed counterpart among Palestinian Arabs fought to prevent the establishm ent of the State of Israel.


Holy War: Now or Later?
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Holy War: Now or Later?

As the precursor of the HAMAS movement, the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza promoted the long-term strategy of creating the foundations of a Muslim state that would eventually become powerful enough to destroy Israel. According to the doctrines of the Brotherhood, part of the process in bringing about the ideal pan-Islamic state includes the spiritual phenomenon of an "Islamic reawakening" throughout the entire Muslim world. Only subsequent to the "Islamic reawakening" and the re-establishment of Islamic political power as the Caliphate could the destruction of the Jewish state begin as a divinely-sanctioned war between Islamic forces and those of Israel.  In other words, holy war later.

Taking this position one step further, HAMAS' spiritual leader Sheik Ahmad Yassin formulated the concept that 'Palestine' should become the central battlefield for the creation of a nationalist Islamic state. In other words, holy war now.

For HAMAS, the question of Israel's eventual eradication is central and absolute. HAMAS differs in view from the Muslim Brotherhood in asserting that the establishment of an Islamic state in 'Palestine' will serve as the tool for achieving their ultimate goal of creating a pan-Islamic state across the Middle East.

HAMAS' redeveloped outlook came about shortly before the Palestinian uprising in 1987 and the parallel development in Gaza of a third organization, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (IJMP). Inspired by the Islamic revolution that swept Iran in 1979, the Islamic Jihad challenged the Brothe rhood by staging spectacular attacks on Israeli soldiers.

Following the doctrine that Islamic land must be ruled only by Muslim 'believers', the IJMP's war on Israel differs from that of HAMAS only in its immediate goal-that a pan-Islamic empire must be created throughout the Middle East with its foundations on the ruins of Israel. It perceives itself as the vanguard of an internationalist-oriented movement of 'believers' who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of repulsing Western influence from the Islamic world. The evil of Western influence is personified by the United States, which Ayatollah Khomayni termed "the Great Satan." Consequently Israel, as the agent of the U.S. in the region, is termed "the Little Satan." From this perspective, the Islamic Jihad sees itself as fighting a worldwide war against the West, following in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad. The IJMP regards itself as one part of the larger Iran -sponsored Islamic Jihad movement, which is most well known for its abduction of American and other Western hostages in Lebanon.

To compete with what was perceived as the more activist approach of the Islamic Jihad, Sheik Ahmad Yasin, then a Muslim Brotherhood leader, adjusted his own doctrine, leading to the formation of HAMAS.  In 1987 he nationalized the war of the IJMP, and spoke of an Islamic Palestinian state as a stage towards his movement's final goal.  Rather than insisting on the establishment of a pan-Islamic state as the prerequisite for waging holy war on Israel, Yasin changed the strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza to that of "partial" holy war.7 In this manner, Muslim Brotherhood and HAMAS

 activists could participate in the Palestinian uprising while at the same time remaining faithful to their notion of a cataclysmic holy war that would eventually be waged by their Caliphate. HAMAS joined Islamic Jihad in deciding that the time for its jihad is now.


Refuge in Mosques
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Refuge in Mosques

With funds provided by Saudi Arabia,8 the Brotherhood has created centers for the propagation of its doctrine by providing for the communal needs of Palestinian Muslims in Gaza. Adhering to the doctrine of providing for the social needs of fellow Muslims, over the past 65 years the Muslim Broth erhood created a network of social, charitable and educational institutions linked to the local mosques, which came to be known as al-Mujamma' al-Islami, or the Islamic Congress.9 As the leader of the Islamic Congress, Sheik Ahmad Yasin oversaw its transformation into HAMAS.

The establishment of HAMAS by Sheik Yassin altered the structure of the organization and paved the way for HAMAS to become an effective competitor with the PLO. Presently HAMAS consists of two wings: an underground terrorist organization that uses the name "Izz al-Din al-Qassam Battalions" and its older support structure that continues to revolve around the mosques, charitable organizations and schools.

In an effort to curb a wave of terrorist attacks against Israelis that took place in late 1992, the Rabin government deported 413 Islamic extremists. Three hundred of them comprised the command structure of HAMAS in the West Bank and Gaza. The remainder consisted of members of the organization' s support structure within the mosques, as well as members of the Islamic Jihad.10 Those who were responsible for HAMAS support structure filled the roles of propagandists, spokesmen, treasurers and suppliers of refuge for the organization's covert activists. 11

In effect, the violent activists of HAMAS took advantage of the mosques' status as inviolate houses of worship to plan their unholy acts of terror.


Support From Abroad: Money No Object
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Support From Abroad: Money No Object

Over the past year, HAMAS and the PLO factions opposed to the peace process have formed the "Front of Ten" for the purpose of coordinating their efforts.12 The organizations comprising the Front include: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, Palestinian National L iberation Movement Fatah (Abu Musa faction), the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Al-Saiqa Forces, the Popular Front for the Liberation for Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Revolutionary Palestinian Communist Party, the Palestine Popular Struggle Front, th e Palestine Liberation Front, and HAMAS. 13

In June of 1992, the United States warned Saudi Arabia via diplomatic channels to stop undermining the Middle East peace process by funding HAMAS. A similar warning was made to Kuwait.14 HAMAS reportedly maintains a "permanent presence" in Saudi Arabia and receives money for its operations thro ugh the World Islamic League. l5

Responding to the pressure that HAMAS has created among Palestinians, the PLO itself has contributed aid to the organization.  According to PLO chief Yasir Arafat, the sum of $1000 is paid to the family of each HAMAS member taken prisoner by Israel since HAMAS activists are considered to be the "sons of the PLO." 16

Of no less importance is the financial support provided to the organization by Iran. Iran has provided HAMAS for 1993 with a budget of "nearly $30 million" for its activities. 17 According to recent press reports, American banks are being used as conduits to transfer the funds to West Bank and Gaza moneychangers.  HAMAS activists in those areas are then able to withdraw the funds in cash.

The Iranians' logistical support for HAMAS activities includes training by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Western intelligence sources say.18

In October of 1992, the Iranian government agreed to a request by HAMAS to open an 'embassy' for the organization in Tehran.  The HAMAS 'embassy' will also continue to maintain the "contacts and coordination" with the Lebanese Hizballah organization, also located in Tehran. Additionally, the Ir anian government promised to provide training for 3000 HAMAS terrorists. 19

The leader of a recent HAMAS delegation visiting Iran was Musa Abu Marzuk, who serves as chief of the organization's political bureau. 20 Until very recently, Abu Marzuk was living in the United States in the Washington, DC suburb of Arlington, Virginia. Subsequent to Israel's expulsion of the 413 HAMAS and Islamic Jihad activists, Abu Marzuk acted as HAMAS' chief representative in negotiations held with the PLO in Tunis. 21 He is currently reported to be in Damascus, Syria. 22

Five days after the bombing of the World Trade Center, the State Department revealed that U.S. diplomats have had "contacts" with HAMAS. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher acknowledged that contacts between the United States and HAMAS had existed for "some time," but were severed "in th e last week or so." 23 No explanation for the initiation of the contacts was provided. At the same time, press reports indicated that the FBI was "probing" the organization as part of its investigation of the bombing. 24


Haven in the Land of the Free
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Haven in the Land of the Free

As the result of Israel's arrest of three Palestinian-Americans who are allegedly tied to the HAMAS organization, attention has been drawn to the activities of that organization's supporters in the United States. Recent press reports indicate that the political command of HAMAS was relocated to the United States over the last two years due to Israel's success in fragmenting the organization's underground structure. 25

The reported transferral of the HAMAS command structure to the United States came in response to a series of arrests of HAMAS activists by Israel in 1990. A similar series of arrests which ended with the December 17 deportations brought an apparent attempt on the part of American HAMAS supporte rs to rebuild the movement in January of 1993.

Recent reports indicate that the political command of HAMAS in the United States is located at the United Association for Studies and Research in Springfield, Virginia. The head of the association is named Ahmad Yussef, who is also known by the code name "Abu Ahmad." The political chief of the organization is Musa Abu Marzuk, whose code name is "Abu 'Umar." Muhammed Qassam Sawalha, code named "Abu Badr," is the military chief of the organization who travels to the United States frequently and reportedly lives in London. In this capacity, Sawalha recently directed the travels of Palest inian American Muhammed Abd al-Hamid Saleh through the West Bank and Gaza. Two alleged HAMAS activists, Saleh and Muhammad Hilmi Jarad, from Bridgeview and Chicago, Illinois, respectively, were arrested in Israel on January 25 for attempting to re-structure the organization. 26 In preparation fo r their travel. $230,000 was transferred from a Chicago bank account to a Palestinian moneychanger. In Israel, Dr. Mahmud Rumahi, a physician from the town of Al-Birah who was arrested on December 16, allegedly served as a conduit for the funds by opening bank accounts for the two men. 27 Jarad and Saleh obtained cash from the moneychanger and proceeded to distribute the funds throughout the West Bank and Gaza: $100,000 to a "key military operative" in the Gaza strip, and $60,000 to the commander of HAMAS' military arm in Ramallah.

Upon their arrest, Jarad and Saleh were found in possession of $100,000. Subsequent to a search of Saleh's room at the YMCA in East Jerusalem, written reports that the two had collected detailing HAMAS activities in the West Bank and Gaza were found. 28

After his arrest, Muhammed Saleh told Israeli investigators that he gave a total of $130,000 in cash to agents of HAMAS in one week. $110,000 of that was intended for "arms purchases, the building of new safe houses, recruitment of new members and assistance to fugitives." 29 Saleh further reco unted that he was authorized by his superiors in the organization to spend up to $650,000 on this trip alone. In order to obscure the money trail, $600,000 was deposited for him in various bank accounts. On a previous trip in August 1992, Saleh was reportedly ordered by Muhammad Qassam Sawalha, HAMAS' London-based military commander, to prepare attacks on Israelis. At that time he gave a HAMAS agent $48,000 to obtain arms that were later used in attacks on Israeli soldiers in Hebron. 30

Due to his activities, Israeli officials believe that Muhammad Saleh is a senior figure in HAMAS' military wing. In his conversations with Israeli investigators, Saleh provided a glimpse into his attitude and that of his cohorts vis-a-vis terrorist attacks.  Describing the goal of his trips to the West Bank and Gaza as building the organization's structure for "positive works," Saleh explained, "Its a code term. Killing your enemy is positive. And on the telephone, that's how they can talk about it." 31

Muhammed Jarad and his family continue to deny any connection to the HAMAS organization. Yet, according to press reports, Jarad's Holy Land Bakery and Grocery regularly advertised in Al-Zaytuna, one of HAMAS' publications in the United States. 32 A journalist who visited Jarad's place of busine ss described it as follows:

"The store - Holy Land Bakery and Grocery - is located on North Kedzie Street in downtown Chicago. Its walls are covered with PLO flags, intifada texts, HAMAS communiques, pictures of Jerusalem and reliefs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Intifada slogans adorn every possible corner. An entire wall is de dicated to the display of extremist Palestinian propaganda material: posters, videotapes, leaflets and newspapers." 33


Positive Works in America
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"Positive Works" in America

"The universality of the Islamic Resistance Movement: Article Seven:

By way of the distribution of the Muslims who adopt the system of the Islamic Resistance Movement in all parts of the world, they work towards aiding it, accepting its stands and amplifying its jihad. Therefore it is an international movement and it is prepared for this (task) because of the clarity of its ideology, lofty goal and the sanctity of its objectives. Upon this basis it should be considered, given a fair evaluation and admission of its role . . . The reward is for those who are early." [Emphasis in original.]

Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) in Palestine, published by the Islamic Association for Palestine in Dallas, Texas. 34

According to law enforcement sources, activists who support the HAMAS organization are raising "hundreds of thousands of dollars in Muslim communities across America." 35

One organization which promotes the views of HAMAS is the Islamic Association for Palestine in North America. The IAP was founded in the United States in 1981 and is based in Dallas, Texas.  36 It publishes several newspapers and magazines: The Palestine Monitor, Al-Zaytuna (The Olive), and Ila

 Filastin (To Palestine), and distributes Filistin al-Muslimah (Palestine is Muslim. 37 Additionally, the IAP has distributed the Charter of HAMAS and official HAMAS intifada communiques issued from Gaza. 38

HAMAS' attitude regarding Jews is paralleled in the Islamic Association for Palestine's bimonthly newspaper The Palestine Monitor, which has featured anti-Semitic cartoon reprinted from the Saudi press.39 Articles in the Palestine Monitor also highlight news items describing the Islamic movemen t in different countries, such as Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt.

An example of the publication's usual fare depicted the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli rule in a piece entitled, "The Arrest, Detention and Physical Abuse of Palestinian Children." 40 The article employed excerpts from previously published reports by pro-PLO organizations such as the P alestine Human Rights information Center in Washington DC. The Palestine Monitor has also featured articles reprinted from Al-Fajr. a pro-PLO newspaper printed in East Jerusalem that is sympathetic to the Fatah faction of the PLO, and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, an anti-Israel monthly that has been' tainted by anti-Semitism, published by the American Educational Trust in Washington, DC.


Our Battle is With the Jewish Enemy Today
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"Our Battle is With the Jewish Enemy Today"

Since the beginning of the intifada in 1988, the IAP has continued to distribute HAMAS communiques together with their English translations. The most recent example of such literature was the 90th Communique of HAMAS, dated September 5 1992, which was distributed in October 1992. 41

In early 1990 a HAMAS communique translated into English and distributed by the IAP declared, "HAMAS . . . asserts its announced position that our battle is with the Jewish enemy today and internal conflicts serve no one except the enemy." 42

The same communique praised a terrorist attack against Russian Jewish immigrants to Israel, emphasizing that "This way, Russian Jews can be prevented from entering Palestine." Instructions encouraging further attacks against Russian Jewish immigrants were detailed later in the pamphlet, with th e-words, "Consider February 17 - February 20, 1990 as days of escalation and ambushes in protest against the Soviet Jews' immigration." The communique was signed, "LET THE INTIFADA CONTINUE. 'ALLAH IS DOMINANT, BUT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW. HE IS OUR REFUGE AND THE BEST TO DEPEND ON.' Koran.  ALL AH IS THE GREATEST. AND VICTORY IS TO ISLAM. Islamic-Resistance Movement in Palestine - HAMAS"

In previous years, the IAP has distributed its own translation of the Charter of HAMAS, 43 which calls for the annihilation of Israel and its replacement with an Islamic state from the "[Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River." The Charter further defines HAMAS' battle against Israel as a theological one, in which Palestinians inspired by a reawakening of their identity as Muslims wage a divinely ordained war against Jews. The HAMAS Charter describes the Day of Judgement in the following terms:

"The Last Hour would not come until Muslims fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them, and until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree, and a stone or a tree would say.  'Muslim, or Servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me - come and kill him! but the tree of Gharqad would not say it, for it is the tree of the Jews." 44


Support for Hamas' Jailed Leader
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Support for HAMAS' Jailed Leader

The Palestine Monitor's reportage on the trial of HAMAS leader Sheik Ahmad Yasin in January of 1990 for 15 counts of murder 45; involving Israeli civilians and soldiers provided a platform for the ideology of HAMAS. Reflecting the ideals of the IAP in the February 23, 1990 issue of the Monitor,

 Bashir Omar, one of the newspaper's editors, wrote:

"Yasin, confined to wheelchair since a childhood accident, appeared in court in an orange prison uniform. He sat impassively as relatives of the slain soldiers shouted curses at him in Hebrew and Arabic. 'I deny all charges,' Yasin whispered to reporters in the courtroom. But his lawyer, Abd al -Malik Bahansee, told the court that Yasin founded HAMAS, and helped to transfer tens of thousands of dollars to the organization. 'My client says it is not his right but his duty to establish these organizations to battle the occupation,' Bahansee said."

Since the 1989 imprisonment of Sheik Ahmad Yasin for his part in fomenting terrorist attacks against Israelis, the IAP observes its anniversary in honor of the movement's leader.

In May of 1990, the IAP published rosters bearing the likeness of Sheik Yasin in commemoration of the first anniversary of his imprisonment. The poster was also printed as a half page advertisement in the Palestine Monitor. 46

In October of 1992, an IAP communique called upon the group's American supporters to protest the prison conditions of Sheik Yasin and the Middle East peace negotiations:

"We hereby call upon you ... to demand that proper medical attention be provided to sick prisoners such as Sheik Ahmad Yasin leader of HAMAS . . . Call upon the Palestinian delegation to halt negotiations with Israelis in protest to the inhumane conditions endured by the detainees." 47

The same communique directed IAP members to express their solidarity with convicted Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons who declared a hunger strike on September 27. The flyer was addressed to "Our Muslim Brothers" and requested the support of American Muslims for the hunger strikers, den ouncing the Middle East peace negotiations and the participation of the Palestinian delegation with the words, "While you negotiate, we die!"

Paralleling the hunger strike in the Israeli prisons, the IAP announced a nationwide fast day to take place on October 15: "We urge all Muslims to fast and pray to Allah ... to strengthen the will of the detainees in their stand against the brutal treatment they receive in Israeli prisons." The IAP further requested that donations be collected for the families of the prisoners. The flyer was signed by the Islamic Association for Palestine Information Office, located in Dallas, Texas.


Brother Nosair: Victim of an International Political Conspiracy
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Brother Nosair: "Victim of an International Political Conspiracy"

A front page article in the November-December 1991 Palestine Monitor called the trial of El-Sayyid Nosair, the Egyptian convicted of crimes connected to the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane as a "frame-up." Portraying Nosair as a victim of the American legal system, the article weaves a web o f distortions around the facts leading to the violent death of Rabbi Kahane. Appealing to its readers, the Palestine Monitor characterized Nosair in the following terms:

"Brother Nosair, facing life imprisonment if convicted of these charges is in dire need of support of the Muslim Community and all those interested in truth and justice. He is a devout and religious person, committed to his family and to Islam. He is being viciously portrayed as a terrorist by the government, the JDL [Jewish Defense League] and the news media, when he is in fact an innocent victim of an international political conspiracy." 48

At the close of the article, the address of the Brooklyn-based El Sayyid Nosair Defense Committee was provided, along with a telephone number. The Palestine Monitor warned its readers, "If we don't stand up now, in support of Brother Nosair, it will only happen again to another one of us." 49


Ramadan is the Month of Sacrifice
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"Ramadan is the Month of Sacrifice"

One month after the end of hostilities in the Gulf War, the Islamic Association for Palestine observed its tenth anniversary during the Muslim month of Ramadan, which the organization characterized as "the month of sacrifice," and is the historical period in which "most of the Islamic battles t ook place." ln an appeal bearing the seal of the IAP, which depicts a map of "Palestine" (what is now Israel, the West Bank and Gaza) surrounded by olive branches with the Arabic name of the organization - al Itihad al-Islami Lifilastin - the IAP declared its goals during the month of Ramadan as

 the following:

"Nowadays the Islamic World is facing quite a few challenges in many places. Alhamdu-lillah (praise to Allah), the intifadha, which is a real jihad, is still going on and struggling against the occupation.  Although the mass media is ignoring this jihad and trying to hide its continuity and str ength, we, at IAP, believe that this intifadha is an important and essential step towards the liberation of Palestine. The goal of the IAP is to help our Brothers and Sisters inside Palestine as well as calling all Muslims in North America to participate in a way [sic] or another in this help. W e are ready to cooperate with all Muslims who would like to serve this sacred goal and work for Muslims inside Palestine."

The appeal continued:

"We are calling all Imams/Directors/Presidents of all mosques, Islamic institutions or centers, to dedicate the Khutba [Friday sermon] on the third Jumm'ah [Friday, the Muslim day of rest] of Ramadan to talk about the intifada in Palestine. We are also calling to collect donations that will hel p our Brothers and Sisters inside Palestine." 50

The IAP recommended that donations be sent to the Occupied Land Fund (OLF) in Los Angeles, California, and asked "Allah to reward all Muslims who work for this Islamic cause." The Occupied Land Fund has since changed its name to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and move d to Richardson, Texas, not far from the offices of the Dallas-based IAP. 51 A Ramadan appeal sent to the Holy Land Foundation's members in March of 1993 denounced Israel's deportation of the 413 HAMAS and Islamic Jihad activists. Shukri Abu Bakr, the Executive Director of the HLF wrote:

"None of those arrested and expelled were charged, tried or convicted of any violent act. On the contrary, they embody the cream of the Palestinian society. They are physicians, educators, religious scholars and other key community leaders. Their only 'crime' has been their ongoing effort to es tablish Palestinian social, health and educational institutions that are independent of Israel " 52

Describing the beneficiaries of its efforts, the HLF provided a photograph of two Palestinian children with the caption: "Cold . . . Hungry . . . Sick . . . Sad . . . words that are not normally associated with Ramadan! But this is the case for many Palestinian families. They have lost their br ead-winners who are now dead, detained, or deported. They are hurting so much now. So won't you help ease their pain if you can?"

The HLF pledge card declares: "Yes. I can and want to help needy families of Palestinian martyrs, prisoners and deportees." 53


Advocating Violence: "The Intifada Must be Rejuvenated
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Advocating Violence: "The Intifada Must Be Rejuvenated"

At the height of the Gulf crisis in late December 1990 an international convention of major figures in the Islamic Jihad and Muslim Brotherhood movements took place in Chicago under the aegis of the Islamic Committee for Palestine. Titled "Islam: The Road to Victory," the invited dignitaries inc luded Sheik Abd al-Aziz 'Odeh of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Khalil Shikaki of Al-Najah University in Nablus, Hassan al-Turabi, leader of the Islamic National Front of Sudan, Sheik Rashid Ghanushi, leader of the Islamic Revival Movement of Tunisia, Layth Shbilat, a Muslim Brotherhood member of th e Jordanian Parliament, and Sheik Said Sha'ban, of the Islamic Unity Movement in Lebanon. 54 Two African-American Muslims spoke at the convention: Imam Jamil al-Amin of Atlanta, (the former H. "Rap" Brown) and Imam Warith Deen Muhammad, leader of the American Black Muslim movement, and self-desc ribed as the "Muslim American Spokesman for Human Salvation". 55

At the conference, participants discussed the "rise of Europe and the deliberate effort designed to split the Muslims all over the world through colonization and Westernization." 56 Islamic Jihad leader Abd al-Aziz 'Odeh described the intifada as "the turning point in the struggle between good and evil." 57 According to the Muslim Journal, publication of the American Black Muslim movement, participants at the conference were unanimous in their rejection of a territorial compromise with Israel, claiming that Islamic texts support their position:

"One suggestion that was not disputed among participants was the source of the solution to the present plight of Muslims all over the world. This was agreed to be reliance on the solution given by the Qur'an and the Sunnah [Islamic traditions]. Since land cannot be compromised in Al-Islam [Isla m] it means that the Intifadha must be rejuvenated and encouraged. This is the only way the liberation of Palestine could be achieved." 58

Literature distributed at the convention included the publication of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Al-Mujahid - The Holy Warrior. Indicative of the violent nature of the IJMP's agenda is the symbol of the organization portrayed on the cover of the newsletter.  The IJMP seal features a pair of crossed rifles over Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. On either side of the mosque is a fist pointing outward, and enclosing the symbol in a circle are the words "Allah Akbar" - Allah is the Greatest - and the name of the organization in Arabic. 59

Fundraising at the convention to "aid the victims of Israeli occupation" included the donations of the women participants who expressed their fervor for the cause by donating their gold and diamond jewelry. 60


Preaching Holy War From Brooklyn
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Preaching Holy War From Brooklyn

"I send recordings to Cairo in which I call upon my people to attack tourists. I explain to them that we must stop tourism to Egypt. Tourism is a plague. [Western] women come dressed in provocative clothing in order to arouse the believers. Tourists use drugs, they party all night in the clubs and casinos, and feel up the belly dancers. And our people [the Egyptians] - their eyes are popping out from envy in trying to imitate the infidel tourists." 61

Sheik 'Umar Abd al-Rahman, also known as Omar Abdel-Rahman, spiritual leader of Al-Jihad in Egypt. 62

"The lands of Muslims will not become bordellos for sinners of every race and color." (Sheik 'Umar Abd al-Rahman, on an audio tape sent from the U.S. to Egypt.)

In Egypt, the cradle of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, a more militant offshoot of the organization made newspaper headlines worldwide on October 6, 1981. At a military procession commemorating Egypt's successes in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, President Anwar Sadat was gunned down by members of A l-Jihad while sitting in a reviewing stand. The spiritual leader of the group, Sheik 'Umar Abd al-Rahman, issued a fatwa, or edict, sanctioning the assassination but was acquitted of direct involvement. Twelve years later, "Sheik 'Umar" - as he is called by his adherents - is directing his war a gainst the Mubarak government from American shores. His followers, who refer to themselves as the "Islamic Group," receive guidance from him in the form of audio cassettes recorded in the United States.

Several months ago, Sheik Rahman promised that a fatwa against Egyptian President Husni Mubarak is "on the way."

The sheik-continued:

"It is the duty of all good Muslims to rebel against tyrants. The Egyptian people will not accept being whipped and raped and robbed by the corrupt Mubarak regime." 63

In May of 1990 Sheik Rahman entered the United States on a tourist visa in spite of the fact that his name was on the official U.S. terrorist list. The State Department claims that the American Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, erroneously issued the visa.  After Sheik Rahman was already re siding in this country, the Immigration an Naturalization Service made a second error by granting him permanent resident status as a religious leader on April 9, 1991. 64

In March of 1992, Rahman was stripped of his green card, and on January 20 of this year he was summoned to a federal hearing in Newark to respond to charges that he "lied on his visa application, that he is a polygamist and that he has committed unspecified 'crimes of moral turpitude."' 65 At h is own request, the hearing was closed to the public.66 No decision was reached at that time. 67 On March 16, an Immigration and Naturalization Service administrative judge ruled that Sheik Rahman be deported from the United States since he had not told INS officials that he is a polygamist and that he had been convicted of falsifying a check while he was still living in Egypt in 1987. 68 The full text of the decision was not made public at the request of Rahman's lawyer, Barbara Nelson, who stated, "He has no intention of leaving . . .  He intends to stay and pursue his claim for perm anent residency." 69

During the time that he has been in the United States, Sheik Rahman has, through his fiery sermons on cassette tapes, directed his followers from afar. His organization, known both as Al Jihad (Holy War) and Al-Jama'a al-Islamiya the Islamic Group - has assassinated Egyptian government official s such as the late speaker of the Parliament, Rifat al-Mahjub, in its efforts to establish an Islamic state in that country. 70 Members of the group have also targeted Coptic Christians in Upper Egypt. 71 " More recently, American and other Western tourists have been marked for assassination by Sheik Rahman, severely damaging Egypt's tourism industry in the process. 72

Paralleling the fatwa pronounced on Salman Rushdie by the Ayatollah Khomeini, Faraj Fodha, a writer and severe critic of the Egyptian Islamic extremists, was murdered by followers of Sheik Rahman in June of 1992. Members of the organization who were interviewed by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safi r justified their actions by invoking their interpretation of Islamic law:

"[Fodha] was killed In accordance with the shari'ah [Islamic legal] ruling against apostates. A group of Muslim 'ulema [scholars], including Al Azhar Mosque scholars, ruled that he reneged on Islam and shari'ah entitles a devout Islamic group to implement its provisions since the ruler [i.e. Pr esident Mubarak] is an atheist. Killing Faraj Fodha was our Islamic duty" 73

Recent reports indicate that, according to the U.S. intelligence community, Sheik Rahman has been receiving funding for some of his activities from Iran. 74 Rather than receiving the money directly, one of Rahman's wives acts as an intermediary, sending him funds from Egypt, where she and his other wife reside. 75 Within the United States, Sheik Rahman has maintained a relationship with El Sayyid Nosair, the Egyptian-born individual convicted of crimes related to the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane.  Subsequent to Nosair's imprisonment, Sheik Rahman has ensured that his wife and family receive financial support until his release.  76

Additionally, followers of the sheik at the Abu Bakr mosque in Brooklyn offer a $45 bus trip to visit "Brother El Sayyid Nosair" at Attica state prison. 77 Nosair has been described in press reports as a "frequent worshipper" at the mosque where Rahman preaches in Brooklyn, 78 and is currently serving a term of seven to 23 years for his crimes.


The "Brooklyn Jihad Office"
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The "Brooklyn Jihad Office"

Several years after the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, an Egyptian named Mustafa Shalabi founded a charitable organization in Brooklyn to assist the Afghani Muslim counter-insurgents. Aid to the Afghani mujahideen ("wagers of jihad") consisted of cash and supplies, but, more sign ificantly, the recruitment of young American Muslims who were willing to join the ranks of the Afghanis. In order to prepare the American recruits for their struggle against the Soviets, some were sent for paramilitary training at a private camp in Connecticut. The organization is known simply a s the "Brooklyn jihad office. 79

Mustafa Shalabi and a Syrian friend, Abd al Qader Kallash, sponsored Sheik Rahman upon his arrival in New York in 1990, providing him with an apartment, a telephone and a car and driver.  Not long afterward, a dispute broke out in the Muslim community.  The sheik and his followers wanted to tra nsform the jihad office into a conduit for Al-Jihad in Egypt, while their opponents wanted the organization to remain as it was.

Responding to his opponents, Sheik Rahman denounced Shalabi as "dishonest" and a "bad Muslim." The area mosques had letters signed by the sheik posted in them pronouncing a ban on any dealings with Shalabi. Fearing for the safety of himself and his family, Shalabi sent his wife to Egypt and made preparations for himself to go to Afghanistan. Several days after seeing his wife off to Egypt, Shalabi was found shot and knifed to death. Sheik Rahman asserts that he "never knew" Shalabi. 80

More recently, Ezzat al-Sheemy, a founder of Brooklyn's Abu Bakr Mosque, decided to establish an alternative summer Arabic language and culture program as a counterweight to the educational program provided by the mosque. Al-Sheemy asserts that the mosque's school is "run by radicals bent on 'b rainwashing' children into becoming militants." In July of 1992, Al-Sheemy was warned by the sheik's followers in the mosque that Sheik Rahman had "approved the use of violence against him and certain teachers - unless he ceded control of the program to Abu Bakr at once." Justifying his reaction to the threats, Al-Sheemy explained, "They told me I'd end up like Mustafa Shalahi, so I gave in." Sheik Rahman also denies any connection to this incident. 81

More recently, Sheik Rahman has denied that he was in any way involved in the World Trade Center bombing. He denied knowledge of any of the suspects, including Mahmud Abu Halima, who once served as his driver. 82

When asked about his long-term goals in the United States, Sheik Rahman assured a reporter that he will "show all Americans that they'll never be happy if they don't follow Islam." 83


Afterword: Terror at the Twin Towers
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Afterword: Terror at the Twin Towers

On February 26 1993, a powerful explosion tore through the foundations of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, killing six people, including a woman who was seven months pregnant, and injuring over 1000. 84 Fifty thousand people were evacuated from the damaged buildings. The blast left a crater 200 by 100 feet wide and five stories deep, and caused the ceiling of the mezzanine of the adjacent Port Authority TransHudson (PATH) train station to collapse. 85

An FBI expert on explosives described the blast as "the largest improvised explosive device that's been in the U.S. since we started doing forensic explosive investigations in 1925." 86 Explosives experts estimate that the bomb which caused the explosion weighed approximately 1000 pounds, and t he price of the chemicals used to make it cost slightly more than $400. 87

Several days after the explosion occurred, police and federal officials made their first arrest in the case. Tracing the VIN (vehicle identification number) found on a piece of metal at the site of the explosion, investigators were led to Mohammed Salameh, a 25-year-old illegal alien from Jorda n who allegedly rented the yellow Ford Econoline van which was used in the bombing. 88

Salameh, together with the two other suspects who were arrested - Nidal Ayyad and Ibrahim Elgabrowny - all participated in demonstrations on behalf of El Sayyid Nosair. A fourth suspect who fled this country, Mahmud Abu Halima, is believed to be head of a HAMAS terrorist cell. 89 Halima is beli eved to have fled to Pakistan. 90


Conclusion
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Conclusion

The bombing of the World Trade Center marks a turning point in the United States' confrontation with terrorist organizations.  Previously, American citizens overseas have been targets of terror groups, particularly Middle Eastern ones, leaving U.S. territory virtually unscathed - until now. The challenge to the United States and other countries which face this threat is twofold. It must protect the security of its citizens from terrorists who abuse the rights granted to them in a free society. At the same time it must preserve those same rights which democratic nations cherish.


References
References Links  Links  Links  Links

Notes 1.	Hasan al-Bana was the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt who was hung by the Nasser regime for his attempts to overthrow the government.

2.	Jerusalem Post, December 19 1990.

3.	HAMAS communiques and literature regularly refer to Jews as the "descendants of monkeys and swine," quoting from the Hadith, the Islamic oral tradition.

4.	Forward, January 1 1993.

5.	During World War 11, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al Husayni, supported Nazi Germany in his efforts aainst the Jewish presence in British-ruled Palestine. Until the close of the war, Husayni "collaborated with Nazi Germany, as one of its chief propagandists to the Arabs and as a recruiter

 and organizer of Muslim volunteers, supporting and aiding the Nazis program for the extermination of the Jewish people" (Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971 edition, vol. 8, cols. 1132-1133)

6.	"HAMAS Apocalypse Now," Jerusalem Post, December 28 1990.

7.	Jerusalem Post, December 28 1990.

8.	"The Secret to the Success and Threat - of HAMAS," Long Island Jewish World, January 15, 1991.

9.	"The Metamorphosis of HAMAS." Jerusalem Report, January 14, 1993.

10.	"A Safe Haven for HAMAS in America," New York Times January 27, 1993.

11.	Jerusalem Report, January 14, 1993.

12.	Voice of the Oppressed, Lebanese radio. September 18, 1992, in Foreign Broadcast Information Service - Near East and South Asia (FBIS-NES), September 18, 1992.

13.	FBIS-NES Sertember 18, 1992.

14.	Al-Hamishmar Israeli daily, June 15, 1992, as translated in Israeline.

15.	The Economist, December 18, 1992.

16.	Al-Anba' Kuwaiti daily. April 15, 1990 in FBIS-NES April 18, 1990

17.	Jerusalem Report, January 14, 1993.

18.	Jerusalem Report, January 14, 1993.

19.	Al-Sharq al-Awsat Saudi daily, October 7, 1992. in FBIS-NES October 8, 1992.

20.	FBIS-NES October 8, 1992.

21.	"America the Free," Jerusalem Report, February 25, 1993.

22.	Jerusalem Report, February 25, 1993.

23.	"U.S. Admits Contact With Terrorist Group Before the Bombing," New York Post, March 3, 1993.

24.	"U.S. Admits," New York Post, March 3, 1993

25.	Jerusalem Report, February 25, 1993.

26.	New York Times, February 1, 1993.

27.	Israel Defense Forces Radio, February 2, 1993, in FBIS-NES, February 3, 1993.

28.	Washington Post, February 1, 1993.

29.	New York Times, February 17, 1993.

30.	New York Times, Febrary 17, 1993.

31.	New York Times, February 17, 1993

32.	"Little Palestine in Chicago," Ma'ariv, Israeli daily February 5, 1993.

33.	Ma'ariv, February 5, 1993.

34.	Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement - HAMAS, Article 7.

35.	FOWARD, January 22, 1993.

36.	Palestine Monitor, August 1990.

37.	Islamic Association for Palestine appeal letter, April 199'.

38.	Palestine Monitor, August 1990.

39.	Palestine Monitor, January-February 1992.

40.	Palestine Monitor, January-February 1992.

41.	HAMAS Communique #90, October 1992.

42.	HAMAS Communique #53, February 14, 1990. Translated and distributed by the Islamic Association for Palestine in North America (IAP).

43.	Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement - HAMAS, published by the Islamic Association for Palestine. Distributed March 1991.

44.	Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement - HAMAS. Article 7.	This passage regarding the Day of Judgement is quoted from the Hadith, the Islamic oral tradition.

45.	"Prosecutors Charge HAMAS Leaders With Plotting Murder of Soldiers," Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 13, 1989.

46.	Palestine Monitor, November-December 1991.

47.	IAP flyer, October 1992.

48.	Palestine Monitor, November-December 1991.

49.	Palestine Monitor, November-December 1991.

50.	Palestine Monitor, March 1991.

51.	Palestine Monitor, May-June 1992.

52.	Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), Ramadan appeal, March 1993.

53.	HLF Ramadan appeal, March 1993.

54.	Islamic Committee for Palestine, Third Annual Conference flyer, December 28-31, 1990.

55.	Muslim Journal, January 12, 1990.

56.	Muslim Journal January 12, 1990.

57.	Muslim Journal,January 12, 1990.

58.	Muslim Journal, January 12, 1990.

59.	Islamic Committee for Palestine Convention booklet. January 1991

60.	Muslim Journal. January 12, 1990.

61.	"The Sheik Who Murdered Egyptian Tourism." Yediot Ahronot Israeli daily, January 1, 1993.

62.	USA today, February 2, 1993.

63.	"Egyptian Jihad Leader Preaches Holy War to Brooklyn Muslims," Wall Street Journal, January 6, 1993.

64.	"After Bombing, New Scrutiny for Holes in Immigration Net," New York Times, March 12, 1993.

65.	Wall Street Journal January 6, 1993.

66.	New York Daily News, March 18, 1993.

67.	New York Daily News, January 21, 1993.

68.	New York Newsday, March 18 1993.

69.	New York Post, March 18, 1993.

70.	Facts on File. December 31, 1990, Mahjub was assasinated in Cairo on October 12, 1990. Egyptian government officials announced on October 28, 1990 that four members of the Al Jihad organization who were arrested after the murder confessed to the crime.

71.	Jerusalem Report August 27, 1992.

72.	Yediot Ahronot Israeli daily, January 1, 1993

73.	Al-Safir, Lebanese daily, July 21, 1993 in FBIS-NES July 30, 1992.

74.	"Rahman Plans Returned to New York" New York Newsday, March 13, 1993.

75.	Yediot Ahronot, January 1, 1993.

76.	New York Times, January 7, 1993.

77.	Wall Street Journal, January 6, 1993.

78.	New York Times, March 11, 1993.

79.	Wall Street Journal, January 6, 1993.

80.	Wall Street Journal, January 6, 1993.

81.	Wall Streel Journal, January 6, 1993.

82.	Wall Street Journal, March 22, 1993.

83.	Wall Street Journal, January 6, 1993.

84.	"An Eye For An Eye," New York Newsday, March 5, 1993.

85.	Time, March 8, 1993.

86.	Wall Street Journal, March 2, 1993.

87.	New York Times, March 11, 1993.

88.	Salameh entered the United States on February 17, 1988 on a six-month visa that had heen issued in 'Amman, Jordan in December 1987. He remained in this country illegally after the visa expired on August 16, 1988. ("More Light is Shed On a Shadowy Life," New York Times. March 5, 1993.)

89.	"FBI Reportedly Knew Who Masterminded Bombing," Houston Chronical, March 1, 1993.

90.	"Suspect in Blast Believed to Be in Pakistan." New York Times, March 18, 1993


Appendix of organizations
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APPENDIX OF ORGANIZATIONS

1)	What is HAMAS? HAMAS, the Islamic Resistance Movement Palestine is a radical Islamic extremist organization which calls for the eradication of Israel based on the theology of its "spiritual leader," Sheik Ahmad Yassin. In its place, HAMAS envisions the immediate creation of an Islamic Palesti nian state ruled by Islamic theocratic law, or the shari'a. The organization was founded by Sheik Yassin in 1987, prior to the intifadha.

HAMAS is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, and has been responsible for brutal attacks and kidnappings of Israeli soldiers and civilians.

HAMAS shares the Muslim Brotherhood's vehement rejection of the West as represented by the United States, and calls for the ultimate establishment of a pan-Islamic state throughout the Middle East. Both organizations also share the view that Israel serves as an agent of the U.S. in the region. From this perspective, HAMAS's attacks on Israel represent the essence of Islamic extremists' larger confrontation with the West.

2)	What is the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine?  The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (IJMP) is a radical Islamic extremist organization inspired by the Iranian revolution of 1979. The IJMP carried out its first terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers in mid-1986, half a yea r prior to the outbreak of the intifada. It regards itself as part of the larger Islamic Jihad movement, which originated in Lebanon with the backing of Iran.  That organization is most well known for its abduction and murder of American and Westem hostages over the last decade.

The IJMP, following the doctrines of the Ayatollah Khomayni, envisions itself as part of an pan-Islamic confrontation with the West characterized as a struggle between good and evil. As the leader of the Western world, the United States is seen as the "Great Satan" and Israel as the "Little Sat an." Through its terror attacks, the IJMP seeks the destruction of Israel and the removal of Westem influence in the Middle East.

3)	What the Muslim Brotherhood? The Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest of the Islamic extremist organizations. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the preacher Hasan al-Bana.

The philosophy of the Muslim Brotherhood is characterized by the doctrine that a universal "Islamic reawakening" will he the harbinger of a pan-Islamic state that will be re-established throughout the Muslim world. The culmination of this spiritual phenomenon will be the re-establishment of Isl amic political power represented by the rule of a Caliph, the title bestowed upon the successors of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Brotherhood vehemently rejects Westem influence together with the legitimacy of secular regimes throughout the Middle East.  Adhering to the doctrine that only Muslim 'believers' can govem in Islamic lands, Brotherhood members have actively promoted their cause through sermons in mosques an d by providing for the social needs of the poor. Networks of Brotherhood institutions span the Middle East in the form of social, charitable and educational institutions that are linked to mosques.

The Brotherhood's attitude towards the West is personified by Sayyid Qutb, one of its ideologues who was executed by the Egyptian govemment. His interpretation of the Koran is harshly critical of Christians and Jews.

4)	What are Al-Jihad (Jihad Organization) / al-Jama'at al-Islamiya (the Islamic Group)?

The Jihad Organization of Egypt, also known as the Islamic Group, is a militant offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Founded in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood promotes the establishment a pan-lslamic theocracy throughout the Muslim world and vehemently rejects any Western presenc e or influence.

Throughout its history, adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood have opposed the Egyptian government, carrying out assassinations of government officials. In attempts to appease its opponents, the Egyptian govemment has outlawed the Jihad Organization but has permitted members of the Muslim Brother hood to participate in the political arena.

Sheik 'Umar Abd al-Rahman (also known as Omar Abdel Rahman) is the spiritual guide of Egypt's militant Jihad organization. In 1981 he issued a fatwa, or religious edict, sanctioning the assassination of President Anwar al-Sadat. His followers have also been responsible for the assassination of the speaker of Egypt's Parliament, Rifat Mahjub. Paralleling the case of Salman Rushdie, the Egyptian writer Faraj Fodha was assassinated by order of the sheik in June of 1992.

Sheik Rahman entered the United States in 1990. He received a visa at the U.S. Embassy, in the Sudan, even though his name appears on the State Department's official terrorist list.

Over the past year, followers of the sheik in Egypt have targetted American and other Westem tourists, whom the sheik describes as part of a "plague' on his country. His directives are sent to Egypt on audiotapes which are recorded in the U.S.  .


Anti-semitic statements by Islamic fundamentalists
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A collection of anti-semitic statements by Islamic fundamentalists

Statements demanding the annihilation of Israel

The most extreme anti-semitic statements.

Statements celebrating the murder of Jews

Justifying the murder of Moslem opponents


A collection of anti-semitic quotes
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Article 7: ..."The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:  `The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees.  The stones and trees will say O Moslem, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...'"

Hamas termed Toledano's murder the latest phase in its aim to "liberate Palestine from Zionist occupation." The killing was said to be the "first in a series the organization plans to take to force Israelis to `leave Palestine.'" (Amman, Jordan Times, December 15, 1992, as quoted in FBIS 16 Dec 92)

Ibrahim Ghawshah, spokesman for Hamas in Amman, '...has said that Hamas denounces the negotiations and announces to the world that dialogue with the Israeli enemy can only be held through the barrel of a gun...He said that the recent operation by Hamas [the murder of Nissim Toledano] was aimed at breaking the arrogance of the Israeli occupation in front of world, Arab, and Palestinian public opinion and at proving that occupation troops can be pursued and killed...'(Amman SAWT AL-SHA'B 17 Dec 92, as quoted in FBIS 17 Dec 92)

The "Islamic Resistance Movement-Hamas issued a statement today affirming that the Israeli government understands only the language of bayonets and that the jihad against the Israeli soldiers and border guards is legitimate and acknowledged by all norms and values and is recognized by the UN charter." (Paris Radio Monte Carlo in Arabic 4 Jan 93, as quoted in FBIS 5 Jan 93)

Leaflet #65 (October 21, 1990): "Every Jew and settler will be a target for murder; his blood and possessions are expendable." (IDF Spokesman, Information Branch, 17 Dec 90)

A special leaflet distributed in the Gaza district (mid-November 1990): "We call upon all the strength of our people and our fighters to increase their attacks with knives, grenades and guns against the cowardly Jews wherever they may be...The attacks of our fighters will reach the Jews within t heir homes and will turn their days into darkness and their lives into an intolerable hell." (IDF Spokesman, Information Branch, 17 Dec 90)

In an interview in Britain in May 1990, the official spokesman of HAMAS stated that "`We cannot avoid the fact that the time has come for the struggle against the enemy to be fought not only with the machine-gun and the bomb, but also with the plane and the rocket.  This is the way that it will be possible to reach an understanding with the Zionist enemy.'" (IDF Spokesman's Unit, The HAMAS Background, Dec 1992)

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." (The Martyr Imam Hasan al-Bana, of blessed memory.1 Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS).

"Kill so many Jews that they will eventually abandon Palestine." (Ibrahim Sarbal, Leader of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine -- Al-Aqsa Brigades).

"Six million descendants of monkeys [i.e., Jews] now rule in all the nations of the world, but their day, too, will come. Allah! Kill them all, do not leave even one!" (Imam Sheik Ahmad Ibrahim, HAMAS leader, in a sermon at the Palestine Mosque in Gaza).

In early 1990 a HAMAS communique translated into English and distributed by the IAP communique praised a terrorist attack against Russian Jewish immigrants to Israel, emphasizing that "This way, Russian Jews can be prevented from entering Palestine." Instructions encouraging further attacks against Russian Jewish immigrants were detailed later in the pamphlet, with the-words,

 	Paralleling the fatwa pronounced on Salman Rushdie by the Ayatollah Khomeini, Faraj Fodha, a writer and severe critic of the Egyptian Islamic extremists, was murdered by followers of Sheik Rahman in June of 1992. Members of the organization who were interviewed by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir justified their actions by invoking their interpretation of Islamic law: "[Fodha] was killed In accordance with the shari'ah [Islamic legal] ruling against apostates. A group of Muslim 'ulema [scholars], including Al Azhar Mosque scholars, ruled that he reneged on Islam and shari'ah entitles a devout Islamic group to implement its provisions since the ruler [i.e. President Mubarak] is an atheist. Killing Faraj Fodha was our Islamic duty" 73	When asked about his long-term goals in the United States, Sheik Rahman assured a reporter that he will "show all Americans that they'll never be happy if they don't follow Islam."

"HAMAS . . . asserts its announced position that our battle is with the Jewish enemy today and internal conflicts serve no one except the enemy."

Introduction: ..."The Islamic Resistance Movement emerged to carry out its role through striving for the sake of the Creator, its arms intertwined with those of all the fighters for the liberation of Palestine...Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious...The Movement is but o ne squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah's victory is realized..."

Article 6:..."[The Islamic Resistance Movement] strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine..."

Article 11: ..."Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [sacred property] land...It, or any part of it, should not be given up..."

Article 13:..."There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.  Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors..."

Article 14..."Liberation of Palestine is then an individual duty for every Moslem wherever he may be..."


Israeli-annihilating statements by Islamic terrorists
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"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." (The Martyr Imam Hasan al-Bana, of blessed memory.1 Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS).

Hamas termed Toledano's murder the latest phase in its aim to "liberate Palestine from Zionist occupation." The killing was said to be the "first in a series the organization plans to take to force Israelis to `leave Palestine.'" (Amman, Jordan Times, December 15, 1992, as quoted in FBIS 16 Dec 92)

Ibrahim Ghawshah, spokesman for Hamas in Amman, '...has said that Hamas denounces the negotiations and announces to the world that dialogue with the Israeli enemy can only be held through the barrel of a gun...He said that the recent operation by Hamas [the murder of Nissim Toledano] was aimed at breaking the arrogance of the Israeli occupation in front of world, Arab, and Palestinian public opinion and at proving that occupation troops can be pursued and killed...'(Amman SAWT AL-SHA'B 17 Dec 92, as quoted in FBIS 17 Dec 92)

"Kill so many Jews that they will eventually abandon Palestine." (Ibrahim Sarbal, Leader of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine -- Al-Aqsa Brigades).

In an interview in Britain in May 1990, the official spokesman of HAMAS stated that "`We cannot avoid the fact that the time has come for the struggle against the enemy to be fought not only with the machine-gun and the bomb, but also with the plane and the rocket.  This is the way that it will be possible to reach an understanding with the Zionist enemy.'" (IDF Spokesman's Unit, The HAMAS Background, Dec 1992)

The "Islamic Resistance Movement-Hamas issued a statement today affirming that the Israeli government understands only the language of bayonets and that the jihad against the Israeli soldiers and border guards is legitimate and acknowledged by all norms and values and is recognized by the UN charter." (Paris Radio Monte Carlo in Arabic 4 Jan 93, as quoted in FBIS 5 Jan 93)

Introduction: ..."The Islamic Resistance Movement emerged to carry out its role through striving for the sake of the Creator, its arms intertwined with those of all the fighters for the liberation of Palestine...Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious...The Movement is but o ne squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah's victory is realized..."

Article 6:..."[The Islamic Resistance Movement] strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine..."

Article 11: ..."Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [sacred property] land...It, or any part of it, should not be given up..."

Article 13:..."There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.  Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors..."

Article 14..."Liberation of Palestine is then an individual duty for every Moslem wherever he may be..."


Most extreme anti-semitic statements
Most extreme anti-semitic statements   Prev  Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

Article 7: ..."The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:  `The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees.  The stones and trees will say O Moslem, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...'"

"Kill so many Jews that they will eventually abandon Palestine." (Ibrahim Sarbal, Leader of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine -- Al-Aqsa Brigades).

Leaflet #65 (October 21, 1990): "Every Jew and settler will be a target for murder; his blood and possessions are expendable." (IDF Spokesman, Information Branch, 17 Dec 90)

A special leaflet distributed in the Gaza district (mid-November 1990): "We call upon all the strength of our people and our fighters to increase their attacks with knives, grenades and guns against the cowardly Jews wherever they may be...The attacks of our fighters will reach the Jews within t heir homes and will turn their days into darkness and their lives into an intolerable hell." (IDF Spokesman, Information Branch, 17 Dec 90)

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." (The Martyr Imam Hasan al-Bana, of blessed memory.1 Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS).

"Six million descendants of monkeys [i.e., Jews]3 now rule in all the nations of the world, but their day, too, will come. Allah! Kill them all, do not leave even one!" (Imam Sheik Ahmad Ibrahim, HAMAS leader, in a sermon at the Palestine Mosque in Gaza).


Hamas celebrating the murder of Jews
Hamas celebrating the murder of Jews  Prev  Next   Links  Links  Links  Links

Leaflet #65 (October 21, 1990): "Every Jew and settler will be a target for murder; his blood and possessions are expendable." (IDF Spokesman, Information Branch, 17 Dec 90)

A special leaflet distributed in the Gaza district (mid-November 1990): "We call upon all the strength of our people and our fighters to increase their attacks with knives, grenades and guns against the cowardly Jews wherever they may be...The attacks of our fighters will reach the Jews within t heir homes and will turn their days into darkness and their lives into an intolerable hell." (IDF Spokesman, Information Branch, 17 Dec 90)

Article 7: ..."The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:  `The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees.  The stones and trees will say O Moslem, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...'"

"Kill so many Jews that they will eventually abandon Palestine." (Ibrahim Sarbal, Leader of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine -- Al-Aqsa Brigades).

"Six million descendants of monkeys [i.e., Jews]3 now rule in all the nations of the world, but their day, too, will come. Allah! Kill them all, do not leave even one!" (Imam Sheik Ahmad Ibrahim, HAMAS leader, in a sermon at the Palestine Mosque in Gaza).


Justifying the murder of Moslem opponents
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Paralleling the fatwa pronounced on Salman Rushdie by the Ayatollah Khomeini, Faraj Fodha, a writer and severe critic of the Egyptian Islamic extremists, was murdered by followers of Sheik Rahman in June of 1992. Members of the organization who were interviewed by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir justified their actions by invoking their interpretation of Islamic law: "[Fodha] was killed In accordance with the shari'ah [Islamic legal] ruling against apostates. A group of Muslim 'ulema [scholars], including Al Azhar Mosque scholars, ruled that he reneged on Islam and shari'ah entitles a devout Islamic group to implement its provisions since the ruler [i.e. President Mubarak] is an atheist. Killing Faraj Fodha was our Islamic duty" 73	When asked about his long-term goals in the United States, Sheik Rahman assured a reporter that he will "show all Americans that they'll never be happy if they don't follow Islam."


Links


Arabhate Links
The Birth of Islam

The Koran: Contempt for and hatred of Jews

Quotations from the Koran

Arab Support for Hitler

Letters to Hitler by Arab supporters

Contempt for Jews in Islamic Terror Groups

Anti-semitic statements by Islamic fundamentalists

ADL report on Islamic terror groups in America

CAMERA Report on anti-semitism in Hamas

Commentary on contempt for Jews in Islam


ADL internal links
ADL Report: The (Islamic) terrorist threat to America

Introduction: Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Moslem Brotherhood

Holy War: Now or Later?

Refuge in Mosques

Support From Abroad: Money No Object

Haven in the Land of the Free

Positive Works in America

Our Battle is With the Jewish Enemy Today

Support for Hamas' Jailed Leader

Brother Nosair: Victim of an International Political Conspiracy

Ramadan is the Month of Sacrifice

Advocating Violence: "The Intifada Must be Rejuvenated

Preaching Holy War From Brooklyn

The "Brooklyn Jihad Office"

Afterword: Terror at the Twin Towers

Conclusion

References

Appendix of Organizations


Camera Report Links
Information about Camera

Contempt for Jews in Hamas: Short description

Hamas' Ten Principles of Faith

Examples: Hamas' reaction to terrorist attacks

"Highlights" of Hamas Charter

Extreme anti-semitic excerpts from Hamas' leaflets


Jew-hating quotes links
A collection of anti-semitic quotes

Israeli-annihilating statements by Islamic terrorists

Most extreme anti-semitic statements

Hamas celebrating the murder of Jews

Justifying the murder of Moslem opponents


Arab Strategy in the "peace process"
Arab Strategy in the "peace process"  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Commentary on Arab strategy

For many commentators, it was clear from the beginning of the "peace process" (Madrid, October 1991) that the Arab regimes only sought to use the rhetoric of peace, brotherhood, a "new middle east", and a "new world order" as Hitler, the Communists and other authoritarian regimes have before.  That is to sucker their enemies into appeasement.  In the case of Israel, it was the exchange of strategically critical territory and fundamental political and diplomatic concessions for mere words.

-----------------------------

Articles and Items:

10 Aug 92  Monday:  Tehran, Baghdad & Damascus: The New Axis Pact by Yossef Bodansky originally for the Republican House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare.  Despite Conflict between themselves the three have agreed to support one another against the West and Israel, and suborn Sudan into acting as a launching pad against Egypt and the West.    Author   Sections    More

5 Jan 94  Wednesday:  Non-Jewish political science professor's timetable: How the peace process - soon leading to a PLO state, absorbtion of Jordan, a defence pact with Syria, rebellion by Arabs within Israel - will lead to the destruction of Israel by 1998-2000 or so.  More


PLO state will absorb Jordan, sign pact with Syria, promote rebellion among Israeli Arabs
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HATIKVA Am Yeshe Lev HaAretz (For our brave heroes of Yesha)

Please respond to this electronic edition, as it is our only way to know the public response.

Volume 7.0 January 5, 1994

Contents:  A NON-JEW  WARNS: ISRAEL IS IN DANGER

by Samuel Schachter

"Current Arab diplomacy is based on a strategy of softening Israel up, step by step, prior to the final destruction of the Jewish State." When this sentiment is expressed by leaders of the Israeli opposition, it is no surprise. When it is expressed by a prominent non-Jewish political scientist i n England, it should make us sit up and take notice.

In a startling interview with the Hebrew-language newspaper Israel Shelanu last week, Prof. Leon Herbst, an internationally-known political scientist, declared that PL0 "self-rule" will not lead to peace--but in fact is likely to lead to implementation of "the Arabs 'final solution' for the 'Zionist entity'."

Quoting Arab leaders' own statements and analyzing Arab diplomatic maneuvering during the last several years, Prof. Herbst concludes that the Arab strategy is anchored in a seven-stage process for "softening up" Israel in preparation for the final Arab assault:

Stage #1. 1991-1993. Paving the way for Israeli territorial concessions through the use of combined Arab-European-American pressure. This process began with the Madrid Conference in 1991. A major aim of Stage #1 was to influence the course of political events -- such as manipulation of the loan guarantees affair by the Bush administration - - in order to bring the labor Party to power in Israel.

Stage #2: 1993-1995. Establishment of an independent Arab governing body in Gaza and Jericho, followed by the rest of Judea-Samaria and Gaza, with a link between the two geographical regions. Israel's concessions in 1993 makes this stage possible. Although the Israelis oppose creation of PL0 statehood, the political momentum will create pressures that Israel will ultimately be unable to resist.

Stage #3: 1994. Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights and from the Israeli security zone in southern Lebanon. Syria will sign a treaty with Israel that will promise peace in exchange for the Golan, but will have no actual mechanisms for compelling Syria to be peaceful (such as demilitarization of Syria, democracy in Syria). Israel will have to rely on American 'guarantees' for its security. Syria will be free to continue developing nuclear and chemical weapons which it can one day use to destroy the Jewish State.

Stage #4: 1995. Termination of America's financing of the "Arrow" missile project. The Arrow is the centerpiece of Israel's missile system--but the Pentagon will argue that since Israel in its 1967 borders is militarily indefensible with or without the Arrow, there is no point in the U.S. continuing to invest American taxpayer's money in the project.

Stage #5: 1995-1998. Establishment of a PL0 state in Judea-Samaria and Gaza; creation of a "Palestine"-Syria alliance; overthrow of King Hussein in Jordan and annexation of Jordan to "Palestine."

Stage #6: 1995. Rabin decides to sign the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. In the mad rush to gain international acceptance, and operating on the irrational argument the nuclear weapons cannot protect Israel in its 1967 borders, Israel's leaders will in effect surrender Israel's final line of defense. Arab leaders, of course, will see it the other way around--once Israel gives up its nuclear option and is reduced to its 1967 lines, it will be child's play to overrun it.

Stage #7: 1995-1996. Completion of Israel's retreat to the 1967 borders. Now the stage of "softening up" Israel will be complete -- and the Jewish State will be ripe for destruction.

At this point, the Arabs' "final solution" approaches the stage of realization. Prof. Herbst's scenario: At some point in 1995, the Arab regimes announce that the presence of American (or multinational) troops on the Golan Heights is no longer acceptable. They threaten war unless the troops leave; sure enough, the troops are withdrawn. By early 1996, the Syrian army has reoccupied the Golan Heights. The Rabin government, anxious to avoid international criticism, takes no action.

Spring of 1996: Syria and "Palestine" sign a mutual defense treaty, as Palestine is gradually transformed into a Syrian vassal state. The Syrian leaders declare that historically, there is no such entity as Palestine--only "southern Syria." The old PL0 hierarchy is deposed, and the new Palestinian government--led by Hamas and its ilks -- "invites" the Syrian army into its territory.

Reduced to borders that are just 9 miles wide, and under the military pressure of having the Syrian army on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israel is more vulnerable than ever before. The Arab regimes tighten the screws. They present a new list of demands: "self-determination" for the Arabs in the Galilee (where the Arabs are 45% of the population) annexation of the "Triangle" (a mostly Arab area near the coast) to Palestine; abrogation of Israel's, law of Return on the grounds that it discriminates against Arabs; exorbitant "compensation" for Arabs who fled Israel in 1948; widening of the corridor linking Gaza to Judea-Samaria; and a declaration of Palestinian sovereignty over areas of Jerusalem beyond the 1967 border. The Rabin government, fearful that it will be accused of provoking a war, agrees to these demands in 1997. So in 1998, the Arabs come up with another one; Israel must honor the 1947 UN Partition Plan and withdraw from territories captured in the 1948 war.

The mood in Israel is chaotic. The populace is demoralized. Emigration from Israel skyrockets. Desperate Israeli doves propose that Israel agree to assume "Dhimmi" status (the status of non-Moslems in Moslem countries, and become a protectorate of Egypt. The Egyptians, however, refuse. They sense victory. Within months, they are proven right. By mid-1999, according to Prof. Herbst's grim forecast, Israel will cease to exist.

One prays that this frightening series of events will not come to pass, but all signs suggest that unless the Rabin government drastically changes course, it could indeed happen.

-- Am Yisrael Chai "Lo Ta'amod Al Dam Rei'echa"

Murray Kahl ah287@yfn.ysu.edu

Hatikva 5 Jan 94


10 Aug 92 Syria, Iran, Iraq form axis after Gulf War
10 Aug 92 Syria, Iran, Iraq form axis after Gulf War   Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

10 Aug 92: Tehran, Baghdad & Damascus: The New Axis Pact:

Section One:  Summary. Saddam led Islamic Bloc to confront west; after Gulf War Iran took lead. Saddam cooperates to stay in power.

Section Two:  Objective is to "liberate Jerusalem" and expel west from Moslem world. Syria never expected Israel to capitulate to its demands, so planned for a war.  Iraq & Iran helped Saddam evade sanctions; in turn he confronted the US over UN inspections.  Saddam has his own agenda and the axis lacks trust.

Section Three:  Khomenyi conceived axis in 1981; inoperative during Iran/Iraq war;  formalized by treaty with Saddam and Assad 28 July 1990. Distrust caused other two to betray Saddam in Gulf War.

Section Four:  Post Gulf War reconciliation between Iran and Iraq began in Apr '91 in Sudan, among Saddam's enthusiastic supporters. It solidified in Tehran in 19-22 Oct '91.  Saddam submitted to Iranian domination of a Pakistan to Sudan Islamic Bloc as the only way of evading UN sanctions. By Dec '91 Sudan had become an Iranian fiefdom, and Iraqi soldiers and pilots fought against the non-Moslem black African rebels in the South of Sudan.

Section Five:  By early 1992 Iran served as port of entry for Iraqi weapons purchased in ex-USSR, North Korea and China.  Iraq exported oil through Syria.  In return, Iraq transshipped North Korean Scuds from Iran to Syria.  Syrian-Iraq trade blossomed beginning Dec '91 through border posts al_Walid and Abu Kamal

Section Six:  By May 1992 Iran/Iraq Strategic Treaty finished, but remains unsigned as Iran doesn't wish to legitimize Saddam.  Sudan's President Bashir mediated normal Syrian/Iraq ties and Assad supports lifting of UN sanctions on Iraq.  Saddam began his widely reported rapid arms buildup, convinced that the US no longer had the support to confront him.

Section Seven:  Iran and Syria took a sharp confrontational anti-American propaganda line("world war three has already begun"); Iran condemned all suggestions that Iraq be dismembered.  Saddam grew confident; in newspaper al-Jumhuriyah, his cousin Barazan al-Takdriti wrote "it will be difficult for Kuwait to preserve its integrity in the future..."  and that Iraq will "facilitate" the "reintegration of Kuwait into Iraq."

Section Eight:  In late '92 Iran was afraid Bush would depose Saddam and dismember Iraq

Section Nine:  Saddam blames Iraq/Iran War and Gulf Crisis on U.S. conspiracies, adopting Iranian Islamic/neo-imperialist rhethoric.  Calls upon Arab peoples to topple oil state rulers; repeatedly and confidently vows to retake Kuwait.

Section Ten:  On 29 July '92, Iran's Ayatollah Khamene'i absolved Saddam by blaming the U.S. and NATO for the Iran/Iraq War.  He prepared the nation for an expansion of Islam through military confrontation with West.

Section Eleven:  On 5-8 Aug '92, Iranian officials in Damascus with their Syrian hosts issued anti-semitic canards and threats to destroy Israel, calling the "peace process" a farce.  They almost certainly didn't foresee how far Israel's government was prepared to accomodate their demands in exchange for a treaty.


Author and Task Force
Tehran, Baghdad & Damascus: The New Axis Pact

YOSSEF BODANSKY	World Terrorism Anaylst

Freeman Center for Strategic Studies

Telephone or Fax (713) 723-6016

 P.O. Box 35709

Houston, Texas 77235-5709

 Email: BSAPHIR@AOL.COM

August 10, 1992

This report was prepared originally for: TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM & UNCONVENTIONAL.WARFARE HOUSE REPUBLICAN RESEARCH COMMITTEE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON D.C. 20515 BILL McCOLLUM. FLORIDA, CHAIRMAN (This paper may not necessarily reflect the views of all the Members of the Republican Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. It is intended to provoke discussion and debate.)


1. Summary: Iran dominates a triparte post Gulf War alliance
1. Summary: Iran dominates a triparte post Gulf War alliance  Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Summary:

The following paper deals with developments, issues and background material related to the creation of a tripartite alliance between Iran, Iraq and Syria in the wake of the Persian Gulf War.

-	The key to current Iranian policy in the Persian Gulf region is Iran's planning for a major war in the Middle East with Iran leading a powerful bloc of Muslim states against Israel.

-	Iraq's recent crisis over U.N. inspection of the Agriculture Minis try in Baghdad was part of an effort by Saddam Hussein to demonstrate his willingness to support an Iranian dominated alliance.

-	Syria's support for the "New Axis" is an outgrowth of its view that it is impossible to reach an accord with Israel and that therefore it will need allies in its upcoming military confrontation with the Jewish state.

-	The origins of the Tripartite alliance between Iran, Iraq and Syria go back to the early days of the Ayatollah Khomeyni's rule, when it was decided that the Islamic Revolution could succeed only with Iran at the head of a broad based Islamic alliance.

-	After the Iran-Iraq War, Iran~s interest in an "Islamic Bloc" concept was renewed, although at the outset that bloc was dominated by Iraq. After the Persian Gulf War, this relationship reversed, with Sudan acting as intermediary, and Iran became the dominant member.

-	Among other aspects of the Axis, Iraq is assisted by Iran and Syria in bypassing UN sanctions. Although Damascus and Tehran do not particu larly care for Saddam, they recognize that his survival irritates the United States and thus strengthens their position in the region.

-	Saddam Hussein has accepted a subordinate role in the axis as his only means of retaining power, but at the same time pursues repressive policies against Iraq's Shi'ite and pro-Syrian populations as a way to assure that his "allies" do not topple him.


2. Iran & Syria help Saddam evade UN sanctions; in turn Saddam confronted the US over inspections
2. Iran & Syria help Saddam evade UN sanctions; in turn Saddam confronted the US over inspections   Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The current escalation of the US confrontation with Iraq, including the threat of the resumption of hostilities, is but one phase in the strengthening of a Tehran-controlled strategic axis stretching from the Mediterranean to Iran. This axis-itself is an integral part of a much larger "Islamic Bloc" that is being consolidated by Tehran and that also includes Sudan and the Muslim countries of central and south Asia.

This bloc is central to a Tehran government that is making plans for a major war in the region and that has built its strategic plans around the assumption that war is inevitable. The primary objectives of this war will be to evict the US from the Muslim world, primarily the Persian Gulf region,  and to "liberate Jerusalem." For its part, Syria shares Tehran's political-strategic view and believes that war is virtually imminent. Indeed, Damascus has already concluded that there can be no compromise between Israel and Syria because their respective positions are too far apart to be reconciled (irrespective of the character of government in Jerusalem).

Thus, for Damascus, the peace process is meaningless as far as its contribution to stability in the region is concerned, and is regarded as a strategic facade for a highly efficient campaign by the US to expand and consolidate its position in the Middle East. Therefore, Damascus is convinced that drastic action, likely to include war with Israel, is urgently needed in order to break the deadlock and reverse the strengthening of US influence.

Similarly, the recent crisis with the US over the UN inspections in Baghdad should be examined as part of Iraq's relationship to the Iran-Syria-Iraq alliance. From this perspective, the crisis was a means for Baghdad to prove its loyalty to Tehran and Damascus, as well as an effective method for allowing the latter two states to further solidify and cement the axis by drawing it together under the pressure of a confrontation with the US/UN.

Iraq is the least trusted member of the axis. Yet its mere location as the geographical link between Iran and Syria, makes Iraq a crucial element in Tehran's grand design. Therefore, efforts are being made to transform Baghdad into a loyal and active participant in the Iran-led bloc. The sense o f urgency felt by Iran and Syria in this connection is reflected in the decision by Tehran and Damascus to accept Saddam Hussein's remaining in power. In order to ensure Iraq's ability to contribute to a war against Israel, Tehran and Damascus have even aided Saddam Hussein to weather the UN embargo, subvert the sanctions, and rebuild his military power. However, simultaneously, Iran and Syria are actively considering ways to ultimately replace Saddam Hussein with a leader more to their liking.

Saddam Hussein himself is fully aware of Tehran's approach and is responding with a twin-track strategy of his own. On the one hand, Saddam Hussein is eager to demonstrate his loyalty to Tehran and the axis. Toward that end, Baghdad has announced its willingness to participate in the anticipated war with Israel. At the same time, Saddam Hussein demonstrates his resolve to remain in power by actively purging suspicious elements in the military, (where the most dangerous challenge comes from pro-Syrian Ba'athists), and by suppressing the Shi'it- es in order to deprive Tehran of the core of any popular uprising against his regime.

Ultimately, through this convoluted process of power posturing and the pursuit of seemingly contradictory goals, a strategic alliance is emerging along the lines of the axis advocated by Tehran. The ramifications of this development is that the Middle East is rapidly sliding toward a war that w ill be instigated by Tehran.

*	*	*


3. Axis conceived by Khomeyni is 1981; Iran, Syria betrayed Saddam in Gulf War
3. Axis conceived by Khomeyni is 1981; Iran, Syria betrayed Saddam in Gulf War  Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The axis concept itself, and its central role in a major war with Israel, are not new. In fact, the axis concept was a cornerstone of Khomeyni's grand design for an Islamist Middle East led by Tehran. By late-1981/early-1982, Ayatollah Khomeyni believed that the Islamic Revolution would be both secure and capable of exporting the Islamist revolution only if Iran constituted the core of a regional bloc. Former Iranian President Abol Hassan Bani-Sadr pointed out that Khomeyni was contemplating "an 'Islamic belt in the Middle East,' a group of Shi'ite countries under his heel that would include Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon." Suffice it to say, it was impossible for Tehran to establish such an axis during its war with Iraq.

However, with the end of the Iran-Iraq war and the rejuvenation of a region-wide confrontational approach toward the US, albeit initially led by Iraq, Tehran's active interest in implementing Khomeyni's axis concept was revived. Thus, in the spring of 1990, Saddam Hussein contemplated a call for  an All-Islamic Jihad against the Great Satan for the destruction of Israel and the restoration of a Khomeyni-style traditional Islamic rule over the Holy Shrines in Jerusalem, Mecca, and Medina. Such a formulation of the objectives of Jihad would have markedly expanded popular support for Saddam Hussein's Great War.  Indeed, Baghdad believed that such a grand design would prove too popular for Tehran and Damascus to ignore.

Thus, strategic agreement was reached between Baghdad and Tehran (then speaking also for Damascus) in the summer of 1990. Subsequently, in mid-June 1990, Barazan al-Takriti, Saddam Hussein's half-brother and Iraq's ambassador to Switzerland, personally negotiated the cooperation and coordination of terrorist and procurement operations in Europe with Cyrus Naseri, special representative of Hashemi-Rafsanjani.  During the negotiations, Tehran insisted that support and assistance for crucial elements of the Iraqi war effort must come within the context of addressing the strategic posture in the region in which Iran and Syria were to be accorded a greater role and power.

The results of these deliberations were codified in a formal secret pact signed by Iran and Iraq on 28 July 1990. Subsequently, on August 15, Baghdad recognized and handed to Tehran a strategic victory in the Iran-Iraq War. The Iraqi agreement with Iran called for Tehran to provide Baghdad with vital support without becoming directly involved in a Gulf conflict.  This grand design was supported wholeheartedly by Hashemi-Rafsanjani and Hafiz al-Assad.

However, ultimately, on the eve of the Persian Gulf War, Iran pulled out of the deal because Tehran doubted Iraq's ability to deliver strategic gains, and because of a lingering mistrust of Saddam Hussein's intentions. Thus, as the ensuing war instigated by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was unfolding, both Hashemi-Rafsanjani and Assad saw no reason why a Takriti Sunni, that is Saddam Hussein, should lead and dominate a popular Jihad. Subsequently, Tehran decided against supporting Saddam Hussein's war plans because of Iraq's failure to launch a surprise attack on the US-led coalition in late-December 1990 and its subsequent adoption of a passive strategy. Tehran and Damascus had grave doubts as to Baghdad's ability to carry out their joint world-wide terrorist campaign and therefore ordered their terrorist networks not to support Iraq. Thus, Iran stayed out of the conflict, but only after Tehran had convinced Baghdad to deploy to Iran many of Iraq's strategic reserves, such as the aircraft, tanks and artillery - weapons that are currently being used by the Iranians. For its part, Syria even went so far as to send a token force to Saudi Arabia to cover its own position.

However, despite these moves by Syria and Iran, Iraq remained committed to the axis alliance.  Indeed, by early-1991, Saddam Hussein believed this strategy was his only viable option after he made the decision to absorb the US first strike and remain on the defensive. Baghdad gambled that the combination of an American threat to the Shi'ite Holy Shrines in Najaf and Qarbalah, and a call for a Shi'ite-dominated Jihad would be too volatile for Tehran and Damascus to avoid and would therefore assure him of their ultimate support.

In the event, searching deliberations took place in Tehran in January 1991 about the possibility of reversing policy and of joining with Iraq in the war against the US. However, Tehran ultimately decided not to be distracted from its pursuit of an alliance dominated by itself. Thus, Iran avoided  participation in the fighting.

(Tehran's commitment to the consolidation of the strategic axis constituted a major reason for Iran's half-hearted support of the Shi'ite uprising in southern Iraq in the spring of 1991. This lack of assistance came despite long standing Iranian support for Iraq's Shi'ite militants and the close affinity between the Iraqi Shi'ite elite and the mullahs in Tehran, many of whom-had received shelter in Najaf and Qarbalah during the Shah's reign.)

*	*	*


4. Iraq/Iraq rapproachment in '91 mediated through Sudan
4. Iraq/Iraq rapproachment in '91 mediated through Sudan  Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Thus, by mid-1991, all the main powers of the Middle East were rethink ing their regional strategic posture. The Islamic Bloc dominated by Tehran and Damascus was emerging as the dominant power in the region and was joined by the ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This gave the "Islamic Bloc" unprecedented power in the Near East. At the same time, as far as the Arab world was concerned, this bloc was not very different from the alliance advocated by Saddam Hussein on the eve of, and during, the first phase of the Persian Gulf War. Therefore, Baghdad could link  up with the Islamic Bloc ostensibly without Saddam Hussein's loosing face. Consequently, by the end of 1991, the Islamic Bloc had become the key to Iraq's ability to survive under the U.N. sanctions.

Indeed, as early as the spring of 1991, Baghdad in effect recognized Tehran as the region's dominant power. The Iraqi approach to dealing with Tehran and its allies was the outcome of a profound change in Baghdad's reading of the situation in the region. Having realized that the UN sanctions would not be lifted any time soon, Baghdad moved from pursuing ad-hoc arrangements aimed at overcoming short-term problems to seeking a long-term posture and commitments that would enable Iraq to function for the long term in a hostile world climate.

Thus, Iraq realized that Iran and Syria constituted the key to any long-term importation of military assistance, crucial to keeping Saddam Hussein in power. The use of Iran and Syria as the ports of entry for all forms of sanction-busting imports remains beneficial to Iraq because there is no We stern oversight in these countries and both are hostile to the US and in cooperation with all international bodies.  In-pursuing this option, Baghdad is fully aware of the extremely high strategic price it has to pay for securing these lines of communication.

In the meantime, Sudan has emerged as an instrumental intermediary in the negotiation of the new Iran-Iraq strategic deal. During the Gulf Crisis, Sudan was one of Iraq's closest allies and, in fact, a large Iraqi expeditionary force for the seizure of Islam's Holy Shrines in the Hijaz and the blocking of the Red Sea was deployed there. This was the outgrowth of the coming to power, in 1991, of Hassan al-Turabi and the Muslim Brotherhood, who transformed Sudan into an Islamic Republic, thereby naturally shifting its allegiance to Iran in the process.

Thus, in due course, the first meaningful contacts between Iran and Iraq were revived in Khartoum in April 1991. Iranian officials dis cussed issues concerning cross-border trade with Iraqi intelligence officials concealed among representatives of an Iraqi Trade Union delegation then participating in a conference in Khartoum. In these discussions, Sa'ad al-Takriti emerged as a major figure in the Sudanese-Iranian-Iraqi negotiations. A longtime colleague of al-Turabi, Sa'ad al-Takriti was involved in such clandestine operations as the financing of the Egyptian Islamlist networks via Sudan. These tripartite discussions dragged on inconclusively through the summer of 1991 with Tehran insisting on Baghdad's recognition of the new strategic realities in the region before any specific agreement could be reached. Meanwhile, however, Iran gradually reduced its support for the Shi'it e and Kurdish uprisings in Iraq, thus demonstrat ing good faith.

A turning point took place when a high-level delegation arrived from Baghdad to the terrorist conference in Tehran on 19-22 October 1991.  (For details see TF Report on Confronting Pax-Americana.) It was more a symbolic gesture, an attempt to placate and appease Tehran, than anything meaningful.  Indeed, the Iranian leadership still did not trust Baghdad, and left no doubt about it by giving prominence to the Shi'ite organization SAIRI. However, the Iraqi delegation held some closed-door meetings with Iranian officials which allowed them to get the measure of the Iraqis after all the st rained relations of the past.

Meanwhile, the final transformation of Sudan into an Iranian fiefdom was completed in mid-December 1991 during a visit to Khartoum by a large Iranian delegation led by Hashemi-Rafsanjani, and 157 other senior officials including: Ali Akbar Velayati (Foreign Minister), Akbar Torkan (Minister of Defense and C.O. Military), Ali Fallahian (C.o. Intelligence), Muhsin Reza'i (C.O. IRGC), Zulradr' (C.o.S. IRGC), Gholam Reza Foruzesh (Minister of Construction Jihad), Abdol Hussayn Vahaji (Minister of Commerce), and Massud Roghani-Zanjani (head of budget office).

It was during Hashemi-Rafsanjani's visit that the Sudanese, led by al-Turabi and General Bashir, finally broke the ice and mediated the beginning of a new strategic realignment between Tehran and Baghdad.  The first indication of a fundamental change in Iran's position came on 24 December 1991 when Tehran demanded that the new Gulf Security Body should include both Iran and Iraq if it was to truly represent the interests of the region's countries. Tehran was fully aware that problems would persist for as long as Saddam Hussein remained in power and stated so. However, Tehran argued, on the overall balance, when comparing the threat of a US presence and the ramifications of a regional power vacuum, it was still preferable to have a genuine regional security organization free of external influences.  Meanwhile, although Bishari and Hashemi-Rafsanjani had already discussed the Iranian-Iraqi arrangement in principle during the latter's visit in Khartoum in mid-December, it was only after Tehran's statement of its strategic priorities that the negotiations began to move with Sudan acting as the mediator between Iran and Iraq. On 29 December 1991, Gen. Iyad Futayyih al-R awi, the Iraqi Chief of Staff, arrived in Khartoum to negotiate the transfer of several Iraqi military assets in Sudan to the Sudanese and Iranian forces in return for an Iranian role in lifting the blockade against Iraq. Discussing the Iraqi visit, Maj.Gen. Muhammad Abdallah Uwaydah of the Sudanese General Staff, emphasized "the need to lift the economic blockade against steadfast Iraqi people and their Army" as one of the primary issues discussed in Khartoum.

In the meantime, the changes in the strategic realities in Sudan were reflected almost immediately when Iran announced its support of 25 Iraqi military advisers stationed in the Juba area of southern Sudan, whose arrival brought the total number of Iraqi military advisers to about 100. these Ira qi experts operate within a force dominated by Iranian Pasdaran and Afghan Mujahideen who came to "fight the infidels and purify Sudan." Moreover, in the final phases of the Sudanese offensive against the SPLA, Iraqi pilots flew against the rebels in support for Iranian-led offensive.


5. Iran served as entry point for arms to Saddam, Syria exported Saddam's oil
5. Iran served as entry point for arms to Saddam, Syria exported Saddam's oil   Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Thus, by early-1992, in return for consolidating its strategic hegemony over Sudan, Tehran agreed in principle to supply Iraq with weapons, and to serve as a port of entry for weapons purchased in the ex-USSR, the PRC, and the DPRK, as well as industrialized goods and food. Moreover, Iran and Syria agreed to serve as a major outlet for Iraq's oil. For its part, Baghdad guaranteed uninterrupted land and air traffic for weapons and other equipment between Iran and Syria. Thus, for example, the North Korean SCUD-derivatives purchased for Syria are being shipped to Iran, from where they are being delivered to Syria via northern Iraq. Similar arrangements exist for the large quantities of tanks and self-propelled artillery Syria purchased with Iranian funds in Russia and eastern Europe.

Meanwhile, the most visible aspect of the Iranian-Iraqi deal was the improvement in Syrian-Iraqi relations. In the second half of December 1991, while the Khartoum negotiations were in an advanced stage, Saddam Hussein sent Hafiz al-Assad a message with Barazan al-Takriti, propos ing several ways of cooperation against their "common enemies." Saddam Hussein encouraged and hailed Assad's strong position in the negotiations with Israel and his commitment to confronting it under all conditions. Saddam Hussein implied, and, reportedly, Barazan al-Takriti stated it even more explicitly, that Syria should lead the Arab world in a confrontation with Israel. Soon afterward, the Iraqi trade minister met with the Syrian economy and foreign trade minister to institutionalize the rapidly growing volume of trade between the two countries. Meetings in Cairo between the Iraqi oil minist er and the Syrian oil and minerals minister followed soon afterward. Subsequently, cross-border commercial activity began in December 1991.  In the first month alone, Iraq exported to Syria some petro-chemicals while consumer goods, mainly clothes, and processed food from Lebanon and Syria were shipped to Iraq. In early-1992, these commercial activities were institutionalized with the opening of two border crossing posts called al-Walid and Abu Kamal. Consequently, as of the spring of 1992, goods from Syria and Lebanon "have been increasingly evident in Iraqi markets."

Thus, in March 1992, both Damascus and Tehran began articulating their new positions concerning relations with Iraq. "The situation is currently completely different than the situation during the Gulf War," the Beirut Al-Havat mouth-pieced for Damascus. "Kuwait was liberated, and therefore ther e is no justification for the use of force against Iraq." By then, President Assad had accepted assurances from Tariq Aziz that Iraq would not challenge Syria's position in the Arab world.

In the meantime, in mid-March, the Tehran Times, which is usually affiliated with Hashemi-Rafsanjani, blasted the United Nations embargo on Iraq as serving only the interests of the US. "The continuing imposition of sanctions against Iraq can only be said to be due to the resulting failure of th e US-led policy to deal effectively with Saddam Hussein." Tehran added that under current conditions, Saddam Hussein remained fairly stable, facing no danger of being toppled by the sanctions. Tehran also emphasized that the only reason for keeping the sanctions imposed is President Bush's need for an election year achievement. In other words, since the sanctions were helping Washington, Iran's interest was in their several areas, primarily economic (money laundering, acquisition of militarily useful goods, shipment to the Middle East, etc.) and international terrorism, in Europe. Sev eral outstanding specific problems concerning diversified clandestine activities in Western Europe were largely solved and common modes of operation were outlined in the meeting.

The next meeting took place in mid-May in the same border location as the first one. Its stated objective was to complete the text of the new Iran-Iraq Strategic Treaty as well as numerous sub-agreements. The Iraqi delegation included Ali Hassan al-Maj (Defense Minister), Qusayy Saddam Hussein, Barazan al-Takriti, and Sa'dun Hammadi. The Iranian delegation was led by Hussayn Bahramani and Mahmud Baharamani Rafsan- jani. Apparently, not all of the expected agenda was completed in this session primarily because of the extent of the Iranian demands. It was therefore decided to solve these  issues in a series of follow-up meetings that are still taking place. Meanwhile, high-level Sudanese officials were sent to Baghdad to put additional pressure on Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, both Iran and Iraq agreed that other issues of mutual interest would be dealt with by a joint mini-summit and several commit tees in Khartoum. In order to improve the secrecy of these strategic negotiations, it was agreed that most of the on-going discussions between senior officials be conducted in Khartoum as if via the embas sies.


6.  Saddam rearmed and is diplomatically supported by Iran and Syria
6.  Saddam rearmed and is diplomatically supported by Iran and Syria  Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

By the second half of May 1992, the Strategic Treaty was already completed in principle. Originally the leaders of Iran and Iraq were to personally ratify and sign it, thus symbolizing the new era of mutual relations. However, a few minor differences relating to some of the sub-agreements remained. Meanwhile, Tehran had its doubts about the prudence of legitimizing Saddam Hussein through a joint signing session, albeit a secret one, with Hashemi-Rafsanjani. Therefore, Tehran used the outstanding minor differences as an excuse not to formally sign the Treaty. However, the Strategic Treaty is already agreed upon and is implemented for all intents and purposes.

Meanwhile, Syria's agreement to open border posts on the Iraqi border and help in exporting Iraqi oil through the Syrian pipeline and under Syrian designation became part of the larger strategic agreement. In early-May 1992, Hafiz al-Assad held several meetings with the visiting Sudanese President Bashir, who was acting as a mediator, concerning the improvement of relations with Iraq. Soon afterward, an agreement to "restore fraternal relations" between Syria and Iraq was reached. In return for Syrian assistance to "lift the ... blockade" on Iraq, Baghdad would resume its role as a "strategic depths for Syria, rendering any possible help during a war with Israel. The Syrian-Iraqi agreement is based upon the Iran-Iraq agreement that had also been mediated with Sudanese help.

Thus, by mid-May 1992, Iran and Iraq were already in effect implement ing, and formally on the verge of signing, a major Strategic Treaty that both picked up where their pre-Gulf Crisis agreement left off, and added specific arrangements to cope with the ramifications of the "New World Order" in  the Persian Gulf. On the basis of assurances from Tehran and Damascus, Baghdad is convinced that irrespective of the threats from Washington, there will be an escalation in the confrontation with Iraq, including perhaps tactical military strikes, but not an all out war initiated by the US and its allies. Furthermore, the treaty provides an opportunity to rebuild Iraq's economy and military might with the active support of Iran and Syria as part of their consolidation of a confrontation Al anti-US axis. Most important in this context are the Iraqi military procurements from the PRC a nd the DPRK to be delivered via Iran. Sophisticated weapon systems, such as F-7 fighters and anti-shipping/cruise missiles, top the Iraqi wish list. Further refinements and clarifications of some aspects of the implemen tation of the strategic cooperation agreement between Iraq and Iran took pla ce in Baghdad in late-June 1992. 'Ali Khorram, a special envoy of Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, arrived in Baghdad carrying special letters from the Iranian leaders to their Iraqi counterparts. The messages delivered covered Tehran's "desire to promote bilateral relations" with Bag hdad, Iranian support for the Iraq "removing the dust of the Atlantic-Zionist aggression" and "their great achievements in the field of reconstruction," as-well as solving outstanding issues concerning Iraqi POWs from the Iran-Iraq War.

Simultaneously, after Bashir and Assad agreed on Syria's new policy toward Iraq, the Sudanese Chief of General Staff, Gen. Abd-al-Rahman Ali, travelled to Baghdad in mid-May to finalize the conditions of the new "heroic pan-Arab posture" between Iraq and its neighbors. The Sudanese military dele gation then continued to Tehran, bringing with them Iraqi responses. Gen. Abd-al-Rahman Ali met with Hashemi-Rafsanja- ni to discuss these issues. (The expansion of the Iranian military presence in Sudan was also discussed during this visit.)

*	*	*


7. Iran backs Iraqi territorial claims; Saddam vows to retake Kuwait
7. Iran backs Iraqi territorial claims; Saddam vows to retake Kuwait Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

By mid-June, a comprehensive, well defined anti-US strategy was being articulated by members of the Axis. These statements were characterized by a strong emphasis on the idea that there could be no compromise with the US. For example, the Tehran Jahan-i Islam stressed that US policy "is actually aimed at annihilating the [Islamic] Revolution and gradually dissolving the Iranian system." Confronted with such a threat, Iranians "are not prepared to retreat even an inch in their anti-Zionist positions and in their support for Muslims and the deprived. They will do their best to fight against the mischief, machinations, and plundering of the hegemonistic US Government."

At this time, Syria was already fully committed to an anti-US strategy.  Damascus considered the inevitable struggle in the region to be an integral part of a global assault by the US on the Third World. Indeed, in late-June, the authoritative al-Ba'ath newspaper pointed out that "World War III began with the Malta summit and has not yet ended.  Civil, ethnic, and border wars are the bullets of World War III which will not end before every US ministry becomes a ministry of the whole world." Therefore, Damascus concluded, "it is not in the US interest for the wars raging in several part s of the world come to end because US control requires continuing tension. This is what makes the United States not serious about solving the Middle East crisis." Damascus thus concluded that there was no escape from active participation in a war against the US. "In order not to lose the right and the future we have to give priority to our pan-Arab issues, prove to the world that we are a nation whose stage of division is over, and that we will not be the victim of the new world and the division caused by the Third [World] War which began with the Malta summit, and whose chapters have not ended yet," concluded al-Ba'ath. Thus, for Damascus, the Strategic Axis dominated by Iran and Syria, and the entire Islamic Bloc, is the primary instrument for waging this World War III.

As for Iran, its new regional strategy and posture was reflected in its analysis of the Gulf War and its aftermath. In late-June, the Tehran Abrar newspaper defined the Gulf War as an "expansionist attack by American armed forces" on Iraq. Tehran concluded that despite all the Western sanctions and subversion attempts since the war, the Saddam Hussein regime has proved its ability to survive. Abrar reiterated Tehran's commitment to regional collective security with Iran as the local hegemonic power and then suggested that Iraq be a major part of such a regional arrangement provided that the principles of the Saddam Hussein regime be changed, though not the regime itself. Such an Iraq, "in view of its considerable potential capability, ... can also comple ment this chain of regional cooperation."

Later, in early-July, Jomhuri-ye Islami warned against the dismember ment of Iraq by any ethnic group and stated that such efforts "should not be tolerated" by Tehran. Tehran pointed out that "Iraq is not the personal fiefdom of Saddam or his Ba'athist regime," and thus strategic realities must not be based on the quality of a specific regime in Baghdad. "Iran condemns and will not accept any efforts to Balkanize Iraq," Jomhuri-ye Islami stated, and warned that "hatred of Saddam and his Ba'athist regime is certainly not a justification to endorse the disintegration of the Islamic land of Iraq." (It is noteworthy that this resolute position of Tehran is emphasized at the very time that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are openly contemplating the advisability of the dismemberment of Iraq along ethnic lines as the only viable means of toppling Saddam Hussein and reducing the Iraqi military threat.)

Subsequently, Baghdad's newly found self-confidence was made clear in a two-part al-Jumhuriyah article by Barazan al-Takriti. Iraq's claim for the territory of Kuwait was revived as a component of a long-term regional arrangement based on "redrawing the political map of the Arabian Peninsula. The current GCC must accept this change if it wants to last and survive." Barazan al-Takriti explained, adding that in this context "it will be difficult for Kuwait to preserve its [territorial] integrity in the future because that would necessitate keeping Iraq in a weakened state." Iraq, however , is already rapidly rebuilding its military might, ready to facilitate and defend the "reintegration of Kuwait into Iraq" because "Iraq will never forget that Kuwait is part of its territory."

Barazan al-Takriti stressed that Iran was no longer a threat to Iraq.  "Differences with Iran will be solved; and another war with Iran is not possible," he emphasized. He also anticipated that the Arab-Israeli conflict will soon be solved once and for all. Such major strategic changes will come in the aftermath of the "expansion" of the GCC to include greater ["unified"] Syria and Jordan in the organization.


8.  In late '92 Iran was afraid Bush would depose Saddam and dismember Iraq
8.  In late '92 Iran was afraid Bush would depose Saddam and dismember Iraq   Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Meanwhile, the final negotiations of the strategic agreements between Iran, Iraq and Syria were agreed to in early-July in Khartoum, during the visit of high level delegations to Sudan to commemorate the anniversary of Bashir's coup. The Iranian delegation was led by Dr. Hassan Ghafuri-Fard, Iran's Vice President and ostensibly minister of sports, but in reality a senior intelligence official. He was accompanied by Muhammad Kazem Khonsari, the secretary general of the Horn of Africa and Middle East Department of Iranian Foreign Ministry. (Tehran made distinction that Khonsari was in Khartoum to discuss bilateral relations, thus leaving open the question of Ghafuri-Fard's main objec tive.) The Iraqi delegation was headed by Deputy President Taha Yassin Ramadan and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Muhammad Sa'id al-Sahhaf, both travelling on special instructions from Saddam Hussein. The Syrian delegation was headed by Deputy Premier Zuhayr Mashariqah and Labor Minister Ali Khalil.

Tehran was quick to outline the principles of the new regional realities. In mid-July 1992, a comprehensive Iranian strategy was defined in a series of articles in the Jahan-i Islam. Tehran considered the unfolding crisis in Iraq, symbolized by the world reaction to the UN attempt to enter the Agriculture Ministry in Baghdad, as a catalyst for a wider confrontation throughout the region. Tehran is most worried about the potential exploitation of the Kurdish problem in order to dismember Iraq. Committed to a prudent and orderly consolidation of the Strategic Axis before it is possible to successfully confront the US and Israel, Tehran is apprehensive about a premature explosion in the region as a result of US policy vis-a-vis Iraq.

Indeed, Tehran is especially concerned that Washington might be pushed to the extreme in dealing with Iraq because of internal politics. The Jahan-i Islam pointed out the US elections factor as a wild card that might bring about an explosion in the region. "Public opinion on Saddam in the West i s such that his annihilation can be considered as a humanitarian success for anyone who can achieve it." Bush wants this achievement for himself to maintain his position and credibility among the American public and to defeat his opponent in the presidential elections." Thus, Tehran argues, the US might go to any extreme to ensure the reelection of President Bush even if it destroys the entire region in the process.

Tehran's strategy for dealing with this problem is aimed as both furthering the interests of the Muslim world and confronting the US threat. The prudent implementation of these objectives includes the Iranian realization that the toppling of Saddam Hussein, under any circumstances, will be perceived as a great achievement of Washington, thus rejuvenating US regional policy. Therefore, it is in Tehran's interest to support Saddam Hussein for as long as the US challenge exists. As the Jahan-i Islam concluded, "Invariably, Iran's stance will be of special significance. Defending its strategic principles, Iran should also act in such a way as to avoid strengthening the West's position."


9.  Saddam blames Iran/Iraq War and Gulf Crisis on U.S. conspiracies; vows to retake Kuwait
9.  Saddam blames Iran/Iraq War and Gulf Crisis on U.S. conspiracies; vows to retake Kuwait   Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Baghdad extended its own support to the Iranian position. During his speech on the Ba'ath Revolution Anniversary, Saddam Hussein declared Iraqis commitment to, and support for, the regional policies and strategy advocated by Tehran. The speech was largely devoted to surveying the achievements o f the Ba'ath regime and its commitment to pan-Arab causes. It included several very important deviations from past phraseology.

Most important was the discussion of foreign, that is US/Western, intervention in the Middle East, where Saddam Hussein attributed the Iran-Iraq War to foreign conspiracies not unlike the conspiracy against Iraq during the Gulf Crisis. "Part of the foreigners' role in the confrontation with Iran in the second al-Qadisiyah and in the foreigners' aggression against us in the Mother of Battles" were aimed at enabling the West to reestablish control over the region and its oil resources, declared Saddam Hussein.

The other key element in Saddam Hussein's speech was his analysis of the situation in the region and the Third world as a whole. Baghdad's position is virtually identical to the strategic analysis that motivated Tehran's quest for an Islamic-Bloc and the Strategic Axis. Saddam Hussein explained that after the collapse of the USSR, the Third World was facing new threats:

"Third World nations and their supporters must strive to get their act together and grapple with the dangers facing them and all of humanity.  This is in order for these nations to safeguard human and national rights. Those who are interested among the Arabs ought not to limit themselves to a halfhearted defense in the face of treason, trickery, and foreign ambitions. They must be bolder, franker, and more energetic and committed to a unified position and collective action."

Echoing Tehran's policies, Saddam Hussein warned that under current global conditions, "a lopsidedly powerful United States would be tempted to aspire to a domination of the world. In order for the United States to gain control for longer, controlling Middle East oil and directing the politics o f the region are crucial to the promotion of its aspirations." At present, the US is determined to occupy the states of the Arabian peninsula "since they own most oil in the region." A few days later, al-Thawarah, the newspaper of the Ba'ath Party, further elaborated on the themes raised by Sadd am Hussein. Al-Thawarah urged "Arabs to escalate their Jihad and wage battles of honor to liberate the nation's territories and free its resources and will of all usurpist and covetous enemies and also of all traitors who are abandoning Arab rights to foreigners and causing weakness, surrender , and treason to prevail." Al-Thawarah identified the Houses of al-Saud and al-Sabah as the arch enemies of the Arab world and urged the peoples of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to topple these regimes.

In another article, al-Thawarah stressed once more that "as a natural extension of Iraqi territory, the area known as Kuwait is part of Iraq." The article stressed that the Middle East is entering a new era of confrontation with the US and, ultimately, of great victories for Islam. Al-Thawarah e xplained that the Gulf Crisis "closed a chapter in the Arab political life" that had included recognition of the central role of the conservative regimes of the Arabian Peninsula, and opened a new era characterized by a combative alliance to further the cause of Jihad. Although not mentioning Iran and the Axis specifically, this definition hints at the Iraqi shift of loyalty.

Indeed, Baghdad used the "international crisis" over the Agriculture Ministry as an opportunity for Saddam Hussein to demonstrate to Tehran his defiance of the US, as well as his willingness to take risks in the pursuit of a confrontational policy with the US. These actions demon strated his commitment to pursuing the principles of the Strategic Axis. "The Agriculture Ministry farce left Saddam in place stronger than ever since the Gulf War," a diplomat in Baghdad observed, and Baghdad made a full use of this security to further its strategic objectives. Little wonder that Baghdad calls the incident a "stupendous victory" against the US.

Indeed, Iraqi self-confidence and assertiveness have grown even further since the incident. Thus, on the second anniversary of the invasion of Kuwait, the overriding theme of the Baghdad media was a commitment to return to and annex Kuwait. "It will happen again, InshAllah," was the headline in the Baghdad Babil below a large color photograph of President Saddam Hussein praying in October 1990 on the Kuwait city sea front. "It goes without saying that Kuwait is part of Iraq," stated al-Jumhuriyah. "In the end Kuwait will return to its rightful owners.  How and When? History has the answer."

Similarly, in a broadcast on Radio Baghdad, Prime Minister al-Zubaydi hailed 2 August 1990 as "an immortal day, if not the dearest and most glorious day, in the psyche of the Iraqis." He had no doubt that Baghdad would ultimately rule Kuwait. "The return of Kuwait, a usurped territory, to the motherland, Iraq, epitomized the Iraqis' firm national will, apart from allowing one of their dreams to come true," Zubaydi explained. In another editorial, Radio Baghdad called the annexation of Kuwait as Iraq's 19th Province, "the greatest historic epic in the contemporary history of Iraq, one that was crowned with immortal victory with the entry of our valiant armed forces into Kuwait."

Even more emphatic was a declaration by the Iraqi military, indicating that Baghdad had higher strategic priorities other than the mere reoccupation of Kuwait. "Today Iraq is the ferocious rival, the opposite pole of the United States," wrote Abdul Jabbar Mohsin, Saddam Hussein's press secretar y, in al-Qadissiyah, the organ of the Defense Ministry. "Iraq's enemies are bewildered. They do not know how to confront Iraq."

Little wonder, therefore, that a diplomat in Baghdad said he was worried by Saddam Hussein's complete confidence that he was stronger than ever since the Gulf War. "When he is like this he tends to come up with disastrous ideas like the war with Iran and the invasion," he explained. "All this makes me wonder what he might be planning next."

*	*	*


10. Iran's Khamenei absolves Saddam and prepares Iranians for confrontation with West
10. Iran's Khamenei absolves Saddam and prepares Iranians for confrontation with West   Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Beyond all of this, the strategic objectives of the Strategic Axis were precisely defined by Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Hussayn Khamene'i in a sermon on July 29. In his sermon, Khamene'i indicated that Tehran accepted Saddam Hussein's explanation of the real guilty party in the Iran- Iraq War. He explained that "during eight years of imposed war the enemy was openly fighting us. In appearance it was Iraq, but behind Iraq-was--the United States, NATO, and all the reactionaries."

The essence of Khamene'i's sermon was to warn Tehran, and the entire Muslim world, that they were on the verge of a fateful confrontation between Islam and the West, a confrontation that might result in the expansion of the Muslim world by force of arms. "Today, in the World of Islam, we are dut y-bound to prepare the Islamic people, the Muslim World, and our own people to the highest degree possible. They must be aware, must recognize the enemy, must know their duties. Today, considering the formation of Islamic rule and hoisting the banner of Islam -- an unprecedented event in the history of Islam since its early days -- the Muslims have this capability. We have no right to make a mistake recognizing the enemy today, in recognizing the direction of the onslaught."

If nothing was done, Khamene'i warned, "the Islamic society is in danger." Pointing in the direction of the preferable solution, he urged the listeners to "learn from the early days of Islam," when Muhammad and the first Caliphs led their armies to occupy an Islamic Empire. He stressed that recent experience confirms that Iran was capable of leading the Islamic Bloc, and the entire Muslim world, on a comparable surge. "Our nation is the first nation, which, relying on the Koran and through the slogans of Koran and Islam, was able to defeat the United States and the world of arrogance,"  Khamene'i reminded his listeners.  "We ask Allah to guide us in our difficult struggle in his Path so that we may be able to recognize and understand our duties and responsibili ties and continue to advance the paths of the prophets and imams ...  and the [Islamic] revolution."

*	*	*


11. 5-8 Aug '92, Iran/Syria declare brotherhood and call for destruction of Israel
11. 5-8 Aug '92, Iran/Syria declare brotherhood and call for destruction of Israel   Author  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Between August 5 - 8, Iran and Syria moved to further implement their agreement with Iraq in the course of the latest summit of the Higher Syrian - Iranian Joint Committee devoted to coordinating the policies of both governments. The Iranian delegation headed by Vice-President Hassan Habibi and the Syrian delegation was headed by Vice-President Abd-al-Halim Haddam. Both delegations also met with President Assad.  The summit "discussed Tehran-Damascus cooperation in the political, economic and commercial fields, and also exchanged views on important regional developments including the I raqi situation." They also had meetings and joint sessions with the leaders of the HizbAllah, the PFLP-GC, and other terrorist organizations.  Habibi described the outcome of these talks as "good and positive."

At the end of the summit, Damascus emphasized the identity of interests between the two countries, especially concerning Israel. Al-Ba'ath hailed Tehran's commitment to "liberating Jerusalem from the destruction of the Zionist usurper." Al-Ba'ath emphasized the importance of "the firm, joint struggle being waged by Syria and Iran against Zionist ambitions - and - expansionist schemes in the region," and that Syrian-Iranian "strategic relations are becoming more cohesive in the face of [Israel's] Torah dreams." (EDITORS NOTE: Torah is the Hebrew for the Pentateuch. The Syrian article used the Hebrew word in transliteration.) During the summit, Syrian - Iranian "relations have made large strides on the paths of mutual trust and respect and joint objectives under the historic leadership of the struggler President Hafiz al-Assad and the leaders of the Iranian revolution," conc luded al-Ba'ath.

On the day that the al-Ba'ath article appeared, al-Thawrah, the paper of the Syrian Government, repeated the apprehension in Damascus of an impending crisis in the Middle East despite the optimism stemming from the peace process. Al-Thawrah defined the new Israeli Government as an "advocate of aggression, not peace." It reiterated the Syrian position on the futility of the peace process and the imminence of war.  "All the proposals and trial balloons devised by Rabin and his political aides contribute nothing at all to advancing the peace process." Instead, Israeli policies "are a brandished sword that slaughters peace and that increases tensions in the region, pushing it toward conflagra tion and war." In conclusion, Al-Thawrah repeated the Syrian commitment to "a comprehensive solution" that, by Arab definition, would amount to the destruction of Israel.

Khomeyni did not just originate the idea of the Strategic Axis, he also outlined the method of the realization of its objectives. In January 1980, Khomeyni presented his perception of the state of the world. "We are at war against infidels.... I ask all Islamic nations, all Muslims, all Islamic armies and all heads of Islamic states to join the holy war. There are many enemies be killed or destroyed. Jihad must triumph." In a sermon in the summer of 1982, Khomeyni identified his approach to the liberation of Jerusalem: "Our belief is that Muslims should unite and defeat America; they s hould know that they can do this, and they have many possibilities. America and the West's lifeline depends this region's oil." He then added that "the annihilation of Israel" had always been an objective of his.

-	by Yossef Bodansky & Vaughn S. Forrest

This report was prepared originally for: TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM & UNCONVENTIONAL.WARFARE HOUSE REPUBLICAN RESEARCH COMMITTEE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON D.C. 20515 BILL McCOLLUM. FLORIDA, CHAIRMAN (This paper may not necessarily reflect the views of all the Members of the Republica n Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. It is intended to provoke discussion and debate.)


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Arab Strategy in the "peace process"

PLO state will absorb Jordan, sign pact with Syria, promote rebellion among Israeli Arabs


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10aug92 sections
Cover Page

Author and Report Information

1. Summary: Iran dominates a triparte post Gulf War alliance

2. Iran & Syria help Saddam evade UN sanctions; in turn Saddam confronted the US over inspections

3. Axis conceived by Khomeyni is 1981; Iran, Syria betrayed Saddam in Gulf War

4. Iraq/Iraq rapproachment in '91 mediated through Sudan

5. Iran served as entry point for arms to Saddam, Syria exported Saddam's oil

6.  Saddam rearmed and is diplomatically supported by Iran and Syria

7. Iran backs Iraqi territorial claims; Saddam vows to retake Kuwait

8.  In late '92 Iran was afraid Bush would depose Saddam and dismember Iraq

9.  Saddam blames Iran/Iraq War and Gulf Crisis on U.S. conspiracies; vows to retake Kuwait

10. Iran's Khamenei absolves Saddam and prepares Iranians for confrontation with West

11. 5-8 Aug '92, Iran/Syria declare brotherhood and call for destruction of Israel


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Hatikva
Hatikva: News you haven't heard from Israel.  Available by ftp, gopher or www from jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il   Note on dates: An article in the Hatikva review may have been written days earlier than its posting on the Internet.  So "Monday" may refer to the previous Monday, or a Monday a week or two before that.  Unfortunately, I don't have the time to sort these dates out..


Arab Terror Groups
Arab Terror Groups  Links  Links  Links  Links

Profile and brief history of Hamas, its terror attacks on Jews, and its Iz a-Din al-Kassam Hit Squads

Hizbullah: History, ideology, Southern Lebanon, terrorism.  Brief statement by IDF, 6 June '94.


Hizbullah: History, ideology, Southern Lebanon, terrorism
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srael Information Service Gopher

Information Division	Israel Foreign Ministry - Jerusalem

Mail all Queries to ask@israel-info.gov.il

Hizbullah

IDF Spokesman - June 6, 1994

The Hizbollah is an umbrella organization of various radical Shi'ite groups and organizations which adhere to a Khomeinistic ideology.  The organization was established following the 1982 Peace for Galilee War in Lebanon (and an increased Iranian presence and influence in Lebanon).  The Hizbollah organization was established as an organizational body for Shi'ite fundamentalists, led by religious clerics, who see in the adoption of Iranian doctrine a solution to the Lebanese political malaise.  This included the use of terror as a means of attaining political objectives.

Toward the end of 1982 Iran sent fighters from its 'Iranian Revolutionary Guards' in order to assist in the establishment of a revolutionary Islamic movement in Lebanon whose members would participate in the 'Jihad', Holy War, against Israel.  These forces, which were located in the area of Ba'a lbek in the northern Beqa'a valley, bestowed on the area an Iranian-Islamic character and constituted the core of the Hizbollah organization in Lebanon.

The organization maintains a training apparatus in Lebanon throughout the villages and their surroundings, as well as outside of Lebanon.  Training is aimed at building a reliable manpower source for its military forces as well as for its terror arm.

The spiritual father of the movement in Lebanon is Sheikh Muhammed Hussein Fadlallah who acts as chief Mujtahid - arbiter of Islamic law - of the Shi'ite community in Lebanon.  With the passage of time, Hizbollah has turned into an organization of secondary level groups working on the local level led by regional functionaries.

Ideology

The ideological basis of Hizbollah is Khomeinism and its principle goal is the establishment of a pan-Islamic republic headed by religious clerics.

The organization's world view was first published in its political platform in February 1985, as follows:

* The solution to Lebanon's problems is the establishment of an Islamic republic, as only this type of regime can secure justice and equality for all of Lebanon's citizen's.

* The Hizbollah organization views as an important goal the fight against 'western imperialism' and its eradication from Lebanon.  The group strives for complete American and French withdrawal from Lebanon, including all their institutions.

* The conflict with Israel is viewed as a central concern.  This is not only limited to the IDF presence in Lebanon.  Rather, the complete destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of Islamic rule over Jerusalem is an expressed goal.

Part of this radical ideology is the group's militant approach using terror as a means of attaining its goals.  Hizbollah decries the existence of Israel ('the little Satan'), viewed as foreign to the region and which constitutes a threat to Islam and Muslims.  The destruction of Israel and the liberation of Jerusalem is deemed a religious obligation.  The Hizbollah organization justifies the use of terror against these enemies as a weapon in the hands of the weak and oppressed against the strong aggressor.  In an effort to act upon and realise the predetermined ideological lines the group's leaders actively plan and perpetrate terror attacks against IDF and SLA forces, preach religious extremism against Israel and disseminate Iranian ideology.  The Hizbollah extends the conflict into Israeli territory and does not restrict its struggle to areas in Lebanon.

With the signing of the 'Ta'af Agreement' (1989) and the beginning of the 'Syrian arrangement in Lebanon, the Hizbollah has been forced to conform to Syrian dictates.  The Syrian interest in the continuation of terrorist attacks in South Lebanon has enabled the Hizbollah to maintain its unique s tatus in the Lebanese arena as the only major military force yet to be disarmed.  The Syrians have prevented the Lebanese government from harming the military capabilities of the Hizbollah, under the pretext of opposing the Israeli occupation, while at the same time enforcing their dictates upon

 the organization during periods when they are interested in calming the situation in southern Lebanon (as was the case following 'Operation Accountability in July 1993 or the period coinciding with the Assad-Clinton meeting in January 1994).

The Spread of Hizbullah into Southern Lebanon

As the organizational infrastructure developed, Hizbollah, with Iranian and Syrian assistance, began to establish an extensive military network in the Ba'albek area.  Its militias have since spread into the Shi'ite neighborhoods in southern and western Beirut as well as into southern Lebanon.

This network is the principle base of Hizbollah activities as well as for those of other radical Shi'ite groups.  Thousands of Hizbollah activists and members are located in the Beqa'a valley, Beirut and southern Lebanon.  These areas also offer a base for the recruitment of additional activists and fighters among the local Shi'ite populations.

Following the IDF withdrawal from Lebanon in 1985 the Hizbollah organization consolidated itself.  The consolidation included the establishment of storage depots for weapons, recruitment of activists and fighters, and widespread aid to residents in S. Lebanon, such as the donation of money, equi pment, medical supplies, etc.  The purpose of the aid was to gain the support of the local population in favour of the organizations activities in the South.

Attacks and Terrorism

Using cover names such as 'Islamic Jihad', 'The Revolutionary Justice Organization' and 'The Islamic Resistance', with the blessings of its religious leaders, Hizbollah has carried out a series of high profile attacks against Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and American and Multinational For ces targets in Lebanon.  Only later did their attacks become more intensive as well as demonstrating better planning, especially immediately prior to the opening of the peace process.

In 1991, the Hizbollah was responsible for 52 attacks, as compared to 19 attacks the organization carried out in 1990. In 1992, the Hizbollah launched 63 attacks and in 1993, 158 attacks, when during the course of 'Operation Accountability' they fired hundreds of Katyusha rockets into the Securi ty Zone and Israeli territory.


Profile of Hamas and Iz a-Din al-Kassam Hit Squads
Profile of Hamas and Iz a-Din al-Kassam Hit Squads  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links  Links

Hamas is the second most influential organization among Palestinian Arabs.  Only the PLO commands a greater following, and the PLO is broken into many factions, some utterly hostile to one another.  In Gaza and Hebron, Hamas may be the most influential organization among Arabs.  Although Yitzhak Rabin signed his accords with Arafat in part to pre-empt the growing influence of the fanatical Hamas, Hamas was already so powerful that Arafat was forced to include its members in the Palestine National Authority.

Background:  Hamas was founded in 1978 as an imitation of the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt and as a rival to the Islamic Jihad.

Ideology:  Hamas combines pan-Arabism, Islamic fundamentalism and Palestinian nationalism in their rejection of Israel's right to exist.

Finances:  Hamas raises money from its supporters in the west and receives funding from Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Operations:  Hamas obligates every member to fight Israel; they hide arms in Mosques, murder Arabs who deal with Jews - "collaborators" and carry out bombings, stabbings and shootings.

Selected List of Hamas terror attacks, Feb '89 to Mar '91

Selected Hamas attacks Oct '92 to Dec '92.  Appearance of Iz a-Din al-Kassam Death Squads

Key members of Iz a-Din al-Kassam Hit Squad.  Thumbnail profiles of 21 terrorists.

6 Jan '93:  Iz a-Din al_Kassam broken and its members arrested

The founding of Iz a-Din al-Kassam.  Meetings in prison, caves and the Islamic Seminary of Hebron

Iz a-Din al-Kassam's first attack - shooting at soldiers from a passing car in Oct '92

Two more Iz a-Din al-Kassam attacks on soldiers.  One in Oct  '92 and another in Nov '92.

Iz a-Din al-Kassam's method of operation, gathered in evidence from the gang members after their arrest.


Background
Background Prev  Next   Links   Links  Links  Links   Links

Jerusalem One

Hamas Profile (1993)

Background

HAMAS, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, evolved in the territories during the years 1967-77, inspired by the Brotherhood founded in Egypt in the 1920's.

In 1978, it was registered by Sheikh Ahmad Yasin as a non-profit organization under the name of "al-Mujama". In the first years of its existence, the organization concentrated on winning over people to be observant Muslims, and gained influence and power in educational institutions, universities and mosques.

The organization was founded in its present militant form after the outbreak of the intifada. The outbreak of the intifada and the establishment of "Islamic Jihad" - a rival organization which had broken away from the Muslim Brotherhood and advocated violent struggle - spurred HAMAS, an acronym for the "Islamic Resistance Movement", to begin militant activity.

Under the banner of Islam, the movement began to direct its activities not only against the Israeli authorities in the territories, but also against supporters of Fatah, the mainstream organization of the PLO.


Ideology
Ideology   Prev  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links   Links

Ideology

The ideology of HAMAS combines religious principles and pan-Arab ideas with Palestinian national aspirations. HAMAS sees Palestine as a religious trust (waqf) which should remain under Muslim control for eternity. In the organization's "covenant", published in August 1988, HAMAS wrote that "the liberation of Palestine in its entirety, from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River, is the most lofty of strategic goals." As part of this policy, HAMAS opposes the idea of self-government for the Palestinians, as well as the entire peace process.


Finances
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Finances

In order to finance its social and military activities, HAMAS raises funds from several sources: donations and membership fees, which are collected from members and supporters in the territories, fundraising meetings among its Muslim and Arab supporters both in the Arab world and in the West, and direct financial aid from Arab and Islamic countries, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states.


Operations
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Operations

Motivated by the HAMAS' radical and militant ideology, every member of the organization feels a personal duty to engage in the armed struggle against Israel. Leaflet No. 65 of HAMAS which was distributed in October 1990 called for the murder of Jews and the burning of their property: "Every Jew is a settler and it is our obligation to kill him."

HAMAS' major operations have included gunfire attacks on Israeli civilian and military targets, bombs directed at security forces and IDF installations in the territories, firebombs thrown at Israeli civilian and military vehicles, the murder of suspected collaborators, and the concealment of arms in mosques and the homes of activists.


Selected List of Hamas attacks, Feb '89 to Mar '91
Selected List of Hamas attacks, Feb '89 to Mar '91  Prev  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links    Links

List of Selected HAMAS Operations

February 1989 - Kidnapping and murder of IDF soldier Avi Sasportas.

May 1989 - Kidnapping and murder of IDF soldier Ilan Sa'adon.

December 1990 - Murder of three workers at an aluminum factory in Jaffa (one of the murderers was apprehended and confessed).

March 1991 -A three-man terrorist gang, in whose possession was found a picture of Yasin, landed in Eilat with the intention of carrying out a mass attack.


Hamas attacks Oct 21 '92 to Dec 12 '92
Hamas attacks Oct 21 '92 to Dec 12 '92 Prev  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links   Links

Most Recent HAMAS Attacks

October 21, 1992 - Shots were fired at a military vehicle in Heborn. As a result of the attack, an officer and a soldier were injured. The 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam squad, identified with HAMAS, claimed responsibility for this attack.

October 25, 1992 - Shots were fired at an IDF observation post near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Reserve soldier Shmuel Geresh was killed and another soldier was slightly wounded. The 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam squad claimed responsibility for this attack as well.

November 21, 1992 - A HAMAS car-bomb set to go off in a crowded site in Or Yehuda was averted.

December 7, 1992 - Shots were fired from a moving vehicle at an IDF jeep 300 meters from the Saja'iyya-Nahal Oz junction. Three reserve soldiers werekilled.The 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam squad claimed responsibility for the attack.

December 12, 1992 - Shots were fired from a moving vehicle at an IDF jeep near the southern approaches to Hebron. The driver of the jeep was killed and two other soldiers in the car were injured. HAMAS claimed responsibility for the operation.


Key Members of Iz a-Din al-Kassam
Key Members of Iz a-Din al-Kassam Prev  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links   Links

The Hebron Iz a-Din al Kassam Hit Squads List of Key Members

1.	Haroun Nasser a-Din - A-Din is 23 years old, lives in Hebron and works as a barber. He is a known HAMAS member, and was detained earlier in the intifada for two months due to his involvement in violent disturbances. One of his brothers is known to be a prominant HAMAS operative, and was excl uded from the area in December 1992. Another brother was killed in while participating in a demonstration against the peace process in October 1991. After taking part in the October 25 machine gun attack at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, he had planned on leaving for Jordan claiming that he was leaving to continue his studies.

2.	Soufian Jamjoum - Jamjoum is a resident of Hebron, 22 years old, and is employed as a teacher at the Sharia School of the Islamic Charity Association in Hebron, which employs a number of top-level HAMAS operatives. He has been arrested in the past for participation in violent disturbances and incitement. He took part in the October 21 hit-and-run ambush against an army Renault.

3.	Jamil Abd el Nabi Natshe - Age 30, he works as a driver and has never been arrested in the past. In the course of the intifada, he took part in violent disturbances. He participated in the October 25 attack at the Cave of the Patriarchs.

4.	Ghassan Madbouh - He is 21 years old, lives in Hebron, works as a shoemaker, and has no record of past arrests. He has participated in intifada-related disturbances. He took part in the October 21, machine gun attack on an army Renault.

5.	Riyadh Kamal - Kamal, age 20, of Nablus, is the son of a high-ranking HAMAS member. He is a student and works in a book store. He served as a coordinator between the members of the group.

6.	Khaled Tarda - Age 23, from the Hebron area, no record of past arrests.

7.	Abd el Karim Tarda - Age 22, student, from the Hebron area, no record of past arrests.

8.	Mousa Doudin - Age 21, resides in Dura. He is a student at the Hebron Islamic Seminary and member of the Islamic (pro-HAMAS) faction in the Student Council. No record of prior arrests.

9.	Amjad Shabaneh - Age 19 , living in Hebron and employed as a construction worker, he has no record of prior arrests. He took part in the failed grenade attack on an army truck in Hebron in early November.

10.	Hamid Salhab - Took part in the November grenade attack. From Hebron, he is a 20 year-old construction worker and has no prior record.

11.	Iyad Hamdiyeh - 19 years old, a resident of Jerusalem, he has lived in Hebron and works there as a taxi driver. He has no record of prior arrests.

12.	Khaled Doudin - A 23 year-old construction worker with no prior record.

13.	Abbas Shabaneh - 22 years old, he is a student and dental technician in Gaza. He was wounded in the course of the intifada and has been detained in the past for his HAMAS involvement.

14.	Jihad Awlama - Age 23, from Hebron, studied at the Sharia Institue in Abu-Dis.

15.	Imran Abadin - Detained in the past for his activities in the HAMAS organization. 28 years old, he is from Hebron.

16.	Sheikh Salah Hasib Aruri - He is 27 years old and the head of the Islamic faction in the Student Council of the Hebron Islamic Seminary, where he is studying Islamic theology. He is known to be a HAMAS operative, and has been detained in the past for his HAMAS activities.

17.	Mousa Amro - A known HAMAS operative, Amro is 23 years old and works in construction.

18.	Imad Hassan Ibrahim Akel - He was involved in both the October 21 machine-gun attack against the army Renault, and the October 25 attack at the Cave of the Patriarchs. He is also suspected of involvement in additional attacks. Akel has been sentenced to prison for terrorist offenses, is cons idered armed, and has been wanted by Israeli authorities since August 1991 in connection with the murder of five Palestinians accused by the HAMAS of 'cooperation' with Israel. He is 23 years old and comes from Jebaliya in the Gaza district.

19.	Muhammed Abd el Fatah Douhan - He is wanted in connection with terrorist attacks involving the use of fire-arms, and the beating of a Palestinian. He has been arrested in the past for participation in violent disturbances. He is from Nuseirat near Gaza, and is 21 years old, and works as an u pholsterer.

20.	Ziyad Hamad Hasanat - Served as a liaison for the Hebron group on behalf of the Gaza HAMAS organization, and sheltered Iz a-Din al Kassam fugitives. Age 28, he lives in Nuseirat in the Gaza district.

21.	Sami Hams - Coordinated between the operatives in the Gaza district and Hebron. He is 27 years old, has been detained in the past, and served a prison term for his HAMAS involvement.


6 Jan '93, Iz a-Din broken and members arrested
6 Jan '93, Iz a-Din broken and members arrested  Prev  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links    Links

6 January 1993

The Arrest of the Hebron Iz a-Din al Kassam Hit Squads

During the last three months of 1992, four shooting attacks were carried out against IDF forces in Hebron, in which two soldiers were killed and six wounded, one critically.

The General Security Service has uncovered a terrorist group whose members belong to the 'Military Arm of the HAMAS - Iz a-Din al Kassam Squads. The group was uncovered following the November arrest of Jawad Bahar, a 33 year old HAMAS operative, who is employed as a teacher. Due to his high posi tion in the HAMAS, the investigation of Bahar led the General Securiy Service to a key HAMAS operative who participated in one of the shooting attacks against IDF soldiers. Bahar himself did not participate in the actual attacks. Subsequently, Jawad Bahar was excluded from the area along with ot her HAMAS operatives, and is now in Lebanon.

Twenty-two HAMAS operatives, most from the Hebron area, have been arrested so far in course of the present operation which uncovered the HAMAS hit squads. In addition, a number of fugitives who have recently fled to Hebron from the Gaza district were also involved in the hit squad activities.


The founding of Iz a-Din al-Kassam
The founding of Iz a-Din al-Kassam  Prev  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links   Links

The Founding of the Group -------------------------

The head of this group is Sheikh Salah Aruri, 26 years old, who comes from the village of Arura near Ramallah and is a member of the Student Council of the Islamic Seminary of Hebron. Aruri has been detained in the past for his illegal activities. During his detention in the Ketziot facility, he recruited Abbas Shabaneh (22) of Hebron into the HAMAS. Later, Aruri appointed Shabaneh to act as liaison and coordinator between his operations and the HAMAS members in the Gaza district.

Shabaneh, in turn, recruited Hebron HAMAS member Soufian Jamjoum (22) into the group, and charged him with recruiting additional operatives. Jamjoum then recruited four additional hit squad members from the Hebron area - Mousa Amro (22, construction worker), Haroun Nasser a-Din (23, barber), Ham id Salhab (20, laborer), and Amjad Shabaneh (19, laborer).

The members of the group would meet in mosques or in safe houses which they had rented. In these sessions, they would plan their operations, aimed at carrying out armed attacks against Israeli objectives. Throughout this period, Abbas Shabaneh continued to act as coordinator and messenger betwee n Hebron and Gaza, and held a number of secret meetings with wanted HAMAS operative Ziyad Hassanat of Nuseirat in various Gaza mosques. (It was decided that requests for emergency meetings would be communicated by scrawling the time and venue on the back of a shoe closet in a certain mosque). Sh abaneh smuggled tens of thousands of dollars from the Gaza district into Hebron in order to bankroll the operation.

In September 1992, an armed fugitive from Jebalia (Gaza district), Imad Akel (23), arrived in Hebron. Akel, wanted for a number of serious terrorist attacks in the Gaza district, obtained forged documents and took up residence in a safe-house procured through Sheikh Aruri. Akel was then named "M ilitary Commander" of operations in the Hebron area.

Members of the group trained in the use of firearms in a cave near Hebron, and purchased a car for use in their attacks.


Iz a-Din's first attack - shooting from a car
Iz a-Din's first attack - shooting from a car  Prev  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links   Links

The First Attack - Shooting from a Passing Car

In the beginning of October 1992, the group finalized plans for a machine gun ambush on an Israeli vehicle. The team chose a site for the attack in the city of Hebron, adjacent to the Islamic Seminary, where Israeli vehicles pass on their way to the main road in the area. On the morning of October 21, four hit squad members left for the site in their vehicle, a Peugeot 504. They took up positions for the ambush as planned, and waited for a target. However, the driver, who was waiting for them in the 'get-away' car, was approached by some curious local residents who inquired as to the g roup's actions. As a result, the four gunmen had to change the site and pattern of the operation.

The group started driving in the direction of Dhahariya. They identified a Israeli Army Renault 5 traveling in the opposite direction, towards the city. The hit squad turned around, followed the car, began to overtake it, and opened fire on it with a number of automatic weapons at once (two 7.62 mm AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifles and one 9mm Uzi sub-machine gun were used in the attack.) A woman IDF officer and a soldier were wounded.

Seeing that the Renault had overturned, Imad Akel, the leader of the team, ordered his driver to stop, so that the he could get out, kill the occupants and steal their weapons. The driver, however, did not stop, fearing that they would be caught. He drove back to the city of Hebron, and there th e hit squad dispersed.


Iz a-Din's attacks in Oct and Nov '92
Iz a-Din's attacks in Oct and Nov '92  Prev  Next  Links   Links  Links  Links   Links

More Attacks

After a few days, Akel initiated another attack.  The group chose to execute this asssault against an army position near the Cave of the Patriarchs (Machpela). After observing the site, Akel chose the northern watch-post as the target, because it offered the best escape route.

On October 25, 1992, three members drove to the scene of the planned attack in the group's vehicle, with the license plates covered with cardboard.  They stopped close to the watch-post, and two of the team got out of the car and opened fire on the soldiers standing nearby. Before making their e scape in the waiting car, they left a note which identified them as members of the 'Iz a-Din al Kassam Squads'. In this attack, IDF reservist Shmuel Geresh was killed and another soldier was lightly wounded.

In early November 1992, two of the group's members carried out an additional attack - the throwing of two IDF-issue M-26 fragmentation grenades at an army vehicle in Hebron. The grenades failed to detonate and no damage was caused. One of the grenades was later retrieved by one of the attackers,

 and was hidden in his house. This grenade was subsequently located and recovered in the course of the investigation.


Iz a-Din's method of operation
Iz a-Din's method of operation  Prev  Links   Links  Links  Links   Links

Evidence and Mode of Operation

During the investigation it was learned that some of the hit squad members used to evade capture after the attacks by fleeing the Hebron area to villages in the south or to the area of Nablus in the north. Their escape was aided by accomplices who helped to hide them or transport them to their d estinations.

Akel, the 'Military Commander', told members of the group that he was planning to kidnap one or more soldiers in order to take them hostage and bargain for the release of prisoners. To this end, he asked for their assistance in finding an appropriate large cave in the surrounding hills where he would be able to hide the hostages.

It was also discovered that in recent months, an additional fugitive, Muhammed Douhan, arrived in the Hebron area from Nuseirat (Gaza district).  He also joined the group's operations, assisted in the planning and execution of the attacks, and helped to acquire and transport weapons and munitions.

In the course of the investigation it was found that the group maintained close ties with Sheikh Awaouda of Khirbet Karameh, south of Hebron. Awaouda directed one of his operatives in Dura to provide the group with a safe-house and arms. As a result of his activities in the HAMAS, Sheikh Awaouda

 was temporarily excluded from the area, and is now in Lebanon.

The arrested hit-squad members have turned over the following weapons: - 1 Uzi submachine-gun with 5 loaded magazines - 4 handguns - 1 rifle - 8 fragmentation grenades - 1/2 kilogram gunpowder - Assorted small arms ammunition - Magazine for Galil assault rifle

The investigation, and the search for the remaining members is still under way.

Police forensic laboratory tests show that the Kalashnikovs which have not yet been recovered were also involved in two additional attacks which took place on the 12th and 19th of December. In the attack on the 12th, one soldier, Yuval Totanji, was killed and two others wounded in a machine-gun ambush from a moving car in Hebron. The HAMAS claimed responsibility for the attack.


Links


atg internal links
Hamas Profile - birth of and terror from Iz a-Din al-Kassam's gang

Hizbullah: History, ideology, Southern Lebanon, terrorism


hamas profile links
Background

Ideology

Finances

Operations

Selected List of Hamas attacks, Feb '89 to Mar '91

Hamas attacks Oct 21 '92 to Dec 12 '92

Key Members of Iz a-Din al-Kassam

6 Jan '93, Iz a-Din broken and members arrested

The founding of Iz a-Din al-Kassam

Iz a-Din's first attack - shooting from a car

Iz a-Din's attacks in Oct and Nov '92

Iz a-Din's method of operation


The Arab economic boycott of Israel: History, diplomacy, promises to revoke in exchange for concessions
The Arab economic boycott of Israel: History, diplomacy, promises to revoke in exchange for concessions    Links  Links  Links  Links

Arab boycott subtopic list

Before Israel even declared independence,The Arab League announced an economic boycott of Israel, of Jews worldwide, and of any company that did business with Israel.  Sometimes this was extended to include companies that did business with companies that  did business with Israel, or companies that didn't do business with Israel but which had Jewish officers or directors, or did business with Jews.  History of the Arab boycott of Israel and Jews.

The Arab League set up an office in Damascus that oversaw the boycott.  This office placed companies on the exclusion list,.  Arab governments, state-owned companies, and even privately owned companies would send certificates of compliance with their purchase orders.  Sometimes foreign governments - such as the Foreign Office of "Great" Britain, would certify that such and such a British company did not do business with Israel or with companies that did.  Western compliance with the Arab boycott.

The United States was among the few countries that passed legislation against compliance with the boycott - but this didn't stop America from sending arms or aid to countries which boycotted American companies for obeying American law.  Enforcement was absurdly lax, and penalties - such as $5,000 or $10,000 fines on multibillion dollar companies, a complete joke.  American "enforcement" of anti-boycott legislation.

The Arab boycott of Israel is a violation of the UN Charter and other international law.  The secondary boycott and tertiary boycott were blatant violations of human rights charters and international law.  It goes without saying that no UN resolution was ever passed that condemned the Arab boycott of Jews.  International law.

Throughout the prelude and execution of Gulf War against Saddam(Aug 1990 - Feb 1991) the United States and to a  lesser extent Europe and even the Gulf Arab oil states suggested that  if Israel stayed out of the War, the Arab economic boycott would be at  least  partially removed.  Kuwait naturally led the list of  Arab states making these promises, but the Saudi Prince Bandar in Washington was also issuing them to Jewish groups every few days.   These promises were issued  promiscuously in a desperate, successful bid to prevent Israel f rom retaliating against Saddam's missiles.  Promises during Gulf War.

It goes without  saying that the promises weren't kept.

In the aftermath of the Gulf War,  pressure was being  levied  against Israel to enter the Madrid Peace Conference.  President Bush, Secretary of State Baker and other administration officials promised that if Israel were only flexible on the conference's terms and conditions - meaning placing a ban on Jews from living in Judea and Samaria - and agreeing to negotiate indirectly with the PLO - some Arab states will announce non-compliance with the boycott, and the Arab League will be pressured to weaken the boycott.  Europe made similar noises, although fewer and weaker.  Kuwait made many promises.  Saudi Arabia's promises decline in number.  Promises between Gulf War and Madrid.

It goes without saying...

Between October 1991, when the Madrid Conference rounds of negotiations began and August 1993, when the Rabin government began leaking news of what was then called the "Gaza/Jericho First" deal with the PLO, America constantly "demanded" that the Arabs end their boycott.  They suggested more Israeli concessions would help.  Europe and the Arabs suggested that.  Under pressure from the Senate, Bush and Baker  made speeches saying it's hard to stomach Kuwaiti and Saudi compliance with the boycott - especially against American companies - when these countries wouldn't exist without American intervention.  Promises between Madrid and the Rabin/Arafat Accord.

Needless to say...

As news  of the Rabin/Arafat Accord unfolded in August 1993,  after its signing on September 13, and through October 1993,  the Rabin  government spoke in a messianic tone of a child  of President Bush's New  World Order.  Little New World Order was the New Middle East, in which past animosities have been outgrown.  The Arabs no longer  have a Soviet sponsor in their quest to annihilate the Jews, so now the Lion will lay down with the Lamb.  Israel will integrate into the New Middle East because everybody sees that brotherhood and prosperity beats confrontation and hatred.  In exchange for recognizing the PLO and promising to withdraw from some territories, the Arabs would lift the boycott, or at least weaken it.  At the same time, Rabin gov't officials would cajole and plea with Arab leaders, journalists and intellectuals to please make their dreams come true.  Rabin gov't pleas to Arabs and assurances to Israelis that the boycott would soon  be terminated. .

To help sell these strategic concessions to the Israeli public, Europe and America made repeated calls for the Arabs to lift the boycott, saying it was now obsolete.  Europe's calls were weak, but America's were outspoken.   However, whenever questioned directly, State Department officials opposed making any arms sales, aid, or cooperation agreement with Arab nations conditional upon the country in question opting out of the boycott.   Post Rabin/Arafat Accord:  America and Europe demand the Arab boycott be dissolved.

In the first month or two following the Rabin/Arafat accord, some Arab Gulf states -  Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia -  made ambiguous noises in English about relaxing the boycott.  The Rabin gov't responded hopefully, using the vague noises as reasons to appease Arab demands, calling them "confidence building measures."   Vague Gulf State noises about easing of boycott.

Under pressure from America, the Arab League and the various lesser Arab bodies met several times to consider lifting the boycott.   All Arab states excepting those mentioned above, didn't even bother  making soothing noises.  Most stated  plainly that the boycott would continued.  Syria vehemently objected to lifting or even easing the boycott.  It demanded the boycott be "extended" until the reasons for its imposition are eliminated.  The Arab League did as well, as the the officials in charge of the boycott.  Journalists, diplomats and left-wingers throughout the West, including Israel ignored the statements.  The boycott was imposed long before Israel "occupied" territories in 1967.  Israel's existence is the reason for the boycott.  Worse, the presence of Jews in Israel is the reason for the boycott.  This was inconvenient to address, so the Rabin gov't, the State Department, journalists and other members of the "glitterati" dropped the subject.  As of June, 1994, the boycott is almost never discussed, and on those rare occasions that it  is, the demands/predictions that the Arabs will lift it after just one more concession sounded hollow indeed.

Arabs refuse to lift boycott; call for its continuation

The odd Israeli/Western demand/prediction that the boycott will/should be lifted.


Dummy for link purposes


History of the Arab economic boycott of Israel and Jews
History of the Arab economic boycott of Israel and Jews  Links  Links  Links  Links


Western compliance with the Arab boycott
Western compliance with the Arab boycott  Links  Links  Links  Links


American "enforcement" of anti-boycott legislation
American "enforcement" of anti-boycott legislation  Links  Links  Links  Links


The Arab boycott and International Law
The Arab boycott and International Law  Links  Links  Links  Links


Promises to end Arab boycott during Gulf War against Saddam
Promises to end Arab boycott during Gulf War against Saddam  Links  Links  Links  Links


Promises on Arab boycott between Gulf War and Madrid
Promises on Arab boycott between Gulf War and Madrid  Links  Links  Links  Links


Promises on the Arab boycott between Madrid and the Rabin/Arafat Accord
Promises on the Arab boycott between Madrid and the Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin gov't pleas & assurances the Arabs would lift the boycott
Rabin gov't pleas & assurances the Arabs would lift the boycott  Links  Links  Links  Links

16 Nov 93 Tuesday: Rabin tells Arab Journalists to rescind secondary boycott of Israel  More


Post Rabin/Arafat: America, Europe demand Arabs lift boycott
Post Rabin/Arafat: America, Europe demand Arabs lift boycott  Links  Links  Links  Links

13 Sep 93 Monday  Sec of State Christopher announces $250 million to PLO and America's plan to  host a donor's confererence.   Says Arab boycott must  end Now!  More  Entire Article

1 Oct 93 Friday  Background briefing on Rabin/Arafat Accord in Whitehouse.  "Senior Official" insists on end of boycott now.  Interviewer says that Arabs call boycott a "final status" issue.  Senior Offical rejects this; claims many Arab states agree to end boycott.  More(Extracts from Interview)


13 Sep 94: Christopher demands Arabs end boycott now!
13 Sep 94: Christopher demands Arabs end boycott now!  Links  Links  Links  Links

NEW YORK (UPI) -- Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Monday the United States would contribute $250 million to help Palestinians build roads, purify water and provide sanitation in the occupied territories...

        Following the historic reconciliation between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Christopher called on Arab nations to end their economic boycott of the Jewish state ``now.''...


1 Oct 93: "Senior" American official insists Arab boycott end now
1 Oct 93: "Senior" American official insists Arab boycott end now  Links  Links  Links  Links

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Just to give you perhaps a little bit of perspective about the President and his involvement in this...

             In that regard, he has been urging all of us on since September 13th to take advantage of this momentum and to do whatever we can to get the donors conference organized, to get the private sector initiative organized, and to press the Arabs to be responsive on their boycott or in th eir relations with Israel...

              Q    There seems to be a conflict here about the boycott.  When we asked the question at the State, on the PLO briefing this afternoon and also in the morning about the -- with Secretary Christopher, it seemed that -- Christopher said that was not part of work of the committee, whi ch is fair enough.  But Arab leader of the delegation, I think his name was -- indicated in response to a question from Ralph -- I take it back, nevermind that -- in response to a question -- I don't know whether it was Ralph or somebody else -- that the boycott issue as a last status item, like

 Jerusalem.  When I asked Peres, Foreign Minister Peres out here about it, he seemed to counter that by saying that -- they're saying that the Arab states should cooperate with Israel.  So where do we stand on it?  And the President didn't seem to be happy about it either.

             SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  The President is not happy about it .  The President, the Vice President this morning at the donors conference, the Secretary of State last week at Columbia University, made very clear the United States position that it is time to end the boycott, pe riod.  And Israel has taken a dramatic move towards the PLO.  The Arab states have continuously pressed upon us that this was a move that Israel would have to do in order for them to respond.  Now they've -- Israel has done it, and it requires an Arab response.  That is the message that we are s aying publicly and that is the message that has been conveyed privately, in private meetings as well.

             And on the other hand, as the President, I think, was trying to suggest out on the lawn, there are some indications that there is a softening in their position and that they are considering, and some of you would have heard Prince -- the Saudi Foreign Minister say that, in public, t hat they're looking at what they can do in that regard.

             So we will continue to press it.  We will continue to make clear that that is our expectation, to emphasize that this doesn't make any sense anymore, that this anachronistic, that when Israel and the Palestinians are talking about joint economic development, and when Israel and Jord an are talking about joint economic projects, that it doesn't make any sense to maintain the Arab boycott.

             SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I want to add one point to that.  It may well be that there are some in the Arab world that want to treat it as an issue that is dealt with only later.  But our clear sense from the discussions we have had is that there is not homogeneity on this pos ition and that you may well find a range of a different opinion among some of the Arab states.  And we're going to continue to press for this, as my colleague said, because we think it's so important; but also because it's not just anachronistic, it punishes Palestinians.  It is counter-intuitiv e and it's not logical. And if it punishes Palestinians, it's obviously not consistent with trying to promote their well-being at a time when that may be the key to really building the peace constituencies.


Vague Gulf State noises about easing of boycott
Vague Gulf State noises about easing of boycott  Links  Links  Links  Links


Arab refusals to lift boycott; calls for its continuation
Arab refusals to lift boycott; calls for its continuation   Links  Links  Links  Links

Aug 93  The secretary-general of the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council said last month it was premature to speak about removing the boycott because full peace with Israel had not yet been reached.(UPI)

30 Sep 93 Thursday  Bahrain says reasons Arab boycott imposed still exist, so boycott of Israel will continue.  More

30 Sep 93 Thursday   Arab League says boycott will continue until Israel withdraws from all "Arab"  lands occupied in 1967.  Adds boycott will stay until there is a "just and overwhelming" peace in the region.  The phrase is a long-standing codeword for the eradication of the Jewish state.  More

2 Oct 93 Saturday  Jordanian Prince Hassan who held an unprecedented meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Washington said on Saturday removing the boycott would be "economic suicide" for Arabs.(UPI)

.

3 Oct 93 Sunday  Arab Boycott Office calls 24 Oct 93 meeting to add firms to blacklist for trading with Israel.  Syria demands intensification of boycott until Israel withdraws from "all" Arab lands.  "All," of course, means all of Israel.  More


30 Sep 93: Bahrain says that reasons boycott propagated still exist
30 Sep 93: Bahrain says that reasons boycott propagated still exist  Links  Links  Links  Links

MANAMA, Sept 30 (Reuter) - The reasons that prompted an Arab boycott of Israel were still valid, Bahrain's Commerce and Agriculture Minister Habib Kassem was quoted on Thursday as saying.

     "The basis on which the boycott (of Israel) was built upon still exist," Bahrain's daily al-Ayam quoted Kassem as saying.

     Kassem did not elaborate, but said Bahrain was "waiting for a united Arab position on the issue of the boycott of Israel."

     Sheikh Fahim Bin Sultan al-Qassimi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had said earlier this week that the time was not ripe to end the Arab boycott of Israel.

     He said normal ties with Israel, including an end of the boycott, would only be possible after the Jewish state withdrew from all occupied Arab lands, including Jerusalem.

     The United States and Israel have been pushing for an end to the economic boycott following the signing of a peace accord between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel on September 13.

  REUTER


30 Sep 93: Arab League says boycott will continue until a "just and overwhelming" peace
30 Sep 93: Arab League says boycott will continue until a "just and overwhelming" peace  Links  Links  Links  Links

BEIRUT (UPI) -- The Arab League said Thursday the Arab boycott of Israel will remain in place until Israel completes its withdrawal from all territories it occupied in the 1967 war, the Syrian news agency SANA reported.

   SANA, in a dispatch monitored in Beirut, quoted a source of the Cairo-based Arab League as saying the Arab boycott of Israel will be lifted only after the complete Israeli troop pullout and the achievement of what it called a "just and overwhelming" peace.

   The source said any discussion of the boycott remained premature because no tangible progress has been made in the Middle East peace talks, despite the recent agreement of principles reached between the Palestinians and Israel.    The Arab League source said the main Arab boycott office in Damascus and its regional bureaus were "carrying out their mission perfectly in following up the activities of companies and institutions to make sure that they do not violate the boycott."

   The United States has been pressing Arab countries to lift their embargo on Israel, particularly since the  Palestinian-Israeli peace accord was signed Sept. 13, arguing that such a move would further boost peace chances in the region.


3 Oct 93: Arab Boycott Office and Syria call meeting to intensify boycott
3 Oct 93: Arab Boycott Office and Syria call meeting to intensify boycott  Links  Links  Links  Links

By Issam Hamza

    DAMASCUS, Oct 3 (Reuter) - Arab officials will meet in Damascus this month and discuss blacklisting more companies doing business with Israel in spite of U.S. pressure to end the boycott.

     "Invitations had been sent to all Arab states to attend the 67th meeting in October 24 in Damascus," a spokesman for the Arab Boycott Office, which is based in the Syrian capital, told Reuters.

     "The meeting would discuss cases of companies that should be boycotted, companies to be removed from the boycott list and other issues related to the operations of the boycott offices," he said. He did not name any companies.

     The United States has stepped up pressure for an end to the 40-year-old boycott since Israel signed a self-rule accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization last month.

     Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, in a U.S. television interview reported by the English-language Syria Times on Sunday, said the boycott should last until Israel withdrew from all Arab lands.

     "No one can expect to pluck the fruits of peace while peace itself is still absent," Assad said.

     Jordanian Prince Hassan who held an unprecedented meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Washington said on Saturday removing the boycott would be "economic suicide" for Arabs.

     The secretary-general of the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council said last month it was premature to speak about removing the boycott because full peace with Israel had not yet been reached.

  REUTER


Spring '94 forward: Rare calls by Israel/West for lifting of boycott
Spring '94 forward: Rare calls by Israel/West for lifting of boycott  Links  Links  Links  Links


link master


boycott internal links
The Arab economic boycott of Israel: History, diplomacy, promises to revoke in exchange for concessions

History of the Arab economic boycott of Israel and Jews

Western compliance with the Arab boycott

American "enforcement" of anti-boycott legislation

The Arab boycott and International Law

Promises to end Arab boycott during Gulf War against Saddam

Promises on Arab boycott between Gulf War and Madrid

Promises on the Arab boycott between Madrid and the Rabin/Arafat Accord

Rabin gov't pleas to Arabs and assurances to Israelis that the boycott would soon end

Post Rabin/Arafat: America, Europe demand Arabs lift boycott

Vague Gulf State Noises about lifting boycott

Arab refusals to lift boycott; calls for its continuation

Spring '94 forward: Rare calls by Israel/West for lifting of boycott


Children as Victims:  The PLO's use of children in its war against the Jews
Children as Victims:  The PLO's use of children in its war against the Jews Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Children and Terrorism

Hatikvah Informational Series

The exploitation of children by the organizers of the rioting in the West Bank and Gaza amounts to a form of child abuse that in other circumstances would be condemned as scandal. Children often as young as seven years old are increasingly used to form the first line of offence. In many societies, parents who actively encouraged this would be prosecuted and have their children taken into care; unfortunately it appears not only to be acceptable but a matter of pride for many West Bank and Gazan families. International law forbids the use of civilians as shields in order to render an area immune from military operations (Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva convention of 1949) and subsequent laws governing armed conflict have specified the need to protect the weaker members of a society such as the old, the sick and children. Any government or organization which encourages such groups to participate, or to be used as a form of defence, are held responsible for any resultant injuries or deaths. lt is thus the leadership of the intifada, including the PLO, which must take the blame for the suffering of the young participants in the riots, and not the soldiers of the Israel Defence Forces who are obliged by international law to maintain law and order and to defend themselves against attack.

It is not the policy of the IDF to inflict injuries. There are strict rules about the use of ammunition and physical force. Where these rules are violated the incidents are always investigated and where a case is proved against a soldier he is punish by the authorities.

Meanwhile children who cannot know the political implications of the words they are told to chant, and the violence they are instructed to practice, are treated as heroes by the adults at home and by the PLO abroad. The Economic and Social Council for the United Nations has recently adopted a d raft convention on the rights of the child. Article 38 of the convention says:

"States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years, do not take a direct part in hostilities."


Extract double standard
The exploitation of children by the organizers of the rioting in the West Bank and Gaza amounts to a form of child abuse that in other circumstances would be condemned as scandal. Children often as young as seven years old are increasingly used to form the first line of offence.


Extract that intl law forbids civilians as shields
International law forbids the use of civilians as shields in order to render an area immune from military operations (Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva convention of 1949) and subsequent laws governing armed conflict have specified the need to protect the weaker members of a society such as the old, the sick and children.


Article 38 of Economic and Social Council for UN
The Economic and Social Council for the United Nations has recently adopted a draft convention on the rights of the child. Article 38 of the convention says:

"States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years, do not take a direct part in hostilities."


Children as Victims, Part ll
Children as Victims, Part ll  Prev  Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

The PLO, which according to its own claims, directs the rioting in the West Bank and Gaza, has been doing the opposite, it has been encouraging the exploitation of the children.

Writing in The Journal of Palestine Studies, (financed partly by the Institute for Palestine Study and Kuwait University) in Spring 1988, Daoud Kuttab a pro-PLO journalist describes in detail the role that young children have been expected to play in the violence. His article, "A Profile of t he Stone Throwers" describes how teachers and other leaders of the disturbances assign tasks to the children:

* 7-10 years old - set tires on fire in the middle of the road to block traffic. * 11-14 years old - place large stones in the middle of the road to block traffic. * 15-19 years old - throw large rocks. activities, aimed at by-passing the curfew.

Young people over 19, Kuttab explains, take key positions in order to lead teams of younger children. "They are in contact with observers on the hillsides and on high houses and they help determine which cars are to be attacked and which are to be let go. They stand at an elevated point and dir ect the stone throwers as to when and how far to retreat when the soldiers advance. They decide on the moment of a countercharge which is carried out with loud screams and a shower of stones.

Proof of this overall policy is to be found every day of the week in the activities of the children of the intifada, on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza. A leaflet distributed by PLO activists in the territories during the early weeks of 1989 said: Every child must carry a stone and throw it at the occupier. The Molotov Cocktail heroes of all ages must burn a fire in the face of the enemy and fight him face-to-face:

The organizers of the intifada are not of course the first to use children as the front line of attack. It was one of the scandals of the Iraq/Iran War with the Ayatollah's boy soldiers being among the many thousands of casualties. The "RPG" kids, those who could barely carry the rocket-propell ed grenades of their nick-name, were a shocking feature of the war in Lebanon. And, in the extremist Arab tradition of honor killing, it is frequently the youngest male over 14 who is required to kill the female of his family whose honor is said to have been compromised.

The policy of using children to lead the rioting in the territories has resulted in loss of life and a legacy of injury. In the job of restoring law and order, attempting to contain violent demonstrations, and defending themselves, Israeli soldiers have found it impossible to distinguish youths and adults in the kind of chaotic, confused scene, which is always the context of a riot. 74 children under 16 have been killed between 10th December 1987 and 27th July 1989. This is an unacceptable figure for the Israeli Defence Forces, which are consistently seeking alternative methods to the use of rubber and plastic bullets for riot control.

But while parents either refuse or are unable to keep their children off the street, and while teachers encourage them to participate, the casualties will continue to increase. A report in the Jerusalem Post for June 10, 1988 said:

"Yesterday marked six months since the beginning of the intifada, and its leaders called a general strike that included elementary and high schools throughout the West Bank. Most of the demonstrations were organized by pupils."


Quote: Every child must throw Molotov Cocktails
Every child must carry a stone...

A leaflet distributed by PLO activists in the territories during the early weeks of 1989 said,  "Every child must carry a stone and throw it at the occupier. The Molotov Cocktail heroes of all ages must burn a fire in the face of the enemy and fight him face-to-face."


Kuttab brags about role assigned children
Writing in "The Journal of Palestine Studies,"... in Spring 1988, Daoud Kuttab a pro-PLO journalist describes in detail the role that young children have been expected to play in the violence. His article, "A Profile of t he Stone Throwers" describes...

* 7-10 years old - set tires on fire in the middle of the road to block traffic. * 11-14 years old - place large stones in the middle of the road to block traffic. * 15-19 years old - throw large rocks. activities, aimed at by-passing the curfew.


More Kuttab - children act as spotters
Young people over 19, Kuttab explains, take key positions in order to lead teams of younger children. "They are in contact with observers on the hillsides and on high houses and they help determine which cars are to be attacked and which are to be let go. They stand at an elevated point and direct the stone throwers as to when and how far to retreat when the soldiers advance. They decide on the moment of a countercharge which is carried out with loud screams and a shower of stones.


Children as Victims, Part lll
Children as Victims, Part lll  Prev  Links  Links  Links  Links

One of the most unfortunate features of the long period of violent demonstrations has been the effect on education. Through- out Israel schools have been used as centers for organizing and launching demonstrations. Television viewers have seen for themselves how teachers breed hatred for Israel among very young children by making them repeat violent slogans over and over again. The TV documentary, Voices from Gaza, screened June 26, 1989, devoted a long sequence to this politicization of school children. Extremists have entered schools and have herded chil dren on to the streets to pa rticipate in rioting.

There is always the danger that this instruction in hatred can lead to extremist acts such as the recent destruction of an Israeli bus, an act that resulted in the deaths of many people. This situation would be unacceptable in any democratic country and the Israelis have been compelled to close schools down until calm has been restored. They have always been reopened when it seemed safe to do so, often resulting in renewed use of school premises for the organization of violent demonstrations and the manipulation of the pupils, for political ends.  In this event, a school would again be closed, usually for a longer period. Pupils have been given evidence to western journalists of teachers instructing them to join in rioting. For instance, an article in the International Herald Tribune, May 8, 1989, quotes a 14 year old militant girl called Jamalat Abu Lulu, "She draws inspiration from a teacher at school who talks to his students about the Moslem religion and from the Islamic Resistance Movement, a fundamentalist organization that is promoting the uprising with particular vigour."

Not all schools have been involved in insurrectionist activity, vocational schools and the Israeli government-run schools in Gaza have not been affected. It is usually the Palestinian and UN-run schools where provocation has taken place. On July 22 1989. the Israel Administration again re-opene d the schools in yet another effort to maintain normal life.

The PLO and the extremist leaders have made it clear that they are fully prepared to go on using children to lead the violent demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza. Parents and teachers have not only forsaken their role of protectors of the young, but are actively encouraging children to pla ce themselves in danger.	.

* A leaflet from the united Leadership of the Uprising (No. 42) issued threats against head-teachers if they complied with the requirement of the Israeli authorities and discouraged their pupils from participating in violent demonstrations.

* In a statement on July 28, 1989, Yasser Arafat's political adviser Bassam Abu Sharif said, "The moment will come when every Palestinian child takes a knife and kills an Israeli."

* It has also been reported that the Palestine Liberation Organization held a one month course in military training for 1000 children. The United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Ittihad said on July 27th that the children will come from Arab states and for the first time will include 100 from Egypt. The paper quoted PLO sources who said the course will take place at Al Yarmouk Camp in the South Yemen capital.

The exploitation of Palestinian children by their elders presents the prospect of yet more unnecessary deaths and injuries.


Voices from Gaza - TV shows teachers breeding hatred
Television viewers have seen for themselves how teachers breed hatred for Israel among very young children by making them repeat violent slogans over and over again. The TV documentary, Voices from Gaza, screened June 26, 1989, devoted a long sequence to this politicization of school children. E xtremists have entered schools and have herded children on to the streets to participate in rioting.


bullet list - threats to teachers, quote, training camp
·	 A leaflet from the united Leadership of the Uprising (No. 42) issued threats against head-teachers if they complied with the requirement of the Israeli authorities and discouraged their pupils from participating in violent demonstrations.

·	 In a statement on July 28, 1989, Yasser Arafat's political adviser Bassam Abu Sharif said, "The moment will come when every Palestinian child takes a knife and kills an Israeli."

·	 It has also been reported that the Palestine Liberation Organization held a one month course in military training for 1000 children. The United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Ittihad said on July 27th that the children will come from Arab states and for the first time will include 100 from Egypt. The paper quoted PLO sources who said the course will take place at Al Yarmouk Camp in the South Yemen capital.


Dhimmi: The degradation and humiliation of Jews in Islam
Dhimmi: The degradation and humiliation of Jews in Islam    List  References   Links   Links   Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Dhimis Under Moslem Regimes

HATIKVAH INFORMATIONAL SERIES

Dhimma is Arabic for the relation between the protector and the protected (dhimmi). In the Muslim state it fixes the legal status of the Ahl al-kitab ("People of the Book"), Jews and Christians, who agree to live under its protection. It means a mutual obligation, the main undertakings being the following: The Muslim government obliges itself to protect the life and the property of the non-Muslims (dhimmis), exempts them from military service, and guarantees them religious freedom, although with certain restrictions. The dhimmis, on their part, are obliged to pay the poll tax (jizya), not to insult Islam, not to convert Muslims to their religions, not to build new churches or synagogues, and not to betray the Muslim government by conspiring with the enemy. e.g., hiding its spies. They undertake to render the Muslim army certain auxiliary services, such as building bridges and serving as guides, and, finally, to distinguish themselves by distinctive dress.

The Moslem government granted the non-Muslims judicial autonomy as far as cases of civil and family law were concerned, whereas in lawsuits involving Muslims they had to appear before Muslim courts where they were considered second-class citizens.  Their legal status was decidedly inferior, since their testimony was not accepted, the bloodwite to pay for a non-Muslim was smaller than for a Muslim, and the dhimmis were forbidden to marry a Muslim woman or keep a Muslim slave. These relations were in later times fixed in what was called the Covenant of Omar -- containing various regulations considered necessary by the military government of the Muslim conquerors in the first period of their rule, and later legal restrictions. All implied the inferiority of the civil rights of Jews and Christians.

In the course of time the implementation of these regulations or ordinances varied very much in the ever growing Muslim empire, which soon broke up into many states, subject to different regimes. However, it is possible to discern some main lines of its development. Under the immediate successors of Muhammad and the Umayyad caliphs, the Muslim government adopted a very tolerant attitude toward the non-Muslims, then the overwhelming majority of the old residents. From the tenth century (later Abbasid period) and especially from the end of the 12th century, the situation of the dhimmis deteriorated progressively in many parts of the Muslim world, owing to the growing hatred between Muslim and Christian, which was a result of the political antagonism between Crusaders and Reconquistadores on one hand and champions of the Muslim countercrusade on the other. Furthermore, it appears that some regulations fell into abeyance, such as those obliging the dhimmi, to render auxiliary services to the Muslim armies and the prohibition against buying prisoners of war, whereas others were more systematically enforced. The guarantee of religious freedom, undoubtedly the basic condition of the status of the dhimmi, was in the main kept, as far as the Jews are concerned. Idris 1, the Alid prince who at the end of the eighth century founded an independent kingdom in Morocco, is reported to have converted the Jews and Christians forcibly. This story may be exaggerated, but the forced conversion of the Jews by the Almohads is a notorious fact. From the time their conquests began in 1146, the Jews in Morocco and what is now Algeria could not openly observe Judaism, and those living in Tunisia and Libya were subject to fiscal pressure and other discrimination. Hatred of Jews was especially strong in countries where the Shi`a were prevalent. At the end of the 12th century the Shi`ites of Yemen compelled the Jews to embrace Islam, and in 1653-66 most Jewish communities in Persia were forcibly converted. In 1839 the Jews of Meshed were compelled to apostatize.

The regulations concerning the distinctive signs (ghiyar) to distinguish the non-Muslims from the believers are to be considered the most characteristic legal disability. The Caliph al-Mutawakkil was the first to decree, in 850, that non-Muslims wear yellow headgear, and later he ordered that they wear yellow badges on their garments. At the end of the ninth century other distinctive signs, such as designs of monkeys or pigs, were introduced in Tunisia. In addition the non-Muslims had to distinguish themselves by a coarse girdle (zunnár). This girdle is mentioned in Arabic sources fro m Muslim Spain as the distinctive sign of the non-Muslims. The Fatimid caliph al-Hakim decreed in 1004 that the hats of Jews and Christians in Egypt, and later their overcoats also, were to be black, Furthermore, he ordered that the Jews wear calf-heads around their necks. The Almohads compelle d the Jews, although they had been (forcibly) converted to Islam, to wear blue garments and ugly veils; later this was changed to yellow cloaks and turbans, In 1301 the Mamluks decreed that the Jews wear yellow turbans, the Christians blue ones, and the Samaritans red ones. So the yellow color once distinguishing all the dhimmis became the distinctive sign of Jews only. Murad II (1421-15) ordered the Jews of Turkey to wear yellow turbans, but Murad III (1574-95) ordered them to wear instead a strange, long, pointed cap. When the Turks conquered Yemen, they decreed that the Jews wear black clothes, and at the beginning of the 19th century they were forbidden to wear good or new cloth. In Persia they were ordered, in 1622, to wear turbans of felt. The Jews of Morocco had to dress themselves, from the 17th century at least, in black apparel and to wear black shoes or even to walk bare footed. Discriminatory restrictions on riding were also a serious handicap. Whereas the decrees of the Caliphs forbade non- Muslims to ride on horses and ordered them to use packsaddles, Sal-i-Din forbade them the use of mules as well. The Mamlukes even denied them the right to ride on asses, and later they did not allow them to ride asses at all within the precincts of the towns. Many travelogues of the 15th century bear witness to this fact. In Yemen the Jews were denied the right of riding altogether and had to travel on foot.

The prohibition against building new synagogues restricted the freedom of worship, especially as any repair could be interpreted as an enlargement of the building, i.e., construction of a new synagogue. The chronicles of the Mamluk's rule in Egypt and Syria contain various accounts of the closing of synagogues, their transformation into mosques' etc. Even in Turkey the Jews encountered great difficulties in founding new synagogues. They had to establish them on the ground floors of dwelling houses or even in underground rooms. In this respect the situation of the Jews was worse than t hat of the Christians who, in certain provinces of the Muslim states, represented the majority of the population and in addition could rely on the intervention of Christian powers.

The Muslim law forbidding the employment of non-believers in government administration was never systematically enforced. But as the zealots demanded that it be done, Jewish and Christian officials were time and again dismissed, and not a few embraced Islam in order to avoid harassment. There w ere also other discriminations, which embittered the life of the Jews, some of them not mentioned at all in the Covenant of Omar. In various Muslim countries and in different periods, Jewish merchants had to pay double custom duties for their merchandise. In Yemen they were forbidden to engage i n money transactions. As Jews tended to deal in wine selling, the Muslim zealots often attacked their quarters and poured the wine into the streets, or imposed special taxes for wine drinking on them (Ashtor, vol. 1. 68, 321; vol. 2, pp. 67, 31 1ff,). Sometimes the Muslim fanatics took away Jewish orphans and brought them up as Muslims, These discriminations were imposed on all the Jews, but in many countries the high ranking government officials and physicians were exempted.  Further, the Khaybarites should be mentioned, namely Jews claiming to be the descendants of those Jews who lived in the oasis of Khaybar in Muhammad's time. They produced fictitious privileges allegedly given them by Muhammad to be exempted from the legal disabilities.

The legal inferiority of the Jews in Muslim countries lasted until the 19th century and even later. They attained equal rights in Turkey in 1840 and in Morocco in 1864, after the visit of Moses Montefiore (although the Zahir edict of emancipation was not implemented). In Yemen the restrictions of the Covenant of Omar were enforced until 1948.


Dhimmi: References
Dhimmi: References  Article  List    Links   Links   Links  Links

WORKS CITED: Rosanes, Togarmah, 1 (1930), 17, 91, 104f., 132;2, (1938), 55-56, 135, 228; 3(1938), 10f., 148, 313;

A. S. Tritton, The Caliphs and their Non-Muslim Subjects (1930); 1. Lichtenstadter, in: HJ, 5 (1943), 35-52;

W. J . Fischel, in: Zion, 2 (1937), 273-93; Ashtor, Toledot, 1 (1944), 70, 235, 321; 2 (1951), 66-67, 71, 73, 77, 159, 298ff., 311ff.; idem, in: KS, 31 (1955/56), 202; E.

Strauss (Ashtor), in: Etudes orientales a la memoire de Paul Hirschler (1950), 73-94; A. Fattal, Le statut legal des non-musulmans en pays d'Islam (1958);

Hirschberg, Afrikah, 1 (1965), 67-68, 291; 2 (1965), 224-5, 232, 234, 237; Baron, Social, index.


Dhimmi:  List of disabilities and humiliations
Dhimmi:  List of disabilities and humiliations  Article  References   Links   Links   Links  Links

A few of the many  humiliaitons suffered by Jews and to a lesser extent Christians under dhimmia.

·	Pay a hefty, punitive poll tax  (jizya)

·	Prohibited from "insulting" Islam

·	Prohibited from converting Moslems to their religion.

·	Forbidden to build new synagogues or churches.

·	In some places above was interpreted to forbid even repairs.

·	Prohibited from having Moslem employees.

·	Forbidden to marry Moslem women.

·	Forced to tender "auxiliary services" to Moslem armies, e.g. slave labor.

·	Forced to wear "distinctive" clothing.  The badges of humiliation varied greatly according to time and place.

·	Testimony of dhimmi not accepted in court against Moslems.

·	Prohibited from riding horses.

·	In some places, above expanded to include asses.

·	Even mules and camels in some places, e.g., Jews ordered to walk.

·	At some times in Morocco, Jews forbidden to wear shoes.

Varieties of distinctive dress.  A very small sampler:

·	In 850 the Caliph forced Jews to wear yellow headgear and badges.  It is from this that Christian Europe learned to force Jews into humiliating dress.

·	In North Africa Moslems forced Jews to wear designs of monkeys or pigs.

·	coarse girdles.

·	Caliph al-Hakim (1004) forced Jews to wear claf-heads around their necks.

·	Al Mohads ordered Jews to wear blue garments and ugly veils.

·	Later this was changed to yellow cloaks and turbans.

·	In supposedly tolerant Turkey, Murad lll forced Jews to wear a strange long pointed cap.

How long did this nonsense last?

·	The first Moslem country to revoke dhimmia was Turkey in 1840.

·	The next was Morocco in 1864, but by then it was all but ruled by Spain and France.

·	The last country was Yemen, which kept the charming laws until 1948.


Geneva Convention
Geneva Convention  Links  Links  Links  Links

The United Nations, State Department, European Community, Arab League and other international organizations often cite the Geneva Convention of 1949 when claiming various Israeli actions are illegal.  In this they are usually joined by apologists for the Arabs, journalists and even Israeli leftists.

The convention is cited as proof that Israeli occupation of Judea and Samaria is illegal, as is expelling terrorists - terrorists who openly and proudly proclaim that eradicating the Jews is their objective.  They claim the convention prohibits Jews from living in Judea and Samaria.

See for yourself.

Text of the Convention.    Sections

Articles used to bash Israel, ignored because they do just the opposite or place the quoted fragments in (inconvenient) context.  Commentary on whether the Convention applies to the "West Bank" and Gaza, and whether Israel's actions - deportations, settlements, etc. - indeed violate the articles quoted.


Contents of Geneva Convention
Contents of Geneva Convention  Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

U.N.T.S. No. 973, vol. 75, p. 287

CONVENTION (IV) RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN PERSONS IN TIME OF WAR

Signed at Geneva, 12 August 1949

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Articles

PART I

General Provisions

Respect for the Convention	1

Application of the Convention	2

Conflicts not of an international character	3

Definition of protected persons	4

Derogations	5

Beginning and end of application	6

Special agreements	7

Non-renunciation of rights	8

Protecting Powers	9

Activities of the International Committee

of the Red Cross	10

Substitutes for Protecting Powers	11

Conciliation procedure	12

PART II

General Protection of Populations against certain consequences of war

Field of application of Part II	13

Hospital and safety zones and localities	14

Neutralized zones	15

Wounded and sick:	16

I.	General protection

II.	Evacuation	17

III.	Protection of hospitals	18

IV.	Discontinuance of protection of hospitals	19

V.	Hospital staff	20

VI.	Land and sea transport	21

VII.	Air transport	22

Consignments of medical supplies, food and clothing 23

Measures relating to child welfare	24

Family news	25

Dispersed families	26

PART III

Status and Treatment of Protected Persons

Section I. Provisions common to the Territories of the Parties to the

Conflict and to Occupied Territories

Treatment:	27

I.	General observations

II.	Danger zones	28

III.	Responsibilities	29

Applications to Protecting Powers and

relief organizations	30

Prohibition of coercion	31

Prohibition of corporal punishment, torture, etc.  Individual responsibility, collective penalties 	pillage, reprisals	33

Hostages	34

Section II. Aliens in the Territory of a Party to the Conflict

Right to leave the territory	35

Method of repatriation	36

Persons in confinement	37

Non-repatriated persons:	38

I.	General observations

II.	Means of existence	39

III.	Employment	40

IV.	Assigned residence. Internment	41

V.	Grounds for internment or assigned residence.

Voluntary internment	42

VI.	Procedure	43

VII.	Refugees	44

VIII.Transfer to another Power	45

Cancellation of restrictive measures	46

Section III. Occupied Territories

Inviolability of rights	47

Special cases of repatriation	48

Deportations, transfers, evacuations	49

Children	50

Enlistment. Labour	51

Protection of workers	52

Prohibited destruction	53

Judges and public officials	54

Food and medical supplies for the population	55

Hygiene and public health	56

Requisition of hospitals	57

Spiritual assistance	58

Relief:	59

I.	Collective relief

II.	Responsibilities of the Occupying Power	60

III.	Distribution	61

IV.	Individual relief	62

National Red Cross and other relief societies	63

Penal legislation:	64

I.	General observations

II.	Publication	65

III.	Competent courts	66

IV.	Applicable provisions	67

V.	Penalties. Death penalty	68

VI.	Deduction from sentence of period

spent under arrest	69

VII.Offences committed before occupation	70

Penal procedure:	71

I.	General observations

II.Right of defence	72

III.Right of appeal	73

IV.Assistance by the Protecting Power	74

V.Death sentence	75

Treatment of detainees	76

Handing over of detainees at the close of

occupation	77

Security measures. Internment and assigned

residence. Right of appeal	78

Section IV. Regulations for the Treatment of Internees Chapter I. General provisions

Cases of internment and applicable provisions	79

Civil capacity	80

Maintenance	81

Grouping of internees	82

Chapter II. Places of internment

Location of places of internment. Marking of camps 83

Separate internment	84

Accommodation, hygiene	85

Premises for religious services	86

Canteens	87

Air raid shelters. Protective measures	88

Chapter III. Food and clothing

Food	89

Clothing	90

Chapter IV. Hygiene and medical attention

Medical attention	91

Medical inspections	92

Chapter V. Religious, intellectual and physical activities

Religious duties	93

Recreation, study, sports and games	94

Working conditions	95

Labour detachments	96

Chapter VI. Personal property and financial resources

Valuables and personal effects	97

Financial resources and individual accounts	98

Chapter VII. Administration and discipline Camp administration. Posting of the

Convention and of orders	99

General discipline	100

Complaints and petitions	101

Internee committees:	102

I.	Election of members

II.	Duties	103

III.	Prerogatives	104

Chapter VIII. Relations with the exterior Notification of measure taken

Internment card	106

Correspondence	107

Relief shipments:	108

I.	General principles	108

II.	Collective relief	109

III.	Exemption from postal and transport charges 110

Special means of transport	111

Censorship and examination	112

Execution and transmission of legal documents	113

Management of property	114

Facilities for preparation and conduct of cases	115

Visits	116

Chapter IX. Penal and disciplinary sanctions

General provisions. Applicable legislation	117

Penalties	118

Disciplinary punishments	119

Escapes	120

Connected offences	121

Investigations. Confinement awaiting hearing	122

Competent authorities. Procedure	123

Premises for disciplinary punishments	124

Essential safeguards	125

Provisions applicable to judicial proceedings	126

Chapter X. Transfers of internees

Conditions	127

Method	128

Chapter XI. Deaths

Wills. Death certificates	129

Burial. Cremation	130

Internees killed or injured in special

circumstances	131

Chapter XII. Release, repatriation and accommodation in Neutral Countries

During hostilities or occupation	132

After the close of hostilities	133

Repatriation and return to last place of

residence	134

Costs	135

Section V. Information Bureaux and Central Agency

National Bureaux	136

Transmission of information	137

Particulars required	138

Forwarding of personal valuables	139

Central Agency	140

Exemption from charges	141

PART IV

Execution of the Convention

Section 1. General Provisions

Relief societies and other organizations	142

Supervision	143

Dissemination of the Convention	144

Translations. Rules of application	145

Penal sanctions:	146

I.	General observations

II.	Grave breaches	147

III.	Responsibilities of the Contracting

Parties	148

Enquiry procedure	149

Section II. Final Provisions

Languages	150

Signature	151

Ratification	152

Coming into force	153

Relation with The Hague Conventions	154

Accession	155

Notification of accessions	156

Immediate effect	157

Denunciation	158

Registration with the United Nations	159

Annex I

Draft Agreement relating to Hospital and Safety Zones and Localities

Annex II

Draft Regulations concerning Collective Relief

Annex III

Internment Card Letter

Correspondence Card


General Provisions
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The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of the Governments represented at the Diplomatic Conference held at Geneva from 21 April to 12 August 1949, for the purpose of establishing a Convention for the Protection of Civilians in Time of War, have agreed as follows:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.

Art. 2. In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peace-time, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.

The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.

Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the present Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in their mutual relations. They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies the provisions thereof.

Art. 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

(1)	Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on rac e, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.

To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:

(a)	violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

(b)	taking of hostages;

(c)	outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;

(d)	the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

(2)	The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.

The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.

The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 4. Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals.

Nationals of a State which is not bound by the Convention are not protected by it. Nationals of a neutral State who find themselves in the territory of a belligerent State, and nationals of a co-belligerent State, shall not be regarded as protected persons while the State of which they are natio nals has normal diplomatic representation in the State in whose hands they are.

The provisions of Part II are, however, wider in application, as defined in Article 13.

Persons protected by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949, or by the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of 12 August 1949, or by the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949, shall not be considered as protected persons within the meaning of the present Convention.

Art. 5 Where in the territory of a Party to the conflict, the latter is satisfied that an individual protected person is definitely suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State, such individual person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under t he present Convention as would, if exercised in the favour of such individual person, be prejudicial to the security of such State.

Where in occupied territory an individual protected person is detained as a spy or saboteur, or as a person under definite suspicion of activity hostile to the security of the Occupying Power, such person shall, in those cases where absolute military security so requires, be regarded as having f orfeited rights of communication under the present Convention.

In each case, such persons shall nevertheless be treated with humanity and, in case of trial, shall not be deprived of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed by the present Convention. They shall also be granted the full rights and privileges of a protected person under the present Conv ention at the earliest date consistent with the security of the State or Occupying Power, as the case may be.

Art. 6. The present Convention shall apply from the outset of any conflict or occupation mentioned in Article 2.

In the territory of Parties to the conflict, the application of the present Convention shall cease on the general close of military operations.

In the case of occupied territory, the application of the present Convention shall cease one year after the general close of military operations; however, the Occupying Power shall be bound, for the duration of the occupation, to the extent that such Power exercises the functions of government i n such territory, by the provisions of the following Articles of the present Convention: 1 to 12, 27, 29 to 34, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 59, 61 to 77, 143.

Protected persons whose release, repatriation or re-establishment may take place after such dates shall meanwhile continue to benefit by the present Convention.

Art. 7. In addition to the agreements expressly provided for in Articles 11, 14, 15, 17, 36, 108, 109, 132, 133 and 149, the High Contracting Parties may conclude other special agreements for all matters concerning which they may deem it suitable to make separate provision. No special agreement shall adversely affect the situation of protected persons, as defined by the present Convention, not restrict the rights which it confers upon them.

Protected persons shall continue to have the benefit of such agreements as long as the Convention is applicable to them, except where express provisions to the contrary are contained in the aforesaid or in subsequent agreements, or where more favourable measures have been taken with regard to th em by one or other of the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 8. Protected persons may in no circumstances renounce in part or in entirety the rights secured to them by the present Convention, and by the special agreements referred to in the foregoing Article, if such there be.

Art. 9. The present Convention shall be applied with the cooperation and under the scrutiny of the Protecting Powers whose duty it is to safeguard the interests of the Parties to the conflict. For this purpose, the Protecting Powers may appoint, apart from their diplomatic or consular staff, del egates from amongst their own nationals or the nationals of other neutral Powers. The said delegates shall be subject to the approval of the Power with which they are to carry out their duties.

The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate to the greatest extent possible the task of the representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers.

The representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall not in any case exceed their mission under the present Convention.

They shall, in particular, take account of the imperative necessities of security of the State wherein they carry out their duties.

Art. 10. The provisions of the present Convention constitute no obstacle to the humanitarian activities which the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other impartial humanitarian organization may, subject to the consent of the Parties to the conflict concerned, undertake for the prot ection of civilian persons and for their relief.

Art. 11. The High Contracting Parties may at any time agree to entrust to an international organization which offers all guarantees of impartiality and efficacy the duties incumbent on the Protecting Powers by virtue of the present Convention.

When persons protected by the present Convention do not benefit or cease to benefit, no matter for what reason, by the activities of a Protecting Power or of an organization provided for in the first paragraph above, the Detaining Power shall request a neutral State, or such an organization, to undertake the functions performed under the present Convention by a Protecting Power designated by the Parties to a conflict.

If protection cannot be arranged accordingly, the Detaining Power shall request or shall accept, subject to the provisions of this Article, the offer of the services of a humanitarian organization, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, to assume the humanitarian functions perform ed by Protecting Powers under the present Convention.

Any neutral Power or any organization invited by the Power concerned or offering itself for these purposes, shall be required to act with a sense of responsibility towards the Party to the conflict on which persons protected by the present Convention depend, and shall be required to furnish suff icient assurances that it is in a position to undertake the appropriate functions and to discharge them impartially.

No derogation from the preceding provisions shall be made by special agreements between Powers one of which is restricted, even temporarily, in its freedom to negotiate with the other Power or its allies by reason of military events, more particularly where the whole, or a substantial part, of t he territory of the said Power is occupied.

Whenever in the present Convention mention is made of a Protecting Power, such mention applies to substitute organizations in the sense of the present Article.

The provisions of this Article shall extend and be adapted to cases of nationals of a neutral State who are in occupied territory or who find themselves in the territory of a belligerent State in which the State of which they are nationals has not normal diplomatic representation.

Art. 12. In cases where they deem it advisable in the interest of protected persons, particularly in cases of disagreement between the Parties to the conflict as to the application or interpretation of the provisions of the present Convention, the Protecting Powers shall lend their good offices with a view to settling the disagreement.

For this purpose, each of the Protecting Powers may, either at the invitation of one Party or on its own initiative, propose to the Parties to the conflict a meeting of their representatives, and in particular of the authorities responsible for protected persons, possibly on neutral territory su itably chosen. The Parties to the conflict shall be bound to give effect to the proposals made to them for this purpose. The Protecting Powers may, if necessary, propose for approval by the Parties to the conflict a person belonging to a neutral Power, or delegated by the International Committee

 of the Red Cross, who shall be invited to take part in such a meeting.


Protection of Populations
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PART II

GENERAL PROTECTION OF POPULATIONS AGAINST CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

Art. 13. The provisions of Part II cover the whole of the populations of the countries in conflict, without any adverse distinction based, in particular, on race, nationality, religion or political opinion, and are intended to alleviate the sufferings caused by war.

Art. 14. In time of peace, the High Contracting Parties and, after the outbreak of hostilities, the Parties thereto, may establish in their own territory and, if the need arises, in occupied areas, hospital and safety zones and localities so organized as to protect from the effects of war, wounded, sick and aged persons, children under fifteen, expectant mothers and mothers of children under seven.

Upon the outbreak and during the course of hostilities, the Parties concerned may conclude agreements on mutual recognition of the zones and localities they have created. They may for this purpose implement the provisions of the Draft Agreement annexed to the present Convention, with such amendm ents as they may consider necessary.

The Protecting Powers and the International Committee of the Red Cross are invited to lend their good offices in order to facilitate the institution and recognition of these hospital and safety zones and localities.

Art. 15. Any Party to the conflict may, either direct or through a neutral State or some humanitarian organization, propose to the adverse Party to establish, in the regions where fighting is taking place, neutralized zones intended to shelter from the effects of war the following persons, witho ut distinction:

(a)	wounded and sick combatants or non-combatants;

(b)	civilian persons who take no part in hostilities, and who, while they reside in the zones, perform no work of a military character.

When the Parties concerned have agreed upon the geographical position, administration, food supply and supervision of the proposed neutralized zone, a written agreement shall be concluded and signed by the representatives of the Parties to the conflict. The agreement shall fix the beginning and the duration of the neutralization of the zone.

Art. 16. The wounded and sick, as well as the infirm, and expectant mothers, shall be the object of particular protection and respect.

As far as military considerations allow, each Party to the conflict shall facilitate the steps taken to search for the killed and wounded, to assist the shipwrecked and other persons exposed to grave danger, and to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment.

Art. 17. The Parties to the conflict shall endeavour to conclude local agreements for the removal from besieged or encircled areas, of wounded, sick, infirm, and aged persons, children and maternity cases, and for the passage of ministers of all religions, medical personnel and medical equipment on their way to such areas.

Art. 18. Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.

States which are Parties to a conflict shall provide all civilian hospitals with certificates showing that they are civilian hospitals and that the buildings which they occupy are not used for any purpose which would deprive these hospitals of protection in accordance with Article 19.

Civilian hospitals shall be marked by means of the emblem provided for in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949, but only if so authorized by the State.

The Parties to the conflict shall, in so far as military considerations permit, take the necessary steps to make the distinctive emblems indicating civilian hospitals clearly visible to the enemy land, air and naval forces in order to obviate the possibility of any hostile action.

In view of the dangers to which hospitals may be exposed by being close to military objectives, it is recommended that such hospitals be situated as far as possible from such objectives.

Art. 19. The protection to which civilian hospitals are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after due warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit and after such warning has remained unheeded.The fact that sick or wounded members of the armed forces are nursed in these hospitals, or the presence of small arms and ammunition taken from such combatants which have not yet been handed to the proper service, shall not be considered to be acts harmful to the enemy.

Art. 20. Persons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and administration of civilian hospitals, including the personnel engaged in the search for, removal and transporting of and caring for wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases shall be respected and protected.

In occupied territory and in zones of military operations, the above personnel shall be recognizable by means of an identity card certifying their status, bearing the photograph of the holder and embossed with the stamp of the responsible authority, and also by means of a stamped, water-resistan t armlet which they shall wear on the left arm while carrying out their duties. This armlet shall be issued by the State and shall bear the emblem provided for in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949.

Other personnel who are engaged in the operation and administration of civilian hospitals shall be entitled to respect and protection and to wear the armlet, as provided in and under the conditions prescribed in this Article, while they are employed on such duties. The identity card shall state the duties on which they are employed.

The management of each hospital shall at all times hold at the disposal of the competent national or occupying authorities an up-to-date list of such personnel.

Art. 21. Convoys of vehicles or hospital trains on land or specially provided vessels on sea, conveying wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected in the same manner as the hospitals provided for in Article 18, and shall be marked, with the conse nt of the State, by the display of the distinctive emblem provided for in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949.

Art.22. Aircraft exclusively employed for the removal of wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases or for the transport of medical personnel and equipment, shall not be attacked, but shall be respected while flying at heights, times and on routes specifically agreed upon between all the Parties to the conflict concerned.

They may be marked with the distinctive emblem provided for in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949.

Unless agreed otherwise, flights over enemy or enemy occupied territory are prohibited.

Such aircraft shall obey every summons to land. In the event of a landing thus imposed, the aircraft with its occupants may continue its flight after examination, if any.

Art. 23. Each High Contracting Party shall allow the free passage of all consignments of medical and hospital stores and objects necessary for religious worship intended only for civilians of another High Contracting Party, even if the latter is its adversary. It shall likewise permit the free p assage of all consignments of essential foodstuffs, clothing and tonics intended for children under fifteen, expectant mothers and maternity cases.

The obligation of a High Contracting Party to allow the free passage of the consignments indicated in the preceding paragraph is subject to the condition that this Party is satisfied that there are no serious reasons for fearing:

(a)	that the consignments may be diverted from their destination,

(b)	that the control may not be effective, or

(c)	that a definite advantage may accrue to the military efforts or economy of the enemy through the substitution of the above-mentioned consignments for goods which would otherwise be provided or produced by the enemy or through the release of such material, services or facilities as would othe rwise be required for the production of such goods.

The Power which allows the passage of the consignments indicated in the first paragraph of this Article may make such permission conditional on the distribution to the persons benefited thereby being made under the local supervision of the Protecting Powers.

Such consignments shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible, and the Power which permits their free passage shall have the right to prescribe the technical arrangements under which such passage is allowed.

Art.24. The Parties to the conflict shall take the necessary measures to ensure that children under fifteen, who are orphaned or are separated from their families as a result of the war, are not left to their own resources, and that their maintenance, the exercise of their religion and their education are facilitated in all circumstances. Their education shall, as far as possible, be entrusted to persons of a similar cultural tradition.

The Parties to the conflict shall facilitate the reception of such children in a neutral country for the duration of the conflict with the consent of the Protecting Power, if any, and under due safeguards for the observance of the principles stated in the first paragraph.

They shall, furthermore, endeavour to arrange for all children under twelve to be identified by the wearing of identity discs, or by some other means.

Art. 25. All persons in the territory of a Party to the conflict, or in a territory occupied by it, shall be enabled to give news of a strictly personal nature to members of their families, wherever they may be, and to receive news from them. This correspondence shall be forwarded speedily and w ithout undue delay.

If, as a result of circumstances, it becomes difficult or impossible to exchange family correspondence by the ordinary post, the Parties to the conflict concerned shall apply to a neutral intermediary, such as the Central Agency provided for in Article 140, and shall decide in consultation with it how to ensure the fulfilment of their obligations under the best possible conditions, in particular with the cooperation of the National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societies.

If the Parties to the conflict deem it necessary to restrict family correspondence, such restrictions shall be confined to the compulsory use of standard forms containing twenty-five freely chosen words, and to the limitation of the number of these forms despatched to one each month.

Art. 26. Each Party to the conflict shall facilitate enquiries made by members of families dispersed owing to the war, with the object of renewing contact with one another and of meeting, if possible. It shall encourage, in particular, the work of organizations engaged on this task provided they are acceptable to it and conform to its security regulations.


Provisions Common to Territories
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PART III

STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS

SECTION I

Provisions Common to the Territories of the Parties to the Conflict and to Occupied Territories

Art. 27. Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all act s of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity.

Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour, in particular against rape, enforced prostitutiOn, or any form of indecent assault.

Without prejudice to the provisions relating to their state of health, age and sex, all protected persons shall be treated with the same consideration by the Party to the conflict in whose power they are, without any adverse distinction based, in particular, on race, religion or political opinion.

However, the Parties to the conflict may take such measures of control and security in regard to protected persons as may be necessary as a result of the war.

Art. 28. The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.

Art. 29. The Party to the conflict in whose hands protected persons may be, is responsible for the treatment accorded to them by its agents, irrespective of any individual responsibility which may be incurred.

Art. 30. Protected persons shall have every facility for making application to the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Society of the country where they may be, as well as to any organization that might assist t hem.

These several organizations shall be granted all facilities for that purpose by the authorities, within the bounds set by military or security considerations.

Apart from the visits of the delegates of the Protecting Powers and of the International Committee of the Red Cross, provided for by Article 143, the Detaining or Occupying Powers shall facilitate, as much as possible, visits to protected persons by the representatives of other organizations who se object is to give spiritual aid or material relief to such persons.

Art. 31. No physical or moral coercion shall be exercised against protected persons, in particular to obtain information from them or from third parties.

Art. 32. The High Contracting Parties specifically agree that each of them is prohibited from taking any measure of such a character as to cause the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands.  This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishment s, mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment of a protected person, but also to any other measures of brutality whether applied by civilian or military agents.

Art. 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

Pillage is prohibited.

Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.

Art. 34. The taking of hostages is prohibited.


Aliens in the Territory of a Party
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PART III

STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS

SECTION II

Aliens in the Territory of a Party to the Conflict

Art. 35. All protected persons who may desire to leave the territory at the outset of, or during a conflict, shall be entitled to do so, unless their departure is contrary to the national interests of the State. The applications of such persons to leave shall be decided in accordance with regula rly established procedures and the decision shall be taken as rapidly as possible. Those persons permitted to leave may provide themselves with the necessary funds for their journey and take with them a reasonable amount of their effects and articles of personal use.

If any such person is refused permission to leave the territory, he shall be entitled to have refusal reconsidered, as soon as possible by an appropriate court or administrative board designated by the Detaining Power for that purpose.

Upon request, representatives of the Protecting Power shall, unless reasons of security prevent it, or the persons concerned object, be furnished with the reasons for refusal of any request for permission to leave the territory and be given, as expeditiously as possible, the names of all persons who have been denied permission to leave.

Art. 36. Departures permitted under the foregoing Article shall be carried out in satisfactory conditions as regards safety, hygiene, sanitation and food. All costs in connection therewith, from the point of exit in the territory of the Detaining Power, shall be borne by the country of destinati on, or, in the case of accommodation in a neutral country, by the Power whose nationals are benefited. The practical details of such movements may, if necessary, be settled by special agreements between the Powers concerned.

The foregoing shall not prejudice such special agreements as may be concluded between Parties to the conflict concerning the exchange and repatriation of their nationals in enemy hands.

Art. 37. Protected persons who are confined pending proceedings or subject to a sentence involving loss of liberty, shall during their confinement be humanely treated.

As soon as they are released, they may ask to leave the territory in conformity with the foregoing Articles.

Art. 38. With the exception of special measures authorized by the present Convention, in particularly by Article 27 and 41 thereof, the situation of protected persons shall continue to be regulated, in principle, by the provisions concerning aliens in time of peace. In any case, the following ri ghts shall be granted to them:

(1)	they shall be enabled to receive the individual or collective relief that may be sent to them.

(2)	they shall, if their state of health so requires, receive medical attention and hospital treatment to the same extent as the nationals of the State concerned.

(3)	they shall be allowed to practise their religion and to receive spiritual assistance from ministers of their faith.

(4)	if they reside in an area particularly exposed to the dangers of war, they shall be authorized to move from that area to the same extent as the nationals of the State concerned.

(5)	children under fifteen years, pregnant women and mothers of children under seven years shall benefit by any preferential treatment to the same extent as the nationals of the State concerned.

Art. 39. Protected persons who, as a result of the war, have lost their gainful employment, shall be granted the opportunity to find paid employment. That opportunity shall, subject to security considerations and to the provisions of Article 40, be equal to that enjoyed by the nationals of the P ower in whose territory they are.

Where a Party to the conflict applies to a protected person methods of control which result in his being unable to support himself, and especially if such a person is prevented for reasons of security from finding paid employment on reasonable conditions, the said Party shall ensure his support and that of his dependents.

Protected persons may in any case receive allowances from their home country, the Protecting Power, or the relief societies referred to in Article 30.

Art. 40. Protected persons may be compelled to work only to the same extent as nationals of the Party to the conflict in whose territory they are.

If protected persons are of enemy nationality, they may only be compelled to do work which is normally necessary to ensure the feeding, sheltering, clothing, transport and health of human beings and which is not directly related to the conduct of military operations.

In the cases mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs, protected persons compelled to work shall have the benefit of the same working conditions and of the same safeguards as national workers in particular as regards wages, hours of labour, clothing and equipment, previous training and compensa tion for occupational accidents and diseases.

If the above provisions are infringed, protected persons shall be allowed to exercise their right of complaint in accordance with Article 30.

Art. 41. Should the Power, in whose hands protected persons may be, consider the measures of control mentioned in the present Convention to be inadequate, it may not have recourse to any other measure of control more severe than that of assigned residence or internment, in accordance with the pr ovisions of Articles 42 and 43.

In applying the provisions of Article 39, second paragraph, to the cases of persons required to leave their usual places of residence by virtue of a decision placing them in assigned residence, by virtue of a decision placing them in assigned residence, elsewhere, the Detaining Power shall be gu ided as closely as possible by the standards of welfare set forth in Part III, Section IV of this Convention.

Art. 42. The internment or placing in assigned residence of protected persons may be ordered only if the security of the Detaining Power makes it absolutely necessary.

If any person, acting through the representatives of the Protecting Power, voluntarily demands internment, and if his situation renders this step necessary, he shall be interned by the Power in whose hands he may be.

Art. 43. Any protected person who has been interned or placed in assigned residence shall be entitled to have such action reconsidered as soon as possible by an appropriate court or administrative board designated by the Detaining Power for that purpose. If the internment or placing in assigned residence is maintained, the court or administrative board shall periodically, and at least twice yearly, give consideration to his or her case, with a view to the favourable amendment of the initial decision, if circumstances permit.

Unless the protected persons concerned object, the Detaining Power shall, as rapidly as possible, give the Protecting Power the names of any protected persons who have been interned or subjected to assigned residence, or who have been released from internment or assigned residence.  The decision s of the courts or boards mentioned in the first paragraph of the present Article shall also, subject to the same conditions, be notified as rapidly as possible to the Protecting Power.

Art. 44. In applying the measures of control mentioned in the present Convention, the Detaining Power shall not treat as enemy aliens exclusively on the basis of their nationality de jure of an enemy State, refugees who do not, in fact, enjoy the protection of any government.

Art. 45. Protected persons shall not be transferred to a Power which is not a party to the Convention.

This provision shall in no way constitute an obstacle to the repatriation of protected persons, or to their return to their country of residence after the cessation of hostilities.

Protected persons may be transferred by the Detaining Power only to a Power which is a party to the present Convention and after the Detaining Power has satisfied itself of the willingness and ability of such transferee Power to apply the present Convention. If protected persons are transferred under such circumstances, responsibility for the application of the present Convention rests on the Power accepting them, while they are in its custody. Nevertheless, if that Power fails to carry out the provisions of the present Convention in any important respect, the Power by which the protec ted persons were transferred shall, upon being so notified by the Protecting Power, take effective measures to correct the situation or shall request the return of the protected persons. Such request must be complied with.

In no circumstances shall a protected person be transferred to a country where he or she may have reason to fear persecution for his or her political opinions or religious beliefs.

The provisions of this Article do not constitute an obstacle to the extradition, in pursuance of extradition treaties concluded before the outbreak of hostilities, of protected persons accused of offences against ordinary criminal law.

Art. 46. In so far as they have not been previously withdrawn, restrictive measures taken regarding protected persons shall be cancelled as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.

Restrictive measures affecting their property shall be cancelled, in accordance with the law of the Detaining Power, as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.


Occupied Territories
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PART III

STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS

SECTION III

Occupied Territories

Art. 47. Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory.

Art. 48. Protected persons who are not nationals of the Power whose territory is occupied, may avail themselves of the right to leave the territory subject to the provisions of Article 35, and decisions thereon shall be taken in accordance with the procedure which the Occupying Power shall estab lish in accordance with the said Article.

Art. 49. Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.

Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand. Such evacuations may not involve the displacement of protected persons outside the bounds of the occupied territory except when for material reasons it is impossible to avoid such displacement. Persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased.

The Occupying Power undertaking such transfers or evacuations shall ensure, to the greatest practicable extent, that proper accommodation is provided to receive the protected persons, that the removals are effected in satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety and nutrition, and that mem bers of the same family are not separated.

The Protecting Power shall be informed of any transfers and evacuations as soon as they have taken place.

The Occupying Power shall not detain protected persons in an area particularly exposed to the dangers of war unless the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand.

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Art. 50. The Occupying Power shall, with the cooperation of the national and local authorities, facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the care and education of children.

The Occupying Power shall take all necessary steps to facilitate the identification of children and the registration of their parentage. It may not, in any case, change their personal status, nor enlist them in formations or organizations subordinate to it.

Should the local institutions be inadequate for the purpose, the Occupying Power shall make arrangements for the maintenance and education, if possible by persons of their own nationality, language and religion, of children who are orphaned or separated from their parents as a result of the war and who cannot be adequately cared for by a near relative or friend.

A special section of the Bureau set up in accordance with Article 136 shall be responsible for taking all necessary steps to identify children whose identity is in doubt. Particulars of their parents or other near relatives should always be recorded if available.

The Occupying Power shall not hinder the application of any preferential measures in regard to food, medical care and protection against the effects of war which may have been adopted prior to the occupation in favour of children under fifteen years, expectant mothers, and mothers of children un der seven years.

Art. 51. The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to serve in its armed or auxiliary forces. No pressure or propaganda which aims at securing voluntary enlistment is permitted.

The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to work unless they are over eighteen years of age, and then only on work which is necessary either for the needs of the army of occupation, or for the public utility services, or for the feeding, sheltering, clothing, transportation or health of the population of the occupied country. Protected persons may not be compelled to undertake any work which would involve them in the obligation of taking part in military operations. The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to employ forcible means to ensure the security of the i nstallations where they are performing compulsory labour.

The work shall be carried out only in the occupied territory where the persons whose services have been requisitioned are. Every such person shall, so far as possible, be kept in his usual place of employment.  Workers shall be paid a fair wage and the work shall be proportionate to their physic al and intellectual capacities. The legislation in force in the occupied country concerning working conditions, and safeguards as regards, in particular, such matters as wages, hours of work, equipment, preliminary training and compensation for occupational accidents and diseases, shall be appli cable to the protected persons assigned to the work referred to in this Article.

In no case shall requisition of labour lead to a mobilization of workers in an organization of a military or semi-military character.

Art. 52. No contract, agreement or regulation shall impair the right of any worker, whether voluntary or not and wherever he may be, to apply to the representatives of the Protecting Power in order to request the said Power's intervention.

All measures aiming at creating unemployment or at restricting the opportunities offered to workers in an occupied territory, in order to induce them to work for the Occupying Power, are prohibited.

Art. 53. Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.

Art. 54. The Occupying Power may not alter the status of public officials or judges in the occupied territories, or in any way apply sanctions to or take any measures of coercion or discrimination against them, should they abstain from fulfilling their functions for reasons of conscience.

This prohibition does not prejudice the application of the second paragraph of Article 51. It does not affect the right of the Occupying Power to remove public officials from their posts.

Art. 55. To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate.

The Occupying Power may not requisition foodstuffs, articles or medical supplies available in the occupied territory, except for use by the occupation forces and administration personnel, and then only if the requirements of the civilian population have been taken into account.  Subject to the p rovisions of other international Conventions, the Occupying Power shall make arrangements to ensure that fair value is paid for any requisitioned goods.

The Protecting Power shall, at any time, be at liberty to verify the state of the food and medical supplies in occupied territories, except where temporary restrictions are made necessary by imperative military requirements.

Art. 56. To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the public Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the cooperation of national and local authorities, the medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied territory, wit h particular reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics. Medical personnel of all categories shall be allowed to carry out their duties.

If new hospitals are set up in occupied territory and if the competent organs of the occupied State are not operating there, the occupying authorities shall, if necessary, grant them the recognition provided for in Article 18. In similar circumstances, the occupying authorities shall also grant recognition to hospital personnel and transport vehicles under the provisions of Articles 20 and 21.

In adopting measures of health and hygiene and in their implementation, the Occupying Power shall take into consideration the moral and ethical susceptibilities of the population of the occupied territory.

Art. 57. The Occupying Power may requisition civilian hospitals of hospitals only temporarily and only in cases of urgent necessity for the care of military wounded and sick, and then on condition that suitable arrangements are made in due time for the care and treatment of the patients and for the needs of the civilian population for hospital accommodation.

The material and stores of civilian hospitals cannot be requisitioned so long as they are necessary for the needs of the civilian population.

Art. 58. The Occupying Power shall permit ministers of religion to give spiritual assistance to the members of their religious communities.

The Occupying Power shall also accept consignments of books and articles required for religious needs and shall facilitate their distribution in occupied territory.

Art. 59. If the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory is inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to relief schemes on behalf of the said population, and shall facilitate them by all the means at its disposal.

Such schemes, which may be undertaken either by States or by impartial humanitarian organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, shall consist, in particular, of the provision of consignments of foodstuffs, medical supplies and clothing.

All Contracting Parties shall permit the free passage of these consignments and shall guarantee their protection.

A Power granting free passage to consignments on their way to territory occupied by an adverse Party to the conflict shall, however, have the right to search the consignments, to regulate their passage according to prescribed times and routes, and to be reasonably satisfied through the Protectin g Power that these consignments are to be used for the relief of the needy population and are not to be used for the benefit of the Occupying Power.

Art. 60. Relief consignments shall in no way relieve the Occupying Power of any of its responsibilities under Articles 55, 56 and 59. The Occupying Power shall in no way whatsoever divert relief consignments from the purpose for which they are intended, except in cases of urgent necessity, in th e interests of the population of the occupied territory and with the consent of the Protecting Power.

Art. 61. The distribution of the relief consignments referred to in the foregoing Articles shall be carried out with the cooperation and under the supervision of the Protecting Power. This duty may also be delegated, by agreement between the Occupying Power and the Protecting Power, to a neutral Power, to the International Committee of the Red Cross or to any other impartial humanitarian body.

Such consignments shall be exempt in occupied territory from all charges, taxes or customs duties unless these are necessary in the interests of the economy of the territory. The Occupying Power shall facilitate the rapid distribution of these consignments.

All Contracting Parties shall endeavour to permit the transit and transport, free of charge, of such relief consignments on their way to occupied territories.

Art. 62. Subject to imperative reasons of security, protected persons in occupied territories shall be permitted to receive the individual relief consignments sent to them.

Art. 63. Subject to temporary and exceptional measures imposed for urgent reasons of security by the Occupying Power:

(a)	recognized National Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) Societies shall be able to pursue their activities in accordance with Red Cross principles, as defined by the International Red Cross Conferences. Other relief societies shall be permitted to continue their humanitarian activitie s under similar conditions;

(b)	the Occupying Power may not require any changes in the personnel or structure of these societies, which would prejudice the aforesaid activities.

The same principles shall apply to the activities and personnel of special organizations of a non-military character, which already exist or which may be established, for the purpose of ensuring the living conditions of the civilian population by the maintenance of the essential public utility s ervices, by the distribution of relief and by the organization of rescues.

Art. 64. The penal laws of the occupied territory shall remain in force, with the exception that they may be repealed or suspended by the Occupying Power in cases where they constitute a threat to its security or an obstacle to the application of the present Convention.

Subject to the latter consideration and to the necessity for ensuring the effective administration of justice, the tribunals of the occupied territory shall continue to function in respect of all offences covered by the said laws.

The Occupying Power may, however, subject the population of the occupied territory to provisions which are essential to enable the Occupying Power to fulfil its obligations under the present Convention, to maintain the orderly government of the territory, and to ensure the security of the Occupy ing Power, of the members and property of the occupying forces or administration, and likewise of the establishments and lines of communication used by them.

Art. 65. The penal provisions enacted by the Occupying Power shall not come into force before they have been published and brought to the knowledge of the inhabitants in their own language. The effect of these penal provisions shall not be retroactive.

Art. 66. In case of a breach of the penal provisions promulgated by it by virtue of the second paragraph of Article 64 the Occupying Power may hand over the accused to its properly constituted, non-political military courts, on condition that the said courts sit in the occupied country.  Courts of appeal shall preferably sit in the occupied country.

Art. 67. The courts shall apply only those provisions of law which were applicable prior to the offence, and which are in accordance with general principles of law, in particular the principle that the penalty shall be proportionate to the offence. They shall take into consideration the fact the accused is not a national of the Occupying Power.

Art. 68. Protected persons who commit an offence which is solely intended to harm the Occupying Power, but which does not constitute an attempt on the life or limb of members of the occupying forces or administration, nor a grave collective danger, nor seriously damage the property of the occupy ing forces or administration or the installations used by them, shall be liable to internment or simple imprisonment, provided the duration of such internment or imprisonment is proportionate to the offence committed.  Furthermore, internment or imprisonment shall, for such offences, be the only measure adopted for depriving protected persons of liberty. The courts provided for under Article 66 of the present Convention may at their discretion convert a sentence of imprisonment to one of internment for the same period.

The penal provisions promulgated by the Occupying Power in accordance with Articles 64 and 65 may impose the death penalty on a protected person only in cases where the person is guilty of espionage, of serious acts of sabotage against the military installations of the Occupying Power or of inte ntional offences which have caused the death of one or more persons, provided that such offences were punishable by death under the law of the occupied territory in force before the occupation began.

The death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected person unless the attention of the court has been particularly called to the fact that since the accused is not a national of the Occupying Power, he is not bound to it by any duty of allegiance.

In any case, the death penalty may not be pronounced on a protected person who was under eighteen years of age at the time of the offence.

Art. 69. In all cases the duration of the period during which a protected person accused of an offence is under arrest awaiting trial or punishment shall be deducted from any period of imprisonment of awarded.

Art. 70. Protected persons shall not be arrested, prosecuted or convicted by the Occupying Power for acts committed or for opinions expressed before the occupation, or during a temporary interruption thereof, with the exception of breaches of the laws and customs of war.

Nationals of the occupying Power who, before the outbreak of hostilities, have sought refuge in the territory of the occupied State, shall not be arrested, prosecuted, convicted or deported from the occupied territory, except for offences committed after the outbreak of hostilities, or for offen ces under common law committed before the outbreak of hostilities which, according to the law of the occupied State, would have justified extradition in time of peace.

Art. 71. No sentence shall be pronounced by the competent courts of the Occupying Power except after a regular trial.

Accused persons who are prosecuted by the Occupying Power shall be promptly informed, in writing, in a language which they understand, of the particulars of the charges preferred against them, and shall be brought to trial as rapidly as possible. The Protecting Power shall be informed of all proceedings instituted by the Occupying Power against protected persons in respect of charges involving the death penalty or imprisonment for two years or more; it shall be enabled, at any time, to obtain information regarding the state of such proceedings. Furthermore, the Protecting Power shall b e entitled, on request, to be furnished with all particulars of these and of any other proceedings instituted by the Occupying Power against protected persons.

The notification to the Protecting Power, as provided for in the second paragraph above, shall be sent immediately, and shall in any case reach the Protecting Power three weeks before the date of the first hearing. Unless, at the opening of the trial, evidence is submitted that the provisions of this Article are fully complied with, the trial shall not proceed. The notification shall include the following particulars:

(a)	description of the accused;

(b)	place of residence or detention;

(c)	specification of the charge or charges (with mention of the penal provisions under which it is brought);

(d)	designation of the court which will hear the case;

(e)	place and date of the first hearing.

Art. 72. Accused persons shall have the right to present evidence necessary to their defence and may, in particular, call witnesses. They shall have the right to be assisted by a qualified advocate or counsel of their own choice, who shall be able to visit them freely and shall enjoy the necessa ry facilities for preparing the defence.

Failing a choice by the accused, the Protecting Power may provide him with an advocate or counsel. When an accused person has to meet a serious charge and the Protecting Power is not functioning, the Occupying Power, subject to the consent of the accused, shall provide an advocate or counsel.

Accused persons shall, unless they freely waive such assistance, be aided by an interpreter, both during preliminary investigation and during the hearing in court. They shall have at any time the right to object to the interpreter and to ask for his replacement.

Art.73. A convicted person shall have the right of appeal provided for by the laws applied by the court. He shall be fully informed of his right to appeal or petition and of the time limit within which he may do so.

The penal procedure provided in the present Section shall apply, as far as it is applicable, to appeals. Where the laws applied by the Court make no provision for appeals, the convicted person shall have the right to petition against the finding and sentence to the competent authority of the Occ upying Power.

Art. 74. Representatives of the Protecting Power shall have the right to attend the trial of any protected person, unless the hearing has, as an exceptional measure, to be held in camera in the interests of the security of the Occupying Power, which shall then notify the Protecting Power. A noti fication in respect of the date and place of trial shall be sent to the Protecting Power.

Any judgement involving a sentence of death, or imprisonment for two years or more, shall be communicated, with the relevant grounds, as rapidly as possible to the Protecting Power. The notification shall contain a reference to the notification made under Article 71 and, in the case of sentences of imprisonment, the name of the place where the sentence is to be served. A record of judgements other than those referred to above shall be kept by the court and shall be open to inspection by representatives of the Protecting Power. Any period allowed for appeal in the case of sentences invo lving the death penalty, or imprisonment of two years or more, shall not run until notification of judgement has been received by the Protecting Power.

Art. 75. In no case shall persons condemned to death be deprived of the right of petition for pardon or reprieve.

No death sentence shall be carried out before the expiration of a period of a least six months from the date of receipt by the Protecting Power of the notification of the final judgment confirming such death sentence, or of an order denying pardon or reprieve.

The six months period of suspension of the death sentence herein prescribed may be reduced in individual cases in circumstances of grave emergency involving an organized threat to the security of the Occupying Power or its forces, provided always that the Protecting Power is notified of such red uction and is given reasonable time and opportunity to make representations to the competent occupying authorities in respect of such death sentences.

Art. 76. Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein. They shall, if possible, be separated from other detainees and shall enjoy conditions of food and hygiene which will be sufficient to keep them in good health, and which will be at least equal to those obtaining in prisons in the occupied country.

They shall receive the medical attention required by their state of health.

They shall also have the right to receive any spiritual assistance which they may require.

Women shall be confined in separate quarters and shall be under the direct supervision of women.

Proper regard shall be paid to the special treatment due to minors.

Protected persons who are detained shall have the right to be visited by delegates of the Protecting Power and of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in accordance with the provisions of Article 143.

Such persons shall have the right to receive at least one relief parcel monthly.

Art. 77. Protected persons who have been accused of offences or convicted by the courts in occupied territory, shall be handed over at the close of occupation, with the relevant records, to the authorities of the liberated territory.

Art. 78. If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning protected persons, it may, at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment.

Decisions regarding such assigned residence or internment shall be made according to a regular procedure to be prescribed by the Occupying Power in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention. This procedure shall include the right of appeal for the parties concerned. Appeals shall be decided with the least possible delay. In the event of the decision being upheld, it shall be subject to periodical review, if possible every six months, by a competent body set up by the said Power.

Protected persons made subject to assigned residence and thus required to leave their homes shall enjoy the full benefit of Article 39 of the present Convention.


Internees, general provisions and places of internment
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PART III

STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS

SECTION IV

Regulations for the Treatment of Internees

CHAPTER I

General Provisions

Art. 79. The Parties to the conflict shall not intern protected persons, except in accordance with the provisions of Articles 41, 42, 43, 68 and 78.

Art. 80. Internees shall retain their full civil capacity and shall exercise such attendant rights as may be compatible with their status.

Art. 81. Parties to the conflict who intern protected persons shall be bound to provide free of charge for their maintenance, and to grant them also the medical attention required by their state of health.

No deduction from the allowances, salaries or credits due to the internees shall be made for the repayment of these costs.

The Detaining Power shall provide for the support of those dependent on the internees, if such dependents are without adequate means of support or are unable to earn a living.

Art.82. The Detaining Power shall, as far as possible, accommodate the internees according to their nationality, language and customs. Internees who are nationals of the same country shall not be separated merely because they have different languages.

Throughout the duration of their internment, members of the same family, and in particular parents and children, shall be lodged together in the same place of internment, except when separation of a temporary nature is necessitated for reasons of employment or health or for the purposes of enfor cement of the provisions of Chapter IX of the present Section.  Internees may request that their children who are left at liberty without parental care shall be interned with them.

Wherever possible, interned members of the same family shall be housed in the same premises and given separate accommodation from other internees, together with facilities for leading a proper family life.

CHAPTER II

Places of Internment

Art. 83. The Detaining Power shall not set up places of internment in areas particularly exposed to the dangers of war.

The Detaining Power shall give the enemy Powers, through the intermediary of the Protecting Powers, all useful information regarding the geographical location of places of internment.

Whenever military considerations permit, internment camps shall be indicated by the letters IC, placed so as to be clearly visible in the daytime from the air. The Powers concerned may, however, agree upon any other system of marking. No place other than an internment camp shall be marked as suc h.

Art.84. Internees shall be accommodated and administered separately from prisoners of war and from persons deprived of liberty for any other reason.

Art. 85. The Detaining Power is bound to take all necessary and possible measures to ensure that protected persons shall, from the outset of their internment, be accommodated in buildings or quarters which afford every possible safeguard as regards hygiene and health, and provide efficient prote ction against the rigours of the climate and the effects of the war.  In no case shall permanent places of internment be situated in unhealthy areas or in districts, the climate of which is injurious to the internees.  In all cases where the district, in which a protected person is temporarily i nterned, is an unhealthy area or has a climate which is harmful to his health, he shall be removed to a more suitable place of internment as rapidly as circumstances permit.

The premises shall be fully protected from dampness, adequately heated and lighted, in particular between dusk and lights out. The sleeping quarters shall be sufficiently spacious and well ventilated, and the internees shall have suitable bedding and sufficient blankets, account being taken of t he climate, and the age, sex, and state of health of the internees.

Internees shall have for their use, day and night, sanitary conveniences which conform to the rules of hygiene, and are constantly maintained in a state of cleanliness. They shall be provided with sufficient water and soap for their daily personal toilet and for washing their personal laundry; i nstallations and facilities necessary for this purpose shall be granted to them. Showers or baths shall also be available. The necessary time shall be set aside for washing and for cleaning.

Whenever it is necessary, as an exceptional and temporary measure, to accommodate women internees who are not members of a family unit in the same place of internment as men, the provision of separate sleeping quarters and sanitary conveniences for the use of such women internees shall be obliga tory.

Art. 86. The Detaining Power shall place at the disposal of interned persons, of whatever denomination, premises suitable for the holding of their religious services.

Art. 87. Canteens shall be installed in every place of internment, except where other suitable facilities are available. Their purpose shall be to enable internees to make purchases, at prices not higher than local market prices, of foodstuffs and articles of everyday use, including soap and tob acco, such as would increase their personal well-being and comfort.

Profits made by canteens shall be credited to a welfare fund to be set up for each place of internment, and administered for the benefit of the internees attached to such place of internment. The Internee Committee provided for in Article 102 shall have the right to check the management of the c anteen and of the said fund.

When a place of internment is closed down, the balance of the welfare fund shall be transferred to the welfare fund of a place of internment for internees of the same nationality, or, if such a place does not exist, to a central welfare fund which shall be administered for the benefit of all int ernees remaining in the custody of the Detaining Power. In case of a general release, the said profits shall be kept by the Detaining Power, subject to any agreement to the contrary between the Powers concerned.

Art. 88. In all places of internment exposed to air raids and other hazards of war, shelters adequate in number and structure to ensure the necessary protection shall be installed. In case of alarms, the measures internees shall be free to enter such shelters as quickly as possible, excepting th ose who remain for the protection of their quarters against the aforesaid hazards. Any protective measures taken in favour of the population shall also apply to them.

All due precautions must be taken in places of internment against the danger of fire.


Internees, food and clothing; medical; religion; activities
Internees, food and clothing; medical; religion; activities  Prev Next   Links  Links  Links  Links

PART III

STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS

SECTION IV

Regulations for the Treatment of Internees

CHAPTER III

Food and Clothing

Art. 89. Daily food rations for internees shall be sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to keep internees in a good state of health and prevent the development of nutritional deficiencies. Account shall also be taken of the customary diet of the internees.

Internees shall also be given the means by which they can prepare for themselves any additional food in their possession.

Sufficient drinking water shall be supplied to internees. The use of tobacco shall be permitted.

Internees who work shall receive additional rations in proportion to the kind of labour which they perform.

Expectant and nursing mothers and children under fifteen years of age, shall be given additional food, in proportion to their physiological needs.

Art. 90. When taken into custody, internees shall be given all facilities to provide themselves with the necessary clothing, footwear and change of underwear, and later on, to procure further supplies if required. Should any internees not have sufficient clothing, account being taken of the clim ate, and be unable to procure any, it shall be provided free of charge to them by the Detaining Power.

The clothing supplied by the Detaining Power to internees and the outward markings placed on their own clothes shall not be ignominious nor expose them to ridicule.

Workers shall receive suitable working outfits, including protective clothing, whenever the nature of their work so requires.

CHAPTER IV

Hygiene and Medical Attention

Art. 91. Every place of internment shall have an adequate infirmary, under the direction of a qualified doctor, where internees may have the attention they require, as well as appropriate diet. Isolation wards shall be set aside for cases of contagious or mental diseases.

Maternity cases and internees suffering from serious diseases, or whose condition requires special treatment, a surgical operation or hospital care, must be admitted to any institution where adequate treatment can be given and shall receive care not inferior to that provided for the general popu lation.

Internees shall, for preference, have the attention of medical personnel of their own nationality.

Internees may not be prevented from presenting themselves to the medical authorities for examination. The medical authorities of the Detaining Power shall, upon request, issue to every internee who has undergone treatment an official certificate showing the nature of his illness or injury, and t he duration and nature of the treatment given. A duplicate of this certificate shall be forwarded to the Central Agency provided for in Article 140.

Treatment, including the provision of any apparatus necessary for the maintenance of internees in good health, particularly dentures and other artificial appliances and spectacles, shall be free of charge to the internee.

Art. 92. Medical inspections of internees shall be made at least once a month. Their purpose shall be, in particular, to supervise the general state of health, nutrition and cleanliness of internees, and to detect contagious diseases, especially tuberculosis, malaria, and venereal diseases. Such inspections shall include, in particular, the checking of weight of each internee and, at least once a year, radioscopic examination.

CHAPTER V

Religious, Intellectual and Physical Activities

Art. 93. Internees shall enjoy complete latitude in the exercise of their religious duties, including attendance at the services of their faith, on condition that they comply with the disciplinary routine prescribed by the detaining authorities.

Ministers of religion who are interned shall be allowed to minister freely to the members of their community. For this purpose the Detaining Power shall ensure their equitable allocation amongst the various places of internment in which there are internees speaking the same language and belongin g to the same religion. Should such ministers be too few in number, the Detaining Power shall provide them with the necessary facilities, including means of transport, for moving from one place to another, and they shall be authorized to visit any internees who are in hospital.  Ministers of rel igion shall be at liberty to correspond on matters concerning their ministry with the religious authorities in the country of detention and, as far as possible, with the international religious organizations of their faith. Such correspondence shall not be considered as forming a part of the quo ta mentioned in Article 107. It shall, however, be subject to the provisions of Article 112.

When internees do not have at their disposal the assistance of ministers of their faith, or should these latter be too few in number, the local religious authorities of the same faith may appoint, in agreement with the Detaining Power, a minister of the internees' faith or, if such a course is f easible from a denominational point of view, a minister of similar religion or a qualified layman. The latter shall enjoy the facilities granted to the ministry he has assumed. Persons so appointed shall comply with all regulations laid down by the Detaining Power in the interests of discipline and security.

Art. 94. The Detaining Power shall encourage intellectual, educational and recreational pursuits, sports and games amongst internees, whilst leaving them free to take part in them or not. It shall take all practicable measures to ensure the exercice thereof, in particular by providing suitable p remises.

All possible facilities shall be granted to internees to continue their studies or to take up new subjects. The education of children and young people shall be ensured; they shall be allowed to attend schools either within the place of internment or outside.

Internees shall be given opportunities for physical exercise, sports and outdoor games. For this purpose, sufficient open spaces shall be set aside in all places of internment. Special playgrounds shall be reserved for children and young people.

Art. 95. The Detaining Power shall not employ internees as workers, unless they so desire. Employment which, if undertaken under compulsion by a protected person not in internment, would involve a breach of Articles 40 or 51 of the present Convention, and employment on work which is of a degradi ng or humiliating character are in any case prohibited.

After a working period of six weeks, internees shall be free to give up work at any moment, subject to eight days' notice.

These provisions constitute no obstacle to the right of the Detaining Power to employ interned doctors, dentists and other medical personnel in their professional capacity on behalf of their fellow internees, or to employ internees for administrative and maintenance work in places of internment and to detail such persons for work in the kitchens or for other domestic tasks, or to require such persons to undertake duties connected with the protection of internees against aerial bombardment or other war risks. No internee may, however, be required to perform tasks for which he is, in the opinion of a medical officer, physically unsuited.

The Detaining Power shall take entire responsibility for all working conditions, for medical attention, for the payment of wages, and for ensuring that all employed internees receive compensation for occupational accidents and diseases. The standards prescribed for the said working conditions an d for compensation shall be in accordance with the national laws and regulations, and with the existing practice; they shall in no case be inferior to those obtaining for work of the same nature in the same district. Wages for work done shall be determined on an equitable basis by special agreem ents between the internees, the Detaining Power, and, if the case arises, employers other than the Detaining Power to provide for free maintenance of internees and for the medical attention which their state of health may require. Internees permanently detailed for categories of work mentioned i n the third paragraph of this Article, shall be paid fair wages by the Detaining Power. The working conditions and the scale of compensation for occupational accidents and diseases to internees, thus detailed, shall not be inferior to those applicable to work of the same nature in the same district.

Art.96. All labour detachments shall remain part of and dependent upon a place of internment. The competent authorities of the Detaining Power and the commandant of a place of internment shall be responsible for the observance in a labour detachment of the provisions of the present Convention. T he commandant shall keep an up-to-date list of the labour detachments subordinate to him and shall communicate it to the delegates of the Protecting Power, of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of other humanitarian organizations who may visit the places of internment.


Internees, property; penal; external relations
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CHAPTER VI

Personal Property and Financial Resources

Art. 97. Internees shall be permitted to retain articles of personal use.  Monies, cheques, bonds, etc., and valuables in their possession may not be taken from them except in accordance with established procedure. Detailed receipts shall be given therefor.

The amounts shall be paid into the account of every internee as provided for in Article 98. Such amounts may not be converted into any other currency unless legislation in force in the territory in which the owner is interned so requires or the internee gives his consent.

Articles which have above all a personal or sentimental value may not be taken away.

A woman internee shall not be searched except by a woman.

On release or repatriation, internees shall be given all articles, monies or other valuables taken from them during internment and shall receive in currency the balance of any credit to their accounts kept in accordance with Article 98, with the exception of any articles or amounts withheld by t he Detaining Power by virtue of its legislation in force. If the property of an internee is so withheld, the owner shall receive a detailed receipt.

Family or identity documents in the possession of internees may not be taken away without a receipt being given. At no time shall internees be left without identity documents. If they have none, they shall be issued with special documents drawn up by the detaining authorities, which will serve a s their identity papers until the end of their internment.

Internees may keep on their persons a certain amount of money, in cash or in the shape of purchase coupons, to enable them to make purchases.

Art. 98. All internees shall receive regular allowances, sufficient to enable them to purchase goods and articles, such as tobacco, toilet requisites, etc. Such allowances may take the form of credits or purchase coupons.

Furthermore, internees may receive allowances from the Power to which they owe allegiance, the Protecting Powers, the organizations which may assist them, or their families, as well as the income on their property in accordance with the law of the Detaining Power. The amount of allowances grante d by the Power to which they o~e allegiance shall be the same for each category of internees (infirm, sick, pregnant women, etc.) but may not be allocated by that Power or distributed by the Detaining Power on the basis of discriminations between internees which are prohibited by Article 27 of t he present Convention.

The Detaining Power shall open a regular account for every internee, to which shall be credited the allowances named in the present Article, the wages earned and the remittances received, together with such sums taken from him as may be available under the legislation in force in the territory i n which he is interned. Internees shall be granted all facilities consistent with the legislation in force in such territory to make remittances to their families and to other dependants. They may draw from their accounts the amounts necessary for their personal expenses, within the limits fixed

 by the Detaining Power. They shall at all times be afforded reasonable facilities for consulting and obtaining copies of their accounts. A statement of accounts shall be furnished to the Protecting Power, on request, and shall accompany the internee in case of transfer.

CHAPTER VII

Administration and Discipline

Art. 99. Every place of internment shall be put under the authority of a responsible officer, chosen from the regular military forces or the regular civil administration of the Detaining Power. The officer in charge of the place of internment must have in his possession a copy of the present Con vention in the official language, or one of the official languages, of his country and shall be responsible for its application. The staff in control of internees shall be instructed in the provisions of the present Convention and of the administrative measures adopted to ensure its application.

The text of the present Convention and the texts of special agreements concluded under the said Convention shall be posted inside the place of internment, in a language which the internees understand, or shall be in the possession of the Internee Committee.

Regulations, orders, notices and publications of every kind shall be communicated to the internees and posted inside the places of internment, in a language which they understand.

Every order and command addressed to internees individually must, likewise, be given in a language which they understand.

Art. 100. The disciplinary regime in places of internment shall be consistent with humanitarian principles, and shall in no circumstances include regulations imposing on internees any physical exertion dangerous to their health or involving physical or moral victimization.  Identification by tat tooing or imprinting signs or markings on the body, is prohibited.

In particular, prolonged standing and roll-calls, punishment drill, military drill and manoeuvres, or the reduction of food rations, are prohibited.

Art. 101. Internees shall have the right to present to the authorities in whose power they are, any petition with regard to the conditions of internment to which they are subjected.

They shall also have the right to apply without restriction through the Internee Committee or, if they consider it necessary, direct to the representatives of the Protecting Power, in order to indicate to them any points on which they may have complaints to make with regard to the conditions of internment.

Such petitions and complaints shall be transmitted forthwith and without alteration, and even if the latter are recognized to be unfounded, they may not occasion any punishment.

Periodic reports on the situation in places of internment and as to the needs of the internees may be sent by the Internee Committees to the representatives of the Protecting Powers.

Art. 102. In every place of internment, the internees shall freely elect by secret ballot every six months, the members of a Committee empowered to represent them before the Detaining and the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross and any other organization which may ass ist them. The members of the Committee shall be eligible for re-election.

Internees so elected shall enter upon their duties after their election has been approved by the detaining authorities. The reasons for any refusals or dismissals shall be communicated to the Protecting Powers concerned.

Art. 103. The Internee Committees shall further the physical, spiritual and intellectual well-being of the internees.

In case the internees decide, in particular, to organize a system of mutual assistance amongst themselves, this organization would be within the competence of the Committees in addition to the special duties entrusted to them under other provisions of the present Convention.

Art. 104. Members of Internee Committees shall not be required to perform any other work, if the accomplishment of their duties is rendered more difficult thereby.

Members of Internee Committees may appoint from amongst the internees such assistants as they may require. All material facilities shall be granted to them, particularly a certain freedom of movement necessary for the accomplishment of their duties (visits to labour detachments, receipt of suppl ies, etc.).

All facilities shall likewise be accorded to members of Internee Committees for communication by post and telegraph with the detaining authorities, the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross and their delegates, and with the organizations which give assistance to interne es.  Committee members in labour detachments shall enjoy similar facilities for communication with their Internee Committee in the principal place of internment. Such communications shall not be limited, nor considered as forming a part of the quota mentioned in Article 107.

Members of Internee Committees who are transferred shall be allowed a reasonable time to acquaint their successors with current affairs.

CHAPTER VIII

Relations with the Exterior

Art. 105. Immediately upon interning protected persons, the Detaining Powers shall inform them, the Power to which they owe allegiance and their Protecting Power of the measures taken for executing the provisions of the present Chapter. The Detaining Powers shall likewise inform the Parties conc erned of any subsequent modifications of such measures.

Art. 106. As soon as he is interned, or at the latest not more than one week after his arrival in a place of internment, and likewise in cases of sickness or transfer to another place of internment or to a hospital, every internee shall be enabled to send direct to his family, on the one hand, a nd to the Central Agency provided for by Article 140, on the other, an internment card similar, if possible, to the model annexed to the present Convention, informing his relatives of his detention, address and state of health. The said cards shall be forwarded as rapidly as possible and may not

 be delayed in any way.

Art. 107. Internees shall be allowed to send and receive letters and cards.  If the Detaining Power deems it necessary to limit the number of letters and cards sent by each internee, the said number shall not be less than two letters and four cards monthly; these shall be drawn up so as to confo rm as closely as possible to the models annexed to the present Convention. If limitations must be placed on the correspondence addressed to internees, they may be ordered only by the Power to which such internees owe allegiance, possibly at the request of the Detaining Power. Such letters and ca rds must be conveyed with reasonable despatch; they may not be delayed or retained for disciplinary reasons.

Internees who have been a long time without news, or who find it impossible to receive news from their relatives, or to give them news by the ordinary postal route, as well as those who are at a considerable distance from their homes, shall be allowed to send telegrams, the charges being paid by

 them in the currency at their disposal. They shall likewise benefit by this provision in cases which are recognized to be urgent.

As a rule, internees' mail shall be written in their own language. The Parties to the conflict may authorize correspondence in other languages.

Art. 108. Internees shall be allowed to receive, by post or by any other means, individual parcels or collective shipments containing in particular foodstuffs, clothing, medical supplies, as well as books and objects of a devotional, educational or recreational character which may meet their nee ds. Such shipments shall in no way free the Detaining Power from the obligations imposed upon it by virtue of the present Convention.

Should military necessity require the quantity of such shipments to be limited, due notice thereof shall be given to the Protecting Power and to the International Committee of the Red Cross, or to any other organization giving assistance to the internees and responsible for the forwarding of suc h shipments.

The conditions for the sending of individual parcels and collective shipments shall, if necessary, be the subject of special agreements between the Powers concerned, which may in no case delay the receipt by the internees of relief supplies. Parcels of clothing and foodstuffs may not include boo ks. Medical relief supplies shall, as a rule, be sent in collective parcels.

Art. 109. In the absence of special agreements between Parties to the conflict regarding the conditions for the receipt and distribution of collective relief shipments, the regulations concerning collective relief which are annexed to the present Convention shall be applied.

The special agreements provided for above shall in no case restrict the right of Internee Committees to take possession of collective relief shipments intended for internees, to undertake their distribution and to dispose of them in the interests of the recipients.  Nor shall such agreements res trict the right of representatives of the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross, or any other organization giving assistance to internees and responsible for the forwarding of collective shipments, to supervise their distribution to the recipients.

Art. 110. An relief shipments for internees shall be exempt from import, customs and other dues.

All matter sent by mail, including relief parcels sent by parcel post and remittances of money, addressed from other countries to internees or despatched by them through the post office, either direct or through the Information Bureaux provided for in Article 136 and the Central Information Agen cy provided for in Article 140, shall be exempt from all postal dues both in the countries of origin and destination and in intermediate countries. To this effect, in particular, the exemption provided by the Universal Postal Convention of 1947 and by the agreements of the Universal Postal Union

 in favour of civilians of enemy nationality detained in camps or civilian prisons, shall be extended to the other interned persons protected by the present Convention. The countries not signatory to the above-mentioned agreements shall be bound to grant freedom from charges in the same circumst ances.

The cost of transporting relief shipments which are intended for internees and which, by reason of their weight or any other cause, cannot be sent through the post office, shall be borne by the Detaining Power in all the territories under its control. Other Powers which are Parties to the presen t Convention shall bear the cost of transport in their respective territories.

Costs connected with the transport of such shipments, which are not covered by the above paragraphs, shall be charged to the senders.

The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to reduce, so far as possible, the charges for telegrams sent by internees, or addressed to them.

Art. 111. Should military operations prevent the Powers concerned from fulfilling their obligation to ensure the conveyance of the mail and relief shipments provided for in Articles 106, 107, 108 and 113, the Protecting Powers concerned, the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other organization duly approved by the Parties to the conflict may undertake to ensure the conveyance of such shipments by suitable means (rail, motor vehicles, vessels or aircraft, etc.). For this purpose, the High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to supply them with such transport, and to allow its circulation, especially by granting the necessary safe-conducts.

Such transport may also be used to convey:

(a)	correspondence, lists and reports exchanged between the Central Information Agency referred to in Article 140 and the National Bureaux referred to in Article 136;

(b)	correspondence and reports relating to internees which the Protecting Powers, the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other organization assisting the internees exchange either with their own delegates or with the Parties to the conflict.

These provisions in no way detract from the right of any Party to the conflict to arrange other means of transport if it should so prefer, nor preclude the granting of safe-conducts, under mutually agreed conditions, to such means of transport.

The costs occasioned by the use of such means of transport shall be borne, in proportion to the importance of the shipments, by the Parties to the conflict whose nationals are benefited thereby.

Art. 112. The censoring of correspondence addressed to internees or despatched by them shall be done as quickly as possible.

The examination of consignments intended for internees shall not be carried out under conditions that will expose the goods contained in them to deterioration. It shall be done in the presence of the addressee, or of a fellow-internee duly delegated by him. The delivery to internees of individua l or collective consignments shall not be delayed under the pretext of difficulties of censorship.

Any prohibition of correspondence ordered by the Parties to the conflict either for military or political reasons, shall be only temporary and its duration shall be as short as possible.

Art. 113. The Detaining Powers shall provide all reasonable execution facilities for the transmission, through the Protecting Power or the Central Agency provided for in Article 140, or as otherwise required, of wills, powers of attorney, letters of authority, or any other documents intended for

 internees or despatched by them.

In all cases the Detaining Powers shall facilitate the execution and authentication in due legal form of such documents on behalf of internees, in particular by allowing them to consult a lawyer.

Art. 114. The Detaining Power shall afford internees all facilities to enable them to manage their property, provided this is not incompatible with the conditions of internment and the law which is applicable. For this purpose, the said Power may give them permission to leave the place of intern ment in urgent cases and if circumstances allow.

Art. 115. In all cases where an internee is a party to proceedings in any court, the Detaining Power shall, if he so requests, cause the court to be informed of his detention and shall, within legal limits, ensure that all necessary steps are taken to prevent him from being in any way prejudiced , by reason of his internment, as regards the preparation and conduct of his case or as regards the execution of any judgment of the court.

Art.116. Every internee shall be allowed to receive visitors, especially near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as possible.

As far as is possible, internees shall be permitted to visit their homes in urgent cases, particularly in cases of death or serious illness of relatives.

CHAPTER IX

Penal and Disciplinary Sanctions

Art. 117. Subject to the provisions of the present Chapter, the laws in force in the territory in which they are detained will continue to apply to internees who commit offences during internment.

If general laws, regulations or orders declare acts committed by internees to be punishable, whereas the same acts are not punishable when committed by persons who are not internees, such acts shall entail disciplinary punishments only.

No internee may be punished more than once for the same act, or on the same count.

Art. 118. The courts or authorities shall in passing sentence take as far as possible into account the fact that the defendant is not a national of the Detaining Power. They shall be free to reduce the penalty prescribed for the offence with which the internee is charged and shall not be obliged , to this end, to apply the minimum sentence prescribed.

Imprisonment in premises without daylight, and, in general, all forms of cruelty without exception are forbidden.

Internees who have served disciplinary or judicial sentences shall not be treated differently from other internees.

The duration of preventive detention undergone by an internee shall be deducted from any disciplinary or judicial penalty involving confinement to which he may be sentenced.

Internee Committees shall be informed of all judicial proceedings instituted against internees whom they represent, and of their result.

Art. 119. The disciplinary punishments applicable to internees shall be the following:

(1)	a fine which shall not exceed 50 per cent of the wages which the internee would otherwise receive under the provisions of Article 95 during a period of not more than thirty days.

(2)	discontinuance of privileges granted over and above the treatment provided for by the present Convention

(3)	fatigue duties, not exceeding two hours daily, in connection with the maintenance of the place of internment.

(4)	confinement.

In no case shall disciplinary penalties be inhuman, brutal or dangerous for the health of internees. Account shall be taken of the internee's age, sex and state of health.

The duration of any single punishment shall in no case exceed a maximum of thirty consecutive days, even if the internee is answerable for several breaches of discipline when his case is dealt with, whether such breaches are connected or not.

Art. 120. Internees who are recaptured after having escaped or when attempting to escape, shall be liable only to disciplinary punishment in respect of this act, even if it is a repeated offence.

Article 118, paragraph 3, notwithstanding, internees punished as a result of escape or attempt to escape, may be subjected to special surveillance, on condition that such surveillance does not affect the state of their health, that it is exercised in a place of internment and that it does not en tail the abolition of any of the safeguards granted by the present Convention.

Internees who aid and abet an escape or attempt to escape, shall be liable on this count to disciplinary punishment only.

Art. 121. Escape, or attempt to escape, even if it is a repeated offence, shall not be deemed an aggravating circumstance in cases where an internee is prosecuted for offences committed during his escape.

The Parties to the conflict shall ensure that the competent authorities exercise leniency in deciding whether punishment inflicted for an offence shall be of a disciplinary or judicial nature, especially in respect of acts committed in connection with an escape, whether successful or not.

Art. 122. Acts which constitute offences against discipline shall be investigated immediately. This rule shall be applied, in particular, in cases of escape or attempt to escape. Recaptured internees shall be handed over to the competent authorities as soon as possible.

In cases of offences against discipline, confinement awaiting trial shall be reduced to an absolute minimum for all internees, and shall not exceed fourteen days. Its duration shall in any case be deducted from any sentence of confinement.

The provisions of Articles 124 and 125 shall apply to internees who are in confinement awaiting trial for offences against discipline.

Art. 123. Without prejudice to the competence of courts and higher authorities, disciplinary punishment may be ordered only by the commandant of the place of internment, or by a responsible officer or official who replaces him, or to whom he has delegated his disciplinary powers.

Before any disciplinary punishment is awarded, the accused internee shall be given precise information regarding the offences of which he is accused, and given an opportunity of explaining his conduct and of defending himself. He shall be permitted, in particular, to call witnesses and to have r ecourse, if necessary, to the services of a qualified interpreter.  The decision shall be announced in the presence of the accused and of a member of the Internee Committee.

The period elapsing between the time of award of a disciplinary punishment and its execution shall not exceed one month.

When an internee is awarded a further disciplinary punishment, a period of at least three days shall elapse between the execution of any two of the punishments, if the duration of one of these is ten days or more.

A record of disciplinary punishments shall be maintained by the commandant of the place of internment and shall be open to inspection by representatives of the Protecting Power.

Art. 124. Internees shall not in any case be transferred to penitentiary establishments (prisons, penitentiaries, convict prisons, etc.) to undergo disciplinary punishment therein.

The premises in which disciplinary punishments are undergone shall conform to sanitary requirements: they shall in particular be provided with adequate bedding. Internees undergoing punishment shall be enabled to keep themselves in a state of cleanliness.

Women internees undergoing disciplinary punishment shall be confined in separate quarters from male internees and shall be under the immediate supervision of women.

Art. 125. Internees awarded disciplinary punishment shall be allowed to exercise and to stay in the open air at least two hours daily.

They shall be allowed, if they so request, to be present at the daily medical inspections. They shall receive the attention which their state of health requires and, if necessary, shall be removed to the infirmary of the place of internment or to a hospital.

They shall have permission to read and write, likewise to send and receive letters. Parcels and remittances of money, however, may be withheld from them until the completion of their punishment; such consignments shall meanwhile be entrusted to the Internee Committee, who will hand over to the i nfirmary the perishable goods contained in the parcels.

No internee given a disciplinary punishment may be deprived of the benefit of the provisions of Articles 107 and 143 of the present Convention.

Art. 126. The provisions of Articles 71 to 76 inclusive shall apply, by analogy, to proceedings against internees who are in the national territory of the Detaining Power.


Internees, transfer; death;release
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PART III

STATUS AND TREATMENT OF PROTECTED PERSONS

CHAPTER X

Transfers of Internees

Art. 127. The transfer of internees shall always be effected humanely. As a general rule, it shall be carried out by rail or other means of transport, and under conditions at least equal to those obtaining for the forces of the Detaining Power in their changes of station. If, as an exceptional m easure, such removals have to be effected on foot, they may not take place unless the internees are in a fit state of health, and may not in any case expose them to excessive fatigue.

The Detaining Power shall supply internees during transfer with drinking water and food sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to maintain them in good health, and also with the necessary clothing, adequate shelter and the necessary medical attention. The Detaining Power shall take all suit able precautions to ensure their safety during transfer, and shall establish before their departure a complete list of all internees transferred.

Sick, wounded or infirm internees and maternity cases shall not be transferred if the journey would be seriously detrimental to them, unless their safety imperatively so demands.

If the combat zone draws close to a place of internment, the internees in the said place shall not be transferred unless their removal can be carried out in adequate conditions of safety, or unless they are exposed to greater risks by remaining on the spot than by being transferred.

When making decisions regarding the transfer of internees, the Detaining Power shall take their interests into account and, in particular, shall not do anything to increase the difficulties of repatriating them or returning them to their own homes.

Art. 128. In the event of transfer, internees shall be officially advised of their departure and of their new postal address. Such notification shall be given in time for them to pack their luggage and inform their next of kin.

They shall be allowed to take with them their personal effects, and the correspondence and parcels which have arrived for them. The weight of such baggage may be limited if the conditions of transfer so require, but in no case to less than twenty-five kilograms per internee.

Mail and parcels addressed to their former place of internment shall be forwarded to them without delay.

The commandant of the place of internment shall take, in agreement with the Internee Committee, any measures needed to ensure the transport of the internees' community property and of the luggage the internees are unable to take with them in consequence of restrictions imposed by virtue of the s econd paragraph.

CHAPTER XI

Deaths

Art. 129. The wills of internees shall be received for safe-keeping by the responsible authorities; and if the event of the death of an internee his will shall be transmitted without delay to a person whom he has previously designated.

Deaths of internees shall be certified in every case by a doctor, and a death certificate shall be made out, showing the causes of death and the conditions under which it occurred.

An official record of the death, duly registered, shall be drawn up in accordance with the procedure relating thereto in force in the territory where the place of internment is situated, and a duly certified copy of such record shall be transmitted without delay to the Protecting Power as well a s to the Central Agency referred to in Article 140.

Art. 130. The detaining authorities shall ensure that internees who die while interned are honourably buried, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged and that their graves are respected, properly maintained, and marked in such a way that they can always be recog nized.

Deceased internees shall be buried in individual graves unless unavoidable circumstances require the use of collective graves. Bodies may be cremated only for imperative reasons of hygiene, on account of the religion of the deceased or in accordance with his expressed wish to this effect. In cas e of cremation, the fact shall be stated and the reasons given in the death certificate of the deceased. The ashes shall be retained for safe-keeping by the detaining authorities and shall be transferred as soon as possible to the next of kin on their request.

As soon as circumstances permit, and not later than the close of hostilities, the Detaining Power shall forward lists of graves of deceased internees to the Powers on whom deceased internees depended, through the Information Bureaux provided for in Article 136. Such lists shall include all parti culars necessary for the identification of the deceased internees, as well as the exact location of their graves.

Art. 131. Every death or serious injury of an internee, caused or suspected to have been caused by a sentry, another internee or any other person, as well as any death the cause of which is unknown, shall be immediately followed by an official enquiry by the Detaining Power.

A communication on this subject shall be sent immediately to the Protecting Power. The evidence of any witnesses shall be taken, and a report including such evidence shall be prepared and forwarded to the said Protecting Power.

If the enquiry indicates the guilt of one or more persons, the Detaining Power shall take all necessary steps to ensure the prosecution of the person or persons responsible.

CHAPTER XII

Release, Repatriation and Accommodation in Neutral Countries

Art. 132. Each interned person shall be released by the Detaining Power as soon as the reasons which necessitated his internment no longer exist.

The Parties to the conflict shall, moreover, endeavour during the course of hostilities, to conclude agreements for the release, the repatriation, the return to places of residence or the accommodation in a neutral country of certain classes of internees, in particular children, pregnant women a nd mothers with infants and young children, wounded and sick, and internees who have been detained for a long time.

Art. 133. Internment shall cease as soon as possible after the close of hostilities.

Internees in the territory of a Party to the conflict against whom penal proceedings are pending for offences not exclusively subject to disciplinary penalties, may be detained until the close of such proceedings and, if circumstances require, until the completion of the penalty. The same shall apply to internees who have been previously sentenced to a punishment depriving them of liberty.

By agreement between the Detaining Power and the Powers concerned, committees may be set up after the close of hostilities, or of the occupation of territories, to search for dispersed internees.

Art. 134. The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour, upon the Repatriation close of hostilities or occupation, to ensure the return of all internees to their last place of residence, or to facilitate their residence repatriation.

Art. 135. The Detaining Power shall bear the expense of returning released internees to the places where they were residing when interned, or, if it took them into custody while they were in transit or on the high seas, the cost of completing their journey or of their return to their point of de parture.

Where a Detaining Power refuses permission to reside in its territory to a released internee who previously had his permanent domicile therein, such Detaining Power shall pay the cost of the said internee's repatriation. If, however, the internee elects to return to his country on his own respon sibility or in obedience to the Government of the Power to which he owes allegiance, the Detaining Power need not pay the expenses of his journey beyond the point of his departure from its territory. The Detaining Power need not pay the cost of repatriation of an internee who was interned at his own request.

If internees are transferred in accordance with Article 45, the transferring and receiving Powers shall agree on the portion of the above costs to be borne by each.

The foregoing shall not prejudice such special agreements as may be concluded between Parties to the conflict concerning the exchange and repatriation of their nationals in enemy hands.


Information Bureau  and General Agency
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SECTION V

Information Bureaux and Central Agency

Art. 136. Upon the outbreak of a conflict and in all cases of occupation, each of the Parties to the conflict shall establish an official Information Bureau responsible for receiving and transmitting information in respect of the protected persons who are in its power.

Each of the Parties to the conflict shall, within the shortest possible period, give its Bureau information of any measure taken by it concerning any protected persons who are kept in custody for more than two weeks, who are subjected to assigned residence or who are interned. It shall, furtherm ore, require its various departments concerned with such matters to provide the aforesaid Bureau promptly with information concerning all changes pertaining to these protected persons, as, for example, transfers, releases, repatriations, escapes, admittances to hospitals, births and deaths.

Art. 137. Each national Bureau shall immediately forward information concerning protected persons by the most rapid means to the Powers in whose territory they resided, through the intermediary of the Protecting Powers and likewise through the Central Agency provided for in Article 140. The Bure aux shall also reply to all enquiries which may be received regarding protected persons.

Information Bureaux shall transmit information concerning a protected person unless its transmission might be detrimental to the person concerned or to his or her relatives. Even in such a case, the information may not be withheld from the Central Agency which, upon being notified of the circums tances, will take the necessary precautions indicated in Article 140.

All communications in writing made by any Bureau shall be authenticated by a signature or a seal.

Art. 138. The information received by the national Bureau and transmitted by it shall be of such a character as to make it possible to identify the protected person exactly and to advise his next of kin quickly. The information in respect of each person shall include at least his surname, first names, place and date of birth, nationality last residence and distinguishing characteristics, the first name of the father and the maiden name of the mother, the date, place and nature of the action taken with regard to the individual, the address at which correspondence may be sent to him and the name and address of the person to be informed.

Likewise, information regarding the state of health of internees who are seriously ill or seriously wounded shall be supplied regularly and if possible every week.

Art. 139. Each national Information Bureau shall, furthermore, be responsible for collecting all personal valuables left by protected persons mentioned in Article 136, in particular those who have been repatriated or released, or who have escaped or died; it shall forward the said valuables to t hose concerned, either direct, or, if necessary, through the Central Agency. Such articles shall be sent by the Bureau in sealed packets which shall be accompanied by statements giving clear and full identity particulars of the person to whom the articles belonged, and by a complete list of the contents of the parcel. Detailed records shall be maintained of the receipt and despatch of all such valuables.

Art. 140. A Central Information Agency for protected persons, in particular for internees, shall be created in a neutral country. The International Committee of the Red Cross shall, if it deems necessary, propose to the Powers concerned the organization of such an Agency, which may be the same a s that provided for in Article 123 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949.

The function of the Agency shall be to collect all information of the type set forth in Article 136 which it may obtain through official or private channels and to transmit it as rapidly as possible to the countries of origin or of residence of the persons concerned, except in cases where such t ransmissions might be detrimental to the persons whom the said information concerns, or to their relatives. It shall receive from the Parties to the conflict all reasonable facilities for effecting such transmissions.

The High Contracting Parties, and in particular those whose nationals benefit by the services of the Central Agency, are requested to give the said Agency the financial aid it may require.

The foregoing provisions shall in no way be interpreted as restricting the humanitarian activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of the relief Societies described in Article 142.

Art. 141. The national Information Bureaux and the Central Information Agency shall enjoy free postage for all mail, likewise the exemptions provided for in Article 110, and further, so far as possible, exemption from telegraphic charges or, at least, greatly reduced rates.


Execution of the Convention
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PART IV

EXECUTION OF THE CONVENTION

SECTION I

General Provisions

Art. 142. Subject to the measures which the Detaining Powers may consider essential to ensure their security or to meet any other reasonable need, the representatives of religious organizations, relief societies, or any other organizations assisting the protected persons, shall receive from thes e Powers, for themselves or their duly accredited agents, all facilities for visiting the protected persons, for distributing relief supplies and material from any source, intended for educational, recreational or religious purposes, or for assisting them in organizing their leisure time within the places of internment. Such societies or organizations may be constituted in the territory of the Detaining Power, or in any other country, or they may have an international character.

The Detaining Power may limit the number of societies and organizations whose delegates are allowed to carry out their activities in its territory and under its supervision, on condition, however, that such limitation shall not hinder the supply of effective and adequate relief to all protected persons.

The special position of the International Committee of the Red Cross in this field shall be recognized and respected at all times.

Art. 143. Representatives or delegates of the Protecting Powers shall have permission to go to all places where protected persons are, particularly to places of internment, detention and work.

They shall have access to all premises occupied by protected persons and shall be able to interview the latter without witnesses, personally or through an interpreter.

Such visits may not be prohibited except for reasons of imperative military necessity, and then only as an exceptional and temporary measure. Their duration and frequency shall not be restricted.

Such representatives and delegates shall have full liberty to select the places they wish to visit. The Detaining or Occupying Power, the Protecting Power and when occasion arises the Power of origin of the persons to be visited, may agree that compatriots of the internees shall be permitted to participate in the visits.

The delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross shall also enjoy the above prerogatives. The appointment of such delegates shall be submitted to the approval of the Power governing the territories where they will carry out their duties.

Art. 144. The High Contracting Parties undertake, in time of peace as in time of war, to disseminate the text of the present Convention as widely as possible in their respective countries, and, in particular, to include the study thereof in their programmes of military and, if possible, civil in struction, so that the principles thereof may become known to the entire population.

Any civilian, military, police or other authorities, who in time of war assume responsibilities in respect of protected persons, must possess the text of the Convention and be specially instructed as to its provisions.

Art. 145. The High Contracting Parties shall communicate to one another through the Swiss Federal Council and, during hostilities, through the Protecting Powers, the official translations of the present Convention, as well as the laws and regulations which they may adopt to ensure the applicatio n thereof.

Art. 146. The High Contracting Parties undertake to enact any legislation necessary to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering to be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present Convention defined in the following Article.

Each High Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such grave breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its own courts. It may also, if it prefers, and in accordance with the provisions of its own legislation, hand such persons over for trial to another High Contracting Party concerned, provided such High Contracting Party has made out a prima facie case.

Each High Contracting Party shall take measures necessary for the suppression of all acts contrary to the provisions of the present Convention other than the grave breaches defined in the following Article.

In all circumstances, the accused persons shall benefit by safeguards of proper trial and defence, which shall not be less favourable than those provided by Article 105 and those following of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949.

Art. 147. Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or property protected by the present Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed in the present Convention, taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.

Art. 148. No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself or any other High Contracting Party of any liability incurred by itself or by another High Contracting Party in respect of breaches referred to in the preceding Article.

Art. 149. At the request of a Party to the conflict, an enquiry shall be instituted, in a manner to be decided between the interested Parties, concerning any alleged violation of the Convention.

If agreement has not been reached concerning the procedure for the enquiry, the Parties should agree on the choice of an umpire who will decide upon the procedure to be followed.

Once the violation has been established, the Parties to the conflict shall put an end to it and shall repress it with the least possible delay.

SECTION II

Final Provisions

Art. 150. The present Convention is established in English and in French.  Both texts are equally authentic.

The Swiss Federal Council shall arrange for official translations of the Convention to be made in the Russian and Spanish languages.

Art. 151. The present Convention, which bears the date of this day, is open to signature until 12 February 1950, in the name of the Powers represented at the Conference which opened at Geneva on 21 April 1949.

Art. 152. The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible and the ratifications shall be deposited at Berne.

A record shall be drawn up of the deposit of each instrument of ratification and certified copies of this record shall be transmitted by the Swiss Federal Council to all the Powers in whose name the Convention has been signed, or whose accession has been notified.

Art. 153. The present Convention shall come into force six months after not less than two instruments of ratification have been deposited.

Thereafter, it shall come into force for each High Contracting Party six months after the deposit of the instrument of ratification.

Art. 154. In the relations between the Powers who are bound by the Hague Conventions respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, whether that of 29 July 1899, or that of 18 October 1907, and who are parties to the present Convention, this last Convention shall be supplementary to Sections II and III of the Regulations annexed to the above-mentioned Conventions of The Hague.

Art. 155. From the date of its coming into force, it shall be open to any Power in whose name the present Convention has not been signed, to accede to this Convention.

Art. 156. Accessions shall be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal Council, and shall take effect six months after the date on which they are received.

The Swiss Federal Council shall communicate the accessions to all the Powers in whose name the Convention has been signed, or whose accession has been notified.

Art. 157. The situations provided for in Articles 2 and 3 shall effective immediate effect to ratifications deposited and accessions notified by the Parties to the conflict before or after the beginning of hostilities or occupation. The Swiss Federal Council shall communicate by the quickest met hod any ratifications or accessions received from Parties to the conflict.

Art. 158. Each of the High Contracting Parties shall be at liberty to denounce the present Convention.

The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal Council, which shall transmit it to the Governments of all the High Contracting Parties.

The denunciation shall take effect one year after the notification thereof has been made to the Swiss Federal Council. However, a denunciation of which notification has been made at a time when the denouncing Power is involved in a conflict shall not take effect until peace has been concluded, a nd until after operations connected with release, repatriation and re-establishment of the persons protected by the present Convention have been terminated.

The denunciation shall have effect only in respect of the denouncing Power.  It shall in no way impair the obligations which the Parties to the conflict shall remain bound to fulfil by virtue of the principles of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peop les, from the laws of humanity and the dictates of the public conscience.

Art. 159. The Swiss Federal Council shall register the present Convention with the Secretariat of the United Nations. The Swiss Federal Council shall also inform the Secretariat of the United Nations of all ratifications, accessions and denunciations received by it with respect to the present Convention.

In witness whereof the undersigned, having deposited their respective full powers, have signed the present Convention.

Done at Geneva this twelfth day of August 1949, in the English and French languages. The original shall be deposited in the Archives of the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss Federal Council shall transmit certified copies thereof to each of the signatory and acceding States.


Final Provisions
Final Provisions  Prev Next  Links  Links  Links  Links

SECTION II

Final Provisions

Art. 150. The present Convention is established in English and in French.  Both texts are equally authentic.

The Swiss Federal Council shall arrange for official translations of the Convention to be made in the Russian and Spanish languages.

Art. 151. The present Convention, which bears the date of this day, is open to signature until 12 February 1950, in the name of the Powers represented at the Conference which opened at Geneva on 21 April 1949.

Art. 152. The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible and the ratifications shall be deposited at Berne.

A record shall be drawn up of the deposit of each instrument of ratification and certified copies of this record shall be transmitted by the Swiss Federal Council to all the Powers in whose name the Convention has been signed, or whose accession has been notified.

Art. 153. The present Convention shall come into force six months after not less than two instruments of ratification have been deposited.

Thereafter, it shall come into force for each High Contracting Party six months after the deposit of the instrument of ratification.

Art. 154. In the relations between the Powers who are bound by the Hague Conventions respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, whether that of 29 July 1899, or that of 18 October 1907, and who are parties to the present Convention, this last Convention shall be supplementary to Sections II

 and III of the Regulations annexed to the above-mentioned Conventions of The Hague.

Art. 155. From the date of its coming into force, it shall be open to any Power in whose name the present Convention has not been signed, to accede to this Convention.

Art. 156. Accessions shall be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal Council, and shall take effect six months after the date on which they are received.

The Swiss Federal Council shall communicate the accessions to all the Powers in whose name the Convention has been signed, or whose accession has been notified.

Art. 157. The situations provided for in Articles 2 and 3 shall effective immediate effect to ratifications deposited and accessions notified by the Parties to the conflict before or after the beginning of hostilities or occupation. The Swiss Federal Council shall communicate by the quickest met hod any ratifications or accessions received from Parties to the conflict.

Art. 158. Each of the High Contracting Parties shall be at liberty to denounce the present Convention.

The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Swiss Federal Council, which shall transmit it to the Governments of all the High Contracting Parties.

The denunciation shall take effect one year after the notification thereof has been made to the Swiss Federal Council. However, a denunciation of which notification has been made at a time when the denouncing Power is involved in a conflict shall not take effect until peace has been concluded, a nd until after operations connected with release, repatriation and re-establishment of the persons protected by the present Convention have been terminated.

The denunciation shall have effect only in respect of the denouncing Power.  It shall in no way impair the obligations which the Parties to the conflict shall remain bound to fulfil by virtue of the principles of the law of nations, as they result from the usages established among civilized peop les, from the laws of humanity and the dictates of the public conscience.

Art. 159. The Swiss Federal Council shall register the present Convention with the Secretariat of the United Nations. The Swiss Federal Council shall also inform the Secretariat of the United Nations of all ratifications, accessions and denunciations received by it with respect to the present Co nvention.

In witness whereof the undersigned, having deposited their respective full powers, have signed the present Convention.

Done at Geneva this twelfth day of August 1949, in the English and French languages. The original shall be deposited in the Archives of the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss Federal Council shall transmit certified copies thereof to each of the signatory and acceding States.


Annexes: Hospitals; collective relief
Annexes: Hospitals; collective relief  Prev

ANNEX I

Draft Agreement Relating to Hospital and Safety Zones and Localities

Art. 1. Hospital and safety zones shall be strictly reserved for the persons mentioned in Article 23 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949, and in Article 14 of the Geneva Convention relative to the P rotection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, and for the personnel entrusted with the organization and administration of these zones and localities, and with the care of the persons therein assembled.

Nevertheless, persons whose permanent residence is within such zones shall have the right to stay there.

Art. 2. No persons residing, in whatever capacity, in a hospital and safety zone shall perform any work, either within or without the zone, directly connected with military operations or the production of war material.

Art. 3. The Power establishing a hospital and safety zone shall take all necessary measures to prohibit access to all persons who have no right of residence or entry therein.

Art. 4. Hospital and safety zones shall fulfil the following conditions:

(a)	they shall comprise only a small part of the territory governed by the Power which has established them

(b)	they shall be thinly populated in relation to the possibilities of accommodation

(c)	they shall be far removed and free from all military objectives, or large industrial or administrative establishments

(d)	they shall not be situated in areas which, according to every probability, may become important for the conduct of the war.

Art. 5. Hospital and safety zones shall be subject to the following obligations:

(a)	the lines of communication and means of transport which they possess shall not be used for the transport of military personnel or material, even in transit

(b)	they shall in no case be defended by military means.

Art. 6. Hospital and safety zones shall be marked by means of oblique red bands on a white ground, placed on the buildings and outer precincts.

Zones reserved exclusively for the wounded and sick may be marked by means of the Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun) emblem on a white ground.

They may be similarly marked at night by means of appropriate illumination.

Art. 7. The Powers shall communicate to all the High Contracting Parties in peacetime or on the outbreak of hostilities, a list of the hospital and safety zones in the territories governed by them. They shall also give notice of any new zones set up during hostilities.

As soon as the adverse party has received the above-mentioned notification, the zone shall be regularly established.

If, however, the adverse party considers that the conditions of the present agreement have not been fulfilled, it may refuse to recognize the zone by giving immediate notice thereof to the Party responsible for the said zone, or may make its recognition of such zone dependent upon the institutio n of the control provided for in Article 8.

Art. 8. Any Power having recognized one or several hospital and safety zones instituted by the adverse Party shall be entitled to demand control by one or more Special Commissions, for the purpose of ascertaining if the zones fulfil the conditions and obligations stipulated in the present agreem ent.

For this purpose, members of the Special Commissions shall at all times have free access to the various zones and may even reside there permanently. They shall be given all facilities for their duties of inspection.

Art. 9. Should the Special Commissions note any facts which they consider contrary to the stipulations of the present agreement, they shall at once draw the attention of the Power governing the said zone to these facts, and shall fix a time limit of five days within which the matter should be re ctified. They shall duly notify the Power which has recognized the zone.

If, when the time limit has expired, the Power governing the zone has not complied with the warning, the adverse Party may declare that it is no longer bound by the present agreement in respect of the said zone.

Art. 10. Any Power setting up one or more hospital and safety zones, and the adverse Parties to whom their existence has been notified, shall nominate or have nominated by the Protecting Powers or by other neutral Powers, persons eligible to be members of the Special Commissions mentioned in Art icles 8 and 9.

Art. 11. In no circumstances may hospital and safety zones be the object of attack. They shall be protected and respected at all times by the Parties to the conflict.

Art. 12. In the case of occupation of a territory, the hospital and safety zones therein shall continue to be respected and utilized as such.

Their purpose may, however, be modified by the Occupying Power, on condition that all measures are taken to ensure the safety of the persons accommodated.

Art. 13. The present agreement shall also apply to localities which the Powers may utilize for the same purposes as hospital and safety zones.

ANNEX II

Draft Regulations concerning Collective Relief

Article 1. The Internee Committees shall be allowed to distribute collective relief shipments for which they are responsible to all internees who are dependent for administration on the said Committee's place of internment, including those internees who are in hospitals, or in prison or other pe nitentiary establishments.

Art. 2. The distribution of collective relief shipments shall be effected in accordance with the instructions of the donors and with a plan drawn up by the Internee Committees. The issue of medical stores shall, however, be made for preference in agreement with the senior medical officers, and t he latter may, in hospitals and infirmaries, waive the said instructions, if the needs of their patients so demand. Within the limits thus defined, the distribution shall always be carried out equitably.

Art. 3. Members of Internee Committees shall be allowed to go to the railway stations or other points of arrival of relief supplies near their places of internment so as to enable them to verify the quantity as well as the quality of the goods received and to make out detailed reports thereon fo r the donors.

Art. 4. Internee Committees shall be given the facilities necessary for verifying whether the distribution of collective relief in all subdivisions and annexes of their places of internment has been carried out in accordance with their instructions.

Art. 5. Internee Committees shall be allowed to complete, and to cause to be completed by members of the Internee Committees in labour detachments or by the senior medical officers of infirmaries and hospitals, forms or questionnaires intended for the donors, relating to collective relief suppli es (distribution, requirements, quantities, etc.). Such forms and questionnaires, duly completed, shall be forwarded to the donors without delay.

Art. 6. In order to secure the regular distribution of collective relief supplies to the internees in their place of internment, and to meet any needs that may arise through the arrival of fresh parties of internees, the Internee Committees shall be allowed to create and maintain sufficient rese rve stocks of collective relief. For this purpose, they shall have suitable warehouses at their disposal; each warehouse shall be provided with two locks, the Internee Committee holding the keys of one lock, and the commandant of the place of internment the keys of the other.

Art. 7. The High Contracting Parties, and the Detaining Powers in particular, shall, so far as is in any way possible and subject to the regulations governing the food supply of the population, authorize purchases of goods to be made in their territories for the distribution of collective relief to the internees. They shall likewise facilitate the transfer of funds and other financial measures of a technical or administrative nature taken for the purpose of making such purchases.

Art. 8. The foregoing provisions shall not constitute an obstacle to the right of internees to receive collective relief before their arrival in a place of internment or in the course of their transfer, nor to the possibility of representatives of the Protecting Power, or of the International Co mmittee of the Red Cross or any other humanitarian organization giving assistance to internees and responsible for forwarding such supplies, ensuring the distribution thereof to the recipients by any other means they may deem suitable.

[ANNEX III, illustrations of Internment Card, Letter, and Correspondence Card, not included]

.


Geneva provisions cited to bash Israel.  Commentary
Geneva provisions cited to bash Israel.  Commentary   Links  Links  Links  Links

Since Israel repulsed the Arab war of annihilation in 1967, it has expelled several hundred PLO and other terrorists, and in December 1992 temporarily expelled 400-odd Hamas terrorists. /  Note  / Putting this in perspective  / The United Nations, human rights organizations, western governments and almost everybody else has adamantly condemned Israel for what they call the clear violation of Article 49 of the Convention.  The fragment opponents of Israel quote / The fragment opponents of Israel ignore.  / The entire Article 49 /

Statement by CAMERA: The Geneva convention is not applicable to territories, and even if they were, the Convention permits deportations (Article 49), internment without trial (Article 78)  and furthermore requires an occupying power to apply the law of the last recognized sovereign ( Article 64).  Requlation 112 of the British Mandate permitted the deportation of terrorists.

The Geneva Convention is not applicable to the West Bank and Gaza because no "High Contracting Party" legally held the territory when the Convention was signed in 1949.  Jordan held the territory, whose borders were merely a ceasefire line its its war of extermination against the Jews.  Jordan's claim was recognized only by Britain and Pakistan.  It was rejected by the United Nations, the Arab League and every other nation.  The Convention is quite clear that it applies to High Contracting Parties, i.e. sovereign signatories.

After the Rabin/Arafat Accord of Sep 13, '93, Israel closed its prisons in the "territories," releasing most but transferring some to prisons inside the pre-67 borders.  Palestinians and "human rights" organizations said the transfer violated the protection of population articles of the Convention. /  Typical claim.  /   Why the claim?  /  Very short blurb - who has a claim on the territories?  /

Journalists, Arabs and others often criticize Israel for holding "political prisoners."  They often claim that holding terrorists without trial contravenes the Geneva Convention.  /  Typical claim and response.  /  Article 78 of the Convention permits internment.

Arabs, their apologists in the oil and arms companies and leftists in general claim that Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria (the "West Bank") and Gaza are illegal usurpation of occupied territory under the Geneva Convention.  /  Is the territory occupied? Are the settlements illegal? /  Jewish communities in the territories before '67 /  When did Jewish communities in Hebron or Jericho become illegal?  /

On the other hand....

·	The PLO openly and proudly uses children, including very small children, in the war against the Jews. /  Quote  /  Arab journalists brag of it  /  Western television glorifies it   /   Arabs proudly detail the combat roles of children.   /   The PLO threatens any Arab who opposes using children and runs terrorist training camps for children.

·	If a politically incorrect combatant used children they'd be roasted by the glitterati.  /  Comment  /

·	International law clearly forbids the use of children in combat.  This is ignored because the  leadership of the "Palestinians" are the latest group of brutal thugs romanticized by the politically correct .  /  The Geneva Convention forbids using civilians as shields  /   Article 28  /  And Article 38 of The Economic and Social Council for the United Nations explicitly requires combatants to remove children from the scene of hostilities.  /

·	Article about the  PLO's use of children as shields and combatants


War of extermination quote
"This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.''

-	Arab League Sec. Gen. Azzam Pasha, May 15, 1948, the day five Arab armies invaded the new state of Israel


Nasser quote on objective of 67 war
"Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel.''

-	President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, May 27, 1967, nine days before the start of the Six Day War


Article 49 place holder


Article 49 of the Geneva Convention
Article 49 of the Geneva Convention   Links  Links  Links  Links

Art. 49. Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.

Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand. Such evacuations may not involve the displacement of protected persons outside the bounds of the occupied territory except when for material reasons it is impossible to avoid such displacement. Persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased.

The Occupying Power undertaking such transfers or evacuations shall ensure, to the greatest practicable extent, that proper accommodation is provided to receive the protected persons, that the removals are effected in satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety and nutrition, and that mem bers of the same family are not separated.

The Protecting Power shall be informed of any transfers and evacuations as soon as they have taken place.

The Occupying Power shall not detain protected persons in an area particularly exposed to the dangers of war unless the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand.

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.


Article 49: initial fragment
Article 49:  The fragment opponents of Israel frequently quote

Art. 49. Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.


Article 49: Fragment opponents of Israel ignore

Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand. Such evacuations may not involve the displacement of protected persons outside the bounds of the occupied territory except when for material reasons it is impossible to avoid such displacement. Persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased.


putting it in perspective
When Saddam was still the buddy of George Bush, France, Germany, the Gulf states and everybody else who had nuclear and chemical weapons technology they wanted to peddle, he exterminated some 200,000 Kurds and expelled untold hundreds of thousands from their homes.  Did anybody peep?  Three guesses.  Sudan has driven somewhere between 500,000 and 1,500,000 Dinkas into the desert, many if not most to die.  Any UN resolutions?  Three guesses.  Etc.


they've returned
Israel allowed all the Hamas deportees to return within months under withering international pressure.  All the PLO deportees have either returned or have been given permission to return under the Rabin/PLO accord.


CAMERA: Geneva not applicable and Mandate permitted deportations
CAMERA: Geneva not applicable and Mandate permitted deportations   CAMERA  Links  Links  Links  Links

Facts About Israel and the Fourth Geneva Convention

{Israel has been accused of violating the Fourth Geneva Convention when it periodically deports those involved either directly or indirectly in terrorism against Jewish and Arab Israelis.  The temporary expulsion of 417 adherents of Hamas in December 1992 again triggered these false assertions. }

What is the "Fourth Geneva Convention"?

The Geneva Conventions were first instituted in 1864 in an effort to ensure humane treatment of civilians and military personnel in times of war.  After World War II, and the Nazi atrocities involving mass transfers of populations to slave labor and death camps, additional protocols were added, including the Fourth Geneva Convention in August, 1949.

Does the Convention apply in the West Bank and Gaza?

Many experts, including Eugene Rostow and Yehuda Blum, argue the Fourth Geneva Convention does not, in fact, apply to these areas because the Convention requires the occupying power to comply with the pre-existing laws governing the territory in question.  The laws relevant to the West Bank and Gaza are those of the last recognized sovereign, the British Mandatory authority, which permit deportations in times of emergency (Regulation 112, Defense Regulations of 1945).  Israel's Supreme Court, known for its independence and willingness to rule against government decisions, upheld the legality of Israel's recent deportation of Hamas adherents.

Has Israel violated the Convention?

If the Convention did legally apply to the West Bank and Gaza Israel would, nevertheless, not have violated its tenets in deporting the Hamas militants.  First, the Convention stipulates that expulsions may occur if "the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand." The terrorist killings of five Israeli soldiers and a policeman that triggered the expulsions presented an unprecedented internal challenge to the state's ability to protect its citizens and its security forces.  Second, the Fourth Geneva Convention was not meant to hobble a responsible democracy acting in self-defense but to prevent any future genocidal campaign by Hitlerite dictators.


ccampus blurb
CAMERA ON CAMPUS

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America

Vol.4, No.2 Spring 1993

For original copies and information, contact CAMERA: P.O. Box 428, Boston, 	MA, 02258.  Tel (617) 789-3672 FAX (617) 787-7853

Vol.  4, No.  2

Spring 1993

The CAMERA Media Report ispublished by the CAMERANational Media Resource Center

Editor: Andrea Levin

Associate Editor:Tamara Indianer

Contributors: Jon Haber, Leora Sallis,

Rachel Temkin, David Wolf

Electronic version prepared by:

Charles S.  Cramer

Copyright (c) 1993 by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting inAmerica.  All rights reserved.

Permission granted to reproduce this information without changes or additions 	to individual stories, segments or articles.  Reproduction may be in either mechanical or electronic form, provided that this copyright statement is included.


Journalist bashes Israel for applying Article 78 to Palestinian terrorists
Journalist bashes Israel for applying Article 78 to Palestinian terrorists  Commercial  Links  Links  Links  Links

Excerpt from 7 Jan '94 Eye on the Media.  Commercial

...AND TO make doubly sure that the killing of Israelis does not elicit sympathy for the savage "occupiers," the Los Angeles Times describes the Palestinians in Israeli jails, whose freedom the PLO is demanding, as "political prisoners."

But Joe Gelman of the Jewish Community Relations Committee in Los Angeles was not amused.  In a letter to the Times he protested that "political prisoners conjures up visions of innocent people being detained simply because of their political beliefs, which is not the case with Palestinian pris oners held in Israeli jails."

Replying for the Times, Deputy Foreign Editor Simon Li wrote, "We are talking about Palestinians in jail ...  for such offenses as raising the Palestinian flag, daubing pro-PLO graffiti or even writing poetry.  These people are held for expressing political opinion and thoughts deemed to be offenses by the occupation authorities; they are not, as you put it, people 'serving prison sentences ... for specific acts of violence.'

"As you well know, many Palestinians are detained by Israel under regulations that have their roots in the era of the British mandate in Palestine.  In short, Israel is now using against the Palestinians modified versions of the same quasi-legal weapons used against Jews who fought to establish the state of Israel ...

"By official Israeli figures, Michael Parks [the LA Times's Israel correspondent] informs me, of the roughly 12,000 Palestinians held, only about 700 are incarcerated with 'blood on their hands.'

"Many may even be innocent in the moral sense - that they did not commit or even have knowledge of the offenses they ostensibly are detained for.  Still others may not even know what those alleged offenses are."

GELMAN ASKED the Israeli Consul for Press and Information, Moshe Benzioni, in Los Angeles to reply.  He did, superbly: " ... the vast majority of Palestinians held by Israel have been charged and tried or are awaiting trial.  The crimes with which they are charged would be considered crimes any where, including here in California.  No one is imprisoned for writing poetry; if you know of such a person, please inform me of his name.

"I understand from your letter that your are primarily referring to the limited number of people (less than 250) in administrative detention.  This measure is indeed based upon Jordanian and Egyptian regulations (in Judea/Samaria and Gaza, respectively) which are based on older British regulations.  This is fully in accordance with article 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.  It is not clear to me why you call these regulations 'quasi-legal weapons,' except to cast doubt on the legality of Israel's actions when no legal basis for such doubt exists.

"As for the morality of these regulations, they are indeed draconian and unpleasant.  Due to this, Israel has modified them to allow a far greater degree of due process for the accused.  For example, Israel allows every prisoner to submit an appeal up to, and including, the Supreme Court ...  No Palestinian is being held for merely expressing a political position or view.  Again, if you know of any such case, please let me have the name of the innocent individual.

"Your reference to 'only about 700 prisoners with blood on their hands' is particularly offensive.  Do you mean that Israel has no right to imprison anyone who has not committed murder?  Is anyone who has not managed to murder an Israeli innocent by your definition?"

The sad part is that Li has been fed these Arabian Nights tales by correspondent Michael Parks, one of the least offensive foreign reporters in this country.  Even the fairest reporters, it seems, fall for egregious fabrications if they are repeated often enough.  (c) JPFS 1994 .


Eye commercial
Excerpted from Eye on the Media, a weekly column by Jerusalem Post editor David bar-Illan, or guests.  This issue was titled The Body Count As An Effective Bash-Israel Device, April 7, 1994


Article 78 of Geneva Convention
Article 78 of Geneva Convention  Links  Links  Links  Links

Art. 78. If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning protected persons, it may, at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment.

Decisions regarding such assigned residence or internment shall be made according to a regular procedure to be prescribed by the Occupying Power in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention. This procedure shall include the right of appeal for the parties concerned. Appeals shall be decided with the least possible delay. In the event of the decision being upheld, it shall be subject to periodical review, if possible every six months, by a competent body set up by the said Power.

Protected persons made subject to assigned residence and thus required to leave their homes shall enjoy the full benefit of Article 39 of the present Convention.


Article 64 of the Geneva Convention
Article 64 of the Geneva Convention  Links  Links  Links  Links

Art. 64. The penal laws of the occupied territory shall remain in force, with the exception that they may be repealed or suspended by the Occupying Power in cases where they constitute a threat to its security or an obstacle to the application of the present Convention.

Subject to the latter consideration and to the necessity for ensuring the effective administration of justice, the tribunals of the occupied territory shall continue to function in respect of all offences covered by the said laws.

The Occupying Power may, however, subject the population of the occupied territory to provisions which are essential to enable the Occupying Power to fulfil its obligations under the present Convention, to maintain the orderly government of the territory, and to ensure the security of the Occupying Power, of the members and property of the occupying forces or administration, and likewise of the establishments and lines of communication used by them.


High Contracting Parties
High Contracting Parties  Links  Links  Links  Links

Article 1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.

Art. 2. In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peace-time, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.

The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.


Article 28 of Geneva Convention
Article 28 of Geneva Convention  Protected Persons  Links  Links  Links  Links

Art. 28. The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.

See also:  Protection of Populations.


Prisoner transfer place-holder


Palestinians claim transfer of prisoners violates Geneva Convention
Palestinians claim transfer of prisoners violates Geneva Convention   Links  Links  Links  Links

JERUSALEM, Sept 28 (Reuter) - Israel television said on Tuesday Police Minister Moshe Shahal had ordered the Prison Authority to prepare to evacuate jails for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip...

Israeli newspapers said last week the army could close four detention camps and release up to 4,000 of the 6,500 Palestinian prisoners it holds...

     The reports said Israel would free prisoners aligned with the PLO but no one involved in killings or armed attacks on soldiers or civilians or those linked to groups opposed to the peace accord.

     Maximum security prisoners would be transferred to jails inside Israel...

     Palestinians and human rights organizations have said the transfer of prisoners to Israel violates the Fourth Geneva Convention protecting populations under occupation.

(emphasis added)


Why press the claim on prisoner transfer?
Why press the claim on prisoner transfer?   Links  Links  Links  Links

There are at least two plausible reasons that Palestinians protested the transfer of prisoners from jails outside the green line to jails within the green line.  One was to maneuver Israel into releasing the prisoners instead.  Israel had already committed itself to closing the prisons and releasing some prisoners.  Palestinians had already demanded the release of all prisoners, and had furthermore said there'd be no peace - its promises in the Accord notwithstanding - until all the prisoners were released.  This human rights claim had a chance of succeeding.  In the end it did, but not then, late September, 1993.

The second reason was clearly to push the Palestinian claim that Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") and Gaza were occupied territories.


Settlements are illegal link master


Are Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza illegal under the Geneva Convention?
Are Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza illegal under the Geneva Convention?  Links  Links  Links  Links

MYTH

//"Israeli settlements are illegal and are obstacles to peace.  They are in violation of the Geneva Convention."//

FACT

Numerous legal authorities dispute the charge that the settlements are "illegal." International law scholar Stephen Schwebel, in the American Journal of International Law, explained Israel's legal position: (a) A state acting in lawful exercise of its right of self-defense may seize and occupy foreign territory as long as such seizure and occupation are necessary to its self-defense.  (b) As a condition of its withdrawal from such territory, that state may require the institution of security measures reasonably designed to ensure that that territory shall not again be used to moun t a threat or use of force against it of such a nature as to justify exercise of self-defense.  (c) Where the prior holder of territory had seized that territory unlawfully, the state which subsequently takes that territory in the lawful exercise of self-defense has, against that prior holder, better title.

According to Yale law professor Eugene Rostow, UN Resolutions 242 and 338 give Israel legal rights in the West Bank.  "The Israelis are now in the West Bank as the occupying power under the Security Council Resolutions of 1967 and 1973," Rostow wrote.  "They have a right to remain until full peace is made." Israel's claim to the territory is superior to Jordan 's, Rostow explained, "since Jordan's presence in the West Bank was the result of its aggression in 1948, while Israel's arose from the exercise of its legitimate right of self-defense in 1967..."

As for israel's adherence to the Fourth Geneva Convention, lawyer Rita Hauser, in testimony before the House International Relations Committee on September 21, 1977, explained the convention's non-applicability in this case.  Hauser, a former U.S. representative to the UN Human Rights Commissio n, stated: "The restrictions contained in the convention as to a military occupier presuppose that a registrate sovereign was a signatory to the convention.

"The West Bank and Gaza were unlawfully occupied by Jordan and Egypt, respectively," Hauser explained, "as a result of Arab failure to accept the 1947 resolution of the General Assembly which partitioned the former British Palestine Mandate into two parts, and the consequent war which was ended by the armistice prior to the June 1967 war... Israel nevertheless has stated that it acts in accordance with the humanitarian provisions of the convention and has attempted to administer the territories on that basis."

Based on legal evidence, Ronald Reagan concluded that the Jewish villages on the West Bank are not illegal.

"The charge by the [Carter] administration at the time those settlements first started that they were illegal is false... All people -- Moslems, Jews and Christians -- are entitled to live on the West Bank," Reagan told a press conference in October 1980.  He reiterated his opinion four months later, after taking office.

After many people had said for years that Israel's Sinai settlements were obstacles to peace, those settlements were evacuated as part of a peace agreement with Egypt.  Settlements and security often go hand in hand but, as the Sinai case indicated, Israel is willing to make territorial concess ions in exchange for the only other guarantee of its security, genuine peace.

--

This article is reprinted with the permission of the Near East Report.


When did Jewish communities in the West Bank become a crime?
When did Jewish communities in the West Bank become a crime?  Links  Links  Links  Links

When did a Jew living in Hebron or Jericho become a crime?

Was the 1700 years of Jewish life in Jericho before Islam was invented a crime?

The Arabs ruled "Palestine" for about 100 years.  Thereafter, Kurds, Turks, Mamluks and other Moslems of various combinations ruled the land.  Their tolerance of the Jews waxed and waned.  Were Jews who lived in Hebron and Jericho during these ages criminals?

In 1919 the British seized Palestine from the Turkish Empire.  Did Jewish life in Hebron become criminal then?

In 1920 the League of Nations reserved Palestine for a Jewish National Homeland.  Did Jewish communities become criminal then?  When?

Did the communities become criminal when Arab rioters in 1929 killed some of Hebron's Jews and chased out the rest?  When Jews returned two years later?  When the Arab riots of 1936 caused the expulsion of Hebron's Jews again?

When the United Nations sanctioned Israel's statehood in 1948, leading to the invasion of the land by seven Arab armies, Jordanian troops commanded by British officers charged over the Jordan River with the stated intent on wiping out the Jews.  They failed at that but seized part of Judea and Samaria.  Later Jordan renamed the area, the West Bank of Jordan.  The Kingdom expelled all Jews from the areas it seized.  Did Jewish life become criminal then?

No, then when?

When Jordan attacked again in 1967 with the avowed intention of "kill Jews wherever you find them" Israel repulsed the attack and pushed Jordan back across the Jordan River into the boundaries created for it by Britain in 1923.  Did Jews who returned to Hebron and Jericho commit a crime by doing so?

Or, only when Arabs realized they could effectively undermine Jewish claims to the area by calling themselves "Palestinians" - something they had never done before - and creating a mythological history of a Palestinian people and Palestinian nation did Jewish life across the "green line" become criminal?

When?


Link Master


Links_sections_of_convention
Sections of Geneva Convention

General provisions

Protection of Populations

Provisions common to territories

Aliens in the territory of a party

Occupied territories

Internees: general and places of internment

Internees:  food and clothing, religion, medicine, activities

Internees:  Property, penal, external relations

Internees: transfer; death; release

Information bureau and central agency

Execution of the convention

Final provisions

Annexes


Links_convention_commentary
Commentary on  the UN, Int'l law & the Convention

Sections of the Geneva Convention

Articles used to bash Israel.  Commentary

PLO use of children


Outside Links One
Related topics 1


Outside Links Two
Related topics 2


Golan: History, strategic value, Rabin's diplomatic retreat
Golan: History, strategic value, Rabin's diplomatic retreat Links   Maps   Links  Links  Links

On Yom Kippur - 6 Oct '73, the Holiest day of the year to the Jewish people, 1,800 Syrian tanks crossed the border on the Golan Heights to start the Yom Kippur War.  Israel, caught unprepared, with most of its soldiers in synagogue, defended with merely 140 tanks.  Syrian tanks reached the Jordan River within 48 hours, to within 6 miles of Israeli's main water pumping station.  Without the Golan Heights as a shock absorber for the attack, its topography - funneling the attackers into two main streams -  a defender's paradise,Syria would have cut off the water for 3/4  the nation, and the war probably would have been lost right there and then.  More

"Whoever dares to imagine a withdrawal from the Golan Heights renounces Israel's security."

-Yitzhak Rabin during the 1992 election campaign

Timetable: The Rabin government's step-by-step giveaway of the Golan.

The Golan Heights Law.  Negotiating away the Golan was prohibited by Israel's 1981 Golan Heights Law.

Who owns the Golan?  Assyrians and Samaritans.

Geographical, strategic, and topographical descriptions  / The topography of the Golan's strategic value    Preview   /  A Logical Look at Land

If Israel wants peace, Syrian national pride demands the return of the Golan no matter the rights, wrongs, or history.  map

Territory and Security.  During this age of missiles, smart weapons and sensors, territory has greater strategic value, not less.

Arab strategy to use the "peace process" to weaken, then finally destroy Israel.  /  articles and items

Jewish history on the Golan

Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan:

1966, leading up to the Six Day War.

1967, Jan-Apr, before the Six Day War.

Syrian unconventional warfare programs, US troops on the Golan.   Preview   Jerusalem Institute

Golan, Syria and Water  / Water, general

Why has the Golan been quiet since the Yom Kippur War?


Timetable: Day by day erosion of Rabin's redlines on the Golan
Timetable: Day by day erosion of Rabin's redlines on the Golan  Media Bias   Links  Links  Links  Links

In June 1992 Labor was elected on Rabin's reputation as a tough guy regarding defence and security.  He promised to retain the Golan.  Several weeks after his election FM Peres said, "We don't need every inch of the Golan."

Israel made offers of a partial withdrawal over 8 years, with limits placed on Syria's armaments, the size of its army, the demilitarization of the Golan and parts of Syria near Israel.  Rabin demanded a full normalization of relations before a withdrawal.

Syria knew that Israel's government was pressured by its own leftwing and by the American Secretary of State to cede the Golan in exchange for a treaty.  Rabin needed a treaty before the next Israeli election in 1996.  Therefore President Hafez Assad refused all offers, simply waiting for the Israeli government to make concessions on each facet of its offers -  over the depth of the withdrawal, the speed of the withdrawal, normalization of relations, water and security provisions.

1992:  2nd Quarter

             3rd Quarter

              4th Quarter

1993:  1st Quarter

             2nd Quarter

             3rd Quarter

              4th Quarter

1994:  Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec


Rabin's Retreat: 2nd Q '92
Rabin's Retreat: 2nd Q '92   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat: 3rd Q '92
Rabin's Retreat: 3rd Q '92   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat 4th Q '92
Rabin's Retreat 4th Q '92   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links

30 Nov 92  Monday:  In Time magazine Assad flatly refuses any compromise on Golan, a resolve firmly kept, while Rabin's resolve, also so flatly stated before his election as Israel's prime minister in July 1992, quickly crumbled as he desperately sought to fulfil his foolish messianic promises of instant peace and brotherhood.  More


Rabin's Retreat: lst Q '93
Rabin's Retreat: lst Q '93   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat 2nd Q '93
Rabin's Retreat 2nd Q '93   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat 3rd Q '93
Rabin's Retreat 3rd Q '93   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat 4th Q '93
Rabin's Retreat 4th Q '93   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links

16 Nov 93 Tuesday:  Rabin calls for secret talks with Syria, hinting he'd offer a total withdrawal from the Golan, a withdrawal that he was not yet ready to reveal to the Israeli public.   More.


Rabin's Retreat: Jan '94
Rabin's Retreat: Jan '94   Links  Links  Links  Links

12 Jan 94  Wednesday:  Pro-PLO Parliamentarian Darawshe submits bill to repeal 1981 Golan Law and cancel the connection between Jews and Israel.  More

13 Jan 94  Thursday:  Opposition  Golan residents send protestors to 16 Jan Assad/Clinton summit in Geneva.  More

14 Jan 94  Friday:  Deputy FM Beilin says settlements were a mistake; after a settlement Jews can move or live under Assad, "if they think that's fun."  More  Comment

16 Jan 94  Sunday:  Clinton/Assad Summit  Former Lebanese Prime Minister Aoun urges Clinton not to trust Assad; cites Taif Accord, Syria's broken promise to vacate Lebanon.  More

16 Jan 94  Sunday:  Opposition  Poll shows leftwing Golan residents would not vote for the same party again; won't leave Golan; won't live under Syrian sovereignty.  More

16 Jan 94  Sunday  Clinton/Assad Summit  Assad demanded that Israelis be excluded from press conference with Clinton after meeting.  Swiss hosts went along with it.  Clinton did not protest.  After some Jewish journalists protested, Assad agreed one Israeli journalist could attend - Wolf Blitzer - who works for an American paper and holds an American passport.  Clinton says "Assad has made a strategic decision for peace." Israeli leftwingers agree.  More

17 Jan 94  Monday:  Referendum  The day after Rabin announces a referendum on the Golan before Israel withdraws, he said that he would not be bound by the results of the referendum.  More

17 Jan 94  Monday  Referendum  /  Opposition  Opposition demands elections, not referendum, over proposed withdrawal, because the government can determine the results by phrasing the question.  More

18 Jan 94  Tuesday:  Commentary  /  Clinton/Assad Summit Syria promised Clinton to help find 3 missing Israeli soldiers, and to let Syrian Jews emigrate.  Are these serious, conciliatory gestures to Israel?  More

18 Jan 94  Tuesday  Opposition  Traditionally leftwing Kibbutz members in Jordan Valley demonstate against Golan withdrawal.  More

18 Jan 94  Tuesday:  Rabin said the expulsion of Jews from the Golan would be a likely result of an agreement with Syria.  More

18 Jan 94  Tuesday  Reports that Israel and Syria have secretly held 6 rounds of talks in Europe on terms of withdrawal.  Way for Rabin to make concessions, then report results to hostile public as a fait accompli.  More

21 Jan 94  Friday  Opposition  Golan residents start information campaign against withdrawal.  More

21 Jan 94  Friday  Opposition  Likud flies diplomats above Golan, briefing them on security issues.  More

21 Jan 94  Friday  Assad's heir-apparent son dies in automobile accident, placing into the public eye in instability in the Syrian regime and the fragility of Assad's promises.  US and Israel both ignore this inconvenience.  More

23 Jan 94  Sunday  Opposition  Poll shows 61% against full withdrawal.  More

24 Jan 94  Monday: Referendum Three government ministers say no withdrawal from Golan without referendum.  Leftist Meretz party cool.  More

24 Jan 94  Monday  Opposition  64% oppose a Golan withdrawal, even if Jews are allowed to retain their homes.  More

27 Jan 94  Thursday:  Commentary  /  Clinton/Assad Summit  Assad told Clinton that Damascus based terrorist groups are freedom fighters. Dismissed Israeli security concerns.  Israeli officials say Clinton was smitten by Assad; Assad did not mention normalization in return for every inch of the Golan.  More


Rabin's Retreat: Feb '94
Rabin's Retreat: Feb '94   Links  Links  Links  Links

3 Feb 94  Thursday: Referendum Polls show Israeli public opposed withdrawing from Golan; Syria says Israel has no right to hold referendum on whether to withdraw from its territory; Rabin plays word-games with booing high school students.  More

3 Feb 94  Thursday:  Clinton/Assad Summit Report that Israeli's (dovish) President Weizman told American diplomats that Assad's refusal to address Israeli public and his refusal to allow Israeli journalists in his news conference with Clinton casts doubt on his intentions.  Feels Americans are pressing on Israel for concessions.  More

4 Feb 94  Friday: Labor Party Sec Zvilli, acting as Rabin's stalking horse, said the Golan would be returned to Syria by year 2000.  More

8 Feb 94  Tuesday:  Commentary  / Referendum  Rabin's promise to hold a referedum on the Golan prior to a withdrawal is considered a ploy.  The referendum may never be held, but in the meantime it'll free his hand in negotiations and defuse ojbections to his concessions.  More

10 Feb 94  Thursday: Opposition leader Netanyahu says no to leftwing Arab parliamentarian's attempt to arrange meeting with Arafat.  Blasts dismemberment of Israel.  More

14 Feb 94  Monday: Labor party Secretary-General Zvilli, acting as Rabin's stalking horse, said Israel will return entire Golan for "peace". Draws fire from opposition.  More

14 Feb 94  Thursday:  Referendum  /  US troops on Golan  Congressman Saxton opposed US troops on Golan during trip to Israel.  Said mission would not be successful, troops would be targeted by terrorists. Said 80% of Israelis against withdrawal.  More


Rabin's Retreat: Mar '94
Rabin's Retreat: Mar '94   Links  Links  Links  Links

17 Mar 94  Thursday:  Hebron Massacre Christopher hints at improved relations if Assad returns to bilateral talks with Israel.  Rabin suggests territorial concessions as bribe - Israel will have to make "painful decisions".  More

17 Mar 94  Thursday:  Hebron Massacre  At Vatican, Rabin entices Syria to bilateral negotiations by saying Israel must withdraw(he doesn't say or exclude entirely) from the Golan if Israel's security is insured.  More

30 Mar 94  Wednesday:  Commentary  /  Hebron Massacre At UN Syria blames Israel for Hebron Massacre using familiar anti-semitic invective.  Refers to "past massacres."  Naturally, Syria ignored its own and all Arab massacres.  The invective hardly portrayed a new and peaceful attitude toward Israel.  More


Rabin's Retreat: Apr '94
Rabin's Retreat: Apr '94   Links  Links  Links  Links

20 Apr 94  Wednesday:  Rabin favors a deeper withdrawal than recommended by the army - in other words a complete withdrawal.  Peres says Israel will withdraw to within "10 meters of the Sea of Galilee".  More

21 Apr 94  Thursday:  Rabin would tear down Jewish communities on Golan, for "peace".  More

27 Apr 94  Wednesday:  Opposition  /  Referendum  Rabin defeats two opposition bills aiming to require a 2/3 parliamentary vote to vacate the Golan.  More

29 Apr 94  Friday:  Russia  Reports that Russia has sold a large new package of its most deadly, sophisticated weapons to Syria;  More


Rabin's Retreat: May '94
Rabin's Retreat: May '94   Links  Links  Links  Links

1 May 94  Sunday:  Syira rejects 5-year phased Israeli withdrawal plan, knowing that eager for a treaty and with American pressure, Rabin will back down.  More

1 May 94  Sunday:  Opposition  Golan residents block junctions in protest against 3 phase withdrawal plan; 7 Labor MKs say they won't support vacating the Golan; Netanyahu blasts Rabin.  More

3 May 94  Tuesday:  NY Times Article. Syrian rebuffed Israel's offer of a phased withdrawal and dismantling of Jewish settlements frustrates government.  Syria unyielding, awaiting appeasement.  Rabin justifies withdrawal with nonsensical arguments.  More  Media bias

4 May 94  Wednesday:  Rabin advocates deeper Golan withdrawal than IDF recommendation.  Says IDF recommendation only a working paper.  Foreign Minister prepares complete withdrawal, expulsion of Jews.  More

5 May 94  Thursday:  Opposition  Labor Party residents of Golan protest against Rabin; say they'll leave Rabin's party while he supports withdrawal.  More

9 May 94  Monday:  Commentary  Rabin conditions public for full withdrawal. Says Jewish settlements beyond green line not holy, not important as in 1948. Newspapers say "peace" will mean full withdrawal.  More

11 May 94  Wednesday  Opposition  Poll shows 67% of Israeli public against vacating Golan; 55% want new elections; against giving away Jerusalem.  More

11 May 94  Wednesday  US State Dept. shows Syria still a host and sponsor of terrorist organizations. This doesn't stop Rabin and Christopher of talking about a "new middle east", a "new Syria" and Assad's "strategic decision for peace".  More

16 May 94  Monday:  Commentary  Rabin ready to "speed up" negotiations - meaning he's willing to withdraw from the whole Golan over a short period of time while making concessions on security and normalization provisions.  Bosnia and elsewhere shows, however, that Israel cannot base its defence on trust.  More

16 May 94  Monday:  Commentary.  Golan Heights Law of 1981 extrended Israeli sovereignty over the area.  Rabin's government is ignoring the law.  More

18 May 94  Wednesday:  Extract of NY Times article.  Israel offers a 5-8 year withdrawal; Syria must also keep the Golan demilitarized, normalize relations immediately, pull back troops from the Israeli border. Israel wants billions of dollars worth of American weapons to compensate for the vulernability.  Syria wants an immediate withdrawal, is fuzzy on normalization, and wants an equal Israeli pullback of troops - ignoring that in tiny Israel an equal pullback would leave the country undefended.  More   Media Bias

19 May 94  Thursday:  Extract of Los Angeles Times article.  After 3 day shuttle between capitals, Sec. State Christopher says Syria "flexible", "sincere".  Now the negotiations have focused over terms of Israeli withdrawal.  This process of wishful thinking, reading into what is not there, and appeasement is identical to Bush's pre-Kuwait love affair with Saddam.  More  Media Bias

22 May 94  Sunday:  Drug Trade /  Syrian  sponsored  terrorism   US  keeps Syria on  list  of sponsors of terrorism, despite  pressure by State Dept.  Arabists to  whitewash Assad "to promote peace  process."   Not in this article  was the threat  by Senator Jesse Helms  to publish list of relatives of Assad  running drug trade if  Syria was removed  from list.  Despite  Syrian sponsorship of  dozens of  terrorist  groups and  intimate  involvement  in t he  second  largest  source of heroin,  Clinton and Rabin claimed Assad was sincere  about peace.  It boggles the mind.  More

26 May 94  Thursday:  Opposition.   Leader of Israeli opposition submits bill for new elections. Seven members of Rabin's party claim they'll oppose a withdrawal. This claim by hawks within the Labor party subsequently  gave birth to a faction -  the third way - but they were unwilling  to bring their party - and their  own political careers down - for the sake of their nation.  More


Rabin's Retreat Jun '94
Rabin's Retreat Jun '94   Links  Links  Links  Links

1 Jun 94  Wednesday:  Washington Post article.  Rabin says further mediation by Christopher is useless; Syria is playing for time.  That is, by stonewalling, Syria can depend on Christopher and Israeli leftists to pressure Israel into a quick full withdrawal in exchange for security and normalization arrangements that come afterwards and which everybody knows will never be implemented.  Shortly thereafter, Rabin starts eroding his own position.  More  Media Bias

2 Jun 94  Thursday:  Commentary  /  Opposition  Jewish resident of Golan Heights relates what he claims is 3 phase withdrawal plan, the opposition of the residents and the dangers to Israel.  More

8 Jun 94  Wednesday:  Prime Minister of Jordan said Israel and Syria were close to a withdrawal accord.  More

15 Jun 94  Wednesday:  Syria said Israel obstinate. Rabin repeats that talks at a standstill, calls for secret talks (where he can make concessions without Israeli public hearing).  FM Peres says there is no choice but to make peace with Syria, thus encouraging Assad to sit and await further concessions.  Christopher may delay next dose of shuttle diplomacy.  More

15 Jun 94  Wednesday:  Rabin said Israel conquered the Golan for security, not settlements.  Gibberish as if withdrawing Israel's army in exchange for a piece of paper( and many banquets for Yitzhak Rabin)  enhances Israel's security. More

22 Jun 94  Wednesday:  Commentary  Clinton advisor Anthony Lake says US will put troops on the Golan to ensure a settlement. Disappointment with Egyptian treaty.  A settlement is not peace if troops are needed, and Israeli troops can best insure Israel's security.  More

25 Jun 94  Saturday:  Rabin notes Syria refuses direct contact with Israel.  Therefore American involvement required.  Deputy FM Yossi Beilin said there will be no "peace" with Syria without direct American involvement - e.g. American pressure will provide Rabin with the cover to appease Syria.  That the two are talking of "peace" when Syria won't speak with them directly, willing to bet the lives of Israel's children on a piece of paper is mind-boggling.  More

25 Jun 94  Saturday:  Leftist Deputy FM Beilin and his assistants blast Christopher for "not banging heads together" to get a settlement.  Since Christopher has no leverage over Syria, this means forcing Israel into a full withdrawal in a short time with Syrian responses to follow only at the end (which means they won't follow).  More

28 Jun 94  Tuesday: US troops on Golan  /  Commentary  State Dept official Pelletrau said US considers troops on Golan as part of settlement.  Said there is this expectation from both sides.  Different Jewish groups lobby Congress for and against.  Pro-groups ignore risks to US troops, and whether troops would stay after terrorist attacks.  More


Rabin's Retreat: Jul '94
Rabin's Retreat: Jul '94   Links  Links  Links  Links

4 Jul 94  Monday:  Incredibly, Israeli Deputy FM Yossi Beilin complains that US has not pressured Israel enough into accepting Syrian terms.  Knowing that Syria won't accept terms that require it to establish normal relations as opposed to declaring that it will establish normal relations, he wants US to force Israel into submission.  Why?  That is the question.  More

4 Jul 94  Monday:  Opposition  Even some far-leftist Israelis object to Golan giveaway.  Too late.  The government can't stop the merry-go-round without  falling from power, looking like fools, proving the right correct, and possibly sucking Israel into war.  More

19 Jul 94  Tuesday:  Peres, Rabin insist that Syria define what it means by peace.  Syria refuses to do so, knowing that Rabin and Christopher are so desperate for another photo-opportunity that they'll eventually concede a speedy withdrawal in exchange for sweet sounding platitudes that require nothing.  Christopher claims that Israeli/Arab conflict almost over.  More


Rabin's Retreat: Aug '94
Rabin's Retreat: Aug '94   Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat: Sep '94
Rabin's Retreat: Sep '94   Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat: Oct '94
Rabin's Retreat: Oct '94   Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat: Nov '94
Rabin's Retreat: Nov '94   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin's Retreat: Dec '94
Rabin's Retreat: Dec '94   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links


Popup:  subtle bias in NYT articles
Journalists are not stupid; they know the affect of their words, and as wordsmithing is their lifelong profession, it is silly to suggest that the ommission of facts, and the repetition of lies as if they were facts are accidental.

How did Israel get the Golan Heights?  Israel "captured" the heights, "seized" the heights.  Syria "lost" the heights.  Is this failure to name the aggressor accidental?  Do the media hesitate to name the aggressor in Bosnia? No mention that Syria shelled Israel from the heights constantly from 1948 through 1967, and in '67 launched a war of annihilation from the Golan Heights.  One quote by Syrian President Assad(among as many as you could want):  "We shall never call for nor accept peace.  We shall only accept war.  We have resolved to drench this land with your blood, to oust you aggressors, to throw you into the sea." Hafez Assad, then Syrian Defence Minister, May 24, 1966


Popup: Rabin's rhetorical devices to justify withdrawal


Narrative on Rabin's diplomacy


30 Nov 92:  Syria's President Assad demands every inch of Golan
30 Nov 92:  Syria's President Assad demands every inch of Golan   Links  Links  Links  Links

There is no possibility of compromise with regard to the Golan.  Nobody in Syria could give up one inch of land in the Golan.  Every Syrian believes deep in his heart that whoever yields a part of his land is a traitor - and the fate of traitors is well known.

 -Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Time  magazine (Nov. 30, 1992).

Yesha monthly report Jan 93


16 Nov 93 Rabin calls for secret talks with Syria, hinting he'd offer a total withdrawal from the Golan
16 Nov 93 Rabin calls for secret talks with Syria, hinting he'd offer a total withdrawal from the Golan Links  Links  Links  Links

Today's YEDIOT AHRONOT reports that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin yesterday called on Syria to engage in secret talks with Israel, far away from the media. According to the newspaper, Rabin hinted that in such talks he would be willing to reveal to the Syrians his stands vis-a-vis the extent of I sraeli withdrawal on the Golan Heights in exchange for peace. Rabin made these statements at the National Press Club in Washington before representatives of Arab media and Arab diplomats. Referring to the Arab economic boycott of Israel, Rabin said the Arab states should halt the secondary and tertiary boycott (on international and foreign companies trading with Israel) but said he does not expect the Arab countries to begin trading directly with Israel before Israel signs a peace treaty with them.

-Israeline, Wednesday, November 17, 1993


12 Jan 94: Pro-PLO Arab MK Darawshe submits bill to repeal Golan law, redefine Israel as non-Jewish
12 Jan 94: Pro-PLO Arab MK Darawshe submits bill to repeal Golan law, redefine Israel as non-Jewish   Links  Links  Links  Links

DARAWSHE SUBMITS BILLS TO CANCEL GOLAN LAW, JEWISH CHARACTER

Knesset Member Abdul Wahab Darawshe (Democratic Arab Party) is to submit a bill today to repeal Israel's 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights, and another bill to revoke Israel's definition as "the state of the Jewish people." (Jerusalem Post)

-Yesha Daily News Service 12 Jan 94


13 Jan 94:  Golan residents protest at Assad/Clinton summit
13 Jan 94:  Golan residents protest at Assad/Clinton summit   Links  Links  Links  Links

GOLAN RESIDENTS SENDING GROUP TO GENEVA

Jewish residents of the Golan Heights will send a delegation to Geneva to coincide with Sunday's summit of President Clinton and Syrian President Hafez Assad.  (Jerusalem Post)

-Yesha Daily News Service 13 Jan 94


14 Jan 94: Beilin says settlements on Golan mistake; settlers can  live under Assad
14 Jan 94: Beilin says settlements on Golan mistake; settlers can  live under Assad  Comment   Links  Links  Links  Links

BEILIN:  SETTLEMENTS WERE A MISTAKE

Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin said Friday that it had been a mistake to build any Jewish communities in the Golan Heights and Yesha.  "After withdrawal in the Golan," he said, "the residents will have to choose whether they want to move to the area within sovereign Israel or to stay in Syrian-held territory.  If they think that life under Syrian rule is fun, let them stay there.  The choice is theirs." (Jerusalem Post)

-Yesha Daily News Service 16 Jan 94


Comment


16 Jan 94: Aoun tells Clinton not to trust Assad; cites Taif Accord
16 Jan 94: Aoun tells Clinton not to trust Assad; cites Taif Accord   Links  Links  Links  Links

AOUN:  DON'T BELIEVE ASSAD'S WORD

Former Lebanese prime minister Michel Aoun, now exiled in France, warned President Bill Clinton against signing agreements with Syrian President Hafez Assad, telling Clinton not to believe a word Assad says.  He cited Syria's failure to implement the Taif Accords to withdraw Syrian soldiers fro m Lebanon.  (Al Hamishmar)

-Yesha Daily News Service 16 Jan 94


16 Jan 94: Poll shows even left-wing Golan residents enraged at gov't
16 Jan 94: Poll shows even left-wing Golan residents enraged at gov't   Links  Links  Links  Links

SURVEY:  GOLAN RESIDENTS WILL NOT LEAVE

A recent survey reveals that only 12% of the Jewish families living in the Golan Heights would be willing to leave, even in return for appropriate compensation.  Only 7.5% were willing to consider living in the Golan under Syrian sovereignty; 85.5% would not.

Only 40% of those who voted for the left-wing Meretz party in 1992 and 50% of Labor voters said they would vote that way again, while 70% of those who had voted for right-wing parties said they would vote the same in the future.

The survey was conducted by Haifa University and commissioned by Israel Radio.  (Jerusalem Post)

-Yesha Daily News Service 16 Jan 94


16 Jan 94: Demonstrations against withdrawal from Golan
16 Jan 94: Demonstrations against withdrawal from Golan   Links  Links  Links  Links

THOUSANDS DEMONSTRATE FOR GOLAN HEIGHTS

Thousands of Israelis protested yesterday against territorial concessions on the Golan Heights at demonstrations throughout Israel, from Eilat in the south to Metulla in the north.  The protests included one outside the United States embassy in Tel Aviv and one outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem.  (Jerusalem Post)

-Yesha Daily News Service 17 Jan 94


16 Jan 94:  Assad excludes Israelis from Summit news conference
16 Jan 94:  Assad excludes Israelis from Summit news conference   Links  Links  Links  Links

SYRIA WANTED NO ISRAELIS AT PRESS CONFERENCE

Syria insisted that yesterday's Clinton-Assad press conference in Geneva be "free of Israelis." The Swiss hosts consented, but American journalists protested, calling the demand scandalous.  Eventually, one Israeli journalist was allowed to enter secretly.  (Ma'ariv)

-Yesha Daily News Service 17 Jan 94


16 Jan 94: Golan residents ridicule Beilin remarks
16 Jan 94: Golan residents ridicule Beilin remarks   Links  Links  Links  Links

GOLAN RESIDENTS:  BEILIN REMARKS LAUGHABLE

Representatives of Jewish residents of the Golan Heights yesterday criticized Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin for saying that some of the Jewish communities on the Golan Heights may be transferred to Syrian sovereignty, calling his comment "laughable and incomprehensible." "If we have barely mana ged to get 800 Jews out of Syria," they said, "are we now going to send 14,000 there?" (Ha'aretz)

-Yesha Daily News Service 17 Jan 94


17 Jan 94: Rabin says won't be bound by referendum
17 Jan 94: Rabin says won't be bound by referendum   Links  Links  Links  Links

...

Consider, in this light, Rabin's announcement of a possible referendum on the Golan Heights. It followed the meeting between Assad and Clinton, which increased uncertainty and stress in Rabin. But as Dor-Shav notes: Rabin's assertion the very next day that he would not necessarily be bound by t he results of such a referendum is an example of the 'in-out' behavior characteristic of the schizoid syndrome."

-Hatikva 9 Jul 94


17 Jan 94: Opposition demands elections, not referendum
17 Jan 94: Opposition demands elections, not referendum   Links  Links  Links  Links

LIKUD, TSOMET DEMAND ELECTIONS, NOT REFERENDUM

Opposition parties in the Israeli Knesset yesterday rejected the government's offer, presented by Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Gur, to hold a referendum if Israel plans "substantial" territorial concessions on the Golan Heights.  The parties called instead for new elections.

Tsomet party chairman Rafael Eitan said, "Since the start of the century, a referendum has only helped the one who asked the question." The Likud party statement said, "The most appropriate referendum on government policy is early elections." Gur would not define the word "substantial." (Ma'ari v)

-Yesha Daily News Service 18 Jan 94


18 Jan 94:  Kibbutz members protest Golan withdrawal
18 Jan 94:  Kibbutz members protest Golan withdrawal   Links  Links  Links  Links

KIBBUTZ MEMBERS PROTEST GOLAN WITHDRAWAL

Dozens of kibbutz members, mostly from the Jordan River area, demonstrated in Jerusalem against withdrawal from the Golan Heights and in solidarity with Golan residents.  (Ha'aretz)

-Yesha Daily News Service 18 Jan 94

Note:  Kibbutz members have traditionally been overwhelmingly supporters of leftwing parties.


18 Jan 94: Are Syria's "gestures" on Jewish emigration and Israeli MIA's serious
18 Jan 94: Are Syria's "gestures" on Jewish emigration and Israeli MIA's serious   Links  Links  Links  Links

HOW SERIOUS ARE SYRIA'S GESTURES?

Syria has been taking a very tough line in regard to any settlement withdrawal from the Golan Heights as a precondition to peace talks. But two gestures by the Syrians in November have given rise to the hope that the Syrians may indeed be moving towards a more conciliatory stand.

U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher reported that in his preliminary talks with Syrian President Hafez Assad, agreement was reached on two issues of great concern to Israel--cooperation in determining the fate of Israel soldiers missing in action and greater freedom for Syrian Jews to leave the country.

On the first issue, Assad reportedly intends to invite staff members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to visit Syria in order to check on what happened to three Israeli soldiers missing in Lebanon since 1982 and four others missing since 1986. In what Christopher described as "an effort t o reach out at a human level," the Syrian government offered to help the American investigators by "making contact with those who may have information about Israeli MLAs. This offer, which was assumed to include efforts to contact the violently anti-Israel Hizbullah group, was hailed by Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Itamar Rabinovitch, as an important political concession by Damascus.

As regards Jews in Syria, the Secretary of State reported that Assad would renew the exodus of Jews from his country by granting exit visas to all Syrian Jews who wanted to emigrate. Following a commitment made by Assad to then president George Bush, the Syrians allowed some 2,500 Jews to leave for the U.S. and a handful for Canada. Their departure was conditional on their not traveling to Israel and they were forced to leave everything they owned except for $2,500 travel allowance. Last October, however, Damascus authorities refused to issue any more visas and only trickle of Jews left during the past year. It is estimated that about 1,000 of the 1,200 Jews living in Damascus and Aleppo are interested in leaving.

Now the question remains as to how serious Syria's gestures really are. Was Assad only warming-up for his planned summit meeting with President Clinton or is he seriously moving closer to a settlement with Israel?

Then as now, Assad is the consummate politician using buzz words that "promise" much but are undefined. He is far too much the politician for Clinton, and Israel can only hope that Clinton wasn't deceived and if acting as an honest broker, will demand explicit clarification of Assad's offers, a nd these to be in the context of insuring Israel's security if Assad reneges.


18 Jan 94: Rabin says expulsion of Jews from Golan likely part of "peace" with Syria
18 Jan 94: Rabin says expulsion of Jews from Golan likely part of "peace" with Syria   Links  Links  Links  Links

RABIN:  DISMANTLING OF GOLAN SETTLEMENTS IS LIKELY

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Tuesday that a future agreement with Syria is "likely to include the uprooting of settlements" on the Golan Heights.  (Yediot Aharonot, Wednesday)

-Yesha Daily News Service 20 Jan 94


18 Jan 94:  Reports of secret Syrian/Israeli talks in Europe
18 Jan 94:  Reports of secret Syrian/Israeli talks in Europe   Links  Links  Links  Links

ISRAEL-SYRIA AGREEMENT FROM UNOFFICIAL TALKS

Israelis and Syrians have held six secret unofficial meetings in Europe recently and formulated a joint paper on arrangements in the Golan Heights.  (Yediot Aharonot)

-Yesha Daily News Service 18 Jan 94


20 Jan 94: Soviet immigrant group backs Golan residents
20 Jan 94: Soviet immigrant group backs Golan residents   Links  Links  Links  Links

SOVIET IMMIGRANT GROUP BACKS YESHA, GOLAN

Some 400 Soviet immigrants, including well-known former refuseniks Ida Nudel, Yuli Edelstein and Yosef Mendelovich, met Thursday in Jerusalem to launch a movement to oppose territorial concessions in the Golan Heights and Yesha.  Immigrants for the Land of Israel plans to coordinate an informat ion campaign among Russian-speaking Israelis.  (Ha'aretz, Friday)

-Yesha Daily News Service 23 Jan 94


21 Jan 94:  Golan residents start information campaign
21 Jan 94:  Golan residents start information campaign   Links  Links  Links  Links

GOLAN RESIDENTS START INFORMATION CAMPAIGN

The Golan Settlements Committee plans to bring over a million people to visit the Golan Heights to show them why Israel must retain the plateau.  (Jerusalem Post, Friday)

-Yesha Daily News Service 23 Jan 94


21 Jan 94:  Likud flies diplomats above Golan Heights
21 Jan 94:  Likud flies diplomats above Golan Heights   Links  Links  Links  Links

LIKUD FLIES DIPLOMATS TO GOLAN HEIGHTS

The Likud party sponsored a flight to the Golan Heights Friday to brief foreign diplomats, businessmen and others on strategic issues regarding the Golan.  (Al Hamishmar)

-Yesha Daily News Service 23 Jan 94


21 Jan 94: Death of Assad's son jeopardizes Syrian stability
21 Jan 94: Death of Assad's son jeopardizes Syrian stability   Links  Links  Links  Links

DEATH OF HEIR JEOPARDIZES SYRIAN STABILITY

Lebanese sources close to Syrian President Hafez Assad believe that Friday's death of Assad's son and heir apparent Basel in a traffic accident threatens the delicate balance of Assad's regime.  (Al Hamishmar)

-Yesha Daily News Service 24 Jan 94


23 Jan 94: Survey shows 61% against full withdrawal
23 Jan 94: Survey shows 61% against full withdrawal   Links  Links  Links  Links

SURVEY:  61% OPPOSE FULL GOLAN WITHDRAWAL

A survey held by the Dahaf Institute last week showed that 61% of Israelis would oppose a full withdrawal from the Golan in exchange for full peace and security arrangements with Syria; 37% favored.  Some 75% of Shas party voters and 80% of Agudat Yisrael party backers opposed full withdrawal.  (Yediot Aharonot, Friday)

-Yesha Daily News Service 23 Jan 94


24 Jan 94: Israeli ministers say no withdrawal without referendum; Meretz cool
24 Jan 94: Israeli ministers say no withdrawal without referendum; Meretz cool   Links  Links  Links  Links

No Golan Withdrawal Without Referendum

For the first time there was an official announcement by the government on Monday that there will be a national referendum before any Golan Heights withdrawal. The announcement was made in the Knesset by Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Gur, But Minister Yosi Sarid was quick to announce that t here had been no discussion in the cabinet about this and no decision was yet taken.

Gur said that his announcement had been made with the full approval of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin thus being considered a cabinet approval.

"I want to make it clear that should the territorial price demanded of us in the Golan Heights be significant, the government will hold a plebiscite on the matter." Rabin's spokesman, Gad Ben Ari, con- firmed that Rabin had approved Gur's statement on the plebiscite, while Health Minister Chaim Ramon said that Gur sat in Rabin's room and the wording of his statement was fully coordinated with the prime minister.

Sarid and other Meretz colleagues do not oppose a referendum but are in favor of conducting it only after an agreement with Syria is signed, whereas the Likud opposes a referendum on the matter altogether and say, that only new elections, before any agreement is signed, can determine what the n ation really wants. "The issues on the Agenda today were not presented to the voters in the last election and the appropriate referendum to test the government's policy is new elections," said a Likud statement.

Former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir said in the Knesset that Rabin has already given away the Golan Heights for which thousands of Israelis have fought for with their blood. "President Clinton is not out to pressure Israel. He is a victim of the foolish spirit which has gripped the leaders of our country. He must be told that abandoning the Golan is not the will of the nation. The Golan residents today serve Israel's most important security needs," said Shamir.

Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said that instead of Israel using the Americans to pressure Syria, Assad used America to pressure Israel. He again reiterated that Israel has already committed itself to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights. "Unlike Syria, Israel has already delivered the g oods," he said.

Netanyahu also warned against relying on American observers to inform us in advance of any imminent attack. During the Gulf War when Israel needed information from the Americans it caused tension. The same could happen once Israel withdraws from the Golan, he said.

Golan residents, on the other hand, were elated over Gur's announcement, saying this was a major victory for their stance. "The fact that this statement was made by Gur, with the backing of Prime Minister Rabin, gives it even more weight," said Sammy Bar-Lev, one of the heads of the Golan Council. "Both of them are former chiefs of staff who fully understand the security aspect and who treat the matter seriously.

-Hatikva, 27 Jan 94


24 Jan 94: 64% oppose Golan withdrawal
24 Jan 94: 64% oppose Golan withdrawal   Links  Links  Links  Links

SURVEY:  64% OPPOSE GIVING UP GOLAN EVEN IF SETTLEMENTS STAY

Most Israelis surveyed, 64%, would oppose an agreement with Syrian under which the Golan Heights would be transfered to Syria but the Jewish communities there would remain in place; only 33% would favor it.  The survey was conducted by the Dahaf Institute.  (Yediot Aharonot)

-Yesha Daily News Service 24 Jan 94


27 Jan 94: Commentary. Assad told Clinton terrorists are freedom fighters, and more
27 Jan 94: Commentary. Assad told Clinton terrorists are freedom fighters, and more   Links  Links  Links  Links

ASSAD: GROUPS FIGHTING ISRAEL ARE FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Pro-Syrian-Lebanese newspaper "Asufiya" revealed Tuesday that Syrian President Hafez Assad told U.S. President Bill Clinton in Geneva that groups fighting Israel are freedom fighters, not terrorists. Assad compared them to the Americans who fought the British for their independence.

Yediot Acharonot reported Tuesday that when Clinton tried to convince Assad that withdrawing from the Golan raises legitimate security fears by the Israelis, Assad responded angrily: "What?!  They're speaking about security? The distance between their post on the Golan Heights and Damascus is less than the distance between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv."

After meeting with the American delegation on the Clinton-Assad talks, Israel has the impression that the U.S. has become enchanted by Assad's stamina and firmness, and is now placing the ball in Israel's court. Israel feels besieged by the U.S., said a source in Jerusalem.

One U.S. official said that Assad does realize that he will have to pay a price for peace--normalization. But he wants a quid pro quo, and the assessment is that he will settle for nothing less than a total withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

"But why is it that only Clinton mentioned that Assad agrees to normalization and not a word about this was uttered by Assad himself?" the Israelis have been asking over and over again.

Deputy Defense Minister Mordechai Gur said that after hearing American assessments of the meeting between Clinton and Assad, he is convinced that the Syrians don't care about Israel's security concerns.  Gur said that his impression is that Assad had to meet Clinton to help alleviate his own problems not necessarily connected to Israel. One thing is clear from the summit, Gur said, that Assad wants the whole Golan but does not make clear what he is offering in return.

-Murray Kahl ah287@yfn.ysu.edu  Hatikva 27 Jan 94


3 Feb 94: Israeli polls oppose withdrawal; Syria objects to referendum; Rabin lies to students
3 Feb 94: Israeli polls oppose withdrawal; Syria objects to referendum; Rabin lies to students   Links  Links  Links  Links

DO NOT WITHDRAW

Recent polls indicate the overwhelming majority in Israel is against withdrawal from the Golan Heights, even without the dismantling of the settlements.

Prime Minister Rabin's announcement last week that he is in favor of a referendum to decide whether or not to withdraw from the Golan caused controversy here and sparked sharp criticism from Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara said Israel has no right to hold a referendum on the future of the Golan Heights. "When they talk about a referendum, they have no right to talk about Syrian territory, to put the occupied Syrian land on the Golan to a referendum. It is against international

 law and the UN Charter." The result, he said, "would not concern us, because the occupation does not eliminate our sovereignty over the Golan."

Prime Minister Rabin said, "Peace with Syria may exact a painful price, which is why it will be brought to a referendum, but not general elections. We are talking about a substantial withdrawal that could include the dismantling of settlements."

Speaking to approximately 3,000 high school students last week, Rabin said he never pledged to keep the Golan an integral part of Israel. "Did I ever promise that the Golan Heights are an indivisible part of Israel?" he asked. Over loud boos he insisted: "Show me where I promised that."

-Hatikva, 3 Feb 94


3 Feb 94: Israeli President says Assad's gestures disappointing; not making peace
3 Feb 94: Israeli President says Assad's gestures disappointing; not making peace   Links  Links  Links  Links

ASSAD DECEIVES

According to a report in Friday's Yediot Achronot, President Ezer Weizman told the U.S. delegation headed by Dr Dennis Ross and Dr.  Martin Indyk last week that "Syrian President Hafez Assad is misleading and deceiving you. What he said in Geneva does not contain anything that constitutes a breakthrough in the negotiations between Israel and Syria."

Speaking to residents of the Shomron settlement Ariel later in the week, the President said that Syria's forbidding Israeli journalists to attend the Clinton-Assad press conference, and Assad's refusal to directly address the Israeli people, were big disappointments. Instead of trying to appeal to the Israeli people directly as Egyptian president Anwar Sadat did, he "appointed" Clinton as his spokesman, Weizman said.

Weizman also said that Israel shouldn't sign an agreement with the PLO unless the clause in the P.L.O. covenant which calls for the destruction of Israel is stricken out.

The general feeling in Jerusalem after the briefing by Ross and Indyk, writes Yediot, is that the U.S. officials are trying to obligate to Israel to concede on issues things that were not discussed in Geneva. The daily HaAretz fears that, American pressure will now be applied to Israel to obtain a withdrawal.

-Murray Kahl ah287@yfn.ysu.edu  Hatikva 3 Feb 94


4 Feb 94: Zvilli says Golan to Syria by year 2000
4 Feb 94: Zvilli says Golan to Syria by year 2000   Links  Links  Links  Links

LABOR LEADER:  PLO STATE WILL COME BY 2000

Labor Party Secretary General Nissim Zvilli said over the weekend( Fri, 4 Feb) that by the year 2000 a Palestinian Arab state will be established in Yesha, and that Israel will eventually withdraw from the Golan.  (Jerusalem Post, Sunday, 6 Feb 94

-Yesha, 10 Feb 94


8 Feb 94 Promise of referendum on Golan a ploy to defuse dissent
8 Feb 94 Promise of referendum on Golan a ploy to defuse dissent   Links  Links  Links  Links

REFERENDUM ON GOLAN, A POLITICAL MOVE

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's bombshell announcement that he would hold a national referendum before agreeing to a withdrawal from the Golan Heights came as a surprise even to the members of his own Cabinet. Leftist political observers are united in their praise for the move, which they describe as a deft and resourceful tactic likely to shore up Rabin's political strength and reinforce his narrowly based coalition government.

Some observers believe that the referendum will never take place, but that Rabin will prefer to hold general elections further into the present parliamentary term as a means for sidestepping a referendum, a step unprecedented in the Israeli system.

The announcement of a referendum in the meantime serves Rabin's interests in several ways It relieves him of political pressure and enables him to negotiate with the Syrians with greater freedom, since whatever is achieved in talks with Damascus can always be put to the people to be decided under "defined conditions."

Second, Rabin hopes that a referendum might enhance his credibility with the Golan settlers that is at an all time low as well as with the settlers in the West Bank. Third, he feels the move ensures the support of the fervently religious Shas party, which Rabin has been trying to woo back to his coalition. The Labor Party leader had pledged a referendum on the Golan when he made his coalition agreement with Shas in 1992.

Rabin said last week that there was no need to make special constitutional or legislative preparations for a referendum at this stage, that the time for these steps would come if and when a referen- dum became a more immediate prospect.

The Prime Minister said he wanted to give Israeli citizens the opportunity to participate in the making of an important security decision if the price required for peace with Syria were to prove "higher than what the citizens had expected."

During the 1992 election campaign, and in numerous public statements thereafter, Rabin now claims he said that his government would offer Syria an Israeli withdrawal on the Golan, but not necessarily from the Golan. This wording, one of many promises, was meant to indicate that he was not considering a full withdrawal from what many consider a strategically important site.

-Murray Kahl ah287@yfn.ysu.edu  Hatikva 8 Feb 94


10 Feb 94: Opposition leader Netanyahu says no to dismemberment of Israel
10 Feb 94: Opposition leader Netanyahu says no to dismemberment of Israel   Links  Links  Links  Links

NETANYAHU SAYS NO!

Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu has turned down the "good services" offered by Arab MK Abdul Wahab Darawshe in arranging a meeting for Netanyahu and other high ranking Likud officials with high-ranking PLO terrorists.

Netanyahu added that in great contrast to the PLO or Syria, Jordan does not demand great chunks of territory that would survival in jeopardy. "So long as the IDF remains on the Jordan River, we have no outstanding problems with Jordan," he said. Netanyahu also warned that should Israel withdraw from the Golan and Jordan Valley, it would place in great danger not only the state of Israel, but destabilze Jordan.

-Hatikva, 10 Feb 94


14 Feb 94 Zvilli says Israel must return Golan to Syria for peace
14 Feb 94 Zvilli says Israel must return Golan to Syria for peace   Links  Links  Links  Links

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin found himself embroiled on Sunday in a dispute over whether he has been straightforward on where Israel is headed in peace talks with Syria and the Palestinians.  The catalyst for the debate was an unlikely source, the secretary-general of his own Labor Party.

The official, Noisome Zvilli, asserted this past weekend that full peace with Syria would involve Israeli recognition of Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights. And by the end of the decade, he said, Palestinians would have their own state. "Even though we are convinced that this is a bad solution," he added.

Opposition politicians wasted no time calling Zvilli a stalking horse for the government. "In a moment of candor, Zvilli said the truth about Rabin's hidden intentions," said Uzi Landau, a Likud bloc member of Parliament.

All along, Rabin has said that his talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization are focused only on an interim period of Palestinian autonomy in the occupied territories. He opposes a future independent state for them, he says. As for Syria, which lost the Golan to Israel in the 1967 war, R abin has repeatedly said that in return for peace and security guarantees he is ready to give up a good part of the strategic plateau but not all of it.

-Hatikva 14 Feb 94


14 Feb 94: Congressman Saxton opposes US troops on Golan; says most Israelis oppose withdrawing
14 Feb 94: Congressman Saxton opposes US troops on Golan; says most Israelis oppose withdrawing   Links  Links  Links  Links

...Commenting on the proposed referendum on yielding territory, Saxton said that in the West Bank, the danger of terrorism would likely incline a majority to oppose relinquishing territories. But a plebiscite on the Golan, which represents a military threat to Israel, would garner a greater negative vote, perhaps as much as 80 percent.

Saxton was very clear on his opposition to posting American troops in the Golan as peacekeepers. He said this would far exceed our defined role in world politics, which should be guided by three conditions: a well-conceived plan, a reasonable expectation of success; and an agreement on disengagement. Absent these, Saxton predicted the dismal failure of a U.S. peacekeeping mission, as in Somalia. For the same reason the U.S. will steer clear of Bosnia. In addition, U.S. soldiers on the Golan would become targets of terrorism, ....

-Hatikva, 14 Feb 94


17 Mar 94: Rabin, Christopher bribe Syria back to talks
17 Mar 94: Rabin, Christopher bribe Syria back to talks   Links  Links  Links  Links

ISRAEL, U.S. URGE SYRIA TO REJOIN TALKS

The New York Times

WASHINGTON--With the PLO still balking at returning to the Mideast peace talks, the United States and Israel sought Wednesday to regain momentum by enticing Syria into resuming negotiations.  At a White House news conference, President Clinton held out the prospect of improved relations with Syria if President Hafez Assad rejoined the talks and reached an agreement with Israel.  Standing alongside Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sounded unusually conciliatory toward Syria and signaled that an accord could lead to increased security and territorial concessions for Syria.

 	"We know that as we engage in serious and authoritative negotiations, the point will come where painful decisions will have to be made," Rabin said after a one-hour meeting in the Oval Office. "The promise of peace and its genuine benefits for all Israelis justifies making such decisions vis- a-vis Syria."

...

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, all the talks with Syria have centered on its demand for the total return of the heights. Israel, concerned about its security, has sought to retain some of the territory.

Assad has not made any public commitment to return to the talks and some officials said the Arab world would view such a decision as undercutting the Palestinians(after the Hebron Massacre).

-Hatikva, 17 Mar 94


17 Mar 94: From Vatican Rabin said Israel must withdraw in exchange for security
17 Mar 94: From Vatican Rabin said Israel must withdraw in exchange for security   Links  Links  Links  Links

...peace process back on track.  Rabin's request during the March 17 Vatican visit ...

Rabin told a news conference after the meeting that he had not asked the pope to initiate any specific diplomatic moves. But he said he believed the Vatican "can have a moral influence on many countries and many people" and thus put pressure on the Arabs to resume the negotiations.

 	Rabin also said that Israel would consider in principle the withdrawal of troops from the Golan Heights if Israel's security was assured...

-Hatikva, 12 Apr 94


30 Mar 94: At UN Syria uses anti-semitic invective in blaming Israel for Hebron
30 Mar 94: At UN Syria uses anti-semitic invective in blaming Israel for Hebron     Links

Links  Links  Links

UN HEBRON MASSACRE DEBATE REVEALS UNCHANGED ARAB ATTITUDE

One of the positive benefits coming out of the tragic Hebron massacre is that it showed the Arabs' true colors. Almost immediately after the heinous act took place, Arafat sought to change the rules and the agreement of the Declaration of Principles, asking that the issue of the settlements be discussed now, instead of later, as called for in the Israel-PLO accords. Naturally, all Arab and Moslem (and most other) speakers echoed this sentiment. It was particularly distressing to hear the negative remarks uttered by the Syrian delegate during the Security Council debate on the Hebron massacre, who--like representatives of other Arab and Moslem states-- enunciated the old familiar anti-Israel invectives which make their words of peace ever so doubtful.

Syrian delegate Issa Awad spewed out the verbiage of a country that has no intention of making serious peace with Israel. Said Awad:  The "abominable massacres of worshippers in Hebron was a reminder of past massacres" ... "We hold the occupying state (Israel) responsible for the crime perpetra ted by the settlers." He also had a problem with the Israeli government putting the future of the Golan to a referen- dum.

Let us analyze Awad's remarks. When he states "reminder of past massacres," what does Mr. Awad mean? Apparently, he was referring to the Hebron Arab massacre of Jews in 1929. No? Well, maybe he was referring to all the Jews slaughtered in all the innumerable attacks perpetrated by Arab terroris ts. Probably not. We surely doubt that Awad was referring to the 1982 Hama (Syria) massacre, where thousands of Syrian opponents to Hafez Assad were murdered. No way! you say?  Then he must be referring to the 1983 murder of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon by Chri stian Arabs. Most likely so.

The problem for Mr. Awad and Syria--besides taking advantage of an unfortunate situation--is that Damascus has still not released a report of the investigation into the Hama massacre--over a decade later. The Israeli government, on the other hand, though not being directly involved in the Sabra /Shatilla killings, as well as Dr.  Goldstein's murderous rampage, conducted, then promulgated (and is promulgating) the results of its self-critical, objective inquiries to the world. When is the Syrian government finally going to do the same with Hama?

Awad also stated that "we (the Syrian government) hold the occupying state (Israel) responsible for the crime perpetrated by the settlers." Of course, this is utter nonsense! But let's look at his words carefully. If Damascus feels that the Israeli government should be held accountable for Dr. Goldstein's crimes, then would it not be fair to hold Syria accountable for the terrorist acts perpetrated by PLO groups that freely operate in Syrian-occupied Lebanese territory?  Of course! So, Messrs. Awad and Assad: not only are we expecting that long overdue report about the Hama massacre, but we are also expecting from you, dozens of inquiry reports into the terrorist acts of Hizbullah, George Habash's gang and others.

Relatedly, Lebanese UN Ambassador Khalil Makkawi, on orders from his Syrian bosses, twaddled the canard that Israel was responsible for the bombing of a Christian church north of Beirut two days after the massacre "to divert attention away from the massacre." While there is no proof that Syria or Iran was responsible for the heinous act, it must be remembered that little happens in Lebanon without Syrian knowledge and approval.

-Hatikva, 30 Mar 94


20 Apr 94: Rabin would give up "more" of Golan than army advises; Peres all
20 Apr 94: Rabin would give up "more" of Golan than army advises; Peres all   Links

Links  Links  Links

RABIN:  I'D GIVE UP MORE OF GOLAN THAN ARMY ADVISES

The Israeli and Syrian ambassadors to the United States have been meeting secretly for a year in addition to the official Israel-Syria talks in Washington.  Israel and Syria both deny the existence of such talks, which have included senior American officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin revealed yesterday that he is prepared to agree to a deeper withdrawal from the Golan Heights than the Israeli army headquarters recommends.  (Ha'aretz, Apr. 20)

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has reportedly said Israel would withdraw to "10 meters from [Lake] Kinneret," which means a full withdrawal.  Last year, Deputy Chief of Staff Amnon Shahak suggested to reporters that Israel could not be safe without the Golan.  (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 20)

-Yesha daily news service 20 Apr 94


21 Apr 94: Rabin would dismantle Jewish communities on Golan, for "peace"
21 Apr 94: Rabin would dismantle Jewish communities on Golan, for "peace"   Links

Links  Links  Links

RABIN: GOLAN'S JEWISH COMMUNITIES MAY BE REMOVED

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Thursday that he would dismantle Jewish communities on the Golan Heights, saying, "If we need to evacuate settlements for the sake of peace, I was in favor of that in the past and I am in favor of it now." Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu responded by recalling Rabin's 1992 campaign statement that the Golan is crucial to Israeli security.  Rabin "cannot stick to any principle," he said.  (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 22)

-Yesha Daily News Service 24 Apr 94


27 Apr 94: Rabin defeats 2 bills to require 2/3 vote for Golan withdrawal
27 Apr 94: Rabin defeats 2 bills to require 2/3 vote for Golan withdrawal   Links  Links  Links  Links

Two bills to require a two-thirds parliamentary majority for Israeli territorial concessions on the Golan Heights were defeated on Wednesday.  The Shas religious party voted with the government against the bills.  (Yediot Aharonot, Apr. 28)

-Yesha Daily News Service 1 May 94


29 Apr 94: Russia sells deadly weapons package to Syria
29 Apr 94: Russia sells deadly weapons package to Syria   Links  Links  Links  Links

Russia has signed an agreement to allow resumed arms supplies to Syria, to include some of Russia's most sophisticated weapons.  Reports of the deal counter the accord Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin claims to have reached with Russian President Boris Yeltsin last week.  (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 29)

-Yesha Daily News Service 1 May 94


1 May 94: Syria rejects Israeli 5-year phased withdrawal plan
1 May 94: Syria rejects Israeli 5-year phased withdrawal plan      Links

Links  Links  Links

ISRAEL PROPOSES PHASED WITHDRAWAL FROM GOLAN

Syria has rejected Israel's proposal for a phased "deep withdrawal" from the Golan Heights in exchange for normal relations between the countries.  Israel offered to withdraw first from the Druze towns in the northeast Golan, followed by the evacuation of Jewish communities, followed by the completion of the withdrawal within 5 years.  (Ma'ariv, May 1)

-Yesha Daily News Service 1 May 94


1 May 94: Golan residents protest; Labor party dissidents and opposition blast Rabin
1 May 94: Golan residents protest; Labor party dissidents and opposition blast Rabin   Links  Links  Links  Links

GOLAN RESIDENTS PROTEST PROPOSED WITHDRAWAL

Hundreds of residents of the Golan Heights, including Labor party leaders, blocked a bridge near the Golan for an hour on Sunday to protest Israel's proposed three-stage withdrawal from the Golan.

Seven Knesset members from the Labor party announced on Sunday that they would not support any proposal which includes a withdrawal from the entire Golan.  (Yediot Aharonot, May 2)

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is perpetrating "the greatest political fraud in the history of the state" regarding plans to withdraw from the Golan Heights, said Likud party Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday, in a joint press conference with Tsomet party Chairman Rafael Eitan.  Eitan

 said that three months ago Rabin pledged not to dismantle Jewish communities on the Heights, in contrast with his current position.  (Ha'aretz, May 2)

-Yesha Daily News Service 4 May 94


3 May 94: Syrian rebuff to withdrawal offer upsets Israel
3 May 94: Syrian rebuff to withdrawal offer upsets Israel   Links  Links  Links  Links

SYRIAN PEACE PLAN REBUFF UPSETS ISRAEL

The New York Times

JERUSALEM -- Israeli officials said Monday they were disappointed that President Hafez al-Assad of Syria made no concessions in his response to a new Israeli peace plan that calls for dismantling settlements in the Golan Heights.

An Israeli official also voiced frustration that the Syrian foreign minister, Farouk al-Shara, publicly dismissed parts of the Israeli plan as "silly" when the Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, was eager for a favorable response.

Rabin has made clear in recent days that he could use some confidence-building signals from Damascus because so many Israelis have criticized his daring proposal to remove settlements in the Golan Heights in exchange for a comprehensive peace with Syria.

 	But the Israeli government was far from despairing; it was encouraged that Assad had seriously engaged in the peace talks by presenting a reply to the Israeli plan.

In the view of several Israeli and American officials, Syria's cautious, unyielding response was not a surprise: Assad is an astute, hard-nosed bargainer who cannot be expected to give a millimeter in what is his, opening negotiating position.

Israel's new peace plan calls for Israel to carry out a phased withdrawal from the Golan Heights over several years, but Israeli officials said Monday that Assad continued to insist on full withdrawal.

Rabin came under intense fire in Israel's parliament on Monday, even from his party, for his proposal to dismantle settlements.

Responding to seven Labor members: who opposed withdrawing from the Golan Heights, he said, "Tanks not settlements. provide security."

Using unusually dovish' language, he added, "If people want to rule, over a foreign nation, they must know it is going to cost them blood."

-Hatikva 3 May 94


4 May 94: Rabin advocates deeper withdrawal than IDF recommendation
4 May 94: Rabin advocates deeper withdrawal than IDF recommendation   Links  Links  Links  Links

RABIN READY TO SACRIFICE SETTLEMENTS FROM GOLAN

JERUSALEM--Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin appears ready for a deeper withdrawal from the Golan Heights than his generals have proposed.

This admission was wrung out of him by Likud's Benny Begin in an appearance by Rabin before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

At the same hearing on Tuesday, Tsomet Knesset member Moshe Peled accused Rabin of dragging the Israel Defense Force into the politics of the peace process with Syria. How had it happened, Peled wanted to know, that the IDF generals had prepared a withdrawal document?

Rabin replied that the IDF report, and others like it, including one recently prepared by the Foreign Ministry, "is nothing more than a presentation of facts and figures to help the political echelons to arrive at informed decisions.

The IDF proposals were contained in a working paper completed this week that may well be used as the basis for upcoming negotiations with Syria. A recent report in the highly respected Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz indicated that the Israeli Foreign Ministry was drafting a detailed blueprint for peace with Syria that could be based on a total Israeli withdrawal from the Golan.

Rabin has stated several times in the past that he would call for a referendum among the Israeli public before agreeing to any "major" withdrawal on the Golan in return for the establishment of peaceful relations between Israel and Syria.

.....

-Hatikva, 4 May 94


5 May 94:  Golan Labor party members protest
5 May 94:  Golan Labor party members protest   Links  Links  Links  Links

LABORITES ON GOLAN DEMONSTRATE AGAINST GOVERNMENT

Residents of kibbutzim on the Golan Heights, including many Labor party supporters, demonstrated on Thursday against the Israeli government's plans to secede from the Heights in stages.  Many said they will leave the Labor party until Rabin withdraws his support for a Golan pullout.  (Ha'aretz,

 May 6)

-Yesha Daily News Service 8 May 94


9 May 94: Rabin says Jews beyond green line not worth dying for
9 May 94: Rabin says Jews beyond green line not worth dying for   Links  Links  Links  Links

RABIN PREPARING PUBLIC OPINION FOR EVACUATION OF THE SETTLEMENTS

JERUSALEM--Residents of the Golan Heights were shocked at Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's remarks declaring that he would evacuate settlements on the Golan Heights in order to achieve peace with Syria.  Rabin was speaking before the United Kibbutz Movement.

In what was considered to be a clear "selection" between Jews, Rabin said, "I do not consider it to be holy to the point of getting killed for the sake of parts of this country beyond the Green Line...  If we need to evacuate settlements for the sake of peace, I was in favor of that in the past  and I am in favor of it now. For me, peace is a more important value for Israel's future security than one group of settlements or another."

"Let's put things once and for all in the context of the new reality of a great and strong country. This is not the eve of the War of Independence when every settlement was vital," Rabin said. He also blasted the opposition for saying that there could be peace with Syria while retaining the ent ire Golan. "Whoever says that it is possible to attain peace with Syria with the whole Golan is deceiving you," he said.

These remarks came only a day after Rabin told the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee that he is in favor of a deeper withdrawal from the Golan Heights than suggested by the army.

According to The Jerusalem Post, contrary to Rabin's statements of a partial withdrawal from the Golan, a full withdrawal is likely.  The HaAretz newspaper also quoted Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ehud Barak privately telling U.S. officials that any deal with Syria would be based on a full withdrawa l.

Rabin's remarks here are seen against the backdrop of U.S.  Secretary of State Warren Christopher's trip to the region this week to revive talks with Syria. According to a high-ranking source here, Rabin's remarks are a sign that he is deadly serious about reaching an accord with Syria. "I doub t that Rabin will tell Christopher he is ready for a total withdrawal from the Golan, but he is doing every thing else. Rabin was in the U.S. last month where he received internal papers that are all based on the assumption of a full withdrawal. Now, his remarks today indicate he is preparing pu blic opinion for such a move.

The U.S. believes Prime Minister Rabin was serious in saying that he is prepared to dismantle settlements for peace with Syria and it was not "something that slipped. I think he is doing some conditioning on the Israeli public and I think he is sending signals to Syrian President Hafez Assad at  the same time," a senior U.S. administration official said.

Syria remains as intransigent as ever and insists on full withdrawal without any firm commitments on their part. And based on Rabin's statements and actions with Arafat, Assad is the more astute politician.

-Hatikva 9 May 94


11 May 94: Poll shows 67% of Israelis against withdrawal from Golan; want elections
11 May 94: Poll shows 67% of Israelis against withdrawal from Golan; want elections   Media Bias  Links  Links  Links  Links

MOST ISRAELIS WOULD SIGN PETITION FOR NEW ELECTIONS

Most Israelis, 55.4%, would be willing to sign a petition calling for new elections, according to a May 4 survey by the Geocartography Istitute; 35.5% would not.  Similarly, 67.7% would sign a petition demanding that the government not compromise over Jerusalem, not withdraw from the entire Golan Heights, and not continue dealing with the PLO unless terrorism ends and the PLO amends its covenant; only 26.0% would not sign.  But 22.6% of respondents said they do not like to sign petitions at all.

Finally, 72.3% of respondents said that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat is lying when he says he has no more information regarding missing Israeli soldier Zachariah Baumol, half of whose dogtag Arafat returned not long ago.  (Geocartography Institute)

-Yesha Daily News Service 11 May 94


11 May 94: US says Syria still sponsors terrorism
11 May 94: US says Syria still sponsors terrorism   Links  Links  Links  Links

U.S.:  SYRIA STILL SPONSORING TERRORISM

The United States has again classified Syria as a state which sponsors terrorism.  Syria provides support and safe haven for groups including Islamic Jihad, Abu Nidal and the Japanese Red Army, said the State Department report.  ...

-Yesha Daily News Service 11 May 94


16 May 94: Rabin ready to "speed" negotiations, but can Syria be trusted
16 May 94: Rabin ready to "speed" negotiations, but can Syria be trusted   Links  Links  Links  Links

THE GOLAN NOW? JERUSALEM NEXT?

"Rabin Hints Peace Could Cost Golan--Remarks to Settlers Indicate Israel Sees a Syrian Deal."

This front-page New York Times headline was followed a few days later by another Times four-page headline--"Rabin's Troubles: They May Affect Peace Talks--Israel's Leader Is Under Siege From the Right and from His Splintered Left."

The first dispatch opened thus: "Fueling widely held assumptions that he is ready to speed up Israel's negotiations with Syria, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said today that for peace with the Arabs he is ready to uproot Jewish settlements, including those on the Golan Heights." Well, well, Yitzhak, where are you going?

The big question facing Israel and the world is a matter of trust. (Bosnia has taught us all a much-needed lesson.) Judging by the past performances and even by current statements, we must ask: Can Syria's Assad or the PLO's Arafat be trusted?

Based on declarations made here in UN forums ever since the "Handshake" and even since Camp David by Assad's and Arafat's spokesmen, the answer must be a definite NO! Whether Mr. Clinton's Secretary of State Christopher's visit to Israel and then to Syria in an attempt to bring Assad around to accept Rabin's latest 'conces sions" will change the mind of the world's most recognized protector of terrorists of all shades is questionable. Somehow the names Chamberlain and Munich come to mind.

But, "politics are full of tricks" the late Emir Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan said in a long exchange of letters, on the necessity of brotherly relations among cousins of the Abrahamic faith.

The grandfather of King Hussein was referring to British duplicity and deceit in their dealings with the Arabs and the Jewish people.

King Hussein himself, like the Emir, had made many efforts to meet with Israelis on finding a solution to co-existence. It might well be that, judging by his present attitude and by the many lessons he has learned from his aborted attacks against the People of the Book, he may become the first Arab head of state since Sadat to actually sign a peace treaty with Israel. Surely, he is not too pleased with America's and Israel's constant effort to seek the grace and approval of his northern neighbor.

It's the Golan with which we must be seriously concerned. Because it's loss, part or in whole, historically, must be equated with the "loss" or even temporary abandonment of the Gaza Strip and Jericho.  Both areas, for the PLO, Syria and the Arabs, open the door to Jerusalem; Jericho-Gaza, a fi rst step, the Golan, a second step. The aim is the same.

-Hatikva, 16 May 94


Rabin ignores 1981 Golan Heights law
Rabin ignores 1981 Golan Heights law   Links  Links  Links  Links

...Let's take a brief look at Israel's legal rights to the Golan. In a recent issue of Midstream, Dr. Eliav Shochetman, Professor of Law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, gives us an answer. The present Israeli Government owes it to our eternal heritage and tradition to consider it seriously.

 Following is one of the many important highlights of Professor Shochetman's comprehensive analysis regarding Israel's legal rights to the Golan:

"What is the legal significance of this legislation relating to Jerusalem and the Golan Heights? Does the Golan Heights Law Constitute imposition of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights? The answer is yes. Article 1 of the Golan Heights Law states: 'The Law, jurisdiction and administration of the state will apply in the territory of the Golan Heights.' The Law does not mention the word 'sovereignty,' but there is no doubt that its legal and practical import is the imposition of sovereignty.

"This conclusion emerges from the statements of the Members of Knesset in the debates preceding passage of the law, including then Prime Minister Menahem Begin, who brought the law to a vote 14 December 1981, and also from the case law of the Supreme Court of Israel. According to the Supreme Court, the significance of the legislation applying Israeli law and administration in Jerusalem is the imposition on the city of state sovereignty. The formulation of the Golan Heights law is similar to the formula tion of the legislation regarding the annexation of east Jerusalem, and its import i s therefore the application of Israeli sovereignty also to this region."

-Hatikva, 16 May 94


18 May 94: Rabin offers 5-8 year withdrawal for treaty
18 May 94: Rabin offers 5-8 year withdrawal for treaty   Links  Links  Links  Links

ISRAEL WILL LEAVE GOLAN FOR TREATY

A five- to eight-year withdrawal is offered for peace with Syria.

The New York Times

JERUSALEM--Israel has offered to withdraw from the Golan Heights in three phases over a five- to eight-year period in return for peace with Syria and normal relations, officials involved in the indirect peace talks said Tuesday.

The officials said Syria had responded with considerable interest, which led Secretary of State Warren Christopher to return to Damascus today -- his third visit in a month -- to press on in his role as mediator.

Israel also is calling for international monitors and electronic monitoring devices on the Golan Heights, which it captured in 1967, and the demilitarization of Golan and neighboring parts of Syria...

...Details of the Israeli plan for the Golan and Syria's reaction emerged Tuesday as differences between the two sides appeared to narrow. But Christopher, who twice talked Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, repeated that the talks are "at an early stage of a long process."

Israeli media have reported that Rabin's government, recognizing that many Israelis fear that surrender of Golan will lessen their security, wants the United States to provide several billion dollars in military hardware to protect its borders.

According to officials close to the negotiations, President Hafez al-Assad of Syria is demanding full and immediate Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Israel has stopped short of proposing full withdrawal, but Israeli officials say Syria's leaders have signaled more flexibility recently  by suggesting they may accept withdrawal over a "reasonable" period.

Rabin wants Syria to normalize relations during the first phase of an Israeli withdrawal, including the exchange of diplomats and trade and other contacts. But Assad asks why Syria should give Israel everything it wants when Damascus gets only a third of what it wants.

One of Israel's main concerns is that Assad has a grudging view of peace, seeing it more as a cease fire than as full relations. But Israeli officials said on Tuesday that they were encouraged by Syrian statements suggesting that any peace would include some basic diplomatic ingredients, includ ing the opening of embassies.

One thing Assad wants immediately is an Israeli statement recognizing Syria's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed in 1981. But Israeli officials are loath to make such a statement without Syrian concessions.

Syrian officials say that if they are to pull back their troops a certain distance from the border, say, 20 miles, then so should Israel. But Israeli officials say that because their country is so tiny, a pull-back of equal distance would leave Israel vulnerable...

...U.S. officials cite several reasons to believe that Assad was sincere when he said this would be the year for peace.

Assad fears that Rabin may lose the 1996 elections to the right-of-center Likud Party, these officials said, and he knows he will get a better deal from Rabin than from Likud. Assad, 65, also seems eager for closer relations with the United States as a way to end Syria's isolation, and he knows the road to Washington runs through Jerusalem...

-Hatikva, 18 May 94


19 May 94: After 3-day shuttle, Christopher says Syria "sincere"
19 May 94: After 3-day shuttle, Christopher says Syria "sincere"   Links  Links  Links  Links

ISRAEL, SYRIA GETTING DETAILS ON OFFERS FOR PEACE

The Los Angeles Times

CAIRO, Egypt--After four days of shuttle diplomacy between Damascus and Jerusalem, Secretary of State Warren Christopher's aides said Wednesday that Syria and Israel for the first time are trading detailed proposals and counter-proposals on how to end their 46-year state of war.

The officials said this week's messages between the two capitals went to the heart of the issues that any peace agreement must include:  Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, a real normalization of political and economic relations and security assurances for both countries, which have fought five times.

As a result, Christopher ended his second round of mediation between the two bitter enemies Wednesday with a narrow glimmer of the Middle East's rarest commodity: optimism.

Christopher and his traveling aides say they have become convinced of two fundamental factors: Syrian President Hafez Assad is sincere about seeking a peace agreement, but it will take hard slogging--and more shuttling-- to get there.

On the positive side, "He (Assad) is serious about the process, very determined, (and) realizes that the stakes are quite large," Christopher said after his second meeting with the Syrian president in four days.

And Syria, which long demanded an immediate Israeli withdrawal from the Golan as the first step toward any other dealings, has accepted the idea that any pullout will be gradual--and is bargaining over how long it should be.

On the negative side, Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin are still far apart on many issues, and it will be a long time envoy say before their negotiators are ready to sit down face to face, Christopher warned.

It hasn't been easy getting this far. On Tuesday, a U.S. official said, Christopher bluntly warned Assad that if he wasn't more forthcoming, the secretary of state might abandon his effort. Assad quickly came forward with more detailed suggestions, leading Israel's usually grim Rabin to acknowledge: "There may perhaps be a small ray of hope" for peace.

The U.S. official said the episode was revealing of Assad's intentions: 'The Syrian appeared to have decided, even before Christopher complained, that he needed to show more flexibility to keep the negotiations going.

Indeed, as Christopher left Damascus on Tuesday, Syrian officials announced that he was coming back -- even though Christopher himself had not yet decided to do so. The basic shape of an agreement is already becoming clear.  Syria wants Israel to withdraw from all of the Golan Heights occupied in the 1967 Middle East war; Israel is willing to withdraw from almost all of the territory.

Israel wants full normalization of relations, including an embassy in Damascus and open trade; Assad has dropped several hints that in time, he can live with most and perhaps all of that.

Both countries want security assurances to protect them against surprise attack from each other; the issues under discussion include a demilitarized zone that could include both Israeli and Syrian territory, an international peacekeeping force and U.S.-supplied surveillance, electronic sensors and early warning systems.

-Hatikva, 19 May 94


22 May 94: State Dept keeps Syria on drug and terrorism list
22 May 94: State Dept keeps Syria on drug and terrorism list   Links  Links  Links  Links

ADMINISTRATION SAYS SYRIA WILL REMAIN ON TERRORISM ROSTER

WASHINGTON--High-ranking Clinton administration officials have told Jewish leaders that Syria will remain on the State Department's list of countries supporting terrorism.

According to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, government officials told the group that Syria will not be dropped from the administration's annual report on state-sponsored terrorism, which is due to be released within days.

A source at the State Department said there was no reason to dispute the Conference of President's statement.

There had been some speculation that Syria might be dropped from the list in light of recent developments both within that country and in the Middle East region.

The Syrian government had recently arrested and then released several leaders of the Iranian backed Party of God terrorist group, and it had also shut down two training camps of the Abu Nidal group, according to the Conference of Presidents.

In addition, in meetings last week with U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Syrian President Hafez Assad apparently indicated continued interest in negotiating peace with Israel.

These moves have been seen by many as an attempt by Syria to get into the United States' good graces. Syria is anxious to be taken off the list of nations that sponsor terrorism because those on the list are not eligible to receive U.S. foreign aid or purchase U.S. military supplies.

 	Last month, President Clinton decided to keep Syria on a list of countries who have not cooperated with the United States or made efforts of their own to combat drug trafficking.

Clinton followed the recommendation of Christopher, who reportedly disagreed with other State Department officials who sought to remove Syria from the list as a reward for its cooperation in the Middle East peace process.

"While any sign of improvement in Syrian behavior is welcome, the Damascus regime must come a long, long way before it could be consider- ed for removal from the list of terrorist supporting states," said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents. 	"Scores of terrorist groups continue to operate freely in Syria, and many are headquartered there," he added.

Some observers familiar with the terrorism issue said this year's State Department report could be delayed because the administration is waiting for Syria's reaction to Christopher's recent round of shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East.

Christopher spent most of the past two weeks traveling to Jerusalem, Cairo and Damascus in efforts to facilitate negotiations being carried out between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

The secretary is due back in the region later this month for further talks.

Last week in Cairo, Christopher presided over the signing of an implementation accord by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organiza tion that will begin the process of Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and Jericho.

In the days prior to the signing, Christopher met with Assad in Damascus to discuss an Israeli proposal for withdrawal from the Golan Heights in exchange for the establishment of full diplomatic relations.

A source at the State Department said there was no link between Christopher's trip and Syria's status in the terrorism report.

Hoenlein said the State Department's delay in releasing the report had nothing to do with peace negotiations between Syria and Israel. He called Syria's record on terrorism a separate issue."

-Hatikva, 22 May 94


26 May  94: Opposition submits bill  for new elections; Labor hawks balk
26 May  94: Opposition submits bill  for new elections; Labor hawks balk   Links  Links  Links  Links

...Netanyahu (leader of  the  opposition) explained that this bill calling for the disbanding of the Knesset is not "just a declarative act." He said, "It will take at least 45 days for the law to be put to vote. Today there is a well- based assessment in the IDF that terrorism will increase. I have also noted the declaration of seven Labor MK's that they will not be party to the government's intentions of withdrawing from the Golan Heights.  Therefore anything is possible."

The Likud chairman charged that the government did not have the support of the majority of the nation and relied on a "tiny, technical majority of PLO supporters in the Knesset."

-Hatikva, 26 May  94


1 Jun  94: Rabin says mediation by Christopher useless; Syria playing for time
1 Jun  94: Rabin says mediation by Christopher useless; Syria playing for time   Links  Links  Links  Links

RABIN: MEDIATION USELESS, SYRIA PLAYING FOR TIME'

The Washington Post

JERUSALEM--Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a parliamen tary council Tuesday that he was disappointed with recent contacts between Israel and Syria and that the United States' effort at mediation through Secretary of State Warren Christopher has "exhausted itself."

Rabin, reiterating Israel's offer for a phased withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, complained that Damascus is "playing for time," and added, "We can't say right now that Syria is serious about peace."

Rabin's comments to the closed-door meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee were relayed to reporters by an official. They follow a recent visit to the region by Christopher, who carried messages between Damascus and Jerusalem and said the two sides had begun substantive negotiatio ns.

However, Rabin has pressed for direct, secret talks with Syria, which President Hafez Assad has firmly rejected. Rabin has also pressed for a phased withdrawal in which Israel would exchange some land for a series of normalization steps from Syria. But Assad has insisted on a total withdrawal i n exchange for peace.

Rabin said that so far Syria has not agreed to return to the peace talks in Washington, which were interrupted after the massacre in Hebron on Feb. 25 of 29 Muslims by a Jewish settler. But he said he did not think much was being accomplished there. "The Washington talks are an exercise in treading water," he said.

While Israel would like Christopher to be involved, Rabin said, "in fact Washington has exhausted itself" with the shuttle missions.  Rabin's comments seemed to run counter to statements from the Clinton administration suggesting that Christopher was making progress.

-Hatikva, 1 Jun 94


2 Jun 94: Golan resident speaks of probable withdrawal
2 Jun 94: Golan resident speaks of probable withdrawal   Links  Links  Links  Links

IF THE GOLAN IS GIVEN BACK By JUDAH COHEN

Time is running out for the Jewish settlers and even the Druse living in the Golan Heights today.

The clock is ticking and the eleventh hour has passed. The Israeli government has begun its grandiose trek towards a 'peace plan' with Syria. The Middle East-twilight zone is now focused on a possibly more important territory than Gaza and Jericho --the Golan Heights.  Mr. Chaim Saperia, representative of the Golan Heights Settlement Council, has come to America and Canada to raise funds and inform the public about the strategic, spiritual and economic relevance of an Israeli Golan Heights. He claims it is the intention of the Rabin Administration to withdraw completely from the Golan

 Heights in three stages.

Over one year ago, members of the Israeli ministry of Foreign Affairs and Security, including: Benyamin Netanyahu, Eliyahu Ben Eliazer, Ron Nachman and other principal MK's, met with key persons in the Golan Heights Settlement Council and informed them of the three-phased proposed withdrawal.

 	Phase one: all Druse villages would be transferred to Syrian control. Furthermore, according to Mr. Saperia, the Druse feel that the Israeli government has betrayed all their years of loyal service in the IDF and to Israel. Yet, the Druse community has to be very careful regarding publicity, due to their million Druse relatives residing in Syria. As the Jewish people must be guarded when discus- sing Syria for concern over the Jews still in Syria--so too do the Druse.

Phase two: the evacuation of four Jewish settlements: El Rom, Merom Golan, Ein Vivan and Alonei Habashan, the residence of Mr.  Saperia.

At the completion of Phase one and two, the United States of America is to garrison 75,000 U.S. soldiers on the Golan Heights for an unspecified time, to act as a wall or buffer force guaranteeing Syrian compliance with a peace withdrawal.

At the same time, the Israeli army would be given permission to reconnoiter Syrian terrain from key vantage points with the Golan.  These locales remain secret.

Phase three concerns the entire withdrawal of all military and civilian installations within the Golan over an undetermined timeta ble.

"The vast majority of Golan Heights settlers" do not want Israel to relinquish the area to Syria, said Mr. Saperia. "The Vast majority of people within the Golan maintain that the (Israeli) Golan is crucial to peace with Syria." He also noted that the Golan acts as a barrier to battle between I srael and Syria in three ways. First, is the term firepower-- how efficient is one side's TNT, and how much is necessary in order to destroy the enemy in the most expedient fashion.  Israel, Mr. Saperia asserts, is on an inferior level concerning Syria's firepower.

This is the first and most critical element which ensures an enemy will not begin war activities against another sovereign state.  Secondly, mobility is the next key factor. Israel is a small country with excellent roads and highways allowing for expeditious access to its borders. Israel compen sates herself in mobility what it lacks in firepower.

Third, is the strategic value of the terrain -- the place. This is defined by the geography and topography of the locale. For instance, in a war with Egypt the entire conflict takes place in an inhospitable and uninhabitable expansive desert area-- Sinai. With a Syrian Golan Heights, there no l onger exists a buffer zone from which to conduct large scale ground forces warfare away from densely populated areas.

According to Mr. Saperia, in a scenario where the Syrians would hold the Golan Heights overlooking Israel, the temptation would be too great for them not to utilize their territorial advantage and pursue an all-out war for the Galilee, with Israel retaining such an overwhelming advantage, war w ould be the inevitable conclusion when you add territory to a terrorist leader.

"By giving back the Golan to Syria, the temptation of Arafat's Jihad will be too great to control," said Mr. Saperia.

Concerning the U.S. commitment of 75,000 ground forces in the Golan Heights--this is an unreasonable insurance to peace. It is the Israeli settlements and Israeli army in the Golan which has guaranteed the peace for 26 years, contends Mr. Saperia.

In recent history, the Golan has played a major role in Israel's water contribution--supplying 30% of total Israeli water consumption or approximately 161 billion gallons of water per annum.

The Status quo with Syria is acceptable. There is no peace and there are no actual hostilities or battle exchanges taking place. Why give up all these considerations for the price of a very viable threat to the security of the State of Israel.

The most important question for these settlers --when the government realize its plans, is what will the settlers do when Syria takes control of the Golan? "I cannot speak for all of the people of the Golan concerning this question, I can only speak as to my intentions. Everything is possible, and everything is going to happen.  Regarding me and my family--I am one of 13,000 living on the Golan that have decided, that in case of an evacuation of the Golan (that we don't believe will happen), we will live under Syrian administration and will remain there. In other words, Rabin has chan ged his mind, changed all his policies, has become crazy. We are going to make sure that Rabin will be the first Jewish leader written in history that exiled Jews from Israel back into the diaspora," said Chaim Saperia.

-Hatikva, 2 Jun 94


8 Jun 94: Jordan says Israel/Syria close to withdrawal accord
8 Jun 94: Jordan says Israel/Syria close to withdrawal accord    Links  Links  Links  Links

"Syria and Israel are close to agreement on the principle of withdrawal from the Golan Heights," Jordanian Prime Minister Abdel Salaam al-Majali has reportedly said.  (Ma'ariv, June 8)

-Yesha Daily News Service 8 Jun 94


15 Jun 94: Syria says Israel obstinate; Rabin says talks at standstill
15 Jun 94: Syria says Israel obstinate; Rabin says talks at standstill   Links  Links  Links  Links

JERUSALEM--Syria has condemned Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's statements that negotiations between the two countries have reached a standstill because Syria does not want to make peace.

The Syrian newspaper Tishrin wrote this week that Damascus has time and again said it is ready to make peace, but Israel refuses to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for it to withdraw entirely from the Golan Heights.

Rabin also stated on Tuesday that he would support any further attempts by U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher to broker a peace with Syria.

He noted, however, that the United States could do little more to bridge the gap between Jerusalem and Damascus.

In Washington on Wednesday, Christopher attempted to downplay Rabin's negative assessment of the status of the negotiations.

After traveling to the Middle East twice in May for rounds of shuttle diplomacy intended to get Israel and Syria back to the negotiating table, Christopher had stated he was pleased with the progress of the stances adopted by Jerusalem and Damascus.

On Wednesday, a State Department spokesperson said Christopher has not yet decided when he will return to the Middle East, adding that no plans for a future trip had been made or canceled.

The spokesperson did not know when a decision would be made on when Christopher would return to the region for further talks.  Earlier Farouk al-Sharaa charged that Israel was intransigent. "I think Rabin must have made a mistake. He must mean Israel does not want peace," he said.

According to Sharaa, who was attending a conference of non- aligned nations in Cairo, the American failure to bridge differences between Syria and Israel was 'due to Israel's stubbornness at the Washington peace talks.'

Rabin this week said that those talks, which were suspended by Syria in the wake of the Feb. 25 massacre of Palestinians in Hebron, were "empty of all content."

Rabin has been urging Syria to attend secret negotiations with Israel similar to those which led to the signing of the Palestinian self-rule accord last September in Washington.

Speaking in South America, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres rejected Syria's criticism of alleged Israeli obstinacy and said that progress in the talks was "a matter of time "

"I am sure that we will make peace with Syria. The question is how to do that in the shortest possible time," he said

For his part, Peres criticized the Syrians for attempting to conduct negotiations along "a very narrow track." But, Peres continued,"We have no choice but to make peace." Environment Minister Yossi Sarid of the leftwing Meretz bloc said that true peace with Syria might lead to a situation in which Israel would perhaps relinquish sovereignty over the Golan but retain a presence there.

-Hatikva, 15 Jun 94


15 Jun 94: Rabin says Israel conquered Golan for security, not settlements
15 Jun 94: Rabin says Israel conquered Golan for security, not settlements   Links  Links  Links  Links

...While insisting that he knows of no plans for PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat to come to Jerusalem, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin also said, "The Golan Heights were not conquered so we could settle it, but because it was a security threat, and I am familiar with that threat and we are dealing with it ."... (Jerusalem Post, Tues., June 14, 1994)

-Yesha Daily News Service 15 Jun 94


22 Jun 94: Clinton assistant says US troops on Golan to ensure Israel/Syria agreement
22 Jun 94: Clinton assistant says US troops on Golan to ensure Israel/Syria agreement   Links  Links  Links  Links

AMERICANS ON THE GOLAN by Pesac Wolicki

Anthony Lake, President Clinton's Assistant for National Security Affairs, recently announced that to ensure a settlement between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights, American troops will be deployed there and Congress started their discussion of this event yesterday. The theory of the Israel is and their backers is that a treaty will bring such gains as economic cooperation between Israel and her neighbors and normalized diplomatic relations. Security concerns, they say, will not be as pressing once there is peace.

.....

However, with regard to Syria to whom Israel has not yet given an inch, we must point to Egypt and demand some guarantee that this sham not be repeated. One such guarantee is to not surrender the Golan Heights. Once Syria has what it came for, why should it comply with Israel's demands such as mutual trade, tourism and an end to hostile propaganda, among others? The incentive to make peace must be peace.

Lastly, the agreement with Egypt depends largely on the aid that Egypt receives from the United States. Relying on American financial and, as Mr. Lake recently discussed, military aid as a means of peacekeeping is impractical for two reasons.

Secondly, lasting peace must be self-sustaining. Only open trade and diplomatically normalized relations ensure self-sustainment. To suggest that American troops be placed on the Golan as a means of enforcing a peace agreement admits failure even before the negotia tions have begun. If U.S. tro ops must ensure the peace, then it is clear that there is no peace.

Will the present Israeli government demand better from Syria than they got from Egypt? I hope so. Have they lowered their standards for peace? I hope not. Egypt as a prototype for Middle East peace? Not a chance.

-Hatikva  22 Jun 94


25 Jun 94: Rabin and Beilin ask America to bridge gaps with Syria
25 Jun 94: Rabin and Beilin ask America to bridge gaps with Syria   Links  Links  Links  Links

U.S. INVOLVEMENT SOUGHT

It is clear. from their remarks that the Israelis want a more active involvement by the United States, which has tried without success to broker an agreement between the countries. Israel and Syria have not negotiated directly with each other since early this year.

Rabin says he prefers direct high-level contact with the Syrians.  But since that seems unlikely for now, he says he welcomes American help in closing the gap on the main issue: Israel's demand for "full peace" and Syria's for a complete return of the Golan Heights, which it lost to the Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Israeli officials say they expect Secretary of State Warren Christopher to return to the region in two or three weeks to try to give the negotiations a jump start.

In analyzing Washington's role, Beilin was far blunter than the prime minister. "Without an American involvement," he told a group of American reporters this week, "we will not have peace with Syria."

-Hatikva, 25 Jun 94


25 Jun 94:  Beilin blasts Christopher for not commanding a settlement
25 Jun 94:  Beilin blasts Christopher for not commanding a settlement   Links  Links  Links  Links

CHRISTOPHER CRITICIZED

The Israeli press reported this week that foreign ministry policy planners had prepared an internal study criticizing Christopher for not being a commanding presence in the Middle East like some of his predecessors, notably James Baker,III and Henry Kissinger, both of whom shuttled repeatedly f rom capital to capital in attempts to bang heads together.

Publicly, no senior official came close to criticizing Israel's chief ally and aid benefactor in this way.

But Beilin suggested obliquely that in his view, the Clinton ad- ministration allows its foreign policy agenda to be set by whatever issue happens to dominate the news at a particular moment, like North Korea.

"I'm happy that the Middle East is not burning," he said, "but I think all of us understand that it is very explosive."

As ever, the point of contention between Israel and Syria is the Golan Heights. Syria insists on getting the strategic plateau back but nearly two generations of Israelis have grown up with the conviction that it is vital to their security.

Now the Rabin government says it is ready to give up much of the Golan in return for peace although it stops short of promising the full withdrawal that Syria demands.

-Hatikva, 25 Jun 94


28 Jun 94: US considers troops on Golan as part of settlement
28 Jun 94: US considers troops on Golan as part of settlement   Links  Links  Links  Links

U.S. OFFICIAL CONFIRMS POSSIBILITY OF U.S. TROOPS ON THE GOLAN By MATHEW DORF

WASHINGTON--The United States would consider sending peacekeeping troops to the Golan Heights if Syria and Israel request their presence as part of any future peace accord.

"If both parties wish the United States to be part of security arrangements on the Golan within an international context, we would consider such an action," Robert Pelletreau, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommit tee on Europe and the Midd le East at a hearing on Tuesday.

"It would be premature at this point to say specifically that United States forces might be stationed on the Golan," Pelletreau said.  But, he added, "there is an expectation by both the parties" of a U.S.-presence on the Golan in the event of a peace agreement.

Pelletreau's remarks came one week after some Jewish groups joined forces with Christian Zionists in an effort to derail any potential Israeli-Syrian peace agreement that would involve Israeli withdrawal from the Golan...

...AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, reportedly approves of a U.S. military' presence on the Golan if peace would be established between Israel and Syria.

Mark Langfan, a military strategist, said, "AIPAC is actively lobbying on Capitol Hill to prevent an in-depth study of the risks and dangers of deploying troops on the Golan Heights. This is a policy of at best dual loyalty and at worst intentionally exposing U.S. troops certain death The first body bags that land in Dover Air Force Base will have the name of AIPAC written on it in bold letters."

-Hatikva, 28 Jun 94


4 Jul 94: Beilin complains US hasn't pressured Israel enough to vacate Golan
4 Jul 94: Beilin complains US hasn't pressured Israel enough to vacate Golan   Links  Links  Links  Links

**CHRISTOPHER HAS NOT GONE FAR ENOUGH** Ha'aretz (July 1) Yossi Beilin, Deputy Foreign Minister, complains that American secretary of State Warren Christopher, has not gone far enough in pressuring Israel to give up the Golan, give up the territories, and cave into the Arab demands.

-Hatikva, 4 Jul 94


4 Jul 94: Some leftwingers get nervous; complain about giveaway on Golan
4 Jul 94: Some leftwingers get nervous; complain about giveaway on Golan   Links  Links  Links  Links

**ENOUGH!!!** Members of Rabin's coalition have defected on the issue of the Golan Heights. Gavrei Bar Gil, General Secretary of Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) and others have complained at the giveaway of the Golan as they feel it is necessary for Israel's survival

-Hatikva, 4 Jul 94


19 Jul 94:  FM Peres said Syria must define "peace"
19 Jul 94:  FM Peres said Syria must define "peace"   Links  Links  Links  Links

PERES WANTS DEFINITION OF PEACE FROM ASSAD

JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Monday the Arab-Israeli conflict is nearing an end as he opened a new diplomatic mission aimed at encouraging Syria to make peace with Israel. He said he hoped progress between Israel, the Palestine Liberation Organization and Jordan would prompt Syria to join a regional settlement.

"The next seven days here in the Middle East will be extremely important for the peace process," said Christopher, who departs for Damascus today for talks with Syrian President Hafez Assad. Despite progress between Israel and other Arab leaders, Assad has shown little willingness to budge from his demand that Israel commit to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Assad wants a pledge that the strategic border highlands captured from Syria during the 1967 war will be returned in full before he agrees to details of normal relations with Israel.

Nevertheless, Christopher was upbeat in his assessment after meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

"The Arab-Israeli conflict, one of the most longstanding and most intractable conflicts of this entire century, is drawing to an end," Christopher said...

...Christopher plans to travel to Gaza on Thursday for a meeting with PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat and return to Israel for further meetings with Rabin before going again to Damascus on Friday.

U.S. and Israeli officials hope Assad feels the pressure of progress elsewhere in the Israeli-Arab peace process, but they also refused to predict that Christopher's shuttle mission will lead to a breakthrough.

In Damascus, a Syrian government spokesman said the meetings with Christopher "might help push the peace process toward its objectives."

Signaling that the first move must come from Syria, Rabin said Israel will not make a specific commitment on withdrawal from the Golan Heights until Syria defines "the meaning of peace."

-Hatikva, 19 Jul 94


Who owns the Golan?
Who owns the Golan?  Links  Links  Links  Links

Those who advocate land for peace argue that whether or not Syria repeatedly attacked Israel from the Golan in the past, the territory is Syrian and should be vacated.

Furthermore, whether or not Israel can rely on American, United Nations or other international guarantees to prevent the Syrians from attacking them again from this strategically critical plateau ( description by Fodor's Israel 1977-before political correctness ), the small area belongs to Syria so must be returned to them.

 Other argue that whatever the justice of Israel's occupation of the Golan or the dangers of vacating it, for the sake of national pride, Syria cannot give up an inch of her historical sovereign territory.  Peace is impossible without a return of the Golan. Israel must take risks for peace.

Whatever the historical or strategic roles of the Golan, after the Six Day War the United Nations passed Resolution 242, which requires Israel to withdraw from the Golan.  Israel must obey international law.

Why don't similar arguments apply elsewhere in the World.  Mexico can't make peace with United States until California and Texas are returned.  Spain can't make peace until Florida is returned.  Germany can't make peace with Poland until the territories confiscated after world war two are returned.  Denmark can't make peace with Sweden until Skone is returned.  Finland can't make peace with Russia until the territories Russia conquered in the opening years of world war two are returned.  Etc.  Israel is the only country is the world which is told to yield territories for this reason.  Can this be caused by the Arabs having 22 votes in the United Nations and 60% of the world's oil reserves, as opposed to Israel's one vote and no oil reserves?  Of course not!

These arguments are debatable:

1.  There is no historical Syria.  In biblical, classical times, there was a nation called Assyria  Modern Syrians are largely Arabs, with a sprinkling of Kurds, Christians, Circassians,  Assyrians - yes a few are still around, and even  remnant of Samaritans, of Good Samaritan fame.

Assyrians were an entirely different people.  When the Arabs conquered the region they slaughtered and subdued the Assyrians, among others.

2.  Modern Syria was created out of an undifferentiated territory that has was ripped away from the Ottoman empire after their defeat in World War One.  The Arabs called the area Sham, which was a region, not a political entity, and included what is now Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.  During the centuries of Moslem rule - Moslem rule, not Arab rule - the political boundaries and the names of the subregions frequently changed.

France named the region Syria right after World War One. Its borders were drawn by Britain and France for political reasons and influenced by what Turkey would tolerate.

3.  The Golan Heights, which except for the Kuneitra area were part of Palestine when Britain issued the Balfour Declaration designating Palestine for a Jewish National Home, were ceded by Britain to the French mandate of Syria in 1923.  The Golan was assigned to Palestine because of its historical connections to the Jewish people and its geographical connections to the Galilee.

4.  Arabs have ruled the Golan for a small part of its history,  an indescribably smaller part of its history than the Jews.  Jewish history on the Golan.

5. The Golan Heights is small but remarkably fertile.  However, under Syrian rule the Golan Heights was used as little but a military base from which to attack the Jews. Most Syrian residents were military personnel and their families.  Under Israeli rule it is bountiful again.  More.   Example

 6.  Resolution 242 does not require Israel to withdraw from all territories conquered in the Six Day War.  This is attested to by the parties that passed the resolution.  The resolution does require Israel to withdraw from territories, but the word the was purposefully excluded from the resolution.  Furthermore, the resolution mandates withdrawal to secure boundaries.  Israel's boundaries before the Six Day War were not secure.  Not secure by any fool's reasoning.    Resolution 242

7.  Almost all Syrians consider two Mediterranean provinces of Turkey to be sovereign Syrian territory.  These two provinces were part of the Syrian Mandate that were ceded by France to Turkey for political reasons.  Syria accepts this for the sake of peace.  They can also accept ceding a territory 1/5 the size for the sake of peace.  Even to Jews.  Alexandretta: part of the Syrian Mandate allocated to Turkey.   Map

8. In 1981 Israel passed the Golan Heights Law which extended Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.  Rabin's government has no right to negotiate away the Heights without first changing that law.  However, because an Israeli withdrawal is politically correct   the usual assortment of human rights, good government, lawyers and other associations that rant and rave against government lawlessness have remained silent.

Golan Heights Law not illegal, contrary to Res 242


Syrian national pride demands the whole Golan be vacated for "peace"
Syrian national pride demands the whole Golan be vacated for "peace"  Map   Links  Links  Links  Links

Most people urge Israel to show "flexibility" on the Golan Heights - meaning complete withdrawal in exchange for a piece of paper called a peace treaty.

Among other reasons, they say that since Israel returned the entire Sinai to Egypt in exchange for a peace treaty, Syrian national pride would prevent Hafez Assad from making peace for less.

However, as a columnist pointed out:

"And yet Syria managed to reconcile itself to the fact that Turkey holds Alexandretta, a region of the Syrian-Turkish border that is five times the size of the Golan.  Alexandretta is part of Mandatory Syria and is considered by all Syrians to be a part of Syrian territory.  But because of Syria's interest in maintaining good relation with Turkey, Damascus has in effect, if not formally, agreed to Turkish sovereignty over the region. ( map )

"It appears that when Syria has a genuine interest in establishing peaceful relations it is ready to concede land.

But if Syria places the Golan above peace, what does that say about Syria's true intentions?"

-Salai Meridor, Jerusalem Post June 30, 1993


Assyrians and Samaritans

 Samaritans are mostly the descendants of Assyrians who invaded the northern parts of  Israel.  A remnant of Assyrians also exists. Assyrians are Moslems, but do not regard themselves as Arabs. Most live in Syria, but a few live in Israel.

  Arabs claim the Golan Heights and Israel on historical rights. Article 6 of the Palestinian National Covenant demands that Jews be evicted from Palestine as invaders. Naturally, this works both ways.  Any time now, the United Nations will demand that Syrian Arabs be expelled to the Arabian heartland in Saudi Arabia, returning Syria to their Assyian and Samaritan owners. and that the land be returned to the remnant of Assyrians and possibly the Samaritans, as the rightful owners.  The Palestine National Congress will amend their constitution to be consistent, of course.


Golan Heights Law not contrary to International Law
Golan Heights Law not contrary to International Law   Links  Links  Links  Links

MYTH

//"Israel illegally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, a move clearly contrary to international law and UN Resolution 242."

FACT

The Israeli Golan Heights law passed on December 14, 1981 extends Israeli civilian law and administration to the residents of the Heights, replacing the military authority which ruled the area for 14 years.  The new law does not annex or extend Israeli sovereignty over the region.  It does not impose Israeli citizenship on the Golan's non-Jewish inhabitants, as would be required by formal annexation.

More importantly, as Israeli leaders have made clear, the law does not foreclose the option of negotiations on a final settlement of the territory.  It, therefore, is consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 242 and 338.

For 17 years(this was written a while ago) Israel has been prepared to negotiate with Syria.  For 17 years, Syria has been implacably opposed not only to negotiations but to Israel's very right to exist.

"The Syrian refusal for 14 years to negotiate a treaty of peace has made any agreed territorial adjustment impossible," Professor Julius Stone of the California Hastings College of the Law wrote following the israeli Knesset decision.  The renowned jurist argued, "There is no rule of international law which requires a lawful military occupant, in this situation, to wait forever before putting the control and government of the territory on a permanent basis.  Many international lawyers have wondered, indeed, at the long-suffering patience which led Israel to wait as long as she did bef ore establishing that permanent basis."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1977 Ronald Reagan addressed this issue:

"The real issue in the Middle East had to do with the Arab refusal to recognize that Israel has a right to exist as a nation.  To give up the buffer zones Israel took in the Six-Day War, could be to put a cannon on her front walk aimed at her front door by those who have said she must be destroyed."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- This article is reprinted with the permission of the Near East Report.


Why has the Golan been quiet since the Yom Kippur War
Why has the Golan been quiet since the Yom Kippur War   Links  Links  Links  Links

:Leftists and the Rabin government claimed that if Israel wants peace with Syria it must vacate the Golan.  Yet, Israel's border with Syria has been quieter than it's border with Egypt, with whom it has a "peace" treaty.  Quieter than with Lebanon, dominated by Syria.  Quieter than with Jordan, whose territorial claims upon Israel are minor.  Syria has chosen to keep Israel's border with Lebanon heated, but the Golan border quiet.  Why?  The reasons are obvious but appeasers don't want to hear them.

Why has the Golan border been quiet and stable?  Hint:  'cause Israel could smash Damascus from there.


The Golan has been quiet because Israel can repulse any attack and smash Damascus
The Golan has been quiet because Israel can repulse any attack and smash Damascus   Links   Links  Links  Links  Links

...

Israel has a stable border with Syria on the Golan and has had since their agreement in 1967. Neither country has attacked the other, and Israeli forces and settlements have neutralized the Golan as a base for attacking Israelis in the north of Israel. This is peace and secured by the deaths of  many, young Jewish soldiers fighting for peace. Now, the present government of Israel is negotiating a peace that involves accepting an agreement that requires Israel to surrender the Israeli settlements of the Golan, surrender strategic depth, surrender its many intelligence gathering posts, s urrender about one third of its water supply, and for an agreement with the totalitarian regime of Syria's Assad who is best remembered for his murder of 10,000 of his own countrymen in the Syrian town of Hamas in 1982. Syria also occupies and rules Lebanon in violation of the WAIF agreement, ha s murdered and displaced thousands of Lebanese Christians, and solely because Lebanon does not have the strength to repel the foreign invader.

If Assad of Syria truly wanted "peace," a perfectly, valid justification for his gesture would be the abandonment of his quest for the Golan; the basis of his aggression against Israel and leaving Lebanon.

The facts of life are that the Israeli presence in the Golan, just a short distance from Damascus, is the necessary ingredient for peace and without the Israeli presence, Israeli tanks, Israeli early, warning systems, meaningful peace would be difficult indeed. This then is the key to peace in the Middle East, a peace based on the mutual respect of armed forces, nothing less can ever assure peace. No nation has ever achieved any political goal with anything less, and this situation is no different.

Real politik, using the U.S. as an example, points out the implicit necessity of a well armed country that displays its might, and that is the only deterrent to war. Could the U.S. "influence" North Korea as it has been doing recently with anything less? The U.S. is officially at peace with Nor th Korea, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Cuba, and hoards of other countries, but how many would sleep comfortably without knowing the U.S. has a formidable armed force at its disposal.

-Hatikva, 8 Feb 94


Golan: geology, geology, topography
Golan: geology, geology, topography  Links  Links  Links  Links

Golan's domination over Israel's Hula Valley described by Fodor's Israel, 1977 (pre -PC)

Golan's ancient fertility described by Fodor's 1977; used only as a military base under Syria, under Israel it is bountiful again.

The topography of the Golan's strategic value.  Details of exactly what is so strategically advantageous about the Golan.  Preview

The Golan's mountains: radar and other early warning.  Proximity to Israel's water supply.  Israel barely held the Golan during the Yom Kippur War, and now Syria's army is three times as large.


Golan: Described by Fodor's Israel 1977 (pre -PC)
Golan: Described by Fodor's Israel 1977 (pre -PC)  Links  Links  Links  Links

The following words are taken from Fodor's Israel 1977:

 From the Sea of Galilee northwards for about 40 miles along the course of the Jordan River, the land to the east of the river sweeps precipitously upward, to a height of over 1,000 feet above the valley floor.  This cliff-like brow of land forms the western edge of the Golan Heights.  Strategically, it dominates all the land in the valleys below, and for 19 years the Israeli settlements here were sitting ducks for Syrian artillery and snipers.


Fodor's description, pop-up version
Fodor's Israel 1977 describes the Golan:

From the Sea of Galilee northwards for about 40 miles along the course of the Jordan River, the land to the east of the river sweeps precipitously upward, to a height of over 1,000 feet above the valley floor.  This cliff-like brow of land forms the western edge of the Golan Heights.  Strategically, it dominates all the land in the valleys below, and for 19 years the Israeli settlements here were sitting ducks for Syrian artillery and snipers.


The Golan: bountiful and fertile under Israeli rule
The Golan: bountiful and fertile under Israeli rule   Links  Links  Links  Links

Fodor's Israel 1977 - note the pre politically correct year - describes the Golan Heights:

 "Though the land in the Golan is very rich - being largely fertile volcanic soil - farming had been neglected in the past years.

 At one time, however, the Golan was one of the richest farm areas in the Fertile Crescent.  The Golan Heights form a part of biblical Bashan, which was known for its particular breed of "fat cows", great oak forests and succulent fruit (Golan apples, even today, are superb; try some if you're visiting in the fall).  The fabled ships of Tyre were built of oak brought from Bashan.  But the last of the great forests were cut down 60 years ago."

 -farming had been neglected in the past years.  Although all middle eastern countries other than Israel - including Syria - must import food to feed its population, Syria used the Golan Heights - its most fertile area - solely as a massive military base from which to attack Israel.

 -At one time, however, the Golan was one of the richest farm areas in the Fertile Crescent...  and is again.  Israel has filled the Golan - as tiny as it is - with kibbutzes, other forms of community farming, and private farms.  Orchards on the Golan produce fruit that is exported throughout Europe.  Israel's most famous wines are now produced on the Golan.

 Even on the border with Syria, amidst the anti-tank ditches and the fortified defensive positions on the rocky outcroppings, land is set aside for Druse and Kibbutz orchards and nature reserves.


Kibbutz Hagolan for example popup
Kibbutz Hagolan for example

 From Fodor's Israel 1977:

 "The crossroads of the Golan is Kuneitra less than 20 miles south of Birket Ram.  This was the chief city and headquarters for the Syrian army in the Heights...Just outside town, Kibbutz Hagolan takes overnight guest."

 Now many kibbutzim grow crops and take guests, and Kibbutz Hagolan maintains orchards and vineyards - often within a few meters of defensive fortifications.


The topography of the Golan's strategic value
The topography of the Golan's strategic value   Links  Links  Links  Links

THE GOLAN AND THE ISRAELI PUBLIC

by

Emunim

According to the latest polls, a majority of Israelis oppose the Rabin government's Golan withdrawal policy. To comprehend the public's vehement opposition to territorial concessions to Syria, one must understand what the Golan Heights is, and what it means to Israel's survival.

Topographically, the Golan is a 60 km. long by 20 km. wide mountainous plateau running from the upper Jordan Rift Valley and Lake Kinneret in the west, the Yarmuk Valley in the south and Mount Hermon in the north. On Israel's side of the Heights, there is a steep incline from the Golan plateau d own to the densely populated Hula Valley and eastern shore of the Kinneret.

The Golan Heights, one of 3 sources that supplies Israel's fresh water needs, comprises the Jordan River's headwaters (60%), and the mountain streams (40%) that flow down into the Kinneret. (For a detailed analysis of the water issue, see Realities April 1, 1993, "Water: A Strategic Resource".) Today, water flows freely into the Kinneret and then, via massive pumps using 5% of Israel's electric power, the National Water Carrier supplies this water to the rest of Israel.  It was not always so.

In 1964, Syria, then occupying the Golan Heights, tried to divert these critical headwaters away from Israel in a blatant attempt to cripple Israel's fresh water supply.  Ironically, the IDF operation that destroyed the Syrian damming project was carried out under then Israeli Chief of Staff Yit zhak Rabin, who is now prepared to return control of Israel's fragile water lifeline to the Syrians, trusting them not to repeat past sins.

Militarily, Israeli control extends just over the crestline, giving the IDF direct eye and radar contact with the 65 km.  plain that runs from the Golan to Damascus.  Located just 20-30 km. from Israel's forward positions, are the deployment areas of Syria's armored divisions - a mere 2 hour tan k ride to Israeli territory.  The Golan Heights acts as a defensive wall protecting Israel's north.  A Syrian attack is topographically channeled via only two passes in which armored vehicles can cross.  In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, about 150 Israeli tanks stopped invading Syrian columns - with m ore than 1,400 tanks - in the "bottleneck" Valley of Tears pass in the north, and the pass through the volcanic hills in the south.  The surprised, and vastly outnumbered Israeli troops held off the invaders for the 48 hours it required to mobilize and move the sufficient forces in place that ul timately beat back and defeated the Syrian aggressors.

Having these critical passes in Israeli hands is no less important now, with Syria's enormous buildup of highly advanced weaponry, than it was in 1973.  Since 1982, the Syrian army has doubled in size, whereas according to foreign sources, Israel's army has only increased by 15-20%.  On paper at

 least, Syria has already achieved military parity with Israel.  Hence, one needn't be a military genius to realize that it's better to concentrate a small standing force on the high ground, defending the 10 km. area of the passes, than the same force having to defend a 60 km. line.

Any proposed pullback of Israeli forces from these passes returns Israel to the vulnerability she suffered prior to the 1967 Six Day War, and more so. It is only the vast number of Israeli artillery and tanks in the Golan Heights targeting the Syrian army's deployment area beyond, and the capabi lity to shell and bomb the outskirts of Damascus at a given moment that is keeping Hafez el-Assad from implementing his "Greater Syria" strategy where Israel is concerned.

Imagine a Syrian repeat performance of the 1973 surprise attack, this time with 4,000 tanks, and 80 Scud-C missiles fired upon Haifa and Tel Aviv within a 2 hour span, sowing widespread civilian panic and seriously disrupting Israel's emergency reserve mobilization. Remember, the Syrian Scuds ar e twice as powerful as the Iraqi Scuds Israelis know so well, and the Scud-C is four times as accurate. Can Israel really afford to even partially pullback our forward positions from the Golan crestline and give control of the key passes to Syria in exchange for Syria's signature on a piece of p aper?

Yitzhak Rabin ran on the election platform that he would not withdraw from the Golan.  He told the Golan settlers; he told the Israeli public at large; he personally assured Israeli War Hero, Avigdor Kahalani, who risked his good name by then assuring voters that a Rabin led government would not withdraw from the Golan. Whether or not Prime Minister Rabin is entitled to change his mind about not withdrawing from the Golan is not the issue, he has no mandate from the Israeli voter to do so.  At least he didn't say, "Read my lips".  Instead of his defeatist policy of appeasement, let Pri me Minister Rabin hold the Syrian regime directly responsible for Hizbollah actions in Lebanon who are supplied and operate with active Syrian cooperation in attacking Israel's north. The Sagger over-the-shoulder missiles used by Hizbollah, for example, are supplied by the Syrian army.

Israel shouldn't have to prove its peaceful intentions by suicidal unilateral concessions.  Let Syria, the beaten aggressor, offer gestures of its peaceful intentions, if indeed Damascus wants peace, and not just an improved position from which to launch the next attack on the Jewish State.


Preview
The current ceasefire line is just east of the Golan's ridge.  This area is rugged and ragged with volcanic ridges, funneling attacking forces into two easily defended routes.  Any withdrawal costs Israel all the advantage of the Golan's topography.


Topography, weapons, Syrian military power
Topography, weapons, Syrian military power  Links  Links  Links  Links

The Golan Heights, which except for the Kuneitra area were part of Palestine when Britain issued the Balfour Declaration designating Palestine for a Jewish National Home, were ceded by Britain to the French mandate of Syria in 1923.  They are 15 miles wide and 41.6 miles from North to South.  Th eir total area is less than 540 square miles.  This towering plateau completely dominates the upper Jordan valley and the Sea of Galilee to its West.  Just on the Israeli side of the cease-fire line now constituting the de facto border with Syria is a chain of mountains and hills serving as mili tary strongholds.  Their height ranges from about 2,900 feet in the South to 3,900 feet in the central section and about 7,100 feet in the shoulder of Mount Hermon.  These mountains and hills are a watershed, providing essential observation posts and dominating firing positions covering large ar eas to the East.  The conclusions concerning radar and electronic warfare are basically the same here as in Judea and Samaria.  In general, the front line of the Golan Heights differs from the Eastern Zone of Judea and Samaria only in that the height difference between the dominating hills and t he plateau to the East is much smaller.

From 1948 until 1967, the Syrians machine-gunned and shelled Jewish settlements in the upper Jordan valley from their Golan positions.  In the early sixties, they tried to divert the sources of the Jordan River - Israel's main source of water.  Had the Syrian offensive in the 1973 war started fr om the pre-1967 border, northern and eastern Galilee, including Safed and Tiberias would have been overrun and most of Israel's water resources would be under Syrian control.  Since 1973, the Syrian armed forces have nearly tripled their strength, making any territorial concession in the Golan Heights militarily impossible.


Jewish history on the Golan
Jewish history on the Golan   Links  Links  Links  Links

Jews have lived on the Golan Heights for at least 3,200 years - for 1,800 years, before Islam came into being and the Arabs arrived on a wave of conquest in the early 600s.

 Jewish life on the Golan was first interrupted when the Babylonians defeated the Assyrians, then marched through the Golan on the way to sack Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple in 597 B. C.  The Jewish tribes of Gad and Reuven and part of the tribe of Menasheh were exiled from the Golan.

 Other Jews took their place.  More than 600 years later, Jewish life was again wiped out, this time by the Romans, a slaughter that included the massacre at Gamla.

 But the Golan was central to Jewish life and Jews again moved to the fertile region.  The Jerusalem Talmud was actually composed in religious communities on the Golan Heights over the first centuries in the Christian calendar.

 Some 600 years later the Arab conquerors again wiped out Jewish communities on the Golan.  After that, Jewish settlement on the Heights was small and suffered from disruptions, but never ceased altogether.


Maps, charts and graphs placeholder


Syria, Turkey, Alexandretta, Golan Heights
  The Alexandretta salient comprises two provinces in Turkey.  Together they are five times the size of the Golan.


Map of Syrian attacks from the Golan, 1966
Map of Syrian attacks from the Golan, 1966   Links  Links  Links  Links

  Click the small red rectangles, or the rectangle in the lake, for a date and brief description of each attack.


Shear Yashuv
Shear Yashuv:  September 6, 1966.  Seven land reclamation officers wounded by a mine.


Ashmura
Ashmura:  April 30, 1966.  Syrian machine guns hit four Israeli workers.  June 5, 1966.  Syrian shells farmers.


Between Hulata and Gadot
Between Hulata and Gadot :  February 13, 1966.  Syrians fire mortars at Israeli tractors.  Israeli army arrives and destroys two Syrian tanks.


Near Ashmura
Near Ashmura and Hulata.  6 June.  Syrian mortars set fire to crops.


Mahanayim
Mahanayim :  July 12, 1966.  Syrian mine injures a tractor driver.


Almagor
Almagor:  July 12, 1966.  Israeli forest officer killed by Syrian mine.


Haon
Haon:  February 22, 1966.   Syrian fire at tractor.  March 29, 1966.  Syrian machine gun fire hits tractor driver.  March 30, 1966.  Syrian artillery fire hits tractor driver.  October 22, 1966.  Syrians fire at tractor driver.


Shaar Hagolan
Shaar Hagolan:  October 9, 1966.  Syrian mine kills four border police.


Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee:  February 21, 1966.  Syrians fire mortars at fishing boats.  August 15, 1966.  Syrians fire at patrol boat.  Duel ensues.  Five Israeli soldiers wounded, two Syrian aircraft shot down.  September 26, 1966.  Syrians fire at fishing boat.


Jan-Apr '67: Map of Syrian attacks from the Golan
Jan-Apr '67: Map of Syrian attacks from the Golan     Links  Links  Links  Links

.   Click the small red rectangles, or the rectangle in the lake, for a date and brief description of each attack.


Dishon
Dishon:  January 14, 1967.  Syrians lay mines, which kill a soldier watching a football match.


Dan
Dan:  February 13, 1967.  Syrians fire on an Israeli patrol.  February 14, 1967.  Syrian gunfire hits an Israeli soldier.


Shear Yashuv
Shear Yashuv:  January 27, 1967.  Soldiers find Syrian mine.


Kfar Szold
Kfar Szold:  January 20, 1967.  Patrol finds Syrian mine.  March 27, 1967.  Patrol finds Syrian mine.


Shamir
Shamir:  January 8, 1967.  Syrian machine guns rake villages.  March 4, 1967.  Syrian mine injures tractor driver.


Gonen
Gonen:  April 14, 1967.  Syrian mortars seriously wound farmer.


Notera
Notera : January 8, 1967.  Syrian mortars hit village.  February 15, 1967. Syrians shoot at tractor.


Ashmura
Ashmura:  January 8, 1967.  Syrian mortars hit village.


Hulafa
Hulafa:  January 3, 1967.  Syrians shoot at Israeli army patrol.  January 11, 1967.  Syrian tanks fire on Israeli tanks.  Duel follows.  Two Israeli soldiers wounded.


Gadot
Gadot:  April 8, 1967.  200 Syrian mortar shells reduce village to ashes.  Note:  The UN did not condemn Syria, the Secretary General did not express condolences to the victims, and no UN committee was dispatched to aid those who lost their homes.


Almagor
Almagor:  January 7, 1967.  Syrian mortars hit village.


Korazim
Korazim:  January 2, 1967.  Syrian fire mortars at soldiers.  One wounded.


Ein Gev
Ein Gev:  January 4, 1967.  Syrians shoot at farmer.  April 8, 1967.  Syrian mortars hit cowshed, killing 8 cows.


Haon
Haon:  January 1, 1967.  Syrians fire mortars at tractors.  April 3, 1967.  Syrian fire artillery at village.


Tel Katzir
Tel Katzir:  January 7, 1967.  Syrians fire mortars at farmers.  January 9, 1967.  Syrian tanks fire - downhill - at Israeli tanks.  Israelis return fire, destroying 2 Syrian tanks.


Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee:  January 15, 1967.  Syrians shoot at patrol boat.  April 8, 1967.  Syrians shell lake.


1966: Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan
1966: Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan  Detailed Map  Quote  Links  Links  Links  Links

 Throughout 1966 tensions between Israel and Syria deteriorated, as Syria's radical socialist Ba'ath government proclaimed that they would destroy the Jewish state.  Quote.  The Syrian army shelled and machine-gunned Israeli farms, villages and boats on the Sea of Galilee. Detailed Map.

In addition, the Syrians provided arms, logistics and intelligence for terrorist attacks across the border by Yasser Arafat's PLO and other Palestinian Arab groups.


Assad 66 quote
"We shall never call for nor accept peace.  We shall only accept war.  We have resolved to drench this land with your blood, to oust you aggressors, to throw you into the sea."

-Hafez Assad, then Syrian Defence Minister, May 24, 1966

 Hafez Assad is now president of Syria.  He has never repudiated this sentiment or the hundreds of others like it.  Yet, most of the world expects Israel to vacate strategically critical Golan Heights into his hands, if only President Clinton will pay him enough billions to extract the right words - once.


1967: Jan-Apr Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan
1967: Jan-Apr Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan  Detailed Map   Links  Links  Links  Links

  From January through April 1967, the Syrian army attacked Israeli border positions at least 26 times.  This included laying mines, firing at villages, machine gunning farmers, shelling boats and farmers with artillery and mortars, These acts do not include terrorist attacks launched from Syrian territory.  Detailed Map.


American Troops on the Golan
American Troops on the Golan   Links  Links  Links  Links

Advocates of Israeli withdrawal say "peace is the best security."  They don't recommend that any other nation put the troops of its most hostile neighbor in such an advantageous position.

They admit that the Golan is an enormous military asset, but claim that American troops will prevent any Syrian attack.  The Americans will supply intelligence to replace Israel's listening posts on Mt. Hermon.

These advocates ignore inconveniences:  American troops were chased from Somalia by a third-world warlord, backed down from confrontation with North Korea, issued hollow threats against the Serbs in Bosnia.  The American navy was chased from the docks of Haiti by a gang of thugs with swords,  and took a whole year to return.

 Furthermore, America ignores Syria's massive counterfeiting of US currency.  The Syrian army is the second largest supplier of heroin to America's children.  If America won't confront Syria over its own fiscal integrity and the lives of its own children, can Israel bet the lives of its children on America's resolve to confront Syria on its behalf?

Especially in view of Reagan's retreat from Lebanon in 1983, after Syrian sponsored terrorists blew up 241 marines?

It's not realistic.

See Also:  Syria    US Security Guarantees

Syria and Drugs

-----------------------------

Articles and Items :

US troops on the Golan and Syrian unconventional warfare

Sep 94 Shalem Report: US troops should not be sent to the Golan.  Israel will become a weak dependent burden, the US will tie up too large a portion of its rapidly shrinking army, ready to withdraw at the first sign of bodybags.


US troops on the Golan and Syrian unconventional warfare
US troops on the Golan and Syrian unconventional warfare  Jerusalem Institute  Links  Links  Links  Links

SYRIA

Jane's Intelligence Review

Summary of article by Michael Eisenstadt on Syria's unconventional military capacity.

Syria now has the most advanced strategic weapons capability in the Arab world, including chemical and biological weapons, ballistic missiles and strike aircraft. It has a sense of strategic vulnerability because Damascus (population 2.5 million) is only 40 km from Israeli lines in the Golan and  20 km from Lebanon, while Homs (population one million) and Hama (population 500,000) can be easily threatened from the Beka'a Valley. These three cities and their surroundings account for much of Syria's industrial infrastructure.

Syria had doubts about nuclear arms, partly due to fears that the prevailing winds in the region would carry fallout from a nuclear burst over Israel towards Damascus. However, it has recently tried to acquire nuclear technology and its alliance with Iran, which has an active nuclear program, makes a change in this policy not unlikely. Syria recently broadened its long-standing relationship with Iran to include cooperation in the acquisition and development of strategic weapons and related technology. This may include cooperation in the nuclear area (where Iran possesses a nascent infrastructure and an advantage in expertise and experience), the joint production of SCUD-C and Chinese M-9 missiles (with North Korean and Chinese assistance) and perhaps the development of chemical and biological warheads for these missiles (where Syria enjoys a lead). As Syria and Iran share an interest in acquiring and developing strategic weapons and stand to benefit from cooperation in this area, this axis is likely to play an increasingly important role in the future.

Syria started manufacture of chemical missile warheads in 1985 and now has scores of chemical warheads filled with the nerve agent sarin for its SCUD-B and SCUD-C missiles, as well as thousands of bombs filled with sarin and the VX nerve agent for delivery by its Su-24, MiG-23BN and Su-20/22 air craft. Syria is mainly interested in using these weapons against Israeli population centers. It is also manufacturing mustard-type blister agents for artillery rounds. Syrian poison gas output totals several hundred tons a year at two facilities near Damascus and Homs and relies on dual-purpose technology procured in Germany and France. West European and North Korean engineers and technicians helped to manufacture Syria's chemical SCUD-B and SCUD-C warheads. Syria also has an offensive biological warfare capacity. It is seeking Chinese and Western help in the development of biological missile warheads.

Syria currently has some 250 SCUD-B and SCUD-C missiles (up to 60 SCUD-C) and 24-36 transporter-erector launchers (TELs).  Iran, North Korea and China are helping Syria to build underground factories near Aleppo and Hama for the local manufacture of SCUD-C and M-9 missiles. Syria has bought Germ an precision tools for this and expects to start production of the SCUD-C before the end of 1994. It is also working on a cruise missile. Syria's SCUD missiles are kept in hardened underground shelters, but the SCUD-B (range 290 km) has to be moved to forward locations near Damascus for launchin g, where it is vulnerable to attack. Due to the short flight times and distances involved, Israel may not receive sufficient advance warning of launching from this area to implement defensive measures. The SCUD-C (range 500 km) can reach any target in Israel from nearly anywhere in Syria. Syria currently possesses enough SCUD-B and SCUD-C missiles to initiate a massive strike that would saturate and overwhelm Israel's missile defenses and will retain an assured penetration capability for the foreseeable future. A chemical attack in the early phase of a war could significantly hinder Is raeli mobilization efforts.

Syria possesses 24 SU-24 strike aircraft - a significant threat due to their range and low-level penetration capability. These can deliver chemical bombs with greater accuracy over greater distances than any missile in Syria's inventory. Syria's 60 MiG-23BN and 90 SU-20/22 aircraft can hit north ern Israel but only a small number are likely to reach their targets.

Thus, Israel no longer has the option of launching a preventive war against Syria, bombing strategic targets, or threatening Syria's vital interests without putting its own population centers at risk.

Note: Israel has no conceivable interest in attacking Syria and no need for any pre-emptive strike for as long as it retains its stronghold on the Golan Heights. This article appears to have been compiled chiefly from Syrian and American sources and is intended to serve Syrian and U.S. interests by frightening Israel into a retreat and putting U.S. forces on the Golan Heights. In fact, for as long as Israel keeps the Golan Heights, Syria has no war option for the following reasons:

1)	After the collapse of the U.S.S.R., Syria has no backing from a major power.

2)	For as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power in Iraq, Syria cannot organize an Eastern front against Israel.

3)	Though Iran is Syria's ally, Iran cannot intervene effectively on Syria's behalf in the event of a war with Israel.

4)	Given the present military balance - conventional and unconventional - and for as long as Merkava tanks are 60 km from Damascus, Syria cannot hold out against Israel in a war, regardless of the weapon systems it uses. The Syrians have come to the negotiating table precisely because they cannot gain any territory by military means.

Neither Assad and the Syrian establishment nor their goals have changed. There is no difference between the Assad regime and the Saddam Hussein regime, except that Syria is a far greater danger to Israel because it threatens its main sources of water. Syria has no intention of making peace. It wants to force Israel to retreat to indefensible borders. Putting U.S. forces between Israel and Syria on the Golan will not serve Israeli interests. It will serve Syrian and U.S. interests. Behind the protection of U.S. forces, Syria will be free to accelerate its rearmament without fear of Israeli intervention. Indeed, the U.S. interest in sending forces to the Golan Heights has little to do with protecting Israel or protecting peace but much with transferring the Syrian market for modern arms from Russia to the United States. It should be noted that the United States, for all its talk about peace, is the biggest supplier of arms to the Middle East. Eventually, the arming of Syria with American weapon systems will be financed by the Gulf oil states and justified by the need to detach Syria from Iran. On the other hand, Israel, which finances its arms purchases partly from U. S. grants, will be told that since U.S. forces are protecting it these grants can safely be cut.

In the next stage, the U.S. will whitewash Saddam Hussein - also in order to take the Iraqi arms market from the Russians and on the pretext of protecting the West's oil from the Iranian threat. By then the presence of U.S. forces on the Golan Heights will no longer be necessary and they will probably be withdrawn, for the same reasons advanced now for closing some 40 U.S. military bases abroad. There are, after all, no signs that the economic situation in the United States will improve.

When the U.S. forces are withdrawn from the Golan, for whatever reason, the Arabs will be able to attack Israel with an excellent chance of success. Therefore, the Government of Israel would be acting irresponsibly if it surrenders to American pressures to retreat from the Golan Heights and stat ion U.S. forces there. The balance of deterrence between Syria and Israel is such that the territorial status quo offers the best chance of avoiding war in the future.


Preview
Jane's Defense weekly analysis from July '93 and Jerusalem Institute's commentary.  How would this affect US - Israel relations?  Whose interests would stationing of US troops serve?  Would it enhance or detract from Israel's security?


Sep 94 Shalem Rpt: US troops should not be sent to the Golan
Sep 94 Shalem Rpt: US troops should not be sent to the Golan   Links  Links  Links  Links

A new report warns both Israel and the United States against stationing US troops on the Golan Heights to monitor any peace accord between Jerusalem and Damascus.

The report, by the Jerusalem-based and nonpartisan Shalem Center National Policy Institute, sponsored largely by contributions from American Jews, says US troops on the Golan would signal the end of Israel's military self-reliance and strain the resources of the shrinking American military.

The main opposition to US troops would come from Congress and the American people, says the report, authored by policy analyst David Silverstein.  Currently, about a dozen House and Senate members - of a total of 535 senators and representatives - are questioning the proposal.

"If Israel is seen as unwilling to assume military and financial burdens that are correctly its own," the report says, "Congress might call into question the basic relationship by canceling important joint military projects or the defense aid that bolsters America's first line of Middle East de fense.  Neither side can afford such a loss."

The Shalem report is the first of several studies being completed on the feasibility of stationing US troops on the Golan.  The most prominent report is currently being prepared by the Rand Corp. for the Pentagon and is scheduled to be released early next month.  The Washington Institute for Ne ar East Policy is also completing a study, expected to be released in the next few weeks.

Israeli officials say an international force on the Golan is the linchpin of the security arrangements that will allow a withdrawal from the Heights.  Both opposition parliamentarians as well as Foreign Ministry sources agree that the government has signaled its intention to pull out from all o f the Golan.

The Shalem report echoes this assessment:  "The prime minister and his team privately have concluded that Israel will have to pull out all of its military forces and 13,000 Jewish civilians from the Golan in stages, hinting publicly that the only other choice is war with Syria 'within three to seven years'."

In a recent interview with the Post, Prime Minister Rabin compared the redeployment of US troops on the Golan to the 12-year presence of US and other Western troops in Sinai.  "They're not peacekeeping forces.  None of them was hurt," Rabin said.  "We're not talking about UNIFIL, Somalia or Bos nia.  [What] we are talking about [is] that once two independent states reach agreement on a peace treaty, we need to monitor the military aspects of it, the way the Multinational Force does in the Sinai."

The Shalem report rejects Rabin's comparison.  It says US troops in Sinai number only 900 and are located far from the Egyptian army, terrorist threats or possible invasion routes.  The Golan,, at 1,200 square km., is about 30 times smaller than Sinai and no more than 35 km. from Syrian army tr oops deployed south of Damascus.

As a result, the report says, US troops could come under attack from pro-Iranian Hizbullah commandos.  "Since the United States has already suffered from Hizbullah car bombings and kidnappings, it is reasonable to assume that they would be subject to attack in the future," the report says.  "If

 lives are lost to terrorists while trying to keep the peace, American public opinion might force the recall of United States troops, leaving Israel to defend itself from a  position of extreme vulnerability."

The report also cites Pentagon opposition to devoting what US planners say will amount to a division, or 10,000 soldiers, on the Golan.  They say more than a brigade, or 3,000 troops, will be needed, and another two brigades required for rotation.

Pentagon strategists base this on the formula that every soldier on a peacekeeping mission ties down at least two others - one training to replace the soldier and another who has just returned from the Golan.

The report raises other scenarios.  One is that Syria would order the multinational force, including US troops, to leave the Golan, as Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser ordered UN troops in Sinai to leave in 1967.  Another is that US troops would prevent Israel from responding to Syrian bel ligerence, including withholding intelligence gathered from US manned ground stations on the Golan.

Yet another scenario is that Syria would redirect the flow of water emanating from the Golan to the Jordan River and Sea of Galilee.  "In time of tension, the Syrians might even be able to block the flow of water or contaminate it with biological or chemical agents," the report says.

The report says Israel's strategic value to the US will diminish if Washington perceives that American troops are required to defend Israel.  The result would be what the report terms a "permanent strain on relations between the US and Israel."

"And if American troops on the Golan are subjected to terror attacks or find themselves caught in the crossfire of an Israeli-Syrian dispute," the report adds, "then Israel is likely to find itself transformed into just one more burdensome foreign entanglement."

-Steve Rodan, "Report: US troops should not be send to the Golan," Jerusalem Post, Friday, 16 Sep 94


Link Master


Golan Heights internal links
Golan: History, strategic  value, Rabin's  diplomatic retreat

Maps

Outline:  Rabin's diplomatic retreat from the Golan

Territory and Security

Who owns the Golan?

Why has the Golan been quiet since the Yom Kippur War

Arab Strategy in the peace process

Golan: geology, geology, topography

Jewish history on the Golan

1966: Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan

1967: Jan-Apr Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan

American Troops on the Golan


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Hatikva
Hatikva: News you haven't heard from Israel.  Available by ftp, gopher or www from jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il   Note on dates: An article in the Hatikva review may have been written days earlier than its posting on the Internet.  So "Monday" may refer to the previous Monday, or a Monday a week or two before that.  Unfortunately, I don't have the time to sort these dates out..


Yesha


The Golan Heights


Rabin's Promises
Rabin's Promises  Links  Links  Links  Links

Yitzhak Rabin won the June, 1992 election in Israel on a platform of uncompromising toughness on security issues.  His television spots and posters emphasized his military career and exploits.  He promised to retain the Golan Heights no matter what.

"Whoever dares to imagine a withdrawal from the Golan Heights renounces Israel's security."

 -Yitzhak Rabin during the 1992 election campaign

From the Labor Party platform in the 1992 election:

"In any peace agreement with Syria and in the security arrangements, Israel's presence and control, both settlement and military, in the Golan Heights - to which Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration have been applied - will continue."

"Tanks on the Golan are the main guarantee for preventing war with Syria, as is a strong air force.  We must tell the truth.."

-Yitzhak Rabin, to the Kibbutz Federation congress, reported in Ha'aretz, 22 April 1994


Maps Placeholder


Golan: Distances & Jewish Communities

(Click the rectangles for names and sketches) Under Syrian rule prior to 1967, the Golan hosted only Druze civilians.  The remaining 70,000 or so Syrians were military officers and their families.  Under Israeli rule now, as 2,000 years ago, the fertile volcanic soil is used to grow grapes and other fruits and to graze cattle.  On Mt. Hermon on the very northeast tip, Israel's intelligence gathering outpost is down the road from the country's only ski resort.  Almost 40% of Israel's water originates from this tiny plateau.  This can be easily diverted and a goodly portion of the rest polluted and poisoned if Syria returns to the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  The Golan represents only 6/10 of 1% of territory claimed by Syria, and serves no purpose for them other than to annihilate Israel.


golan6_metulla
Metulla:  City


golan6_kiryat_shmona
Kiryat Shmona:  City


golan6_neot_mordechai
Ne'ot Mordechai:  Agricultural community


golan6_yesod_hamaala
Yesod HaMa'ala:  Agricultural community


golan6_ayalet_hashahar
Ayalet Hashahar:  Agricultural community


golan6_gadot
Gadot:  Agricultural Community


golan6_hatsor_haglilit
Hatsor Haglilit : City


golan6_safed
Safed (Tzfat):  One of Israel's 4 Holy Cities


golan6_rosh_pina
Rosh Pina:  City


golan6_amiad
Amiad:  Agricultural community


golan6_tiberias
Tiberias (Tveria): City


golan6_neve_ativ
Neve Ativ:  Agricultural Community


golan6_odem
Odem:  Agricultural community


golan6_elrom
Elrom:  Aricultural community


golan6_bri_khim
Bri Khim:  Agricultural community


golan6_sha_al
Sha'al:  Agricultural community


golan6_merom_golan
Merom Golan:  Agricultural community


golan6_ein_zivan
Ein Zivan:  Agricultural community


golan6_ortal
Ortal:  Agricultural community


golan6_abonei_habashan
Abonei Habashan:  Agricultural community


golan6_kidmat_tzvi
Kidmat Tzvi:  Agricultural community


golan6_katzrin
Katrzin:  City


golan6_keshet
Keshet:  Agricultural community


golan6_yonatan
Yonatan:  Agricultural community


golan6_aniam
Aniam:  Agricultural community


golan6_hadness
Hadness:  Agricultural community


golan6_maale_gimla
Ma'ale Gimla:  Agricultural community


golan6_kanaf
Kanaf:  Agricultural community


golan6_natur
Natur:  Agricultural community


golan6_hispin
Hispin:  Communal settlement (Kibbutz, Moshav)


golan6_ramat_hagshimim
Ramat Hagshimim:  Agricultural community


golan6_nov
Nov:  Agricultural community


golan6_eliad
Eliad:  Agricultural community


golan6_avnei_eitan
Avnei Eitan:  Agricultural community


golan6_ramot
Ramot:  Agricultural community


golan6_geshur
Geshur:  Agricultural community


golan6_givat_yoav
Givat Yoav:  Agricultural community


golan6_bnei_yehuda
Bnei Yehuda: Communal settlement (Kibbutz, Moshav)


golan6_meitzar
Meitzar:  Agricultural community


golan6_afik
Afik:  Agricultural community


golan6_neot_golan
Neot Golan:  Agricultural community


golan6_ein_gev
Ein Gev:  Agricultural community

Note the thick ceasefire line just east of the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Ein Gev lies within Israel's side of the 1948 ceasefire line.  Besides its agricultural products, Ein Gev is among Israel's most popular water resorts.


golan6_kfar_harouv
Kfar Harouv:  Agricultural community


golan6_mevo_hama
Mevo Hama:  Agricultural community


Mountains block Syrian invasion routes through the Golan

(Click some mountain symbols for more information).  Israel captured more territory in the Yom Kippur War, but under American pressure to "make a gesture" retreated to no farther than these lines precisely because they straddle the Golan plateau's crest.  They rugged volcanic cones, rocky outcroppings, irregular stony terrain and "mountainlets" would make a Syrian offensive a very expensive proposition. The rugged topography enabled the shocked and ill-prepared crews of 180  Israeli tanks to hold off 1,400 Syrian tanks and several divisions until the reserves were organized.  Syria now has almost 6,000 tanks.  Starting from within the Golan today with an initial burst of artillery and rockets guided by laser targeting devices....


golan8_hermon
  The northern tip of the Golan consists of several peaks like this.  The area - impenetrable by armored units -  is collectively called "Mt. Hermon."  Syria's capital Damascus is only 30 some miles away.  Israel electronically monitors Syria's armed forces from caverns built deep into the cliffs, called "Israel's eyes and ears."


Links placeholder


History Links


Legal Links


Maps Links
The Golan:  Distances and Jewish communities

 Mountains block Syrian invasion routes through the Golan


geography and strategic value links
Why has the Golan been quiet since the Yom Kippur War

Golan: geology, geology, topography

The topography of the Golan's strategic value

Topography, weapons, Syrian military power

1966: Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan

1967: Jan-Apr Syrian attacks on Israel from the Golan

American Troops on the Golan


A guide to the Arab/Israeli conflict
A guide to the Arab/Israeli conflict   Links  Links  Links

The Hasbara for Windows Hypertext guide to the Arab/Israeli provides easy and flexible access to  facts, events, progress, commentary and the history out of which the process developed.   This information includes many of the documents ( or excerpts in context), quotations from many of the personalities in the region, autobiographical information, excerpts from the writings of travelers to the region over the centuries, and maps and graphs.

All of the material is derived from published sources and fully credited, and all quotations are given in their context.

___________

Main topics:

Israel compared to her neighbors

Palestine and Palestinians

Jordan - the Arab state in Palestine

Syria: Recent history and conflict with Israel

The Golan Heights: History, strategic value, Rabin's diplomatic manuvering

Jerusalem

Water

Territory and Security

The United Nations and Israel

The Geneva Convention and the "occupied" territories.

The Six Day War

The Yom Kippur War

The 1982 Lebanon War

Jewish "settlements" in the "occupied" territories

Anti-semitism in Arab politics, Culture and Religion

American security guarantees to Israel

Arab terror groups

Terror attacks on Jews/Israel

Quotations


Arafat as Jesus
Here is the "new Arafat" at the National Press Club, after the cosmic handshake:

Q: "The Jewish people have not felt they could trust you to keep your word. Why has this changed?  And why should they trust you now?"

A: "Many didn't trust Jesus Christ in the beginning." (Applause).

 Think about that.

-Charles Krauthammer, extracted from Arafat's Past Clouds Hopes For True Peace, referring to Yasser Arafat's appearance at the National Press Club following the September 13, 1993 signing of the agreement between Israel and the PLO

Applause!


About this prototype
About this prototype  Contents  Links

Error Messages:  Help topic does not exist

Graphics

Acquiring the material

Organizing the material

"Normalizing" the information - dividing into proper chunks.


Error Messages:  Help Topic does not exist
Error Messages:  Help Topic does not exist   Contents  About this prototype  Links

In eight places, when you click a related topic you will receive an error message that the topic does not exist.  It looks like this:

 These topics will exist as Hasbara for Windows is developed.  I could have inserted a dummy topic in these instances.  Or, I could have taken the references out, and noted where I wanted them placed.  But I thought that the effort would have been disproportional to the reward.


Graphics
Graphics  Contents  About this prototype  Links

There are few graphics in this prototype, and those that there are - primarily maps - are not sharp.  These are the reasons:

1.  I started building H4W with a grey-scale only hand scanner.  I would have to have an artistic touch to produce good graphics with a hand scanner, and I don't.  In addition, my hand scanner is only gray scale, and that doesn't look nearly as good as color images.  So, I left them out.  I need a flatbed color scanner.

2.  The maps aren't sharp.  I captured them from a second class computerized world atlas.  It's palette of colors wasn't the same as the palette of colors for windows.  I didn't know much about color palettes and how to manipulate them when I captured the maps.  I only found out afterwards that Microsoft's Help Compiler uses its own palette of just 16 colors, far too few, for example, to include human beings, action pictures, photos of the Judean Hills or the topography of the Golan Heights to show their strategic value.

Now I've learned what I must know to include good quality bitmaps in a Windows Help File.  However, I felt the effort would be wasted on the maps I have.  If this product is developed I'd need to get high quality computerized maps.

3.  There are two ways a normal Windows Help File can display a 256 color bitmap.  One is to register a dynamic link library that would display a map outside the Help compiler environment when the link is clicked.  That's not too hard.  A similar solution would be for the Visual Basic program that called this help file to in turn display 256 color bitmaps referenced by the  help file.  Also not  hard.   But neither solution is adequate.

4.   Why?  Bitmaps take up a whole bunch of space on your hard disk.  If we wanted photos of the major diplomatic figures - such as Yasser Arafat with some vitrolic Jew-hating quote, Peres with his hands raised  proclaiming "Utopia"  etc. plus  detailed maps showing  the value  of various pieces of real estate,  we'd  take up the user's  whole hard disk.  He  or she wouldn't install the program.

Are we stuck?  No.  There is a compression scheme called JPEG, and others called fractal and cmp that squeeze the images into  3%, 1% even 1/10% of their normal size.  I am not exaggerating.  A slight amount of information is lost, but the human eye can't tell the difference in most cases.  Microsoft uses the cmp scheme in its Encarta computerized encyclopedia, for example.

Using one of these schemes - costs a few bucks for the proprietary software to compress and display the images through my visual basic program - Hasbara for Windows could have as many images desired.


Acquiring the Material
Acquiring the Material  Contents  About this prototype  Links

I have about 12 megabytes of articles I've downloaded from Jerusalem1 and Nysernet.  Some of it can be adapted.  Much of the historical material - refugees,  67  war, Mandate period, etc  is available from books.  However, the books must be  scanned into my computer and converted into text using an OCR program.  There is no better way that I can think of to get the historical material.  Typing stuff in is out of the question.

For more current material - the past five years - the most effective source is the Jerusalem Post CDROM.  It's price is currently $495.  Also, many current publications provide useful material and can be scanned in and converted to text.  This would provide material not only on the bias of the media in reporting the mideast, but the uselessness of sanctions, international threats, ceasefires, etc.  Some photos from Time on Rwanda and Sudan would be quite effective.

A great deal of the most useful material can be found in Hebrew Unitersity's library.  However, the old magazines can't be checked out.  I tried to photocopy some pages, feed the photcopied pages through an ocr program to  get text, but I  don't  think t he proces is very realistic.

What would work?  Some handscanner/ocr packages are manufactured for use with portable computers.  They attach to the parallel port.


Organizing  the material
Organizing  the material  Contents  About this prototype  Links

Electronic encyclopedias are put together by large staffs - dozens, in some cases more than a hundred people - not counting the articles contracted out.  There is no  way Hasbara for Windows can be as  well organized  as Encarta Encyclopedia, which Microsoft spent  $30 million publishing.

However, using a combination of techniques the user will most likely be able to find what he wants with little trouble.  One is  the use of cover sheets for general topics such as Syria, Jew-Hatred, Arab terror groups.  Another are keywords.  The help compiler only allows  400 keywords per project, so many keywords will lead to cover sheets which will further divide up the topic.  Another technique is link windows.  Those are the things you find above in the non-scrolling region of this topic.  See.  Links.  That leads to a whole bunch of other topics.

Why do I often  have  so many link boxes per topic?  Ideally the  links would  be individualized for each topic.  That is out of the question for Hasbara for Windows, not having a cast of thousands to draw up the candidate links and then argue them in committee.  Instead, I devised a quick and dirty substitute that can easily be improved as the project develops, if it develops.  Some - three or more - link boxes will contain references to numerous general topics, and they will be placed in most topic windows.  There will also be one or two local topic boxes.  For example, Palestine and Palestinians will have a popup box of links closely related to that topic, as well as the popup link boxes for outside topics.  Reasonably easy to implement, and gets much of the job done.  There will also be Prev and Next links for the most closely related topics, for example various excerpts from Chapter 8 of Joan Peters' From Time Immemorial.

There's also what Microsoft calls "Multikey keywords."  This is a two stage keyword process.  Microsoft's implementation is so limited that I prefer to have keywords lead to cover sheets, but I may change my mind, at least in some cases.

Full text searching.  There are third party products - such as HDK in Australia - that add full text searching to help files.  A user can type in a particular phrase and the help file will jump to the first place it finds that phrase.  But, the new version of windows which will be out in several months will contain full text searching in its help compiler.  Better to just wait for it.  Furthermore, full text searching sounds more useful than it is.  WordPerfect includes a full text search engine of some renown, called Quickfinder.  I've used it extensively with the material I've downloaded from Jerusalem1, with less than fully satisfactory results.  For example, if I want only articles about Southern Lebanon that refer to Syria's backing of the terrorist groups, how do I narrow down all references to the Security Zone?  Not so easy, and I'm experienced at it.  Other techniques work better.


Normalizing the material
Normalizing the material    Contents  About this prototype  Links

In database work, putting each chunk of information in its proper place and relating it properly to other chunks of data prevents the problems of having to put it in more than once.  It prevents other problems too.

It's not realistic in this case.  Do I put Hizbullah's attacks in Southern Lebanon into Syria, Lebanon, Security Zone, Arab terror groups, etc.  Or the United Nations, if UNIFIL troops came on the scene?  A cast of thousands would be needed to put everything in its proper place.  Plus, most of the material is written in article form, and the mixture and drift of topics covered are not designed for hypertext prublishing.

On the other hand, I've explored some techniques for squeezing what I can out of what there is.  One technique is to break an article into sections and put each section into a separate window.  I did that with Peters' Chapter 8, for example.  From Palestine and Palestinians I reference one section, and from Islam I reference another section.  To keep the continuity I put in Prev and Next buttons.  Helps a bit.

With some of the government's statements following the Hebron Massacre I use another technique.  I reference the same speech from, say, collective guilt, demonizing Jewish "settlers", appeasement, and other places.  These references appear in cover sheets.  Each reference describes the same statement differently in a sentence or two, then right before the "more" button tells the user which paragraph to look for.   Works pretty well and isn't time consuming.


Link Master


links about this prototype
About this prototype

Error Messages:  Help topic doesn't exist

Graphics

Acquiring the material

Organizing the material

Normalizing the material


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Rabin/Arafat Accord: negotiations and appeasement, Hebron to May 4 withdrawal document
Rabin/Arafat Accord: negotiations and appeasement, Hebron to May 4 withdrawal document   Links  Links  Links  Links

Negotiations: Progression of Events(terse outline)

Negotiations: Progression of Events(very terse outline)

The Rabin government's positions on all issues - security, symbols of Palestinian sovereignty, settlements, legal, prisoners, collapsed very quickly as it bought the PLO's return to implementation negotiations.   Issues links

The Rabin government and the left-wing media monopolized the word "peace" to deligitimize the opposition.  Anybody who was opposed to their policy of appeasement and retreat was "against peace."  Despite the greater and escalating violence by Palestinians against Jews and the unchanged warlike and confrontational rhetoric by PLO leaders, Hamas and the Arab states surrounding Israel, the government continued to call the diplomatic process a "peace process," as if by calling it so it became so


Dummy Topic for jumps

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Dummy topic for popups


Hebron to May 4, negotiations and appeasement, terse outline
Hebron to May 4, negotiations and appeasement, terse outline  Links  Links  Links  Links

1 Mar 94:  Peres expresses admiration for Arafat, signs 21 page withdrawal and concessions package in Cairo


Hebron to May 4, negotiations and appeasement, very terse outline
Hebron to May 4, negotiations and appeasement, very terse outline   Links  Links  Links  Links


Implementation negotiations placeholder


1 Mar 94: Peres expresses admiration for Arafat, signs 21 page withdrawal and concessions package in Cairo
1 Mar 94: Peres expresses admiration for Arafat, signs 21 page withdrawal and concessions package in Cairo   Links  Links  Links  Links

HATIKVA Volume 12.2Am Yeshe Lev HaAretzMarch 1, 1994

Cairo Accord

Israel signed an agreement with the PLO regarding the implementation of the IDF's withdrawal from Jericho and Gaza. The agreement is delineated in a 21-page document plus maps, much of it put together in three days of marathon talks in Cairo.

Both Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Chief PLO Terrorist Yasir Arafat signed the document at Egypt's presidential palace in the presence of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. All those present cheered as Peres and Arafat shook hands. It was also noted that Peres was first to stretch out his han d to the arch-terrorist. Afterwards, Peres, like Arafat, kissed Mubarak, in Arab tradition, on both cheeks.

The document, Mubarak said, eliminates "several obstacles and paves the way" for an overall agreement to be negotiated later between Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Peres said that among the issues still to be decided between Arafat and Rabin is the size of Jericho to be ceded to the A rabs.

Prime Minister Rabin said the Cairo agreement is the first and most critical of a series of agreements Israel and the PLO must reach.  Rabin stressed, however, that Israel's security demands were met since Cairo and the IDF will control the roads and the three groups of Israeli settlements in G aza. He added that it would take at least a month to finalize the agreement.

In what is considered by many here as Israel's continuous prostration before its arch-enemies, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Chief PLO Terrorist Yasir Arafat that he is not a terrorist although Arafat himself said he is. Arafat appeared surprised at Peres' remarks but kept quiet.

This was disclosed in an interview that Peres gave to Yediot Achronot, published over the weekend. Peres, in the interview, expresses admiration for Arafat, whom Peres described as a "former" terrorist, saying the PLO chief was a survivor who had managed to keep the Palestinian issue on the wor ld's agenda for 25 years.

Peres recalled a moment in which the two sides debated whether a Palestinian could be stopped from crossing into the autonomous Palestinian enclaves. Arafat said: "In such a case, I couldn't pass." Peres then told Arafat, "Don't adorn yourself with someone else's feathers. Today you are an ex-terrorist."

The Likud and Tsomet blasted the accord, terming it "irresponsible, reckless," and called for new elections. Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu said, "There is no doubt that this government is creating a Palestinian state by stages and it is deceiving the public."

Former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir described the new agreement as "the beginning of the capitulation. These are articles of surrender signed not by the vanquished but by the victor in a defensive war against blatant aggression. This absurdity is no doubt the first of its kind in the annals of mankind. We are wasting the fruits of the Six-Day War victory and we are wasting all the sacrifices made in that war and in the battles that followed it. This is the first implementation of the Oslo agreement, and it is no offshoot of the Madrid process. It bears no relation to it. We would not have dreamed of embarking on so irresponsible and reckless a course."


Hebron to May 4: Collapse on all issues to appease Arafat/PLO
Hebron to May 4: Collapse on all issues to appease Arafat/PLO      Links  Links  Links  Links

Rabin gov't, after Hebron: Backing across red-lines

The DOP as the basis for an Israel/PLO agreement.

Negotiating in the Middle East face-to-face with the PLO as evidence of recognition of Israeli legitimacy - and avoiding American intervention on behalf of the oil Sheikhs

Release of Palestinian prisoners; No releases of prisoners with blood on their hands, no releases of Hamas or PFLP members or members of any other groups opposition the "peace process;" no releases unless prisoners promise to refrain from violence and to support the "peace process", etc.

There will be no international observers in Hebron.

Israel will not back down on any security issues; these include control of the roads, the right of the army to pursue terrorists, the PLO is required to hand over terrorists, the exclusion of the PLO "police" from Jewish communities, Israeli control of border crossings and the seacoast off Gaza, what weapons the PLO "police" are permitted and how many "police" the PLO will be allowed.

Israel will negotiate with the PLO only in the middle east, to avoid reinforce recognition and acceptance of Israel as a state that belongs to the region, and to avoid the negotiations from degenerating into a conference between the PLO and the State Department on what concessions to force from Israel so that Warren Christopher can have a photo opportunity to compensate for his failures in Somalia, Bosnia, North Korea, Haiti and elsewhere.


Collapse of Position: the DOP as the basis for Israel/PLO negotiations
Collapse of Position: the DOP as the basis for Israel/PLO negotiations   Links  Links  Links  Links

28 Feb 94: Rabin to Knesset. Israel will stick to DOP as basis for agreement with PLO.  Won't back down on security issues.  Paragraphs 7-8.   More


Collapse of Position: Release of Palestinian terrorists
Collapse of Position: Release of Palestinian terrorists   Links  Links  Links  Links

27 Feb 94: Rabin announces release of at least 800 terrorists to buy Arafat's return to talks. See paragraph 3.  More

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" confirms release of at least 800 terrorists.See Paragraph 5.  More


Collapse of Position: International observers in Hebron
Collapse of Position: International observers in Hebron  Links  Links  Links  Links

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" decisively rejects international observers in territories or Hebron.  More

2 Mar 94: Police Minister says there'll be no international observers in Hebron, despite PLO demands. Paragraph 4.  More


Collapse of Position: face-to-face negotiations in the middle east
Collapse of Position: face-to-face negotiations in the middle east   Links  Links  Links  Links

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" decisively rejects international observers in territories or Hebron.

2 Mar 94: Police Minister says there'll be no international observers in Hebron, despite PLO demands. Paragraph 4.


27 Feb 94: Rabin accepts American "suggestion" to relocate talks to Washington
27 Feb 94: Rabin accepts American "suggestion" to relocate talks to Washington  Links  Links  Links  Links

EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN TO THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE JEWISH MEDIAJERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 27, 1994

(most deleted)

(1)	We expect that regardless of the tragic events that took place in Hebron on Friday, the Palestinians, the PLO, will take this position too. It is to say, to realize that the only way really to solve the problem is to accelerate the process of negotiations, to find a solution, to establish what w e both are committed to in accordance with the DOP.

(2)	The United States has invited our delegations to come to Washington and to continue the negotiations there, in addition to the negotiations that are being carried out by Israel and the three Arab countries' delegations. We responded positively, even though I must admit that the negotiations in C airo, in Taba, went well. We reached agreement in Cairo that covers the principles of all the security arrangements for t'Gaza-Jericho first', and I believe that in the continuation of the talks in Taba and Cairo that followed the Cairo agreement, we were nearing to reaching an agreement about t hese issues, and also about the issue of transfer of authorities

(stuff deleted)

(3)	 In addition, I decided, as Prime Minister and as Minister of Defense, to release 800 Palestinian prisoners and detainees that don't belong to the Palestinian organizations that continue to preach and to carry out terror activities. This number may be increased to 1,000.


Collapse of Position: Security Issues
Collapse of Position: Security Issues  Links  Links  Links  Links

28 Feb 94: Rabin tells Knesset Israel won't sacrifice on security issues in negotiations with PLO. Paragraphs 7-8.  More

1 Mar 94: Peres signs withdrawal agreement in Cairo. Rabin says security requirements satisfied; Israel will control roads and areas of Jewish settlement in Gaza.  More


Monopolizing the word "peace"
Monopolizing the word "peace"  Links  Links  Links  Links

The opposition is against peace

The Rabin/Arafat Accord is Peace, or a Peace Process


The word peace:  The opposition is against peace
The word peace:  The opposition is against peace    Links  Links  Links  Links

27 Feb 94: Rabin tells Jewish media conference the opposition is against peace.  More.


27 Feb 94: Rabin tells Jewish media conference the opposition is against peace
27 Feb 94: Rabin tells Jewish media conference the opposition is against peace   Links  Links  Links  Links

EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN TO THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE JEWISH MEDIAJERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 27, 1994

(some deleted)

In Israel, there was also opposition to peace.  But it was opposition as a legitimate opposition in a democracy. Until Friday morning.  On Friday morning, an atrocity was carried out.  A person, a killer, took upon

(rest deleted)


The Rabin/Arafat accord is "The Peace" or "Peace Process"
The Rabin/Arafat accord is "The Peace" or "Peace Process"    Links  Links  Links  Links

27 Feb 94: Rabin calls the Accord a "peace process".  More


27 Feb 94:  Rabin calls the Rabin/Arafat Accord a "peace process"
27 Feb 94:  Rabin calls the Rabin/Arafat Accord a "peace process"   Links  Links  Links  Links

EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN TO THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE JEWISH MEDIAJERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 27, 1994

(some deleted)

...He tried not just to kill innocent Palestinians while they are praying in a holy place. He joined with the HAMAS and the Islamic Jihad in the purpose to kill the peace negotiations, the peace process. ...


Rabin gov't: Lying that the PLO is keeping its committments
Rabin gov't: Lying that the PLO is keeping its committments   Links  Links  Links  Links

27 Feb 94: Rabin lies to Jewish media conference that the PLO has kept its committments under the DOP   More


27 Feb 94: Rabin lies to Jewish media conference that PLO has kept its committments under the DOP
27 Feb 94: Rabin lies to Jewish media conference that PLO has kept its committments under the DOP   Links  Links  Links  Links

EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN TO THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE JEWISH MEDIAJERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 27, 1994

...  We decided to take a step of mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO, after the PLO committed itself to certain terms, that the most important of them was stopping terrorism, denying, denouncing.  And so far they have stood by their commitment. There are dissidents, there are opposing

 elements among the Palestinians to the peace process, and they initiated and tried to escalate terrorism to kill Israelis, with the purpose of killing the peace negotiations.


Link master


Internal links
The Hebron Massacre  /  topic list

Condemnations of the Hebron Massacre

Commentary on Israel's diplomatic and moral collapse in negotiations following

Rabin/Arafat Accord: negotiations and appeasement, Hebron to May 4 withdrawal document

Hebron to May 4, negotiations and appeasement, terse outline

Hebron to May 4: Collapse on all issues to appease Arafat/PLO

Monopolizing the word "peace"

Rabin gov't: Lying that the PLO is keeping its committments


Collapse on all issue links
Collapse of Position: the DOP as the basis for Israel/PLO negotiations

Collapse of Position: Release of Palestinian terrorists

Collapse of Position: International observers in Hebron

Collapse of Position: face-to-face negotiations in the middle east

Collapse of Position: Security Issues


Hebron to May 4: Commentary
Hebron to May 4: Commentary  Links   Links  Links  Links  Links

The rapid collapse of Israel's moral and negotiating positions following the Hebron Massacre and continuing through the withdrawal pact signed in Cairo on May 4, 1994 spawned a great deal of commentary.  This section reflects a small portion of that on a variety of topics.

Jews condemned Hebron; Arabs condoned Arab violence

Negotiating tactics, concessions, appeasement, gestures

Rabin gov't: Jewish self-loathing, collective guilt, demonizing settlers

Expelling Jews from their homes, dismantling "settlements"

Arab terrorism, riots, violence

Media Jew&Israel bashing

UN, US, International Pressure

Fabricating history, making myth, as policy


Jews condemned Hebron; Arabs condoned Arab violence
Jews condemned Hebron; Arabs condoned Arab violence  Links   Links  Links  Links  Links


Negotiating tactics, concessions, appeasement, gestures
Negotiating tactics, concessions, appeasement, gestures  Links    Links  Links  Links  Links


Rabin gov't: Jewish self-loathing, collective guilt, demonizing settlers
Rabin gov't: Jewish self-loathing, collective guilt, demonizing settlers   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

1 Mar 94: William Safire on demonizing Jewish "settlers."

1 Mar 94: Peres expresses admiration for Arafat


Expelling Jews from their homes, dismantling "settlements"
Expelling Jews from their homes, dismantling "settlements"   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

1 Mar 94: William Safire on expelling Jews from their homes

1 Mar 94: Former MK Elyakim Haetzni on Palestinian returnees and dismantling Jewish communities


1 Mar 94: William Safire on expelling Jews from their homes
1 Mar 94: William Safire on expelling Jews from their homes   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

HATIKVA Volume 12.2	Am Yeshe Lev HaAretz	March 1, 1994

The views expressed below do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of anyone except the author.

AFTER THE MASSACRE, MOVING ON BY WILLIAM SAFIRE (NY TIMES)

The fanatical doctor from Brooklyn who murdered scores of Muslims at prayer was the best ally of the Hezbollah and the worst enemy of Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Perhaps he thought he was avenging the Arab massacre of Jews at Hebron seven decades ago; or the murder of his mentor, the extremist Rabbi Kahane, a few years ago.

But his premeditated slaughter of innocents was more than vengeance; it was, as Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev called it, "a provocation"--an invitation to bloody reprisal by his Arab fellow warriors in what they agree is a "holy war."

The real conflict is between warmakers and peacemakers. The goal of the warmakers is not lunatic: each seeks the expulsion of the other from "their" territory. The Hebron killer's Kach faction wants Arabs driven across the Jordan River, while Hamas, the Hezbollah and Fatah hawks want Jews drive n out of the West Bank and into the sea. The goal of peacemakers should be some compromise, allowing West Bank Arabs and Jews to live together, or at least next to one another, with self-rule for each.

Until recently, the compromise in the minds of many moderate Israelis was one that ultimately divided the disputed territory: the great majority of land to Palestinians, but with strategic points now populated by 130,000 Israeli settlers to help defend Israel.

That has changed. The Rabin-Peres government seems to be planning to turn the entire West Bank over to Palestinian rule. That would strand Israeli settlers, who were encouraged to settle there over decades by democratically elected governments.

These settlers are now being demonized --castigated as zealots, obstacles to peace-- for daring to object to having the land under their homes ceded to a foreign power.

This demonization was given a boost by the Hebron fanatic's bloody invitation to more war.

The Israeli government, which failed to foresee the extent of the fear that would pass through the isolated outposts at the prospect of sellout, is properly moving to assuage the anguish of Palestinians by disarming and restricting the extremist factions associated with the killer.

The U.S. government moved correctly to avert victory for the warmakers by inviting Palestinians and Israelis to Washington for rejuvenation of the talks. This was a concession to the PLO, which wants the talks here; Israel acceded immediately, leaving it to the PLO to decide when it can come. P alestinians, aggrieved and bereaved, can now set the timing of negotiation renewal.

PLO peacemakers cannot help but exploit the tragedy in negotiations; to do otherwise would invite attack from Arab warmakers.  That is why it ritually called for "international protection" of Palestinians--Israeli surrender to the United Nations that Chairman Yasser Arafat knows is unrealistic.

More to the point is his call for adding "the settlements issue" to the current agenda. That topic was deliberately postponed in the Oslo negotiations; it is diplomatese for kicking the Israeli settlers out of their homes and making the West Bank Jew-free.

Is that an overstatement? Only Sunday, a respected Palestinian leader made clear that the negotiation would soon boil down to "settlements or peace."

The peacemakers' answer to the warmakers should be to reject expulsionism and embrace territorial compromise. The horror of Hebron must not lead to the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank.


1 Mar 94: Former MK Elyakim Haetzni on Palestinian returnees and dismantling Jewish communities
1 Mar 94: Former MK Elyakim Haetzni on Palestinian returnees and dismantling Jewish communities   Links Links  Links  Links  Links

HATIKVA Volume 12.2	Am Yeshe Lev HaAretz	March 1, 1994

"The destabilization of Judea and Samaria"

PEREZ PROMISED TO ADMIT 300,000 ARABS

Former Tehiya MK Elyakim Haetzni said that the Settlers Council in Judea, Samaria and Gaza has received intelligence information that Foreign Minister Shimon Peres made verbal promises to PLO's Chief Terrorist Yasir Arafat during the Oslo talks to admit 300,000 Arab refugees and to start the pr ocess of dismantling the settlements.

The Council decided a week ago Monday to draw lip a list of volunteers who will be available at short notice to physically resist the evacuation of settlements. The move followed comments by Peres questioning the viability of the Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim.

Haetzni told Kol Yisrael Radio that we want to organize a system of calling them up on very short notice in order to be able to amass thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people, in the spots which are in danger, to bodily resist any troops or police.

"Our experience is that if you really cling to the ground, maybe also tying you physically, you need three soldiers to drag out one civilian. Now if we bring 5000 people to a given place, they'll need 15,000 troops to do that.

"But the trump card is the army itself. We are always asked, "will you beat the army? Will you use violence?' Of course we won't use violence--only persuasion." Haetzni said "We are ready to tell the soldiers that such an act is illegal."

Elyakim Haetzni is one of the organizers of a new movement called "This is our Land" which has decided to generate mass civil disobedience, and whose members are even ready to go to jail en masse in order to prevent the government from what they say is "bringing an end to the Jewish state by up rooting settlements and giving them to Arabs."

"Our salvation will come through Ansar 'the prison compound which formerly was filled with thousands of terrorists," Haetzni told the Jerusalem Post last week. "When Jews fill up Ansar, and the terrorists there are let go, public opinion will bring down the government.

David Romanoff, the movement's executive director, says that filling the jails will affect the whole society, paralyze it and keep it from functioning properly. Romanoff said that Jews in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are related and connected with Jews in areas within what is called the Green Line. "Do you think they will sit idly by and do nothing as their close relatives and friends are languishing in jail? Or do you think IDF troops will agree to use force against their own brothers and sometimes their own fathers and mothers?"


Arab terrorism, riots, violence
Arab terrorism, riots, violence   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


Media Jew&Israel bashing
Media Jew&Israel bashing   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


UN, US, International Pressure
UN, US, International Pressure  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


Fabricating history, making myth, as policy
Fabricating history, making myth, as policy  Links   Links  Links  Links  Links


Commentary links master


Hebron to May 4 popup commentary links
Commentary: Hebron to May 4

Hebron to May 4: Commentary

Jews condemned Hebron; Arabs condoned Arab violence

Negotiating tactics, concessions, appeasement, gestures

Rabin gov't: Jewish self-loathing, collective guilt, demonizing settlers

Expelling Jews from their homes, dismantling "settlements"

Arab terrorism, riots, violence

Media Jew&Israel bashing

UN, US, International Pressure

Fabricating history, making myth, as policy


The Hebron Massacre and its aftermath
The Hebron Massacre and its aftermath Links Links Links

United Nations Resolution 904 condemning the massacre  / comment

Descriptions of the Massacre and subsequent riots.

Prayer and Security Arrangements at the Cave of the Patriarchs

Condemnation of the Massacre by important Israelis

Self-hating apologies by Israelis

Blaming the political right and Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria

Repression of the political opposition by the Israeli government.

Investigations of the Massacre

The collapse of the Israeli government positions on all issues during the subsequent negotiations with the PLO.

Israeli government diplomacy and internal propaganda from the Hebron Massacre to the May 4 withdrawal accord.

Commentary on the orgy of self-incrimination by the Rabin government, the implicit acceptance of collective Jewish guilt, the subsequence dangerous concessions and appeasement in the negotiations which followed.

History of Hebron

Palestinian claims that many Jews participated in the massacre. / Evidence and testimony against


dummy one


Outline of Events: The Hebron Massacre
Outline of Events: The Hebron Massacre   Links  Links Links Links

Arab terrorists machine-gun van of Lapid family. Shalom and Mordechai Lapid die in arms of Dr. Baruch Goldstein.

Dr. Baruch Goldstein's prayers in the Cave of the Patriarchs are disrupted by the taunting chants of the Moslems in the adjacent Mosque:  Itbach-al-yehud, itbach-al-yehud.  Slaughter the Jews! Slaughter the Jews!

       25 Feb 94: Dr. Baruch Goldstein steps into the Mosque in the Cave of the Patriarchs and murders 29 Moslems with his automatic weapon. More   om_Press_Conference_Details_of_Hebron_Massacre  Links

        25 Feb 94: Having run out of ammunition, Goldstein is maimed and ripped into shreds by the surviving worshippers.

        25 Feb 94: Arabs riot throughout Gaza, Judea and Samaria.

        Yasser Arafat and the PLO immediately break off negotiations in Cairo to implement the Rabin/Arafat Accord.

        Yasser Arafat and other PLO leaders issue numerous and conflicting fabrications on the event.  Some accuse several Jewish civilians of having perpetrated the massacre along with Goldstein.  Others accuse elements in the Israeli army of participating.

        Yasser Arafat and other PLO leaders order ambulances of the Red Crescent Society and other Arab controlled emergency medical vehicles to avoid delivering the wounded to Jewish medical services.  The order is widely ignored.  Then, he accused the Jews of denying treatment to the victims.

        Nearly all officials of the Israeli government issue unsolicited, harsh, stinging, unqualified condemnations of the massacre. More

        The Rabin government cast blame beyond Goldstein to right-wing Jewish settlers in general.  They denounced the opposition as violent racists in vitriolic language, justifying the repression of dissidents,assuming collective Jewish guilt and thus preparing the nation for concessions.  Links

        The Rabin government quickly acted against Kach, Kahani Chai and some individuals, although none of them had anything to do with the Hebron Massacre. Their vitriolic attacks upon settlers suggested the government intended a wider repression of dissidents, but the political opposition and probable resistance from the courts was too great.  Links


Descriptions of the massacre and subsequent riots
Descriptions of the massacre and subsequent riots    Links Links Links Links

27 Feb 94: General Dani Yatom announces army findings on Dr. Goldstein's actions and riot immediately following at local hospital  More

28 Feb 94: Rabin to Knesset-ballistics shows all 111 bullets from same gun; describes riots afterwards. See paragraphs 4-5.  More


Condemnation of murders by Israeli Government officials
Condemnation of murders by Israeli Government officials   Links  Links Links Links

25 Feb 94: PM Yitzhak Rabin's condemnation.  More

25 Feb 94: FM Shimon Peres' condemnation. More

25 Feb 94:  Israeli cabinet communique. More

25 Feb 94 Communique of the FM information division. More

26 Feb 94:  Communique of meeting between PM Rabin and Israeli Arab leaders. More

 27 Feb 94 Rabin expresses shame  as Jew to Jewish Media conference. More

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" issues unqualified condemnation of massacre, including Rabin's "shame" as a Jew. Paragraph 1. More

28 Feb 94: Rabin to Knesset. Condemns, expresses condolences to Palestinians, shame as a Jew. Paragraphs 1-3,9-10. More

28 Feb 94: Knesset condemns massacre. More


Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's Condemnation of Hebron Massacre
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's Condemnation of Hebron Massacre Links  Links   Links Links Links

25-FEB-1994

Prime Minister's Statement on Murders in Hebron:

------------------------------------------------

(Communicated by Oded Ben-Ami, Media Advisor to Defense Minister Rabin)

Following is the text of Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Yitzhak Rabin's statement on the murders committed in Hebron earlier this morning:

A loathsome, criminal act of murder was committed today at a site holy to both Jews and Arabs in Hebron.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Government Ministers and the citizens of the State of Israel condemn in the most severe terms this terrible murder of innocent civilians, which occurred in the midst of Moslem Ramadan prayers.

On behalf of the Government and myself, I wish to express our sorrow and to extend condolences to the families of those who were killed and to the Palestinian people, and wish a full and speedy recovery to the wounded.

We call upon everyone, Arab and Jew alike, to act with restraint and to not be drawn into committing further acts which could worsen the situation.

The Ministers of the Inner Cabinet will be meeting this afternoon to discuss the situation in light of this terrible act.

This is a difficult day for all those - Jew and Arab - who seek peace.  However, the crazed actions of disturbed individuals will not prevent the reconciliation between the citizens of the State of Israel and the Palestinian people.

We will do everything necessary to accelerate the peace talks, to prevent misunderstandings, to remove obstacles in the way and to reach, together, the day of peace - the day in which extremists on both sides will lose all hope of damaging the peace process.

The Israel Defense Force and security forces have been given instructions to do all they legally can in order to maintain public order and prevent further incidents and bloodshed. .


Foreign Minister Shimon Peres' Condemnation of Hebron Massacre
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres' Condemnation of Hebron Massacre  Links   Links  Links Links Links

25 FEB 1994

THE MURDER OF ARAB WORSHIPPERS IN HEBRON

STATEMENT BY ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SHIMON PERES

Following is a statement by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres inreaction to today's tragic murder of Arab worshippers in Hebron by an Israeli assailant:

The loathsome murder of Arab worhippers in a house of prayer is a horrifying act which stands out in shocking contrast to our basic Jewish values.

This is a frightening expression of cruelty, devoid of human morality.

If anyone thinks that such criminal acts will slow the peace efforts, they are sorely mistaken.

Peace is the true answer to the hate-mongers and the sowers of grief.  All those who seek a better life will continue, with renewed fervor and belief, to adhere to the peace process in our region, in order to establish security for both sides.

We extend our condolences to the bereaved families in their terrible grief, while in our hearts we pray for the speedy recovery of those wounded.


ISRAELI CABINET COMMUNIQUE 25.2.94
ISRAELI CABINET COMMUNIQUE 25.2.94 Links   Links  Links Links Links

ISRAELI CABINET COMMUNIQUE 25.2.94

-	In its meeting today, the government expressed profound shock at the deplorable murder of innocent Palestinians engaged in prayer during the Ramadan fast at the Cave of Machpelah sacred to both religions.

-	The govenrent sends condolences to the families of those killed, and wishes a full recovery to the injured.  The government decided to compensate the families of the victims.

-	The government calls upon all the people, Arabs and Jews, to act with utmost restraint, despite the difficult circumstances.

-	The IDF and the security forces are taking all necessary measures to prevent incitement, violence and a worsening of the situation.

During the meeting, the government ministers and the Attorney General raised proposals regarding various measures to deal with extremist Israeli elements, which are a source of incitement in the territories.

The government believes that these elements pose a serious and dangerous disturbance to the public order, and that all legal means must be taken to halt them and restrain them.

Even when dealing with an act of terror carried out by an individual, as occurred this morning in Hebron, we cannot ignore the effect of the incitement voiced publicly from time to time which threatens the safety of the public.

The government directed the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense to examine all the measures proposed in the course of the meeting and to report his decisions to the government on Sunday.

The investigation of the events will be carried out fully.

The government is firm in its commitment to continue the efforts to achieve peace and to advance the peace negotiations, to the best of its ability. .


Communique of the Information Division - FM
Communique of the Information Division - FM    Links   Links  Links Links Links

25 February 1994

THE MURDER IN HEBRON - TALKING POINTS

Information Division - Israel Foreign Ministry

1. Israel strongly condemns the horrendous murder of innocent Arab worshippers in a house of prayer.  This is both a horrifying act of insanity and a frightening expression of cruelty.

2. Israel expresses its sorrow and grief, and extends condolences to the families of those who were killed and wishes for a full and speedy recovery to the injured.  Earlier today, Prime Minister Rabin conveyed the feelings of the Israeli government and people to Chairman Arafat and to the Pales tinian people.

3. Israel, for its part, will fully investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack, draw the necessary conclusions and take measures to prevent such events from recurring.

4. The government of Israel will do its utmost to guarantee the safety of Arabs and Jews alike.  Israel and the Palestinians must display restraint and work together to confront the extremists who wish to derail the peace talks.

5. Israel favors accelerating the peace talks in order to achieve an agreement on the implementation of the DOP. Only the translation of this agreement into a new reality, for Palestinians and Israelis, will provide peaceful co-existence and security for both sides, and will be the answer to all  extremists.

6. The solution for Israelis and Palestinians is to be found in the context of the DOP, to which Israel remains fully committed.  Any stalling of the talks, or deviation from the DOP, will only disrupt the peace process.

7. The government of Israel today held a special meeting to discuss the murder in Hebron.  The government heard a report of the measures being taken by the IDF.  The government will decide on further steps to be taken at its meeting on Sunday.

.


Summary of Meeting between PM Rabin and Israeli Arab leaders
Summary of Meeting between PM Rabin and Israeli Arab leaders Links   Links  Links Links Links

Jerusalem, 26 February 1994

Summary of Meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and Israeli Arab Leaders

 (Communicated by the GPO)

Following is a summary of the meeting held Saturday evening, 26.2.94, between Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin and leaders of the Arab community of Israel:

The Prime Minister and Minister of Defense condemns, in the strongest terms, the serious and horrible circumstances of the murder in Hebron, and felt a need to invite the leaders of the Arab community to a special meeting to review matters and to decide how best to proceed.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Defense stated that he could not find the words to condemn this horrible murder and that he felt ashamed, as an Israeli, that a Jewish Israeli had committed this crime.  He emphasized that he understood the shock, pain and harsh response of the Palestinian popu lation, which was the victim of this vicious attack.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Defense explained that, while he knew that there would be difficulties in concluding an agreement with the PLO, and that many Palestinian groups, such as dissident PLO factions, HAMAS and the Islamic Jihad, were acting to oppose a peaceful solution, the only op tion was to renew the search for a peaceful solution through negotiations. Those who oppose peace are attempting to exploit the shock generated by this situation, but while the solution is complex, without it, there can be no progress.

The actions of the terrorist organizations in attacking Jews and Arabs have led to a decrease in support by Israelis for the peace process.  However, despite the terrible thing which has happened, we must remember, as we do after the death of every victim of terrorism, that beyond the pain there must be no revenge, the killers must be dealt with within the framework of the law, and the murders must not be allowed to disrupt the peace process.

This was the lunatic act of a single individual and there is no evidence to suggest that he received support or assistance from any other individual or organization.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Defense will propose a series of steps at the meeting of the Government tomorrow, to be taken to stabilize the situation and to prevent additional incidents.

In the meantime, the areas where the attack occurred, including the Tomb of the Patriarchs itself, have been placed under curfew, in order to calm and stabilize the situation.  Among the steps to be taken will be a review of the procedures and disposition of security personnel at the religious site.

In addition, the families of the victims of the attack will receive compensation. While not an answer to the murder of either Jews or Arabs, the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense sees it as the responsibility of the Government.

The Prime Minister and Defense Minister initiated a telephone conversation with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, in which he condemned the attack and expressed his sorrow at the loss of life.  Just as there are Palestinians who wish to sabotage an agreement, so also do some Israelis.  The best answer to these enemies of peace is rapid progress toward a settlement.

Following the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense's remarks, the leaders of the Arab community in Israel expressed their concerns and made a number of specific requests. In response, the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense said that he would not discuss the specific steps to be taken before he had brought them to the Government for consideration.


28 Feb 94:  Knesset condemns massacre
28 Feb 94:  Knesset condemns massacre Links   Links  Links Links Links

THE HEBRON MASSACRE - RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE KNESSET FEBRUARY 28, 1994

The Knesset expresses profound shock, and condemns the criminal and revolting murder carried out in the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

The Knesset shares the grief of the families who have lost those dear to them, and extends wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.

The Knesset expressed its disgust and rejects the expressions of solidarity and sympathy voiced by a few extremists for the murderous acts which occurred Hebron.

The Knesset disassociates itself from any generalization or sweeping accusation against broad segments of the public, including the settlers.

The Knesset calls upon the entire public, Jews and Arabs, to recover and rise above the tragedy to display responsibility and restraint, and to work to calm enflamed passions.


Groveling apologies establishing collective Jewish guilt
Groveling apologies establishing collective Jewish guilt Links  Links Links Links

27 Feb 94 Rabin expresses shame  as Jew to Jewish Media conference  More

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" issues unqualified condemnation of massacre, including Rabin's "shame" as a Jew. Paragraph 1. More

28 Feb 94: Rabin to Knesset, expresses shame as Jew. See paragraphs 1,6. More


Rabin expresses shame as Jew to Jewish media conference
Rabin expresses shame as Jew to Jewish media conference Links   Links  Links Links Links

EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN TO THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE JEWISH MEDIAJERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 27, 1994

In Israel, there was also opposition to peace.  But it was opposition as a legitimate opposition in a democracy. Until Friday morning.  On Friday morning, an atrocity was carried out.  A person, a killer, took upon himself the decision to open fire against innocent people in a holy place to Jews and Muslims, in Hebron, in a way that, as a Jew, as an Israeli, I am ashamed of.  And I expect every Jew to condemn such an atrocity. It is a shame to the Jewish people, it is a shame to Israel.


28 Feb 94: Statement by PM Rabin to Knesset
28 Feb 94: Statement by PM Rabin to Knesset Links   Links  Links Links Links

STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN IN THE KNESSET IN THE WAKE OF THE HEBRON MASSACRE

JERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 28, 1994

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Honored Knesset,

(...)

1.	Today I stand before you, Members of Knesset, and before the citizens of the State of Israel, before the eyes of the entire world.  As a Jew, as an Israeli, as a person, as a human being -- I am ashamed and mortified at the disgrace placed upon us by a base murderer.

(...)

2.	While Muslim believers prayed to their God, in the midst of the Ramadan fast, a depraved Jew opened fire, killing tens of Muslim worshippers and wounding many scores more. We do not yet know the exact number of killed and wounded, but this we do know:  the tragedy is great, the anguish is heavy.

3.	The government of Israel -- and, I believe and hope, the entire Knesset as well -- sends its heartfelt condolences to the families whose dear ones were murdered in cold blood, and wish the wounded a full and speedy recovery.

(...)

4.	-	The despicable murderer acted alone, and had no accomplices in firing in the Tomb of the Patriarchs.  To the best of our knowledge, at this stage, the murder succeeded in firing, solely from his rifle, at least 111 bullets at the innocent worshippers, who were engaged in prayer and did not notice the villain prepared to take their lives. I would like to add that 111 bullet casings were found on the site, and according to the results of ballistic tests, all were fired from his gun.  Not a single casing from another weapon was found.

5.	-	In the riots which erupted following the massacre in several places in the territories, IDF soldiers whose lives were endangered had on several occasions to fire in self-defense.  Several people were killed and wounded by this fire.  The inquiry into this matter is in progress, and upon its conclusion the exact findings will be published.  We shall conceal nothing. However, any attempt to present the IDF as partners to the massacre is totally unfounded.

(...)

6.	Members of Knesset, the odious man from Hebron brought shame on us all, even when we are not at fault. Perhaps the despicable man who pulled the lethal trigger was not a madman in the clinical sense of the word, but the terrible act was the act of a madman, and in our hearts there is only pro found contempt for his vile act.

(...)

7.	To all those who still have doubts as to Israel's commitment to peace, I say in a loud, clear voice:  Do not be misled.  We shall continue the peace process, on the basis of the Declaration of Principles signed in Washington and the Cairo Agreement.  We shall accelerate the talks, the contact s and the negotiations.  Though it may take time, peace will indeed come.

8.	Nevertheless, I must make it clear to our Palestinian negotiating partners:  the despicable murder in Hebron and the sense of grief and sorrow will not move us from our principled positions with regard to the security of Israel and of its citizens, including the Jewish settlers in Judea, Sama ria and the Gaza Strip.  We have no intention of compromising on even the smallest detail of security matters which relate to each and every one of us.  Our security is also your security, and the foremost guarantee for the success of peace.  I say to you today:  no knife, no firebomb, no stone will move us from our security principles.  We shall continue to pursue those who carry out terrorist actions.  We shall give them no rest.

9.	I also say to the Palestinians, our partners to the peace talks in Taba, in Paris, in Cairo and in Washington:

10.	We understand your feelings, and suffer this terrible tragedy together with you. We identify with the heavy sorrow, the distress and the tears, and we know that even when peace will come, both you and we will bear the scars of war.

11.	We call upon you to return to the negotiating table, to resume the talks.  We shall sit down and continue the negotiations.  For after the blood, after the tears, that which we have so long sought and dreamed about may lie waiting in the near future:  to put an end to one hundred years of wa r and terrorism, and to begin to exist, to begin to live, like all nations.

(...)

We are near the finish line of the next stage of the peace negotiations.  We can see the wire. One more push, one more demonstration of readiness, of good will -- on the part of the Palestinians and on our part -- and we can succeed.  We shall bring peace to our homes and our children, yours and ours. We have no other course -- only peace.


Blaming Jewish settlers and the right
Blaming Jewish settlers and the right Links  Links Links Links

25 Feb 94: Israeli cabinet communique blames the massacre not only on Goldstein, but on an atmosphere of hatred and violence created elements within the right-wing Jewish camp. See paragraphs 5-8.  More

27 Feb 94: At Cabinet meeting, Rabin gov't enacts stiff measures against right-wing dissidents, to appease the PLO and imply all policy opponents were in their hearts Dr. Goldsteins. More


Preparing the nation for concessions
Preparing the nation for concessions  Links  Links Links Links

27 Feb 94: Cabinet insists that negotiations remain true to DOP, but calls for "speeding up" implementation.  This could only mean bribing the PLO to return to the talks. See last paragraphs.  More

27 Feb 94: Rabin tells Jewish media conference that negotiations must be accelerated, e.g., that PLO must be bribed to return to talks. More

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" calls for "acceleration of negotiations" and "quick" implementation of "Gaza-Jericho First" deal. Implied are gestures and concessions to permit the "acceleration" and "quickness.". Paragraphs 7-8. More

 28 Feb 94: Rabin to Knesset; promises "acceleration" of talks; begs PLO to return, promising negotiations "near finish line." See Paragraphs 7,11. More


Rabin rounded up right-wing dissidents to appease Arafat
Rabin rounded up right-wing dissidents to appease Arafat  Links  Links Links Links

25 Feb 94: Israeli cabinet communique blames the massacre partially on right-wing incitement,promising to take measures against them. See paragraphs 5-8 More

27 Feb 94: At Cabinet meeting, Rabin gov't enacts stiff extra-legal measures against right-wing dissidents. More

27 Feb 94 Rabin announces measures against right-wing at Jewish media conference  More

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" summarizes measures against right-wing dissidents as gesture to Clinton and Arafat. See paragraphs 3-4.  More

2 Mar 94: Police Minister justifies arrests without trial of right-wing dissidents. Paragraphs 2-3  More


27 Feb 94: Cabinet bans right-wing opponents, detains members without trial
27 Feb 94: Cabinet bans right-wing opponents, detains members without trial    Links  Links   Links Links Links

Jerusalem, 27 February 1994

ISRAELI CABINET COMMUNIQUE ------------------- (Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat)

At the weekly Cabinet meeting today, (Sunday), 27.02.94:

1.	The Prime Minister and the defense Minister, the Police Minister, the Chief-of-Staff, the Police Inspector-General and the Acting Commanding Officer of the Central Command briefed the Cabinet on last Friday's massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs and on the ensuing events.

2.	The Cabinet made the following decision:

a.	Given the extraordinary circumstances involved, to establish a commission of inquiry, in accordance with the Commissions of Inquiry Law 5729-1968, regarding the massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron on 25.2.94. The Foreign Minister, the Justice Minister and Minister Amnon Rubinstei n were entrusted with formulating the powers of the commission, in consultation with the Attorney-General and the Cabinet Secretary.

b.	After hearing the report by representatives of the security forces and having been presented with the opinion of the Attorney-General, to take the following series of measures on an individual basis against radical elements among the Israeli residents in Judea and Samaria:

1.	The imposition of administrative detentions;

2.	The extension of restraining and supervisory orders against the entry of certain persons into the Judea, Samaria and Hebron areas; and

3.	The disarmament of specific individuals and the cancellation of their permits to carry weapons.

c.	To charge the Attorney-General with the task of exploring and proposing options for the outlawing of the 'Kach' and 'Kahane Chai' organizations.

d.	To note the statement of the Prime Minister and Defense Minister regarding the release of about 800 Palestinian detainees and prisoners from arrest and detention.  The intent is to release up to 1,000 detainees and prisoners within the coming week.

e.	The Tomb of the Patriarchs will be opened only after new arrangements for security and prayers have been determined.

3.	The Cabinet empowered the Prime Minister and Defense ,inister, the Labor and Social Affairs Minister, the Agriculture Minister, the Construction and Housing Minister and the Finance Minister to decide, with the consent of the Dabinet, on a temporary regulation concerning civilian matters rela ted to the closure in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, including the employment of foreign workers.


27 Feb 94: Army arrests Kach members
27 Feb 94: Army arrests Kach members    Links  Links  Links Links Links

YATOM PRESS CONFERENCE

Jerusalem, 27 February 1994

(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman's Office)

The following are excerpts from a press conference given on Sunday, February 27, 1994 by the Commanding Officer of the Central Command, General Dani Yatom:

(most deleted: click  [image]  for remainder of press conference)

Q:  Have you already begun to implement some of the measures discussed today in your meeting with Prime Minister Rabin?

A:  Yes, we have already started to institute these measures.  I signed five military-administrative detention orders yesterday against suspected Jewish extremists.  One of those involved was located last night and he will be spending three months in prison; the other four were not at home, and the police will continue searching for them.  Some of the five belong to the Kach movement.  The others are generally affiliated with the organization.


27 Feb 94 Rabin annouces measures against dissidents to Jewish media conference
27 Feb 94 Rabin annouces measures against dissidents to Jewish media conference  Links  Links  Links Links Links

EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN TO THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE JEWISH MEDIAJERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 27, 1994

(most stuff deleted)

The government today, in its meeting, decided to take the following measures:

First, to use administrative detention orders against those who instigate or might create by their actions danger to the public security.

Second, to put limitations on instigators and those that endanger the security of the people who reside in the territories -- either from reaching the territories if they are residents of the State of Israel, or to prevent those who reside in the territories from reaching Hebron, and we will dec ide also on other places; to put limitations on their freedom of movement to certain areas.

Thirdly, we approved through the Ministry of the Interior, licenses to carry weapons for self-defense for those who reside or work in the territories. Part of the arms are supplied by the Israel Defense Forces.  We decided to take arms from those who might use them not for self-defense, but also

 for offensive, unjustified action against Palestinians. We will do it in a selective way, based on the behavior of the people that might be suspected, and after checking with all the legal advisers that we have.

In addition, we asked the Attorney General to check and to propose how to outlaw the Kach and Kahane Chai movements.


28 Feb 94: Foreign Ministry "talking paper" summarizes gestures to PLO and repression of dissidents
28 Feb 94: Foreign Ministry "talking paper" summarizes gestures to PLO and repression of dissidents  Links  Links   Links Links Links

Israeli Policy Following the Hebron Massacre

Foreign Ministry Talking Paper

On February 27, in the wake of the tragic shooting of Arab worshippers by a Jewish extremist in Hebron, the Israeli Cabinet met in Jerusalem to discuss steps to be taken in response to the event. The following policy points have emerged, as evidenced in the decisions of the Cabinet and public po licy statements:

1.	Unequivocal Condemnation of the Attack

----------------------------------------- The Israeli Government as a whole, its ministers, religious leaders, and Member of Knesset across the political spectrum have unequivocally denounced this loathsome murder of innocent Muslim worshippers at a site holy to both Arabs and Jews.  As Prime M inister Rabin stated soon after the attack:  "I, as the Prime Minister of Israel, as an Israeli, as a Jew, I am ashamed."

2.	Commission of Inquiry

------------------------ The Cabinet established a Commission of Inquiry regarding the Hebron shooting. This commission, unlike other investigating bodies, is by law, independent. Organized in accordance with the Commissions of Inquiry Law of 1968, the members of the commission are appointed by

 the President of the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Chairman of the commission must be a Supreme Justice.  Once having been commissioned by the Government, the commission is no longer dependent upon the Government for its powers and authorities, and may act in accordance with its own judgement regarding the extent of its functions and the scope of its investigation.  Also, unlike other bodies, the commission has the power to subpoena witnesses and documents and issue search warrants.

3.	Measures against Suspected Jewish Extremists

----------------------------------------------- The Cabinet also decided to take the following unprecedented administrative steps, on an individual basis, against radical elements among the Israeli residents in the territories. These steps include:

a.	Imposing administrative detention orders against those who instigate or create by their actions danger to public security. Orders have already been issued against several such individuals.

b.	Imposing restraining orders and travel restrictions against the entry and freedom of movement of certain persons suspected of instigation, into the territories.

c.	Cancellation of firearms permits, on an individual basis, against those persons suspected of using their weapons for purposes other than self-defense.

4.	Move to Outlaw Extremist Organizations

----------------------------------------- The Cabinet decided to authorize the Attorney General to prepare the legal groundwork for the outlawing of the extremist Jewish organizations 'Kach' and Kahana Chai'.  The Attorney General is to present the Cabinet with the legal options at its disposal

 for this unprecedented move.

5.	The Release of Palestinian Prisoners

--------------------------------------- Israel is willing to expedite the release of at least 800 prisoners and detainees, in order to demonstrate good faith and re-establish public confidence in the peace process.  Prisoners belonging to organizations opposed to the peace process and supportiv e of terrorism, such as the HAMAS, will not be released.

6.	An International Force is Inappropriate

------------------------------------------ Israel has great respect for international forces.  However, the nature of the Hebron attack renders it very difficult to prevent.  There was no indication that the individual assailant was about to commit such an insane act.  No international force wo uld have been able to stop the action of a determined lunatic.  An international force is therefore an inappropriate solution for the present situation.  Israel is committed, however, to negotiate a temporary international presence in Gaza and Jericho, in accordance with the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles.

7.	Accelerating the Peace Process in the Face of Terrorism

---------------------------------------------------------- Since the September 13 signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles, terrorism has been used by extremists as a tool in their struggle against the peace process.  In that period of time, many Israelis were killed by Arab

 terrorists, and the public support for the peace talks was reduced. Israel, however, stood firm, continued, and advanced in the peace negotiations.  Israel hopes the Palestinians will take the same position.  Despite the undeniable pain and outrage of the attack, peace remains the only option. Accordingly, Israel is proposing to accelerate the peace talks, in order to deny the extremists their wish of destroying the budding peace.

8.	Completing the Gaza-Jericho Arrangements

------------------------------------------- In the negotiations between Israel and the PLO regarding an implementation of the Gaza-Jericho arrangements, much progress has been made.  Agreement was reached on most security issues and on the transfer of authority in civil areas from Israel to the

 Palestinians themselves.  A final agreement on Gaza-Jericho is near, and an Israeli redeployment from those areas could be implemented with an accelerated time-table.  Israel feels that these negotiations should proceed as soon as possible, in order to implement this first key phase of the peac e agreement, which has the potential of changing the face of the region.  This opportunity should not be lost.

.


2 Mar 94: Police Minister justifies arrests without trial of right-wing dissidents
2 Mar 94: Police Minister justifies arrests without trial of right-wing dissidents Links  Links   Links Links Links

Shahal Announces Decision to Adopt Administrative Measures

----------------------------------------------------------

(Communicated by Police Ministry Spokesman)

Jerusalem, 2 March 1994

At a press conference for foreign correspondents at Beit Agron in Jerusalem yesterday (1.3.94), Police Minister Moshe Shahal reviewed the recent cabinet decisions following the events in Hebron last week.

Minister Shahal noted the administrative measures which the Government has adopted constitute an extraordinary move. Mr. Shahal also noted that other democratic countries (such as Canada and Britain) have occasionally been forced to take similar administrative steps.  He announced that, at this stage, five people are to be placed under administrative detention, one of whom has already been detained.  Other administrative measures will be taken against no more than 100 people, who constitute the leadership of the Jewish extremists in the territories.

In response to a question, Mr.  Shahal said that administrative measures had not previously been taken because there had not been enough evidence to justify this.  He noted a case in which the police had detained two Jewish extremists from the territories, who were subsequently released by the c ourt, despite a request by the police to keep them in detention.

Mr.  Shahal said that the administrative measures would be implemented 'within a number of hours and days.' He added that there is no reason to bring in outside forces (such as from the UN or the United States) to supervise the situation in the territories, and that it has already been agreed in

 the peace talks that observers would be stationed only in Gaza and Jericho.  Mr.  Shahal emphasized the need to learn to live together, while at the same time ensuring the security of Israelis, as well as Israel's commitment to preventing harm to the Palestinians. .


Prayer and Security Arrangements at the Tomb of the Patriarchs
Prayer and Security Arrangements at the Tomb of the Patriarchs  Links  Links Links Links

26 Feb 94 The Cave of the Patriarchs - General Background.  Extract from preliminary report of Israeli General Command  More


Prayer Arrangements:  Extract from preliminary IDF investigation
Prayer Arrangements:  Extract from preliminary IDF investigation   Links   Links Links Links

Preliminary Report on the Events in Hebron - 25 Feb 1994 as presented by Commanding Officer of the Central Command General Dani Yatom Before the Diplomatic Corps Tel Aviv, 26 February 1994

The Cave of the Patriarchs - General Background

 In Hebron, there are several places where Jews and Arabs live together in close proximity.  In particular, in the center of the city itself, where Jews and Palestinian Muslims, are very close to each other. One of the places where Jews and Muslims

 gather together from time to time is the Cave of the Patriarchs, the traditional site of the tomb of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

For many years, there have prevailed established procedures regarding the way Muslims and Jews pray there.  These procedures are maintained by the Israeli Civil Administration and the Muslim Religious Authority, the Waqf, which is the Muslim party responsible for religious affairs in Judea and S amaria.  The procedures are not new and have been in effect for a number of years.

It is agreed that there are three ways, or three categories.  It depends on the day of the year, and it depends on the feast -- if it a Jewish festival or a Muslim festival -- and there are special arrangements for each event and for each festival.

We must recall that we are now in the month of Ramadan, the holy month of the Muslims. There are religious observances which are carried out by the Israelis, the Jews. As a result of the different observances, there are prayer arrangements by which there are some days that Jewish people and Musl ims pray together in the same place, in the same cave -- either in separate rooms, or even in the same room separated by a barrier, something which you can move from one place to another.

Yesterday morning, there were two groups praying simultaneously together in separate rooms -- about 15 or 20 Jewish people were praying in a room called the the Room of Abraham; and in the other, there were about 300-400 Muslims who were praying in the Room of Isaac. There was another group, whi ch mainly consisted of women, Muslim women, which were praying also, but in a separate third room.

At the cave itself, at the holy place itself, the Jews enter from one gate, the Muslims enter from another gate, but they are very close to each other while they are praying.  There is only a wall, with several doors, which separates one room from the other.


History of Hebron
History of Hebron   Links  Links Links Links

Arabs and leftists throughout the West and even Israel demand that Jews be expelled from their homes in Hebron, that Hebron is a "Palestinian" town and Jews have no right to live there.  Yet, Hebron was founded about 1700 B.C.E., about 3650 years before anybody ever heard of a Palestinian.  Jews lived nearby or in the town since that time(the property bought by Abraham is close by).  King David made Hebron his first capital.  Jews lived in Hebron something like 3,000 - 3,500 years until the Arab riots first of 1929 and then of 1936 resulted in the death or expulsion of the Jews. It is one of Judaism's four holy cities. Jordan  captured the city during its invasion of Israel in 1948, and prohibited Jews from living in any territory it controlled.  After Israel recaptured the city, Jews returned to Jewish owned property there.

History of Hebron from ancient times to the present.


Comment 1
When did Hebron become a "Palestinian" town?  The question is similar to the claim that Jerusalem is "Palestinian".  See Jerusalem, then press the back button on the button bar to return to this topic.


Hebron:  Arab riots in 1929
Hebron:  Arab riots in 1929   Links   Links Links Links


Hebron from ancient times to the present
Hebron from ancient times to the present References  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

History of Hevron (Encyclopedia Juaica)

HEBRON (Heb. Chevron; Ar. al-Khalil), city in Erez Israel, 19 mi. (32 km.) S. of Jerusalem in the Judean Hills, 3,050 ft.(930m.) above sea level. The name Hebron is explained as deriving from the root hbr (friend), the name *Habiru, or the Arabic word haber ("granary"). In the Bible, Hebron is a lso referred to as Kiriath Arba: "Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-Arba; this Arba was the greatest among the Anakim..." (Josh. 14:15; see *Anak, Anakim; *Ahiman, Sheshai, Talmai). B. Mazar maintains that the name Kiriath-Arba implies that the city was a member of four arba) neighboring confederated settlements in which the families of *Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre resided around the citadel of Hebron.

Biblical Period. Canaanite Hebron was located to the south of modern Hebron, on the strategic hill known as Jebel al-Rumayda, which was also the site of the later Israelite city. Numbers 13:22 states that Hebron was founded seven years before *Zoan, the capital of the Hyksos which was founded in about 1720 B.C.E. (cf. Jos., Wars, 4:530).  Artifacts from this period--the middle Bronze Age--were found in a tomb in Wadi al-Tutah; these included pottery, alabaster objects, and personal articles. At this time the name Hebron is connected with the Patriarchs, especially the purchase of the Cave of *Machpelah by Abraham from *Ephron the Hittite. Hebron, however, remained a Canaanite city; it was one of the important localities visited by the 12 spies (Num. 13:22). Hoham, the king of Hebron (Josh. 10:3), participated in the Battle of Aijalon against Joshua and was defeated there tog ether with the other kings of Canaan. His city was conquered by Caleb son of Jephunneh (Josh. 15:13; Judg. 1: 20).

After the death of Saul, David chose Hebron as his royal city and was anointed there as king over Judah (11 Sam. 2:1-4). In addition, Abner was buried there (3:32)--his traditional tomb is still standing.  The assassins of *IshBosheth, the son of Saul, brought Ish-Bosheth's head to David in Heb ron, and he ordered that they be hanged next to the pool in the town (4:1 2). Eventually David was anointed king over all Israel in Hebron (5:1-3). The city was also one of the *levitical cities and a *city of refuge (Josh. 21: 13; I Chron. 6:42); it was an important administrative center and th is was the reason why Rehoboam fortified it (ll Chron. 11:10). In the division of Judah into districts during the Monarchy (cf. Josh. 15: 54) Hebron was a city of the mountain district.

Post-Biblical Period. After the destruction of the First Temple the Jewish inhabitants of Hebron were exiled and their place was taken by Edomites, whose border extended to Beth-Zur. According to Nehemiah 11: 25, however, there were still some Jewish families living in the town; nevertheless, the Jews of Hebron did not participate in the construction of the walls of Jerusalem.

In 1 Maccabees 5:65 it is stated that Edomite Hebron was attacked by Judah Maccabee and its towers set on fire; the incorporation of the town into Judah, however, only took place after the conquest of Idumea by John Hyrcanus at the end of the second century B.C.E. With the conversion of the Idu means, Hebron again became a Jewish city. King Herod built the wall which still surrounds the Cave of Machpelah.  During the first war against the Romans. Hebron was conquered by Simeon Bar Giora, the leader of the Zealots (Jos., Wars, 4: 529), and the city was plundered: it was later burned dow n by the Roman commander Cerealius (Jos., Wars, 4:554), but the Jews continued to live there. It appears that the population did not suffer during the Bar Kochba revolt. There are remains in the city of a synagogue from the Byzantine period. It was during this period that a church was erected ov er the Cave of Machpelah: the "very large village" of Hebron then formed part (together with the Botna fortress to the north) of

the fortified southern border of the country.	[M.A.-Y.]

Arab Conquest. It appears that Hebron fell to the Arabs without offering resistance. The Arabs, who honored the memory of Abraham, named the city Khahl al-Rahman ("the beloved [i.e., Abraham] of [God] the Merciful"), or simply al-Khalil; however, the name Habra or Habran is also found in Arabic sources. The first period of Arab conquest (638-1100) was a relief for the Jews of Hebron, as for the other Jews of Palestine, after the cruel Byzantine rule. There is, however, not much evidence about this period, but as more evidence is uncovered it becomes increasingly more probable that there was a permanent settlement in Hebron at that time. The testimony of historians from an earlier period and documents discovered in the course of time in the Genizah give a fairly clear picture of the continuity of the Jewish settlement in Hebron. The first evidence is provided by the story which appears in several versions in both Muslim and Christian sources, which tells of the permission *Omar gave to the Jews to build a synagogue near the cave of Machpelah, as well as a cemetery. The popularity of this story indicates that it has a nucleus of historical truth at least. The Arabs converted the Byzantine church over the cave into a mosque. Under their rule the town grew, and the Arabs traded with the bedouins in the Negev and the people to the east of the Dead Sea. According to the tenth-century Arab geographer, Al-Muqaddasi, they also conducted a far reaching trade in fre sh fruit.

There is no real evidence about the nature and situation of the Jewish settlement in Hebron in the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries.  However, there is evidence of the existence of a Karaite community there at the beginning of the 11th century (1001), and tangible evidence from later in that century about continuing Jewish settlement. From inscriptions and fragments of documents from the Genizah it is possible to formulate a genealogical reconstruction for four to six generations of two Hebron families, from which it can be seen that the Jewish population was concentrated around the cave of Machpelah and that the synagogue was built near the cave. One of these two families held the inherited title he-haver le-kivrei avot, or anshei kivrei avot, and was in charge of maintaining the holy place. This even included the burying of the dead brought by Jews from near and far for burial close to the cave of Machpelah.

Crusader Rule. The crusader rule (1100-1260) brought a temporary end to the Jewish settlement in Hebron. In 1100 the Crusaders captured the city, turned the mosque and the adjoining synagogue into a church and monastery, and expelled the Jews. There was probably no Jewish settlement in Hebron after that time--at any rate, there is no mention of the existence of Jews in Hebron. Maimonides, who visited Hebron (1166), as well as Benjamin of Tudela (c. 1171), Pethahiah of Regens- burg (1176), and Jacob b. Nethanel (second half of 12th century) make no mention of a Jewish settlement or of the existence of Jews in Hebron. It is possible that Jews began to settle again in Hebron toward the end of the period of crusader rule, and by the beginning of the 13th century (1210) mention is made of a Jewish dyer "and his group" in Hebron (cf. A. Yaari, Iggerot Erez Yisrael (1943), 7 83).

Mamluk Rule. The Mamluks (1260-1517), who expelled the Crusaders finally from Palestine, made Hebron their district capital (c. 1260), at which time the Jewish settlement apparently began to be perceptibly renewed. Nahmanides, who immigrated to Palestine in 1267, wrote to his son that he could 'go to Hebron to dig a grave for himself there" (Yaari, op. cit., 84). Such an action would have been unthinkable had there not been a Jewish settlement in Hebron.

It appears that the tolerant Muslim attitude toward the Jews which had existed in pre-Crusader times did not continue with the return of the Muslims to Palestine. In 1266 it was decreed that the Jews were not to enter the Cave of Machpelah, and this decree was strictly enforced until the 20th century. A Christian traveler who visited Hebron in the first half of the 14th century reported that "Christian and Jewish people are regarded by them [by the Muslims] as dogs, and they do not allow them to enter such a holy place" (cf. M.  Ish-Shalom, Masei Nozerim le-Erez Yisrael (1965), 230). The prohibi tion is mentioned by both Meshullam of Volterra (1481) and Obadiah of Bertinoro (1488), who visited Hebron. They both recount that the Muslims "built a wall at the entrance of the cave, in which they made a small window through which the Jews pray." The number of the Jews was also small at that time--20 households according to Meshullam and Obadiah of Bertinoro (A. Yaari, Masol Erez Yisrael, (1946) 68 69).  Nevertheless, although the Jewish settlement in Hebron was small, it was considered as very important by the Jews. This is seen in evidence found in both Christian and Jewish sources. At the end of the 15th century Christian pilgrims report about a Jewish pilgrimage to Hebron:  "the Jews recognize them [the graves of the Patriarchs] and hold them in great esteem . . . and make pilgrimage there [to Hebron] from Jerusalem and even from other countries..." (the traveler Martin Kabatnik (1492), in M. Ish-Shalom, op. cit., 242). Obadiah of Bertinoro wrote in one of his letters that "there is a tradition among all the people of the land that burial in Hebron is better than in Jerusalem" (Yaari, ibid.)

The first evidence about spiritual and economic activity by the Jews of Hebron during the Mamluk period appears in the 14th century, but this is fragmentary, is derived from a single source, and is doubtful. R. Isaac Hilo from Larissa (Greece) reported in 1333 that the Jews were engaged in a prosperous trade in cotton, which they themselves wove and spun, and that they were also engaged in all types of glasswork. Some scholars maintain that the Venetian Jews who emigrated to Palestine after the Crusades introduced the art of glasswork to Hebron, but this is not certain (O. Avisar (ed. ), Sefer Hevron, (1970), 89). R. Isaac Hilo of Larissa also reported about the spiritual activity of the Jews of Hebron, mentioning "an ancient synagogue [in Hebron] in which they prayed day and night." Some scholars doubt, however, whether this description stems from contempo- rary testimony or from hearsay.

Ottoman Rule. A definite turn for the better in the situation of the Jews of Hebron occurred during the Ottoman period (1517-1917), which began in Palestine in 1517 . However, the Jews of Hebron did suffer misfortune and in this very year a great calamity befell the Jewish population of the town. In a parchment document, written at approximately the time of the event (1518), a man named Japheth b.  Manasseh from Corfu tells about the attack by "Murad Bey, the deputy of the king and ruler in Jerusalem," on the Jews of Hebron. The results were very grave: many were killed, their propert y was plundered, and the remainder fled for their lives to "the land of Beirut." This same document also attests the stable situation of the Hebron community at that time. The very fact that the sultan's deputy took the trouble to have his armies plunder and loot Hebron in the hope of gaining wealth proves that the Jews of Hebron had considerable property. Furthermore, from the words in the same document "and they killed many people," it may be deduced that many Jews were there. The growth of the Jewish population of Hebron at the beginning of the 16th century is explained by the fact that some of those Jews who were expelled from Spain went to Hebron, probably contributing by their strength and wealth to the spiritual and material enrichment of the especially in the realm of spiritual leadership. This stems from the emergence of two phenomena of note in the second half of the 16th century: the rising power of the Hebron settlement, on the one hand, and the decline of Safed as a spiritual and economic center, on the other. The consolidation of the Hebron settlement took place in 1540 when Malkiel *Ashkenazi settled in the town. This multifaceted personality, who com bined spiritual and practical greatness, organized communal life in Hebron both practically and spiritually. Ashkenazi's first act was to buy the courtyard in which the Jews of Hebron lived.  This courtyard, which was surrounded by the stone walls of tall buildings, provided the Jewish community of Hebron with a degree of security. Ashkenazi built some additional buildings in the same location as the well-known synagogue, which was named for Abraham the Patriarch. He also served as Hebron's first rabbi, and his legal decisions and customs were regarded by the Hebron community as irrevo cable halakhot not only in his time but in subsequent genera tions as well. Toward the end of the 16th and at the beginning of the 17th centuries some of the most important kabbalists of Safed moved to Hebron. The most famous among these was Elijah de *Vidas, author of the well known moralistic work Reshit Hokhmah and a student of Moses Cordovero and Isaac Luria, as well as Isaac Archa and Menahem b. Moses ha-Bavli, also disciples of Luria.

The teachings of the Kabbalah and mysticism made a deep impression on the spiritual life of Hebron, and a spirit of asceticism was widespread. Isaiah Horowitz tells about the custom in Hebron of castigation and flagellation (Ammud ha-Teshuvah, a commentary on the tractate Yoma), which is an ey ewitness description of castigations and a process of atonement which includes lashing, wearing sackcloth, being dragged, and the symbolic performance of the four judicial executions. Kabbalah and asceticism were prevalent in Hebron for approximately 300 years, until the settlement of the *Habad Hasidim in the 19th century. Thus, the settlement in Hebron grew and became stabilized, although not from an economic aspect. The great majority of the population was economically dependent on continuous outside assistance, in the form of donations and contributions from abroad.  The money came in two ways: donations which were sent directly to Palestine from abroad and contributions which were collected by emissaries who went abroad specifically for this purpose. Until the middle of the 17th century Hebron did not have its own emissaries; since the community was small and poor, it could not afford the large investment required for sending such an emissary abroad. Hebron was thus dependent on chance contributions from the Diaspora and on the general *halukkah among the four holy cities (Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, and Tiberias), from which Hebron received the smallest share (three parts out of 24). In the 16th century the charitable organiza tion known as Yahaz was established. This was a kind of united fund whose name was a combination of the first letters of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed. It seems, however, that all these attempts did not greatly alleviate F Hebron' s difficult economic situation. This can be seen in "Kol Kore" (1616), which proclaimed to the Diaspora the difficult situation of Hebron's Jews. A central factor in their troubles was the huge debt owed by the community to the ruling authorities as a result of various decrees. Characteristic of the situation is the legend which tells about a tyrannical governor who forced the community to pay him thousands of grushim (coins whose value was equivalent to the German thaler) by threatening to burn half of the town and sell the other half into slavery (A. M. Luncz, in O.  Avisar (ed.), Sefer h'evron, 306).

Nevertheless, in spite of the heavy tribulations, which included a plague, locusts, and harsh decrees by the authorities during the 17th century, the Jews of Hebron did not surrender their desire for spiritual survival. In the I middle of the 17th century (1659) the famous philanthropist from Amsterdam, R. Abraham Pereira, established the yeshivah Hesed le-Avraham in Hebron. Distinguished rabbis and hakhamim lived in Hebron at that time. The yeshivah Hesed le-Avraham was a primary factor in the creation of this spiritual prominence of Hebron.

A difficult crisis befell the spiritual leadership of the town in the second half of the 17th century, after the visit of Shabbetai Zevi in 1663 on his way to Egypt. His visit made a great impression on the community. His disciples related that the people of Hebron stayed awake the entire night

 in order to see his wondrous deeds. He gained the adulation of the most important rabbis of Hebron, some of whom, as well as their descendants, maintained their faith in him even after his conversion. People like the kabbalist Abraham Conki and the emissary Meir ha-Rofe, and especially Nehemiah Hayon, devoted themselves to Shabbateanism.

The Shabbatean crisis had a very adverse effect on Hebron and led to both its spiritual and economic decline. There was no improvement during the 18th century, which was marked by disease, decrees of expulsion, a blood libel, and upheavals during the rebellion of Ali Bey and the Russo-Turkish War. Despite these troubles, there was a certain increase in population as a result of the breakdown of the Jewish settlement of Jerusalem in 1721 and the immigration of Abraham Gershon of Kutow (Kuty), the brother-in-law of Israel Baal Shem Tov.  Abraham Gershon relates that in the single Jewish courtyard there was so little room that they could not even let him bring his family.

In the beginning of the 19th century the Hebron settlement gained some relief. In 1807 and 1811 the Jews bought and leased over 800 dunams of land. Nor was there stagnation in the spiritual life. First and foremost among the chkhamim of Hebron in the second half of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries was Hayyim Joseph David *Azulai (called Hida). Mention should also be made of R. Mordecai *Rubio, the rabbi of Hebron and rosh yeshivah of Hesed le-Avraham, and Raphael Hazzan, author of halakhic works. There was a distinct improvement from a financial point of view as well, notwithstanding the robbery and oppression perpetrated by the authorities. Financial help came from several sources. The philanthropist Simon Wertheimer established a large fund which regularly supported the poor of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed. In 1814 Hayyim Baruch of Ostrava was appointed as the emissary of Hebron and he succeeded in organizing a network of funds which regularly provided Hebron with considerable amounts (O. Avisar op. cit., 131, 219). Sir Moses Montefiore, who visited Hebron in 1839 and was impressed with its beauty, also made generous contributions to the town. The re is even evidence of independent economic progress made by the Jews of Hebron toward the second half of the 19th century. There were Jews who dealt in wine (1838), crafts, and trade (1876 and after).

The most significant development in the history of the Hebron settlement in the 19th century, however, was brought about by Habad Hasidim. The community was headed by R. Simon Menahem Haikin who moved from Safed in 1840. Internal life was well organized, an agreement was signed between the Seph ardi and Ashkenazi communities (in 1830 and 1842), and a close relationship was maintained between them. In the middle of the 19th century Elijah *Mani founded several public institutions, including the bet ha-midrash Bet Yaakov, and reorganized the Sephardi *kolel in Hebron, freeing it from the  administration of the Sephardi kolel of Jerusalem. He also revolutionized communal life by instituting a takkanah which stated that the kolel could subsidize only those actually engaged in studying the Torah. This step encour- aged many of the inhabitants to begin to work, thus leading to a gre ater productivity in Hebron's economic life. There was even a hospital in Hebron by 1895, and the Jewish population reached 1,500 by the late 19th century.

An important contribution to Hebron's spiritual life was made by Hayyim Hezekiah *Medini, who founded a yeshivah for young people in Hebron. Four years previously (1900) R. Shalom Baer of Lubavich had established the yeshivah Torat Emet. Together with the religious education system, which reach ed the height of its development at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a parallel development in secular education, and in 1907 the German Hilfsverein set up the first school that included secular studies in its curriculum. Nevertheless, due to limited economic possibilities the Jewish population fell to 700 by 1910.

World War I and British Rule (1917-1948). The flourishing period of the Jewish settlement in Hebron came to an end in 1914, with the outbreak of World War 1. The young men were conscripted into the Turkish army, the channels of financial assistance were blocked, hunger and plagues created havoc among the populace, and the ghetto of Hebron was almost entirely emptied of its inhabitants after the closing of the kolelim in the town--except for the Sephardi kolel. The Hebron settlement underwent a grave depression. In 1918, however, when Hebron was captured by the British and World War I ended, the Jewish settlement began to recover. The education department of the Zionist organization established schools for boys and girls, as well as a kindergarten. The number of inhabitants was smaller than before the war (430 out of a total population of 16,000 in 1922) but their economic situation was stable. The spiritual situation, on the other hand, was poor--the yeshivot were impoverished and there were only 17 students. In 1925 the *Slobodka Yeshivah from Lithuania was estab lished under the leadership of Rabbi M. M. Epstein, and the Jewish population rose to 700 in 1929 (out of a population of 18,000).

The year 1929 dealt a heavy blow to the Jewish settlement with the killing of many of Hebron's Jews by Arab rioters. The assault was well planned and its aim was well defined: the elimination of the Jewish settlement of Hebron. The rioters did not spare women, children, or the aged; the British remained passive. Sixty-seven were killed, 60 wounded, the community was destroyed, synagogues razed, and Torah scrolls burned. However, those who remained did not surrender and 35 families went to resettle in 1931. The community slowly began to rebuild itself, but everything was again destroyed in the upheavals of 1936. On the night of April 23, 1936, the British authorities evacuated the Jewish inhabitants of Hebron. The Jewish settlement of Hebron thus ended and only one inhabitant remained there until 1947.

After 1948. In 1948 Hebron was incorporated into the kingdom of Jordan. It was captured by the Israel army in the Six-Day War of June 1967, and Jews again returned to visit Hebron. The old Jewish quarter was found destroyed and the Jewish cemetery almost obliterated.  According to the 1967 census, conducted by Israel, Hebron had 38,309 inhabitants, all of whom (excepting 106 Christians) were Muslim.  Hebron has a smaller percentage of Palestinian Arab refugees than most other places of the West Bank.

On the eve of Passover 1968 a group of religious settlers went to reestablish the Jewish settlement. This new settlement encountered opposition both from the local Arabs and from official Israel sources as their move had not been authorized. The settlers had to fight for official recognition an d the right to build a Jewish township in Hebron. In May 1968 the settlers were moved from their temporary quarters to the area occupied by the military government, thus acquiring the protection of the government but not the right to engage freely in economic activity. In 1970 the government decided to permit Jewish settlement in the town of Hebron and to build 250 housing units there. Through the influence of Hebron's mayor Muhammed Ali al-Ja'barg the town remained relatively quiet under the Israel military govern ment, although in 1968 and 1969 attacks repeatedly occurred on Israel soldiers, visitors, and settlers. There were several attacks on Jews who came to pray at the cave of Machpelah, as well as arguments about the right to pray there.

Throughout most of its history Hebron's economy has been characterized by its position on the border of two regions--the farming area and the desert Therefore, it has served as a market place for the exchange of goods between the peasants and the bedouin shepherds. Even in the 1970s its economy was based principally on retail trade and on handicrafts such as pottery, glass blowing, and leather tanning. Hebron's built-up area, which expanded after 1948, extends mainly northward along the road leading to Bethlehem and Jerusalem and approaches the village of *Halhul.

[E.O.]


References 1
Bibliography: O. Avisar (ed.), Sefer Hevron (1970); I.S. Horowitz, Erez-Yisrael u-Shekhenoteha (1923), 248-63: Z. Vilnay, Mazzevot ha-Kodesh be-Eretz-Yisrael (1963), 71-98; A. M. Luncz (ed.), Yerush- alayim, 10 (1914), 304-10; I. Kaplan, Ir ha-Avot (1924); Ha-Va'ad le-Vinyan Hevron, Tazkirla-Con gress ha-Ziyyoni... (1931); Y. E.  Levanon, Yalkut Hevron (1937); M. Mani, Hevron ve-Gibboreha (1963); J.  Braslavsky, in: Eretz Israel, 5 (1958), 221-3; idem, in: YMHEY, 10 (1943), 66 70; idem, Le-Heker Arzenu (1954), index; B. Z. Dinaburg, in: Zion (Me'assef), 2 (1927), 54-55; J. Pinkerfeld, i n: YMHEY, 6 (1939), 61-65; A. Y. Shahrai, Hevron (1930); Sefer ha-Yishuv, I (1939), 40-42; 2 (1944), 6-9; S. Assaf, Mekorot u-Mehkarim be-~oledot Yisrael (1946), 43-49; A. Yaari, Masot Erez Yisrael (1945), index; idem, Iggerot Erez Israel, index; idem, Sheluhei, index; idem, in:  Yerushalayim: M ehkerei Erez Yisrael, 4 (1953), 185-202; idem, in:  Mahanayim, no. 72 (1962), 84-96; N. H. Torczyner, in: E. L. Sukenik and 1. Press (eds.), Yerushalayim: . . . Le-Zekher Avraham Moshe Luncz (1928), 109-10; M. Ish-Shalom, Masei Nozerim le-Erez Yisrael (1965), index; Press, Erez, 2 (1948), 244 6;

 M. Benayahu, in: Sura, 2 (1955-56), 219-23; N. Fried, in; Sinai, 53 (1963), 108-111; Prawer, Zalbanim, 2 (1963), index; M. D. Gaon, Yehudei ha-Mizrah be-Erez Yisrael, I (1928), 177-94; 1. Ben Zvi, She'ar Yashuv (1966), index; idem, Erez-Yisrael ve-Yishuvah... (1967), index; idem, in: YMHEY, 5 ( 1937), 119-23; B. Meisler, in: Sefer Dinaburg ( 1949), 310-25; L H .  Vincent, E. J . H . Mackay and F. M. Abel, Hebron. Le Haram el-Khalll (1923); Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 345-7; G. L. Strange, Palestine under the Moslems (1890), 309ff.


Investigations of the Massacre by the Israeli Army and Government
Investigations of the Massacre by the Israeli Army and Government comment  Links  Links Links Links

26 Feb 94 -the morning following the event-preliminary report by Israeli General Command. More

27 Feb 94: Cabinet authorizes Commission of Inquiry headed by Supreme Court Justice and other high officials.  See paragraph 2A. More

27 Feb 94: At press conference,General Dani Yatom details army investigation of the massacre, and arrests without charges or trial of right-wing Jewish dissidents.  More

27 Feb 94 PM Rabin announces commission of inquiry to Jewish media conference  More

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" confirms appointment of commission of inquiry.  Paragraph 2.  More

28 Feb 94: Rabin to Knesset-ballistics shows all 111 bullets from same gun See paragraph 4. More

28 Feb 94: FM describes mandate, powers, and members of Commission of Inquiry  More


Comment

Israel lost no time investigating the massacre; international pressures and demands were unnecessary.  The army launched an immediate inquiry, issuing a report the next day.  A Commission of Inquiry was authorized instantly and shortly thereafter began its work.


26 Feb 94: Preliminary Report by Israeli General Command
26 Feb 94: Preliminary Report by Israeli General Command     Links  Links   Links Links Links

Preliminary Report on the Events in Hebron - 25 Feb 1994 as presented by Commanding Officer of the Central Command General Dani Yatom Before the Diplomatic Corps Tel Aviv, 26 February 1994

The Events at the Cave of the Patriarchs - 25 February

 At about 5:30 in the morning, the assailant, a man by the name of Dr.  Goldstein, entered the holy site.  He was known to the soldiers because he is a doctor.  He is a physician, not onl y in Kiryat Arba (a Jewish town bordering Hebron), but also he is a physician in the reserves.  In fact, in many of the latest terrorist attacks against Jews, he was one of the first to appear in order to give first aid.  And it was not unusual when he appeared dressed in his uniform with his ra nk in the reserve. He was a captain, a medical officer in the reserves.

There were several soldiers as usual at the site.  On this morning, due to several reasons, there were about three soldiers less than usual in the cave itself, within the structure.  But there were some others, as usual, in very close proximity, next to the site.

He entered the place where Jews were praying, and after a short period of time, the soldiers that we questioned suddenly heard somebody shooting, in long bursts.

They tried to enter the hall where the Muslims were praying.  There was one officer, a first lieutenant, who tried to enter through the door near which he was positioned before the event itself took place.  He could not enter, because those Muslim worshippers who had been praying in the hall sta rted to run out through the same door - they blocked the entrance and pushed him away.

So he ran to another entrance, and tried to enter the hall through the room where the Jews were praying.  It was blocked by the Palestinians because they were afraid that maybe somebody else was trying to enter the room and shoot at them.  So he ran to the third room, to the third door, and trie d to enter through the third door, and the same thing happened. He could not enter.

Then he ran back to the first door, where he was standing before. It was after maybe three minutes, maybe two minutes, and it was all over.  Only then was he able to enter. By that time, most of the people were running away carrying those killed and wounded.

What he found in the hall were some Palestinians who were still there, and the assailant who was dead. He may have committed suicide -- this is all we know now. The matter is still under investigation, but there are several accounts from witnesses that after he shot the Palestinians, he shot him self, committing suicide.

We have also found the gun that he used. Apparently, he fired more than one hundred bullets.  But you know that while firing and squeezing the trigger, it takes only several seconds to empty a magazine.  It appears that he fired about three and one half magazines.

Disturbances following the Shooting

=================================== Disturbances started immediately following the shooting.  Next to the El-Ahali Hospital, which is adjacent to one of the central intersections, in the northern part of Hebron, there was one such disturbance.  The main road was blocked, and large rocks were th rown by hundreds of Palestinians. We have heard some claims, that in this event which occurred next to the hospital, some other Palestinians got killed.  As far as I know until now, it is not true, but I am not completely sure.  We ordered an investigation in order to find out what happened over

 there, and I think that we will know much more details in the coming hours.

I have been told that a letter from the assailant was found.  In the letter -- I did not see the letter, it is something reported to me by the police detective who is heading the team which is investigating the issue -- it is written that he is liable to do something terrible.

A few hours after the event, we began heavy reinforcement of our forces in the Hebron area, and in the rest of Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip. We ordered a curfew of Hebron. We also closed the areas where the Israelis are living, preventing them from leaving the area -- both in Kiryat Arba

 and in the Israeli complexes within the city of Hebron.

There were a series of violent incidents both in the Gaza Strip and in many other villages, and in some cities in Judea and Samaria.  As a result of which, yesterday, five Palestinians lost their lives.  And today, another three in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip, and one in eastern Jerusal em.  We ordered our soldiers to be as restrained as possible, and to try not to use weapons unless they are physically threatened.

Casualties:

===========

Preliminary IDF figures from 26 February 1994 (16:30):

Judea/Samaria

=============

Arab Fatalities as a result of the Shooting:	45

Arab Fatalities in Events following the Shooting:	5

Arab Wounded as a result of the Shooting:	128

Arab Wounded in Events following the Shooting:	34

Gaza District

=============

Arab Fatalities in Events following the Shooting:	4

Arab Wounded in Events following the Shooting:	159

Israeli Security Forces Wounded:	10


Yatom Press Conference: Details of Hebron Massacre
Yatom Press Conference: Details of Hebron Massacre Links  Links   Links Links Links

YATOM PRESS CONFERENCE

Jerusalem, 27 February 1994

(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman's Office)

The following are excerpts from a press conference given on Sunday, February 27, 1994 by the Commanding Officer of the Central Command, General Dani Yatom:

The purpose of this meeting is to share the details about what we now know concerning the terrible massacre that occurred at the Tomb of the Patriarchs on Friday morning.  I would like to emphasize that we are still in the midst of the inquiry; it has not ended. However, I decided to present the se details because I think it is important to describe what we think happened -- which contradicts some of the rumors which have spread across the area.

At 05:30 hours on Friday morning, there were several hundred Moslems praying in the Tomb of Isaac.  At that time, about 15 Jews were praying in the Tomb of Abraham.  The mission of the Israeli soldiers at the site was to protect and make sure that things in the mosque were under control.

On this morning, about four soldiers who were to have been on duty there were not at their post.  Accordingly, instead of there being nine soldiers (including one officer), there were only five soldiers (including the officer).  I would just express my opinion that, even if the other four soldie rs had been there, it would been almost impossible to thwart the intention of any lunatic murderer -- Israeli or Palestinian -- who had decided to commit a massacre and then suicide.

The murderer, Baruch Goldstein, entered the place at about 05:30 hours.  He was equipped with his Galil rifle and dressed in uniform (with the rank of captain).  Goldstein served as a physician in the reserve army.  Apparently, he entered and fired about 111 bullets while the Palestinians were p raying. He took almost two minutes to empty three and a half magazines. Yesterday, [the IDF] conducted an experiment; I wanted to understand how long it would take to empty three and a half magazines.  One of soldiers accomplished this in about 30 seconds.  One must consider that it took Goldste in twice or three times as long.

As soon as the noise of the shooting was heard, the officer on duty immediately tried to enter the room -- but failed as the mob of those running away pushed him backward.  He then ran to enter via another unlocked door, but he was blocked by Palestinians who were probably afraid that he was ano ther [assailant].  He also failed, for certain reasons, to enter through a third room.  When he arrived back at his original place, a squad of reinforcements came through the gate to assist (having taken a few minutes for them to arrive), but it was already too late.  When they entered the room,

 he found several Palestinians -- and the body of the murderer, later identified as Doctor Goldstein.

Two soldiers shot about 7-9 bullets in the air, and one other soldier nearby also shot upward toward the ceiling.  It has been evidenced that no Palestinian was hit or hurt by the bullets of Israeli soldiers while fleeing the mosque.

There was another incident near the Beit Kahil junction [a main intersection in Hebron], and we also made inquiries in this regard because some Palestinians had charged (two days ago) that something had happened at a local hospital.  What we now know, from our still-incomplete inquiry, is that a

 mob of about 1,000 Palestinians gathered there at 06:30 hours and blocked the main road to Israel -- throwing large rocks and Molotov cocktails.  An Israeli outfit of about nine soldiers, later reinforced to several dozens, arrived on the scene and started to push back the attacking Palestinian s (until the Israelis reached the top of the hill).  The distance between the road and the hospital is about 500-700 meters.

Thus far, the conclusions of the inquiry have been as follows:  We think that about 7-15 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli soldiers who fired having felt that their lives were endangered.  One Palestinian, or perhaps two, was probably killed at the Beit Kahil junction incident; one tried to h url a Molotov cocktail and the other tried to throw a large rock.  According to what we know at this point -- and we will continue to investigate -- no Israeli rounds were fired at the nearby hospital and no other Palestinians were wounded or killed in this action.  We also questioned the Palest inians now being treated in that hospital; there are 12 Palestinians with whom our people met, and they all said that they were injured at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. According to their own testimony, none of them were injured near the hospital.  There are another two wounded Palestinians who ar e unconscious so we cannot know where they were wounded.

Q:  Have you already begun to implement some of the measures discussed today in your meeting with Prime Minister Rabin?

A:  Yes, we have already started to institute these measures.  I signed five military-administrative detention orders yesterday against suspected Jewish extremists.  One of those involved was located last night and he will be spending three months in prison; the other four were not at home, and the police will continue searching for them.  Some of the five belong to the Kach movement.  The others are generally affiliated with the organization.


27 Feb 94 Rabin announces commission of inquiry to Jewish media conference
27 Feb 94 Rabin announces commission of inquiry to Jewish media conference     Links  Links    Links Links Links

EXCERPTS FROM REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN TO THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE JEWISH MEDIAJERUSALEM, FEBRUARY 27, 1994

(most stuff deleted)

The last decision that the Cabinet took, is to create a commission of inquiry in accordance with the Law of Commissions of Inquiry, which is appointed by the Chief of the Supreme Court in accordance with terms of reference that are decided by the Cabinet.


28 Feb 94: FM describes mandate, powers, and members of Commission of Inquiry
28 Feb 94: FM describes mandate, powers, and members of Commission of Inquiry Links  Links   Links Links Links

Foreign Ministry	28 February 1994

The Commission of Inquiry regarding the Hebron Massacre

Background Information

----------------------

1.	On February 27, following the Hebron massacre, the Government of the State of Israel decided to establish a Commission of Inquiry in accordance with the Commission of Inquiry Law, 5768-1969.

2.	According to this Law, a Commission of Inquiry may be established when it appears to the Government that a matter of vital public importance exists which requires clarification. The Commission is unique in that it has the same authority as a court of law.  For example, the Commission may carr y out an investigation, summon witnesses, compel them to testify, and to issue warrants (search and seizure, arrest, etc.).

3.	A Commission is appointed by the President of the Supreme Court, upon the request of the Government.  The Commission is headed by a judge of the Supreme or District court, and its members are usually prominent public figures, experts in the matter under review who enjoy personal and public es teem.

In this instance, The members of the Commission established on 28 February 1994 by the President of the Supreme Court, Justice Shamgar, are:  - President of the Supreme Court Justice Meir Shamgar - Chairman - Supreme Court Justice Eliezer Goldberg - Nazareth District Court Justice Abd el-Rachman

 Zoabi - President of the Open University, Prof.  Menachem Yaari - Former IDF Chief of Staff, Major General Moshe Levi

4.	The method of appointment of Commission members ensures that the Commission is completely independent.  Members are appointed by the head of the judiciary.  The executive branch has no influence upon its decisions.  The objectivity of the Commission is ensured and any influence on its working s or members is eliminated.

5.	The Government determines the Commission's terms of reference. In the case now under investigation, the terms of reference of the Commission states that the Commission is to investigate the massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron on February 25, 1994, and will 'determine its findings

 and arrive at conclusions regarding the facts and circumstances relating to the massacre'.

6.	The Commission is empowered to subpoena witnesses and to compel them to testify or produce documents.  It is not bound by regular court procedures, and may admit any matter in evidence. A person attempting to influence the Commission unduly may be charged and imprisoned.  The maximum penalty for perjury in testifying before the Commission is seven years imprisonment.

7.	As a rule, the Commission holds its hearings in public. It may decide to hold a hearing or part of it in camera if it finds it necessary to do so for the protection of, inter alia, the state's security, its foreign relations and classified procedures of the Israel Police.

8.	Pursuant to the Law, once the investigation is completed, the Commission prepares a report of its conclusions, and may put forward any recommendations it finds appropriate. The report and recommendations are submitted to the Government and thereafter made public -- unless the Commission is co nvinced that publication of the report or parts thereof may harm, inter alia, the State's security, its foreign relations, and classified procedures of the Israel Police.

9.	The Commission may recommend steps to be taken against specific individuals, both on a public level (such as dismissal from office), or steps of a legal nature (prosecution).  Although its recommendations are not binding, the directions of the Attorney General stipulate that in principle, the y must be carried out.  The Supreme Court of Israel has determined that as a rule, the Attorney-General must carry out Commission recommendations to prosecute.  As for the Commission's public recommendations, the Government must consider them and take them into account properly when making its d ecisions regarding the matter.

.


Palestinian claims that many planned/carried-out the Hebron Massacre
Palestinian claims that many planned/carried-out the Hebron Massacre    Links  Links Links Links


Evidence/testimony against Palestinian claims of conspiracy
Evidence/testimony against Palestinian claims of conspiracy Links  Links Links Links

28 Feb 94: Rabin to Knesset-ballistics shows all 111 bullets from same gun; describes riots afterwards. See paragraphs 4-5.  More


United Nations Resolution 904
United Nations Resolution 904  Comment   Links Links Links

Jerusalem One

United Nations Security Council Resolution 904

March 18, 1994

The Security Council,

Shocked by the appalling massacre committed against Palestinian worshippers in the Mosque of Ibrahim in Hebron, on 25 February 1994, during the holy month of Ramadan,

Gravely concerned by the consequent Palestinian casualties in the occupied Palestinian territory as a result of the massacre, which underlines the need to provide protection and security for the Palestinian people,

Determined to overcome the adverse impact of the massacre on the peace process currently under way,

Noting with satisfaction the efforts undertaken to guarantee the smooth proceeding of the peace process and calling upon all concerned to continue their efforts to this end,

Noting the condemnation of this massacre by the entire international community,

Reaffirming its relevant resolutions, which affirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 to the territories occupied by Israel in June 1967, including Jerusalem, and the Israeli responsibilities thereunder,

1.	Strongly condemns the massacre in Hebron and its aftermath which took the lives of more than 50 Palestinian civilians and injured several hundred others;

2.	Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to continue to take and implement measures, including, inter alia, confiscation of arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers;

3.	Calls for measures to be taken to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians throughout the occupied territory, including, inter alia, a temporary international or foreign presence, which was provided for in the declaration of principles, within the context of the ongoi ng peace process;

4.	Requests the co-sponsors of the peace process, the United States of America and the Russian Federation, to continue their efforts to invigorate the peace process, and to undertake the necessary support for the implementation of the above-mentioned measures;

5.	Reaffirms its support for the peace process currently under way, and calls for the implementation of the declaration

of principles, signed by the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization on 13 September 1993 in Washington D.C.  without delay.


Comment on UN Resolution 904
The United Nations did not condemn the subsequent carbombings of busses in Afula or Hadera, Israel.  These attacks were not the work of a deranged individual, but were intricately planned, prepared and rehearsed by enormous Islamic terrorist groups, funded by Iran and Moslems in America, and announced on television in Jordan.  Hamas' Amman offices are in the same building as the Jordanian general staff.

The United Nations has never condemned an attack on Jews.


Link Master


Hebron top level links
Outline of Events

Descriptions of Massacre

Condemnations of the Massacre

Groveling apologies by Israeli officials

Blaming the right-wing and settlers

Repression of dissidents

Prayer and Security Arrangements

Investigations of the Massacre

Collapse of Israeli positions on all issues in the negotiations that followed.

Commentary on Israeli appeasement and collective guilt in the negotiations with the PLO that followed.

Palestinian "Jewish conspiracy" claims

Evidence/testimony against conspiracy claims

History of Hebron


Condemnation links internal
25 Feb 94: PM Rabin's condemnation

25 Feb 94 FM Peres' condemnation

25 Feb 94 Israeli cabinet communique

25 Feb 94 Communique of the FM

26 Feb 94 Rabin to Israeli Arab leaders

27 Feb 94 Rabin expresses shame as Jew

28 Feb 94 FM "talking paper"

28 Feb 94 Rabin to Knesset

28 Feb 94 Knesset condemns massacre


Repression Links internal
25 Feb 94 Cabinet Communique blames right-wing

27 Feb 94 Cabinet bans right-wing dissidents

27 Feb 94 Army arrests Kach members

27 Feb 94 Rabin announces measures against dissidents

28 Feb 94 Foreign Ministry "talking paper" blames broad range of dissidents

2 Mar 94 Police Minister justifies arrests without charges or trial


Investigation links internal
Preliminary Report by Israeli General Command

Press Conference by General Yatom

27 Feb 94: Rabin announces commission of inquiry   tom_Press_Conference_Details_of_Hebron_Massacre

27 Feb 94: Cabinet bans right-wing organizations

28 Feb 94: FM describes mandate, powers and members of commission

28 Feb 94: FM "talking paper" confirms commission of inquiry


Israel among her enemies
Israel among her enemies  Link  Link  Link  Link

"Here's the Arab world," I said, "walking" across the map with my hands open wide.  It took me a number of handbreadths to span the twenty-one Arab countries.

 "And here is Israel," I added, easily covering it with my thumb.

-Binyamin Netanyahu, Preface to A Place Among The Nations

Map  Graph  Israel among the Arab League and Iran

Map  Israel's Eastern Front

Map  Israel compared to Iraq

Map  Israel compared to California and France

Graph   Israel is but a dot among her enemies, that span northern Africa, southwest Asia and the Persian Gulf.  Combined, the Arab League and Iran are more than 600 times larger than the tiny Jewish state.

 With all due respect to Arab propaganda, Israel could not have been successfully portrayed as expansionist and agressive,  the cruel Goliath against the helpless Palestinian David, without an unholy alliance of collaborators in the west   - an alliance of the politically correct in the universities, television, diplomatic circles and newspapers,  along with the oil and arms, among other powerful industries.

 In fact, Israel is but a tiny speck among a sea of nations that openly vow to destroy her.  Goliath is  the size of New Jersey and David is nearly as large as two Americas.  Israel's enemies outnumber her almost 60 to 1, and their economies, which include most of the world's oil reserves, dwarf hers.  The assymetry between Israel and its enemies is perhaps the greatest in history.  More.

Graph  Population

Graph  Economies

Graph  Summary:  Israel vs. enemies

Graph  Details: Israel vs. enemies


Israel in the Islamic Sea
Israel in the Islamic Sea  Assymetry  Link  Link  Link  Link

 Most countries in this vast region openly demand the destruction of Israel  The others say so in Arabic, but like Egypt, are smart enough to hire one or two photogenic spokespersons who make soothing noises without saying otherwise to CNN news.  That keeps the American aid coming. Even this one small dot of Jewish sovereignty is intolerable to Moslems.  Assymetry between  Israel and its  Arab enemies.

Israel among her Enemies


assymetry between israel and its arab enemies
Assymetry of Geography and Demography

The assymetry between the warring parties in the Arab-Israel conflict is unprecedented in military history.  The 20 Arab states cover an area exceeding 5.1 million square miles, which is larger than Europe - including Russia up to the Ural mountains.  The size of "Greater Israel" is less than 11 ,000 square miles - roughly the size of Maryland.

The population of the Arab states is about 250 million.  The Jewish population of Israel is about 4.2 million.

Israel has no significant natural resources.  The natural resources of the Arab states account, inter alia, for about 60% of the world's total oil reserves.  This has enabled them to acquire modern weapon systems on a scale making any normal military balance between them and Israel impossible.


Mauritania
Mauritania   Link  Link  Link  Link


Western Sahara
Western Sahara    Link  Link  Link  Link


Morocco
Morocco  Link  Link  Link  Link


Algeria
Algeria   Link  Link  Link  Link


Tunesia
Tunesia   Link  Link  Link  Link


Libya
Libya   Link  Link  Link  Link


Egypt
Egypt   Link  Link  Link  Link


Sudan
Sudan  Link  Link  Link  Link


Djibouti
Djibouti   Link  Link  Link  Link


Somalia
Somalia  Link  Link  Link  Link


The Eastern Front
The Eastern Front   Link  Link  Link  Link

  The eastern front comprises Israel's most vehement enemies, including Saddam, whose missiles demolished parts of Tel-Aviv.  Iran under the Shah was neutral, but as a result of the Islamic revolution in 1979, became Israel's most bitter enemy.  Iin 1990 Iran hosted a conference with representatives of 61 nations - including official representatives of the PLO and countries that are allegedly making peace with Israel -  that demanded the eradication of the minuscule Jewish state.

Israel among her Enemies


Lebanon
Lebanon  Link  Link  Link  Link


Syria
Syria  Link  Link  Link  Link


Jordan
Jordan   Link  Link  Link  Link


Iraq
Iraq   Link  Link  Link  Link


Iran
Iran   Link  Link  Link  Link


Kuwait
Kuwait  Link  Link  Link  Link


Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia  Link  Link  Link  Link


Bahrain
Bahrain   Link  Link  Link  Link


Qatar
Qatar   Link  Link  Link  Link


United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates  Link  Link  Link  Link


Oman
Oman   Link  Link  Link  Link


Yemen
Yemen    Link  Link  Link  Link


Area of Israel versus her enemies

 	 The Arab League and Iran span 6,341,000 square miles, a significant portion of the earth's surface.  Israel is 8,019 sqare miles, not counting Judea and Samaria(the West Bank), which cover another 2,263 square miles.  Gaza is 147 square miles, while the Golan Heights are 497.


Population of Israel versus her enemies
Populations of Israel versus her enemies

 	 Israel's enemies are undergoing explosive population growth, the fastest in the world, according to the United Nations.  Egypt and Iran each add 1 1/3 million people a year, between them another Israel in two years.


Gnp of Israel and her enemies

 	 Israel has a modern industrial economy.  It's output is about one-ninth that of all her enemies combined, although they span a large part of the globe, outpopulate her 60 to 1, and own the lion's share of the world's oil.


Summary Chart


Details: Israel versus her enemies

Israel among her Enemies


Israel compared to Iraq
Israel compared to Iraq:


Israel compared to California and France
Israel compared to Calif. & France


Link Master


Internal Links
Israel among her enemies

Israel in the Islamic Sea

The Eastern Front

Area: Israel versus her enemies

Populaton:  Israel versus her enemies

GNP:  Israel versus her enemies

Summary Table:  Israel versus her enemies

Detailed Table:  Israel versus her enemies

Israel compared to Iraq

Israel compared to California, France, others


Islam: Expansion, theology of superiority, blasphemy of Jewish sovereignty
Islam: Expansion, theology of superiority, blasphemy of Jewish sovereignty Next  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

ISLAM

HATIKVAH INFORMATIONAL SERIES

Some understanding of Islam is necessary in order to begin to fathom any idea of the underlying problems of the middle East.  Following us a brief summary of a few salient points that hopefully might be enlightening.

It is an attempt to gather and present understandable reasons for the problems Israel faces with Muslims in the middle East. The point is that we are dealing with an alien culture that functions quite differently than we do. For example, we call Saddam the Butcher of Baghdad, we call Quaddafi mad, we call Assad shrewd, we called Khomani a religious fanatic. These names show that we do not understand the basic nature of our enemy; these people are neither shrewd, mad, or fanatical. They are nothing more than followers of Islam. This point must be driven home, and then, and only then, c an we deal intelligently with them.

"Ambiguity and ignorance have often characterized the western world's orientation toward the Arab people of the Middle East," notes Dr. Mordechai Nissan, Professor of Arabic history and Culture at the School for Overseas Students of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.  "The root of the problem lies in the fact that western concepts of civic values do not exist in these countries. Democracy and liberalism are principles that hardly ever penetrate their political and social systems. Power, concentrated In the hands of an absolute ruler and a small ruling clique, changes hands through co ups d'etats, assassina tions and violent internecine factional struggles, not through the ballot box. Violence and oppression are the paramount forms, rather than democratic government and the rule of law."

"It has always been difficult for Westerners to understand the Arab capacity to absorb western technological inventiveness, while rejecting its philosophical underpinnings," stresses Dr. Nissan. "At the root of this fundamental difference is the unswerving Arab commitment to Islam. There is an unbridgeable abyss in the world of Islam between believers and unbelievers, between Muslims and non- Muslims. Religious equality is impossible in a technological universe where Islam is the final and perfect truth."

"At best, Christians and Jews have been tolerated in the Arab Muslim world. They have the status of "dhimmis" (second class persons).  They can never surmount their weaker social and political status, grounded as it is in their religious inferiority. For Islam, equality is not an inherent attribute of man. The foundation of equal rights, in the western sense, simply does not exist there."

The Koran, regarded by Muslims as the only and complete word of God, regards Christians and Jews with undisguised hostility, despite the fact that much of its philosophy was drawn from Judaism, and to a lesser extent from Christianity. The Koran attacks the ignorance of Christians in not adhering to Islam, and the evil of the Jews in rejecting it. Both groups, according to the fundamental tenets of Islam, must be brought low and degraded. Thus the fates of these unhappy minorities have waned and waxed over the centuries according to the whims of the various rulers. Unlike the West tha t stresses the distinction between church and state, Arab countries by law, stipulate that Islam is the official doctrine of the state, and everything is subservient to its doctrine.

A few sections of the Koran contain favorable allusions to Judaism and Christianity, which are often quoted by pro-Arab propagandists to prove that Islam harbors no dislike of its sister religions; but serious scholars of Islam, and indeed most Arabs, know differently.  Qualitatively and quantitatively, the vituperative, and relentless anti-Christian, and especially anti-Jewish hatred festering in the Koran's pages has been responsible for endless "jihads," (holy war) waged by Arabs against their co-religionists. This antagonism is not limited to Christians and Jews; it extends to all who have not embraced the "absolute truth," be they Druze, Bahais, Armenians, Assyrians, etc.  Arab hostility extends to all lands outside the sway of Islam.

The world according to Mohammed, founder and first prophet of Islam, is divided into two spheres: "dar al Islam," nations under the rule of Islam; and "dar al harb," literally the "abode of war." These are lands not controlled by Islam that ultimately have to be brought under Its hegemony, by force If necessary.  The West today face two major confrontations: The remnants of the Soviet world, Cuba and so on, with their immutable concept of communism ultimately dominating the globe and Islam, a "superior," aggressive, and expansionist concept of life diametrically opposed to Western thought. While the former poses serious military threat, the latter, whose adherents control most of the sources of the world's energy, and an inordinate share of the world's wealth, poses a strategic and economic threat. Both share common concepts and goals. Both appear bent on destroying the val ues that the West reveres.

Ever since the founding of Islam by Mohammed in the seventh century, its followers have been guided by a single dictum: the spread of the "true faith" by persuasion or by the sword.  Since its incep tion, Islam has regarded itself as superior to all religions that preceded it, and those existin g contemporaneously with it. "Al Islam ya'lu, wa la yu'la alayhi," Islam is superior, and nothing can be superior to it, proclaimed the prophet to whom Allah (God) had revealed the truth through the archangel Gabriel. Mohammed presented himself as the final link In the long chain of prophetic revelation superseding Christianity and Judaism. Those not embracing Islam were to be humbled.  The Koran calls upon true believers to degrade the infidel through the imposition of a poll tax "jizya." Islamic law enumerates restrictions upon their religious observances and way of life. In no area dominated by Islam, since Mohammed engaged in his massacre of the Jews of Medina in 622, following his pilgrimage from Mecca, has an infidel ever been regarded as the equal to a believer

In propagating his new faith, Mohammed encountered fierce resistance from a group he hoped to convert: the Jews, who refused to acknowledge the authenticity of his prophetic visions and who failed to be swayed by the incorporation of many aspects of their religion into Islam. For this "treachery," as Mohammed described it, the Jews were to pay dearly. The People of the Book, as they are described in the Koran were to be offered the choice of conversion or living under Muslim political domination as "dhimmis." They were expelled from the "hijaz" (the northwestern part of the Arabian pe ninsula) for their refusal to accept Mohammed and his teachings. The denigration of the Jews in various degrees has continued unabated ever since. "The most splendid thing that the prophet Mohammed ever did, was to drive the Jews out of the whole of the Arabian peninsula. We know our history and their history. They are a nation of liars and traitors, contrivers of plots, a people born for deeds of treachery." "We shall return them to their former status of degradation" declared the late Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, over Radio Cairo on April 25, 1972.


dummy to switch to


Islam: Expansion, theology of dominance, blasphemy of Jewish sovereignty, part 2
Islam: Expansion, theology of dominance, blasphemy of Jewish sovereignty, part 2  Prev  Next   Links  Links  Links

Hatikva paper, continued...

After Mohammed, the Islamic wave soon swept over the Middle East, engulfing North Africa and threatening to inundate all of Europe. It reached its apex exactly 100 years after the death of Mohammed, when it sustained a shattering defeat in 732 at the hands of Christian commander Charles Martel at Tours, not far from Paris. Muslim arms had reached the limits of expansion, and little by little began to recede.  The situation of the Jews in the Muslim occupied area became precarious. There were times, however when they lived in comfort and even flourished, as in Spain in the so called " golden age": but over the centuries, they remained largely a despised, persecuted minority- "dhimmis," the specially taxed "untouchables" of the Muslim world. It was the Muslims who in 849 first introduced the yellow badge for Jews, which was quickly copied by Christian rulers, who if anything, often exceeded even Islam in their barbaric treatment of their captive Jewish communities.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Christian Europe struck against Islam domination under the Ottoman Turks, wounding it severely and reducing the areas in the Ottoman empire to western (IE; Christian) protectorates. This produced a traumatic shock in the Muslim world. For many Arabs, it was a repetition of the Crusades, a period which had always rankled in Arab history. The specter of having been overcome by the Christian West, spiritually inferior though physically superior, set off nationalist feelings which found expression in uprisings against the allied powers during World War Two, culminating in the creation of a number of Arab states.

But side by side with the rise of Arab nationalism, the Zionist movement, whose political foundation was laid at the end of the nineteenth century, grew and took on a sense of urgency as the horror of the Holocaust spread like a blight over Europe. The People of the Book bent on a return to their ancestral home, were on a direct collision course with those who had relegated them to the status of "dhimmis," and coveted the area which the Jews sought to regain.

The antagonism toward one another reached a peak unknown since the time the Jews had defied Mohammed. For Islam it was the height of degradation for a "dhimmi" people to become sovereign over an area regarded as an integral part of the Muslim world. A "jihad" was launched in Israel's 1948 War o f Independence, and lost. The worst imaginable Islamic nightmare emerged in the form of a Jewish state, having control over a Muslim minority to boot. To the Arabs, the humiliation was even greater than that inflicted by the Christians at the time of the Crusades.

Because it was insufferable that the most despised of nations could bring about numerous debacles of vastly superior Arab forces, a myth had to be invented: western imperialism, using Zionism as its weapon, had conspired to undermine Islam. A typical statement of the Academy of Islamic Research (under the aegis of the Al Azhar University of Cairo in 1968) was, "When imperialism collapsed in the first half of this century, the cursed imperialists had no alternative but to drive the rotten wedge of Zionism into the heart of the Muslim world. This was done to impede Muslim unity, hinder Muslim states from gaining independence, and humiliate the Muslims by having them subjugated to the basest race and people, thus satisfying the grudge held by the descendants of the Crusaders to inflict harm on Muslims. This explains the enormous donations pouring into Israel from all parts of E urope and America. This is paradoxically, Christian aid provided by fanatic enemies of Islam to the descendants of those who crucified Christ."

It was not sufficient that the Jews crucified Christ, a theme that runs endlessly throughout Arab theological writings. The Jews through their avarice and cunning, brought their own destruction upon them selves. Thus another typical comment from a Lebanese member of the academy, "The persecutio ns that Jews were exposed to in some countries of Eastern Europe and in Nazi Germany were due to secret movements led by Jewish magnates against the established authorities and systems of government, as well as their domination through financial influence and crafty manipulation of the social classes in the counties where they lived, and their adherence to religious racialism. Curiously enough, the Jews, who claim to be victims of the Nazi atrocities, have excelled against the Arabs of Palestine. On the ruins of Hitlerian Nazism, the Jews have established a Zionist Nazism more horrible and monstrous than its German forbearer."

The theme that Zionism is worse than Nazism is a recurrent one, and widely used by many Muslim clerics and political leaders.

It was Sadat who published a letter to Adolf Hitler in September 1953, when several news agencies reported that the dead tyrant was still alive: "I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart," he wrote seven years after the horrifying account of the Holocaust had become known "You may be proud of having become the immortal leader of Germany. We will not be surprised if you appear again in Germany, or if a new Hitler arises in your wake."

The constant, unending tirade of hatred against the Jews, the Zionists, and the State of Israel reached a crescendo during the wars launched against the Israelis. Dr. Abdul Halim Mahmoud, head of the Academy of Islamic Research, and the rector of the prestigious Islamic university, Al Azhar, ha d this to offer in his book, Holy War and Victory, published in 1974. "Allah commands the friends of Satan wherever they are to be found. Among the friends of Satan, indeed, among the foremost friends of Satan in our present age, are the Jews.  The Jews have evolved a program for the destruction of humanity through subverting religion and ethics. They control the mass media. They have falsified knowledge, violated standards of literary truth, and are using their money to destroy humanity. But Allah, praise be to him, will wreck the edifice that the Jews have built, and eliminate their destructive machinations and double dealing."

Not unsurprisingly, the infamous "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" are widely disseminated in the Muslim countries, especially in that "moderate" country Saudi Arabia, where it was once handed in error to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. To make absolutely sure that the message of the book is not misunderstood, Anis Mansour a leading Eqyptian journalist wrote in the government controlled daily newspaper Al Akhbar in February 1972: "The Jews have what they call Passover, the feast of the unleavened bread, which is celebrated in bleeding a non- Jew. They pierce the skull, and then the heart, and drink the blood of the head and the heart together. Then they take a piece of the flesh and mix it with the "matsoh." The rabbi himself does the butchers work....The world is now aware of the fact that Hitler was right, and that the cremation ovens were the appropriate means of the punishing such contempt of human values, principles, religions and laws." Arab propagandists often maintain that the Arabs draw a distinction between Judaism and Zionism, claiming that the Muslims are tolerant of the former, but oppose the latter. The writings of leading Arab clerics and heads of state believe this claim. Zionists and Jews are denigrated synonymously. There is not a single Arab ruler in any of the Arab League states who has ever proven that he is, or will ever be willing to coexist equally with the Jewish state. Many Middle East experts maintain that the whole A rab-Israeli conflict can be reduced to a single maxim: under Islam, there is no possibility for equal coexis tence between Muslims and non-Muslims.


Islam: Expansion, theology of dominance, blasphemy of Jewish sovereignty
Islam: Expansion, theology of dominance, blasphemy of Jewish sovereignty   Prev  Links  Links  Links

Hatikva paper, continued...

This is nowhere better evidenced than in the Muslim states, where non-Muslim minority has ever been granted equal rights with Muslims.  Treatment of such minorities has ranged from genocide to harassment. In western eyes, the most tolerant and understanding of Arab leaders was Sadat. Yet Sadat had this to say in a major address to the Egyptian Peoples' Assembly on May 14, 1980: "Ever since I came to power in Egypt, I have ruled as a Muslim president in a Muslim state. Egypt is a Muslim state. Those who incite to ethnic-religious tension (an allusion to the Christian Copts who were dem anding basic rights) must know that Islam is the true guarantor of security for Christians in Egypt." In order to convey the impression that complete freedom and equality exist in Egypt, one cabinet ministry is usually allocated to a member of the Christian community.

The fact that Islam is perpetually at war with non-Muslim states, is of course played down. Hence a totally new vocabulary has evolved in which words familiar to Westerners take on a completely different meaning to Muslems. The elimination of the enemy remains the goal, but this has to be achieved by means more subtle and sophisticated than calls for Israel's violent destruction, which Arabs have discovered, alienate public opinion in the West. One way of vilifying Jews is to paint them as Christ killers, at the same time pointing out that in the Koran, Christ is regarded as a minor p rophet, thus purporting to show a common Arab-Christian unity in outlook.

Since it is strategically unwise to announce to the world that their aim is to destroy the Jewish state, Arab clerics fall back upon the Koran to camouflage their goals. Thus Sheikh Abdullah Ghoshah, the supreme judge of the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, told the 1968 Islamic Conference in Cairo : "It is unlawful to give up "jihad" and adopt peace and moderation, unless the purpose of giving up "jihad" is to gain time to prepare for a war for which we are not ready." Since Jews, by Koranic definition, are "treacherous" and "hypocritical," all means, fair and foul may be used against them, including of course deception.  "Lies are a sin," Ghoshah approvingly quoted the writer Al Tabarani, author of the book Al Aswat, "except when they are told for the welfare of a Muslem, or for saving him from a disaster. Wrote the medieval Muslim theologian Al Ghazali: "Know that a lie is not "harem" (wrong) in itself. If it is the only way to reach a good result, it is "halal" (permissible).

Salaam and Shalom; These words are synonymous to most scholars.  Yet the meanings are quite different to the Muslim mind. Many western students of Islam believe that this comprises a good part of the reasoning which influenced Sadat to conclude a peace agreement with his hated enemy, Israel. Prior to Camp David, Sadat who served as secretary-general of the Fourth Conference of the Islamic Research Academy in 1968, had never wearied of assuring his audiences that the ultimate conquest of the state of Israel would take place in two stages: first to make peace "salaam" with Israel in ord er to regain the territories lost through war; and thus secondly, be in a strategic position "to liberate the rest of the usurped homeland." Salaam had a different meaning for Sadat than "shalom" had for Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Under Islam a permanent peace with a non- Islamic cou ntry is legally forbidden. It is more in keeping with an expression in Arabic which states: "If you cannot overcome a hand, kiss it and pray that it be broken." Middle East expert Yohanan Friedman summed up Islamic injunctions by writing: "Jihad is an essential commandment of Islam. It is perman ent war, to be waged until the day of judgement. An armistice may be permitted for limited periods only, and may be concluded when facing danger of defeat armistices may be broken, for permanent peace with the infidel is out of the question. The struggle must go on until the entire world comes u nder the sway of the one true faith."

Only one Arab nation, Lebanon, has not decreed that Islam is its official religion. It is the only sate where Islam and Christianity face each other on more or less equal terms. But Lebanon, especially in its Christian community, is being systematically destroyed by the P.L.O. and by Syria, bot h Muslem dominated and both of whom covet the entire country, thus refuting the oft repeated claim that Islam has nothing against Christianity.

Islam, of course can also turn upon itself, as witnessed by the war between the Iraqi Sunnis and the Iranian Shiites. Even within the Arab states there is constant strife between Muslim sects, and not infrequently minority groups will get the upper hand, as in Iraq and Syria. Often there is bad blood between the Bedouin, on one hand, who regard themselves as the elite and came out of the desert, like the Saudis, and on the other, the urban and rural populations like the Egyptians who settled along the Nile. Non-Arab Muslems, such as Berbers and Iranians, are frequently regarded as interlopers, as are of course, the non-Arabic Muslems outside the Middle East. Indeed, the great disarray in the Arab world has been its weakness, and has prevented the dream of the prophet from coming true: the extermination of his hated enemies, the Jews. It has also saved the non-Muslim populati ons of Lebanon, Cyprus and Kashmir.

Coming back therefore, to Syria's president Assad: he is not an independent agent. Under Islamic law he cannot abandon Muslim held territory to the infidel, no more than P.L.O. chief Arafat can set up his most touted "democratic, "secular" state" in Palestine. This childlike, non-sequitur, repe ats itself continually throughout the world, by the "enlightened, very civilized" leaders of countries and religions. For non-Muslims to rule over Muslems is an offense against Islam. Islam is not simply a religion in the western sense: it is a total way of life.


Whose Jerusalem?
Whose Jerusalem?  Preview   Links  Preview  Links  Links  Links

On March 18, 1994, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 904, condemning Israel for the murders committed by Dr. Baruch Goldstein in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.  This was the only murder by a single person ever to be condemned by the United Nations.  The Resolution referred to Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory.  The United Nations has declared Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory in dozens of resolutions since Israel captured the eastern portion of the city from Jordan in 1967.  The UN never proclaimed Jerusalem occupied Palestinian territory while it was occupied by Jordan, unsurprisingly.  Palestinians had not yet been invented.

When did Jerusalem become occupied Palestinian territory?

The history of Jerusalem. /  Timetable.

Jerusalem: Holy to Three Religions  /  Brief sketch

  	Jerusalem: The battle for sovereignty by Moshe Sasson, 8 July 94:  Preview

Jerusalem, by Shmuel Katz.  Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran.  Moslem claims to the city serve only to dismember Israel.  Preview


Jerusalem:  Bullet list


The history of Jerusalem
The history of Jerusalem  Links  Links  Links  Links

Timetable


Timetable: History of Jerusalem
Timetable: History of Jerusalem    Links  Links  Links  Links

* WZO Student & Academics Department * birnbaum@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il

Eli Birnbaum	8	Karen Kayemet

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Timeline: History of Jerusalem

The following is taken from "United Jerusalem--Reality and Recognition: Part One, An Educational Sourcebook," written, edited, and compiled by Ryan Hass and Roy Graham for the World Union of Jewish Students.

"Jerusalem is for Israel the focal point of Jewish History:  the symbol of ancient glory, of longing, of prayer, of modern renewal."

--Abba Eban, Israeli Statesperson

B.C.E. (Before the Common Era, B.C.)

c1004	King David establishes Jerusalem as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel.

960	King Solomon (David's son) builds the First Temple on site chosen by his father.

922	Kingdom is divided between north (Israel) and south (Judah) with Jerusalem as capital of the Southern kingdom.

701	Senacherib, King of Assyria, unsuccessfully lays siege to Jerusalem.

700	Hezekiah develops water supply at Siloam.

586	Kingdom of Judah eventually falls to Nebuchadnezzer, King of Babylon, who captures and destroys Jerusalem, including the First Temple, and exiles Jews to Babylon.

539-7	Beginning of return from Exile in Babylon--led by Ezra and Nehemia.

515	City restored, and dedication of Second Temple (during reign of Darius).

444	Nehemia rebuilds Jerusalem and its walls

350	Persians capture Jerusalem.

332	Hellenistic domination of region--Alexander the Great

313	Ptolemy I of Egypt rules Jerusalem.

170	Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, plunders Jerusalem.

167-4	Maccabean revolts by Hasmoneans following desecration of Temple by Antiochus.

165	25 Kislev, Jerusalem recaptured and Temple rededicated (celebrated at Chanukah to this day).  Restoration of Jewish autonomy under Hasmonean Empire.

63	Roman invasion led by Pompei.

37	Kingdom established with Jerusalem as capital under Herod--apointed by Rome.

20	Herod begins restoration of the Temple

0	Rule of Roman procurators.

C.E.  (The Common Era, A.D.) from birth of Jesus

6	Jerusalem part of Roman province of Judea.  Development of Jewish Resistance.

33	Crucifixion of Jesus (6 B.C.E.-33 C.E.)--by order of Pontius Pilate

66-73	First Jewish revolt.

70	Siege of Jerusalem for 134 days by Romans under Vespasian.  Jerusalem falls.  Tisha B'Av--Second Temple destroyed by Titus.

132-5	Second Jewish Revolt--led by Bar Kochba.  Large scale slaughter, Jerusalem razed and then rebuilt by Hadrian and renamed "Aelia Capitolina".  Jews excluded from Jerusalem.

324	Jerusalem under Byzantine rule.

326	Queen Helena (mother of Byzantine Emperor Constantine) visits Jerusalem and begins building major churches-- including Holy Sepulchre.

362	Julian the Apostate allows Jews to resettle in Jerusalem.

614	Jerusalem falls to Persians.

629	Jerusalem retaken by Byzantines.

638	Caliph Omar Ben Hatav captures Jerusalem placing it under Arab Muslim rule.

688-91	Dome of the Rock (Mosque of Omar) built by Abdal- Malik.

1009-10	Caliph Hakim orders destruction of churches and synagogues.

1077	Turks capture Jerusalem

1096	First Crusades capture of Jerusalem.

1099	First Latin/Christian Kingdom established--led by Godfrey of Bouillon.  Jews and Moslems slaughtered.

1141	Yehuda Halevi goes to Jerusalem.

1165	Moses Maimonides (Rambam) visits Jerusalem.

1173	Benjamin of Judea visits Jerusalem.

1187	Saladin captures Jerusalem from Crusaders.  Jewish settlement renewed.

1192	Richard the Lionheart fails to conquer Jerusalem.

1212	300 English and French Rabbis settle in Jerusalem.

1244	Jerusalem sacked by Tartars.

1259	Jerusalem sacked by Mongols.

1260	Rule by the Mamelukes--lasting two and a half centuries.

1267	Nachmanides (Ramban) goes to Jerusalem and worships at the Western (Wailing) Wall (The Kotel).

1347	Jerusalem again conquered by Mamelukes.

1488	Rabbi Ovadia Bertinoro in Jerusalem.

1516-17	Turkish Sultan Selim conquers Jerusalem for Ottoman Empire.

1535-8	Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilds city ramparts and wall around Jerusalem.

1541	Muslims seal Golden Gate to prevent Messiah's entrance (as according to Jewish tradition).

1556	Earthquake in the city.

1700	Judah the Pious settles Jerusalem with 1,000 followers.

1705	Jews subjected to restrictions.

1798	Napoleon visits the Holy Land area.

1827	First visit by Sir Moses Montefiore, Anglo-Jewish philanthropist.

1831	Jerusalem conquered by Mehemet Ali of Egypt.

1838	First British Consulate opened in Jerusalem.

1840	Jerusalem again under Turkish rule.

1844	First official census confirms Jewish majority--7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, 3390 Christians.

1859-60	Mishkenot Sha-ananim--first Jewish settlement built outside Old City walls with assistance of Sir Moses Montefiore.  This was followed by Nahlat Shiva (1869).

1873-5 Mea Shearim built.

1892	Yemin Moshe established.

1898	Theodore Herzl meets Kaiser Wilhelm just outside Jerusalem.

1906	Bezalel School of Art founded.

1911	Baedeker's guide confirms two thirds Jewish majority amongst city populace.

1917	British Army enters Jerusalem under General Allenby.

1918	Hebrew University Foundation Stone is laid on Mount Scopus on J.N.F. owned land; first lecture delivered by Albert Einstein (first president of WUJS) in 1923; inaugurated 1925.

1918-20 Jerusalem under British military administration.

1920-21 Arab riots break out in Jerusalem.

1922	Palestine Mandate given to Britain by League of Nations.  Haj Amin el-Husseini appointed Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

1929	Disturbances at Western Wall--Arab riots in Jerusalem.

1932	King David Hotel opened.

First issue of "Palestine Post" (later becomes "Jerusalem Post").

1947	29th November: United Nations Partition Plan calls for internationalization of Jerusalem (UN Resolution 181).

1948	February: TransJordanian army shells Jewish Quarter.  13th May: Jewish convoy attacked on its way to Mt. Scopus--35 doctors and nurses killed.  14th May: British Mandate ends.

15th May: STATE OF ISRAEL PROCLAIMED.

19th May: Lifting of Arab siege of Old City.  28th May: Jewish Quarter of the Old City falls toJordanian Legionnaires.

26th July:Western Jerusalem proclaimed Israeli territory.

1949	Knesset (Israeli Parliament) moves to Jerusalem from Tel-Aviv.

1949	Jerusalem proclaimed capital of Israel..

1949	Jordan defies armistice and prevents access to Western Wall and Mount Scopus.

1951	Jordan's King Abdullah assassinated by Arab extremists on Temple Mount.

1953	Establishment of Yad Vashem--Holocaust Memorial Center.

1964	Pope Paul VI visits.

1965	Teddy Kolleck becomes Mayor of Jerusalem.

1966	Inauguration of new Knesset building.

Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book established.

1967	5-11 June:  Six Day War

7th June:	Old City captured by Israel

28th June:	Jerusalem Unified into one city.  Free access to all holy sites of all religions.

1978	WUJS headquarters moves from London to Jerusalem.

1980	Jerusalem Basic Law enacted declaring united Jerusalem to be capital of Israel.


When did Jerusalem become Palestinian territory?
When did Jerusalem become Palestinian territory?   Links  Links  Links  Links

Did Jerusalem become Palestinian territory in 1004 B.C.E. when King David established the city as the capital of the Jewish kingdom?  Almost 1700 years before Islam was invented and the Arab invasion?

In 701 B.C.E. when Assyria laid seige?  In 586 B.C.E. when the Bablylonians sacked it?  In 350 B.C.E. when the Persians captured Jerusalem, or 322 B.C.E., when Alexander the Great came?

Was Jerusalem "Palestinian" when the Romans conquered the area in 63 B.C.E. and made the Jewish country into a tributary?  During the times of the Jewish rebellions, ending in the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. by Titus?  During the second major Jewish revolt by Bar-Kochba in 135 C.E.?

During the couple hundred years of subsequent Roman rule, or the couple hundred years of Byzantine rule that followed? In 614 Jerusalem fell again to the Persians.  In 629 Byzantium retook it.

Then,  in 638 Caliph Omar Ben Hatav led the successful Arab invasion.  Does anybody think there was such a thing as a "Palestinian" Arab then?  Arab rule lasted something like 100 years.  In 750 Jerusalem was ruled by the Caliphate in Baghdad, dominated by Persians, Turks and other central Asian peoples.

Jerusalem changed hands many times thereafter, being ruled by Mamluks, Kurds, Turks and other Moslem peoples.  The Mongols came in 1259, 9 years after they sacked Baghdad. The population was never predominantely Moslem.  There is no historical record of a distinct group of people calling themselves Palestinian Arabs.  Jerusalem was a backwater, never the capital even of the province.  Moslems rarely came as pilgrims, although Jews and Christians did.

Did Jerusalem become Palestinian when Britian captured it from the Turks in 1917 or when Jews established Hebrew University in 1918?  During the British Mandate, Arab organizations representing the residents internationally demanded that Palestine be part of Syria, or part of a greater Arab whole.  Except for a handful of Christian Arab intellectuals who wanted to separate Arab from an exclusively Moslem identity, nobody even whispered of an Arab Palestinian nationality.

Was Jerusalem Palestinian under Jordanian rule from 1948 until 1967, when 34 synagogues were destroyed and the Jews expelled, although they had been a majority of the population?  If so, why didn't "Palestinians" protest Jordanian rule to the Arab League, the UN, or to anybody else?  Why didn't "Palestinians" abroad claim the city?

After all, only Pakistan and Britain recognized Jordanian rule.  As the rest of the world didn't, surely if anybody had heard of a Palestinian Arab people who claimed the city, somebody, somewhere would have put forth the claim.

Jerusalem only became "Palestinian" when Israel recaptured the city in 1967.  The claim serves solely to deny Jerusalem to the Jews.


Jerusalem: Holy City
Jerusalem: Holy City  Preview  Preview   Links  Links  Links  Links

Very brief sketch of role of Jerusalem to Jews, Christians and Moslems.

Jerusalem: The battle for sovereignty by Moshe Sasson, 8 July 94.  Do Moslem Holy sites in Jerusalem require the city to be the capital of a Palestinian state - even by Moslem precedent?  Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem early in the Moslem era, and other topics related to the battle for Jerusalem.  Preview

Jerusalem, by Shmuel Katz.  Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran.  No member of the Saudi royal family visited Jerusalem during Jordanian rule.  The Moslem claim to the city is fabricated for the purpose of dismembering Israel.  Preview


Outline: Jerusalem, Holy to Three Religions
Outline: Jerusalem, Holy to Three Religions References   Links  Links  Links  Links

* WZO Student & Academics Department * birnbaum@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il

Eli Birnbaum	8	Karen Kayemet

Ph: 9722 202296 202319	Fax: 9722 252829

P.O.B. 92 91000	Jerusalem, Israel

The following is taken from "United Jerusalem--Reality and Recognition: Part One, An Educational Sourcebook," written, edited, and compiled by Ryan Hass and Roy Graham for the World Union of Jewish Students.

Jerusalem, Center of Three Religions

Jerusalem is a holy city to the three great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Though not a great economic centre, lacking in mineral resources and with little agricultural land in the immediate vicinity, it has yet become a crucially important stage in the enactment o f human history. . . .[H]ere we assess the place of Jerusalem for these three religions in the context of space (physical place) and time (events) and beyond.

Judaism:

King David was the first to establish Jerusalem in its crucial political role as the capital and centre of his kingdom.  He also added religious significance by bringing the Holy Ark and conceiving the idea of the Temple for the city--the construction of which was carried out by his son, King S olomon.  The implications of David's radical actions and their consequences are well summarized by Prof. Shemaryahu Talmon:

Jerusalem thus became the symbol and the most significant expression of the transition from "peoplehood" to the formation of a nation and a "state." But it was never completely subservient to or identified with the new social phenomenon and, hence, when the state ceased to exist, Jerusalem did not lose its importance and symbolic value for the Jewish People.  The city which in antiquity had undergone one decisive transformation of her significance, could easily adapt and readjust to ensuing diverse historical situations.  She has, in fact, done so for many hundred years without losing her prestige and the symbolic value that had been conferred on her by David.

For the Jews, then, this "Jerusalem consciousness" (as Prof.  R.J. Zvi Werblowsky terms it) has been central to the historical experiences of the Jewish People in all its dimensions.  One need only read the Judaic texts, liturgy, poetry and writings that exemplify this attachment through their many references to Jerusalem.

Certainly since the Roman conquest and its attempts to de-Judaise the city, Jerusalem has been the focus for the dream of return and messianic prophecies.  There has also been a Jewish presence in the city, more or less unbroken, since Roman times.  Today, as in days of old, Zionism has brough t about a restoration of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.

Christianity:

Jerusalem and the Holy Land are certainly central to Christianity as it is the site of the nativity, Jesus's life, passion, resurrection, and ascension, and of course witnessed the birth of the Christian Church--thereby assuming the role of a pilgrimage centre.

Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and during the Byzantine era (330-640) the Holy Sepulchre was built, together with other Christian sites.  At this time, many Christian sects settled there--amongst them were Ethiopians and Armenians, Copts and Nestoreans, Syrian Jocobites and Gregoreans and Greek Orthodox, who were dominant.

During periods of Moslem rule relations between Moslems and Christians fluctuated.  When the Crusaders invaded, concerned for the sanctity of the Holy Land, particularly Jerusalem, they massacred most of the city's Jews and Moslems.

Since Crusader times, Christianity has not sought out a political presence in the Holy Land (although in the nineteenth century the European powers took a religious/colonial interest).  For Christians, the city carries religious significance because of the holy events that were enacted there--it thereby has a religious, spiritual and universal, though not political attachment.  This is further complicated by the distinction between the heavenly and the earthly Jerusalem.  The former is a vision of a holy lifestyle following Christian teaching that can be pursued anywhere, whereas the latter gives special significance to the particular piece of land (encouraging pilgrimage)--though the two are not mutually exclusive.

Islam:

For the Moslems, it is relevant to note that Islam drew on and incorporated Judaic and Christian religious traditions.  Jerusalem being holy to Judaism and Christianity, it seems unsurprising that Islam drew on this religious legacy and also found a place for Jerusalem.  Moslems see Jerusalem as "al-Kuds"- -the Holy One--and though it is historically doubtful that Muhammed ever actually went to Jerusalem it is a point of belief for Moslems.  Accordingly, Muhammed was miraculously transferred from Mecca to Jerusalem by his winged mount, al-Buraq, and from there he is said to have ascended to Heaven--Jerusalem thus became integrated into Islam as well as Judaism and Christianity.  Though Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the Koran it was initially the Moslem direction of prayer--but within a decade or so this was transferred to Mecca.  The explanation is probably that Muhammed initially sought Jewish followers and thus focused on Jerusalem but later turned against them.

Jerusalem was certainly honoured in the Moslem Arab conquests of the seventh century, and in 691 C.E. the Mosque of Omar (Dome of the Rock) was built.  There was a religious significance to this move, but perhaps it was also a reflection of a need to compete with the Christian religious architecture of the city.  Furthermore, in Moslem literature we read of praise for Jerusalem and, again, this seems to be appreciably spurred when the Crusaders invade the Holy Land.  However, subsequent Moslem rule over Jerusalem is characterized by only patchy concern for the city.  (During most of t he nineteenth century it was a small, undeveloped place with a population of five to ten thousand).

With today's religious revival in the Islamic world, Jerusalem is certainly capable of arousing passions as the third holiest site for Moslems.

Conclusion:

For Islam, the legend of an earlier tradition and the beliefs and piety surrounding the city created religious facts, as opposed to Christianity in which history created religious facts. In addition, unlike Christianity, Islam does not separate religious from secular/political aspects of life.

 Therefore, it is natural that Islam would seek to integrate Jerusalem into an Islamic sphere of influence.

For Judaism, Jerusalem (and Zion) is central--not a place of holy sites or holy events as much as the holiness of the city itself.  It continues to be the symbolic centre and the focal point of the historical experience of the Jewish People and its dream of restoration in that land--a dream tod ay enjoying fulfillment.

According to Prof. Krister Stendahl:

For Christians and Moslems the term "the holy sites" is an adequate expression of what matters.  Here are sacred places, the very focus of highest devotion. . . .But Judaism is different. . ..  The sites sacred to Judaism have no shrines.  It's religion is not tied to "sites" but to the land, no t to what happened in Jerusalem but to Jerusalem itself.

Jerusalem is known as the city of peace and yet has known more bloodshed, war, conquest, and hatred than most other places.  The religious and symbolic significance is raised in the contemporary flashpoints over the city and its future.  Perhaps a religious source should serve as a path to the reclamation of the peace:

"Zion will be redeemed by justice and its inhabitants by righteousness"

--Isaiah 1:27


References 1
FOR FURTHER READING:  There are several good essays on this and related topics in the collection "Jerusalem: City of the Ages", ed. Alice L. Eckardt, Latham, MD: University Press of America for the American Academic Association for Peace in the Middle East, 1987.


Jerusalem by Shmuel Katz
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Reflections

Published by: Emunim

JERUSALEM

by

Shmuel Katz

The Israeli government recently agreed to Jerusalem resident Faisal Husseini's inclusion in the Palestinian Arab delegation to the Washington talks.  He enthusiastically views this decision as the first breach in Israel's hitherto ironclad policy toward Jerusalem, the first sign of Israeli "reco gnition" of Arab rights in Jerusalem.  His reaction is logical and understandable.  Unless it is discredited swiftly by the government, his analysis will be shared by every neutral observer.

This decision signals a betrayal of Israeli sovereignty and of Jerusalem's Jewish patrimony.  It is a negation of Jewish history and the history of this country.

Let it be said once more.  The persistent, repeated reference in Arab propaganda to "Arab national rights" in or to Jerusalem reflects a lie.  Like the fables disseminated about Arab patrimony in Palestine as a whole, it is one of the major hoaxes of our century.  The claim was born simply to br ing about the dismemberment of the Jewish state.

Even the claim Arabs make of Muslim religious rights to Jerusalem is transparently false.  The sanctity of the two Muslim mosques on the Jewish Temple Mount in the Old City is not in dispute, just as the sanctity of every mosque and every Christian church has been honored punctiliously by Israel (something of which the Arabs, who destroyed every Jewish synagogue in the Old City during the Jordanian Muslim occupation, should be reminded).  But is a crass fiction that Jerusalem as a city is "holy to three faiths."

It's sanctity to Christianity is historic.  It springs naturally from the final act in the drama of the life of Jesus, and its early annals are woven into the fabric, into the very stones of the city.  But indescribable is the measure of sanctity of Jerusalem, and its integral identity with the Jewish religion and with the Jewish people.  You will find Jerusalem mentioned, over 600 times in the Bible, throughout Jewish literature, and as a recurring theme in all Jewish prayers, and on every family occasion.  Declared the capital of the Jewish state 3,000 years ago, it remained the cent ral focus of Jewish dreams and longing throughout the long centuries of exile.

In the foundations of the Muslim religion, Jerusalem plays no role.  It is not mentioned once in the Koran.  To the Muslim, as Christopher Sykes pithily sums it up: "it is not Jerusalem but a certain site in Jerusalem, which is venerated. . . the majestic Dome of the Rock.  To a Muslim there is a profound difference between Jerusalem and Mecca or Medina.  The latter are holy places containing holy sites.  Apart from the hallowed rock, Jerusalem has no major Islamic significance." The Koran's version of events is fascinatingly simple.  It was evidently the recognition by Muhammad (who, as far as is known, never set foot in Jerusalem) of the sanctity of the Holy City of Judaism that gave birth to the Muslim tradition that the Temple area was the site of his ascent to the seventh heaven.

The Koran itself relates only that Muhammad in a single night was transported to heaven by Buraq - a horse with wings, a woman's face and a peacocks tail.  He was first taken to what the Koran called the "uttermost mosque" - il masjad al aksa.  Jerusalem is not mentioned, and there was, of cours e, no mosque in Jerusalem at that time.  After Muhammad's death the tradition - which did not pass unchallenged by an opposing school of thought - laid it down that the "uttermost mosque" meant the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

It was not Muhammad's dream that conferred sanctity on the Temple Mount.  On the contrary, it was the existing sanctity of the place - it had been holy to the Jews for nearly 2,000 years before Muhammad - that inspired the weavers of legend to choose it as a fittingly awesome station for Muhamma d's ascent.  The Buraq, as the Muslims call the site, is thus in fact a permanent memorial to Islam's recognition of the Jewishness of the holy place.

Nor politically did Jerusalem ever acquire importance during Arab Muslim rule in Palestine.  Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo all in their turn served as the imperial capital - never Jerusalem, which remained a backwater in spite of the two magnificent mosques.  The only administrative center set up in Palestine by any of the Muslim dynasties was at the small town of Ramle.

Nor when the Emir Abdullah of Transjordan invaded Western Palestine in 1948 and, inter-alia, captured East Jerusalem, that is, the Old, the Holy, City, did he make any move or gesture to accord it even "local" political status.  Nor did the Arab inhabitants manifest any discomfort at his neglect .  Indeed, only when Israel regained the city did the Arabs begin to disseminate the claim to (no less than) the ownership of the city.

Particularly active in this propaganda were the pious members of the royal family of Saudi Arabia.  From their reported passion one might have concluded that they were not sleeping at nights for grieving over the fact that Jerusalem was in infidel Jewish hands and over their own inability to vis it its Mosques.

Research, at the time, of the Saudi royal movements revealed that in the nineteen years of Jordanian Muslim rule, not a single member of the Saudi royal family ever paid a single visit to Jerusalem.  They were, it has been said, too preoccupied visiting the holy places of Monte Carlo and Las Veg as.

One of the salient and least pleasant features of U.S. policy toward Israel - a feature disliked by many, perhaps even most, Americans, has been its adamant refusal to recognize Jewish patrimony in Jerusalem (and its recurring attempts to pretend that the Holy City is an Arab city). This policy is a reminder that the campaign against Jewish control of Jerusalem has been fueled throughout by Christian sources.  To the Catholic Church, which has never recognized Israel as a state, Jewish rule in the city is evidently anathema.  Other mainstream Christian establishments have contributed t heir share.  Inescapable then is the realization that it is not only the Arab attitude, or "oil interests," that are influencing U.S.  policy on Jerusalem, but also a modern manifestation of ancient anti-Semitism.

Mr. Rabin's government should realize, or should be made aware of, the fact that the establishment of Faisal Husseini's new status carries with it implications far beyond its immediate impact.


Preview
The Koran itself relates only that Muhammad in a single night was transported to heaven by Buraq - a horse with wings, a woman's face and a peacocks tail.  He was first taken to what the Koran called the "uttermost mosque" - il masjad al aksa.  Jerusalem is not mentioned, and there was, of course, no mosque in Jerusalem at that time.  After Muhammad's death the tradition - which did not pass unchallenged by an opposing school of thought - laid it down that the "uttermost mosque" meant the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.


Jerusalem, the battle for sovereignty
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Israel Information Service Gopher

Information Division, Israel Foreign Ministry - Jerusalem

Mail all Queries to ask@israel-info.gov.il

JERUSALEM -- THE BATTLE FOR SOVEREIGNTY

(Article by Moshe Sasson, 'Ma'ariv', 08.07.94, p.19 of 'Saturday supplement')

A.	Neither the city Mecca (where the 'Ka'aba' is found - the holiest place in Islam) nor Medina (the second most important city in Islam) nor the city Najaf or the city Karbala (holiest to Shia Islam) are the capitals of Saudi Arabia or Iraq. The governments of these two Islamic states chose other cities (Riyadh and Baghdad) for the seat of their capital. In other words: there does not exist in Islam, neither Sunni nor Shia, not in the Koran and not in any more, not according to the traditional writings nor in practice, any instruction or decision that cities which contain the most holy of Islamic sites should be made the capitals of these countries.

B.	Jerusalem is home to holy Islamic places (al-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, also known as the Mosque of Omar). The al-Aksa mosque is, according to Islamic tradition, the first place that Muslims turned towards during prayer and the third in importance. Yet, in accordance with Muslim law and especially in accordance with precedents set by Saudi Arabia and Iraq, there is no religious requirement that the city of Jerusalem, wholly or in part, be a Muslim capital. The claim (by in large Palestinian) that as a result of the existence of these two very important mosques, the city must become, 'the capital of Arab Palestine,' has no backing either from the Muslim religion or from political Islamic or Arab custom.

C.	Indeed, the Arab Palestinian leadership claims that east Jerusalem should be the capital of Arab Palestine. This claim, by nature, has no Islamic religious basis and is not widely endorsed by the Muslim or Arab countries.

In other words: the disagreements on the issue of Jerusalem are not between the Jewish and Muslim religions, not between Israel and the Arab world, and by no means between Israel and the Muslim world. Such a description is mistaken and incorrectly reflects the nature of the conflict over this issue. The problem which requires Israel's attention, in this context, (in answer to the Muslim nations and some Arab nations's stance), is not a problem of the political status of the eastern part of the city, but the existence of the holy sites in the city, the rights of their 'owners', their status, their method of management, freedom of access to them and the guarantees that Israel should give in this context.

D.	The religious (not political) importance of the al-Aksa mosque has roots in the Koranic verse which attributes the place to a specific saying of the prophet Muhammad, as it appears in the first verse of the 'Night Journey' sura (Chapter 17 in the Koran), which was delivered in Mecca and which reads:

'Glory be to Him who made His servants go by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farther (al-Aksa) Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs.'

The prophet Muhammad's reference to the al-Aksa mosque (which did not even exist at the time when Muhammad said these words) has no political Islamic meaning, and of course no religious meaning which would have implications for granting sovereignty over the city to any one religion. This saying had and still has, clear religious meaning, but nothing more (which does require attention from Israel, but not with respect to sovereignty over the city).

E.	In addition to the two holy Islamic sites, there are also, as is well- known, holy Jewish places (the Western Wall and the Temple Mount) and ten important holy Christian sites, the three most important being: Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Cenaculum, and the Church of Gethsemane which all have religious (and not political) meaning of the highest degree.

Israel should relate to the status of all of these places equally, should be responsible for them and make sure that freedom of access to them is retained.

F.	In an annex to the Lateran Agreement signed in 1929 between the Italian government and the Vatican, it was determined that, among other things, the five largest chapels in the city outside of the Vatican walls (for example the 'San Giovani in Latarano') which belong to the Vatican, would rece ive ex-territorial status (similar to the status of foreign embassies all over the world) and would be run exclusively by the holy throne.

We also have before us a precedent and a model which provide a solution for the problem regarding the status of the two Muslim mosques located on the Temple Mount, the other holy Christian sites in Jerusalem and maybe even Christian sites in other areas in Israel. Recognized and legally protected extra-territorial status should be granted to all of the sites, which would be an appropriate legal guarantee.

Once the principle issue is agreed upon, Israel will be responsible for conducting negotiations with the Vatican, the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Patriarchs, as well as with one (or various) Muslim group(s), in an effort to reach agreements regarding the details of the rights to be granted the e x-territorial sites, holy and important to Christianity and Islam.

G.	It is not up to Israel to pick its negotiating partner for discussions regarding the status of holy Islamic places in Jerusalem. This is, in my opinion, the Muslim community's responsibility - and their's alone. This way, for example, if Arab and Muslim nations come to the conclusion that the ex-territorial rights to manage the two mosques in Jerusalem should be awarded to the King of Saudi-Arabia (who carries the title 'Guardian of the Holy Places') or to the King of Jordan or the King of Morocco or the Palestinians or any other Arab or Muslim nation, or to the Arab League, or the Islamic Congress -- it is not Israel's place to deny them ex- territorial status (including having the flag of this nation wave from the two Muslim mosques). There is no doubt that the Palestinians and King Hussein have valid reasons for wanting control, solely or jointly, since they have been t he actual managers of these sites for numerous years.

H.	There is another very important point which must be considered: both Jews and Muslims view the Temple Mount as a holy site. Naturally, in the era of the political conflict between us and the Jordanians and Palestinians, each side emphasized its exclusive right to the Mount.  However, in an er a of peace and coexistence, it is important to understand that this site is holy to both sides, and it is therefore desirable that understanding, tolerance and cooperation replace conflict and struggle.

The 'Tomb of the Patriarchs', as we call it, and the 'Holy Ibrahimi Mosque', as Muslims call it, is a prominent and clear example of 'partnership in holiness' (as is 'Rachel's Tomb'). I have no doubt that the two sides now attempting to build the foundations of peace and coexistence between them , can reach agreement on 'administration through agreement, cooperation and coordination' of these places considered holy by both. Any unilateral, coercive decisions regarding this subject is out of place.

Following the massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Israel is now unilaterally determining prayer and security arrangements there. Such a 'military' approach is fundamentally wrong, and could lead to negative results. What still remains to be accomplished (especially on the eve of Hebron's inc lusion into the Palestinian Autonomy), are negotiations leading to an agreement determining the Tomb of the Patriarchs' status, manner of administration and both sides' rights. This is required both for immediate implementation and also to set an important precedent regarding the Temple Mount (n ot regarding the mosques which, as we said, will be run by the designated Muslim group).

In my opinion, the Palestinians will be quite interested in quickly reaching an agreement with us regarding the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb, if only to acquire for themselves preferential standing in the Muslim and Arab world as the controlling power of the Temple Mount and the two important mosques located there.

As for us, united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. In this framework, we must provide solutions and reach agreements regarding the status of the holy places in the city, which have nothing whatsoever to do with the question of sovereignty over the city.

(The writer was Israel's ambassador to Turkey for six years and Egypt for seven years. He also served as liaison to the Vatican, in his position as Israel's Ambassador to Italy (1973-77). He currently serves as senior adviser to Police and Minister Moshe Shahal.


Preview
A.	Neither the city Mecca (where the 'Ka'aba' is found - the holiest place in Islam) nor Medina (the second most important city in Islam) nor the city Najaf or the city Karbala (holiest to Shia Islam) are the capitals of Saudi Arabia or Iraq. The governments of these two Islamic states chose other cities (Riyadh and Baghdad) for the seat of their capital. In other words: there does not exist in Islam, neither Sunni nor Shia, not in the Koran and not in any more, not according to the traditional writings nor in practice, any instruction or decision that cities which contain the most holy of Islamic sites should be made the capitals of these countries.


Links Master


Jerusalem internal links
Whose Jerusalem

The history of Jerusalem

Timetable: History of Jerusalem

When did Jerusalem become Palestinian territory

Jerusalem:  The Holy City

Jerusalem by Shmuel Katz

Jerusalem, the battle for sovereignty


Jordan: the Arab state in Palestine
Jordan: the Arab state in Palestine  Links  Links  Links  Links

There is no people, nation or cultural entity in history known as Jordan.  Jordan was created out of thin air by Great Britain in 1922.  At that time Britain lopped 3/4 of Palestine out of the Palestine Mandate - given to it by the League of Nations solely for the purpose of creating a Jewish homeland - and with it created a kingdom for their ally, Abdullah, loser in the civil war for control over the Arabian peninsula.  It's citizens are largely related to Arabs who call themselves Palestinians.  The separation is entirely political - Arafat vs. outsider King Hussein - and a tactical maneuver in the war against the Jewish State, to sidetract the recognition of Jordan as the homeland for the "Palestinian" people.  King Hussein's permanent problem of legitimacy in the eyes of most of Jordan's citizens - certain Beduoin tribes excepted, along with some of the westernized middle class - has compelled him to wave the banner of Jew-hatred and front-line enemy of Israel, probably against his personal inclinations.This problem of legitimacy has forced Jordan to host fundamentalist Hamas in Amman, the nation's capital, to side with Saddam Hussein against the Gulf oil states, while at the same time to portray itself as the innocent victim of Jewish and imperialist plots against Islam and Arabs.

Ancient history of the land that is now Jordan

The history of modern Jordan

Palestine and Palestinians

Jerusalem

"Peace" negotiations with Israel


dummy


"Peace" negotiations with Israel
"Peace" negotiations with Israel  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jordan backed the losing side the the war between the Gulf oil states and Saddam Hussein.  King Hussein of Jordan (no relative) had had no choice.  Iraq may have occupied his kingdom if he hadn't.  His own citizens were wildly pro-Saddam, considering the man a new Saladin who would sweep away the infidels with the sword.  If he hadn't have backed Iraq, he would have been assassinated or deposed.  Saddam had also made many promises to the King, among them to reinstate the man and his family as Sheriff over the Moslem holy places in Medina and Mecca, after he not only digested Kuwait, but swept through the whole Arabian peninsula.  Both Saddam and the King had good reason to expect the West to stand by and do nothing - thus is the credibility of the liberal democracies.  They were wrong, in this case, but it was the way to bet.  Thus the King grew a beard and began to use vitriolic fundamentalist rhetoric in the months leading up to the battle.

But his side lost.  The Gulf oil states cut off their substantial funding of Jordan, while the hundreds of thousands of Jordanian citizens (called "Palestinians" in conversations that include mention of Israel) were expelled from the oil states.  They swelled Joranian cities, unemployed now, whereas they had been sending money back into Jordan before. America cut off its aid to Jordan as well, and blockaded Jordan's port of Aqaba because the kingdom had been the chief violator of the United Nations sanctions against Iraq.  Jordan had   to return to America's good graces.  They saw no better way to do this than to join the Madrid peace formula.

The king's motivation was to reclaim his image of moderation.  He knew the short memories of diplomats in the west, ever eager to appease dictators, reading mountains into every ambiguous word.  The king joined the process, and America's hostility toward him melted away quickly.  Aid was reinstated.  Profuse gratitude toward the king's "committment to peace" was frequently expressed, and Israel was urged to make concessions, "gestures for peace."

Jordan never speaks of peace with Israel.  It speaks of a "just and comprehensive peace in the region" and other phrases, all codewords for the eradication of Israel.  No matter how direct the question is put to a representative of the Jordanian government, they will not say they are making peace with Israel.  They are conducting "peace negotiations".  They are for "peace."

Jouranlists and diplomats in the west don't want to confront the unpleasant reality of Arab objectives, so they don't ask the tough questions, all the better not to have to deal with the responses they don't want to hear.  The same, of course, is true for Israel's leftwing leaders.

Timetable:  Israeli/Jordanian peace negotiations since the Gulf War

Short memories and wishful thinking: Dissolution of American hostility toward Jordan after the Gulf War

Refusal of Jordan to make even the tiniest gestures of recognition toward Israel.

One-sided concessions of Israel toward Jordan.  Unrequited, soon forgotten.  Pocketed with demands for more.


Timetable of Israel/Jordan negotiations
Timetable of Israel/Jordan negotiations  Links  Links  Links  Links

Negotiations with Israel since Madrid

Refusal to make the slightest public gesture of reconciliation


Jordan Refuses any public gesture of legitimacy toward Israel
Jordan Refuses any public gesture of legitimacy toward Israel  Links  Links  Links  Links


Timetable: Jordan's refusal of any gestures of recognition toward Israel
Timetable: Jordan's refusal of any gestures of recognition toward Israel  Links  Links  Links  Links

15 Dec 94 - Jordan barred its scout troops from attending a peace rally at the border with Israel in the Arava region.  Four thousand Israeli scouts attended alone.  (Jerusalem Post)


jordan link master


jordan internal links 1
"Peace" negotiations with Israel

Timetable of Israel/Jordan negotiations

Jordan's refusal of the slightest gesture of recognition toward Israel


Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza before the '67 War
Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza before the '67 War  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jews who live in the part of Israel seized by Jordan during Israel's 1948 War of Independence are called "settlers" by the media, by Arabs, and by diplomats in the West.  They employ this mildly insulting word to imply that Jews shouldn't be there, that they're living on land that they stole from somebody else, that they are trying to convert another people's property to their own.  By carefully avoiding the history readily available in the archives of their own publications, "journalists"  imply that Jewish towns are built on property that was owned by "Palestinians," or that the towns they built are actually towns from which they chased the "Palestinians".  This is gibberish.  You can readily see that for yourself by going to a large library and looking up magazine or newspaper articles written on Palestine before 1967 and 1948.  Go ahead, please.

Jewish communities destroyed before '48 and resettled after '67

Jewish communities destroyed before '48 and rebuilt by the same Jews or their descendants

The Gush Etzion bloc of "settlements" between Jerusalem and Hebron

All of America's Hebrons and Bethlehems.  Nobody objects to Jews living in these.  /  Comment

Are Jews in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) living on "Moslem" land?


Jewish communities destroyed before '48 and resettled after '67
Jewish communities destroyed before '48 and resettled after '67 Links  Links  Links  Links

Partial list of Jewish communities destroyed by Arabs in '48 and rebuilt after '67

Partial List of Ancient Jewish sites now living communities

Gush Etzion


Partial list of Jewish communities destroyed by Arabs in '48 and rebuilt after '67
Partial list of Jewish communities destroyed by Arabs in '48 and rebuilt after '67  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem - the Jewish Quarter

Gush Etzion, now renamed Kfar Etzion

Kallia, renamed Qalya

Bet Ha'arava

Atarot, now the site of the Jerusalem Airport

Neve Ya'akov, rebuilt as a Jerusalem neighborhood


Partial List of Ancient Jewish sites now living communities
Partial List of Ancient Jewish sites now living communities   Links  Links  Links  Links

Mount Ga'ash, (Joshua 24:30)  is now Ariel

Shilo, (1 Samuel 1:3)

Bethel, (Genesis 35:15)  is now Bet El

Kiryat Arba, (Joshua 20:7) is rebuilt near Hebron


Jewish communities destroyed before '48 and rebuilt by the same Jews or their descendants
Jewish communities destroyed before '48 and rebuilt by the same Jews or their descendants   Links  Links  Links  Links

Gush Etzion


Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion  Links  Links  Links  Links

Brief pre-'67 history of Jewish Gush Etzion

Jewish return to Gush Etzion after '67 War


Brief pre-67 History of Gush Etzion
Brief pre-67 History of Gush Etzion  Links  Links  Links  Links

E-mail address:	pedagog@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il Tel: 972-2-759 059	Fax: 972-2-759 133

THE HISTORY OF GUSH ETZION

Source : Gush Etzion and the Hebron Hills Booklet from the Keren Kayemeth Leisrael (Religious section) and Educational Center Kfar Etzion - Jerusalem, 5735

JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN GUSH ETZION

The first attempt to settle the Gush Etzion was made in 1927 by a group of Yemenite Jewish agricultural pioneers. The Arab riots of 1929 there were forced to flee from their homes.

In 1932 Shmuel Holzmann purchased lands in the area. The kibbutz which he later founded was named in his honor "Kfar Etzion" (Etz in Hebrew is a translation of Holz in Yiddish - meaning tree). The Arab hostility - the riots of 1936-39 made living very dangerous; the settlers had no choice but to

 abandon their village in 1937.

In 1942 the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (Jewish National Fund) offered a group of pioneers the opportunity to return to Kfar Etzion. Fully aware of the difficulties facing them (the poor soil, the shortage of water, the hard winters and the security problem) the first representatives of the pioneeri ng group arrived to resettle Kfar Etzion in the spring of 1943.

In October 1945, a second kibbutz, Massuot Yitzchak, helped to relieve the isolation felt by the members of Kfar Etzion. A third kibbutz, Ein Tzurim, was founded a year later. In February 1947, a fourth kibbutz by the name of Revadim was established by pioneers of the Hashomer Hatzair Youth Move ment (the earlier three settlements were established by young orthodox pioneers associated with Hapoel HaMizrahi).

THE CONFLICT

In November 1947, the total population of the four kibbutzim in Gush Etzion was 450 persons. Kfar Etzion included 163 adults and 57 children; Massuot Yitzchak, 111 adults and 12 children; Ein Tsurim and Revadim numbered 135 younger and still unmarried settlers.

The decision of the United Nations on November 29, 1947 in favor of the Partition Plan proved to be a crucial turning point in the history of the Gush Etzion settlements as it was for all of Israel. After a night of jewish rejoicing over the prospects of the establishment of the State of Israel,

 Arab attacks on Jewish traffic opened the first phase of the Israel War of Independence.

The four kibbutzim of Gush Etzion were among some thirty odd Jewish settlements to be included in the new Arab State under the Partition Plan; however the Jewish authorities decided not to abandon any settlement, but to defend them all against Arab aggression until the evacuation of the British and the establishment of the proposed Jewish and Arab states.

Gush Etzion, uncertain of its future upon the termination of the British Mandate, found itself under siege almost immediately :  the settlers, along with reinforcements which were sent in by the Hagana, became the defenders.

The siege dragged on for five trying months.  Knowledge that their effort was helping to save a besieged Jerusalem gave the defenders additional strength to endure in their struggle. Vastly outnumbered and possessing limited amounts of light arms and ammunition, they hoped that aid would come fr om some other source.

The major events of this heroic period are outlined below :

November 29-30, 1947 - Rejoicing in Gush Etzion over the U.N. decision to establish a Jewish State.

December 3, 1947 - News of Arab attack on the Jerusalem commercial centre. Gush Etzion warned of the possibility of an attack.

December 11, 1947 (Hanukka) - A convoy of four vehicles is attacked on its way back to Gush Etzion. Ten members are killed in the battle which ensued. The siege begins.

January 5, 1948 - Mothers and children are transferred to Jerusalem with the aid of a British military escort.

January 13, 1948 - A convoy is attacked on its way to Jerusalem and two more losses are recorded.

January 14, 1948 - First major attack on Gush Etzion. Hundred of local Arabs are driven off. Many Arab casualties. Three Jewish losses. A great victory for Gush Etzion.

January 16, 1948 - A detachment of 35 (Lamed Hey) men is detected while attempting to bring supplies by foot to a besieged Gush Etzion.  All 35 fall in battle.

February 8, 1948 - First plane lands on an airstrip which is intended to bring some relief to the besieged defenders.

March 26, 1948 - The largest convoy organized to bring aid to Gush Etzion is attacked on its way back to Jerusalem. Fourteen men are killed in a 24 hour battle on the road. It becomes clear that no further land communication with Gush Etzion is possible. May 4, 1948 - Gush Etzion is attacked by the Arab Legion, British troops and large numbers of local Arabs. Twelve men are killed and many others wounded. Valuable ammunition is used up. Shelling causes considerable damage to Gush Etzion.

May 12, 1948 - The Arab Legion, supported by thousands of local Arabs, launches a carefully planned attack on Gush Etzion, which finds itself divided. Its commander, Moshe Silberschmidt, is among those killed in battle.

May 13, 1948 - The Arab attack continues and its major force is directed at Kfar Etzion. All but four of the defenders are massacred.

May 14, 1948 - Massuot Yitzchak, Ein Tzurim and Revadim surrender to the Arab Legion. Its members are taken as prisoners of war.  The State of Israel is declared.

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Jewish return to Gush Etzion after '67 War
Jewish return to Gush Etzion after '67 War  Links  Links  Links  Links

The Pedagogic Center of the Joint Authority for Jewish Zionist Education

E-mail address:	pedagog@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il Tel: 972-2-759 059	Fax: 972-2-759 133

THE RETURN

Gush Etzion was detroyed by its Arab conquerors. Buildings were looted and then razed to the ground. Hundreds of thousands of trees were uprooted.

The members of Massuot Yitzhak, Ein Tsurim and Revadim, upon their retrun from prisoner-of-war camp, suceeded in retablishing their villages in a new location in the lowlands of Israel. Members of Kfar Etzion established the community of Nir Etzion in the Carmel region.

On June 7, 1967, the Jewish people rejoiced upon hearing the news of the liberation of the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem. There was further joy in the hearts of the survivors of Gush Etzion upon learning that day of the success of the Israeli forces in liberating Gush Etzion as well .

In the summer of 1967, the sons and daughters of Kfar Etzion turned to Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol and requested permission to return to their home. After carefully considering the political implications of settlements in the newly-gained territories, Levi Eshkol ave his consent. Kfar Etzion was

 reestablished in September 1967.

Progress in the development of Gush Etzion since the Six Day War has been steady. Additional members from Israel and from Diaspora have joined the founders of the kibbutz.  A large turkey industry and a factory for metallic parts have been established. Other projects of the kibbutz include a gre enhouse and a candle factory. A field school for the intensive study of the Hebron Hills area and a youth hostel are sponsored by the kibbutz.

A second chapter in the reestablishment of Gush Etzion was begun with the founding of another kibbutz by The Religious Kibbutz Movement. It is called Rosh Tsurim and is located on the site of Ein Tsurim. A third community has been founded which is located between the two kibbutzim near the famou s "lone tree". It is call Alon Shvut ("return to the tree") and is a non-collective settlement. Its original settlers were Yeshiva students whose study program is carried out in conjunction with their military duty. A magnificent campus for the Yeshiva has been constructed in Alon Shvut.

Today, Gush Etzion counts 14 settlements and about 6,800 Jewish settlers, with another 4,000 in the city of Efrat.

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Were Judea and Samaria "Moslem" land before 1967?
Were Judea and Samaria "Moslem" land before 1967?  Links  Links  Links  Links

Short article on real-estate records in 1947 and where Jewish settlements are built.

palestin_moslems_have_never_been_a_majority_conclusion


All of America's Hebrons and Bethlehems
All of America's Hebrons and Bethlehems  Comment  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Hebrons and Bethlehems in the U.S.

Just in case you're curious:

1.	Hebron, NM.

2.	Hebron, WI.

3.	Hebron, ND.

4.	Hebron, IA.

5.	Hebron, TN.

6.	Hebron, CO.

7.	Hebron, NE.

8.	Hebron, AL.

9.	Hebron, CT.

10.	Hebron, TX.

11.	Hebron, MD.

12.	Hebron, IL.

13.	Hebron, OH.

14.	Hebron, ME.

15.	Hebron, VA.

16.	Hebron, KY.

17.	Hebron, MS.

18.	Hebron, PA.

19.	Hebron, GA.

20.	Hebron, WV.

21.	Hebron, NH.

22.	Hebron, IN.

1.	Bethlehem, FL.

2.	Bethlehem, OH.

3.	Bethlehem, LA.

4.	Bethlehem, AR.

5.	Bethlehem, TN.

6.	Bethlehem, MS.

7.	Bethlehem, KY.

8.	Bethlehem, PA.

9.	Bethlehem, AL.

10.	Bethlehem, MO.

11.	Bethlehem, GA.

12.	Bethlehem, SD.

13.	Bethlehem, NC.

14.	Bethlehem, CT.

15.	Bethlehem, TX.

16.	Bethlehem, WV.

17.	Bethlehem, MD.

18.	Bethlehem, NH.

19.	Bethlehem, IN.


comment 1
If the mayor or a group of residents of any of these 22 Hebrons or 19 Bethlehems demanded the expulsion of the Jews living there, or started attacking Jews for being there, the media, President Clinton, and Secretary of State Warren Christopher would have a fit.  Nobody would say the violence is the Jews fault for being there.  Nobody would call Jews "settlers."  Anybody who said the "settlers" were an obstacle to peace would justifiably be treated as a racist.  Why then, are Jews in the original Bethlehem or Hebron obstacles to peace?  After all, Jews lived in the originals for what? 1700 - 1900 years before there was such a thing as a Moslem.  Jews lived in the originals for at least 2800 years, and perhaps as much as 3000 years before any Jew lived in a Hebron or Bethlehem on this list.


Links Master


jsb67 internal links
Jewish communities in the "occupied" territories before the '67 War.

Jewish communities destroyed by Jordan in '48 and rebuilt after 1967

Jewish communities destroyed by Jordan and rebuilt by the same Jews or their descendants

Is the West Bank  stolen "Moslem" land?

All of America's Hebrons and Bethlehems


Knesset Debate on Rabin/Arafat Accord: 21-23 Sep 93
Knesset Debate on Rabin/Arafat Accord: 21-23 Sep 93   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

The United States Senate argued over the provisions of the Panama Canal Treaty for some 15 years.  The outcome was not critical to America's survival.  The Rabin/Arafat Accord was ramroded through the Israeli parliament - the Knesset - in less than a month from the government's admission that a "Gaza/Jericho First" deal was in the making.  The Israeli parliament was allowed a minimum of hearings, was not permitted to see the provisions of the treaty until the last few days, and was not allowed to cross-examine the architects of the treaty.

I have included the synopsis of arguments by proponents and opponents of the accord.  These synopses were prepared and placed on the Internet by other parties.  They aren't so complete because they were constructed real-time during the debate.  But, you can see for yourself whether the predictions of the proponents or opponents more accurately reflected the unfolding of events.


Proponents
Proponents of Rabin/Arafat Accord in Knesset Debate Main Arguments   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Shulamit Aloni

MK Yossi Beilin

MK Nomi Chazan

MK Raanan Cohen

MK Dawashe

MK Micha Harish

MK Masha Lubelsky

MK Masalak

MK Ora Namir

MK Uri Or

MK Shimon Peres

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin

MK Amnon Rubenstein

MK Shitrit

MK Efraim Sneh

MK Tebenkin

MK Yair Tzaban

MK Yossi Vanunu

MK Dedi Zucker

MK Nissim Zvilli

MK Ariel Sharon

MK Benny Begin


Main Arguments of Proponents in Knesset Debate
Main Arguments of Proponents in Knesset Debate   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

1.  Those who support the accord favor peace and brotherhood among peoples; those who oppose it are chauvanistic racists who want war.

2.  The PLO and the Palestinians have renounced their past; Israel can trust their proclaimations and intentions.

3.  There are no secret protocols to the accord.

4.  The accord is in the tradition of the Camp David agreement with Egypt.

5.  Israel controls the evolution of events; not the PLO or Arafat.

6.  The accord will bring peace(and by implication a decrease in terrorism).  Rejecting the accord will bring war.

7.  In this post Cold War era, prosperity brings national strength, not territory.

8.  There is no alternative if Israel wants peace.

9.  The right wing is a bunch of ignorant alarmist Neanderthals who represent nobody.

10.  The Palestinian people are opening their hand to Jews in peace and brotherhood.

11.  Jerusalem, Jewish communities in Gaza, Samaria and Judea, and a Palestinian State are not on the negotiating table, and as Israel controls the negotiations, won't be.


MK Shulamit Aloni
MK Shulamit Aloni  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Min. Shulamit Aloni (Head of Meretz)

====================================

This is the last chance we have for peace. You cannot have peace without mutual rights for all neighbors. No army can stand against a people fighting for it's rights. We are now 5 million strong and can stand against any problems.

To those who fight against this agreement I say: We must be united! Intra-fighting has never helped!

Your [opposition] stand is in the minority and I call on you to calm your supporters in the street.

The big problem is - what will be with the settlements in the occupied territories? This is the important question. What will happen to the Jews there? Not all of them are extreme, not all are Gush Emunim. This interm period will allow us to speak and discuss this hard problem.

The opposition has done the worst thing it can do - it is scaring the people. We are 5 million strong.  We must all unite, not just suffer and sacrifice, we must allow financial development.

I hope that we will all die and be buried by our children and grandchildren.

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MK Yossi Beilin
MK Yossi Beilin   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Yossi Beilen (Labor)

=======================

Just as there were those in the debate on Camp David who were against, so it is today.

It could be that this agreement is no good. Two weeks ago the Arabs demanded that Jerusalem would be part of the autonomy. We were able to take Jerusalem out of the autonomy.

Jerusalem will not be divided - unless there will be a government who will decide to do so - and I don't see a government in Israel deciding to do so.

There will be no Palestinian State - unless a government in Israel decides to do so.

The right wing has no trust in the Israeli government!?

In April 1987, I spoke to a minister from the Likud when I brought to him the London agreement with Jordan. He said: 'It doesn't look bad - but because it is your agreement, I cannot agree to it".

We today are speaking about something that will effect each and every house in Israel, and especially those soldiers who will never have to serve in Gaza again.

.


MK Nomi Chazan
MK Nomi Chazan   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Nomi Chazan (Meretz)

=======================

This agreement says that both Palestinians and Israelis recognize each other's rights. This is what happened in 1947 with the vote in the UN. After the '67 war, PM Eskol offered to give back all the territories if the Arabs would come to us in peace.

This is an agreement which shows that historically, a people can regret their bad decisions. Both Israel and the Palestinians have a chance to join each other in peace.

The main ingredients in this accord are:

1) International support

2) The Palestinians must make far reaching changes even while there is huge inter opposition to what they are doing.

3) The question can both we and the Arabs teach ourselves to leave the circle of violence?

.


MK Raanan Cohen
MK Raanan Cohen   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Raanan Cohen (labor)

=======================

This is a hard day for me. I am not euphoric, and I am worried.  Many have spoken before me on the Palestinian people. I

would like to speak about the Jewish people, and what is waiting it.

I would like to speak about the things which worry me, even though I hesitate, I will vote in favor of this agreement - in order to give a chance for peace.

This is after I read the agreements in Hebrew and in English.

I believe that Assad holds the keys to peace.

Even if we come to agreement with the PLO - will they win the elections which will be held? Or will the Hammas win? The agreement is based on that the PLO will win - but what will happen if the Hammas wins? The agreement speaks on of the PLO and not the Hammas.

Unless the world gives huge amounts of money to Gaza - Gaza will return to be a snake pit full of danger for Israel.

How will Gaza and Jericho be connected?

The right of return - The PLO speaks of *all* the refugees - how will the government deal with this - and not only this - the agreement calls for "arbitration" in this matter - which can only mean international arbitration - where will this lead?

[ at this, Israel Radio called for a programmed 20 minute break in their report from the Knesset ]

.


MK Dawashe
MK Dawashe   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Mk Dawashe (Arab Democratic Party)

==================================

In a speech many had thought would be very hot, Mk Dawashe spoke words of friendship, peace and cooperation.

I have seen mnay Arabs who have burned Yassir Arafat's picture and called him "tritor". I have also heard Jews call PM Rabin "traitor". I suggest that both these "traitors" receive the Nobel Peace Prize!

He then invited Bibi Natanyahu, the head of the opposition to come with his to The Kasbah in Schem (Nablus) and to meet people "who fought Israel, who were armed, who are armed even today and he will see that they will accept him as a friend." .


MK Micha Harish
MK Micha Harish   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Min. of Comerece Micha Harish (Labor)

=====================================

After WWII, peace has come to areas of financial stability. We can also see how even the strongest of armies cannot hold on to other people against their wishes.

What was the high part of PM Menachem Begin? The peace he made with Egypt where he gave up land. And what was his low point? As he put it: The tragedy of Lebanon.

The Labor party has always said, since 1967 that Israel would be willing to talk to any Arab party wishing for peace - and even to give up terrirtory.

And today - Israel is in the face of economic stability. Today - we are a financial power who is being run after by the biggest of countries. Israel will be the first to profit from this agreement. This agreement will bring further agreements with the rest of the Middle-East since we have the sa me wish - financial prosperity. We both have the same foes - Iran, Iraq and the Islamic fanatics.

I call on Rav Yoseff and remind him of the mothers, the children who are in the army - I am sure he won't let them down.

.


MK Masha Lubelsky
MK Masha Lubelsky    Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Masha Lubelsky (Labor)

=========================

I hear the many speeches of the opposition, and I have one thought. Here, in the 20th century, we have the received the right to build our national homeland. And I ask: where di we build this homeland? In Degania, Rosh Pina, K. Malachi, in the Negev? No. Where? In 1967 when we had this great victory and we found ourselves in Judea and Samaria. I want you to know that I feel the Land of Judea and Samaria just as much as you - but if we were to keep this land in order to build the Third Temple - we will bring the end of the Third Temple!

I didn't dance. I didn't wear a Palestinian flag. But I knew that this is what we had to do.

All of what happened here in Israel is one long story of bravery

-	who are you trying to scare? Our people are brave - they aren't afraid. You are cowards! yes! Cowards! You know we must comprimise. And if we didn't take the lands in Judea and Samaria in 1967 - would we not be here? You are cowards because you know that only a small amount of people support you!

.


MK Masalak
MK Masalak    Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Vice Min. Masalak (Labor)

============================

MK Masalak opened saying he wishes to speak in Arabic to the Arab public.

"I bless you all on this historic agreement, and to warn you against opposition to this agreement. I hope that this is the first step to a full and just peace in the Middle-east."

What happened here was that brave people who were willing to break the usual way of thinking, and I bless them, PM Rabin and Chairman Arafat.

The Arab Israelis are all tense with the wish for peace, and I hope they won't give in to unresponsible people.

I denounce the slogan of yesterday's demonstration that "there is no Jewish majority" to the historic agreements. I call on all the Israeli Arabs to come together with the Peace Camp among the Jews - and we will bring peace - no matter what the right say.

The wish for peace is stronger than your wishes for war and conflict. Stronger than your wishes for "greater Israel" which can be held only with the sword.

I listen to the right in this house and I see that you don't treat the Palestinians as people or humans. You don't trust them!

[opp. calls out "Correct!"]

If you don't honor them, they won't honor you - you should know that!

In ending, let us all unite together in peace and love and look forward and not bac. Let's us let the new sun rise.  .


MK Ora Namir
MK Ora Namir    Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Min Ora Namir (Labor)

=====================

As one who was born among pioneers who fought against the marshland and the harsh realities to build the Jewish State, as one who remembers well the murderous attacks of the Arabs of kalkilya and Tulkarem, I believe in the rights of the Palestinians and their chosen leadership.

There is no such thing where both sides in negotiations get all that they want. We will both have to compromise.

I am fighting for a future of a large Jewish Majority in Israel, big Aliyah which will stabilize this majority. I am fighting for a Israel which will give equal social standing to all its citizens.

We must liberate ourselves from being occupiers, from being terrorized in all places and at all times.

The settlements will not be touched and their status will stay the same as it is today. Zahal will continue to care for their security and for Israel's.

So why is the right wing so afraid?

.


MK Uri Or
MK Uri Or   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Uri Or (head of Security Committee)

======================================

I didn't hear from all of Natanyahu's long speech one word on what he would do ...

What will he do with the 2 1/2 million Arabs in Gaza and the occupied territories?

We are *not* talking about a Palestinian State !

This is the first time that in Gaza there will be *two* sides that will be interested in peace - them and us! if it doesn't work - the agreement is off. .


MK Shimon Peres
MK Shimon Peres    Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Min Shimon Peres (Labor)

========================

NOTE: This speech was the last and noisiest of them all.

The first red-line: to against the return of Palestinians refugees.

The Arabs ask - if you can have the right of return, why not us? I say to them: If we had 22 states, I can understand. That is the difference.

The second red-line: Jerusalem

Jerusalem is held by us and will stay united. We united Jerusalem. Jerusalem is *not* Berlin !

[ here there are many calls from the benches and Peres calls back ]

Arik Sharon: The capital of the autonomy will be in Jericho - not Jerusalem.

MK Shamir - when you spoke to Shafi - he said that he was the representative of the "true representatives of the Palestinian people" - you brought the PLO into the talks! You are the Father of the PLO!

You the Likud who threatened me!

Shafi said to Shamir at the same table that Jerusalem is the capital of his people and Shamir sits there and says nothing!

Eight years you were Prime Minister and you did nothing! What did you do?

[ here are many yells from the opposition and coalition ]

No - you don't understand anything, I don't even have to hear you ... no , you don't know anything ...

This is a big day for most of the Knesset. There is no more debate on this paper - the people are largely in favour - right now we are arguing on "party discipline" they say:

"let your fingers do the walking for you"

You don't have the courage to let you MK's vote as they wish!  You threaten Roni Milo!

The majority of the people support us.

Many of you spoke of the future. The "prophesy" of Bibi Natanyahu is well known. He spoke of the future and of the present and they had one thing in common - one colored - black.  He told about the dangers. 'What will happen to us?' Are we not today in danger? Are there no enemies, is there no i ntifada?

IS the danger of Israel only in a Palestinian State - which I am against - ?

In Gaza there are 800,000 Arabs.  750,000 - 800,000. Soon there will be 2,000,000. The poverty, the close corners, the absence of a future - what do we need this for?

Shut up! Matzah - you came here to slander and use terror - get out of here! What are you doing here?

Let me ask you - can we help those in Gaza - where do we have the money to do so? Can we solve the problems there?

There is only one way to solve the problem in gaza - with money from the world - and what world will help with the Likud in power?

Oh - shut up!

I believe that the Jewish people have a conscience? I ask the religious Jews - how can you keep camps like those in Gaza? You say that Jews have problems?

[ here the speaker of the house calls on the MK's to calm down, not with much success ]

Can the Jewish people hold on it's conscience such a place like Gaza?

This agreement, as the MK from the Likud, Meir Shitrit said, will allow us to take care of our social problems. We can't take care of Gaza.

We may have security problems, but I ask: Why should our soldiers be a wall between Hammas and the PLO? Let them take care of their own problems!

Let our army secure our borders and not take care of Gaza!

MK Meir Shitrit said: What is the alternative? To close the door and say there is no peace?

This is not the time to change the government - but to change the policy.

We have a great opportunity today. If hunger continues, the fundamentalism will continue to grow!

Today we are policemen in Gaza.

About Jerusalem: I wish to quote Raful that there is a "secret" agreement to stop building in Jerusalem.

Has the building stopped? Have you seen this?

Raful says - why are you hiding this secret agreement - the answer is because there is NO such agreement! Jerusalem is outside of the autonomy!

[ here someone asks about what Yossi Beilen suggested i.e.  splitting up Jerusalem into quarters ]

That is only what Beilen said. There is no such thought.

[ during all this - Rabin and other ministers start going here and there and after a few minutes, a paper is brought to Peres

-	there is much tension ]

[ Here Raful reads a letter from the City of Jerusalem which says: "The secret agreement between Israel and the PLO states that from the day of signing this agreement, all building will stop in Jerusalem until the final agreement" ]

I want to say something about the settlements. The present government took upon itself to secure with all the seriousness, the honor, all the existing settlements in Yesha. And I say this even though this will be very difficult.

1. To bring peace to Israel, to it's neighbors, to the Palestinian people

2. An opportunity to enlarge the Jewish people in Israel - not by settling in areas of contention - but in the Negev - the Russian Jews will be settled there.

3. Economy - after WWII, we learned that economy

[ MK Vissman is allowed to speak and he yells out: There is NO letter from the City of Jerusalem as Raful says - this is a lie!  The letter was written by the head of the NRP in the City - it is a lie! Raful is a liar! ]

Financial stability is the key to end conflicts and bring peace. To buy security we need money! To buy guns we need money!  To buy education we need money!

Israel will not stop buying weapons unless this whole weapons race is stopped mutually!

[ here MK Meir Shitrit (Likud) says that Peres is quoting him unfairly since his (Shitrit's) end of the speech brought everything into the correct prospective i.e. that he doubts that this government can stop the downward fall to a Palestinian State ]

Correct - you don't believe the government? Maybe you should accept the agreement and join the government - this may be a good idea.

.


Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin (Labor)

=====================================

As you know, The Knesset has just started a marathon debate to go one for the next days on the accords with the PLO.

We will try to bring here a summary of the main aspects of the debate.

The first speaker was PM Yitzchak Rabin.

The Knesset had decided that the first speeches of Rabin and Bibi Natanyahu will be without a time limit and that there will be no interruptions.

It should be pointed out that during PM Rabin's speech, there were catcalls from the opposition.

The main points from PM Rabin's short speech:

1) There are *no* secret agreements besides what is written.

2) Zahal and the govt of Israel will continue to secure the lives of the Jewish settlers.

3) Jerusalem, Israel's eternal Capital will not be up for negotiations and will always remain under Israeli sovereignty.

The present govt promised after the elections that the subject of peace is foremost in it's platform.

Rabin mentions the prayers for peace in daily prayers and read out a few also from the Yom Kippur prayers.

He then mentioned the War of Yom Kippur and how this means we must do everything we can not to go back to this suffering.

After a year of negotiations with Husseini and Ashrawi, it is clear that they have no authority and that we must, if we want to solve the problems, to talk to Arafat. Only those who want to hide their heads in the sand do not understand this.

He ended his speech with words of the hope of the end of all the suffering and tears and the chances for peace.

"This is the victory of Zionism!" he called out and ended the speech by quoting an old Israeli peace song :

"Let the sun Rise!"

After the speech, the Speaker of the Knesset read out a letter by Min of Health (labor) Haim Ramon that the govt wishes to see .


MK Amnon Rubenstein
MK Amnon Ruberstein   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Min Amnon Rubenstein (Meretz)

=============================

Is there someone here who doesn't remember what Arafat did to us? Is there anyone here who could?

But we cannot live on feelings.

And then there were those who were against the Camp David Accords. They said many of the same things we hear here today.  And they were wrong! They only saw the danger. Of course there was danger - but they didn't see the hope! And that hope became a reality.

Remember that not only did we save lives, save days of reserve units, but we also were able to cut by 25% the budget of the defense. This is what enabled us to build and prosper, to bring Aliyah of close to 500,000 thousand people!

.


MK Shitrit
MK Shitrit   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Min. Shitrit (Labor)

====================

We cannot vote on this agreement according to party platforms.  We must see the whole picture. We must be brave and see that a new period is dawning.

[ here after a catcall from the Likud benches, Min. Shitrit began yelling and after this the whole speech was full of yells and arguments among the benches ]

"Don't talk about the Holocaust - yes! You - the Likud mentioned the Holocaust! Why are you scaring the people?

I will tell the truth, before the vote on this agreement, I had many hesitations. This was not because I am against peace. It is not because I am against giving up territory, as Avraham our father said to Lot , "Go from me!" - which was a command with territorial meaning!

What I was worried about was what would happen in the permanent agreement. Now I have seen all the plans and I am convinced that every last detail is planned and I now know where we are going to.

My abstention in the government was not because I am against, but because of my worry of the future. It was a positive abstention.

The PLO answered all the clauses in the Labor platform which says who we are willing to speak with. They have recognized Israel and accepted 242 and 338. They have denounced terror and have said in a paper that the clauses calling for Israel's destruction in the PLO Covenant are null and void.

The Labor party will not allow a Palestinian state - Peres himself says that this will be a danger to Israel.

There is hope and there is worry. Take up the "hope" with me and the "worry" we will together deal with.

I also want to speak out to the Arab MK's. I know that you all have high hopes. I call on you here to work with us, to bring the success of this agreement according to the word and soul of what we have agreed to.

Don't build illusions among the Palestinians - don't speak about a Palestinian State? Don't speak about Jerusalem! Tell them to stop the violence. Remember, if you begin to make problems, so will we!

[ here the oppositions calls out : Then vote against the accords! Why are you supporting Beilen? ]

Now - I wish to speak to the Jews in Yesha. Not only should we speak with them and allow them to demonstrate, but we should give -

[ here the opp. yells out : what did you give them? you dried them out! ]

No no, we gave and we helped. We gave them security. Yes the soldiers and police at the demonstration last night was for their security!

I want to say that in my eyes, the Jewish settlements - they are today strategic property we must try with all our powers to keep them outside of the autonomy.

.


MK Efraim Sneh
MK Efraim Sneh  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Efraim Sneh (Labor)

======================

Mk Sneh's short speech centered on the Jews in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. He called on them not only not to oppose this agreement, but to embrace it. The settler's part in being a "bridge" to peace is very important, and those who love Eretz Yisrael will find open arms in the Rabin government.  .


MK Tebenkin
MK Tebenkin   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Tebenkin (Meretz)

====================

The right calls for a referendum or new elections. Let me ask you: When Chanan Porat and his friends went out legally and illegaly to "change the map of Israel forever"- did they go to new elections?

The Likud is angry at their own supporters since they know they have lost their support!

[ then why don't you go to elections?! ]

In Lebanon - did you go to a referendum?

At Camp David did you go to new elections?

The Likud is angry at the Arabs - since their were found some willing to compermise with Israel. The Likud only likes Arabs who won't talk to us so that they won't have to give back anything!

.


MK Yair Tzaban
MK Yair Tzaban    Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

Min. of Absorbtion Yair Tzaban (Meretz)

=======================================

I agree with those who say: Recognition of the PLO is also the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian People to their own independent lives.

This started in Camp David, continued through Madrid while Shamir spoke with them and nothing was done on the Palestinian side unless they got word from Tunis.

We heard some things from the opposition which had some merit.  In Gush Emunim and the right, there are two types: one that says No giving up territory! With these people, I cannot argue.

There are others. There are those who say that if we can presuade them that there are no security problems, they would agree to compromise. Most of the supporters of the Likud are like this.

There are no agreements which will not have its dangers. The Camp David Accords had their danger. We are speaking now about an agreement with the Palestinian people. It has its dangers.  But what is the correct porportion?

There are many questions, but there is one question you don't answer: How are you going to solve this bloody problem? How are you going to continue to live here in the Middle-East?

.


MK Yossi Vanunu
MK Yossi Vanunu   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Yossi Vanunu (Labor)

=======================

MK Slashed out strongly against the right who, as he sayid, represents only the "settlers" in the occupied territories and a few Chabadnikim.

Last night, at the demonstration, there were 20,000 people

[40,000!]

The radio said 20,000

[20,000 marchers, and 20,000 more at the demonstration!]

At the concert of Michael Jackson last night, there were 100,000!  Who do you represent? Nobody!

This agreement will save us from the threat of the next war!  .


MK Dedi Zucker
MK Dedi Zucker  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Dedi Zucker (Meretz)

=======================

The following is a lexicon of phrases that only exist in the imagination of the right in Israel:

1. "No one to talk to" - the lie that you can't trust Arabs

2. "Traitor" - many times used by those who don't serve in Zahal

3. "Two sides to the Jordan" - a nice way of saying "Not one centimeter!.

4. "Two legged animal" - de-humanization of the Palestinians

5. "No way back" - there is no such a thing as a situation that is irrepressible when one pays the right price for it.

6. "Giving up"

7. "Destruction, Holocaust, etc. " used by the right every time a chance for peace comes up.

8. "Transfer" - only the far right uses this disgusting word.

9. "Only the right can" - the thought that only the right can sign an agreement with Arabs. This present agreement shows that this is incorrect.

10. "Surrender"

11. "No" Used by the right any time a chance for peace comes up.

12. "Settlements will stop the Palestinian State"

13. "Against" - the equivalent of the No's of Khartoum. Even though the Arabs have begun to say "Yes".

14. "PLO Agent" - what the right calls anyone who does what we did on the White House Lawn.

15. "Arabs stay Arabs" - the way of seeing the Arabs as one type with one opinion.

16. "There is no Palestinian People" - made by dinosaurs.

17. "Chamberlain" - used by the right to any one in Israel who wants peace.

18. "We all want Peace" used by the right to go on and attack the peace, without doing the very minimum to make peace.

19. "The Alon Plan" - a plan which hid it's eyes from the reality.  .


MK Nissim Zvilli
MK Nissim Zvilli   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Nissim Zvilli (Secretary of the Labor Party) ===============================================

"The right, when they were in the National Unity Government, fought against and ruined the chance to come to agreement with Jordan, the "Jordan Option". They were proud of it - and now we have to come to this agreement - or wars and suffering will be our part."

We will fight all those extreme oppositions, both Jews and Arabs!

[ he is then asked what he meant by this - and answered: ]

This is aimed at all those Jews who would use anti-democratic methods

-	we will have to fight them.

.


Opponents
Opponents of Rabin/Arafat Accord in Knesset Debate Main Arguments    Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Benny Begin

MK Yigal Bibi

MK Michael Eitan

MK Ovadia Eli

MK Ben-Elissar

MK Gutman

MK Zvullen Hammer

MK Tzachi HaNegbi

MK Uzi Landau

MK Ron Nachman

MK Benyamin Netanyahu

MK Ariel Sharon

MK Dov Shilansky

MK Rachavam Zeevi


Main Arguments of Opponents In Knesset Debate
Main Arguments of Opponents in Knesset Debate  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

1.  The PLO is no more a partner for peace now than when Arafat "recognized" Israel in the past.

2.  Arafat has broken hundreds of pacts,  promises  and treaties in  the  past; why will he keep this one?

3.  Arafat doesn't control most factionsof the PLO; most  factions openly say the war against  Israel will continue until there is no Israel.

4.  Arafat didn't revoke the PLO covenant, which calls for the destruction of Israel and the expulsion of the Jews.  His assurance that the Covenant is no longer  "relevant" means nothing and carries no legal standing.

5.  There  are  secret letters and protocols that the government is not revealing to the Knesset  or the public.

6.  Hamas and other Islamic fundamentalists openly say their war to exterminate the Jews will continue.  Arafat cannot act against them, even if disposed to do  so, because he'd  been branded  as a collaborator with the Jews.

7.  The Palestinians have given up  no claims under the accord.

8.  If the other side does not  stop their war against the Jews,  the Accord  does not give Israel the right to t ake  back what  it has given.  Israel  has no  remedies if Arafat's  promises turn out to be as  valuable as all of Arafat's past promises.

9.  The Arabs have not weakened  the  boycott of Israel, let alone ended it; not one  has recognized  Israel.  The international  benefits the Accord's proponents say are  coming won't come.


MK Benny Begin
MK Benny Begin   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Benny Begin (Likud)

======================

I came to the Knesset five years ago with the feeling that no peace will come to Israel without Israel Sovereignty over Judea Samaria Gaza and the Golan.

More than Israel guards the Land of Israel, the Land of Israel guards the people of Israel.

When this government wanted to get out of Gaza, the PLO said - without talking to us - you can't.

So Israel talked to the PLO. Then the PLO said - not so fast - first give us Jericho.

So Israel gave it Jericho, just take back Gaza!  Then the PLO said - not so fast - first give us a corridor from Gaza to Jericho.

So Israel agreed to that, just take back Gaza! Then the PLO said - not so fast - first give up on the Camp David principal that we won't have rights to make laws.

So Israel gave them this, just take back Gaza! Then the PLO said - not

so fast - first give us rights over all the land in the occupied territories.

So Israel gave this to them, just take back Gaza! Then the PLO said - not so fast - first give us right to speak about Jerusalem.

So Israel agreed, just take back Gaza! Then the PLO said - not so fast - first give us the right of Jerusalem Arabs to vote in the

autonomy elections.

So Israel gave them the right, just take back Gaza! Then the PLO said we need to show some sort of "meat" - we can't allow your soldiers to enter the cities, even if attackers of Jews are there.

So Israel said, O.K - but now, after we have given all this up, you must erase the clause in the Palestinian Covenant calling for the destruction of Israel.

You want us to take Gaza? We'll we need 2.3 to do this and can't

-	we will give you a letter, or one, at least, to the FM of Norway.

When will this government realize that not only do Arabs live in Gaza, Jericho, Samaria and Judea? They also live in The Galilee. Just this weekend, a demonstration against the agreement was held and called "a betrayal of the Palestinian People" and who was the main guest? The Arab mayor of Um-E l-Facham - an Israeli citizen!

.


MK Yigal Bibi
MK Yigal Bibi   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Yigal Bibi (NRP)

===================

We must all pray that, during these days, that no evil will come from our actions.

All this talk about "peace camps" and "war camps" among Israeli is nonsense. There is no such thing - we all want peace. The vision is different.

The media has done much wrong to the public I represent, the National Religious public. We have all seen the ugly trash, pictures of religious jews with long noses, fat belly's and murderous smiles looking for blood. All this talk about Jews in Yesha, how they do this and do that and there is no

 basis in reality!

Our vision of peace is based in our Torah. We belong to the vision of true world peace.

The coalition stands up here and tells us : What are you worried about? Zahal is so strong! We can always stop the violence!

And what is happening in the intifada - have you no eyes?  Has Zahal stopped the stones? The ninjas? The molitov cocktails? And how will they stop attacks from Palestine?

.


MK Michael Eitan
MK Michael Eitan  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Michael Eitan (Likud)

========================

The Labor is willing to give back the Lands of our Fathers (and you - the Labor agree to this!) and what do they say:

1)	Our security will be better

2)	Our economy will blossom

Now I ask: Who gives up historical lands just for "security" and money.

And I say this to the right also - all we are talking about it:  will this bring security or not?

Maybe we need to apologize to our Fathers, those who fought at Massada, those who fought in modiin, those who fought in Gamla, Jerusalem, and the Galilee that all we are talking about is if we can profit by giving up or not giving up our historical land?

Rabin says that he came to this agreement in order to stop the Palestinian State - and here is MK Yaakov Katz and says he is in favour of a Palestinian State - from Rabin's party!

[ MK Zucker calls out "No one can stop a Palestinian State! ]

.


MK Ovadia Eli
MK Ovadia Eli  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Ovadia Eli (Likud)

=====================

I want to start my speech by saying that I will vote in favour of a peace agreement.

[ here smiles come up on coalition faces, worry on the face of the opposition ]

A peace which brings in hundreds of thousands of Arabs to Judea and Samaria which will endanger Jews both in these areas and on the borders of the green line is no peace. An agreement without Abu Mussa, Jabril, Hammas and all the rest do not sign - this is no peace.

Peace which doesn't tell the people what they are getting in - this is no peace. The government is hiding the truth. tell them about the refugees. Tell them what is waiting for us in the "permanent agreement". Tell them what is really waiting for the Jews in Yesha.

[ the smiles and the worry go away ]

I respect the truthful talk of MK Oron - ' there will be two states for two people ' - but the government is still lying.

Anyone who heard Yassir Arafat just days ago in a meeting with the Foreign Ministers of the Arab League - hundreds of thousands of refugees!

And so I say again - I will vote for the peace agreement - this is no peace agreement. One that keeps Jerusalem Israeli, which guards our security, which does not bring in among us hundreds of thousands refugees, which is signed by the Palestinians and not just one faction - this agreement I wil l vote for.

.


MK Ben-Elissar
MK Ben-Elissar  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Ben-Elissar (Likud)

======================

When Chamberlain return to England with the infamous agreement from Munich, a junior minister (Churchill) in his government stood up and said: This is a loss for England! Today, I say the same to Rabin.

Listen to what Arafat said in the PLO discussions in Tunisia:

'We see this agreement only as a beginning to the complete withdrawal from *all* occupied Arab lands. This is the first time when Israel has recognized the Palestinian people, their just rights and the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. '

Correct, MK Burg - in a democracy, even one vote is a majority.  We have heard you say this time and time again in the last few days. But when has any democratic government ever brought such a paper with such far-reaching meaning for its people and then thinks that by winning a vote by one voice

 - a "majority" ?

We are not returning to 1967 - we are being brought back to 1949!  .


MK Gutman
MK Gutman  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Gutman (Moledet)

===================

They tell us: "The world has changed" Has it really changed? The wars in the old USSR rival Yugoslavia. More arms are being sold than ever before.

Yes. The world has changed - for the worse.

And on who does our tired Prime Minister put his trust? On Yassir Arafat.

Arafat says he cannot change the clause to destroy israel without a 2/3 vote - and here in Israel, Rabin can change all of our lives - with a simple vote of one voice.

The next on the agenda - the right of return. Close is the day where the Rabs will control from Tehran to Kfar Sava.

The rate of birth among Arabs in Israel (pre '67) which was declining in the 1970's and 80's , since the intifada is again rising. The Jewish and Druze birth rate is in decline. Soon there will be 20 -25 MK's in the Knesset.


MK Zvullen Hammer
MK Zvullen Hammer  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Zvullen Hammer (Leader - National Religious Party) ========================================================

Min. Shachal spoke of King Solomon, how he gave 20 cities in the Galilee to hiram King Zur.

Even when we pragmatically came to certqain agreements - we never gave up the rights over all of the Land of Israel.

This agreement which acknowledges "the mutual political rights" says we have no rights over Judea, Gaza and Samaria!

This will bring a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as it's capitol.

[ MK Dawarshe Arab Democratic Party - only East Jerusalem! ]

Rabin says there will be no PLO State - Arafat says there will.  Rabin says that Jerusalem will not be divided - Arafat says it will.  Rabin says No to the return of refugees - Arafat says there will be!

Who am I to believe after reading this agreement?

Mk Hammer also asked how they can accept a plan that they have not seen?

Min Shulamit Aloni asks: What about the autonomy agreement the Likud made in Camp- David?

.


MK Tzachi HaNegbi
MK Tzachi HaNegbi   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Tzachi HaNegbi (Likud)

=========================

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is what I thought when I saw, there on the White House lawn, how Yitzchak Rabin shook hands with Arafat.

I saw a strong, upright leader, one who can offord to do so, Arafat, stepped over to PM Rabin and put out his hand. Those few moments, where shocked and hesitent, looks at Arafat and you can see in his eyes, that he is beaten.

Yitzchak Rabin knew then, that he was beaten. He was only playing the part of some grey official inside of some colorful play that Yossi Sarid wrote. All he was, was the pen - how did Peres say a few months ago? "The agreement is made - all that is missing is the pen!"

Yitzchak is only the "pen" of Shimon Peres, of Yossi Beilen, of Yossi Sarid.


MK Uzi Landau
MK Uzi Landau  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Uzi Landau (Likud)

=====================

MK Landau asked the coalition about the return of the hundreds of thousands of refugees. Aswari says 800,000, we say 200,000 or in the sly language of the Foreign Ministry "many tens of thousands".

"And those refugees from Haifa, from Jaffa, from Tzfat and Migdal will sit in Schem, Hebron and Kalkiliyah and see their old homes - and they will not demand to return? Mubarak demanded taba - till the last centimeter - and they won't?" .


MK Ron Nachman
MK Ron Nachman  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Ron Nachman (Likud)

======================

This agreement will bring lebanonization 20 minutes from Ramat Aviv, will bring another 800,000 Arabs in to Judea, Samaria and Gaza and leave the 130,000 jews who live their to their own fate.

Rabin says "No Palestinian State" - He gets one.

Rabin says "We don't want to live with 1,750,000 Arabs among us"! What does he do? He brings in another 800,000.

Rabin told the soldiers on TV in the beginning of the intifada to "break their bones" - and then, during the court cases, you said you didn't mean it.

How can we believe you now?

Rabin says he will guard the 130,000 Jews in Yesha?  I have a letter here from the civilian authorities from Yesha from the 30th of August which says that even though that it was agreed that in Ariel, where I am the Mayor, there would be a civil guard, now they have decided against this.

You, Rabin will allow for 30,000 PLO "policemen" and you won't allow for a civil guard in Ariel?

You say that the settlements are an obstical to peace? Then how did you get to this agreement and not "touch" the settlements?  Logic says that we are not any obstical to peace.

Not only are the settlements no obstical to peace - we are an obstical to a Palastinian State - and this is why Meretz wants so bad to dry us up and see us go?

Do you know what is going on in Yesha - Rabin - when were you last time in one of the settlements in Yesha - 10 years ago?

What are we - 2nd class citizens?

On Rosh HaShana Eve, a couple of cars going to Ariel were stopped by gangs of celebrating Palestinians - celebrating with rocks and bottles. One of the cars called with a radio for help and the army said that they couldn't send out soldiers - that there were none.

And what will be when these soldiers aren't allowed by this agreement to come?

Have you ever seen children in side a car praying for their lives?

.


MK Benyamin Netanyahu
MK Benyamin Natanyahu   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

K Benyamin Natanyahu (Likud Leader)

MK Benyamin Natanyahu (Likud Leader)

====================================

Bibi Natanyahu's speech was full of continuous catcalls from the opposition and lasted more than an hour.

He started:

"We have just heard your pink picture you have drawn. Your words were pointed at the deep and natural feelings our hold people have towards justice and peace."

This agreement you have brought before us is based on - "hope" - not on reality. Agreements are based not on Hope, but on reality and security.

He mentioned that 21 years ago, the whole world was euphoric about the agreements between the US and North Vietnam. The world even had time to give out the Nobel Peace prizes. Barely - since North Vietnam then ran over Cambodia and S. vietnam and millions were

 killed while the world didn't care.

[the opposition disrupted the speech for 3-4 minutes]

The Israeli govt have agreed to a Palestinian State. What is the meaning of what is written in the beginning of the speech:  "mutual political rights"? This means a state. Kissinger knows this. He didn't vote Likud. The olympic committee who yesterday invited

"The Palestinian State" to the next Olympics knows this.  They didn't vote Likud.

There is no way back. This "tiny piece" you call Jericho will be given up withing four months. But within two years you will give back all the land!

Here Bibi N. reminds where these new borders will be. The Jer-T.A. Highway not only goes by this border but also passes through Palestinian territory. The last house in Kfar Sava is 200 meters from the border! The international airport Ben-Gurion is less than

a couple of kilometers from this border.

This agreement brings "Lebanon" which Zahal has fought so long for to keep far from our borders next to the very heart of our population.

The Jews in Yesha, you say you will not touch. No, not touch,

but rather - strangle. You say the army can enter the settlements.  You say that the army can travel on the roads. The terror won't come from inside the settlements ore on the roads. They will come from Ramallah - and then what will you do? Send soldiers to ve

rify that Jews were indeed killed?

These Jews, our brothers, these people who as Zionists, have lived under the fear of Arab terror, also live under the

relentless attacks and de-ligitimising of your party and the left. Just look at this!

[here Bibi shows the front page of a Tel-Aviv weekly "Ha-Ir" which has a drawing of a "settler" with a Kippah as a terrible blood thirsty monster]

How does this happen in Israel - this trash of anti-semitism?

[here, from the opposition, yells of "They deserve it!" and "We can't keep them from doing this!]

You say you wouldn't talk to the PLO - you did.

You say you won't give up the Jordan Valley - where is Jericho?  You said you wouldn't give up the Golan - are you willing to say so now? I am willing to allow you to say so now!

Jerusalem - you say that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel. Beilen says that there will be "quarters". There will be a "Palestinian quarter". Not only does no one reprimand him, but Min. Bar-Am is angry since "this will give ammunition to the oppositi

on" - he isn't against the idea!

What will you do when Arafat goes up on the Temple Mount with a Palestinian flag and says: The Temple Mount is in our hands?"

The autonomy you say - will only be a small piece of a Palestine entity. And what happens when the Palestinians swallow Jordan, or as Peres says, a confederation between the two? The Arafat can build his army and do what he wants. Then there will be continuous

 territory from Tel-Aviv to Jordan; to Iraq, to Iran.

[ Rabin smiles ]

Your people say: 'If they continue the violence, we will hit at them. We will break them.'

After thousands of attack on Lebanon, have we been able to break Lebanon? Countries who become a reality do not "disappear so easily".

The big difference between us is:

You say that security is based on peace. We say that peace is based on security.


MK Ariel Sharon
MK Ariel Sharon   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Ariel Sharon (Likud)

=======================

This could have been a different day. This could have been a day of wide national consensus. This could have been a day of peace with the Arabs.

They ask me - do you not trust Rabin? I can tell you that I knew Rabin in the army more than 40 years, I never had any

argument with this Rabin - I trust that Rabin - but this is a different Rabin!

Rabin who liberated our homeland in six days in 1967 gave it up in six days in 1993.

You don't trust Zahal? I want to say - and I know Zahal better than most of those sitting here - Zahal cannot do everything! I had to save our troops in 1973, I know very well the short comings of Zahal.

There is no way back! You didn't even put a clause where we could return! Before it is too late, at least do the following:

Take down the PLO flags on the walls of Jerusalem Don't allow the PLO to sit in Jerusalem!

Settle Jews in all of Jerusalem!

Don't let armed PLO troops in Israel!

Don't allow European troops in Israel!

Don't allow PLO armed police into the Jewish areas where this

will bring to war.

Strengthen the Jews in Yesha - stop the economic sanctions!

I call you - the police, the army, the citizens on the coast:  You are not defending the Jews in Yesha - *they* are guarding on your lives! They won't run away, while you Jews - and I am speaking as a Jew to Jews! - while you Jews dance with PLO thugs and wave their flag. How could you do this?

We Jews have shown such greatness in the mind, in culture, we

have given so much to the world, but this was as private people - as a "people" we have much to learn.

While you dance like Nero with PLO flags - *They* will stand strong on the hills of Judea, Samaria, Benyamin, Gush Etzion and guard your very lives - and they won't stand alone!

.


MK Dov Shilansky
MK Dov Shilansky  Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Dov Shilansky (Likud)

========================

What "Greater Israel" are they talking about? Can someone call "greater" when from Netanya to Jericho is a drive of under an hour?

We all remmember how exactly 20 years ago, the Arab armies surprised us and attacked. And if this happens after this agreement and within 15 minutes Arab tanks are on the sea shore of Tel-Aviv? .


MK Rachavam Zeevi
MK Rachavam "Gandhi" Ze'evi   Proponents  Opponents   Rabin/Arafat Accord  Links  Links  Links

MK Rachavam "Gandhi" Ze'evi - (Leader - Moledet) =================================================

"We, who taught the world that one cannot give in to terror, have given in to terror!"

The Secretary of the Labor Party said yesterday that we will ask to become a member of the Arab League. What will come next, will we ask to become Muslims? .


The 1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


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Many topic Links 1
Arab anti-Semitism  / topic list

Arab Terror Groups / topic list

Terror attacks on Jews/Israel

The Golan Heights: History, strategic value and Israel's diplomatic retreat

Syria: Recent history and conflict with Israel

Territory and Security

Jordan - the Arab state in Palestine

The Hebron Massacre

US security guarantees to Israel


Many topic Links 2
Israel compared to her neighbors

Geneva Convention, deportations, occupied territories  / topic list

United Nations

Quotations

The Yom Kippur War

The Six Day War

The 1982 War in Lebanon


Many topic Links 3
Jerusalem

Palestine and Palestinians

Jewish settlements in "occupied" territories

Water

Shimon Peres, the assimilated Jew

The Arab boycott of Jews/Israel

Arab Strategy in the Peace Process


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Contents_Arab_Jew_Hatred

arabhate_links1


water links


Short Syria, Golan water links
Dry, dangerous future

Articles: Water, Syria and the Golan


Long Syria, Golan water links
Dry, dangerous future

Articles: Water, Syria and the Golan

 Yom Kippur War: Syrian tanks almost reached main Israeli water pumping station

Syria will soon run a water deficit and the Sea of Galilee is all Israel has

Golan Heights: A hydrological description

The necessary security conditions for peace with Syria

Topological description of Golan's ciritical headwaters

Oct 92: Syria starts drilling for water underground

Turkey as a water source for Israel

1 Dec 93: Turkish-Syrian pact on water for controlling terrorists


rabin/arafat accord, settlements, palestine, west bank,
Cover sheet: Israel cannot relinguish its water supply

Cover sheet:  Background: Water, Israel and the Middle East

Jordanian artillery overlooked Tel-Aviv's main water pumping station

Appeasement of the PLO over water issues since the Rabin/Arafat Accord


egypt water links
Articles: Egypt, water and the Nile


Jordan water links
Jordan and water

Arabs on Mideast Water: statements, actions, diplomacy


Syria links


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Syrian participation in the drug trade

22 May 94: State Dept keeps Syria on drug and terrorism list

Interview with Ahmed Jibril

US Coverup One

US Coverup Two


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Jerusalem Institute Arab Media
THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE FOR WESTERN DEFENCE

PERIODIC NEWS DIGEST From The ARAB WORLD AND IRAN

Vol. 5, Digest July 1993

POINTS TO NOTE AND DEVELOPMENTS TO WATCH

Board of Directors:

Yohanan Ramati, Chairman

Shlomo Baum, Director of Research

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Shaul Ramati, Coordinator of Advisory Council 	Bernard Smith, Research Consultant

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Mailing Address:

Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence,

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ISRAEL

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Hatikva
Hatikva: News you haven't heard from Israel.

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The Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War  Links  Links   Links  Links  Links

During Yom Kippur War (Oct '73) Syrian tanks reached to within 6 miles of Israeli's main water pumping station.  Without the Golan Heights as a shock absorber for the attack, Syria would have cut off the water for 3/4  the nation, and the war probably would have been lost right there and then.  More


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Palestine and Palestinians
Palestine and Palestinians    Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

If you're like most people, you probably believe there's an  historical Palestinians people  who lived in  an historical Palestine that was conquered and dismembered by the  Jews.  Arabs called the area Sham.

Timeline: History of Palestine      Timeline: History of Jerusalem

Extensive outline chart of the concurrent histories of Jews, Christians and Moslems

The name West Bank.   More    Links

The origin and legal status of the West Bank

The name Palestine   More    Links   References

Palestine was a desolate backwater under Ottoman(Turkish) rule.    Example     Descriptions

The Zionsts recultivated and rebuilt Palestine

Have the Arabs ruled Palestine for thousands of years?

Moslems have never been a majority in Western Palestine (Israel and the "territories")

Arab claims that they built and the Jews despoiled Palestine.

The recent invention of Palestinian national identity as a tactic in the Arab/Moslem war against Zionism.

Greater Syria and Palestinian national identity; Arabs in Palestine adopted the identity as a variant of anti-Zionism   Section list

Quotations


contents_comment1
Most people believe there is an Arab Palestinian people of ancient origin.  That an Arab nation called Palestine has existed in the past.  Many believe that the Zionist "invasion" destroyed or displaced the ancient Arab nation of Palestine.  Others believe that Palestine existed in the West Bank and Gaza  - or perhaps they aren't too clear about exactly where - and was conquered by Israel in the 1967 war.

 That most people believe this is a testimony to Arab propaganda.  On second thought, perhaps it is more a testimony to the need for oil by western industrial economies. And the ownership of the media by huge conglomerates that sell heavily in Arab and Islamic markets, and earn hefty incomes from advertising by the oil companies.


Sham
Palestine was a Christian name.  Arabs knew the region as a part of Sham, the historic region of Syria, which included the modern states of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. This choice reflected a basic fact about the Levant, now often forgotten. Sham, is usually translated as "Greater Syria,"  What are the chances an Arab Moslem people of ancient origin would give themselves a national identity using a Christian-Crusader term for the region?


The West Bank
The West Bank    Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

How the West Bank was Named

Jewish settlements are built on stolen Arab property.


The West Bank: How it was named
How the West Bank was named.

        In 1948 Jordan captured Judea and Samaria in the 7-nation Arab war against Israel.  It killed or expelled all the Jews living there.  Then, it renamed the area the West Bank of Jordan.


Jordan renamed Judea and Samaria the West Bank in 1948
In early 1950, Jordanian King Abdullah annexed the districts of Judea, Samaria, and East Jerusalem, although only two nations, Britain and Pakistan, recognized his move.  In order to reduce Jewish claims to the area, the King dropped the biblical names Judea and Samaria and announced that the a nnexed land would be known as the West Bank of the Kingdom of Jordan, since it was located beyond the west bank of the Jordan River.

-Holy War for the Promised Land, by David Dolan, page 120


The Name Palestine
The Name Palestine  Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

Article on the name Palestine:  Philistine  origin, Roman  imposition.   References


How Palestine was named

The name Palestine is derived from the Philistines.  It was adopted by the Romans to replace Judea, the Jewish name for the region, after the Jewish rebellion against Roman rule was crushed.


The name Palestine: Philistine origin, Roman imposition
The name Palestine: Philistine origin, Roman imposition    Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

The name Palestine is derived from the Philistines, a seafaring people that invaded the coast of the land of Canaan from the sea around 1200BC, shortly after the Jewish conquest overland from the east.  The main Philistine dominions never extended much farther than the coastal strip between Gaza and today's Tel Aviv, and the Philistines disappeared as a people under the heel of the Babylonians. It was the Roman Empire (Hadrian), bent on destroying every vestige of Jewish attachment to the land, that invented the name Palestina to replace Judea, the historic name of the country.

 Thus according to Professor Bernard Lewis:

 The official adoption of the name Palestine in Roman usage to designate the territories of the former Jewish principality of Judea seems to date from after the suppression of the great Jewish revolt of Bar Kochba in the year 135CE...it would seem that the name Judea was abolished...and the country renamed Palestine or Syria Palestina, with the intention of obliterating its historic Jewish identity. (1)

 While this Roman name disappeared in the land itself shortly after the conquest by the Moslems(2), Christian cartographers kept the name alive in their own lands and eventually bequeathed it to the Allied negotiators at Versailles and the inhabitants of the land, the Allied negotiators at Versailles and the inhabitants of the land, who adopted it only after the British took control(after World War 1).  According to Professor (Bernard) Lewis:

 By the early twentieth century, with the predominance of European influence...the name Palestine came to be used even in the country (i.e., in Palestine).  This use was, however, in the main confined to Christians and to a very small group of westernized Muslims.  The name was not used officially, and had no precise territorial definition until it was adopted by the British to designate the area which they acquired by conquest at the end of World War 1. (3)

 Thus up until the twentieth century, the name Palestine referred exclusively to the ancient land of the Jews - as did the names Judea, Judah, Zion, and Israel.  It had never yet been argued that there existed a "Palestinian people" other than the Jews.  The Arabs who lived there were called Arabs, just as the Armenians, Turks, Druze and Circassians who migrated into Palestine were then still called Armenians, Turks, Druze, and Circassians.  With the exception of the Jews, who called the land "Eretz Yisrael" (The Land of Israel) and viewed it as their national home, all of these groups considered themselves as living in the realm of "Southern Syria."

-reprinted from A Place Among the Nations:  Israel and the World by Binyamin Netanyahu (New York: Bantam Books, 1993), page 4

References


whats_in_a_name.r
(1). Bernard Lewis, "The Palestinians and the PLO, a Historical Approach," Commentary, January 1975, page 32

(2), Bernard Lewis, Semites and Anti-Semites, New York, Norton 1986, page 169

(3). Ibid.


Palestine under Turkish rule: a desolate backwater from 1517 until the Zionist return
Palestine under Turkish rule: a desolate backwater from 1517 until the Zionist return  Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

Until the Jews began their return to their homeland in the 1880s, Palestine did not support a civilization.  It was a backwater province of the Ottoman(Turkish) empire.  Palestine was sparsely populated.  Its land and architecture lay in ruins, largely uncultivated.

Comment on the objectivity of old books written about Palestine

Descriptions of Palestine under Ottoman rule


Comment:  Books written at the time
Comment:  Books written at the time  Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

Some people argue that Europeans or Americans who traveled to the Holy Land before the most recent times were unreliable witnesses who downplayed or falsely diminished Moslem accomplishments for one of two reasons.  Some were devout Christians who resented Moslem control of the Holy Land.  Others were secular snobs, so convinced of the superiority of European civilization that they found Arabs personally distasteful, and their civilization backward and inferior.

False.

 For an example, from The Land That Is Desolate: an account of a tour in Palestine, by Sir Frederick Treves, Serjeant-surgeon to H.M. the King.  London.  Smith, Elder & Co. 1912

 ... It is a passage(from Port Said in Egypt to the port of Jaffa in Palestine) that appeals as much to the imagination as does any the Knight of St. Albans ventured upon.  From the very new to the very old!  Among towns of any pretence in the world Port Said is probably the newest and rawest.  It was called into being by a very modern engineering enterprise...page 2

 Now Damascus is not only the largest city in Syria, but it is one of the greatest cities in the world...page 205

 The city of Damascus is in many ways wonderful, in certain ways unique...page 208

 The city no doubt has had its evil days, its visitations of war, pestilence, and fire, but it would appear to have never been for long cast down...One can believe that it must have possessed some fountain of eternal youth it must have possessed some fountain of eternal youth that bubbled in its midst, so that the throng in its streets never lessened, nor was the voice of joy and contentment ever hushed in the gardens without its walls...page 209

And, on the Arabs of Palestine:

 As an agreeable contrast to these unwholesome cellbred manikins(Greek priests) is the Bedouin with his keen eye, his well- squared shoulders, his sunburnt limbs, and his splendid carriage.  He wears a colored cloth over his head bound with a cord made of black wool or of...he is in every step of his stride a strong man, free and self-reliant..page 52-53


Palestine under the Turks

Until the Jews began their return in the 1880s, Palestine did not support a civilization.  It was a backwater province of the Ottoman(Turkish) empire.  Palestine was sparsely populated.  Its land and architecture lay in ruins, largely uncultivated.


Palestine in Ruins under the Turks: Examples
Palestine in Ruins under the Turks: Examples   Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

Palestine Illustrated, by Sir Richard Temple, 1888

The Land That is Desolate, by Sir Frederick Treves, 1912

Forty years in Israel, by Unto Kunnas, 1988

Those Holy Fields, by Rev. Samuel Manning, 1874

From Time Immemorial, by Joan Peters, 1984: summarizing of older documentation

The Land and the Book, by W. M. Thompson, 1866

Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain, describing his trip in the 1860s


Example from the  Land that  is Desolate
Looking across this featureless country, so poverty-stricken, so miserly, and so threadbare, one cannot but ask:  Is this the 'glorious land,' and land 'that floweth with milk and honey,'

-The Land That Is Desolate: an account of a tour in Palestine, by Sir Frederick Treves, Serjeant-surgeon to H.M. the King.  London.  Smith, Elder & Co. 1912. Page 128


Palestine Illustrated, by Sir Richard Temple, 1888
Palestine Illustrated, by Sir Richard Temple, 1888 Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

Proceeding(from Jaffa to Jerusalem) onward from the ridge, we skirt the heights over the partly cultivated valley of Ajalon of Joshua.  The hill-sides and slopes are striped with horizontal and parallel marks, which at first look like rock-strata.  But they prove to be the marks of ruined terraces.  Here was that terraced cultivation which once supplied the agtricultural wealth of Palestine.  Here were once the vineyards, the fig-orchards, the olive-groves.  But during the distresses of many centuries, the stone walls of the terraces fell out of  repair, the masonry dropped away piecemeal, the fertile soil, which had been thus sustained, ws loosened, the descending rains washed away the earth with dipapidated stones, and so the garden culture disappeared.  Now the fragments still preserving some of their original lines, that chocked-up cisterns, the stumps of aged trees, are all

that remain as traces of the skill and industry that once abounded here.\par -Palestine Illustrated, Sir Richard Temple, 1888.  Pages 21-22

 ...Within these mountains(Judea) was the scene of the conclusive events of sacred history both before and after the advent of Our Lord.  Remembering this, the taveller is awe-struck by the sight of the rounded summits, the limestone crags, the desolate hill-sides, the pervading aspect of ruin and decay.

-Palestine Illustrated, Sir Richard Temple, 1888


The Land That is Desolate, by Sir Federick Treves, 1912
The Land That is Desolate: an account of a tour in Palestine, by Sir Frederick Treves  Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

Looking across this featureless country, so poverty-stricken, so miserly, and so threadbare, one cannot but ask:  Is this the 'glorious land,' and land 'that floweth with milk and honey,'

-The Land That Is Desolate: an account of a tour in Palestine, by Sir Frederick Treves, Serjeant-surgeon to H.M. the King.  London.  Smith, Elder & Co. 1912. Page 128

 ...the Promised Land has been for centuries ravaged by war and torn by internal dissensions...the country, sick unto death, has fallen into the baneful care of  Turkey.  Forests have been recklessly cut down and woods rooted up...Vineyard terraces have fallen into ruin and water channels into decay.  Obsolete processes of cultivation have ...

-The Land That Is Desolate: an account of a tour in Palestine, by Sir Frederick Treves, Serjeant-surgeon to H.M. the King.  London.  Smith, Elder & Co. 1912. Page 129


Forty years in Israel, by Unto Kunnas, 1988
Forty years in Israel, by Unto Kunnas, 1988  Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

The land was under Turkish control from 1517 to 1917, and Turkey destroyed this land thoroughly.  The rulers enacted ridiculous laws; for example, one which required taxes to be paid for live trees.  The people cut down the trees so they wouldn't have to pay taxes! This country therefore ended up in a truly wretched condition.

-Kaarlo Syvanto-Pioneer: Forty years in Israel, Unto Kunnas, 1988, page 303-304

During the Turkish occupation...the flat land of Jisreel, in the middle of Israel...about fifty kilometers long and ten kilometers wide...was so greatly infested with malaria that thousands of people died, especially during the time when no effective medicine to cure this disease was known.  Th e Jew did a tremendously effective job of draining the Jisreel Valley, which the Bible calls Armageddon...

-Kaarlo Syvanto-Pioneer: Forty years in Israel, Unto Kunnas, 1988,


Those Holy Fields, by Rev. Samuel Manning, 1874
Those Holy Fields, by Rev. Samuel Manning, 1874  Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

...the Land is left void and desolate and without inhabitants. -Those Holy Fields, by Rev. Samuel Manning, 1874


From Time Immemorial, by Joan Peters, 1984: summarizing of older documentation
From Time Immemorial, by Joan Peters, 1984: Summarizing of older documentation  Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

We have seen strong evidence that the Holy Land was inhabited only sparsely in the nineteenth century.  For centuries the non-Jewish, particularly the Muslim, peoples who did inhabit the land had been largely composed of a revolving immigrant population...the majority of those inhabitants were migrants and peasants originating in other lands...

-From Time Immemorial(New York: Harper and Row), Joan Peters, 1984, page 196


The Land and the Book, by W. M. Thompson, 1866
The Land and the Book, by W. M. Thompson, 1866 Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

How melancholy is this utter desolation! Not a house, not a trace of inhabitants, not even shepherds...to relieve the dull monotony...Isaiah says that Sharon shall be wilderness, and...(it) has become a sad and impressive reality."

-The Land and the Book, W. M. Thompson, 1866


Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain, describing his trip in the 1860s
Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain, describing his trip in the 1860s Links  Links   LInks  Links  Links

...the hallowed spot where the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and where the angels sang, 'Peace on earth, good will to men,' is untenanted by any living creature...and the 'desert places' around about them...sleep in the hush of a solitude that is inhabited only by birds of prey and s kulking foxes."

-Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain, describing his trip in the 1860s.


Arab Palestinian identity began in 1920, *not* ages ago
Arab Palestinian identity began in 1920, *not* ages ago  Sham  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

Palestinian admissions that the Palestinian identity has been fabricated for political purposes.

Pre-'48 claims to a Syrian identity by local Arab leaders and organizations

Observers early this and late last century.  Arabs in the region had little or no national identity.  Their identity centered around Islam.

Syria and Palestinian nationalism.  Arabs in Palestine after world war one regarded themselves as Syrians.  They invented "Palestinianism" about 1920 as an argument against Jewish sovereignty.  Thumbnail sketch.    Important section:  1918-20: local Arab Congresses and organizations profess a Syrian identity and demand integration with Syria.    Section list


Thumbnail sketch
Syria opposes a Palestinian state because it regards Lebanon, Jordan and "Palestine" as part of greater Syria.  This region has cultural, geographic and ecological similarities;  its members speak the same dialect of Arabic,  There  are widespread family ties  throughout the region.  However, it was never a political unit.  Nationalism arose in Europe in the 1700s; reaching the Moslem world this century.  At the beginning of this century, Arabs in Palestine quite adamantly insisted Palestine be part of Syria, eschewing a Palestinian identity with great hostility.  After France subdued Syria in 1920, Arab intellectuals suddenly adopted "Palestinianism" over the vehement objections of Syria.  At the time Arab intellectuals in Palestine were not so sophisticated as now, so frankly admitted the nationalism was an invention to combat Jewish sovereignty.


Greater Syria, a Palestinian State and the peace process
Greater Syria, a Palestinian State and the peace process  Next  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Palestine, Syria and The Peace Process - An In-Depth Study

HaTikvah Informational Series

To point out the danger of an "independent" Palestinian State, it is imperative that we understand the history of the region. Many Palestinians" are unhappy with the authoritarian regime of Yassir Arafat and defer to the populist Hamas group.

Hamas, HizbALLAH, and other terrorist groups operate with the complicity of Syria and ultimately Iran. Hizballah. for example, is an open and legitimate political party in Syria and uses Syria as a base of operations for its attacks upon Israel.

To suggest that Syria would stand idly by while an area it considers as part of its national birthright declares independence is a futile and self destructive concept. To deliver the Golan to Syria is strategically destructive as Syria will only use the area in future attacks upon Israel to regain that which was once theirs.

Settlements are Israel's first line of defense and to remove them is beyond comprehension and as stated by General Rabin in his election campaign: "Anyone who thinks of abandoning Ramat a'Golan is abandoning the security of the State of Israel."


Syria's use of terror groups as an instrument of foreign policy
Syria's use of terror groups as an instrument of foreign policy  Prev  Next  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

Syrian Sponsored Terrorism and Attempts to Regain Palestine

Terrorism in the Middle East does not stem exclusively, or even largely, from the unresolved Palestinian problem; rather it has become a tool of certain Middle East regimes to serve their internal and external policies.

As CIA Director William Casey stated in May 1986: "Libya, Syria and Iran use terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy. They hire and support established terrorist organizations. These countries make their officials, their embassies' their diplomatic pouches, their communications channels an d their territory as safe havens for these criminals to plan, direct and execute bombing, assassination, kidnapping and other terrorist operations." [Washington Post, May 22, 1986]

In recent years most terrorist activities carried out in the Middle East and many terrorist operations executed in various European countries were currently sponsored or directed by those three countries' in their attempt to fight their enemies and advance their political objectives. 	Furthermore, according to certain evaluations, Iran, Syria and Libya not only have coordinated their terrorist operations, but they are part of a global network of terrorism, headed by the PLO and comprised of some twenty terrorist organizations in Europe, Asia, East Africa and the Middle East; and its common aim is to undermine and damage the political and economic interests of the West, notably the U.S. and Israel. (Daniel Pipes, "Syria: The Cuba of the Middle East," Commentary, July 1986, pp. 15-18)

Whether or not such evaluations are correct, this write up merely focuses attention on the role of Assad's Syria in state-run terrorism in the Middle East and beyond. For it would appear that among the three Middle East countries which are engaged in terrorism, Syria has developed in the last decade or so perhaps the best organized and most elaborate terrorist apparatus in the region under the guidance of President Assad.

Indeed, despite his strong denials, Assad has systematically and coldly used this apparatus in order to get rid of, or neutralize, both his domestic and external Arab enemies, as well as to advance his political goals in Syria and in other countries. He has done this besides directing, sponsori ng or encouraging (what he calls and admits using) guerrilla warfare against Israel in southern Lebanon as well as in the occupied territories.  To be sure Assad's state-run terrorist machinery operates through several of his dozen security and intelligence networks, which were established durin g the 1970's to protect his life and regime. Thus, for example, the General Intelligence Service and the "Defense Detachments" (the latter being until 1984 under the command of his brother Rifat) have been in charge of eliminating the domestic enemies of the regime; the Air Force intelligence, u nder the command of General Muhammad Khuli (or Khawli) directs terrorist operations against various targets abroad; while another intelligence officer Colonel Ghazi Kanan, coordinates various clandestine operations in and from Lebanon.

Unlike the terror-style operations within Syria, which are e xecuted by Syrian intelligence agents and army troops, many of Assad's sponsored terrorist and guerrilla actions outside Syria have been carried out by various non-Syrian surrogates -- organizations and individuals alike -- under Syrian guidance and direction. Israel: the Prime target

It would appear that Assad's employment of guerrilla and terrorist actions started initially in the mid-1960's, and was directed primarily against Israel as part of his strategy to fight the Jewish state. Serving as Syria's Air Force Commander and Defense Minister, Assad assisted the Fatah Pale stinian Organization with arms, training facilities and intelligence, assigning it to carry out subversive activities inside Israel. These operations, as we know, constituted one of the factors leading to the June 1967 war (which Assad at that time was not yet prepared to fight).

After coming to power in 1970, Assad continued to use the Palestinian guerrilla organizations against Israel, although not through the Syrian-Israeli cease-fire line. In addition to assisting the PLO, Assad employed the state-run (and partly Syrian-manned) Palestinian guerrilla organizations: n amely, the "Saiqa" led by Zuhayr Muhsin, and the PFLP -- "the General Command," led by Ahmad Jibril.  Until the eruption of the 1975 Lebanese civil war, these groups operated mainly against targets inside Israel. Yet, in at least one case, in September 1973, "Saiqa" agents reportedly hijacked a train carrying Russian Jews into Austria, apparently as part of Assad's tactics to distract Israel from Syria's reparations for the October 1973 war. (Near East Report, Washington, D.C., March 3, 1986, p. 36)

Following this war, while waging a campaign of attrition against the Israeli army in the Golan during his negotiations with Kissinger, Assad refused to commit himself to prevent Syrian-based (Palestinian) guerilla activities against Israel. And although in practice he has not permitted such act ivities from the Syrian-Israeli cease fire line since 1974, Assad has encouraged and initiated guerrilla and terrorist actions against Israeli and Jewish targets in Israel, Lebanon and Europe, carried out particularly by Syrian proxies.


Nationalism arose in Europe in the 1700s, reaching the Mideast this century
Nationalism arose in Europe in the 1700s, reaching the Mideast this century   Prev  Next  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

Many feel that Palestinian nationalism has been active as long as Jews and Arabs have been living at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. And as Yasser Arafat rides high since his declaration of a Palestinian state, there is an understandable tendency in the West to accept at face value his insistence that the Palestinians have always sought an independent Palestinian state. In fact, this is far from the truth. The idea of an Arab state resting between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is rather, a twentieth-century concept. In January 1920, Palestinian nationalism hardly existed; by December of that critical year, it had been born.

The events of 1920 encapsulate the current successes and tribulations of the Palestinian movement. They foreshadow some abiding themes, such as the potential for rapid change and the major role of the Western powers. They also provide insight into the most widely supported but possibly the leas t successful nationalist cause of this century.

Palestinian nationalism cannot be age-old. To begin with, nationalism itself originated only in late eighteenth-century Europe, and took hold among the Muslims even more recently. Until the early years of this century, the ancestors of today's Palestinians had thought of themselves mainly in terms of religion. Islam emphasized bonds between fellow-believers, allowing little scope for territorially bound loyalties among Muslims. Like it or not, adherents of other religions also found themselves arrayed along religious lines. Co-religionists shared strong bonds, but they had few ties outside their own community.  Religious lines became residence lines: except for specific commercial or political purposes. Little intermingling took place. A sense of common political identity was entirely lacking. And in addition to religious ties, loyalties were tied primarily to family; then came other genealogical relations, as well an some ethnic, regional, linguistic, and class bonds.

When nationalism reached the Middle East from Europe, it captivated Middle Easterners as much as it did other peoples. The dream of governments embodying the spirit of their people was utterly alien, to be sure, but it excited many. The difficulty in the Middle East, as in most places, was exactly how to apply the national ideal.  Where would the boundaries be placed? Did the Maronite Christians constitute a nation of their own? Did the Christians of the Levant?  The Syrians? The Arabs? The Muslims? ln the early years of this century, theorists took each of these peoples as the basis for grandiose plans for their favorite nation.


Palestine was a Christian concept; Arabs saw it as a Zionist victory
Palestine was a Christian concept; Arabs saw it as a Zionist victory  Prev  Next  Links    Linkspalestine_and_palestinians_internal_links_1   LInks  Links  Links

But not a single writer imagined a Palestinian nation, and for good reason. Palestine had always been, and at that time remained, a Jewish and Christian concept, utterly foreign to the Muslims. Eretz Israel and Terra Sancta have no analogue in Islam. Muslims look to the Hijaz, not Palestine, for their most sacred landmarks. Further, there has never been an independent state in Palestine ruled by Muslims:  such states that were brought into existence were ruled either by Jews or Christians.

Muslim distaste for the very notion of Palestine was confirmed in April 1920, when the British authorities carved out a Palestinian entity. The Muslims' response was one of extreme suspicion. They saw the delineation of this territory as an victory for the Zionists in their more paranoid moment s, they even thought it reflected lingering crusader impulses among the British.

The Zionists, by contrast, rejoiced at the formal defining of a Palestine, correctly seeing it as a major step on the road to Theodore Herzl's Judenstaat. (the term "Palestine," which today symbolizes the Arab rejection of Israel, served the Jews not long ago as a symbol of Jewish nationalism).

This point cannot he overemphasized, Palestine was brought into existence by British imperial authorities, not by Arabs; further, Muslims felt defeated by the British carving out a distinct Palestinian entity. I know of no Palestinian endorsing this action when it took place in 1920, to the contrary, every recorded opinion suggests intense opposition.

What, then, was the objective of the Arabs living between the Jordan and the Mediterranean? What political unit did they endorse? To the extent that there was any proto-national unit to the east of the Mediterranean Sea, it was not called Palestine but Sham, the historic region of Syria, which included the modern states of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. This choice reflected a basic fact about the Levant, now often forgotten: Sham, usually translated as "Greater Syria," was a truly age-old ecological and cultural (but not political) unit.

Like Egypt, Arabia, Yemen, and the other large traditional units of the Middle East, it had geographic boundaries and ecological characteristics that made it distinct from adjoining areas. It constituted the western part of the Fertile Crescent, a dry region that supports life when - and only w hen - tended with great care.  Residents of this area share a physical typology and an extended family structure. They speak Arabic with a distinctive lilt and prepare foods in a similar fashion. Just after World War 1, a meeting of Arabs called for a united Syria on the basis that "the people s peak Arabic; they are intermarried and have many links of kinship; and commerce has for ages moved freely between them. Even so, Pan-Syrian sentiment was extremely weak before World War II; Greater Syria was, after all, only a proto-nationalist unit. Europeans and Westernized Syrians often remar ked on the absence of national solidarity.  Testimony on this subject is unanimous. The well-informed author of a British travel guide to Greater Syria noted in the mid-nineteenth century that "patriotism is unknown. There is not a man in the country, whether Turk or Arab, Mohammedan or Christia n, who would give a para [penny] to save the empire from ruin; that is, if he be not in government pay. . . . The patriotism of the Syrian is confined to the four walls of his own house; anything beyond them does not concern him." Gertrude Bell, a knowledgeable British observer wrote in 1907 that "Syria is merely a geographical term corresponding to no national sentiment in the breasts of the inhabitants." K. T. Khairallah noted in 1912 that "Syrian society did not exist in the past. There was nothing but distinct and often hostile groups. . . . Society was based on a despotism of brutal force modeled on that of the ruler."


1918-20: local Arab congresses & organizations profess Syrian identity
1918-20: local Arab congresses & organizations profess Syrian identity  Prev  Next  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

By the end of World War 1 in November 1918, however, the notion of a Syrian nation had made considerable headway among the Arabs of Palestine. They agreed almost unanimously on the existence of a Syrian nation. With few exceptions, they identi- fied with the Syrian Arab government in Damascus, headed by Prince Faysal, a member of the Hashemite family. Palestinian enthusiasm for Pan-Syrian unity steadily increased through mid-1920.

There is ample evidence for this enthusiasm. Three major Palestinian organizations propounded Pan-Syrian ideas in the immediate aftermath of World War 1: the Arab Club, the Literary Club, and the Muslim-Christian Association. (Note that none of these names makes any mention of Palestine). The f irst two groups went furthest, calling outright for unity with Syria under Faysal. Even the Muslim-Christian Association, an organization of traditional leaders men who would expect to rule if Palestine became independent - demanded incorporation in Greater Syria.

The Muslim-Christian Association held a congress in January-February 1919 to draw up demands to submit to the Paris Peace Conference. Representatives of fourteen Palestinian cities and towns presented a petition calling for Southern Syria to be "inseparable from the independent Arab Syrian government." The congress declared Palestine "nothing but part of Arab Syria and it has never been separated from it at any stage." The delegates saw Palestine tied to Syria by, "national, religious, linguistic, moral, economic, and geographic bonds." On the basis of this view, they called for a Pal estine that would remain "undetached from the independent Arab Syrian Government."

Musa Kazim al-Husayni, head of the Jerusalem Town Council (in effect, mayor) told a Zionist questioner in October 1919: "We demand no separation from Syria." According to Ahmad ash-Shuqayri (the man who headed the PLO in the 1960's), the ubiquitous slogan of 1918-19 was "Unity, Unity, From the Taurus [Mountains] to Rafah [in Gaza], Unity, Unity." The same appeal echoed from all corners. A singer in Ramla encouraged her "enraptured listeners," to join Faysal's forces. From San Salvador, of all places, a protest in March 1919 went out from the "Syrian Palestinians," to international lea ders calling for "no separation between Syria and Palestine" and expressing hope that "Syria and Palestine remain united." The Salvadorans declared: "We trust that if Syria and Palestine remain united, we will never be enslaved by the Jewish yoke."

A congress of Palestinians met in Damascus in February 1920 and strongly advocated Pan-Syrian unity. One speaker suggested that Palestine stood in the same relationship to Syria as Alsace-Lorraine did to France. According to a contemporary newspaper report,

Izsat Darwaza spoke about Palestine and [the need for Syrian unity, then he submitted a statement for general opinion. No one disagreed with him. The discussion proceeded further on this matter; some participants wanted not to mention Palestine but to use the expression Greater Syria for all the regions of Syria, and they were applauded.

The Congress passed four resolutions. The first of them noted that "it never occurred to the peoples of Northern and coastal Syria that Southern Syria (or Palestine) is anything but a part of Syria." The second called for an economic boycott of the Zionists in "all three parts of Syria" (meanin g the whole of Greater Syria). The third and fourth resolutions called for Palestine "not to be divided from Syria" and for "the independence of Syria within its natural borders."

The crowning of Faysal as King of Syria in March 1920 elicited strong Pan-Syrian reactions among the Arabs of Palestine. The British military governor of Palestine received a petition (bearing Amin al-Husayni's signature) that demanded the eradica- tion of borders with Syria and the inclusion o f Palestine in a Syrian union.

Musa Kazim al-Husayni broke his promise not to engage in politics and spoke from the municipality building's balcony in praise of Faysal. Arif al-Arif led a mass demonstration in Jerusalem in which the participants carried pictures of Faysal and called for unity with Syria.


April 1920 Palestine separated from Syria; Arab abruptly change their identity
April 1920 Palestine separated from Syria; Arab abruptly change their identity   Prev  Next  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

Then, in April, came the sobering news from San Remo that the British and French governments had decided to separate Palestine from Syria and to keep both territories under their control. This precipitated protests from all parts of Palestine. New calls went out for the independence of a united

 Syria stretching from Turkey to the Sinai.

These and many other indications point to two indisputable facts:  until July 1920, the Palestinian goal was to join in a union with Syria, while the aspiration of an independent Palestinian state barely existed. Matters changed quickly in the next few months, however.

The French conquered Damascus and scuttled the Arab kingdom ruled over by Faysal in July 1920. One result was that Syrians came to devote almost all their attention to the issue of French rule, leaving very little time or concern for Palestine. Another was that, for Palestinians, the attractive ness of a Syrian connection faded away.  Why be joined to Damascus, the Palestinians felt, if this meant rule by Paris? Palestinian leaders came to recognize that they were on their own against the British and the Zionists. From that point on, they sought to establish an autonomous Arab governme nt in Palestine which would be ruled by themselves, not by politicians in Damascus.  Herein lay the origins of Palestinian nationalism.

This reorientation was made formal by the Third Palestinian Congress, meeting in December 1920. Delegates at the Congress decided to drop the appellation Southern Syria and to stop demanding the joining of Palestine with Syria. At this moment, Palestine became acceptable to the Muslims; and it would not be long before they would actually find it appealing.

Subsequent meetings confirmed this new identity. When the Syrian Congress (the main exile organization dedicated to building Greater Syria) met in August 1921, Palestinians would no longer endorse the unity of Greater Syria. They even compelled the organization to rename itself The Syro-Palesti nian Congress and to issue a statement calling for the "independence of Syria and of Palestine." A year later, Palestinians withdrew from this Congress.


Arabs in Palestine drift from Pan-Syrianism over Zionism
Arabs in Palestine drift from Pan-Syrianism over Zionism  Prev  Next  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

This rapid switch suggests that, despite the apparent solidity of Palestinian interest in union with Syria, the sentiment was always precarious. In large part, this has to do with the two sides, Syrian and Palestinian, having had different expectations. Prince Faysal, who, along with many Syrians in 1918-20, saw the Zionists as a less pressing danger than the Maronites of Lebanon, was willing to work with the Jews if they could help him achieve his Greater Syrian goal.  In January 1919. for example, he reached an agreement with the Zionists. In return for Faysal's promise "to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale," he won Zionist backing for his campaign against the French. (But this agreement was contingent on Britain keeping France out of Syria; and since this was not done, the accord did not take effect). Soon after in a letter to Felix Frankfurter, Faysal noted that "there is room in Syria for both of us."

Palestinian leaders, in contrast, saw Zionists as the pre-eminent problem. In their eyes, Faysal's standing depended almost exclusively on his ability to help to help them against the Zionists. In late 1918, the Palestinians considered Faysal (in the words of a French diplomat) the only Arab leader "capable of resisting the Jewish flood" into Palestine. Faysal's subsequent willingness to deal with the Zionists diminished Palestinian backing for him.

This divergence in outlook created tensions between Syrian and Palestinian leaders from the moment World War 1 ended in November 1918. Signs of disaffection were apparent within three months of Faysal's arrival in Damascus, and they grew with time. Already in early 1919, the Muslim-Christian Association resolved that Palestine "should be part of Southern Syria, provided the latter is not under foreign control." The Association's Jerusalem branch went farther, calling for an independent government in Palestine to be only "politically associated" with Syria. It authorized Faysal "to represent Palestine and defend it at the Paris Conference," on the understanding that Palestine would enjoy full autonomy within a Syrian union. And while Arir Pasha ad-Gjjani, president of the Muslim-Christian Association, insisted that "Palestine or Southern Syria - an integral part of the one and indivisible Syria, - must not in any case or for any pretext be detached," he also had doubts about rule from Damascus.

It must be also be noted that arguments against connections to Damascus appeared in the press as early as 1919. The Arab Club was the first nationalist institution to abandon Faysal's leadership. Despite its name, the newspaper Suriya al-Janubiya (Southern Syria) led the campaign away from Pan- Syrianism, arguing that Syrians had become too absorbed in their conflict with France to pay enough attention to the Zionist challenge. In January 1920, when Faysal returned empty-handed from his second trip to Europe, some top Palestinians began to see him as not essential to their cause, an im pression reinforced by the lack of Syrian response to the Jerusalem riots of April 1920.

But these strains had only limited importance. Syrian and Palestinian leaders effectively minimized their differences until July 1920, for both had an interest in Prince Faysal's success.


Arabs invent "Palestinianism" as a tactic against Zionism
Arabs invent "Palestinianism" as a tactic against Zionism  Prev  Next  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

What accounts for the extremely rapid collapse of Pan-Syrian sentiment in Palestine? Yehoshua Porath, the leading historian of Palestinian nationalism, argues in his 1974 book, The Emergence of the Palestinian-Arab National Movement 1918-1929, that Palestinians supported Pan-Syrianism only as long as it served them but abandoned it when it no longer had utility. In contrast to Syrians' who tended to see Pan-Syrianism as an end in itself, he says, Palestinians saw it as a means, a weapon in the battle against Zionism; it was weak because it only served ulterior purposes. Being treated as part of Syria had three advantages in the years 1918-20. A joint Anglo-French declaration of November 1918 promised, "to encourage and assist the establishment of native governments and administrations in Syria and Mesopotamia," not Palestine.

This declaration made it desirable for Palestine to be seen as part of Syria. Also, associating with the larger Muslim population of Greater Syria offered a way to overwhelm the Jewish immigrants demographically. And alliance with Faysal gave Palestinians a relatively powerful protector. 	According to Porath. the French conquest of Damascus caused these advantages to disappear:

Disappointment over the moderation of the Syrians toward Zionism cooled the Palestinians' enthusiasm for the idea of Pan-Syrian unity. . . . The orientation towards Damascus was based less on the growth of nationalism around this area [i.e., Greater Syria] than upon a given political situation. When this situation changed, the foundations of the Pan-Syrian movement collapsed.

All these points are correct, but not the implication that Pan-Syrian nationalism was merely a tactic while Palestinian nationalism appealed to deep sentiments. The reverse is closer to the truth. Existing sentiments fitted better within Greater Syria than Palestine. Palestinians abandoned Pan- Syrianism and replaced it with Palestinian separatism for tactical reasons, not out of heartfelt sentiment. Porath himself quotes one Palestinian leader who openly admitted this. Only days after the fall of Faysal's government, Musa Kazim al-Husayni declared "after the recent events in Damascus, we have to effect a complete change in our plans here. Southern Syria no longer exists. We must defend Palestine."

Kamil ad,Dajjani explained many years after the event that "the collapse of Faysal's rule in Syria and the disappointment of the hopes that were pinned upon that rule, made Palestinians feel that the orientation toward a Greater Syria bore no fruit." Palestinian nationalism originated not in spontaneous feelings but in calculated politics, and a long time passed before the emotional appeal of this premeditated and novel allegiance matched that of pan-Syrian nationalism."

In short, the Palestine concept served better than that of Greater Syria. It allowed the Arab leaders of Palestine to speak the same political language as the Zionists and the British. Rather than refer to some outside source of authority, they could claim sovereignty for themselves. In the process, they evolved from provincial notables into independent actors. Thus, tactical considerations caused the rapid rise of Palestinian nationalism.

Ultimately, Palestinian nationalism originated in Zionism; were it not for the existence of another people who saw British Palestine as their national home, the Arabs would have continued to view this area as a province of Greater Syria. Zionism turned Palestine into something worthy in itself;  if not for the Jewish aspirations, Sunni Arab attitudes toward Palestine would no doubt have resembled those toward the territory of Transjordan - an indifference only slowly eroded by many years of governmental effort. Palestinian nationalism promised the most direct way to deal with the challenge presented by Zionist settlers - a challenge never directly felt on the East Bank.


Palestinian nationalist firebrand Husseini started as Syrian partisan
Palestinian nationalist firebrand Husseini started as Syrian partisan  Prev  Next  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

The career of Al-Hajj Muhammad Amin al-Husayni (1895-1974), the long-time Mufti of Jerusalem, dramatizes the switch from Pan-Syrianism to Palestinian nationalism.

Husayni began as a partisan of Greater Syria. He wrote sentimentally about ties between Syrians and Palestinians during World War 1. When the Hashemites launched the Arab revolt, breaking the Ottoman Empire's four centuries' control over the Levant, Husayni saw this as a more effective way to block the Zionists, As Philip Mattar, a biographer of the Mufti, writes: "Since it appeared futile for the Arabs to oppose British rule, Amin believed the only practical approach was to attempt to change the British Balfour policy by organizing mass support for reuniting Syria and Palestine, which would then work together against Zionism."

Husayni therefore deserted the Ottoman army and joined the Hashemites. He then became a leading agent of the Hashemites (an ironic development in light of his later mortal enmity with this family), recruiting about 2,000 military volunteers in 1918 and working actively on Faysal's behalf in 1919. At the Palestinian congress in January-February, 1919, Husayni called for unity between Palestine and Syria. A British diplomatic report noted that Husayni's activities were directed "in favor of union with Sharifian [i.e., Faysal's] Syria."

Husayni served as president of the Arab Club, which was especially eager for union with Syria. Toward the end of 1919, this group sent a letter to the British military governor of Jerusalem declaring that "Southern Syria forms a part of the United Syria beginning from Taures [and extending to] Rafa, the separation of which we do not tolerate under any circumstances, and we are as well prepared to sacrifice ourselves towards its defense with all our power."

Returning from Damascus on April 1, 1920, Husayni introduced a new element into an already tense atmosphere in Palestine by reporting (wrongly) that the British government would be willing to recognize Faysal as ruler of Palestine as well as Syria. This report raised Pan-Syrian expectations to a fever pitch. Then came the Nabi Musa riots in Jerusalem on April 4, when Arab mobs attacked Jews; according to Horace B. Samuel (and the British police report corroborates his account), these disturbances were initiated by two young men who shouted "Long live our King - King Faisul." Taysir Jb ara, a historian, believes that Amin al-Husayni was one of these two. The police sought Husayni, but he fled to Damascus, where he again worked to spread the influence of King Faysal. Although a Palestine court had sentenced Husayni "in absentia" to ten years in jail, the High Commissioner of Palestine, Sir Herbert Samuel, pardoned him less than five months after the Jerusalem disturbances had occurred, This permitted Husayni to make his way back to Palestine after the fall of Damascus. Faysal's defeat caused Husayni, like the other leaders, to change ideologies without missing a beat,  turning into an unbending Palestinian nationalist. He became Mufti of Jerusalem in 1921, president of the Supreme Muslim Council in 1922, and president of the Arab Higher Committee in 1936. Each of these positions gave him new power: by the mid-1930s he had become the outstanding political lead er of the Palestinians, the symbol and the bulwark of Palestinian nationalism.


Palestinianism is just a variant of anti-Zionism
Palestinianism is just a variant of anti-Zionism  Prev  Links    Links   LInks  Links  Links

Four major events occurred in 1920. In March, Faysal was crowned king of Syria, raising expectations that Palestine would join his independent state. In April, the British put Palestine on the map, dashing those hopes. In July, French forces captured Damascus, ending the Palestinian tie with Sy ria. And in December, responding to these events, the Palestinian leadership adopted the goal of an independent state.

Having thus originated out of political calculus, not spontaneous feelings, Palestinian nationalism had to wait for many years to pass before it acquired real force. Still, what Palestinian nationalism lacked by way of natural origin, it soon made up for with passionate identification. How did a premeditated and novel allegiance come to exert so strong an emotional appeal? The logic of need caused Palestinian nationalism to flourish, and it became a popular cause.

A review of the events point, first, to the fact that Palestinian nationalism is just one variant of anti-Zionism; in turn, others are always nipping at its own heels. Yasser Arafat and his followers can never rest easy, for they always have to contend with not only their Israeli enemy but also their Arab rivals. (Many of them based in Damascus.) Second, these events demonstrates the extreme fickleness of the Arab's nationalist loyalties. Only superficially grounded in nationalist sentiments, they found it easy to bounce from one formulation to another. Palestinian leaders supported the Greater Syria goal so long as it served their purposes; then, after the French capture of Damascus changed the premises, the leadership effortlessly adopted a new approach.  During the 1950s, when Gamal Abdul Nasser and Arab nationalism were flying high, many of the Palestinian leaders move d into his camp. This could happen again if circumstances to call for another switch, say, to federation with Iraq, many of those Palestinians who now fervently espouse an independent Palestinian state might take up this new aspiration.

The Middle East remains the world's most politically volatile area.  Major realignments take place almost predictably, about once a decade.  Given that today's constellation of forces is unlikely to last into the distant future and that an independent Palestinian state might seem forthcoming, t he primacy of Palestinian nationalism could eventually come to an end, perhaps as quickly as it started.  .


Palestinian admissions that the Palestinian identity has been fabricated for political purposes
Palestinian admissions that the Palestinian identity has been fabricated for political purposes   Links   LInks  Links  Links

It is only for political reasons that we carefully stress our Palestinian identity, for it is in the national interest of the Arabs to encourage a separate Palestinian identity to counter Zionism.  Yes, the existence of the Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes.  The founding of a Palestinian state is a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel ... After we have attained our rights in the whole of Palestine we must not postpone, even for a single moment, the reunification of Jordan and Palestine.

-Zuheir Muhsin, late Military Department head of the PLO and member of its Executive Council, Dutch daily Trouw, March 1977


Pre-1948 Arab statements claiming Syrian or  pan_Arabic identity
Pre-1948 Arab statements claiming Syrian or  pan_Arabic identity   Links   LInks  Links  Links

Just after World War 1, a meeting of Arabs called for a united Syria on the basis that "the people speak Arabic; they are intermarried and have many links of kinship; and commerce has for ages moved freely between them."

K. T. Khairallah noted in 1912 that "Syrian society did not exist in the past. There was nothing but distinct and often hostile groups. . . . Society was based on a despotism of brutal force modeled on that of the ruler."

The Muslim-Christian Association held a congress in January-February 1919 to draw up demands to submit to the Paris Peace Conference. Representatives of fourteen Palestinian cities and towns presented a petition calling for Southern Syria to be "inseparable from the independent Arab Syrian gove rnment." The congress declared Palestine "nothing but part of Arab Syria and it has never been separated from it at any stage." The delegates saw Palestine tied to Syria by, "national, religious, linguistic, moral, economic, and geographic bonds." On the basis of this view, they called for a Palestine that would remain "undetached from the independent Arab Syrian Government."

Musa Kazim al-Husayni, head of the Jerusalem Town Council (in effect, mayor) told a Zionist questioner in October 1919: "We demand no separation from Syria."

 According to Ahmad ash-Shuqayri (the man who headed the PLO in the 1960's), the ubiquitous slogan of 1918-19 was "Unity, Unity, From the Taurus [Mountains] to Rafah [in Gaza], Unity, Unity."

 From San Salvador, of all places, a protest in March 1919 went out from the "Syrian Palestinians," to international lea ders calling for "no separation between Syria and Palestine" and expressing hope that "Syria and Palestine remain united." The Salvadorans declared: "We trust that if Syria and Palestine remain united, we will never be enslaved by the Jewish yoke."

Izsat Darwaza spoke about Palestine and [the need for Syrian unity(Feb 1920), then he submitted a statement for general opinion. No one disagreed with him. The discussion proceeded further on this matter; some participants wanted not to mention Palestine but to use the expression Greater Syria for all the regions of Syria, and they were applauded.

The Congress(Feb '20))  passed four resolutions. The first of them noted that "it never occurred to the peoples of Northern and coastal Syria that Southern Syria (or Palestine) is anything but a part of Syria." The second called for an economic boycott of the Zionists in "all three parts of Syria" (meanin g the whole of Greater Syria).   (Comment) The third and fourth resolutions called for Palestine "not to be divided from Syria" and for "the independence of Syria within its natural borders."

leader who openly admitted this. Only days after the fall of Faysal's government, Musa Kazim al-Husayni declared "after the recent events in Damascus, we have to effect a complete change in our plans here. Southern Syria no longer exists. We must defend Palestine."

Kamil ad,Dajjani explained many years after the event that "the collapse of Faysal's rule in Syria and the disappointment of the hopes that were pinned upon that rule, made Palestinians feel that the orientation toward a Greater Syria bore no fruit." Palestinian nationalism originated not in

the Palestinian congress in January-February, 1919, Husayni called for unity between Palestine and Syria. A British diplomatic report noted that Husayni's activities were directed "in favor of union with Sharifian [i.e., Faysal's] Syria."

Husayni served as president of the Arab Club, which was especially eager for union with Syria. Toward the end of 1919, this group sent a letter to the British military governor of Jerusalem declaring that "Southern Syria forms a part of the United Syria beginning from Taures [and extending to] Rafa, the separation of which we do not tolerate under any circumstances, and we are as well prepared to sacrifice ourselves towards its defense with all our power."

Returning from Damascus on April 1, 1920, Husayni introduced a new element into an already tense atmosphere in Palestine by reporting (wrongly) that the British government would be willing to recognize Faysal as ruler of Palestine as well as Syria. This report raised Pan-Syrian expectations to a fever pitch. Then came the Nabi Musa riots in Jerusalem on April 4, when Arab mobs attacked Jews; according to Horace B. Samuel (and the British police report corroborates his account), these disturbances were initiated by two young men who shouted "Long live our King - King Faisul." Taysir Jb ara, a historian, believes that Amin al-Husayni was one of these two. The police sought Husayni, but he fled to Damascus, where he again worked to spread the influence of King Faysal. Although a Palestine court


Comment on Arab boycott beginning
This is when the Arab boycott of Jews began - 1920.  The boycott  has nothing to do with territories occupied by  Israel's successful defence against the Arab war of annihilation in 1967.  It has nothing even to do with Jewish sovereignty in the Middle East, as this resolution was passed 28 years before Israel.   It's a protest against a mere Jewish presence in the Middle East, if the Jewish community runs its own affairs with heads held high, rather  than existing in fear, abasement and humiliation under the  thumb of Moslems who  regard them as dhimmis.


Observers at the time: Arabs in region had little or no national identity
Observers at the time: Arabs in region had little or no national identity  Links   LInks  Links  Links

...Testimony on this subject(the absense of national identity among Arabs in the region then known as greater Syria) is unanimous. The well-informed author of a British travel guide to Greater Syria noted in the mid-nineteenth century that "patriotism is unknown. There is not a man in the country, whether Turk or Arab, Mohammedan or Christian, who would give a para [penny] to save the empire from ruin; that is, if he be not in government pay. . . . The patriotism of the Syrian is confined to the four walls of his own house; anything beyond them does not concern him."...

Gertrude Bell, a knowledgeable British observer wrote in 1907 that "Syria is merely a geographical term corresponding to no national sentiment in the breasts of the inhabitants."


The Arabs have ruled Palestine "for thousands of years"
The Arabs have ruled Palestine "for thousands of years"  Links   LInks  Links  Links

Chapter 8 of From Time, Immemorial, by Joan Peters, which states that the myth of a 2,000 year rule of Arabs over Arabs has gained currency despite the facts; then a summary of history.

Short article from Hatikvah Information Series: Moslems have never been a majority in Palestine.

Timeline:  History of Palestine.  Please note the vast history of the area prior to the Arabs.  Also note that little of the Moslem rule over Palestine was Arab rule.  Further, please note that "Palestinian" rule or identity is never mentioned.  That's because there never has been any such thing.

Outline Chart of the concurrent development of Jews, Christians and Moslems.  Helps put Palestine in perspective.  Please note that in the rich, extensive histories of the three cultures, nobody ever heard of a Palestinian.


Timeline:  History of Palestine/Israel
Timeline:  History of Palestine/Israel  Timeline:Jerusalem   Links   LInks  Links  Links

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

(BCE - Before the Common Era)

c.	17th century	The Patriarchs

c.	13th century	Exodus from Egypt

13th-12th centuries	Israelite settlement of Land of Israel

c.	1020	Monarchy established: Saul, first king

c.	1000	Jerusalem made capital of David's kingdom

c.	960	First Temple, the national and spiritual center of the Jewish people, built in Jerusalem by King Solomon

c.	930	Kingdom divided in two: Judah and Israel

722-720	Israel crushed by Assyrians; 10 tribes exiled (the "Ten Lost Tribes")

586	Judah conquered by Babylonia; Jerusalem and First Temple destroyed; Jews exiled to Babylonia

538-142	Persian and Hellenistic periods

538-515	First Return from Babylon; Temple rebuilt

mid-5th century	Second Return: Ezra and Nehemiah

332	Land conquered by Alexander the Great; Hellenistic rule

166-160	Maccabean (Hasmonean) Revolt

142-129	Jewish autonomy under Hasmonean dynasty

129-63	Jewish independence in Hasmonean kingdom

63	Pompey at head of Roman army takes Jerusalem

63 BCE-313 CE	Roman rule

(CE - The Common Era)

37 BCE - 4 CE	King Herod

66	Jewish revolt against Rome

70	Destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple

73	Last stand of Jews at Masada

132-135	Bar Kokhba uprising against Rome

c.	210	Mishnah completed (codification of Oral Law)

313-636	Byzantine rule

c.	390	Completion of Jerusalem Talmud (commentary on the Mishnah)

614	Persian invasion

636-1099	Arab rule   Not!

1099-1291	Crusader domination; Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem

1291-1516	Mamluk rule

1517-1917	Ottoman rule

1564	Publication of Shulhan Arukh (code of Jewish law)

1860	First neighborhood, Mishkenot Sha'ananim, built outside Jerusalem's walls

1882-1903	First Aliya (large-scale immigration) from Russia

1897	First Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland; Zionist Organization founded

1904-14	Second Aliya, mainly from Russia and Poland

1909	Degania, first kibbutz, and Tel Aviv, first modern all-Jewish city, founded

1917	British end 400 years of Ottoman rule in the Land; Balfour Declaration pledges British support for establishment of a "Jewish national home in Palestine"

1918-48	British rule

1919-23	Third Aliya, mainly from Russia

1920	Histadrut (Jewish labor federation), and Haganah, (Jewish defense organization) founded Arabs mount anti-Jewish riots Jewish community sets up National Council (Vaad Leumi) to conduct its affairs

1921	First moshav, Nahalal, founded

1922	Britain granted Mandate for Palestine (Land of Israel) by League of Nations and charged with facilitating "Jewish immigration and settlement on the Land" British set up Transjordan east of the Jordan River; Jews barred from settling there Jewish Agency set up to represent Jewish community v is-a-vis Mandate authorities

1924	Technion-Israel Institute of Technology opens

1924-32	Fourth Aliya, mainly from Poland

1925	Hebrew University of Jerusalem opens on Mt.  Scopus

1929	Hebron Jews massacred by Arab militants

1931	Etzel, Jewish underground organization, founded

1933-39	Fifth Aliya, mainly from Germany

1936-39	Arab militants launch anti-Jewish riots

1937	Peel Commission proposes division of country into Jewish and Arab states

1939	British White Paper limits Jewish immigration

1939-45	World War 11; Holocaust in Europe

1941	Lehi underground movement formed, split from Etzel; Palmach, strike force of Haganah, set up

1944	Jewish Brigade formed as part of British forces

1947	UN proposal calling for establishment of Arab and Jewish states in the Land

1948	British Mandate ends (14 May) State of Israel proclaimed (14 May) Israel invaded by five Arab states (15 May) War of Independence (May 1948-July 1949) Israel Defense Forces formed

1949	Armistice agreements signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon (Iraq refuses) First Knesset elected Israel admitted to United Nations as 59th member

1948-52	Mass immigration from Europe and Arab countries

1950	Law of Return

1956	Sinai Campaign

1962	Adolf Eichmann executed in Israel for his part in the Holocaust after trial in preceding year

1964	National Water Carrier, bringing water from north to semi-arid south, completed

1967	Six-Day War, Jerusalem reunited

1968-70	War of Attrition

1973	Yom Kippur War

1975	Israel becomes associate member of European Common Market

1977	Likud comes to power, ending 30 years of Labor rule Egyptian President Sadat visits Jerusalem

1978	Camp David Accords signed; contain basis for settlement of Arab-Israel conflict

1979	Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed

1981	Memorandum of Understanding signed with United States Iraq's nuclear reactor destroyed by Israel Air Force

1982	Israel's withdrawal from Sinai completed Operation Peace for Galilee launched by Israel to put an end to PLO attacks from Lebanon

1984	National unity government formed

1985	Free Trade Zone Agreement signed with U.S.

1987	Palestinian uprising (intifada) begins

1988	Space satellite, Ofek 1, launched

1989	Four-point peace initiative proposed by Israel Mass immigration of Soviet Jews begins

1991	Saddam Hussein's Iraq attacks Israel with ground-to-ground missiles during Gulf war Under American and Soviet auspices, Middle East peace conference convenes in Madrid, with participation of Israeli, Syrian, Lebanese and Jordanian-Palestinian delegations. Bilateral and multilateral talks fo llow to promote peace and address regional concerns.

1992	Diplomatic relations established with China


Not
This is a common mistake.  Arab rule lasted less than 100 years, the duration of the Umayyad Dynasty of Islam from Damascus 661-750.  The next ruling Islamic Dynasty was the Abbasid, which ruled in Baghdad.  While these people have long since become Arabized, they were not so then.  Then, the Abbasids were considered non-Arab Moslems, as is attested to by a modern day Syrian:

"The only Arab domination since the Conquest in 635A.D. hardly lasted, as such, 22 years...," the Muslim chairman of the Syrian Delegation attested in his remarks to the Paris Peace Conference in February 1919


Outline: Concurrent histories of  Jews, Moslems, Christians
Outline: Concurrent histories of  Jews, Moslems, Christians  Links   LInks  Links  Links

HISTORICAL CHART

Religious Studies 014 (R. Kraft, revised Jan 1993)

Much of this material is drawn from the charts in the introductory textbooks by Sigel, Neusner, Denny, and Peters.  Individuals whose birth dates are known are placed on the chart at approximately the time they would be 30 years old.

BCE means "before the common era" (= Christian "BC" notation), and CE means "of the common era" (= Christian "AD" notation).

The Dawn of "History" as we know it (Sumer, Egypt): ca. 3000 BCE

Early Dynastic period (Akkad): ca. 2800 Old Kingdom period (Egypt): ca. 2700-2400 Ebla flourishes: ca. 2500-2200

Priestess Enheduanna, first known author in the worid:  ca. 2300-2200

Context of Ancient Israelite religion:

ca. 2000-587 BCE

Middle Kingdom period (Egypt): 2100-1780 Old Babylonlan period: ca. 2000-1750

Israel's Patriarchal period: ca. 2000-1700

Abraham & Sarah, Isaak & Ishmael: ca. 1850/1750/1700 Origin of traditions of the "Abrahamic covenant" Traditions of Jacob/Israel and the 12 Patriarchs

Old Assyrian period: ca. 1900-1400

Hammurabi: ca. 1792-1750

Hittite empire: ca. 1750-1200

Hyksos in Egypt: ca. 1700-1550

Kassite period (Babylonia): ca. 1600-1150 New Kingdom period (Egypt): ca. l570-1085 Ugaritic texts: ca. 1500-1200

Middle Assyrian period: ca. 1400-900

Amarna period (Egypt): ca. 1400-1300

Mosaic period (Israel); ca. 1300-1200

Exodus from Egypt, Sinai Torah, Canaan Entry: ca. 1250-1200 Sea Peoples invade Egypt and Syro-Palestine: ca. 1200

Period of the Judges (Israel): ca. 1200-1050/1000 Middle Babylonian period: ca. 1150-900

Hebrew prophets (Samuel-Malachi): ca. 1050-450 Monarchical period in Israel: ca. 1000-587

Saul (transitional king): ca. 1030-1010

David, making Jerusalem his capital: ca. 1010-970 Solomon, and building of the Temple: ca. 970-931 Secession of Northern Kingdom (Israel) from

Southern Kingdom (Judah): ca. 931 Neo-Assyrian period: 900-612

Israelite Prophets Amos, Hosea, Isaiah: 750-725 Northern Kingdom (Israel) destroyed: 722/721

Neo-Babylonian ("Chaldean") period: 612-538

Josiah (Judean King) and "Deuteronomic Reforms": 620 Judean Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel: ca. 600-580 Southern Kingdom (Judah) and Temple destroyed --

Babylonian exile: 587/586

Judean Prophet "Second Isaiah": ca. 550

Judaism after the Babylonian Exile: ca. 538 BCE-7O CE

Persian Period: 538-333

Edict of Cyrus (first return from Exile): 538 Jerusalem ("Second") Temple rebuilt: 520-515 Judean Prophet Haggai: 520

Reformation led by Ezra and Nehemiah: 450-400

Torah (Pentateuch = first division of Jewish Scriptures) begins to gain recognition as Scripture: ca. 450

Hellenistic (Greek) period: 333-63

Alexander the Great conquers Palestine: 333/331 Judaism under Greek Ptolemies & Seleukids: ca. 320-168

"Septuagint" translation of Torah into Greek: ca. 250 Coming of Rome to the east Mediterranean: ca. 230-146 Prophets (second division of Jewish Scriptures)

recognized by some as Scripture by ca. 200 Jewish Qumran community: ca. 200 BCE-135 CE

Jewish Maccabean revolt & Hasmonean rule: 168/167-63 BCE Rome (Pompey) annexes Palestine: 63 BCE

Rule of Rome: ca. 146 BCE-400 CE

Herod the Great (Jewish Roman ruler of Palestine): 37-4 BCE Hillel & Shammai (Jewish sages): turn of the era

Rome establishes direct rule of prefects in Judea: 6 CE Philo Judaeus of Alexandria: ca. 13 BCE-after 41 CE Joshua/Jesus "the Christ": before 4 BCE-ca. 30 CE Gamliel/Gamaliel I (Jewish leader-scholar): fl. ca. 40 CE Paul "the apostle" (Jewish "Christian"): fl. 36-64 CE Josephus (Jewish leader, h istorian): ca. 37-100 CE Christian Testament (NT) writings: ca. 50-125 CE

Early Christian Period of Development: 30-311 CE

Rabbinic Jewish Period of Talmud Development: 70-400/600 CE

First Jewish Revolt against Rome: 66-73 Destruction of Jerusalem and the second Temple: 70 Establishment of Jewish center for study at Yavneh/Jamnia

(Yohanan ben Zakkai), with rabbinic ordination: ca. 73 Gamaliel II excludes sectarians (including Christians) from the synagogues: ca. 90-100

Writings (third and last division of Jewish Scriptures) discussed and accepted as sacred scripture: ca 90-150

Jewish Revolts against Rome outside Palestine: 114-117 Aqiba/Akiba active in consolidating Rabbinic Judaism: 120-135 Bar Kokhba rebellion (Second Jewish Revolt): 132-135

Jerusalem renamed, Jews forbidden to dwell there Mishnah compiled/edited under Judah the Prince: ca. 200 Sporadic persecution of Christianity by Rome: to 311

Origen (Christian scholar, biblical interpreter): fl. 200-254 Babylonian Jewish Academy founded at Sura by Rab: ca. 220 Rise of Mani/Manichaean World Religion synthesis: 240-276 Babylonian Jews flourish (as does Manichaeism) under Persian

King Shapur I: ca. 250

Early development of Christian monasticism in Egypt: 250-330 Eusebius (Christian author, historian): 263-339

Violent persecution of Christians by Emperor Diocletian: 303 Emperor Constantine embraces Christianity: 312/313

Consolidation & Dominance of Classical Christianity: 325-1517

Christian First Ecumenical Council, at Nicea (Asia Minor): 325 Jerusalem Christian construction under Constantine, Helena: 330 Jerome (Christian author, translator): ca. 325-420 Augustine (Christian author in North Africa): 354-430 Christianity becomes THE religion of Roman Empire: 380/391 Jewis h Palestinian Talmud edited: ca. 400

Jewish Babylonian Talmud edited: ca. 400-600 Rome sacked by Visigoths: 410

Jewish office of Nasi/Prince abolished by Rome: 425 Christian Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon: 451 Benedictine Latin Christian monastery founded: 535

"Medieval" Period in the West: ca. 600-1500

Reception & Classical Development of Muhammad's Islamic Message:  610-1258

Muhammad ("the Prophet" of Islam): ca. 570-632

Prophetic call and start of Quranic revelations: ca 610 The hijra (emigration) from Mecca to Medina: 622 Capitulation of Mecca, rededication of Kaba: 630

Pope Gregory the Great: 590-604

Period of the Jewish Rabbinic Geonim: ca. 600-1300 The four "rightly guided caliphs" of Islam: 632-661 Jews permitted to return to Jerusalem under Islam: 638- Assasination of Ali (last of the four): 661

Umayyad Dynasty of Islam in Damascus (Syria): 661-750 Muslim Attacks on Christian Constantinople: 669, 674 Massacre of Ali's son Husayn and Shiites (Iraq): 680 John of Damascus (Christian scholar): ca. 675-749 Muslim Forces Attack Spain Successfully: 711

Islam repulsed at Tours (France), gateway to Europe: 732 Karaism founded (Jewish reaction to Rabbinic Judaism): ca. 760 Charlemagne (France; Holy Roman Empire: 800): 742-814

Abbasid Dynasty of Islam in Baghdad (Iraq) -- the "golden age" of Islamic culture: 750-1258

Abu Hanifa (Muslim theologian and jurist in Iraq): ??-767 Malik ibn Anas (jurist, collector of hadiths, Medina): 710-795 Caliph Harun al-Rashid rules in "1001 Nights" style: ca. 800 Mutazilite rationalism developed and debated: ca. 800-950 Caliph Mamun sponsors translations of Greek learning into Arabic (Arabic science flourishes): ca. 825

Ibn Hanbal (jurist, collector of hadiths, Baghdad): -855 Bukhari and Muslim (collectors of hadiths): -870 and - 875 Shiite "twelvers" arise: 874

Continuation of Umayyad Muslim rule in Spain: to 12th century Al-Ashari (ex-Mutazilite Muslim scholar): ??-935

Saadia Gaon (Rabbinic Jewish sage): 882-942

Execution of Hallaj, radical Persian Muslim mystic/sufi: 922 Golden Age in Spain (Islamic Umayyad dynasty): ca. 950-1150 Founding of Cairo (and soon thereafter Azhar University) by the Islamic Shiite Fatimid dynasty in Egypt: 969

Ibn Sina (Avicenna; Muslim Platonist philosopher): ??-1037 Final split ("schism") between Latin (Roman) and Greek

(Byzantine) Classical Christian Churches: 1053/54 William the Conquerer (Norman) takes England: 1066 Rashi (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac; Jewish sage): 1040-1105 Ghazali (Persian Muslim scholar and mystic): 1058-1111

Crusades (Christian warfare with Islam in Palestine): 1095-1291 Crusaders (European Christians) capture Jerusalem: 1099

Judah Halevi (Jewish author): 1085-1140

Bernard of Clairvaux (Christian mystic): 1090-1153

Ibn Rushd (Averroes; Muslim Aristotleian philosopher): ??-1198 Maimonides (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon; Jewish scholar): 1135-1204 Saladin (1138-1193) overthrows Fatimid dynasty in Egypt: 1171

Saladin (Muslim) recaptures Jerusalem from crusaders: 1187 Ibn Arabi (Spanish Muslim mystic poet): 1165-1240 Muhammad Ghuri (Islam) conquers northern India: 1203 Francis of Assisi (Christian mystic): ca. 1181-1226 Pope Innocent III (Christian): 1198-1216

The Zohar (a Jewish kabalistic book): written ca. 13th century Death of Genghis/Genghiz Khan (roving Mongol conquerer): 1227 Inquisition by Christians in Spain: ca. 1230

Jalal al-Din Rumi (Muslim mystic poet from Turkey): 1207-1273 Thomas Aquinas (Christian scholar): 1225-1274

Mamluk Islamic rule (new dynasty) in Egypt: 1254-1517 Fall of Islamic Abbasid dynasty to Hulagu (Mongol): 1258

Further Transitions and Rebuilding of Political Islam: 1258-1500

Expulsion of Jews from England: 1290/1291 Expulsion of Christian Crusaders from Syria: 1291 Italian Renaissance: 1300-1517

Expulsions of Jews from France: 1306-1394

John Wycliffe (Christian dissident leader): 1328-1384 Rise of the Ottoman Muslim dynasty in Turkey: 14th century Timurlane/Tamurlane, Turkic ruler in central Asia: 1336-1405

Damascus sacked by Timurlane: 1400

Fall of Constantinople (> Istanbul) to Ottoman Muslims: 1453 Gutenberg Bible printed (invention of printing press): 1456 Christian expulsion of Muslim Moors from Spain: 1492 Christian expulsion of Jews from Spain, Portugal: 1492, 1496

Islamic Political Dominance as far East as India: ca. 1500-1920 Reformation and Post-Reformation Christian Period: 1517-present Jewish Transitions towards Modernity: ca.1550-1700

Dominance of Ottoman Muslim Empire in Turkey, etc.: 1500-1920

Victory of (Muslim Ottoman Turk) Selim I over Egypt: 1517

Ottoman Muslim rulers (later) claim the title "caliph" Sulayman I, "the Magnificent," rules: 1520-1566

Dominance of Safavid Shiite Muslim dynasty in Iran: ca. 1500-1800 Dominance of Mughal Muslim dynasty in India: ca. 1500-1800

Babur (1483-1530, central Asia) begins conquest of India: 1525 Protestant Christian Reformation: ca. 1500-1650

Martin Luther: 1483-1546

Luther posts "95 theses" in Wittenburg, Germany: 1517 Luther preaches against Jews: 1542-1546

Thomas Cranmer: 1489-1556

William Tyndale: ca. 1494-1536

John Calvin: 1509-1564

Jewish ghettos instituted (Venice, Rome): 1516, 1555 Shulhan Aruk (code of Jewish law by Joseph Karo/Caro):

published 1567/1571

Rene Descartes (scholar-philosopher): 1596-1650 Menasseh ben Israel (Jewish scholar-mystic): 1605-1657

Christian Puritans begin emigrations to America: 1620 Blaise Pascal (scholar): 1623-1662

Shabbatai Zvi (Jewish "messianic" leader): 1626-1676 Baruch/Benedict Spinoza (scholar, converted Jew): 1632-1677 Arrival of Jews in New Amsterdam (= New York, America): 1654 Jews readmitted to England by Oliver Cromwell: 1655 Jews expelled from Vienna: 1670

Jewish Modern and Contemporary Periods: ca. 1700-present

Israel Baal Shem Tov (founder of Jewish Hasidism): 1700-1760 Jonathan Edwards (American Christian preacher): 1703-1758 John and Charles Wesley (Christian): 1703-1791 and 1707-1788 First public Jewish synagogue in Berlin: 1712

Wahhabi "fundamentalist" movement arises in Islam: ca. 1750 Moses Mendelssohn (Jewish "enlightenment" scholar): 1729-1786 Napoleon (France): 1769-1821

American Revolution; religious freedom guaranteed: 1775-1781 French Revolution: 1789

French Jews given citizenship: 1790-1791

Napoleon, battle of the Pyramids in Islamic Egypt: 1798

Muslim Wahhabis capture Mecca & Medinah, raid Karbala: 1801-1804 Rise of the Jewish Reform movement in Europe (Abraham Geiger):mid-19th century

French occupation of Muslim Algiers: 1830 American Civil War: 1861-1865

Ghettos abolished in Italy: 1870

Reform Judaism in US establishes Union of American Hebrew Congregations: 1873

Start of mass migrations of eastern European Jews: 1881 French occupation of Muslim Tunisia: 1881

British occupation of Muslim Egypt: 1882 Reform Jewish Pittsburg Platform: 1885

Founding of Conservative Judaism, in US (Solomon Schechter):

end of 19th century (Jewish Theological Seminary: 1886) Theodore Herzl publishes The Jewish State (Zionism): 1896 First Jewish Zionist congress: 1897

Founding of the Modern Jewish Orthodox movement:  early 20th century

Revolution by "young Turks" under Ottomans: 1908 Founding of Tel Aviv as Hebrew speaking Jewish city: 1909 World War I: 1914-1918

Islamic Unrest and Realignment in the Middle East: ca. 1914-present

Start of Arab revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule: 1916 British capture Baghdad: 1917

Balfour Declaration favors Jewish Palestinian State: 1917 Damascus taken by T.E.Lawrence and Arabs: 1918 Egyptian revolution: 1919

Kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan established: 1921

Overthrow of Ottoman Muslim rule by "young Turks" (Kemal Ataturk) and establishment of secular state: 1923 Caliphate officially abolished: 1924

Pahlevi dynasty in Persia (= "Iran": 1935): 1925-1979 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia established: 1932

Adolph Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany: 1933

Jewish rights in Germany recinded by Nuremberg laws: 1935 Reform Jewish Columbus Platform (Zionism, etc.): 1937 German Jewish synagogues burned down: 9 Nov 1938 World War II: 1939-1945

The Nazi German Holocaust against Jews: 1939/1942-1945 Partition of India and Pakistan: 1947

Declaration of independence of the State of Israel: 1948 Libya proclaims independence: 1952

Egyptian republic proclaimed, Nassar takes over: 1953, 1954 Sudan & Tunisia independence, Pakistan Republic: 1956 United Arabic Republic established: 1958

Founding of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement (as a distinct denomination; Mordecai Kaplan): 1960s

"Six Days War" reunites Jerusalem under Israeli control: 1967 "Yom Kippur War" in Israel: 1973

Ordination of first (Reform) Jewish woman rabbi in US: 1972 Ordination of first Reconstructionist Jewish woman rabbi: 1974 "Black Muslims" in America cultivate Sunni recognition: 1975 Ordination of first Conservative Jewish woman rabbi: 1984/1985 Persian Gulf War to maintain stability: 1990-1991

//to be continued...//


Joan Peters, Chapter 8: Fabricated history of "Arab Palestine"
Joan Peters, Chapter 8: Fabricated history of "Arab Palestine"   Links   LInks  Links  Links

Section One:  The mythology that Palestine has been Arab for thousands of years contradicts history; "Palestinian" attachment to the land "from time immemorial" is a political tactic , by the PLO's own admission  More

Section Two: Brief sketch of statements by Arabs, historians and others that Arab rule in Palestine had been brief, that Palestine  referred to the Philistines, that Arabs in Palestine considered themselves part of a greater Arab nation, or as Syrians, and that nobody had heard of Arabs as Palestinians before 1967.  More

Section Three: Before the Arab Conquest.  That Israel was a Jewish nation nearly 2,000 years before Islam was invented; the land was so central that Jewish national life was never created elsewhere; even then the High Holy Days saw Jewish pilgrims from comunities elsewhere; that after the Roman Conquest Jews hung tenaciously to their nation.  The Romans banned the Jewish religion and beliefs, crushed rebellion and most of the survivors fled, many to Arabia.  Jews were the first "Palestinian" refugees.  More

Section Four:  The Haven in Arabia.  Jews first settled in Arabia in connection with the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C.E.  In the first  and second centuries C.E. Arabia was a haven to Jews escaping from the Roman liquidation of Jewish "Palestine."  Jews founded Medina.  At the time of Islam's founding, Jews were half of western Arabia, and using irrigation to cultivate the desert land, far more prosperous than the nomadic beduoin.  Mohammed came from a envy-ridden beduoin tribe, and his Jew-hatred grew indescribably when he mixed Scripture with tradition beduoin notions of Allah the Moon God and they rejected his claim to be their final prophet.  More


From Joan Peters: The mythology of "age-old Arab Palestine" contradicts history
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A Precedent of Prey

...How often in talks with Rogers, Kissinger, Sisco and others has Egypt heard the Americans say, in effect.  "We're not interested in raking over the past: let's look at the situation as it is today." But today's situation is the creation of yesterday.*

-Mohamed Heikal, The Road to Ramadan

...some(Jews) you slew and others you took captive.  He (Allah) made you masters of their land, their houses and their goods, and of yet another land of which you had never set foot before.  Truly, Allah has power over all things.*

-The Koran, The Clans, sura 33

Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes.  The founding of a Palestinian state is a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel...

-Zuheir Muhsin, late Military Department head of the PLO and member of its Executive Council, Dutch daily Trouw, March 1977

The Prophet Muhammad said, "War is deception."

-al-Bukhari, al_Jami al Sahih

*emphasis added

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although a politically based mythology has grown up around and smothered the documented past of the land know as "Palestine," there is recognition among preeminent scholars of what one of them has called "the more chauvinist Arab version of the region's history as having begun with the Arabs and Islam." (1)

The claim that Arab-Muslim "Palestinians" were "emotionally tied" to "their own plot of land in Palestine" - based upon a "consistent presence" on "Arab" land for "thousands of years" (2) - is an important part of that recent mythology.  It was contrived of late in a thus far successful Orwellian propaganda effort - an appeal to the emotions that would "counter Zionism" and that "serves" tactical purposes as "a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel," as the late PLO official Muhsin stated candidly in an interview, quoted at the beginning of this chapter.

In order to understand how that tool, aided by a general near-ignorance of the "unrelenting past, has distorted the perception of the present, a look at the "yesterday" of "Palestine" is necessary.

The inspection will be focused upon completing a circle - tracing the actual conditions and events that have been glossed over or omitted from the dialogue about the Arab-Israeli conflict; they are conditions and events that shaped the real political, economic, and demographic circumstances in the area.  Those circumstances in turn critically affected what "justice" really consists of - for the Jewish and Arab refugees, or the "Palestinian Problem" - for the Arab-Israeli conflict.  Illuminating that situation reveals and fills in the chasm between the documented facts and the Arab cla ims, and gives perspective to those contentions and assumptions that have become key in interpreting what is "just" for the population in question today.


Reference1
P.J. Vatikiotis, Nasser and His Generation (London, 1978), p. 254


Reference2
Thames Television Series, London, Palestine, aired in the United States, January-February 1979


From Joan Peters, outline of history of Palestine and fabrication of its Arab past
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A Precedent of Prey(continued)

"The only Arab domination since the Conquest in 635A.D. hardly lasted, as such, 22 years...," the Muslim chairman of the Syrian Delegation attested in his remarks to the Paris Peace Conference in February 1919.(3)

The British Palestine Royal Commission reported in 1937 that "it is time, surely, that Palestinian 'citizenship'...should be recognized as what it is, as nothing but a legal formula devoid of moral meaning."(4)

That the claim of "age-old Arab Palestinian rights to Arab Palestine" is contradicted by history, has been pointed out by eminent historians and Arabists.

According to the Reverend James Parkes, "The Land was named Palestina by the Romans to eradicate all trace of its Jewish history..."

It may seem inappropriate to have devoted so much time to "a situation which passed away two thousand years ago."  But it is only politically that the defeat by Rome, and the scattering of the Jewish population, made a decisive change in the history of The Land.  That which had been created by more than a thousand years of Jewish history (a thousand years before A.D. 135) remained, as did that which was beginning to be created in the thoughts of the young Christian Church.*(5)

*emphasis added by Joan Peters

Many authorities have addressed the misconceptions surrounding the word Palestine.  The name derived from "other migrants from the northwest, the Philistines.  Though the latest arrivals, and though they only exercised control over the whole country for a few uncertain decades, they had been the cause of its name of Palestine.  These Philistines were an Aegean people, driven out of Greece and the Aegean islands around about 1300 B.C.E.  They moved southward along the Asiatic coast and in about 1200 attempted to invade Egypt.  Turned back, they settled in the maritime plain of southern  'Palestine', where they founded a series of city-states." (6)

According to Bernard Lewis, an eminent authority, "The word Palestine does not occur in the Old Testament...Palestine does not occur in the New Testament at all."

The official adoption of the name Palestine in Roman usage to designate the territories of the former Jewish principality of Judea seems to date from after the suppression of the great Jewish revolt of Bar-Kokhba in the year 135 C.E...it would seem that the name Judea was abolished...and the co untry renamed Palestine or Syria Palestina, with the...intention of obliterating its history Jewish identity.  The earlier name did not entirely disappear, and as late as the 4th century C.E. we still find a Christian author, Epiphanius, referring to "Palestine, that is, Judea."

As many, including Professor Lewis, have pointed out, "From the end of the Jewish state in antiquity to the beginning of British rule, the area now designated by the name Palestine was not a country and had no frontiers, only administrative boundaries; it was a group of provincial subdivisions, by no means always the same, within a larger entity."(7)

In other words, it appears that Palestine never was an independent nation and the Arabs never named the land to which they now claim rights.  Most Arabs do not admit so candidly that "Palestinian identity" is a maneuver "only for political reasons" as did Zuheir Muhsin.  But the Arab world, unt il recently, itself frequently negated the validity of any claim of an "age-old Palestinian Arab" identity.

The Arabs in Judah-cum-Palestine were regarded either as members of a "pan-Arab nation," as a Muslim community, or, in a tactical ploy, as "Southern Syrians."(8).  The beginning article of a 1919 Arab Covenant proposed by the Arab whole, and the divisions of whatever nature to which they have b een subjected are not approved nor recognized by the Arab nation." (9).  In the same year, the General Syrian Congress had the opposite view; it expressed eagerness to stress an exclusively Syrian identity: "We ask that there should be no separation of the southern part of Syria, known as Palest ine..." (10).  The Arab historian George Antonius delineated Palestine in 1939 as part of "the whole of the country of that name (Syria) which is now split up into mandated territories..."(11).  As late as the 1950s, there was still a schizoid pattern to the Arab views.  In 1951, the Constitutio n of the Arab Ba'ath Party stated:

The Arabs form one nation.  This nation has the natural right to live in a single state and to be free to direct its own destiny...to gather all the Arabs in a single independent Arab state. (12)

A scant five years later, a Saudi Arabian United Nations delegate in 1956 asserted that "It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but Southern Syria." (13).  In 1974 Syria's President Assad, although a PLO supporter, incorporated both claims in a remarkable definition:

...Palestine is not only a part of our Arab homeland, but a basic part of southern Syria. (14).

The one identity never seriously considered until the 1967 Six-Day War - and then only as a "tool" - was an "Arab Palestinian" one, and the absence was not merely disregard.  Clearly there was no such age-old or even century-old "national identity." According to the British Palestine Royal Comm ission Report,

In the twelve centuries or more that have passed since the Arab conquest Palestine has virtually dropped out of history...In economics as in politics Palestine lay outside the main stream of the world's life.  In the realm of thought, in science or in letters, it made no contribution to modern civiliation.  Its last state was worse than its first. (15).


Reference3
Minutes of the Supreme Council, in D.H. Miller, My Diary at the Conference of Paris, 22 vols.(New York, 1924), vol. 14, p.405:


Reference 4
Palestine Royal Commission Report, Command Paper #5479, 1937, p.120, para. 14.:


Reference 5
James Parkes, Whose Land? (Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1970), p. 31.:


Reference 6
James Parkes, Whose Land? (Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 19770), p.17.


Reference 7
Bernard Lewis, "The Palestinians and the PLO, a Historical Approach," Commentary, January 1975, p.32-48:


Reference 8
Yehoshua Porath, "Social Aspects of the Emergence of the Palestinian National Movement," in Society and Political Structure in the Arab World, M. Milson, ed. (New York, 1973), pp.101, 107, 119.


Reference 9
Marie Syrkin, "Palestinian Nationalism: Its Development and Goal," in Michael Curtis et.al., eds, The Palestinians: People, History, Politics (New Brunswick, N. J.:Transaction Books, 1975), p.200.  Syrkin found that Haj Amin al-Husseini - the notorious Mufti of Jerusalem himself - "originally opposed the Palestine Mandate because it separated Palestine from Syria." Ibid.


Reference 10
Marie Syrkin, "Palestinian Nationalism: Its Development and Goal," in Michael Curtis et.al., eds, The Palestinians: People, History, Politics (New Brunswick, N. J.:Transaction Books, 1975), p.200.

According to Neville Mandel, Arabs and Zionism Before World War One (Berkeley, 1976), p.152, n.49:

"After World War One, when the nature of an independent Arab state and its component parts were being discussed, the term 'Greater Syria' was advanced to embrace the Fertile Crescent and its desert hinterland.  Palestine, as an integral part of that area, was dubbed 'Southern Syria.' But these terms were not in use in 1913 and 1914, when very few nationalists contemplated complete Arab independence."


Reference 11
George Antonius, The Arab Awakening: The Story of the Arab National Movement (Philadelphia, New York, Toronto: J. B. Lippincott, 1939), p.15, n.1; also see Mandel, Arabs and Zionism, pp. 151-153.


Reference 12
The Ba'ath Party "describes itself as a 'national, popular revolutionary movement fighting for Arab unity, Freedom and Socialism.' " in 1951, Syrkin, "Nationalism," in Curtis et al., Palestinians: People, History, Politics, p. 200; also see Menahem Milson, "Medieval and Modern Intellectual Traditions in the Arab World," in Daedalus, Summer 1972, particularly pp 24-26; Michel Aflaq, prominent Ba'athist and Christian, on Arab Nationalism, cited in Milson, above; also see Aflaq, Fi Sabil al Ba'ath (Arabic) Beirut 1962 (3rd printing), cited in Milson, p. 26; also see Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939 (London: Oxford, 1962), particularly p. 301.


Reference 13
Ahmed Shukeiry, as head of the PLO, to Security Council on May 31, 1956, cited by Syrkin in "Nationalism," in Curtis et al., Palestinians: People, History, Politics, p. 201.


Reference 14
President Hafez Assad of Syria, Radio Damascus, March 8, 1974.


Reference 15
Palestine Royal Commission Report, Chapter 1, p.6, para. 11.


From Joan Peters, Sketch of Palestine history before the Arab Conquest
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Before the Arab Conquest

   But long before the Arab conquest, as a British Member of Parliament pointed out in 1939,

   ...a thousand years before the Prophet Mohammed was born, the Jews, already exiled, sitting by the waters of Babylon, was singing: "If I forget thee O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning." (16)

   	The Reverend Parkes says that the theme that "gives to Jewish history characteristics which begin by  being unusual and end by being unique" is that "the religion which was developing into a universalistic ethical monotheism never lost its root in The Land." (17)

   ...Jewry has nowhere established another independent national center, and, as is natural, the Land of Israel is intertwined far more intimately into the religious and historic memories of the people; for their connection with the country has been of much longer duration - in fact it has been continuous from the 2nd millenium B.C.E. up to modern times...The Land therefore has provided an emotional centre which has endured through the whole of their period of "exile", and has led to constant returns or attempted returns, culminating in our own day in the Zionist Movement. (18)

   	Israel had already become a nation about 1220 B.C. - nearly two thousand years before the first Arab invasion began. (19)  The Jews' persistent presence on the land survived periodic attempts to extinguish them throughout their history.  Around the first century,

   Many Diaspora Jews observed the commandments of pilgrimage, and on the High Holidays in Jerusalem one might have met Jews from such different lands as Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia Minor, Phrygia, Pamhylia, Cyrene, Crete, Rome and Arabia. (20)

   	By the time of the Roman conquest of Judea the Jews were considered "turbulent and troublesome people to deal with," according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, (21) when they stubbornly refused to surrender their country to Roman rule.

   	The Emperor Hadrian, "determined to stamp out this aggressive Jewish nationalism," ruled that henceforth Jewish traditions such as circumcision, the Sabbath, reading of the law - in fact, the beliefs of Judaism itself - were illegal and "forbidden." (22)  Hadrian was "determined to convert t he still half-ruined Jerusalem into a Roman colony."  After the Jews' Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, the revolt of Jewish leader Bar Kochba - who had "200,000 men at his command" - recaptured Jerusalem and many "strongholds and villages throughout the country."  The "full-scale country-wide wa r...raged with fierce bitterness for four years, the Romans having to bring in legion after legion of reinforcements to suppress the insurgents." (23)

   	Although the Romans ultimately regained political reign, "sacked the city (of Jerusalem)...and expelled the bulk of the Jewish survivors from the country," (24) the cost of victory was shattering - "It is said that as many as 580,000 men were slain!" - Romans as well as Jews.  It was after t he debacle that Hadrian changed the name of the city of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, ordred the building of a temple of Jupiter on the Jewish Temple site and "forbade any Jew, on pain of death, to appear within sight of the city." (25)

   	But in the same way that the name Judea did not disappear, neither did the Jews abandon their land.  A number had obstinately remained, and many others quickly returned to rebuild their world.  Some Jews, however, fled the Roman conquest for other points - including Arabia, where they formed some new settlements and in many instances joined Jewish Arabian communities established at the time of release from the captivity in Babylon or existing even before then.  Thus evolved the flight of the first "Palestinian" refugees - the Judeans, or Jews.


Reference 16
Psalm137:5, quoted by British M.P. Alfred Duff Cooper, July 30, 1939.  Members of British Parliament Cooper, Josiah Wedgewood and Leopold Amery "spoke bitterly against...the policy of not accepting...Jews" in Palestine, in Martin Gilbert Exile and Return: The Struggle for a Jewish Homeland ( Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1978) pp. 239-240


Reference 17
James Parkes, Whose Land? (Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1970) p. 26


Reference 18
James Parkes, Whose Land? (Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1970) p. 10


Reference 19
J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1955), p. 378


Reference 20
M. Stern, "The Political and Social History of Judea Under Roman Rule," in A History of the Jewish People, H.H. Ben-Sasson, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1976) p. 266


Reference 21
Encylopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1911), vol. XX, p. 622


Reference 22
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1911), vol. XX pp. 621-22


Reference 23
Yigal Yadin , Masada (New York, Random House, 1966), p.11


Reference 24
Yigal Yadin, Masada (New York, Random House, 1966), p.11


Reference 25
Encylopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1911), vol. XX, p. 622


From Joan Peters, The Haven in Arabia
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The Haven in Arabia

A look at the haven where these "Palestinian" or "Judean" Jewish refugees from the Romans found sanctuary is important to understanding the "heart of the matter" in the Middle East today - the conflict between Arab and Jew.  The circumstances of the Arabian Jewish communities in the Arabian Peni nsula - both before and after the Arab Conquest - bear importantly upon Arab-Jewish relationships until this day, because the pattern that developed in Arabia established a tradition that has been followed ever since.

According to Arabist scholar Alfred Guillaume, Jews probably first settled in Arabia in connection with the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C.:

...it is almost certain that the self-contained Jewish military colony in Aswan and upper Egypt, about which the world knew nothing until a few years ago, was founded just after the fall of Samaria, and consequently it is not impossible that some Jewish settlements in Arabia were due to fugitive s fleeing from the old northern capital of the Hebrews.

Guillaume is certain that "in the first and second centuries A.D., ... Arabia offered a near asylum" to the Jews who had been victimized by the "utterly ruthless" Romans. (26)

In the Arabian land considered by many to be "purely Arab," the land which would spawn Islamic many centuries later,

Numbers of Jewish and Christian settlements were established in different parts of Arabia, both spreading Aramaic and Hellenistic culture.  The chief southern Arabian Christian center was in Najran, where a relatively advanced political life was developed.  Jews and Judaised Arabs were everywher e, especially in Yathrib, later renamed Medina.  They were mainly agriculturists and artisans.  Their origin is uncertain and many different theories have been advanced. (27)

Although the fact is little recognized, more than one historian has affirmed that the Arab world's second holiest city, Medina, was one of the allegedly "purely Arab" cities that actually was first settled by Jewish tribes. (28)  Bernard Lewis writes:

The city of Medina, some 280 miles north of Mecca, had originally been settled by Jewish tribes from the north, especially the Banu Nadir and Banu Quraiza.  The comparative richness of the two attracted an infiltration of pagan Arabs who came at first as clients of the Jews, and ultimately succ eeded in dominating them.  Medina, or, as it was known before Islam, Yathrib, had no form of stable government at all.  The town was torn by the feuds of the rival Arab tribes of Aus and Khazraj, with the Jews maintaining an uneasy balance of power.  The latter, engaged mainly in agriculture and handicrafts, were economically and culturally superior to the Arabs, and were consequently disliked ... as soon as the Arabs had attained unity through the agency of Muhammad they attacked and ultimately eliminated the Jews. (29)

In the last half of the fifth century, many Persian Jews fled from persecution to Arabia, swelling the Jewish population there. (30)  But around the sixth century, Christian writers reported of the continuing importance of the Jewish community that remained in the Holy Land.  For the dispersed Arabian Jewish settlers, Tiberias in Judea was central.  In the Kingdom of Himyar on the Red Sea's east coast in Arabia, "conversion to Judaism of influential circles" was popular, and the Kingdom's rule stretched across "considerable portions of South Arabia."

The commoners as well as the royal family adopted Judaism, and one write reports that "Jewish priests (presumably rabbis) from Tiberias ... formed part of the suite of King Du Noas and served as his envoys in negotiations with Christian cities." (31)

According to Guillaume,

At the dawn of Islam the Jews dominated the economic life of the Hijaz (Arabia).  They held all the best land ...; at Medina they must have formed at least half of the population.  There was also a Jewish settlement to the north of the Gulf of Aqaba ... What is important is to note that the Jew s of the Hijaz made many proselytes (or converts) among the Arab tribesmen. (32)

The first "Palestinian" or Judean refugees - the Jews - had resettled to become prosperous, influential Arabian settlers.

(Guillaume continues) The prosperity of the Jews was due to their superior knowledge of agriculture and irrigation and their energy and industry.  Homeless (Jewish) refugees in the course of a few generations became large landowners in the country, (the refugees who had come to the Hijaz when t he Romans conquered Palestine) controllers of its finance and trade ... Thus it can readily be seen that Jewish prosperity was a challenge to the Arabs, particularly the Quraysyh at Mecca and ... (other Arab tribes) at Medina.

The Prophet Muhammad himself was a member of the Qurayh tribe, which coveted the Jews' bounty, and

...when the Muslims took up arms they treated the Jews with much greater severity than the Christians, who, until the end of the purely Arab Caliphate, were not badly treated. (33)

One of the reasons for "this discrimination" against the Jews is what Guillaume called "the Quran's scornful words" regarding the Jews. (34) The Jews' development of land and culture was a prime source of booty in the Arabian desert peninsula.  Beginning at the time of the Prophet Muhammad and Islam (35) - from the expulsions, depredations, extortion, forced conversions or murder of Jewish Arabians settled in Medina to the mass slaughter of Jews at Khaibar - the precedent was established among Arab-Muslims to expropriate that which belonged to the Jews.  Relations between the Prophet Muhammad and the Jews were "never ... easy":

...They had irritated him by their refusal to recognize him as a prophet, by ridicule and by argument; and of course their economic supremacy ... was a standing irritant. (36)

It appears taht the first "instigation" by the Prophet Muhammad himself against the Jews was an incident in which he had "one or two Jews ... murdered and no blood money was paid to their next of kin."

...Their leaders opposed his claim to be an apostle sent by God, and though they doubtless drew some satisfaction from his acceptance of the divine mission of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, they could hardly be expected to welcome the inclusion of Jesus and Ishmael among his chosen messenger s. (37)

...the existence of pockets of disaffected Jews in and around his base was a cause of uneasiness and they had to be eliminated if he (Muhammed) was to wage war without anxiety. (38)

Because the Jews preferred to retain their own beliefs,

...a tribe of Jews in the neighborhood of Medina, fell under suspicion of treachery and were forced to lay down their arms and evacuate their settlements.  Valuable land and much booty fell into the hand of the Muslims ... The neighboring tribe of Qurayza, who were soon to suffer annihilation, made no move to help their co-religionists, and their allies, the Aus, were afraid to give them active support. (39)

The prophet Muhammad's pronouncement: "Two religions may not dwell together on the Arabian Peninsula." (40) This edict was carried out by Abu Bakr and Omar One, the Prophet Muhammad's successors; the entire community of Jewish settlements throughout northern Arabia was systematically slaughtere d.  According to Bernard Lewis, "the extermination of the Jewish tribe of Quraiza" was followed by "an attack on the Jewish oasis of Khaibar." (41)

Messengers of Muhammad were sent to the Jews who had escaped to the safety and comfort of Khaibar, "inviting" Usayr, the Jewish "war chief," to visit Medina for mediations.

Usayr set off with thirty companions and a Muslim escort.  Suspecting no foul play, the Jews went unarmed.  On the way, the Muslims turned upon the defenseless delegation,, killing all but one who managed to escape.  "War is deception," (42) according to an oft-quoted saying of the Prophet. (43 )

The late Israeli historian and former President, Itzhak Ben-Zvi, judged the "inhuman atrocities" of the Arabian communities as unparalleled since then:

...the complete extermination of the two Arabian-Jewish tribes, the Nadhir and Kainuka' by the mass massacre of their men, women, and children, was a tragedy for which no parallel can be found in Jewish history until our own day... (44)

The slaughter of Arabian Jews and the expropriation of their property became Allah's will.  According to the Koran,

...some you slew and others you took captive.  He (Allah) made you masters of their (the Jews') land, their houses and their goods, and of yet another land (Khaibar) on which you had never set foot before.  Truly, Allah has power over all things.* (45)  alestin_jp_c8p4_fer43

*emphasis added by Joan Peters

Guillaume reports that the anti-Jewish attack at Khaibar was fiercely fought off, but "though the inhabitants fought more bravely here than elsewhere, outnumbered and caught off their guard, they were defeated." (46)  Those who somehow survived constituted the formula for Islam's future successe s.  Some of the Jews, as "non-Muslims" or infidels, "retained their land," at least until Muslims could be recruited in sufficient numbers to replace the Jews.  Meanwhile, the Arabian Jews paid a fifty-percent "tribute," or tax, for the "protection" of the new plunderers.  As Professor Lewis wri tes, "The Muslim victory in Khaibar marked the first contact between the Muslim state and a conquered non-Muslim people and formed the basis for later dealings of the same type." (47)

Thus the Jewish dhimmi evolved - the robbery of freedom and political independence compounding the extortion and eventual expropriation of property.  "Tolerated" between onslaughts, expulsions, and pillages from the Arab Muslim conquest onward, the non-Muslim dhimmi - predominately Jewish but C hristian too - provided the important source of religious revenue through the "infidel's" head tax.  He became very quickly a convenient political scapegoat and whipping boy as well.

Other Jewish colonies succumbed in much the same way:  "Jews were allowed to keep their land on condition that they surrendered half the produce to Medina."  But "the arrangement did not last long ..."  Virtually all of Khaibar's and Medina's surviving Jews - along with "all the other Jews and Christians in the peninsula" - were dispossessed and expelled through the Prophet Muhammad's edict, zealously implemented by his caliph Omar. (48)

Much of the wealth of the country which had been concentrated in the hands of the Jews had now been seized by the Muslims, who were no longer indigent immigrants but wealthy landowners, men of substance, owning camels and horses and their own weapons ... Muhammad's fame spread far and wide, and the bedouin flocked to him in thousands. (49)

*Emphasis added by Joan Peters


Reference 26
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), pp. 10-11


Reference 27
Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History, rev. ed. (New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London: Harper-Colophon Books, 1966) pp. 31-32


Reference 28
Salo W. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, 3 vols. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1937), I, pp. 308ff.


Reference 29
Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History, rev. ed. (New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London: Harper-Colophon Books, 1966) p. 40


Reference 30
S. Safrai, "The Lands of the Diaspora," in A History of the Jewish People, Ben-Sasson, ed., pp. 380


Reference 31
S. Safrai, "From the Abolition of the Patriarchate to the Arab Conquest (425-640)," in A History of the Jewish People, Ben-Sasson, ed., pp. 358-359.  Of this little-known history Safrai writes: "Twice the Jews of Himyar succeeded in throwing off Ethiopian domination; even in the eyes of Byzantium it was a Jewish kingdom, small but occupying a strategic position.  The king of Himyar prevented Byzantine traders from passing through to India on the grounds that Jews were being persecuted in Roman lands.  Byzantium was reluctant to risk a war so far away in South Arabia, but was able to persuade Ethiopia to take up its quarrel.  The king of Himyar hoped for Persian aid, but there was a lull in the fighting between Rome and Persia at the time, and the Persians did not appreciate the importance of this oulet from the Red Sea being controlled by an ally of Byzantium.  Du Noas fell in a battle against an invading Ethiopian army, and the Jewish Kingdom came to an end."


Reference 32
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), pp. 11-12


Reference 33
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 12


Reference 34
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 12


Reference 35
For details of the Prophet Muhammad - abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn' Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Uttal-ib ibn Hashim - see Guillame, Islam, pp.20-54; the 'traditional' biography of Muhammad (Arabic) is Ibn Hisham's recension of Ibn Ishaq's al-Sira al-Nabawiyya, 2 vols. (Cairo, 1955); The Life of Muhammad, abridged English trans. by A Guillaume (Karachi, 1955).  Cited by Norman A. Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands, A History and Source Book (Philadelphia, 1979), p. 6, n. 9.  See also, Lewis, Arabs in History.


Reference 36
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 43


Reference 37
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 43-44


Reference 38
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 44


Reference 39
The Nadir tribe. Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954),, p. 46.  Also see Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands, pp. 8-10, for a study of "exclusively Muslim" sources tracing Muhammad's "face-to-face contract with a large, organized Jewish Community," an "encounter" that "did not prove to be an auspicious one."  The Nadir tribe in Medina went to Khaibar in "exile," Stillman, Jews, p.14


Reference 40
Salo W. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, 3 vols. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1937), vol. 1, p.311.  He cites Muwatta, in Al-Zurkani's commentary IV, p.71


Reference 41
Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History, rev. ed. (New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London: Harper-Colophon Books, 1966) p. 45


Reference 42
Al-Bukhari, al-Jami al_Sahih, bk. 56 (Kitab al_Jihad, Bab 157) ed. M. Ludolf Krehl (Leiden, 1864), vol. 2,, p.254, cited by Stillman, Jews, p. 17.  According to Stillman, "This hadith appears in several other canonical collections."


Reference 43
Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands, p.17, citing Ibd Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, ed. by Edward Sachau et al. (Leiden 1909), vol. 2 pt. 1, pp. 66-67; al-Waqidi, Kitab al-Maghazi, vol. 2, pp. 566-68; Ibn Hisham, al-Dira al_Nabawiyya, vol. 2, pp. 618-19


Reference 44
Itzhak Ben-Zvi, The Exiled and the Redeemed (Philadelphia, 1961), p. 144.  Also see  Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands,p. 14ff.


Reference 45
The Koran, Surah 33, v.26-32, Dawood translation.


Reference 46
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 49


Reference 47
Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History, rev. ed. (New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London: Harper-Colophon Books, 1966) p. 45


Reference 48
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 49


Reference 49
Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 49-50.  The appellation Bedouin derives from the word badia (steppe), which connotes the Arabian desert territories native to the wanderers.  Also see C.M. Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta (London, 1888), since then in many editions; H St. Philby, Arabia (1930); Heart of Arabia (1922); Arabia of the Wahhabis (1928); T.E. Lawrence, Revolt in the Desert (1927) and The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1935)


The Zionists rebuilt  and cultivated Palestine, like it or not
The Zionists rebuilt  and cultivated Palestine, like it or not Links   LInks  Links  Links

Zionist work that reclaimed and cultivated Palestine: descriptions from observers at the time


Zionist rebuilding and cultivation of the land: descriptions by observers at the time
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Jews wiping out malaria in Jizreel, from, Forty years in Israel

Turks leave 1,000 trees; Jews plant 256 million (Yes, the Jewish National Fund counted them)


Jews wiping out malaria in Jizreel, from, Forty years in Israel
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During the Turkish occupation...the flat land of Jisreel, in the middle of Israel...about fifty kilometers long and ten kilometers wide...was so greatly infested with malaria that thousands of people died, especially during the time when no effective medicine to cure this disease was known.  Th e Jew did a tremendously effective job of draining the Jisreel Valley, which the Bible calls Armageddon...

-Kaarlo Syvanto-Pioneer: Forty years in Israel, Unto Kunnas, 1988,


Palestine: Turks left 1,000 trees; Jews plant 256 million
Moslems leave 1,000 trees in Palestine; Jews plant 256 million from 1906 to 1990   Links   LInks  Links  Links

The Turkish tree tax has caused great barrenness by the 19th century.  Some sources say that less than 1,000 trees were left in the Land...

(Note:  And if that is overstating the destruction, let's concede several thousand trees)

From 1906 to 1990 Jewish settlers and visitors to Israel planted 256,000,000 trees in Israel.  Today forests are spreading across the Land.  Orange and grapefruit trees grow in the plains along the coast.  Banana plants and date palms bear fruit in the Jordan valley.

-The Mountains of Israel, Norma Archbold, page 39

(Note: Given that America is 400-odd times the size of Israel, that'd be comparable to Americans planting 102 billion.)


Moslems have never been a majority in Palestine
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Jerusalem One

======================================================================= Muslim and the Historical Population in Israel

=======================================================================

HATIKVAH INFORMATIONAL SERIES

Fact: Muslim Arabs have never been the majority population of Israel.

According to the British historians and archaeologists, MacAlister and Masterman, Muslim inhabitants West of the Jordan River (the modern State of Israel) in the late 19th century concentrated in the mountains and usually refrained from settling in the hills, the coastal plains or the valleys. Both Christians and Jews, who were always the majority of the population in the Holy Land, lived mostly in Jerusalem and several other towns, such as Acre, Nazareth in the Lower Galilee, and in Safad and the mountain villages of Upper Galilee.

That observation is shared by such notable 19th century researchers as the:

* British scholar H.B. Tristram "The Land of Israel," 1865 "Routes in the Holy Land," 1863

* A.P. Stanley, the Dean of Westminster Abby, "Sinai and Palestine," 1867

* the Americans, E. Robinson and E. Smith "Biblical Researches in Palestine." Boston, 1841

* the Dutch Traveler C.W. Van de Velde "Peise durch Strien und Palastinea," 1861

* the French author, Felix Bovet "Voyage en Terre Sainte," 1864

These reports are confirmed by a comparison of the early population figures in the coastal area with the 1947 statistics of the British High Commissioner to Palestine. For example, in 1880 there were 10,000 residents in Jaffa and 6,000 in Haifa (including Christian, Moslem and Jewish communitie s in each). Indeed, today's Muslim inhabitants came largely from other places.

The Egyptian-French historian M. Sabri states that the official Egyptian policy encouraged Egyptians, Bedouin nomads, army deserters and released slaves to migrate from their congested countries to settle in the sparsely populated coastal plains of the Holy Land, especially in the area now call ed the "Gaza Strip." All known authorities, among them the British Bulletin of Current Statistics of 1947, the British author Sir Lawrence Oliphant, H.B. Tristram, the Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly and historian Prof. Roberto Bachi, are in agreement that it was the migration of Egyptians, desert Bedouins and other temporary, migrant workers that populated the area in the decades prior to 1948.

It is true that hundreds of Muslim families have indeed been residents and land-owners in the Holy Land for several generations (and a few of those have been part of its history for centuries). However, the majority of the multitude of unrelated clans and tribes who represent themselves as "Pal estinians," and demand the "right to return" to the Holy Land, have no roots in it at all. Most of those have never even been there, either themselves or their ancestors. Many would not have come at all had it not been for the British and the wages paid by the Jewish pioneers of the late 19th century.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim migrant workers arrived in the early 1940's and were involved in the building of bases and military roads and servicing the British forces stationed in the area. After the war, others came not in search of a homeland, but in pursuit of UN and US monies, provision s and benefits, freely given at that time to anyone claiming to be a "Palestine Refugee." Indeed, today one might only look at the last names of the different nationalities represented as "Palestinians" to realize their diverse backgrounds.

In the 1940's, British regulations enabled Mid-Eastern Muslims to immigrate without a passport from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, India, Somalia, Ethiopia, Ethiopia, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. These migrant workers who arrived in the Holy Land just 3 to 7 years prior to the start of Israel's War of Independence in 1947 were the majority of those now re- ferred to as "Palestine refugees." Many, however, did not leave, and today they still reside within the territory of Israel.  This, also helps to explain the continued fighting and rivalries within different Palestinian factions, in many cases representing different nationalities warring againstthe other.  Jaffa, the largest town on the coastal plains prior to WW2, is a case in point. The Muslims of Jaffa where natives of no less than 25 countries including North Africa, Turkey, Syria, Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan , and India, who settled in the port city to take advantage of the job opportunities there.

In a report submitted by Masterman to the Royal British Palestine Exploration Fund, he indicates that half the Muslims residing in Safed are first generation Algerians. The British-German ethnologist, Phillip G. Baldensperger maintains that Syrian migrants are responsible for the unprecedented increase in the port city of Haifa, which reached 71,000 in 1947. Other Muslim immigrants were some Kurds, the Circassians (who fled from the war in the Caucasus), and Turcomans from the Iraqi- Turkish border, who settled on the slopes of Mt. Carmel and the Caeserea area.

By simply examining the telephone book of Schrechm (known to the Arabs as Nablus), the largest city in Samaria, one can easily notice the large number of foreign names from Egypt, Africa and all over the Muslim world, who came to Samaria during or after WW2.

Conclusion


Moslems have never been a majority, (conclusion)
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(Moslems, conclusion)

Well preserved government real estate archives document another neglected fact: less than 20% of the real estate in the Holy Land prior to 1947 was owned by Muslims. Further, substantial parts of this Muslim land is still owned by Muslims today. Druze, Cherkess and other Arab minorities who did  not participate in the attacks on Israel are now residents and citizens of Israel, serve in its armed forces and have merged into its society.

Some complain of the building of settlements in the West Bank. Note, however, they fail to mention that much of the land in the West Bank belonged to Jewish owners prior to the State of Israel (1948). In many cases Jews were the original settlers of the land, and the owners were forced to become refugees in 1948 while escaping from invading Arab armies. Some of this land was confiscated by the Jordanian government during their occupation of the area in the years 1949 to 1967. During that time some of this land was settled by Arabs and only a portion of these lands have been returned t o their lawful owners. In most cases, however, the illegal Arab residents are still allowed to remain on lands inside Israel that do not belong to them.  The historical record and population statistics show that "Palestinians" have NEVER been the majority people of the Holy Land. On the other ha nd, the Jewish habitation of the land can be traced in a consistent line back to the time of the writing of the Bible, well before the term, "Palestine or Palestinian" ever existed.

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Arab claims that they built and Jews despoiled Palestine
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Zionists reclaimed desolate Palestine

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Arab admissions that Palestinian identity a tactical fabrication

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Greater Syria, a Palestinian State and the peace process

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Nationalism arose in Europe in the 1700s, reaching the Mideast this century

Palestine was a Christian concept; Arabs saw it as a Zionist victory

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April 1920 Palestine separated from Syria; Arab abruptly change their identity

Arabs in Palestine drift from Pan-Syrianism over Zionism

Arabs invent "Palestinianism" as a tactic against Zionism

Palestinian nationalist firebrand Husseini started as Syrian partisan

Palestinianism is just a variant of anti-Zionism


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Arab admissions that Palestinian identity a tactical fabrication

pre-'48 local Arab claims to a Syrian identity

Early European observers noted that local Arabs had  no national identity


Shimon Peres and the "New Middle East"
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Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was the most powerful among the enthusiastic supporters of the Rabin/Arafat Accord.  The group claimed that with the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the great ideological divide that divided the world into camps had ended.  With the defeat of Saddam in the Gulf War during January and Februrary 1991, the Arab world now realized the superiority of democratic market economics.  Territory and armies no longer represented strength, having been supplanted by high technology and strong economies.  If Israel appeased the thirst for honor and face among the Arabs they would respond in kind.  Israel would be accepted as legitimate among the Arab states, trade, diplomatic, cultural barriers would fall, the states would disarm, and the middle east would usher in an age of prosperity and brotherhood.

In this section the user can view the statements and actions of FM Shimon Peres in the months before and after the Rabin/Arafat Accord was signed on 13 Sep 93 in Washington.  The user can also view Peres' responses' to his critics, and his reactions to increased terrorism by Palestinians against Jews, their calls for Jihad and the annihilation of Israel, and their use of the autonmous zones - at first limited to Gaza and Jericho - as sanctuaries and training grounds for terrorist groups to strike into Israel.

Statements and writings of Shimon Peres

Commentary on Shimon Peres and his circle


Statements and Articles by Shimon Peres
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1 Mar 94:  Shimon Peres tells Arafat that he's an ex-terrorist.  More


1 Mar 94: Shimon Peres on Yasser Arafat
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HATIKVA Volume 12.2Am Yeshe Lev HaAretzMarch 1, 1994

In what is considered by many here as Israel's continuous prostration before its arch-enemies, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Chief PLO Terrorist Yasir Arafat that he is not a terrorist although Arafat himself said he is. Arafat appeared surprised at Peres' remarks but kept quiet.

This was disclosed in an interview that Peres gave to Yediot Achronot, published over the weekend. Peres, in the interview, expresses admiration for Arafat, whom Peres described as a "former" terrorist, saying the PLO chief was a survivor who had managed to keep the Palestinian issue on the wor ld's agenda for 25 years.

Peres recalled a moment in which the two sides debated whether a Palestinian could be stopped from crossing into the autonomous Palestinian enclaves. Arafat said: "In such a case, I couldn't pass." Peres then told Arafat, "Don't adorn yourself with someone else's feathers. Today you are an ex-t errorist."


Commentary on Shimon Peres and his circle
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Israeli pleas for Arab gestures
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Pleading by topic.

The Rabin gov't sped blindly into the September 13, 1993 pact with the PLO spouting messianic dreams about the walls of hostility against a Jewish state in the middle east crumbling down.  They were either so sure it'd happen, or suspected the Israeli public wouldn't buy the accord without talk of Arabs accepting Israel, that they neglected to secure the crumbling of these walls in the accord.

The walls of hostility didn't crumble.  Indeed, while a few western educated spokespersons chatted to CNN news of a "just and comprehensive" peace - codewords for a middle east in which Israel ceases to exist - many Arab states spoke frankly in English of the continuing battle to destroy Israel.  Syria, for example, called the accord a betrayal for the recognition of Israel it implied.

Israeli leaders were reduced to issuing pleas in every forum for gestures of recognition.  To what degree the Rabin gov't actually expected ties and relationships to come into being, and to what degree they were putting on a show to the public is not known.  Leaders would grasp at straws.  If an Arab leader spoke to an Israeli minister, the minister would  announce the end of the boycott, or imminent economic ties or joint  projects or  whatever.  Normally, the Arab gov't would repudiate the claim within a couple days.  Sometimes  the Arab counterpart simply kept quiet.  But, the ties hoped for never came into being.

Israeli leaders clutched at straws intensely from August  1993 until December or January, 1994.  By  that time the Rabin/Arafat Accord was irreversibly in the process of implementation.   The pleas and claims of ministers became fewer.   After the withdrawal pact of May 4, 1994, Israeli ministers either knew they no longer had to deceive the public that the accord with the PLO was a peace accord that  would usher in an age of brotherhood and prosperity, or they themselves realized just how deluded they had been.  Who knows which?

Pleas for gestures on economic issues/boycott


Pleas for Arab gestures on economic issues/boycott
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16 Nov 93 Tuesday: Rabin pleads with Arab Journalists to rescind secondary boycott of Israel  More


16 Nov 93: Rabin tells Arab journalists to rescind secondary boycott
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...Rabin made these statements at the National Press Club in Washington before representatives of Arab media and Arab diplomats. Referring to the Arab economic boycott of Israel, Rabin said the Arab states should halt the secondary and t ertiary boycott (on international and foreign companies trading with Israel) but said he does not expect the Arab countries to begin trading directly with Israel before Israel signs a peace treaty with them.

-Israeline, Wednesday, November 17, 1993


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World collects billions for PLO in wake of Rabin/Arafat Accord
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From the day the Rabin/Arafat Accord was signed on the Whitehouse lawn on 13 September 1993, America led the world in collecting funds for the Palestinian state to be.  On the day of  the signing, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said that peace would not  work unless Palestinians and Israelis saw an improvement on the ground.  For Israelis the improvement was to be a cessation of violence,  diplomatic recognition and an end  to the Arab boycott. For the Palestinians it  was to be a gradual trip toward independence and a vast improvement in their standard of living.  The world soon forgot about the benefits Israel was to receive.  They immeidately began treating Arafat like a head of state and other PLO executives as ministers in a government.  They collected huge pledges - billions - for the PLO, but demanded that Arafat institute strict accounting procedures and place proper institutions, systems and procedures in effect.  Arafat refused to do so.  Throughout the first half of 1994, the international community stuck to its guns, refusing to release funds unless Arafat constructed responsible and accountable institutions.  He didn't.  He said the requirements were "humiliating."  He warned that without funds the "peace process" would die.  In early June, 1994, the international community released more than $40 million to Arafat.  Soon, the financial requirements were forgotten.

Progress of diplomacy, demands, statements, meetings, promises connected to financing Arafat's dictatorship.

Commentary on the appeasement and capitulation of Arafat by the West and Israel regarding financial procedures.


Funding Arafat: progress of diplomacy, demands, pledges
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13 Sep 93 Monday  Sec of State Christopher announces $250 million in American aid to Arafat for building infrastructure.  America will host a donor's conference to raise billions.  More

15 Sep 93 Wednesday  Aids to Sec of State Christopher announce date of donor's conference for PLO/Arafat will be 1 Oct 93.  US will host, try to raise $5 to $10 billion.  More


13 Sep 93: Christopher grants $250 million to Arafat, announces donor's conference
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NEW YORK (UPI) -- Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Monday the United States would contribute $250 million to help Palestinians build roads, purify water and provide sanitation in the occupied territories.

        Christopher also announced during a speech in New York that he and Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen would host a conference at which their foreign counterparts will be expected to offer contributions for Palestinian infrastructure development.

        Following the historic reconciliation between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Christopher called on Arab nations to end their economic boycott of the Jewish state ``now.''

        ``The real barrier to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians -- the psychological barrier -- has already been breached,'' Christopher said during his address at Columbia University.

        ``Compared to that obstacle, the resource challenge we face can surely be met,'' he said. ``I am convinced that we can succeed.''

        Christopher did not peg a date for the ``donors'' conference or a target amount of money the administration hopes to raise. Instead, he referred to a World Bank study that says at least $3 billion will be needed over the next 10 years.

        Senior State Department and Treasury officials told reporters in Washington after the speech that the administration expected to raise ``several hundred million dollars'' over the next 18 months.

        The ``donors'' conference, they said, will likely take place in Washington within the next two weeks.

        The money will be used in the near term for such ``labor-intensive projects'' as road maintenance, irrigation and housing. In the future, they said, assistance will go for sanitation, transportation and energy projects.

        The officials said $100 million of Washington's pledge would be in hard cash and the remainder in loan guarantees from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. The cash portion is primarily for technical assistance on the projects, they said.

        The administration will look toward the European Community, Japan, Persian Gulf states, Canada and Nordic nations to provide the bulk of foreign contributions to the Palestinian fund, which will be administered by the World Bank, Christopher said.

        Israel will not be asked nor is it expected to contribute, U.S. officials said.

        Lifting the Arab economic boycott of Israel, imposed in the 1940s, would in the long term provide much-needed funds for the Jewish State and potentially allow the United States to reduce its $3 billion in annual aid for its closest Middle East ally.

        And the administration will ask Congress to remove 16 separate pieces of legislation, some dating back to the 1950s, that prohibit the PLO from operating in the United States or receiving financial assistance from Washington.


15 Sep 93: Christopher announces 1 Oct 93 hosting of PLO donor's conference
15 Sep 93: Christopher announces 1 Oct 93 hosting of PLO donor's conference  Links  Links  Links  Links

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The United States will host a multinational fund- raising conference for Palestinian development in the occupied territories of Israel Oct. 1 in Washington, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

        Senior aides to Secretary of State Warren Christopher said the administration has received a ``favorable response'' to the invitations, which were sent Monday to the European Community, Japan, Gulf states, Canada and Nordic nations.

        The countries were invited to attend the gathering at the State Department Oct. 1 and were expected to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to help Palestinians improve the infrastructure in territory over which Israel recently agreed to give the Arab group limited autonomy.

        ``The conference will take place here Oct. 1,'' State Department spokesman Michael McCurry said.

        McCurry said Christopher will return one day early from the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York to co-chair the fund- raising event with Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen.

        Christopher announced Monday that the U.S. government would contribute $100 million in cash and another $150 million in loan guarantees from the Overseas Private Investment Corp. to help Palestinians build roads, purify water and upgrade sanitation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank town o

f Jericho.

        U.S. officials say they hope to raise several million dollars from foreign donors at the conference and $3 billion during the next 18 months.

        They said it was crucial to maintain support for the accord signed recently at the White House by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.

        Improving conditions on the ground in the occupied territories as quickly as possible is the only way to maintain brittle support for the accord from Palestinians, many of whom oppose it.

        Mohammed Abu Shaaban, a leader of Arafat's Fatah group, was assassinated Monday after a rally in the Gaza. Many Palestinian leaders said the political killing, the first since the signing, was carried out by rival Fatah members opposed to the pact and not by the radical Arab group Hamas

.

        ``The international community must move immediately to see that the agreement produces tangible improvements in the security and daily lives of Palestinians and Israelis,'' Assistant Secretary of State Ed Djerejian, one of the principal architects of the Middle East peace process, said during a speech Wednesday.

        Senior State Department officials said Christopher has begun to plan for a visit to the Middle East shortly after the conference in Washington to maintain momentum for the self-rule plan and to whittle away at Syrian President Hafez Assad's opposition to making peace with Israel.

        Christopher's scheduled departure Oct. 5 and a subsequent trip to the former Soviet republics, however, may be delayed due to the political crisis in Russia, the officials said.

        WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Secretary of State Warren Christopher is expected to call next week for an international conference to raise money for Palestinian infrastructure development in the occupied territories, U.S. officials said Friday.

        President Clinton indicated this week that the United States may be willing to host a ``donors conference'' at which world leaders would discuss how best to aid the Palestinians in administering parts of the occupied territories.

        State Department spokesman Michael McCurry lined to discuss the matter, saying wryly that he should ``leave it to the secretary to tell you more about that on Monday.''

        But senior aides to Christopher said the secretary will likely call for the gathering of world leaders during a speech in New York Monday at Columbia University.

        They cautioned, however, that Christopher's speech was still being written and ``anything could happen between now and then.'' The officials conceded later that the main reason for all the secrecy was to ensure that the secretary's comments ``produced news.''

        Israel agreed last week to give the 1.8 million Palestinians in the occupied territories limited control over the Gaza Strip and West Bank town of Jericho as a dry run for returning more land to the Arab group.

        But everyone involved agrees that the experiment will fail unless the Palestinians are given huge infusions of cash to develop such basic necessities as sanitation, telecommunications and police.

        ``There's a certain urgency attached to this,'' a senior State Department official said under conditions of anonymity.

        The World Bank estimated in a report last week that Palestinians would need at least $5 billion over the next 10 years in order to adequately manage day-to-day affairs. U.S. and Palestinian officials have said that amount may be somewhat understated.

        Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said last week in Washington, where he signed the historic accord with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat during a memorable White House ceremony, that the Jewish state allocates $350 million annually for the occupied territories .

        U.S. officials said leaders of ``several'' nations have already told Clinton and Christopher that they are prepared to contribute money for the Palestinians.

        State Department officials said Jordan -- which received $30 million in old U.S. aid this week that had been blocked as a result of the Hashemite Kingdom's refusal to abide by economic sanctions against Iraq during the Persian Gulf war -- agreed to earmark $5.5 million for Palestinian de velopment in the occupied territories.


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Jew/Israel hating quotations by Islamic fundamentalists

Anti-semitic quotations from the Koran


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Syria and  Israel's War of Independence
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Syria and Israel from the Lebanese War through the Gulf War
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Syria and Israel from 1949 to 1956
Syria and Israel from 1949 to 1956  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


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Syria and Israel from 1957 to 1965
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Syria and Israel leading up to the '67 War


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Syria and Israel 1968 to 1972
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Syria and Israel leading up the the Yom Kippur War
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Syria and Israel from 1974 through the 1982 Lebanon War
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History of Modern Syria
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Syria: Recent history and conflict with Israel
Syria: Recent history and conflict with Israel Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

What is now Syria was a region of the Ottoman Empire until the end of World War l.  It's borders were determined through a dispute and negotiations between France and Britain, the powers that seized the Middle East from Turkey.   Syria was part of a greater region known as Sham, that now includes Syria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, Jordan, although even here the borders are not exact.  The original Syrian borders did not include the Golan Heights.

Syria became semi-independent in 1923.  It quickly grew into the Arab country most hostile to Israel.  It opposed Israel's delcaration of independence more strongly than any other country, was the instigator and backbone of the seven army attack on the nascent Jewish state.

In the 1960s the Ba'ath party - a mixture of  pseudo-Marixism mixed  with Third Worldism and pan-Arab nationalism ascended to power.  It  competed with Nasser for ascendency in the Arab world.   It's rulers are Alawites, a small non-standard Moslem sect considered heretics or near-heretics by most Sunni Moslems, who make up most Syrians.

The Alawites stay in power by ruthlessly smashing opponents, including fundamentalists.  It established and keeps its claim to rule on being the most radical enemy of Zionists and the imperialist west.  Syria has been, and still is, Israel's most implacable enemy.  Egypt may be more dangerous, but Syria is most hostile.

Syria and Israel since the Gulf War

The Golan Heights: History, strategic value and Israel's diplomatic retreat

Arab strategy against Israel in the peace process.  Relations between Syria, Iraq and Iran - between the Palestinians and Jordan - between Sudan and Egypt, and in other combinations are complex and often hostile.  With varying passion, most share the objective of weaknening and destroying Israel, and this influences their alliances.

Syrian unconventional arms programs

Syrian involvement in the drug trade.  Syrian officials on the highest level - including vice president Rifaat Assad, Defence Minister Mustapha Tlass, and Chief of Intelligence Gen. Ali Dubah -  run the opium, heroin and hashish trade.  The popies are grown in the Beka'a Valley in eastern Lebanon.  US Coverup One   US Coverup Two

History of modern Syria

Syria and Israel's War of Independence

Syria and Israel from 1949 to 1956

Syria and Israel from 1957 to 1965

Syria and Israel leading up to the '67 war

The Six Day War

Syria and Israel from 1968 to 1972

Syria and Israel leading up to the '73 War

The Yom Kippur War

Syria and Israel from 1974 through the 1982 Lebanon War

Syria and the 1975-1990 Civil War in Lebanon

The 1982 Lebanon War

Syria and Israel from the Lebanese War through the Gulf War

Syria and Lebanon since the Taif Accord

Syria and Israel since the Gulf War


Syria and Israel since the Gulf War
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The Golan Heights: History, strategic value and Israel's diplomatic retreat

The Assad/Clinton summit on January 16, 1994

Attacks in South Lebanon on Israeli forces or their allies by Syrian-controlled terrorists

Syria exercises nearly complete control over the terrorist groups in Damascus and Lebanon

Syrian "president" Hafez Assad is an anti-semitic dictator who will not keep his promises.  He has not kept his committment under the Taif Accord to withdraw from Lebanon.  That's a promise he made to fellow  Arabs.  He did not keep his many promises to America to release Syria's Jews.  If Syria cannot keep promises to fellow Arabs and the world's most powerful country, he's going to keep his promises to the Jews?  Right.  Syria's promises.   He cannot be trusted to keep the peace if Israel relinquishes the strategically critical Golan Heights.

The Israeli public opposes withdrawing from the Golan Heights, the polls said consistently from the moment the Rabin gov't hinted it would do so in exchange for a piece of paper.  They wondered if Syria's proxy war in Southern Lebanon is his idea of peace.  If the international community would not hold Syria responsible for these attacks, why would they hold Syria responsible for proxy attacks into Israel from the Golan Heights after a withdrawal. The Rabin government knew this and was forced to issue toothless threats and protests toward Syrian sponsorship.  Nobody was much impressed.  Toothless protests

Sec of State Warren Christopher and his assistants such as Dennis Ross have hinted that America will station troops on the Golan Heights as part of a security guarantee.  In doing so they along with everybody else acknowledge the value of the Golan as a strategic asset.   The Golan Heights.  Without it, Israel is far less defensible. Given America's record in Lebanon, Somalia, North Korea, Bosnia, Haiti, etc. can Israel bet the lives of its children on the willingness of an American president to stand fast while American troops are being blown up, their mothers are demanding their sons be brought home, the press is condemning Israel for a "lack of flexibility" and elections are just around the corner?  Right. America has made many security guarantees to Israel in the past.  Have they been reliable?

 American guarantees to Israel in the past..

International guarantees


Double standards in response to Arab attacks
Unlike the long-lasting world-wide uproar that followed the terrorist attack upon the mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron by a single Israeli fanatic who represented no organization,, this attack passed unnoticed.  The host Arab government didn't apologize.  It didn't express revulsion.  It didn't condemn the attack or the attackers. It didn't visit the victims, offer condolences, compensate the victims or their survivors.The perpretrators weren't arrested or outlaws.  The UN's Secretary General didn't express revulsion.  The Security Council didn't condemn the attack or the attackers.  It didn't demand the host government take measures to protect the victims.

 Guess why.? Who has the oil?  Who has a market of 300 million people?  Who buys lots of weapons and aircraft?  Which side has 22 votes in the UN?  Which side has 1?


The Assad/Clinton Summit
The Assad/Clinton Summit  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The news conference after the summit

 Clinton said Syria's President Assad offered peace to Israel.  Did he?

He further stated that Israel could rely on a treaty with Syria because President Assad is a man of his word.  Syrian promises.  Syrian promises to America to free its Jews.


Clinton's claims that Assad offered peace to Israel
Clinton's claims that Assad offered peace to Israel  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

To the uninitiated, the semantics of the Geneva meeting between President Bill Clinton and Syrian dictator Hafez Assad may be puzzling.  It is difficult to see why Israel is not satisfied with "a full and comprehensive peace."  Nor are the subtle differences between "real peace" and "a just peace," or between "regular relations" and "normal relations" immediately apparent.

 But in the Middle East these phrases constitute code, which have less to do with the literal meaning of the words than with their diplomatic message.  "Just and comprehensive peace" means only one thing: a complete Israeli withdrawal to the lines of the 1949 armistice agreement, namely the relinquishment of Judea, Samaria, Gaza the Golan, the security zone in Lebanon and half of Jerusalem.  And this is what Assad said in Geneva yesterday.

 True, Clinton painted a rosier picture.  He said Assad had expressed a willingness to "normalize relations" with Israel, a code for an exchange of ambassadors, open borders with free movement of people and goods, and all the other components of neighborly relations.

 But Assad himself said nothing of the sort.  He talked of "peace" between the peoples of the region (not its states) once Israel agrees to "a comprehensive peace."  And when pressed by CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer to say that Clinton was quoting him correctly about the kind of peace which would include normal relations, the exchange of ambassadors etc., Assad pointedly declined to answer...

 True, Clinton stressed that he had brought up such issues as the Syrian sponsorship of terrorism, its involvement in narcotics, its arms buildup and its violation of the Taif accord which stipulates Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.  But the fact is that Clinton met with Assad no after he did anything to correct these grave offenses to world order but before.

 Moreover, by declaring that Syria, a nation in dire economic straits and in desperate need of American help, is pivotal to peace in the Middle East, Clinton has legitimated Assad's claim to speak for all the Arabs in the region, including the Palestinians.  To cap it all, Clinton has also agreed to establish a US-Syria track on the foreign minister level, a process which can only undermine Israel's insistence on direct, bilateral negotiations...

-David bar-Illan, Assad smiling, Jerusalem Post, Monday, January 17, 1993

Comment:  linked to cl_asd_2.bmp.


The Rabin government's - ineffective - diplomatic action against Syrian support of terrorist attacks
The Rabin government's - ineffective - diplomatic action against Syrian support of terrorist attacks  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Probably believing the rhetoric they used to sell the Rabin/Arafat Accord to the Israeli public, and also needing to produce the illusion of Arab response to territorial concessions that would lead to a PLO army less than 11 miles from Israel's population centers, the Rabin government attempted to parlay the "good feeling" into pressure on Syria to stop the attacks in Southern Lebanon.  Paricularly from September through December 1993, there was a swirl of diplomatic activity.  Israel buttonholed everybody to "influence" Syria to withdraw its support for Hizbullah and other terrorist groups.

After some months, it became obvious that Syria wasn't listening.  After the January 16 summit in Geneva between Hafez Assad and Bill Clinton, it was apparent that Israel was expected to withdraw from the Golan and the Security Zone in exchange for only the right formula of words, signed once, during a photo-opportunity on the White House lawn.

By the Spring of 1994, Israel no longer sought to curtail Syrian sponsored low-level warfare against Israel.  Israel's leaders ignored it, charging ahead with its retreat from the Golan without Syria acting and talking like it was making peace.

Below are a few examples of Israel's leaders importuning the world's leaders, as if the leaders expected the Arabs to respond to the Rabin/Arafat Accord.

1 Sep 93 Wednesday:  Israeli President Weizman asks Egypt's foreign minister Moussa to intercede with Syria, "lest the peace process be endangered."   More

19 Sep 93 Sunday:  Israeli Prime Minister Rabin pleads with Egypt's President Mubarak to discourage Syrian support for Palestinian rejectionist groups fighting the Rabin/Arafat accord, and Hizbullah attacks in South Lebanon  More

28 Sep 93 Tuesday:  Israeli FM Peres meets UN Sec Gen, demanding Syrian gestures in Southern Lebanon in response to Israel's pact with the PLO.  More


1 Sep 93: Israeli president Weizman pleads with Egyptian foreign minister to intervene with Syria to stop attacks
1 Sep 93: Israeli president Weizman pleads with Egyptian foreign minister to intervene with Syria to stop attacks  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Weizman Asks Moussa that Egypt Influence Syria to Restrain Terrorist Organizations in South Lebanon

Israel Defense Forces Radio, GALEI ZAHAL, reports on Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa's visit to Israel today. Moussa met with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Israel's President Ezer Weizman. During the Weizman-Moussa meeting, Israel's President asked the Egyptian Foreign Minister for Egypt to influence Syria in restraining the terrorist organization in South Lebanon, preventing them from endangering the peace process. Answering reporters' questions between meetings, Amr Moussa confirmed that the issue of mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO is "on the table now."

-Israeline, Wednesday, September 1, 1993


19 Sep 93: Rabin asks Egypt's President to tell Syria's Assad to curtail Palestinian rejectionists and Hizbullah in Lebanon
19 Sep 93: Rabin asks Egypt's President to tell Syria's Assad to curtail Palestinian rejectionists and Hizbullah in Lebanon  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Today's YEDIOT AHRONOT reports that Israel conveyed a message to Syria asserting its expectations that Syria restrain those organizations rejecting the Israeli-Palestinian agreement, stop hampering efforts by the Lebanese Army to deploy in South Lebanon and restrain Hizbullah activity in that ar ea. According to the newspaper, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was asked to deliver the Israeli message to Syria by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin and Mubarak met yesterday in Alexandria, Egypt. Rabin doubted success of future peace negotiations with Syria unless Damascus changes its policy in Lebanon and restrains the organizations under its control which operate against Israel.

-Israeline, Monday, September 20, 1993


28 Sep 93: Israel's Foreign Minister Peres meets UN Sec. Gen. to demand Syrian "gestures" in South Lebanon
28 Sep 93: Israel's Foreign Minister Peres meets UN Sec. Gen. to demand Syrian "gestures" in South Lebanon  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Peres Blames Syria for Not Allowing Lebanese Army to Deploy Forces in South Lebanon

Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reports this morning that during a meeting with UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali yesterday, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres blamed Syria for not allowing Lebanon to deploy a massive Lebanese Army force in South Lebanon to restrain the Hizbullah. The Foreign Min ister said that if the Lebanese Government proves it can maintain calm in South Lebanon, Israel will have no reason to stay in the Security Zone. He added that Israel recently took several confidence building measures and it now expects the Arab states to respond with a similar approach.  Eight foreign ministers and 50 ambassadors attended a special reception yesterday in honor of Foreign Minister Peres organized by the U.N. Among those attending were the ambassadors of Morocco and Katar. KOL YISRAEL adds that this afternoon, Peres will sign agreements reestablishing full diplomatic re lations between Israel and the countries of Gabon and Mauritius.

-Israeline,Wednesday, September 29, 1993


Syria controls the terror groups attacking the IDF in Lebanon and Jews in Israel
Syria controls the terror groups attacking the IDF in Lebanon and Jews in Israel  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Does Syria control the groups?  Analogy

 Terrorists operate openly in Syria.  Damascus interview with Ahmed Jibril, leader of PFLP-GC.    Their hatred of Jews differs little from the Nazis or from Farrakhan associates.  Syria doesn't wince; Syrian newspapers add to the anti-semitic atmosphere. Jibril's anti-semitism.    Where but from the government of Syria could he set-up and train on the bases, and get ammunition?  Where but from the intelligence services of Syria could he get the reconnaissance data he uses?  Ahmed Jibril's well-equipped, well-trained terrorists.   .

Syrian and Lebanese newspapers print announcements of attacks by terrorist groups.  Example  Would anyone believe Germany wasn't responsible for attacks on Turkish workers if German newspapers printed advertisements claiming responsibility for these attacks?

Terrorists attack almost daily, indicating an inexhaustable supply of arms, men, and funds and training.  Example  Israel was held guilty, condemned by the UN and expected to make concessions to the Palestinians because of a single incident of murder in the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron by Dr. Baruch Goldstein.  But Syria isn't responsible for daily attacks by a well-trained army? .

Terrorists possess very sophisticated weapons, sensors, targetting devices, missiles, explosives, of the type only armies can afford, buy, maintain, train to use.  Example   If a while racist group in California attacked Blacks and Latinos with Sager anti-tank missiles, mortars, Katyusha surface-to-surface missiles, then shot at police helicopters with radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles, would anybody say the federal government is not responsible?  Especially if the white racist group brought journalists on tour of their bases, which just happened to be a couple miles from US army bases?  If the leader of the group were a colonel in the US army?

Special sniper units?  Syria's not responsible?  Gimme a break!  Hizbullah's special sniper units?

An endless supply of missiles.  Who pays for them?  Hizbullah's supply of missiles.


Comment: Does Syria control the terrorist groups?
Leaders of the terrorist groups are openly accessible to reporters. Hizbullah is a legal political party in Syria. They own and run radio stations. They host journalists and business associates in offices with published phone numbers and addresses.  They openly admit to murderous acts and brag about their plans for the next.  Lebanese and Syrian newspapers print announcements of the terror attacks. They beam when photographed and filmed.  Their speech and publications are filled with contempt for and hatred of Jews similar to that of neo-Nazis in western countries.  Their men are well armed and highly trained technically.  They receive explosives, hang-gliders, weapons of all kinds, laser targeting devices, false passports.  This material must come through customs, and the training occurs at army bases.  They brag of Syrian and Iranian complicity without any hesitancy.


Analogy: If Canada housed white racists
Analogy: If Canada hosted white racists...

 The leader of the white people's liberation front holds a press conference in the fifth floor of a Toronto office building.  Next door,  employees scamper about, running a cable television station. The group's leader is a retired colonel in the Canadian army.  He holds an open press conference at which he brags of his responsibility for the 13 blacks blown up at an NAACP picnic. He has printed an announcement of the attack in the Globe. The attack was the latest in an almost daily string of attacks on blacks, indicating an inexhaustable supply of terrorists, arms, funds, and training. He displays the type of rocket propelled grenades his "liberation" fighters used to murder the blacks, along with laser range finders, night binoculars, and other equipment instrumental in the success of the operation.  She displays the sophisticated electronics with which he bugged the leaders of the NAACP.  He offers to take the journalists on a tour of one of his "fighters" training camps.

 Is there anybody whowouldn't hold the Canadian government responsible for the attack?  Is there any analogous situation in the world to the terror groups hosted by Arab governments in which the sponsoring governments would not be held responsible?


Interview in Damascus with Ahmed Jibril
Interview in Damascus with Ahmed Jibril  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Ahmed Jibril's office is in the basement of a deteriorating Damascus apartment house.  A man with a Kalashnikov rifle checks all visitors.

 Ahmed Jibril operates a radio station, Al Quds, in southern Syria.  He operates bases in Syria and Lebanon, and has close contacts with terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Western intelligence sources regard Jibril as the leading terrorist today.

 Jibril predicts that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat will be killed.  His prediction is not farfetched.  Three plots to kill Arafat have been uncovered within one month(October, 1993).

 "I am not saying that I personally will kill Arafat," Jibril says during a 2 1/2 hour interview.  "I am saying that the people will not be lenient with a man who has given away 90 percent of their land.  When Arafat is killed, the accord(the Israel-PLO declaration of principles) will fade away."

 At 58, Jibril is a confident man.  Born in Yazur, near Ramle, he left in 1948 with his family and grew up in Jordan and Syria.  His terrorist past extends more than 30 years, starting from when he was a captain in the engineering corps of the Syrian army.  In 1967, his small Syrian-sponsored terror group joined George Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

 He broke away from the PFLP the following year to form the PFLP-General Command.  He has his fingers everywhere, whether in Hizbullah in southern Lebanon or Hamas in the Gaza Strip.  He has excellent connections with Syria, Iran and Libya, as well as with some US companies.  On Jibril's desk is a list of 1,000 anti-Arafat militants in the territories.  Next to it is a letter from an Illinois exporter regarding equipment...

 Interviewing Jibril is relatively easy.  One phone call from any one of a variety of Syrian press agents, who usually combine writing for the Western media with helping visiting foreign journalists, can often gain entry to the arch-terrorist...

 The Syrian-backed terrorist appears to have made a career out of defying Arafat.  The feud began in the early 1970s.  On April 11, 1974, several days after Arafat called on Palestinian terror leaders to stop attacking Israel from Lebanon, Jibril launched the bloody attack on Kiryat Shmona, in which 16 Israeli civilians were killed.  In 1981, Jibril ignored Arafat's directive to observe a US-sponsored Israel-PLO cease-fire in south Lebanon...

 He reserves his most outrageous descriptions for the PLO chairman.  He has called Arafat a "Jew who works for the Israeli secret service and infiltrated the PLO.  I have proof that Arafat belongs to a Moroccan-Jewish family from the Kaddoua family."...

 ...Judaism also appears to interest Jibril.  He discusses the Bible and what he asserts is the master plan of Zionism.  "According to their beliefs, the Jews are not interested in the coastline ut in the hills," Jibril says.  "According to the Torah, the Jews were based in the hills of the West Banks and were never on the coast.  When they occupied the coast in 1948, this was the first step toward going east to the mountains."

 Notwithstanding the rhetoric, Jibril has quietly won the respect of Israeli security sources.  They say that he has been one of the shrewdest and sophisticated terrorists facing Israel and the West.

 "He doesn't only have a mouth.  He also has explosives," Merari says.

 Israeli sources say Jibril has a well-trained force of about 300 fighters.  These terrorists have advanced equipment.  Merari says Jibril's group was the first to use barometric bombs to down passenger airliners as well as radio communications and remote-controlled explosives.  Jibril's terrorists wore belts full of explosives in the 1974 terror attack in Kiryat Shmona.

 Jibril was the first to successfully use motorized hang gliders to enable his fighters to avoid Israeli radar and land in northern Israel from Lebanon.  In November 1987, a Jibril commando swooped into northern Israel and single-handedly killed six soldiers in a military base outside Kiryat Shmona before escaping...

 Arafat's cops do not impress Jibril.  He believes most of them will stay out of the way of Palestinian opponents to Gaza-Jericho rule.  Those officers who take seriously the assertion of Israeli officials that the cops will work with Israeli security forces to maintain security will get trapped in the cross fire.  Moreover, the Palestinian police can serve as an arsenal for the rejection front.

 "We will take the weapons from Arafat's police and fight the Israelis," he says.  "A knife is available in every kitchen in the West Bank.  We don't need weapons."...

 Jibril himself is quite comfortable.  Western diplomats say he has a flourishing smuggling business, particularly in drugs.  He receives funding from Iran, which supports a range of Islamic and even Lebanese communist groups in the region.  Arab sources say even representatives of Arafat's Fatah wing in Lebanon have met with Iranian officials recently.

 "We regard Iran as the main supporter of all of the oppressed in the world," he says.  "We believe, as regards the Lebanese or Palestinians, that if the US imposes a solution on us, it will have to face Iran in another arena, in the Gulf.  There is a shared interest between us and the Iranians, to face the Americans."...

 Fathi Shukaiki, head of the Islamic Jihad, calmly stops to discuss his group's latest attacks on Israel.  Three soldiers were caught in an ambush and killed on September 12.  Their weapons were seized.  That same day, an Israeli bus driver was stabbed and killed...

 Today, Shukaiki leads a terror group that combines Islamic fervor with Western-derived anarchist philosophy.  Arab sources say his group is preparing suicide attacks aimed at torpedoing the PLO-Israel accord.  The Paris-based weekly Al-Watan al-Arab says Islamic Jihad is training in a military camp in Damascus and plans on attacking Arafat when he arrives in Jericho.

 Shukaiki, however, prefers to stress the Zionist enemy.  "We are concentrating our efforts against the Israelis," he say.  "This is the only language the Israelis understand, that of violence."...

 Along the curb are about 200 Syrian policemen.  They carry truncheons, not guns.  Members of the Syrian-sponsored Palestine Liberation Army carry Kalashnikovs and provide the actual security.  They accompany the demonstrators as they march about a kilometer as far as the arch that marks the end of Yarmouk.  There, the protesters immediately disperse...

 The Palestinian opposition in Damascus says it doesn't want a Palestinian civil war in the West Bank and Gaza strip.  That,, opposition sources say, would be playing into the hands of Israel.  Already, Palestinian sources say Hamas and Fatah have reached a truce to avert bloodshed.  Palestinian and Israeli sources say Fatah and Hamas have agreed to limit their dispute to a war of words.

 "What we are trying to avoid is infra-Palestinian fighting," says Haled Fahoum, head of the Palestine Salvation Front, an Arafat opposition group which is not part of the rejectionist coalition.

 Jibril, however, does not rule out Palestinian internecine strife.  "We won't start such a thing ourselves.  But we know that Arafat will try to put down the intifada.  We know that Arafat will be a Third World cop.  We will go on killing Israeli settlers and troops.  His position will be that of (South Lebanese Army commander) Antoine Lahad or worse.  Arafat will face people whom he won't be able to buy off."

 Jibril envisions an increase in attacks by his supporters and colleagues in the opposition.  His first targets, he says, are the Jewish settlements and Israeli soldiers.

 Some of the attacks will be done by his men, Jibril says.  Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have deep roots in the territories, will coordinate with his group.  He says the PFLP-GC and the Islamic groups have prepared a joint plan.  Both groups have received a direct support from Iran gut some Western intelligence sources believe Jibril enjoys greater trust.

 "We will continue our struggle against the Zionist enemy," Jibril says.  "Neither Arafat nor his policemen will be able to protect the Jewish settlements.  Although Arafat has good experience, we feel he won't be able to control events there.  He was in Lebanon and his end was dramatic.  We feel that his end will now also be dramatic."

 The interview draws to a close. A BBC crew will shoot later that night.  More crews will arrive the following day....

-Steve Rodan, excerpts from interview with Ahmed Jibril, Jerusalem Post, November 12, 1993


Ahmed Jibril's anti-semitism

For Ahmed Jibril, as for Russia's Zhirinovksy and the Nazis before them, everything is a Jewish conspiracy:

 He reserves his most outrageous descriptions for the PLO chairman.  He has called Arafat a "Jew who works for the Israeli secret service and infiltrated the PLO.  I have proof that Arafat belongs to a Moroccan-Jewish family from the Kaddoua family."...

-Steve Rodan, excerpts from interview with Ahmed Jibril, Jerusalem Post, November 12, 1993


Ahmed Jibril's well-equipped, well-trained terrorists

 Israeli sources say Jibril has a well-trained force of about 300 fighters.  These terrorists have advanced equipment.  Merari says Jibril's group was the first to use barometric bombs to down passenger airliners as well as radio communications and remote-controlled explosives.  Jibril's terrorists wore belts full of explosives in the 1974 terror attack in Kiryat Shmona.

 Jibril was the first to successfully use motorized hang gliders to enable his fighters to avoid Israeli radar and land in northern Israel from Lebanon.  In November 1987, a Jibril commando swooped into northern Israel and single-handedly killed six soldiers in a military base outside Kiryat Shmona before escaping...-Steve Rodan, excerpts from interview with Ahmed Jibril, Jerusalem Post, November 12, 1993


Examples:  Terrorist groups attack almost daily
Examples:  Terrorist groups attack almost daily  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The almost daily attacks on IDF and South Lebanese Army positions inside the security zone are continuing.  An SLA post north of Tibnit village in the central sector of the zone, came under RPG and light weapons fire early yesterday(Nov 15)

 -Jersualem Post, November 16, 1993

 The explosive charge, which was planted by fighters of the Shiite Amal Movement, detonated while the joint Israeli-SLA armored patrol was traveling on the road, inflicting casualties and causing damage, according to a statement by Amal's military wing, the ``Faithful Resistance Movement.''

 Israeli forces retaliated by firing several shells on locations on the other side of the fence, but there was no immediate word on casualties, security sources said.

 The attack was the fourth in less than 24 hours against the Israeli- SLA forces. A Lebanese woman was wounded Monday in retaliatory Israeli shelling.

 In another incident on Friday afternoon(October 22, 1993) SLA troops discovered three roadside bombs in a different part of the central sector of the zone.  The devices were safely destroyed by SLA sappers.

-Jerusalem Post, October 24, 1993

 Three IDF soldiers were lightly wounded in a round of artillery exchanges between Hizbullah gunmen and IDF and South Lebanese Army troops in the Soujud region of the security zone yesterday evening.(October 26, 1993)...

 Shooting exchanges, as well as clashes, have become an almost daily occurrence in the Soujud region, which is close to Hizbullah supply lines, and whose tree and brush-covered hilly terrain affords good cover for the attackers.

-Jerusalem Post, October 27, 1993


The terrorists possess weapons only states can afford and maintain
The terrorists possess weapons only states can afford and maintain  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Hizbullah's special sniper units.

Hizbullah's supply of missiles.

 Reports from Lebanon said IAF helicopter gunships also scoured the region of the gunmen strafing valleys in the region with heavy machine-gun fire.

 According to the reports, a SAM-7 shoulder-held ground-to-air missile was fired at one of the helicopters, narrowly missing the target.  There have been reports of terrorists using such missiles against helicopters on several occasions recently.

 -Jerusalem Post, November 21, 1993

 Two IDF soldiers were wounded - one of them seriously - and two Hizbullah gunmen were killed in fierce clashes in the security zone yesterday as tension in the region remained high.

 The heavy fighting was sparked by an ambush by members of the Islamic Resistance, the fighting arm of Hizbullah, on an armored IDF patrol near Soujud village in the eastern sector of the zone.

 A large force of heavily armed fundamentalists attacked the patrol with anti-tank missiles.  RPGs and light weapons from close range at around 9 a.m.

-Jerusalem Post, October 25, 1993

 The guerrillas exchanged machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades with the Israeli servicemen on the Adaisse-Taibe road in the  central sector of Israel's self-declared ``security zone'' in southern Lebanon, the statement said.

 The incident in which the two SLA soldiers were wounded occurred yesterday(October 23, 1993) evening in what appears to have been a long-range shooting attack by Hizbullah on SLA outposts in the Shomriya and Alman region, also in the central sector of the zone.

 Several mortar rounds and Katyusha rockets were fired towards the positions, and two SLA soldiers were wounded, one slightly and one moderately...

 The Islamic Resistance, the fighting arm of Hizbullah, claimed responsibility for the incident , saying its men had ambushed a SLA patrol in the area and then fired at the positions...

-Jerusalem Post, October 24, 1993

 A Hizbullah gunman was reported killed yesterday(Nov 14), apparently in one of several artillery duels with IDF and South Lebanese Army soldiers in the security zone...

 The first incident occurred late on Saturday night(Nov 13) when gunmen, believed to be from Hizbullah, opened fire with machine guns and RPGs at an SLA post near Barasheet, in the central sector of the zone...

 Yesterday morning(Nov 14), a SLA position in the Shomriya area, also in the central sector of the zone, came under fire from mortars.  Several vehicles in the post's compound were damaged in the mortar attack but there were no injuries...

 Later yesterday(Nov 14), following Hizbullah's announcement, another SLA outpost, this time in the eastern sector of the zone, came under light weapons fire...

-Jerusalem Post, November 15, 1993


Lebanese fundamentalists vow to destroy israel
Lebanese fundamentalists vow to destroy israel  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

By Nadim Ladki

 BEIRUT, Oct 3,1993 (Reuter) - The Moslem fundamentalist Hizbollah (Party of God) group vowed on Sunday never to recognize Israel and to fight normalization of ties between Arab countries and the Jewish state "with required means."

 Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the chief of the pro-Iranian group, said his guerrillas would continue attacking Israel's unilateral security zone in south Lebanon until an unconditional Israeli withdrawal.

 "We will never recognize (Israel) and we will confront all forms of normalization of (Arab-Israeli) ties," Nasrallah told Reuters in an interview at his heavily-guarded headquarters in a south Beirut suburb.

 "We will remain in the positions to defend this (Moslem) nation," he added. "If the first line of defence (recognition) falls we will fight within the second line of defence (normalization) with whatever means the nature of the confrontation requires."

 The 33-year-old cleric said Islamic militants across the Arab World "can not recognize a state called Israel. Palestine will remain Palestine...even after one million years, Palestine is Palestine."

 Hizbollah has thousands of well-trained guerrillas drawn from Lebanon's Shi'ite Moslem community and equipped and financed by Tehran. It is the most active non-Palestinian guerrilla group fighting Israel.

 Nasrallah said peace with Israel was being imposed on Arab leaders but it would not be binding on the Arab peoples who he said would rise to foil all peace agreements.

 He said Palestinian factions opposed to the PLO-Israeli agreement signed last month would soon come up with a plan and a new strategy to confront the "Gaza-Jericho First" pact.

 Nasrallah rejected U.S. and Israeli demands that Beirut curb guerrillas attacking Israel's self-styled security zone in south Lebanon, saying the resistance there was merely a reaction to occupation.

 "America should pressure Israel to withdraw and then ask Lebanon to stop the resistance," he said, refusing to discuss whether his group would lay down its arms after a complete Israeli pull-out.

 "What is required is for the occupation to leave unconditionally and after that the fate of the resistance could be discussed."

 The Lebanese government says it will disarm Hizbollah only when Israel withdraws from south Lebanon.

 The bearded leader accused Washington of trying to reward Israel by pushing for a peace pact with Lebanon before withdrawing.

 He said 3,000 Israeli-backed militiamen who police the 15 km (nine mile) buffer strip should be tried for treason "and not be rewarded for being the occupation's sand bags and allowed to join the Lebanese army" as demanded by Israel.


Would Hizbullah stop the attacks stop if Israel withdrew from the Security Zone
In the topic window Lebanese fundamentalists like the Hizbullah vow to destroy israel and others like it, fundamentalists in Lebanon state openly that Israel's very existence is an abomination.  They oppose all accomodation with the Jewish State.  They also proudly admit that they cooperate with Palestinian rejectionist groups, yet coyly evade the issue of whether they'd stop attacks on Israel if Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon.  Clearly they would not.  Journalists and diplomats who claim they would are only pretending, either out of hostility to the existence of Israel, or from delusions of messianic peace, or because the prospect of never ending conflict is so unpleasant.


Lebanon rejects Israeli conditions for withdrawing from the Security Zone
Lebanon rejects Israeli conditions for withdrawing from the Security Zone  Comment   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Until Yizthak Rabin was elected prime minister in 1992, Israel  offered Lebanon a still list of demands in exchange for withdrawing from South Lebanon.  They included a peace treaty, normal diplomatic, economic and cultural relations, simultaneous withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, and the disarming of Islamic miltias such as Hizbullah and Amal that openly call for the annihilation of Jews, and effective control of Lebanon's border with Israel by Lebanon's army.

Rabin's policy of appeasement extended here.  He has steadily retreated from these demands.  Gone is the demand that Syria simultaneously withdraw, Gone is the demand that Lebanon recognize Israel and establish normal ties.  As of April, 1994, Rabin only demanded that the Lebanese army show its in control by stopping attacks on Israel for six months, that the Lebanese army control the border region, and that groups trumpeting the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of Jews be disarmed.

Lebanon has flatly rejected these conditions, demanding that Israel withdraw without recognition, without disarming the militias, without guarantees that cross-border attacks wouldn't follow, without any evidence that the Lebanese government is willing or able to control the groups advocating the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of the Jews.

Here are a few examples of Israel's softening conditions for withdrawal and Lebanon's consistent rejection, certain that the international community and Rabin's policy of appeasement would eventually force Israel out in exchange for vague statements that would immediately be violated..  By April, 1994, Israel no longer bothered setting conditions.

26 Aug 93: Thursday  Lebanon calls Rabin's terms for withdrawal "unhelpful".   More

28 Sep 93 Tuesday:  Israel's FM Peres meets UN Sec. Gen. demanding Syrian gestures in South Lebanon.  Says Syria prevents Lebanese army deployment north of Security Zone; offers to withdraw More

3 Oct 93: Sunday  Lebanese foreign minister rejects Israeli offer to withdraw during speech in Los Angeles.   More

24 Nov '93: Wednesday  Lebanon rejects Israeli conditions for withdrawal from security zone    More


Comment: Israel would have been long gone now
If Lebanon had accepted any of Yitzhak Rabin's many early offers to withdraw from the Security Zone, Israel would have been long gone by the time you read this.  In exchange, the Lebanese army would have had

to keep the border quiet for six months or so, and promise not to mistreat Israel's allies in the Security Zone.  After Israel withdrew, Lebanon could have slaughtered Israel's allies and allowed Hizbullah

and other terrorist groups to attack across Israel's borders.

        Clearly, Lebanon refused the offers because Syria did not

permit them to accept.  With Israel gone, pressure would mount on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon as well.  Also, for many of Lebanon's Shi'ite Moslems, even a temporary cessation of hostilities is too close to the blasphemy of recognizing the Jewish state.

        Peace negotiations, indeed.


26 Aug 93: Lebanon calls Rabin's terms for withdrawing "unhelpful"
26 Aug 93: Lebanon calls Rabin's terms for withdrawing "unhelpful"  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

26 Aug 93: Lebanon calls Rabin's terms for withdrawal "unhelpful".

28 Sep 93 Tuesday:  Israel's FM Peres meets UN Sec. Gen. demanding Syrian gestures in South Lebanon.  Says Syria prevents Lebanese army deployment north of Security Zone; offers to withdraw

rabin_diplomacy_syria_UN_28sep93

3 Oct 93: Lebanese foreign minister rejects Israeli offer to withdraw during speech in Los Angeles.

24 Nov '93: Lebanon rejects Israeli conditions for withdrawal from security zone

26 Aug 93: Lebanon calls Rabin's terms for withdrawal "unhelpful".

28 Sep 93 Tuesday:  Israel's FM Peres meets UN Sec. Gen. demanding Syrian gestures in South Lebanon.  Says Syria prevents Lebanese army deployment north of Security Zone; offers to withdraw

rabin_diplomacy_syria_UN_28sep93

3 Oct 93: Lebanese foreign minister rejects Israeli offer to withdraw during speech in Los Angeles.

24 Nov '93: Lebanon rejects Israeli conditions for withdrawal from security zone

Lebanon Rejects Rabin's Ideas for Facilitating Israeli Withdrawal from Security Zone

Today's HA'ARETZ  reports on yesterday's rejection by Lebanon of the ideas raised by Israel for facilitating a withdrawal of Israeli forces from South Lebanon, arguing that these ideas contradict principles of the current peace talks. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin this week announced that Israel w ould be willing to withdraw from the Security Zone should Beirut send its army to the border and disarm the Hizbullah, so that quiet could prevail for at least six to nine months. In addition, Rabin said that the 3,000 soldiers of the South Lebanese Army must be integrated into the Lebanese Army .  "We think that Mr. Rabin's declaration is negative," stated the Lebanese Foreign Minister, noting that he believes the Israeli position will not contribute toward progress in the next round of peace talks. He stated that the Lebanese government foresaw a certain progress in the peace talks in  Washington, but that Rabin's declaration contradicts principles and agreements previously established.

-Israeline, Friday, August 27, 1993


3 Oct 93: Israeli withdrawal: Speech by Lebanese foreign minister
3 Oct 93: Israeli withdrawal: Speech by Lebanese foreign minister   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Foreign Minister Faris Buwayz told a dinner in Los Angeles held in his honor by the California State Council that Lebanon will not agree to less than the return of all its territories according to clear and candid conditions that will not infringe national dignity or sovereignty. He said Lebanon with all its sects, parties, and factions rejects Palestinian settlement in Lebanon and refuses to pay the price. He said Lebanon will not agree that the Palestinian problem be solved on its land. On the Gaza-Jericho agreement, Buwayz said it may be satisfactory to the Palestinians, who are free to make their own decisions, but it is not entirely satisfactory to us, because we have seen no mention of the Palestinians' right to return to their homeland. Nor have we seen anything that reassures us-we who received many Palestinians about the right to return, to family reunion, or to land.

-From Beirut Radio Lebanon in Arabic, October 3, 1993

 Comment:  Foreign Minister  Buwayz is cagey.  He used codewords - national dignity or sovereignty- that tell his constituency that he expects Israel to withdraw without getting a peace treaty in return.  Furthermore, he demands the "refugees" be returned to Israel, thus overwhelming the Jews and destroying the state.  Naturally, he failed to recall that the refugees resulted from the Arab rejection of the United Nations vote mandating the state of Israel, and the invasion of Israel by seven Arab nations - including his own.


24 Nov '93: Lebanon rejects Israeli conditions for withdrawal from security zone
24 Nov '93: Lebanon rejects Israeli conditions for withdrawal from security zone  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The Lebanese government has flatly rejected Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's conditions for a withdrawal of IDF troops from the security zone, with government officials insisting that his proposals contained nothing new...

 Reacting to Rabin's proposals, Lebanese Labor Minister Abdallah Amin went so far as to say that the Lebanese government "insists, more than ever, that the resistance continue and be improved until the last occupation soldier leaves."...

 Israel listed those conditions as including "the Lebanese army's deployment to the north of the security zone; the disarming of Hizbullah militias; and the prevention of terrorist attacks against Israel from Lebanese territory for at least six months."

 "If these conditions are met, Israel will be prepared to withdraw its forces from South Lebanon, with the added condition that no harm will come to South Lebanese Army members or the inhabitants of the security zone," the statement concluded....

-Jerusalem Post, November 24, 1993


Syrian sponsored attacks in Southern Lebanon
Syrian sponsored attacks in Southern Lebanon   Comment  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Attacks in 1993:  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec

Attacks in 1994:  Jan  Feb

An example of the hard-to-see bias and hostility toward Israel wover into most journalists' reports about Hizbullah attacks on the Security Zone:  Example

Advocates of Israel's unconditional withdrawal from the Security Zone say that hostility toward Israel would end with the withdrawal.  But Hizbullah and other Shi'ite terrorists state openly that the existence of Israel is an abomination that must be rectified.  Example.  Would the attacks then stop?  Besides, the Lebanese government demands Israel withdrawal without establishing diplomatic relations or recognizing Israel.  Is this a sign that after a unilateral withdrawal, the Lebanese government would engage in bloodshed to stop their citizens from attacking an abomination?  Lebanon rejects...

Syrian sponsored groups increased their attacks upon the security zone in 1993, at a time the "peace process" was supposed to be intensifying.  Is that a sign that a display of unilateral weakness would be followed by a cessation of hostilities?


Comment: Monthly lists of attacks in Security Zone

 These monthly lists are undoubtedly incomplete.  If you know of attacks I am missing, please send me the date, reference, and one or two line details - in some popular electronic format, not on paper.  If you want a more button beside it, send a couple paragraphs of details - from a reliable source.  If you have a scanned photograph, send that as well, along with the source and a description of the photograph.  The photograph must be in electronic format.


Attacks against Israeli forces in South Lebanon increased in 1993
Attacks against Israeli forces in South Lebanon increased in 1993  Comment   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

On other issues, Barak said there have been a whopping 974 attacks in the South Lebanon security zone so far this year - more than double the 451 attacks in the preceding nine months.  Though more than 200 of these resulted from Operation Accountability, he added, there has been a general increase in the number of shooting incidents.

-Jerusalem Post, September 29, 1993


Attacks in Security Zone: August 1993
Attacks in Security Zone: August 1993  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

6 Aug 93 Friday: Terrorists kill two IDF soldiers standing beside their jeep.  More

16 Aug 93 Monday:  One terrorist killed in attack on IDF tank.  More

17 Aug 93 Tuesday:  Terrorists fire on SLA post with mortars, machine-guns and anti-tank weapons.  More

19 Aug 93 Thursday: Terrorists kill 7 Israeli soldiers with roadside bomb.  Massive retaliation.  More  Another mine kills two Israeli soldiers.  More

24 Aug 93 Tuesday: SLA post attacked with RPGs.  More

26 Aug 93 Thursday:  Hizbullah attacks SLA post.  Israeli air force bombs Hizbullah targets in response.  More   Three SLA posts attacked.  More


South Lebanon Security Zone:  6 Aug 93
South Lebanon Security Zone:  6 Aug 93  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Terrorists Kill Two IDF Soldiers Near Tul-Karem

Israel Defense Forces Radio, GALEI ZAHAL, reports this afternoon that two IDF soldiers were killed when terrorists opened fire at the soldiers who stood by an IDF jeep near the city of Tul-Karem in the Territories.  The incident took place at about 10:00 AM this morning. IDF soldiers nearby retu rned fire killing one terrorists and wounding another who was apprehended. A third managed to escape by car.

-Israeline, Friday, August 6, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 16 Aug 93 attack on Israeli tank
South Lebanon Security Zone 16 Aug 93 attack on Israeli tank  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Terrorists Attack SLA Posts and an IDF Tank in the Security Zone

...Yesterday, terrorists attacked a n IDF tank and continued their offensive even after two armed carriers arrived to support the assaulted tank. According to reports out of Lebanon, one of the terrorists who participated in the attack was killed, but IDF sources stated that further searches in the area are needed to verify this i nformation.

-Israeline, Tuesday, August 17, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 17 Aug 93 Terrorists attack SLA posts
South Lebanon Security Zone 17 Aug 93 Terrorists attack SLA posts   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Terrorists Attack SLA Posts and an IDF Tank in the Security Zone

Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reports that terrorists fired on South Lebanese Army posts in the eastern sector of the Security Zone this morning. The IDF and SLA returned fire. According to the report, the terrorists used machine guns, RPGs, and anti-tank missiles...

-Israeline, Tuesday, August 17, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 19 Aug 93
South Lebanon Security Zone 19 Aug '93 Terrorists kill 7 Israeli soldiers with roadside bomb  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Seven IDF Soldiers Killed by Terrorist explosive Device in South Lebanon.

Israel Defense Forces Radio, GALEI ZAHAL, reports that seven soldiers were killed and two wounded by an explosive device in South Lebanon early in the morning. The soldiers of the Golani brigade were on foot patrol in the western sector of the Security Zone, two miles north of the border with Is rael, when they triggered a roadside bomb which killed the commander and six soldiers.  The unit's deputy force commander, a sergeant, took command and called in reinforcements to evacuate the injured. One of the two injured is reported to be seriously wounded. The other's wounds are described a s minor. The Islamic Resistance, a wing of the Hizbullah terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the attack. GALEI ZAHAL also reports that Israel Air Force planes attacked three targets in eastern Lebanon's Bakaa Valley following the terrorist attack this morning. The targets were hit

-Israeline, Thursday, August 19, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 19 Aug 93
South Lebanon Security Zone 19 Aug 93    Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Another Incident in South Lebanon Yesterday Leaves Two IDF Soldiers Dead

Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, this morning reported the death of 22 year-old Lieutenant Avraham Fisher from injuries received in a second explosion in the Security Zone in South Lebanon yesterday evening. Another soldier, Senior Sergeant Major Rahal Majed (35), died in the same mine explosion as he and Lieutenant Fisher were searching the area where an earlier explosion killed seven Israeli soldiers in the western sector of the Security Zone yesterday morning.

-Israeline, Friday, August 20, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 24 Aug 93 SLA post attacked with RPGs
South Lebanon Security Zone 24 Aug 93 SLA post attacked with RPGs   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

KOL YISRAEL: A South Lebanese Army post was attacked today by terrorists using RPGs. There were no reported injuries and SLA soldiers returned fire.

-Israeline, Tuesday, August 24, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 26 Aug 93: 3 attacks on SLA posts
South Lebanon Security Zone 26 Aug 93: 3 attacks on SLA posts    Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Terrorists Attack SLA Posts Three Times in 24 Hours

Today's DAVAR reports that three terrorist attacks against South Lebanese Army posts in the Security Zone in South Lebanon took place over the past 24 hours. Two SLA soldiers were injured by mortar shells when the terrorists attacked the SLA post at Qantara.  SLA and IDF forces returned fire at Hizbullah targets.

-Israeline, Friday, August 27, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 26 Aug 93 Israeli air force bombs Hizbullah bases
South Lebanon Security Zone 26 Aug 93 Israeli air force bombs Hizbullah bases   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

IAF Planes Attack Terrorist Bases North of the Security Zone in South Lebanon

Today's YEDIOT AHRONOT reports on the further escalation of activity in South Lebanon. Yesterday, terrorists fired at a South Lebanese Army post in the eastern sector of the Security Zone. No one was hurt and SLA soldiers returned fire. Israel Air Force planes yesterday afternoon attacked terrorist targets north of the Security Zone. According to IDF sources, all targets were hit and the planes returned safely to base. News Agencies reporting from Lebanon stated that the IAF planes attacked an underground headquarter of the Hizbullah. Eye witnesses said two IAF planes fired eight missi les at the base which is located on a hillside.

-Israeline, Friday, August 27, 1993


Clipboard Holder - Attacks


Clipboard Holder

HADASHOT: Hizbullah Attacks in Security Zone Are Not a Breach of Understanding Reached Following IDF's Operation Accountability

Today's HADASHOT reports that consultations between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and several Cabinet ministers have led to the conclusion that the Hizbullah attacks in South Lebanon yesterday do not constitute a breach of the understanding reached with the Syrians and Americans on July 30th foll owing the IDF's Operation Accountability. Despite the fact that yesterday's incidents caused great pain in Israel, the soldiers killed were engaging in activity that has been ongoing in the Security Zone for several years now.  According to the newspaper, Israel's political echelon will make an effort not to cause an escalation of the situation. This is because the Hizbullah has a special interest in dragging Israel into carrying out a wide-scale military operation which the Hizbullah could use as an excuse to renew firing Katyusha rockets on Israel's northern communities. The newspape r quotes political sources in Jerusalem who said that Israel is interested in the continuation of the peace talks, scheduled to resume on August 31st, and does not intend to let the situation deteriorate.

Rabin Rejects Opposition Demands to Halt Negotiations with Syria Over Its Support of Hizbullah Terrorist Activity

Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, aired an interview this morning with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin dealing with yesterday's terrorist attacks in which nine IDF soldiers were killed. Asked to respond to opposition demands that the peace talks with Syria be suspended over that country's support of Hizbu llah terrorist activity, Rabin replied saying that today's opposition was the ruling party in Israel when they agreed to the convening of the Madrid peace conference. They agreed then, said Rabin, to attend the negotiations with Syria without demanding that Syria halt the weapon supply to the Hi zbullah nor that Syria alter its policy of encouraging the Hizbullah and other terrorist organizations in Lebanon to carry out attacks on the Security Zone and Israel. Rabin stated that he does not see a need to change this situation and condition the continuation of the peace process to a chang e in Syrian policy. The Prime Minister noted that he believes the greatest danger is Moslem fundamentalism, and that should the situation in Lebanon remain unresolved over the next two to three years and the wave of Khomeinism continues to progress, Israel might find Iranians on its northern bor der, in Lebanon. The Prime Minister speculated that halting the peace talks with Syria would lead to increased extremism and greater Iranian influence in the region. He added that the most dangerous development that could occur and which should be stopped by both political and military means is an expansion of Khomeinism among Israel's neighboring Arab countries and the Palestinians in the Territories.

Israel Asks U.S. to Pressure Syria to Restrain Hizbullah

According to today's HA'ARETZ, Israel demanded that the U.S. act to restrain the Hizbullah activity in South Lebanon, warning that further Hizbullah attacks may endanger the peace process. In a meeting between senior Israeli officials in Washington and U.S.  Administration officials, the Israeli s said that the U.S. must clarify to Syria that it cannot continue to play a double game: on the one hand to declare its commitment to the peace process and call for more American involvement and on the other, to support Hizbullah activity aimed at harming the peace process. The newspaper also r eports that the IDF instructed communities in the Galilee to open their bomb shelters and be prepared for any change in the security situation. Some residents of Kiryat Shmona and other communities along the border with Lebanon spent last night in the bomb shelters fearing Katyusha rocket attack s.

Attention Israel Line Recipients

Monday, August 23, 1993

Cabinet Ministers Say Solution to Situation in South Lebanon Depends on Comprehensive Israeli-Syrian Agreement

Today's HA'ARETZ quotes Cabinet ministers who said that a separate solution to the problem of South Lebanon is unattainable. They stated that the Syrians would agree to use their influence to stop terrorism in South Lebanon only as part of a comprehensive arrangement including Israeli withdrawal

 from the Golan Heights.  The ministers made the comment following yesterday's government meeting in which they were briefed on last week's incidents in the Security Zone. During the meeting, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said that Syria is in control of the situation in South Lebanon and could h ave already instructed the Hizbullah to halt its terrorist activity, if it wanted to. Nevertheless, said Rabin, Syria doesn't want to instruct the Hizbullah to stop, and neither Israel nor the U.S. can force Syria to behave differently. Rabin stated that he still believes the best way to maintai n the security of Israel's northern communities under the current conditions is to remain in the Security Zone.

HA'ARETZ: U.S. to Ask Syria to Withdraw Opposition to Greater Lebanese Army Deployment in South Lebanon

According to yesterday's HA'ARETZ, the U.S. asked Syria this past weekend to withdraw its objections to a Lebanese Army deployment in villages north of the Security Zone in South Lebanon. This, in an attempt to restrain Hizbullah activity in that area. Sources in Jerusalem said yesterday that Le banese Prime Minister Rafik al- Hariri is willing to deploy 3,000 soldiers, but Damascus is agreeing to a deployment of only 400.  According to these sources, Damascus' opposition to a larger deployment stems from its interest in allowing Hizbullah activity against IDF and South Lebanese Army fo rces in the Security Zone to continue.

Israeline,  Tuesday, August 24, 1993

Progress in Israeli-Syrian Talks Depends on a Prior Syrian-Lebanese Agreement on Syrian Withdrawal from Lebanon

Today's AL HAMISHMAR reports that progress in the bilateral talks between Syria and Israel, scheduled to resume at the end of this month, will depend on an agreement yet to be reached between Syria and Lebanon on eliminating the Syrian military presence in Lebanon.  This was revealed by sources in Jerusalem yesterday. According to these sources, the Syrians need to reach an agreement with the Lebanese on withdrawing Syrian soldiers from Lebanese soil in light of the negotiations with Israel on evacuating its forces from the Security Zone in South Lebanon. Israel has pinned the withdraw al of Israeli forces to withdrawal of all foreign armies from Lebanon.  Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin will meet tomorrow with the Israeli representatives to the peace talks to instruct them on goals and tactics for the negotiations in Washington.


Attacks in Security Zone: September 1993
Attacks in Security Zone: September 1993    Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

1 Sep 93 Wednesday: Hizbullah attacks SLA posts; IAF helicopters retaliate    More

3 Sep 93 Friday: Hizbullah fires 12 Katyushas into Security Zone; attacks SLA post   More

14 Sep 93 Tuesday: Six Hizbullah attacks on SLA posts.  More

20 Sep. 93 Monday: Israel Air Force blasts Hizbullah targets after five attacks with machine-guns, mortars, and RPGs  More


South Lebanon Security Zone 1 Sep 93 Hizbullah shells SLA posts
South Lebanon Security Zone 1 Sep 93 Hizbullah shells SLA posts  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

IAF Helicopters Attack Hizbullah Bases

Today's HA'ARETZ  reports that Israel Air Force helicopters yesterday attacked Hizbullah targets in South Lebanon. The attacks took place following a massive Hizbullah shelling of IDF and South Lebanese Army posts in the Security Zone. According to the newspaper there is great tension in South Lebanon due to fears that terrorists will attempt to use their attacks to impede progress in the peace talks.

-Israeline, Thursday, September 2, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 3 Sep 93 Hizbullal fires Katyushas at Security Zone
South Lebanon Security Zone 3 Sep 93 Hizbullal fires Katyushas at Security Zone  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Hizbullah Fires Katyusha Rockets on Security Zone

KOL YISRAEL also reports today that the Hizbullah organization fired a dozen Katyusha rockets on the Security Zone in South Lebanon today and attacked a South Lebanese Army post. According to the report, the Katyusha rockets hit near the town of Marjayoun, but caused no casualties. The IDF and S LA shelled Hizbullah targets today for two hours in response to the continuing Hizbullah attacks.

-Israeline, Friday, September 3, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 14 Sep 93 Six Hizbullah attacks on SLA posts
South Lebanon Security Zone 14 Sep 93 Six Hizbullah attacks on SLA posts  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

GALEI ZAHAL: Hizbullah terrorists launched six attacks today against the IDF and South Lebanese Army in the Security Zone in South Lebanon. Five SLA soldiers are reported injured as well as an IDF officer who received minor wounds. The IDF and SLA retaliated with artillery shelling of Hizbullah targets.

-Israeline, Tuesday, September 14, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 20 Sep. 93 Israel AF retailiates after five Hizbullah attacks
South Lebanon Security Zone: 20 Sep. 93 Israel AF retailiates after five Hizbullah attacks  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Nabatiyeh(Reuter) - Air Force planes blasted Hizbullah targets in south Lebanon yesterday(Sep 20) after gunmen launched five attacks on IDF and SLA troops, security sources said.

 They said two planes fired a total of eight rockets at the Hizbullah targets in two bombing runs on Mlita hill in the Iqlim al-Toufah mountain ridge, a Hizbullah stronghold.  There was no immediate report on casualties in the raid....

 A post manned by IDF troops at Sojoud at the tip of the zone came under heavy machine gun fire from Mlita.

 Hours earlier, gunmen fired mortars, anti-tank missiles and machine guns at two IDF posts on the zone's edge and launched similar assaults on two other positions held by the SLA...

 Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday(Sep 19) Syria was flouting its peace talks with Israel by backing both Hizbullah and Damascus-based Palestinian factions...

-Jerusalem Post, September 21, 1993


Attacks in Security Zone: October 1993
Attacks in Security Zone: October 1993  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

10 Oct. 93 Sunday: Hizbullah attacks 2 SLA posts, wounding one Israeli soldier and two SLA soldiers.  More

11 Oct. 93 Monday: Hizbullah attacks SLA patrol, triggering response.  Israeli gunboats blast terrorist bases.  More

12 Oct. 93 Tuesday: Seven Katyusha rockets hit Security Zone.  More    Roadside bomb explodes harmlessly. Another defused by SLA sappers.  More  Damascus based Palestinian terrorists from the PFLP were killed when attempting to cross into Israel.  More  Several terrorists from the Islamic Jihad were killed in the zone after crossing the border into Israel.  More  Jihad issues preposterous account; UPI pubishes it without critique, interviewing Israeli sources, visiting the sites, or providing an historical background.  More  Comment

22 Oct. 93 Friday:Roadside bombs safely disarmed.  More    Abu Nidal gang attacks SLA patrol.  More    Lebanese newspapers later carry Nidal's announcement that his terrorists were attempting to infiltrate into Israel.  More    Hizbullah mortars and shells SLA posts.  More

24 Oct. 93 Sunday: Hizbullah shells Security Zone.  More   Islamic Resistance ambushes IDF patrol.  Two terrorists killed.  More

25 Oct. 93 Monday: Unspecified group shells Security Zone.  More

26 Oct. 93 Tuesday:Hizbullah shells IDF post.  More

27 Oct 93 Wednesday:  IAF hits Hizbullah targets.  More

29 Oct 93 Friday: Hizbullah shells SLA and IDF positions.  More

31 Oct 93 Sunday:Hizbullah grenades and machine-guns SLA post.  More


South Lebanon Security Zone: 10 Oct 93
South Lebanon Security Zone: 10 Oct 93  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Oct. 10, 1993

 SIDON, Lebanon (UPI) -- Muslim guerrillas attacked two posts of Israel's proxy South Lebanon Army militia inside the border zone in southern Lebanon Sunday, wounding a visiting Israeli serviceman and two other militiamen, security sources said.

 Fighters of the Islamic Resistance Movement, the military arm of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, fired machine guns and rocket propelled grenades against an SLA post on the Al Ghuzlan hill, in Israel's self-declared ``security zone,'' the sources said.

 An Israeli soldier, who had spent the night in the SLA post, was wounded, they said.

 Simultaneously, another squad of Hezbollah fighters attacked an SLA position in the nearby village of Beir Kallab with machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades, they said.

 Two SLA militiamen manning the Beir Kallab post were wounded, the sources said.

 Israel retaliated by bombarding the Iqlim Al Tuffah region, a cluster of Shiite villages east of the port city of Sidon, 24 miles (38 km) south of Beirut, the sources said.


South Lebanon Security Zone: 11 Oct 93
South Lebanon Security Zone: 11 Oct 93  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Oct. 11, 1993

 TYRE, Lebanon (UPI) -- Muslim guerrillas attacked Monday a patrol of Israel's surrogate South Lebanon Army militia inside the border zone in southern Lebanon, triggering an Israeli retaliatory shelling on Shiite villages, security and militia sources said.

  Meanwhile, Israeli gunboats fired two rockets on the outskirts of the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh near the port city of Tyre, 46 miles (74 km) south of Beirut, security sources said.

  No casualties or material damage were reported.

  The sources said Israeli gunships combed the coastal area stretching from Tyre to the southern village of Nakoura, in a move aimed at curbing guerrilla attacks.

 ...the Islamic Resistance Movement, the military arm of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, said in a statement that its fighters attacked an SLA foot patrol on the Al Tohra road, in Israel's self-declared ``security zone'' in southern Lebanon.

  The statement said the Hezbollah guerrillas fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns against the SLA patrol.

  ``A number of enemy soldiers were killed or wounded,'' it added.

  In retaliation, Israeli artillery shelled the Shiite villages of Kfar Rumman and Habboush, on the other side of the fence, security sources said.


South Lebanon Security Zone: 12 Oct 93 Roadside Bombing
South Lebanon Security Zone: 12 Oct 93 Roadside Bombing   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Roadside bombing

 Also Tuesday, a roadside bomb went off while a joint patrol of Israeli troops and their proxy South Lebanon Army militia was passing on the Alman-Shumariyeh road inside the border zone.

 The explosive charge, which was planted by fighters of the Shiite Amal Movement, detonated while the joint Israeli-SLA armored patrol was traveling on the road, inflicting casualties and causing damage, according to a statement by Amal's military wing, the ``Faithful Resistance Movement.''

 Israeli forces retaliated by firing several shells on locations on the other side of the fence, but there was no immediate word on casualties, security sources said.

 The attack was the fourth in less than 24 hours against the Israeli- SLA forces. A Lebanese woman was wounded Monday in retaliatory Israeli shelling.

 Lebanese groups have been battling Israel to force it withdraw its troops from the ``security zone,'' a strip of land that stretches nine miles (15 km) inside Lebanon. .

 Marjayoun(AP) - Arab gunmen fired seven Katyusha rockets overnight that crashed harmlessly on the security zone in south Lebanon, security sources said yesterday(Oct 12).

 They said the rockets were fired at IDF and South Lebanon Army outposts in Kfar Houna, Beit Yahoun and Aramta on the edge of the zone's central sector.

 The sources, who requested anonymity, said a roadside bomb also exploded harmlessly yesterday morning as an SLA patrol drove past the main road to the village of Shoumariyeh in the zone's western sector.

 SLA troops defused a similar bomb in the same area shortly afterwards, according to the sources...

-Jerusalem Post, Wednesday, October 13, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 12 Oct 93 Islamic Jihad infiltration attempt
South Lebanon Security Zone: 12 Oct 93 Islamic Jihad infiltration attempt  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Islamic Jihad infiltration attempt

 Earlier Tuesday, four fighters of the Islamic Jihad in Palestine were    killed after they crossed the Lebanese border and clashed with an Israeli patrol at the ouskirts of the Israeli northern settlement of  Miskav Am

Oct. 13, 1993, UPI


Islamic Jihad version: 12 Oct. 93
Islamic Jihad version: 12 Oct. 93   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Below is the version as seen by Islamic Jihad, swallowed whole by UPI  Comment

Oct. 12, 1993

 TYRE, Lebanon (UPI) -- Four Muslim hard-line Palestinians were killed Tuesday after they crossed the Lebanese border and clashed with an Israeli patrol inside Israel, said a statement of the Islamic Jihad in Palestine.

 A four-member squad of the Islamic Jihad infiltrated the Lebanese- Israeli border at dawn and reached the outskirts of the Israeli northern settlement of Miskavam, said the statement, released in the refugee camp of Rashidiyeh near the port city of Tyre.

 The guerrillas ambushed an Israeli patrol and clashed with its crew members, killing or wounding a number of the Israelis, the statement said.

 One of the Jihad fighters were killed while the three others, including their commander Malek Dib, managed to cross back into Israel's self-proclaimed ``security zone'' in southern Lebanon, according to the statement.

 But the three fleeing guerrillas stepped on a mine field at the edge of the border enclave near the village of Kabrikha and were instantly killed.

 Another Jihad squad which secured cover for the attackers managed to pull their bodies from the ``security zone'' and took them to a hospital morgue in the southern port city of Sidon.

 The Jihad statement said the attack was in response to the PLO-Israeli peace accord known as the ``Gaza-Jericho First'' plan.

 The Islamic Jihad is among several hard-line Palestinian groups which pledged to continue battling Israel to foil the peace accord and recover occupied Palestinian territories.


UPI swallows Islamic Jihad's version whole, however preposterous
UPI swallows Islamic Jihad's version whole, however preposterous  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

UPI's report on the Islamic Jihad's attempt to infiltrate into Israel through the security zone in southern Lebanon on October 12, 1993  typifies the malice and sloppiness in most reporting on the Israeli - Arab conflict.

1.  Islamic Jihad claims to have infiltrated into Israel and killed four soldiers in combat.  Yet UPI didn't interview the Israeli army, note that there was no such story in the Israeli press, send a reporter to Miskav am,  the alleged target, to verify whether such a battle had occured.  Yet, Islamic groups hostile to Israel habitually make outrageous claims that are subsequently forgotten when shown to be false.

2.  UPI uses Islamic Jihad's prejorative term settlement for the town of Miskav am. Settlement is the term Arabs use to imply illegitimate Israeli colonization of Arab territories.  The media uses that meaning when they refer to Jewish settlement in the territories captured by Israel during the 1967 war. UPI didn't inform the reader that Miskav am is in territory within Israel's borders before 1967.  Islamic Jihad clearly believe any Jewish habitation in the middle east is illegitimate colonization.

3.  UPI parrots Islamic Jihad's declared aim  "to  recover occupied Palestinian territories."  They don't mention there was no such thing as Palestinian territories before the 1967 war.  The West Bank was part of Jordan, and its Arab inhabitants Jordanians.  They are still citizens of Jordan. No Arab nation recognized a Palestine or a Palestinian people before 1964, when the PLO was invented in Cairo, by Nasser, not by "Palestinians." UPI knowingly misleads the reader by not placing the claim in an historical context.

4.  UPI places the term "security zone" in quotes, to emphasize that Israel occupies the area, and to delegitimize that occupation.  UPI ignores that the Syrian army occupies the rest of Lebanon.  UPI almost always adds pejorative terms like "proxy" when describing the South Lebanese Army.  It doesn't call the Lebanese Army a "proxy" of Syria, although both are approximately true.  It doesn't call  the Islamic Jihad a Syrian "proxy," although the organization could hardly acquire weapons and train on established bases without Syrian permission.

5.  Hizbullah and other Lebanese groups sometimes claim that they are fighting only to drive Israel from Lebanese territory.  The media report this as if it is true, although they know otherwise.  For example, in their report on Hizbullah's attack on the security zone on 31 October, 1993, UPI reports the attack as being in protest against the PLO's accord with Israel.  Also in their report on Amal's attack on the Security Zone on November 1, 1993.

 Typically, the media fail to mention Israel's constant offer to withdraw in exchange for a peace treaty with Lebanon, the disarming of the terrorist groups that attack Israel, with withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, so that the agreement with Lebanon is made with the ruling power in the territory, and six months or so of peace on Israel's northern border.


South Lebanon Security Zone: 12 Oct. 93 PFLP infiltration attempt
South Lebanon Security Zone: 12 Oct. 93 PFLP infiltration attempt  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

PFLP infiltration attempt

Oct. 13, 1993

 TYRE, Lebanon (UPI) -- Three Palestinian guerrillas were killed when an Israeli patrol ambushed them as they tried to cross Lebanese borders and sneak into Israel, security and militia sources said Wednesday.

 A five-member squad of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, headed by Georges Habash, tried during the night to sneak into Israeli territories, but the group was ambushed by an Israeli patrol before it could cross the Lebanese border, a PFLP statement said.

 The guerrillas exchanged machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades with the Israeli servicemen on the Adaisse-Taibe road in the  central sector of Israel's self-declared ``security zone'' in southern Lebanon, the statement said.

 It did not give further details on casualties, but security sources confirmed that three of the guerrillas were killed while the two others  managed to escape unharmed.

 An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the incident in a statement and said, ``Threeterrorists were killed last (Tuesday) night in clashes with Israeli troops in the eastern sector of the security zone.''

 The spokesman said no Israeli soldiers were injured.


South Lebanon Security Zone: 12 Oct. 93 Seven Katyusha rockets hit security zone
South Lebanon Security Zone: 12 Oct. 93 Seven Katyusha rockets hit security zone  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Marjayoun(AP) - Arab gunmen fired seven Katyusha rockets overnight that crashed harmlessly on the security zone in south Lebanon, security sources said yesterday(Oct 12).

 They said the rockets were fired at IDF and South Lebanon Army outposts in Kfar Houna, Beit Yahoun and Aramta on the edge of the zone's central sector.

-Jerusalem Post, Wednesday, October 13, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 22 Oct. 93 Roadside bombs disarmed.

In another incident on Friday afternoon(October 22, 1993) SLA troops discovered three roadside bombs in a different part of the central sector of the zone.  The devices were safely destroyed by SLA sappers.

-Jerusalem Post, October 24, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 22 Oct. 93 Abu Nidal attacks SLA patrol

Two gunmen were killed and two South Lebanese Army soldiers were lightly wounded in separate clashes inside the security zone over the weekend, as the recent upsurge in violence in the region continued.

 The heavily armed gunmen, who were killed in a clash with SLA troops in the central sector of the zone on Friday(October 22, 1993), were reported to have been members of Abu Nidal's terrorist organization.

 That clash occurred early Friday morning after SLA troops, who were on initiated operational duties in the Shwiyeh region, spotted the two terrorists and opened fire.

 One gunman was wounded in the initial burst of firing.  SLA troops gave chase and subsequently killed both of them.

 Three LAW anti-tank missile launchers and ammunition, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, several hand grenades and two Kalashnikov assault rifles and ammunition were found alongside the bodies...

-Jerusalem Post, October 24, 1993


Lebanese newspapers print Nidal's announcement of attempted terrorist infiltration into Israel

The two gunmen killed by South Lebanese Army troops in the security zone last Friday had intended to infiltrate Israeli territory, according to a statement issued by the Abu Nidal terrorist group.

 The announcement, carried in Lebanese newspapers yesterday, confirmed early reports that the heavily-armed gunmen were members of the Abu Nidal group.

 The organization's statement said an Abu Nidal unit had been en route to attack an "assigned target in occupied Palestine" but the squad was ambushed by "Zionist troops and their allies."

 The gunmen, who were killed in a clash with SLA troops in the Shwiyeh area in the central sector of the zone, had been armed with three LAW anti-tank missile launchers and ammunition, a RPG grenade launcher, hand grenades and two Kalashnikov assault rifles...

 -Jerusalem Post, October 26, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 22 Oct. 93 Hizbullah mortars SLA post
South Lebanon Security Zone: 22 Oct. 93 Hizbullah mortars SLA post  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Two gunmen were killed and two South Lebanese Army soldiers were lightly wounded in separate clashes inside the security zone over the weekend, as the recent upsurge in violence in the region continued...

 The incident in which the two SLA soldiers were wounded occurred yesterday(October 23, 1993) evening in what appears to have been a long-range shooting attack by Hizbullah on SLA outposts in the Shomriya and Alman region, also in the central sector of the zone.

 Several mortar rounds and Katyusha rockets were fired towards the positions, and two SLA soldiers were wounded, one slightly and one moderately...

 The Islamic Resistance, the fighting arm of Hizbullah, claimed responsibility for the incident , saying its men had ambushed a SLA patrol in the area and then fired at the positions...

-Jerusalem Post, October 24, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 24 Oct. 93 Hizbollah shells Security Zone
South Lebanon Security Zone: 24 Oct. 93 Hizbollah shells Security Zone  Comment  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Oct. 25, 1993

 TYRE, Lebanon (UPI)...On Sunday, fighters of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah carried out attacks against Israeli servicemen and SLA militiamen inside the border enclave that left three Israeli soldiers wounded and one Hezbollah guerrilla killed.

 Hezbollah is among a number of Lebanese and Palestinian hardline groups who opposed talking peace to Israel and pledged to continue the armed struggle until the liberation of occupied Arab land.

 The SLA militia is trained and financed by Israel. Some 1,000 Israeli servicemen, along with the 2,500-member SLA militia, patrol the nine-mile (15 km) ``security zone'' which Israel established in 1985 to protect northern Israeli territories.


South Lebanon Security Zone: 24 Oct. 93 Islamic Resistance ambushes IDF patrol
South Lebanon Security Zone: 24 Oct. 93 Islamic Resistance ambushes IDF patrol  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Two IDF soldiers were wounded - one of them seriously - and two Hizbullah gunmen were killed in fierce clashes in the security zone yesterday as tension in the region remained high.

 The heavy fighting was sparked by an ambush by members of the Islamic Resistance, the fighting arm of Hizbullah, on an armored IDF patrol near Soujud village in the eastern sector of the zone.

 A large force of heavily armed fundamentalists attacked the patrol with anti-tank missiles.  RPGs and light weapons from close range at around 9 a.m.

-Jerusalem Post, October 25, 1993

 An IDF soldier was seriously wounded in a clash in the same area on Sunday(October 24, 1993) when Islamic Resistance gunmen ambushed a combined IDF infantry and armored patrol.  Two of the attackers were killed by IDF troops in that incident

 -Jerusalem Post, October 27, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 25 Oct. 93 Shelling of Security Zone
South Lebanon Security Zone: 25 Oct. 93 Shelling of Security Zone  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Oct. 25, 1993

 TYRE, Lebanon (UPI) -- Guerrillas attacked Monday a position of Israel's surrogate South Lebanon Army militia inside the border zone in southern Lebanon, prompting an Israeli retaliatory shelling, Lebanese security sources said.

 Unidentified fighters fired at dawn 15 mortar shells on an SLA post located on a hill overlooking the village of Baraashite which is partly within the boundaries of Israel's self-declared ``security zone,'' the sources said.

 There was no immediate word on casualties or material damage.

 In retaliation, Israeli artillery fired 10 shells on the outskirts of Baraashite, at the other side of the fence, while an Israeli helicopter hovered over the area, they said.


South Lebanon Security Zone: 26 Oct. 93: Artillery duel with Hizbullah
South Lebanon Security Zone: 26 Oct. 93: Artillery duel with Hizbullah   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Three IDF soldiers were lightly wounded in a round of artillery exchanges between Hizbullah gunmen and IDF and South Lebanese Army troops in the Soujud region of the security zone yesterday evening.(October 26, 1993)...

 Shooting exchanges, as well as clashes, have become an almost daily occurrence in the Soujud region, which is close to Hizbullah supply lines, and whose tree and brush-covered hilly terrain affords good cover for the attackers.

-Jerusalem Post, October 27, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 27 Oct 93: IAF hits Hizbullah targets in South Lebanon
South Lebanon Security Zone 27 Oct 93: IAF hits Hizbullah targets in South Lebanon   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

...Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reports this afternoon that Israel Air Force planes attacked Hizbullah targets in the eastern sector of the Security Zone earlier today. According to an IDF Spokesman, all planes returned safely to base with the pilots reporting that the targets were hit.

-Israeline, Wednesday, October 27, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 29 Oct. 93 Hizbullah shells SLA and IDF
South Lebanon Security Zone: 29 Oct. 93 Hizbullah shells SLA and IDF  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Hizbullah gunmen shelled several IDF and South Lebanese Army positions in the eastern section of the security zone on Friday (Oct 29), sparking artillery duels that lasted throughout most of the day...

-Jerusalem Post, October 31, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 31 Oct. 93 Hizbullah shells security zone
South Lebanon Security Zone: 31 Oct. 93 Hizbullah shells security zone   Comment    Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Oct. 31, 1993

 SIDON, Lebanon (UPI) -- Muslim guerrillas and Israeli troops exchanged limited weapons fire Sunday in southern Lebanon but there was no word on casualties, Lebanese police sources said.

 Fighters of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah fired rocket-propelled grenades on a post of the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army militia in the Sujud hill at the edge of Israel's self-declared ``security zone,'' the sources said.

 In retaliation, Israeli artillery pounded Shiite villages in the Iqlim Al Toffah region, east of the southern port city of Sidon, they said.

 Shells crashed on the outskirts of Mlita and Louweizeh, they added.

 There were no reports of casualties in the attacks.

 Hezbollah and other Lebanese and Palestinian hardline groups have escalated their attacks on Israel in protest of its peace treaty with the Palestinians.

 Israel has been controlling the so-called ``security zone,'' a nine- mile (15 km) stretch of land inside Lebanon, since 1985.

 The border zone is patrolled by some 1,000 Israeli servicemen and their proxy 2,500-member SLA.


Attacks in Security Zone: November 1993
Attacks in Security Zone: November 1993  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

1 Nov. 93 Monday: Amal machine-guns and fires grenades at SLA post.  More    Unidentified group storms SLA position.  More

.	2 Nov. 93 Tuesday: SLA positions come under fire.  More

4 Nov 93 Thursday: SLA and IDF positions attacked with Sagger missiles and mortars.  More

13 Nov. 93 Saturday: Hizbullah RPGs and machine guns SLA post.  More

14 Nov. 93 Sunday: Hizbullah in several artillery duels with IDF and SLA. One SLA post attacked.  More

15 Nov. 93 Monday:SLA post comes under RPG fire.  More

16 Nov 93 Tuesday:  Terrorists fire mortars and artillery at SLA and IDF throughout Security Zone.  More    Hizbullah overruns SLA post capturing 12 soldiers; IAF retaliates.  More

20 Nov. 93 Saturday: Hizbullah and Amal mortar IDF post. IDF responds with artillery and helicopter gunships.  More

21 Nov. 93 Sunday: Hizbullah fires 25 missiles at SLA post.  More

22 Nov. 93 Monday: Hizbullah mortars SLA positions.  More

23 Nov. 93 Tuesday: Mine kills SLA soldier. IDF patrol attacked.  Artillery duel.  More

24 Nov. 93 Wednesday:Hizbullah special sniper unit firest on SLA position.  More     Hizbullah attacks SLA position with mortar and light weapons.  More


South Lebanon Security Zone: 1 Nov. 93 Amal machine-guns SLA post
South Lebanon Security Zone: 1 Nov. 93 Amal machine-guns SLA post Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Nov. 1, 1993

 SIDON, Lebanon (UPI) -- Muslim guerrillas Monday attacked two positions of Israel's South Lebanon Army militia inside the border zone in southern Lebanon, triggering a limited Israeli shelling on Shiite villages, Lebanese security and militia sources said.

 The pro-Syrian Amal movement said in a statement that its fighters fired machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades on an SLA post overnight in the village of Talloussa, in the central sector of Israel's self-declared ``security zone.''

 The SLA-run ``Voice of the South'' radio station confirmed the guerrilla attack, and reported no casualties.

  Another squad of unidentified guerrillas also attacked an SLA position in the Tumat-Niha region near the Christian town of Jezzine inside the border enclave, security sources said.

 There was no word on casualties or material damage.

 In retaliation, Israeli artillery shelled the Shiite villages of Qabrikha and Majdel Selim on the other side of the fence, they said.

 Amal and other Lebanese and Palestinian hardline groups escalated their attacks on Israel in protest of its peace treaty with the Palestine Liberation Organization, pledging to continue the armed struggle until the liberation of occupied Arab territories.

  Some 1,000 Israeli servicemen and their 2,500-member surrogate SLA militia patrol the nine-mile (15 km) ``security zone'' which Israel established in 1985 to protect its northern territories.

                                                                                                                                                                                           .


South Lebanon Security Zone: 1 Nov. 93 Unidentified terrorists storm SLA post
South Lebanon Security Zone: 1 Nov. 93 Unidentified terrorists storm SLA post  Comment  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Nov. 1, 1993

 SIDON, Lebanon (UPI) ...

  Another squad of unidentified guerrillas also attacked an SLA position in the Tumat-Niha region near the Christian town of Jezzine inside the border enclave, security sources said.

 There was no word on casualties or material damage.

 In retaliation, Israeli artillery shelled the Shiite villages of Qabrikha and Majdel Selim on the other side of the fence, they said.

 Amal and other Lebanese and Palestinian hardline groups escalated their attacks on Israel in protest of its peace treaty with the Palestine Liberation Organization, pledging to continue the armed struggle until the liberation of occupied Arab territories.

  Some 1,000 Israeli servicemen and their 2,500-member surrogate SLA militia patrol the nine-mile (15 km) ``security zone'' which Israel established in 1985 to protect its northern territories.


South Lebanon Security Zone: 2 Nov 93 SLA positions come under fire
South Lebanon Security Zone: 2 Nov 93 SLA positions come under fire  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

South Lebanese Army positions again came under fire in separate incidents in the security zone yesterday, as Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah met in Damascus with Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader George Habash...

 According to reports, Habash and Nasrallah agreed to coordinate activities against the "Zionist enemy" in southern Lebanon, despite the ideological differences between the secular PFLP and Hizbullah.

 Nasrallah met in Damascus last week, with Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine head Naif Hawatmeh.  They also reached an agreement to escalate operations against the zone and "occupied Palestine."

 -Jerusalem Post, November 3, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 4 Nov 93 Terrorists attack SLA and IDF positions with mortars and Sager missiles
South Lebanon Security Zone 4 Nov 93 Terrorists attack SLA and IDF positions with mortars and Sager missiles  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Terrorists Fire Rockets and Shells at IDF and SLA Posts in South Lebanon

KOL YISRAEL reports this afternoon on an exchange of fire initiated by terrorists against the IDF and South Lebanese Army in the eastern and central sectors of South Lebanon. In the central sector, near the village of Hula, terrorists fired mortar shells and Katyusha rockets on SLA posts. In the eastern sector, terrorists fired SAGER missiles at IDF and SLA posts. According to the report, Israel Air Force helicopters joined in the IDF response against the terrorist targets.

-Israeline, Thursday, November 4, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 13 Nov. 93 Hizbullah RPGs SLA post
South Lebanon Security Zone: 13 Nov. 93 Hizbullah RPGs SLA post  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The first incident occurred late on Saturday night(Nov 13) when gunmen, believed to be from Hizbullah, opened fire with machine guns and RPGs at an SLA post near Barasheet, in the central sector of the zone...

-Jerusalem Post, November 15, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 14 Nov. 93 Hizbullah in several artillery duels
South Lebanon Security Zone: 14 Nov. 93 Hizbullah in several artillery duels  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

A Hizbullah gunman was reported killed yesterday(Nov 14), apparently in one of several artillery duels with IDF and South Lebanese Army soldiers in the security zone...

 Yesterday morning(Nov 14), a SLA position in the Shomriya area, also in the central sector of the zone, came under fire from mortars.  Several vehicles in the post's compound were damaged in the mortar attack but there were no injuries...

 Later yesterday(Nov 14), following Hizbullah's announcement, another SLA outpost, this time in the eastern sector of the zone, came under light weapons fire.

 The troops manning the post, east of Nabatiyeh, were unhurt and returned fire.

-Jerusalem Post, November 15, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 15 Nov. 93 SLA post comes under RPG fire
South Lebanon Security Zone: 15 Nov. 93 SLA post comes under RPG fire  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The almost daily attacks on IDF and South Lebanese Army positions inside the security zone are continuing.  An SLA post north of Tibnit village in the central sector of the zone, came under RPG and light weapons fire early yesterday(Nov 15)

 -Jersualem Post, November 16, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 16 Nov 93 Terrorists fire artillery and mortars at SLA and IDF throughout zone
South Lebanon Security Zone 16 Nov 93 Terrorists fire artillery and mortars at SLA and IDF throughout zone   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

IDF and SLA Exchange Fire with Terrorists in Several Sectors of South Lebanon

KOL YISRAEL reports on today's on-going exchanges of fire in south Lebanon between the IDF and the South Lebanese Army on one side and terrorists on the other. The fighting is taking place simultaneously in several areas. The report states that the IDF and SLA are firing artillery and mortar she lls at the sources of terrorist fire. Two IDF soldiers received minor injuries during this morning's exchange of fire and are now in a hospital in northern Israel.

-Israeline, Tuesday, November 16, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone 16 Nov 93 Hizbullah overruns SLA post capturing 12 soldiers; IAF retailiates
South Lebanon Security Zone 16 Nov 93 Hizbullah overruns SLA post capturing 12 soldiers; IAF retailiates    Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Hizbullah Captures SLA Post in South Lebanon; IAF Retaliates Bombing Terrorist Targets

Today's HA'ARETZ reports on yesterday's Hizbullah attack in the Security Zone in South Lebanon. According to the newspaper, yesterday's campaign was the largest and most successful Hizbullah attack since the conclusion of Operation Accountability in July.  The attack, which began early in the mo rning, was preceded by mortar shelling on the central and western sectors of the security zone. The Hizbullah fired about 150 mortar shells and a number of Katyusha missiles which landed in the security zone. They then attacked a South Lebanese Army post, managing to capture it and to take 12 SL A soldiers prisoner. The terrorists occupied the outpost for some time before withdrawing. Israel retaliated with Israel Air Force planes and helicopters, bombing Hizbullah targets. Israel Radio this morning quotes IDF Commander in Charge of the Northern Command, Major General Yitzhak Mordechai,  who stated that the IDF takes a serious view of the Hizbullah attack and will respond accordingly.

-Israeline, Wednesday, November 17, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 20 Nov. 93 Hizbullah pounds IDF post
South Lebanon Security Zone: 20 Nov. 93 Hizbullah pounds IDF post  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

IDF and South Lebanese Army gunners pounded suspected terrorist targets north of the security zone for several hours yesterday(November 20), following a mortar attack on SLA positions in the central sector of the zone.

 Hizbullah announced in a statement issued in Beirut that the attack was a joint operation between its fighters and members of the rival Amal Shi'ite organization...

 Reports from Lebanon said IAF helicopter gunships also scoured the region of the gunmen strafing valleys in the region with heavy machine-gun fire.

 According to the reports, a SAM-7 shoulder-held ground-to-air missile was fired at one of the helicopters, narrowly missing the target.  There have been reports of terrorists using such missiles against helicopters on several occasions recently.

 -Jerusalem Post, November 21, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 21 Nov. 93 Hizbullah fires 25 rockets at SLA
South Lebanon Security Zone: 21 Nov. 93 Hizbullah fires 25 rockets at SLA  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Hizbullah gunmen fired 25 Katyusha rockets  at South Lebanese Army positions in the Talousa region of the security zone yesterday(Nov 22) morning, according to reports from Lebanon.

 Several RPG's were also fired towards the outpost...

-Jerusalem Post, November 23, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 22 Nov. 93 Hizbullah mortars SLA posts
South Lebanon Security Zone: 22 Nov. 93 Hizbullah mortars SLA posts  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The fundamentalist organization(Hizbullah) also claimed responsibility for firing several mortar rounds towards SLA posts in the Talousa region on Sunday evening(Nov 21)...

-Jerusalem Post, November 23, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 23 Nov. 93 Three terrorist attacks
South Lebanon Security Zone: 23 Nov. 93 Three terrorist attacks  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Three incidents were reported in the security zone yesterday(Nov 23).  An off-duty SLA soldier was killed and a civilian wounded when their tractor detonated a mine between Rehab and Aishiyeh.

 IDF troops came under light weapons fire while they were on patrol north of Bint J'bail village, in the western sector.  There were no casualties among the soldiers, who returned fire.

 There were also reports of artillery exchanges in the Soujud region, after IDF and SLA positions there came under mortar fire.

-Jerusalem Post, November 24, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 24 Nov. 93 Hizbullah's special sniper unit
South Lebanon Security Zone: 24 Nov. 93 Hizbullah's special sniper unit  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

...Meanwhile, an SLA soldier was lightly hurt and a Lebanese villager was reported to have been wounded in fighting along the border of the security zone.(Nov 24).

 The soldier was wounded when gunmen opened fire with light weapons on two SLA positions in the Ali Tahr hills region, in the zone's eastern sector.  He was transferred to Marjayoun hospital in the zone for treatment.

 The Islamic Resistance, Hizbullah's fighting arm, claimed that the attack was carried out by members of its special sniper unit... (emphasis added)

-Jerusalem Post, November 25, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 24 Nov. 93 Hizbullah attacks SLA with mortars and machine-guns
South Lebanon Security Zone: 24 Nov. 93 Hizbullah attacks SLA with mortars and machine-guns  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

In a later incident, SLA soldiers manning an outpost near Barasheet village, in the zone's central sector, spotted a squad of gunmen moving towards the post and opened fire with mortars and machine guns.

 The attackers, also believed to have been members of Hizbullah, managed to fire several mortar rounds and direct light weapons fire at the position as they were fleeing the scene, according to reports from the region.

-Jerusalem Post, November 25, 1993


Attacks in Security Zone: December 1993
Attacks in Security Zone: December 1993  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

6 Dec. 93 Monday:Hizbullah and Amal fire on SLA outposts.  More   }

7 Dec. 93 Tuesday: Hizbullah detonates roadside bomb, shoots at SLA patrol.  More

10 Dec 93 Friday: Hizbullah mortars church, injuring priest.  More   Hizbullah attacks Israeli tanks, killing one; United Nations troops (UNIFIL) refuses humanitarian aid to wounded survivor.  More    SLA tanks destroy Hizbullah Katyushas. Hizbullah attacks IDF with mortars and Sagger missiles.  More

13 Dec 93 Monday: Roadside bomb injures soldier.  More


South Lebanon Security Zone: 6 Dec 93 Hizbullah, Amal fire at SLA outposts
South Lebanon Security Zone: 6 Dec 93 Hizbullah, Amal fire at SLA outposts  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Hizbullah also claimed responsibility for long-range shooting attacks against SLA outposts in the eastern sector of the zone on Monday(Dec 6) night.  The rival Amal movement also said it fired at another position in the same region.  There were no casualties among the SLA troops.

-Jerusalem Post, Wednesday, December 8, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 7 Dec. 93 Roadside bomb, light-weapons fire
South Lebanon Security Zone: 7 Dec. 93 Roadside bomb, light-weapons fire  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

...Meanwhile, Hizbullah yesterday (Dec 7) detonated a roadside bomb in an SLA patrol passed by in the Ali Tahr hills in the eastern sector of the security zone.

 There were no casualties among the troops, who also came under light weapons fire.  SLA and IDF gunners returned fire.

-Jerusalem Post, Wednesday, December 8, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 10 Dec 93 Hizbullah mortar fire upon church injures priest
South Lebanon Security Zone: 10 Dec 93 Hizbullah mortar fire upon church injures priest   Double Standards  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

...According to the reports, the wounded included two women and Father George Nasser, abbot of the Maronite monastery in Nabatiya, who suffered shrapnel wounds when a shell exploded in the grounds of the local Christian school.

 -Jerusalem Post, Tuesday, December 14, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 10 Dec 93: Hizbullah attacks IDF tanks; UN refuses aid to Israeli
South Lebanon Security Zone: 10 Dec 93: Hizbullah attacks IDF tanks; UN refuses aid to Israeli  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

...Meanwhile, the IDF has lodged an official complaint with UNIFIL over the refusal of Finnish UN troops to give humanitarian aid to the crew of the stricken tank that was ambushed by Hizbullah gunmen with Sagger anti-tank missiles last Friday.

 Lt. Harel Shrem, 21, of Ramat Gan, was killed in the attack, which occurred in the central sector of the security zone, and another soldier was wounded.

 ...In explaining the complaint to UNIFIL, the IDF Spokesman said the driver managed to recover the tank and drive it with the dead officer and wounded soldier aboard towards a nearby position manned by troops from the Finnish battalion.

 He said the crew requested humanitarian aid and the use of a radio to inform the IDF of the incident because its own communication equipment had been rendered unusable, but the Finnish troops refused the request, contravening the basic principles of the UN.

 UNIFIL spokesman Timur Goksel said that UNIFIL was aware of "what appears to have been an unfortunate communication problem between the two sides" after the incident involving the tank.

 "An IDF soldier did show up at the Finnish position in the area and requested the use of a radio, but he refused to give any details about what had happened and didn't disclose any casualties," he said.

 "The Finns said their radio equipment was not compatible with that of the IDF and pointed the way to the nearest IDF unit in the area, of which the soldier was apparently unaware.

 "The Finns did notify UNIFIL headquarters in Nakoura and headquarters informed the IDF of what had happened immediately on receipt of the information, and kept the IDF updated.

 "UN policy is to render medical aid across the board and if there was a lapse for any reason in this case, UNIFIL regrets it," Goksel added.

-Jerusalem Post, Tuesday, December 14, 1993

Comment: The radio equipment is incompatible?  Does that mean UNIFIL's radios can't call the frequencies of the antagonists? Yeah, sure. They certainly manage to call the IDF when IDF or SLA fire is hitting Lebanese villages or is getting near UNIFIL troops. Then, their radios are compatible.  The IDF tank didn't plead for radio contact for a wounded crew member even after UNIFIL refused medical help?.  Yeah, sure. Guess which side has 22 votes in the UN, and the lion's share of the world's oil.  Guess which side has one vote in the UN and no oil?


South Lebanon Security Zone: 10 Dec. 93
South Lebanon Security Zone: 10 Dec. 93  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

...Later, in the afternoon, SLA troops manning a position in the Ali Tahr hill range region spotted several Katyusha rockets apparently ready for launching against targets in the zone.  The missiles and launchers were destroyed by long range SLA tank fire.

 Earlier, in the morning, Hizbullah gunmen attacked an IDF position east of Nabatiya with mortars and Sagger missiles, without causing any casualties...

-Jerusalem Post, Tuesday, December 14, 1993


South Lebanon Security Zone: 13 Dec 93 Roadside bomb injures soldier
South Lebanon Security Zone: 13 Dec 93 Roadside bomb injures soldier  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The soldier was wounded when a roadside bomb was detonated alongside a patrol near Almane village in the central sector of the zone.  IDF gunners responded by shelling suspected terrorist targets north of the zone...

 -Jerusalem Post, Tuesday, December 14, 1993


Attacks in Security Zone: January 1994
Attacks in Security Zone: January 1994  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


Attacks in Security Zone: February 1994


Israel's ineffective protests of Syrian sponsored warfare
Israel's ineffective protests of Syrian sponsored warfare  Request  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

From its election in June 1992 through the first several months after the Rabin/Arafat accord was signed in September, 1993, Israel's government approached Egypt, America, Europe and the UN, asking them to pressure Syria into curtailing its support for the attacks by Hizbullah and other terrorist groups against Israeli positions in South Lebanon.  Israel protested that the attacks constituted a one sided war by Syria and was inconsistent with the peace process.  Syrian policy did not change, and Israel stopped protesting in April or May, 1994.

19 Sep 93  Sunday:  Rabin complains about Syria to Egyptian president Mubarak.  More


Request
This list is by no means exhaustive.  It is only fragmentary.  If you have additional examples in electronic form, please send them to me.


19 Sep 93: Rabin complains to Egypt's Mubarak of Syria's war by proxy
19 Sep 93: Rabin complains to Egypt's Mubarak of Syria's war by proxy   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday(Sep 19) Syria was flouting its peace talks with Israel by backing both Hizbullah and Damascus-based Palestinian factions...

-Jerusalem Post, September 21, 1993


Syria's record on keeping promises
Syria's record on keeping promises  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Syrian promises allow its Jews to emigrate.( mostly to America)

Syrian promises to the Arab world:

Syrian promises to Turkey:

Syrian promises to Israel and the Jewish world:


Syrian promises to let Jews emigrate
Syrian promises to let Jews emigrate  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Since Madrid talks began in October 1991, Assad repeatedly broke promises to let Jews emigrate(Jerusalem Post editorial)


David Bar-Illan on Syria's promises
David Bar-Illan on Syria's promises  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Damascus has failed to keep its promise on Syrian Jewry.  Lester Pollack, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, complained yesterday(Jan 5) at a Jerusalem press conference.  Syrian dictator Hafez Assad, responding to a request by Secretary of State Warren Christopher during the latter's recent visit to the region, said that all Syrian Jews who wanted to leave the country would receive exit visas by the end of 1993.

 The date has come and gone, and of the 1,300 Jews still living in Syria only 350 have received permits.  Even they find it difficult to leave, for the visas are being granted to individuals, not to whole families.  Understandably, most families would rather stay in Syria together than risk a long separation from loved ones.

 The Syrian promise is not the first of its kind.  It is a recycled gesture offered by Damascus soon after the beginning of the Madrid talks more than two years ago.  The pledge to release Syria's Jews was the one and only "confidence building gesture" made by the Arab side in the negotiations.

 But the Syrian authorities carefully prevented half of Syria's Jews from leaving, so that at least a thousand would remain hostage until the next opportunity.  Now, too Assad obviously wants to keep some of these hostages on hand, so that in his meeting with President Bill Clinton later this month(Jan 16) he will be able to use another announcement about the release of Jews as a gesture.

 It is a cruel charade, which tests the nerves of Jews wishing to leave Syria and their relatives abroad.  Conference of Presidents' executive director Malcolm Hoenlein did well to demand last night that the Clinton-Assad meeting be conditioned on the actual exit of all Jews from Syria.

 If there is one salutary element in this Syrian conduct, it is that it dispels the myth of Assad's trustworthiness - a myth repeated all too often by the government.  The fact is that the only area in which Assad has kept an agreement is on the Golan, where Israel can retaliate by inflicting an immediate blow on Damascus.  It is difficult to find another instance in which he has kept his word.

-David Bar-Illan, Syria's promises. Jerusalem Post, Thursday, January 6, 1994


Syrian participation in the drug trade
Syrian participation in the drug trade   US Coverup One   US Coverup Two  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

The US State Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the CIA, and various Republican Task Forces have accumulated overwhelming evidence that the Syrian army, including members of the family of President Hafez Assad - most particularly his brother Rifaat -  run the heroin, opium and hashish trade originating in Lebanon's Beka'a Valley.  This valley is occupied by the Syrian army.  It is the second largest source of opium and heroin for America's children.  The revenues - probably at least $4 billion per year - are used to finance terrorist groups, acquire arms and the makings for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and of course to enrich Syria's inner circle.

The US administration - both Bush and later Clinton - have refrained from criticizing or penalizing Syria. Many commentators say Washington fears this would render it more difficult to pressure Israel into vacating the Golan Heights, and would undermine the image of President Hafez Assad in the United States.

Articles and Items

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30 Nov 92:  Preview  From Beka'a to Beirut.  Detailed Congressional Report on how the Syrian military - including President Assad's brother - runs the drug trade.

22 May 94: State Dept keeps Syria on drug and terrorism list

Interview with Ahmed Jibril  Master terrorist openly gives interview to a western journalist from his office in Damascus.  The man finances his terror at least in part from the drug trade.

13 July 94:  Republican Task Force report on terrorism and unconventional warfare.


US Coverup One
Jerusalem, 3 December 1992

From the Lebanese Beka'a Valley to Tripoli, From Hashaish to Heroin (Article by Alex Fishman, "Hadashot", 30.11.92, p.24)

Ten months ago, on 6 February 1992, General Razi Kana'an -- the head of the Syrian secret services in Lebanon -- arrived in Washington for official talks on the coordination between the two countries regarding the matter of the war on drugs.  As an official guest of the administration, the Ameri cans rolled out the red carpet for him.  The Western intelligence services in the world -- which know about the tales of Kana'an -- burst into laughter and anger.

Half a year earlier, on 8 August 1991, the Syrians prepared -- under pressure from the American administration -- a presentation for the world media.  Tractors ran over fields of hashish in the Lebanese Beka'a valley and, in the presence of the cameras, they plowed the harvest.  When the media l eft, so did the tractors -- and the Syrian officers announced to the growers that, as of 14 August, they must reap and store the crops within three days, before production and distribution...


US Coverup Two
...It is inconceivable that President Hafez Assad of Syria is unaware of the profits accruing to his regime from drugs or is taking any steps to stop them.  It should be pointed out that the regime is Alawi and so is a disproportionately high percentage of senior army officers who benefit (though M ustapha Tlass is a Sunni).  Rifaat Assad and Gen. Ali Dubah are serious contenders for the succession to the Presidency.

The evidence that the Bush administration has been covering up the Assad regime's involvement in the drug trade in order to make Israeli territorial concessions to Syria palatable to American public opinion is mounting.  The question whether any peace treaty signed with a drug-dealing, terrorist

 regime is worth the paper it is written on should be seriously considered by the Clinton administration in Washington and by the Rabin Government in Jerusalem.

-Yohanan Ramati, Jerusalem Institute Arab Media Report, Jan '93


13 July 94: Republican Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare
13 July 94: Republican Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare      Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

UPDATE: IRANIAN, SYRIA AND THE TRAIL OF THE COUNTERFEIT MONEY

YOSSEF BODANSKY	World Terrorism Anaylst

Freeman Center for Strategic Studies

Telephone or Fax (713) 723-6016

P.O. Box 35709

Houston, Texas 77235-5709

Email: BSAPHIR@AOL.COM

July 13, 1994

SUMMARY

Over the last few years since the original Terrorism Task Force report on the issue, the spread of extremely high quality counterfeit money has continued to rise.  Furthermore, there is every indication that the problem will continue to grow as distributors adopt numerous new methods and venues for smuggling this bogus dash.  Specifically, in this connection, the internationalization of organized crime constitutes a key development in the increase in the flow of high quality counterfeit $100 bills from Iran, Syria and Lebanon, the primary sources of printing and organized distribution , into the economies of the West.

The following paper will highlight some of the developments in the ongoing counterfeiting operations of the radical states of the Middle East.  (For a more extensive discussion of this issue, please consult the July 1, 1992 Task Force report: Iran, Syria and the Trail of Counterfeit Dollars.)

THE TEHRAN-DAMASCUS AXIS

Since 1991, the governments of Iran and Syria have been actively engaged in the production and dissemination of high quality counterfeit American currency, primarily $100 bills.  The actual smuggling of these counterfeit bills and their distribution in the US and elsewhere, are carried out by the international terrorist networks controlled by both states.  In this effort, Iran and its allies produce and distribute counterfeit US banknotes in three qualities, ranging from extremely high quality to medium to low, the latter of which, despite the classi fication, is actually of a fairly h igh standard.

The high quality $100 bank notes are designed for direct infiltration into the US banking system and are printed in the Iranian official mint in Tehran, using equipment and know-how purchased from the US during the reign of the Shah.  This includes plates that are virtually perfect replicas of U S currency and inks that are almost always of extremely high quality.  Indeed, the specialized inks are mixed in the laborato ries of the national mint in Tehran by chemists who had previously trained in the US.

As of late 1992 these high-quality counterfeit $100 bills have become a major instrument in facilitating the flow of militarily useful nuclear materials and equipment, military technologies, and various weapons systems to the radical states of the Middle East.  Specifically, military goods originating in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are shipped to the Middle East via Western/Central Europe, where arrangement for payment is made through services provided by various organized crime operations.

THE MOB AND THE BOMB

In this connection, since 1993, high quality counterfeit $100 bills, as well as illegal drugs, originating from Iran, Syria and Lebanon and distributed by organized crime, have become the primary currency for the expanding international system that sustains the growing nuclear trade of the radical states of the Middle East.  These states provide the Italian Mafia with counterfeit dollars and drugs at a reduced price as payment for nuclear goods.  The Italian Mafia sells the drugs and launders the money through its international connections, with the Russian Mafia playing an increasing role in these functions as well, and then diverts some of the profits to various financial centers, mainly Germany, as payment on behalf of their buyers.

Once payment is made, nuclear materials and weapons are acquired throughout the CIS by both acquisition officials of the radical states and operatives of the local organized crime organizations, including the so-called Muslim mafias.  Ultimately, the Russian Mafia arranges for the shipment of the goods to foreign storage areas in Western Europe, primarily Croatia, and for the shipment of samples and related documents to various financial centers, mainly in Germany, where the deals are completed with the prospective buyers.  The Italian Mafia also takes part in the shipment of goods fro m Croatia to destinations throughout the Near East.

Significantly, Moscow has emerged as a major point of transshipment for drugs and other goods for the "international mafia" on the way to Western Europe and the US.  Because Russia has become a "transport artery" for drugs and other smuggled goods between Central Asia and Western Europe, it has also transformed into a rapidly growing center for the laundering of drug-related hard currency for "the international drug Mafia, including the Russian drug Mafia." These funds include counterfeit $100 bills from Iran, of which there has been a significant increase in availability in Moscow and

 the CIS as a whole.  Indeed, the flow of counterfeit currency has reached such a point that, by one estimate made at the end of 1992, "more than half the foreign currency in circulation" in Central Asia was counterfeit.

Meanwhile, against this backdrop there has been a total collapse of the economic system in Russia and in much of the Commonwealth of Independent States.  The ruble is rapidly losing both purchasing power and credibility, with the result that the US dollar has become the de facto currency in muc h of the region. At the same time, very few in the vast former Soviet Union actually know how to identify real US dollars.  Consequently, the CIS has become an enticing place for the clearing and laundering of large quantities of counterfeit US dollars for the Italian Mafia.

Thus, not surprisingly, the availability of high quality $100 bills has increased substantially.  This is also the result of the convergence of two major factors: On the one hand, Iran and its allies need to distribute greater quantities of counterfeit dollars in order to finance their rapidly growing strategic purchases.  on the other hand, led by the Italian Mafia, international organized crime has begun to appreciate the vast profits that can be made from the cheap yet excellent Iranian made dollars.

SMUGGLING, LAUNDERING AND MONTE CARLO

Consequently, a new laundering and dissemination system has been consolidated, and is still being expanded, in Western Europe.  At present, money is being laundered by the Italian Mafia through the gambling establishments of Western Europe, mainly Monaco and Germany, with large sums in counterfeit $100 bills being inserted into the winnings and deposits of big gamblers from the Third World or "grey businesses." The mafiosi know that such individuals and groups take extreme measures to conceal their wealth and gambling activities and hence are not likely to complain if they discover cou nterfeit cash.

Since late 1993 this method of counterfeit dissemination has been increasingly adopted in the semi-legal casinos of Russia as well. While the daily cash flow in these Russian casinos is huge, the collapse of public order has increased the risks to those discovered passing such currency.  For example, in a few cases, cheated gamblers, leading their well armed hit squads, have wrecked the casinos and killed many of their staffs.  In other cases, the cheated gamblers were offered huge sums in counterfeit dollars as an apology, sums they then used for their own purposes.

THE GERMAN CONNECTION

Meanwhile, the Iranians and their allies have continued to improve the quality of their $100 bills in order to keep at least one step ahead of the counter-measures developed in the West. Thus, the Iranian intelligence agency - VEVAK - has purchased high quality paper and ink in Western Europe, mainly Germany. Reportedly, Tehran has made a deal with Bonn whereupon Germany is to turn a blind eye to the smuggling of Iranian contraband, ranging from weapons technologies to counterfeit currency and related paraphernalia, in return for which Iran has promised not to replicate the mark.

However, growing demand for currency in the Balkans, where the mark is the primary medium of exchange, has caused Iran to renege on at least its part of the deal.  Moreover, the Italian Mafia, which is using Germany as its primary money laundering venue, has urged Tehran to come up with bogus ma rks in order to expand its profitable operations in the Balkan region.

Indeed, in order to expedite the development of the fake marks, the mafia has provided expertise, including expert technicians and supervisors (German, Swiss and Italian nationals) .  Tehran has not been able to resist temptation and consequently VEVAK has authorized the printing of the fake German currency.  However, in order not to "violate" the agreement with Bonn, the production of the fake German currency takes place in various print shops outside Iranian territory in Shi'ite West Beirut under the protection of both Syrian and Iranian Pasdaran commandos.  The distribution is handled by Iran and Syria through well established channels.

SERVICES IN SUPPORT OF FAKE DOLLARS

Thus, since late 1993, there has been a significant expansion of the support system that undergirds the production and distribution of high quality counterfeit $100 bills in Western Europe, Russia, and the US.  Moreover, in order to ensure the safe and clandestine financial support for terrorist  operations and networks in Western Europe and the US, Tehran and Damascus have decided on the establishment of new channels of financial support utilizing networks employed by organized crime.

Simultaneously, there has been a significant expansion of the produc tion and smuggling of illegal drugs and counterfeit assets, including dollars, marks, fake credit cards, etc.  The main production and distribution center for these operations is in Burj al-Barajnah, West Beirut.

Most smuggling for these operations is conducted by small coastal vessels and fishing boats.  Some of these shipments are transshipped via a "remote island in the Aegean Sea" used by Rifat al-Assad, the Syrian President's brother, since 1990 for the smuggling of drugs and terrorist equipment.  This Syrian network also closely cooperates with the ASALA network in Greece, with heavy equipment shipped on land via Turkey and Bulgaria into Croatia.  The most sensitive material is shipped to Split, Croatia, from where it is smuggled on land either.  into Bosnia Hercegovina or onward into Western Europe.  In addition, a growing volume of goods, counterfeit dollars, drugs and weapons are delivered to Durresi, Albania, as well as to a small harbor nearby called Sundown.  There, the goods are repackaged and loaded on smaller local fishing and coastal vessels for further shipment in the Adriatic, mainly to Italy and Croatia.

As part of the preparations for the escalation of terrorism against the West, Iranian intelligence sought to use the Irish Republican Army (IRA) as another avenue for the smuggling of counterfeit US dollars.  Consequently, between November 1993 and February 1994, VEVAK and the IRA conducted intense negotiations on the further expansion of cooperation between both groups.  Thus, it was agreed that in return for additional services to be rendered by the IRA, including the assassina tion of Tehran's enemies in Western Europe and the US, Iran offered a huge package of support ranging from such sophisticated weapons as Stinger SAM's to financing IRA operations worldwide.

According to the agreement, as revealed in materials acquired by British intelligence, the Iranian financial help would be provided in the form of "$6 million) in top-quality counterfeit $100 bills and $500,000 in real bills." VEVAK assured the IRA that they would have no problems using the counterfeit money, but ultimately the deal was discovered and consequently collapsed.

THE LATIN AMERICAN CONNECTION

The flow of these high quality counterfeit $100 bills into the United states is also increasing.  As a result of the cooperation of Syria with the main Latin American drug cartels, greater quantities of counterfeit dollars have become available for distribution in America.  This at a time when t he cartels' own method of production of counterfeits - by bleaching of $1 bills and reprinting them as $100 notes -- is no longer as profitable as it used to be.  Thus, because the cartels cannot keep up with the demand for counterfeit dollars, they are buying larger quantities of Iranian count erfeit dollars from the Middle East.  Most of these counterfeits are transferred via Mexico and San Andreas island (off the coast of Columbia) into the southwestern US.

This flow of drugs and counterfeit dollars also serves to sustain and finance the build-up of Islamist terrorist networks in Mexico as well as in the northern states of South America for operations in the US.  The core of this system of clandestine support for the terrorist networks is a complex of commercial companies operating in total isolation from Iran.

Of these, the most important is a web of companies that belongs to two Iranian brothers - Vahid Alaghband and Hassan Alaghband. In early 1993, the two Alaghband brothers opened a branch of their company in Brazil in order to begin a new phase of support operations for an escalation of Iranian activities in the region. This company is expected to provide clandestine logistical, financial and communications support for Islamist terrorist networks operating on the east coast of the hemisphere, primarily Argentina, Mexico, and the United States.  The company also provides commercial cover for the travel of terrorist and intelligence operatives from Iran and Syria who arrive in America in order to supervise the flow of counterfeit currency and drugs.

This relationship between counterfeit dollars and terrorism in the US was clearly demonstrated in the case of the Islamist network in New York that was implicated in the World Trade Center bombing.  On May 18, 1993, Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, the commander of the networks' second cell, told Emad  Salem (the FBI informant) that he could lay his hands on "millions" in counterfeit dollars to be laundered via contacts in the Persian Gulf.  Siddig offered to sell a million dollars for $150,000, well below market value.  (The source of this money was identified as a "good Muslim.") Subsequently, quantities of counterfeit $100 bills were found at the apartment of Shayk Umar Abd-al-Rahman, alleged mastermind of the New York terrorist plots, indicating that the network had already r eceived some of the bogus money.

It is noteworthy that the HizbAllah is responsible for the distribution of counterfeit $100 bills in the US and Canada on behalf of Iranian Intelligence.  Large quantities of counterfeit money have been smuggled into the US and Canada along routes used by the HizbAllah and other terrorist organi zations controlled by Syria and Iran.  The chiefs of the IRGC Intelligence and the VEVAK are convinced that these avenues are safe and can thus sustain a greater volume of shipments.  Therefore, the "millions" of counterfeit US dollars claimed by the New York Islamist terrorist network are not likely to have come from any other source other than Iranian intelligence and their HizbAllah distribution networks in the US.  Thus, the availability of these counterfeits suggests the existence of a relationship between the New York Islamist terrorist network and Iranian intelligence.

CONCLUSION

The growing flow or the Iran-made high quality counterfeit $100 bills is thus a problem with far greater ramifications than its potential for damaging the stability of the American economy. These counterfeits are used by such countries as Iran and Syria as a primary currency for the purchase of contraband, primarily weapons of mass destruction and other types of military nuclear technology, with all the security implications that this entails for the West.

Meanwhile, the laundering process of these counterfeit dollars has already become a principal source of power for international organized crime, expediting such developments as the growing might of the Russian Mafia or the subversion of the Western European economy by the Italian Mafia.  Thus, the unholy alliance of international terrorism and organized crime is expanding its presence and operations in the United States.

by Yossef Bodansky

& Vaughn S. Forrest

This report was originally prepared for:

BILL McCOLLUM, FLORIDA

CHAIRMAN

VAUGHN S. FORREST

CHIEF OF STAFF

YOSSEF BODANSKY

DIRECTOR

DONALD J. MORRISSY

LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

1622 LONGWORTH BUILDING

(202)226-0871

TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM & UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE

HOUSE REPUBLICAN RESEARCH COMMITTEE

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

WASHINGTON. DC 20815


30 Nov '92: Detailed Congressional Report on the Syrian military drug business
30 Nov '92: Detailed Congressional Report on the Syrian military drug business      Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


Preview

On 6 Feb '92 Syrian Gen. Razi Kana'an - head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon visited Washington to coordinate the battle against drugs.  The CIA and DEA cried, as they have marked him as Syria's drug kingpin in Lebanon.  The Gen. has been arrested in Lebanon with a carload of drugs.  The arresting officer was later executed.

The CIA and DEA know who what where when and why, but the Bush administration - and later Clinton - didn't want to know.  The report names names, places, methods and incidents.  Syria earns $2 to $4 billion a year in drugs, some of which goes to terrorists Habash, Hawatmeh, Jibril and Abu-Nidal.


Syria, Iran and counterfeit dollars
Syria, Iran and counterfeit dollars    Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Since 1991, Iran has been counterfeiting up to $100 billion per year, with considerable Syrian participation and help.  This money finances terrorist groups in the west, the violent destruction of Jewish community life, for example in Argentina, London and Panama and the acquisition of black market weapons and technology.

The west does not force these two countries to stop.  Europeans and Japanese profit too much from the purchases.  America is afraid of a loss of confidence in its currency, and being forced to confront the counterfeiters.

13 July 94:  Republican Task Force Report on Syrian and Iranian counterfeiting.


Syrian acquisition of unconventional arms
Since the Gulf War against Saddam, Syria has built its military at an unprecedented rate, despite its questionable economic condition, and despite the "peace process."

Syria manufactures biological and chemical weapons, and has widespread programs to acquire more deadly variations of these and an improved ability to deliver them.  Furthermore, Syria has an active program to acquire nuclear weapons.

Syria pays for much of both programs through counterfeiting of dollars and proceeds from the drug trade.  This is widely known throughout the west; details are published by many groups, for example the House Republican Task Force.

So far, America has not had the courage to stop Syria from selling drugs to its children and counterfeiting its currency in order to pay for unconventional weapons.  It is not so likely America would confront Syria over anything that country might do to Israel.

13 July 94:  House Republican Task Force Report on counterfeiting, drugs and unconventional weaspons.


syria links master


syria internal links 1
The Assad/Clinton summit in Geneva on Jan. 16, 1994

Does Syria control the Damascus-based terrorist groups?

The Golan Heights: History, strategic value and Israel's diplomatic retreat

Syria: Recent history and conflict with Israel

 Syrian participation in the drug trade

Syria, Iran and counterfeit dollars

Syrian acquisition of unconventional arms


syria before present internal links
History of modern Syria

Syria and Israel's War of Independence

Syria and Israel from 1949 to 1956

Syria and Israel from 1957 to 1965

Syria and Israel leading up to the '67 war

The Six Day War

Syria and Israel from 1968 to 1972

Syria and Israel leading up to the '73 War

The Yom Kippur War

Syria and Israel from 1974 through the 1982 Lebanon War

Syria and the 1975-1990 Civil War in Lebanon

The 1982 Lebanon War

Syria and Israel from the Lebanese War through the Gulf War

Syria and Lebanon since the Taif Accord

Syria and Israel since the Gulf War


Links: International Guarantees of Israel's peace with Syria and Lebanon

Can Israel depend on the United Nations to guarantee a peace treaty with Syria and/or Lebanon?

 Is the UN willing to confront the Arabs on behalf of Israel?

 UNIFIL refuses humanitarian aid to Israeli soldier wounded by Hizbullah.

 Comment: Double standards in response to Arab attacks.


Syria and the 1975-1990 Civil War in Lebanon
Syria and the 1975-1990 Civil War in Lebanon  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


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Syria and Lebanon since the Taif Accord
Syria and Lebanon since the Taif Accord   Links  Links  Links  Links  Links


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Arab terror attacks on Jews/Israel
Arab terror attacks on Jews/Israel  LInks  Links  Links  Links


Links Master


tatg internal links
Arab attacks on Jews


Territory and Security
Territory and Security  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres published a book called The New Middle East about the same time as the Rabin/Arafat Accord was signed.  He justified vacating the Golan and the mountains of Judea/Samaria by saying that in the age of missiles, remote sensors, and precision guided ammunition, territory no longer has strategic value.

Question:  Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world.  It surrounded by countries with enormous armies, many times its own, armies as large as those of NATO.  Their peoples not only declare that Israel shouldn't exist, but that Jews themselves are an abomination against G-d.  Why is Israel, then,  the only country in the entire world expected to vacate territory because territory no longer has strategic value? (See:  Israel among her enemies,   Arab Jew-Hatred )

Name another country, even those whose territories exceed Israel's by dozens or hundreds of times, even those whose neighbors have no objection to the country or its people, that is expected to vacate territory, because territory no longer has strategic value.

____________________

Articles and Items:

Can Israel Make Territorial Concessions and remain Defensible?  By Shlomo Baum  In the age of missiles and smart weapons, some claim territory is no longer important strategically.  Not so.

The importance of the territories to Israel's security.  Before 1967 when Jordan controlled the territories - Judea/Samaria - West Bank - Israel's border with Jordan was 350 miles long.  Now it's 185 miles long.  Israel's waist was between 9 and 20 miles wide.  Jordan's forces looked down on this narrow waist, controlling Israel's north-south traffic, the one highway to Jerusalem, and Tel-Aviv's water supply.   Afterward Israel had the topographical advantages over any repeated invasion.

Classified Report by US Joint Chiefs of Staff: on 29 Jun 67 the Joint Chiefs issued a report saying that Israel required most of the West Bank, some of the Sinai and all the Golan as minimal defensible borders.  The administration immediately classified the report, as it contradicted American policy to appease the oil sheikhs.  It was declassified in 1983.   More

Taking a Logical Look At Land, by Irving Kett.  Claims that modern sensors and smart weapons obviate value of territitory is simply wishful thinking.  Laws of physics require Israel to retain heights on Golan and in West Bank.  Israel may not survive a return to pre-67 borders.    More


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Can Israel make territorial concessions and remain defensible?
Can Israel make territorial concessions and remain defensible?  Next  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Section One:  Topography has often determined the winner and loser of a battle.  In the age of electronic warfare, topography is more important, not less.  For example, many modern weapons require line of sight contact with the target, and radar is most effective from mountainous high ground.

Section Two:  Assymetry of Geography and Territory.  Arab enemies of Israel have a 50 to 1 population advantage and a 500 to 1 territorial advantage, the greatest assymetry between adverseries in the history of warfare.  Advances in weapons precision increases the value of dispersion of weapons, manpower and industry, an enormous advantage for the Arabs.  Vacating territory may be fatal for Israel.

Section Three:  Topography - the key to defence and deterrence.  Since 1973 there has been a drastic improvement in the quality and quantity of weapons in Arab armies and their technological abilities.  The severity of their first blow will be greater, the lead time for Israel to mobilize the reserves will be less, and Israel will have less time to organize a battlefield response.  Vacating Golan and Judea/Samaria increases the likelihood of war.  Details of the West Bank's topography:  the mountains of Judea/Samaria make an armored attack from Jordan or Iraq very difficult, while the dominating western slopes of these mountains in Arab hands would place most of the Jewish population and industry within a few miles of positions almost impossible to dislodge.

Section Four:  Why demilitarization is useless.  Thousands of commandos in police uniforms can capture, destroy and occupy strategic positions at night (Arafat demanded and got a "strong police force" - all with military training).  Helicopter transported commandos can occupy important positions within minutes, and Arab regular forces can reach anywhere on the Golan or West Bank within 4 or 5 hours.  Yet, it takes Israel a minimum of 24 hours to mobilize.  (Most people today say a minimum of 48, and that assumes that critical road junctions aren't destroyed by precision ammunitions in the first few minutes).

Section Five:  Terrorism and Irregular Forces.  There are some 15 Palestinian terrorist groups that advocate the destruction of Israel.  Any of them can launch Katyushas into all the major Jewish population centers from Judea/Samaria, even if Arafat wanted to prevent it.  That will lead to war.

Section Six:  Territory and Unconventional Warfare.  With all its satellites and airforces, America didn't destroy a single Iraqi mobile Scud launcher or prevent a single Scud from firing, as the launchers were hidden in tunnels hewn into rock..  Soon, the Arabs and Iran will have nuclear weapons.  Israel's only hope for survival is a second strike capability.  In Israel, the best hiding places are in the rocky mountains of the Judean desert and the volcanic outcroppings in the Golan Heights.

Section Seven:  Israel cannot defend itself within the '67 borders.  A pre-emptive offense would be its only chance of survival.  The author says therefore no Israeli government would retreat to those lines.  Unfortunately, this article was written before the Rabin government, which as of this writing was in the process of doing just that.


Topography in the age of missiles and electronics
Topography in the age of missiles and electronics   Prev  Next  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

CAN ISRAEL MAKE TERRITORIAL CONCESSIONS AND REMAIN DEFENSIBLE?

By Shlomo Baum

Throughout history, topography played an important role in wars, often determining the outcome of battles.  Usually, it was especially important for the defending side.  Since the late 1960ies, when weapons and munitions began to be propelled through the air and guided from afar, some theoretica l experts have begun to claim that topography is losing its importance.  Practical experience proves them wrong - both in theory and in practice.  Ironically, the high ground and dominating strongholds are even more essential for defense than in the past.  This follows inevitably from the physic al laws governing the transmission of electro-magnetic radiation.  All sensors and antennas (the primary elements of sophisticated weapons and munitions) and control systems must be deployed from line-of-sight locations.  For instance, a tank can be hit by a guided missile from as far as 3-5 miles, provided there is a line-of-sight from the missile's launching point to its target.  Obviously, mountain strongholds with extended visibility increase the spotting distance and targetability of enemy weapon systems.

he last two decades also witnessed major developments in radar technology.  But the familiar oscillating antennas are still being used, as they were in World War II, to locate aircraft and unidentified airborne objects.  For greatest efficiency, radar stations must be situated on the highest to pographically suitable mountain sites available.  This is true especially in front-line defense zones.

The claim that AWACS or Hawkeye aircraft can substitute for radar stations on the ground is false, because the AWACS' low speed and their vulnerability to air-to-air and ground-to-air missiles compels their stationing in remote stand-off positions. Of course, they can supplement ground radar stations, but on no account can they substitute for them.  The main task of these aircraft is to allow combat aircraft to be more effectively deployed.

In Israel, as everywhere else, tactics are subordinate to strategy.  But what cannot be accomplished tactically, cannot be achieved strategically.  And due to its small geographical size, subjects which elsewhere are in the tactical sphere are regrettably in the strategic sphere even in so-calle d "Greater Israel" (i.e. Israel within its present de facto borders) which actually has no strategic depth.


Assymetry of Geography and Demography
Assymetry of Geography and Demography  Prev  Next  Sections  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

Assymetry of Geography and Demography

The assymetry between the warring parties in the Arab-Israel conflict is unprecedented in military history.  The 20 Arab states cover an area exceeding 5.1 million square miles, which is larger than Europe - including Russia up to the Ural mountains.  The size of "Greater Israel" is less than 11 ,000 square miles - roughly the size of Maryland.

The population of the Arab states is about 215 million.  The Jewish population of Israel is about 4.2 million. ( Note: Both these are old estimates)

Israel has no significant natural resources.  The natural resources of the Arab states account, inter alia, for about 60% of the world's total oil reserves.  This has enabled them to acquire modern weapon systems on a scale making any normal military balance between them and Israel impossible.

The importance of territory relatively to the two other basic components of the battlefield - manpower and weapon systems - increases as a result of advances in military technology, as these dictate greater dispersion of fighting forces in order to prevent prohibitive casualties, as well as greater dispersion of airfields and military stores.  The process is dynamic and continuous.  This conclusion is universal and applies to the strategic level as well as to the tactical and operational levels.  Let us examine how it applies to the Arab-Israel conflict:

Israel's "green line" borders were indefensible already in 1967.  Therefore, Israel's national security doctrine concentrated on high-quality intelligence and on launching a pre-emptive strike transferring the war into Arab territory whenever an Arab attack was imminent.  This doctrine was imple mented in June 1967.

In the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the importance of the territory acquired in 1967 proved critical.  Egypt spread its forces, attacked on the whole long Suez canal front, and could not advance more than 10 miles anywhere.  Even an advance of 30 miles would not have threatened Israel's population an d industrial centers.  This demonstrates that Israel possessed strategic depth in Sinai.

On the other hand, some Syrian tanks reached the Jordan River near the Sea of Galilee after 48 hours.  An advance of another six miles would have given Syria control of the power station pumping water for three-quarters of Israel.  Thus, in the North, Israel's territorial depth in 1973 proved barely sufficient to avert disaster.  Today, as in 1973, it provides no strategic depth, but only tactical and operational depth.


Topography - the Key Factor in Defense and Deterrence
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Topography - the Key Factor in Defense and Deterrence

Does returning Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights to Arab rule reduce or increase the likelihood of war?  The aspects that must be considered before answering this question are deterrence, defense, counterattack and decision on the battlefield.  The subjects of demilitarization, terrorism and irregular forces will also be examined.

Since 1973, a drastic change has occurred in the quantity, quality and technological level of the weapon systems owned by the Arab states:

a)	Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq have purchased thousands of modern tanks and self-propelled artillery.

b)	The same states have acquired hundreds of modern combat aircraft and combat helicopters.

c)	Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq have purchased and deployed sophisticated modern anti-aircraft systems, including missiles.

d)	Large numbers of ground-to-ground missiles with ranges covering the whole area of Israel have been acquired and/or developed with foreign aid by Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The introduction of long-range ground-to-ground missiles has revolutionized the art of war, since previously strategy was mainly concerned with movement, while firepower was mostly in the tactical sphere.  Long-range ground-to-ground missiles combine firepower with movement over long distances f or the first time in military history.  This is true even when their warheads are conventional.

The Arab-Israel conflict is not about borders, though recently some Arab states find it convenient to present it as a border dispute for tactical reasons.  The existence of Israel - not its size - is the cause of the conflict.  Therefore, territorial concessions by Israel cannot end the conflict .  The question to be examined is not if the Arabs want to attack Israel but under what conditions they are less likely to attack.  The Arabs evaluate prospects of success versus risks of failure like anyone else.

In the case of Israel, topography is a key factor both in defense and in deterrence.  It largely determines the amount of risk the Arab side takes when launching an attack.  Not only the size of territory but also its topographical structure determine its strategic value, since deterrence is in the strategic sphere.

Judea and Samaria ("the West Bank") is the collective name for 2,270 square miles of Judean and Samarian highlands.  This mountainous area stretches from North to South and at some points reaches 3,300 feet above sea level.  For the purpose of this presentation we are dividing the area from North to South into three topographical and operational zones.

The Eastern zone, bordering the Jordan River which forms a natural border, includes the western part of the Jordan rift valley and the mountains that dominate it.  Military vehicles can move freely in the valley, but even tanks can climb these mountains only along five routes, which can be easily blocked by the defenders.  Observation posts and firing positions in this eastern mountainous area dominate the Jordan valley and these five routes alike.  Firefinding radar, radar jammers and forward observation posts for artillery have excellent placements in this area.  The topographical structure of the Eastern zone makes the Jordan valley a natural tank trap and killing ground, enabling Israel to stop an Arab offensive across the Jordan River - even by numerically much superior forces - inflicting heavy losses. It should be stressed that the topography on the Jordanian side of the Jordan valley is roughly similar, providing excellent defensive positions against an attack from the West.

The Central Zone encompasses the mountainous spine and all the major ridges and peaks of Judea and Samaria.  This zone is some 80 miles from North to South and is 5 to 10 miles wide.  In view of the major developments in radar technology since 1967, the mountains here are the location of Israel' s early warning radar system and have become the country's front air defense line.  This is not all.  As we stressed at the beginning of this study, high ground and dominating strongholds are everywhere more essential for defense than in the past, due to the physical laws governing the transmiss ion of electro-magnetic radiation, as all sensors, antennas and control systems must be deployed from line-of-sight locations.

Due to Israel's small area and the fast speeds of modern aircraft, the time needed for air defense procedures is very limited.  Identification, decision, scramble and intercept must be executed accurately without hesitation.  The same applies to orders from radar stations on the ground given to combat aircraft on intercept missions.  As previously pointed out, airborne radars like the AWACS cannot substitute for these ground-based radar stations. In time of war, these stations in the Central Zone provide warning depth both for the coastal strip and for the Eastern front.  They also provide essential tactical depth for the defense of Israel's densely populated coastal plain against enemy bombers attacking from the East, as these can be attacked by AA cannon and missile fire even before they reach the Jordan valley.  The Central Zone is also an ideal location for passive electr onic warfare and for jammers of enemy radars.

The Western Zone extends inland from the foothills on Israel's pre-1967 border (the so-called "green line") to the 2,000 feet contour.  The western slopes of the Central Zone and the hills of the Western Zone completely dominate most of the coastal plain by surveillance and fire.  Some of Israel 's military bases and most of its major population centers, airfields, harbors, traffic arteries, fuel depots and power stations are in line-of-sight from there.  Half of Israel's population, 75% of its energy and 80% of its industry are concentrated in the area dominated by Judea and Samaria.  In other words, if Israel withdraws from Judea and Samaria to the "green line", its airfields in this area will be under constant enemy surveillance.  In time of war, the enemy will be able to confuse Israel's warning radar system.  The airfields will be under artillery fire.  Every combat aircr aft on takeoff will be exposed to missile attack.  Under such conditions, not only is air supremacy unattainable, but it will be impossible to utilize the Israeli air force.

Air supremacy in Israel's skies is a necessary precondition for the mobilization of Israel's reserves, which constitute most of its military strength.  Without air supremacy, the reserves' safe arrival at their military depots upon call-up, their equipment there and their transfer to the fronts cannot be accomplished.  Under such conditions, the coastal plain from Benyamina (South of Haifa) through Tel Aviv to Ashdod is indefensible.

The Golan Heights, which except for the Kuneitra area were part of Palestine when Britain issued the Balfour Declaration designating Palestine for a Jewish National Home, were ceded by Britain to the French mandate of Syria in 1923.  They are 15 miles wide and 41.6 miles from North to South.  Their total area is less than 540 square miles.  This towering plateau completely dominates the upper Jordan valley and the Sea of Galilee to its West.  Just on the Israeli side of the cease-fire line now constituting the de facto border with Syria is a chain of mountains and hills serving as mili tary strongholds.  Their height ranges from about 2,900 feet in the South to 3,900 feet in the central section and about 7,100 feet in the shoulder of Mount Hermon.  These mountains and hills are a watershed, providing essential observation posts and dominating firing positions covering large ar eas to the East.  The conclusions concerning radar and electronic warfare are basically the same here as in Judea and Samaria.  In general, the front line of the Golan Heights differs from the Eastern Zone of Judea and Samaria only in that the height difference between the dominating hills and t he plateau to the East is much smaller.

From 1948 until 1967, the Syrians machine-gunned and shelled Jewish settlements in the upper Jordan valley from their Golan positions.  In the early sixties, they tried to divert the sources of the Jordan River - Israel's main source of water.  Had the Syrian offensive in the 1973 war started from the pre-1967 border, northern and eastern Galilee, including Safed and Tiberias would have been overrun and most of Israel's water resources would be under Syrian control.  Since 1973, the Syrian armed forces have nearly tripled their strength, making any territorial concession in the Golan H eights militarily impossible.


Why Demilitarization is Useless
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Why Demilitarization is Useless

Even those who want Israel to retreat to its pre-1967 borders agree that the evacuated areas must be demilitarized.  But in case of a war initiated by the Arabs, demilitarization is useless.  Local irregular forces, coordinated with the attackers, will seize all dominating positions at night.  ( In the Camp David agreements, Egypt demanded and obtained "a strong local police force" for Judea, Samaria and the Gaza strip, which will be ideal for this purpose.  This will probably consist of thousands of trained soldiers in police uniforms.) Simultaneously, commando units of Arab armies to the East of the Jordan or the Golan Heights can be transferred by helicopter to these positions within minutes and dig in.  Arab armored forces will reach these dominating positions the same night, only 3 to 5 hours later.  It should be stressed that Israel needs, at the very least, 24 hours to mobilize its reserves.

In other words, demilitarization leaves Israel no effective deterrence and only increases the incentive to attack.


Terrorism and Irregular Forces
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Terrorism and Irregular Forces

The most important point in this regard concerns terror by artillery. Even from a supposedly demilitarized Judea and Samaria, Katyusha rockets can be launched into the Tel Aviv area and other densely populated areas of Israel's coastal plain.  There are some 15 Palestinian terrorist organizations and no Palestinian authority will be strong enough to control all of them, even if it wants to.  No Israeli Government can accept such a situation and this factor alone will cause war, as it did in Lebanon.


Territory and Unconventional Warfare
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Territory and Unconventional Warfare

From Pakistan and Iran to Iraq, Syria, Libya and Algeria, there is a race to acquire ground-to-ground missiles and develop nuclear or other unconventional weapons.  The United States cannot prevent this.  However, for as long as the existing borders and the technological gap between the Arab states and Israel are maintained, the Arab-Israeli balance of deterrence is in principle much as it was between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War.  So unconventional wars are unlikely to break out.

In unconventional war, second strike capability is the key deterrence factor.  Unlike the U.S., Israel cannot maintain a fleet of nuclear submarines for this purpose.  But it can maintain dozens of mobile missile launchers safe in underground tunnels hewn into rock just as Iraq did during the Gulf war.

Despite all the technology available to the U.S. during the Gulf War and three satellites on the job, the Allies failed to locate the mobile missile launchers in the Iraqi tunnels.  Though the launching area was relatively small and the range of the Iraqi missiles nearly constant (about 400 miles), the U.S. failed to destroy even one of these launchers or to prevent the launching of missiles from these Iraqi sites.  It could not have prevented such launchings even had it found the sites, as the missiles move out of the tunnels for firing and retreat back into them afterwards.

Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights provide many ideal locations for underground tunnel missile sites, thus assuring Israel's unconventional second strike capability, whatever the nature of the unconventional Arab attack.  Sites in Galilee and the Negev are insufficient to provide an assured second strike capability.  Those using the argument that in an age of missiles territory loses its military value could not be more wrong.

It is important to note that, if Israel possesses nuclear weapons, it will be politically difficult to use them for a "first strike".  Thus, if Israel's borders do not permit the use of conventional land forces for effective defense or a preventive strike, there is a high risk that by the time an Israel Government has decided to use nuclear weapons after a successful Arab conventional attack the country will have been overrun and it will be too late.  This may be why Egyptian experts openly write in the Government press that Egypt's goal in the negotiations is to achieve borders within which Israel cannot use its land forces to attack.


Israel cannot defend itself within the '67 borders
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Conclusions

After the limitations imposed by the cession of Sinai, the existing borders provide Israel with the maximum of attainable deterrence against both conventional and unconventional Arab attacks.  They raise the cost of war to the Arabs to an almost prohibitive level.

Conversely, the pre-1967 borders nearly nullify Israel's deterrence, leaving it only an offensive, pre-emptive option.  They maximize the cost of war to Israel, while sharply reducing it to the Arabs.  This enormously increases the Arab incentive to attack.

Israel cannot defend itself against an Arab offensive, regardless of whether missiles are or are not used, unless its present de facto borders in Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights are retained.  Moreover, these borders provide Israel with its only chance of executing an effective counterstrike against vital enemy objectives if attacked by missiles with conventional warheads and of executing a "second strike" after an enemy "first strike" by enemy missiles with unconventional warheads.

The observation posts, firing positions, missile sites and radar in Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights serve, first and foremost, purposes of deterrence.  But they are also essential for defense, counterattack and decision of the battle if deterrence collapses.  Without them, war is much more likely.  So is defeat.

Contrary to expectations, the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union have not affected the arms race in the Middle East.  Russia and the former Soviet republics need foreign currency badly and are selling huge quantities of modern weapon systems to the Arabs at ridiculous price s.  The United States and Western Europe are doing the same - at higher prices.  The inevitable result has been to upset the military balance between the Arab states and Israel at the precise time when Israel is conducting negotiations in which it may be pressured to make serious territorial con cessions.  The Clinton administration will be busy with internal affairs, but must be aware of this situation.  Hopefully, it will have second thoughts about the theory that Israeli territorial concessions can help to maintain peace in the Middle East.

The arguments of the extreme Israeli Left for ceding territory are not serious and serve mainly internal political purposes.  No responsible Israel Government is likely to make Israel's survival dependent on non-existent Arab goodwill.

Note:  The author is indebted to Edward Saar, whose excellent material was of considerable help in the preparation of this study.


The Importance of the territories to Israel's Security
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The Importance of the Territories of Israel's Security

"I look out from those heights and look onto the West Bank and say to myself, 'If I'm the Chief of Staff of [the] Israel Defense Forces, I cannot defend this land without that terrain.'"

--U.S. Lt. General Thomas Kelly (Ret.), Director of Operations for the American Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War (The Jerusalem Post, November 7, 1991)

The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait illustrates how a small country can be overwhelmed by superior numbers in a matter of hours, and how it takes months for effective international action to be brought to bear.  Israel is smaller than Kuwait, yet its enemies are greater than Iraq alone. Presently, the Arab armies on Israel's eastern front are 5 times larger, have 3 times more tanks, and twice as many aircraft than Israel. Thus, in the face of this massive Arab arsenal, the strategic depth and advantagous topography of the territories have become vital to Israel's defense and deterrence p osture.

The Weaknesses of the Pre-1967 Border

The pre-1967 borders provided Israel with no strategic depth. Along Israel's coastal plain, where 70% of its population resides, the distance between the pre-1967 armistice lines and the Mediterranean Sea ranged between 9 and 20 miles.

Moreover, the pre-1967 borders afforded Jordan a number of strategic positions which made Israel and its population extremely vulnerable.  From its position at Tulkarm, the Jordanian Army possessed could control Israeli traffic from north to south and overlooked the main water supply to the greater Tel Aviv region. At Latrun, the Jordanians controlled the approaches to the only road connecting Jerusalem to the rest of Israel.

Topography of Post - 1967 Borders Deters War

By way of contrast, the topography of the territories acquired as a result of the 1967 war augments Israel's ability to defend itself, and thus deters other states from launching a surprise attack. The mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria provide a wall between the rift valley and the coastal pl ain, and obliges any force coming up from the valley to fight a slow, hard upward battle along mountain roads. In the event of a surprise attack, the standing army could consolidate a defense line on the mountain ridges until Israel's reserve forces (which make up the bulk of Israel's army) can mobilize and reach the front.

The present borders are shorter and easier to defend. The land frontier between Jordan and Israel was shortened from 350 to 185 miles after the 1967 war. Also, Israel's ability to foresee a coming attack was enhanced. The mountain ridge provides an improved view toward the east which greatly inc reases the effective range of Israel's early warning system.

Israeli Administration of Territories Reduces Terrorism

Were Israel to leave the territories unilaterally, there would inevitably be increased terrorism across Israel's borders. During the 19 years in which Judea-Samaria and Gaza were Arab-ruled, terrorists used these areas as a springboard for, at times, daily attacks against Israel. Israeli civilia ns were easy targets because terrorist positions on the pre-1967 borders afforded them close proximity to population centers, with no natural buffer to provide an obstacle to their attacks.

* From 1949 - 1956, 269 terror attacks were launched from Judea and Samaria.

* During the period from January 1965 to February 1967, a total of 53 incidents of sabotage and mining activity took place along the frontier. These activities resulted in three deaths and 35 injuries.

* In 1951, 111 Israelis lost their lives as a result of fedayeen attacks from Jordan; in 1952, 114 lost their lives; in 1953, 124 lost their lives; in 1954, 117 lost their lives; in 1955, 37 lost their lives.

Today, however, this threat of terrorism is compounded by the greater lethality now available to the individual terrorist. Modern shoulder-fired anti-vehicle and anti-aircraft weapons would give every terrorist the fire-power needed to throw all of Israel into turmoil, without even having to cro ss the border.

Strategic Depth More Important in the Age of Modern Technology

Operation "Desert Storm" demonstrated that wars are still decided on the ground. After weeks of concentrated air and missile bombardment, Iraq was defeated only when ground forces were committed. In a future war, Israel will probably be subjected to massive Arab missile attacks on its cities and

 military installations. Though it may suffer heavy losses, Israel's very survival would be threatened only with the invasion of ground forces. The strategic depth afforded by Judea-Samaria allows Israel the crucial hours needed to mobilize its reserves in time to prevent invading forces from re aching its population centers.

------------ The above material was prepared by the Israel Information Center, a Jerusalem-based, privately-operated, government-funded, clearing house of official and public information.

Mail queries to:  israinfo@zeus.datasrv.co.il


29 Jun 67: US Joint Chiefs issue secret endorsement of Israel's need for defensible borders
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MYTH

//"Israel's demand for defensible borders is unrealistic in this era of missiles and long-range bombers capable of crossing vast territories."//

FACT

Aerial attacks have never defeated a nation, as history illustrates with the blitz bombing of England in World War II or with the bombing of North Vietnam in the 1970's.  Instead, nations are conquered by troop invasion and occupation.

By definition, defensible boundaries would prevent or at least impede such a ground assault.  On the other hand, the pre-1967 borders, indefensible in character, encouraged Arab attempts to cut Israel into sections to hasten its destruction.

In 1983, Israel received an unexpected endorsement for its call for defensible borders when the Pentagon declassified a June 29, 1967 memorandum from the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In the memo, the Joint Chiefs concluded, "From a strictly military point of view, Israel would require the retention of some captured territory in order to provide militarily defensible borders."

Specifically, the Joint Chiefs recommended a defense line down the middle of the West Bank "as a minimum." The hills of the West Bank, if possessed by Jordan, would offer it a "route for a thrust to the sea" which could "split the country [Israel] in half," the Joint Chiefs warned.  The new def ense line "would widen the narrow portion of Israel and provide additional buffer for the airbase at Beersheva."

From a military point of view, the memorandum also recommended Israeli retention of the Golan and Gaza strip.  "The organization of an adequate defensive position" in the Jerusalem area required that "the boundary of Israel be positioned to the east of the city," which, in effect, endorses Isra el's refusal to redivide Jerusalem.

In an era of weapons like the Stinger anti-aircraft missile -- smuggled by mule into Afghanistan to lethal effect against Soviet aircraft in the mid- and late-1980's -- Israel must ensure that no hostile force controls the mountain tops of Judea and Samaria.  Otherwise, the ability of its air f orce to spread a protective umbrella over even the pre-1967 territory of "Israel proper" would be jeopardized. -- This article is reprinted with the permission of the Near East Report.


Taking a Logical Look At Land by Irving Kett
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Jerusalem One

TAKING A LOGICAL LOOK AT LAND

By IRVING KETT

There are probably no more spurious and dangerous opinions being bandied about than those which claim that defensible borders, terrain, and maneuver areas are no longer critical for protecting Israel.  These opinions defy both logic and the laws of physics that govern modern weapon's systems. Sensors and antennas - today's primary elements of advanced weaponry, communication and control systems - all depend on the transmission of electromagnetic waves. Without high ground for line-of-sight locations, these complex assemblages are worthless.

The sole locations in Israel possessions that furnish platforms for these devices, or for offensive operations against Israel if in Arab hands, exist in the spinal column that runs through the center of Judea and Samaria, and on the Golan Heights.

Since 1967, the mountain range running through Judea and Samaria, from Jenin in the north to Hebron in the south, comprising a continuous ridge approximately 55 km long, 20 km wide and reaching heights of about 1100 meters, has become Israel's frontline for air defense, Airborne radars cannot ef fectively replace it.

To comprehend what it would mean to the defense of Israel to surrender Judea and Samaria, one must examine its topography from a military overview. The width of the center of the country where most of its population and industry is concentrated. would be reduced to a mere 15 -	25 km.

Many Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria have been situated so as to block armored thrusts from the east. Without them, Israel could be severed in several locations before reserves could be mobilized. The relatively small standing army stands little chance of repelling an Arab invasion, and it requires about 48 hours for reserves to muster for combat.

Non-political US military experts have investigated the challenge to Israeli security from a viewpoint of deterrence. defense and terrorism. An aggressor will only attack if confident of victory.  Therefore the key question is,"Under what conditions will the Arabs be more likely to attack Israel ?" Obviously, the more vulnerable Israel is, the more likelihood of war.

In three major US military studies, in one of which I was an active participant, boundaries, terrain and maneuver area were determinant factors in evaluating Israel's defensive and deterrent capabilities.

It is a total denial of reason to those Jews, especially Israelis, who advocate that Israel return to the "deathtrap borders"- (Abba Eban) that existed prior to the Six Day War, or any facsimile thereof.

Like the Communists for over 70 years, the Arabs mask their designs with such noble expressions as "human rights," "self-determination" and "secular democracy" - concepts in total contradiction to everything they and their society represent.

In their yearning for tranquility, some Israelis have lost sight of a fundamental factor: security must take precedence over peace. These people have become infected by the malaise of defeatism. The reality of the situation dictates that Israel cannot have peace without security.

In 1990, the Institute for Advanced Strategic Studies in Jerusalem analyzed the implications to Israeli security of an Arab entity comprising Gaza, Judea and Samaria. The conclusion was that it would represent "an unthinkable strategic risk to the State of Israel, regional stability, and to any chance of finding a lasting comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace."

I believe that even those Israelis who are prepared to accept a further partition of their country would insist that Israel retain its present defense lines on the Jordan River and other military installations in approximately a third of the Arab area. Such an approach involves the maximum risk that the most accommodating Israeli government may conceivably agree to.

It would envision the permanent positioning of the IDF within the new Arab state, together with electronic installations, demilitarization of the remainder, free lines of communications, and unlimited air rights over the entire 6,000-plus sq. km. of any new Arab entity.  However, in the final an alysis, these convoluted schemes will prove neither feasible for Israel's minimum defense needs, nor will they remotely satisfy Arab demands.

History has shown that demilitarization cannot be considered a long term panacea. Nations will simply not accept long-term restrictions upon their sovereignty.

In the entire debate over territory, there is one fundamental question: Can Israel survive the surrender of any of its existing borders and territories? The various professional US military studies have emphatically answered that question with "No."

--  Downloaded from a set of articles placed on the Internet (jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il) by Middle East News Digest.  Irving Kett was a highly placed American military officer who was assigned to determine the minimum defensible borders for Israel.  The State Department did not like his assessment so they classified his findings.


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Territory and Security

Can Israel make territorial concessions and remain defensible?

The Importance of the territories to Israel's Security

29 Jun 67: US Joint Chiefs issue secret endorsement of Israel's need for defensible borders

Taking a Logical Look At Land by Irving Kett


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Golan Heights

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Sections:  Can Israel make...
Topography in the age of missiles and electronics

Assymetry of Geography and Demography

Topography - the Key Factor in Defense and Deterrence

Why Demilitarization is Useless

Terrorism and Irregular Forces

Territory and Unconventional Warfare

Israel cannot defend itself within the '67 borders


United Nations, Int'l law, other Int'l organizations
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The Geneva Convention.  Text, applicability to the Arab/Israeli conflict, the sections used to unjustly bash Israel, and the shading of eyes from the real violations by the Palestinians in their use of children as combantants in their war against the Jews.

International Law and Anticipatory Self-Defense, by Prof. Louis Rene Benes.  Israel is frequently condemned for preemptive action against terrorist groups that openly state their intent to eradicate Israel and all its Jewish inhabitants.  Is preemption and assassination contrary to international law?

Parts:

1.  Preemption is centuries old in international law.

2.  Assassination when no state of war exists

3.  Assassination when a state of war exists

4.  The case of Israel

5.  References

CAMERA Report:  Double Standards.  Israel gets condemned, excluded from UN bodies and functions by dictatorships that expel and murder hundreds of thousands.  Sudan, Iran, Saddam (before it invaded America's oil buddies), China in Tibet, America's second largest heroin supplier Syria, have never been criticized, nor their murder of untold innocents even addressed.  CAMERA Commercial

The United Nations since the Rabin/Arafat Accord.  The accord's proponents claimed the UN's anti-semitism would end.  The accord's opponents said it wouldn't.  Guess who was right?  Articles and Items

Just the facts:  Despite the facts on Arab refugees, explusions and large scale massacres by Arab countries, open hatred of Jews in the press of Arab countries, including Egypt, only Israel is condemned.  Guess why?  Commercial

A small sample of UN resolutions from 1982 and 1983 condemning Israel.  List of Resolutions.  Yehuda Poch's introduction to the anti-Israel onslaught.  While these resolutions were being passed...


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Preemption has been established for centuries in international law
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INTERNATIONAL LAW AND ANTICIPATORY SELF-DEFENSE (With Special Reference to Assassination)

Prof. Louis Rene Beres, Professor of International Law, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

Legally, preemption can be a permissible option.  Indeed, subject to certain important constraints and conditions, the right of anticipatory self-defense is well established under international law.  International law is not a suicide pact.  The right of self-defense by forestalling an attack was already established in 1625.  Hugo Grotius, in Book II of The Law of War and Peace published that year, recognizes that when "present danger" or threatening behavior are "imminent in a point of time" self- defense is permissible not only after an attack has been suffered but also in advance, w here "the deed may be anticipated"  (1.)

Further in the same chapter, Grotius writes: "It be lawful to kill him who is preparing to kill".  This raises the question under what conditions, if any, assassination is a permissible form of anticipatory self-defense.  Does this tactic meet the usual jurisprudential expectations of jus ad bel lum (justice of war) and jus in bello (justice in war)?  (2)

Grotius' terminology raises the question if assassination can be a permissible form of anticipatory self-defense.  Recently, this issue has been discussed in connection with the question whether it would be legitimate to assassinate Saddam Hussein of Iraq (especially after Iraq's acceptance of the cease-fire).  Aristotle (see Politics, Book V), Plutarch (see Lives, VI) and Cicero (see De Officiis) held that tyrannicide is acceptable.  Today, the situation is less clear as regards transnational acts.  The legitimacy of Arab and other Third World rulers who displaced their predecessors by having them assassinated has not been seriously challenged.


Assassination when no state of war exists
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Assassination when no state of war exists.

Normally, the authoritative presumption obtains that assassination of officials of other states represents a prima facie violation of international law.  Where no state of war exists, such assassination would probably constitute a crime of aggression or a crime of terrorism.  Article 1 of the U. N. Resolution on the Definition of Aggression defines this crime, inter alia, as "...the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations, as set out in this Definition". (3) In view of the jus cogens nonintervention norm (4) codified in the U.N. Charter, which is normally violated by transnational assassination, such killing would generally qualify as aggression, being assumed to constitute a use of "armed force". However, the U.N. Definition of Aggression qualifies this in Art. 2, which states "...the Security Council may, in conformity with the Charter, conclude that a determination that an act of aggression has been committed would not be justified in the light of other relevant circumstances." (5)

In the absence of belligerency, the assassination of officials in one state upon the orders of another state may also be considered terrorism. (6)  As the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents is normally viewed a s a convention on terrorism, its particular prohibitions on assassination are also relevant.  After Art. 1 defines an "internationally protected person", it identifies as a crime, inter alia, "The international commission of... a murder, kidnapping or other attack upon the person or liberty of a n internationally protected person".

The European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism reinforces the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons.  According to Art. 1(c) of this Convention, one of the constituent crimes of terrorism is "a serious offense involving an attack upon the life, physical integrity or liberty of internationally protected persons, including diplomatic agents." Art. 1(e) defines another constituent crime as "an offense involving the use of a bomb, grenade, rocket, automatic firearm or letter or parcel bomb if this use endangers persons." (7)


Assassination when a state of war exists
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Assassination When A State Of War Exists

Even when a state of war exists between states, transnational assassination is normally considered a war crime under international law.  According to Art. 23(b) of the regulations annexed to Hague Convention IV of 18 October 1907, respecting the laws and customs of war on land: "It is especially forbidden... to kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army." U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10, The Law of Land Warfare (1956), incorporates this prohibition and in its Art. 31 links Hague Art. 23(b) to assassination:  "This article [23(b)] is construed as prohibiting assassination, proscription or outlawry of an enemy 'dead or alive'". (8)

There is, however, a contrary argument.  It claims that enemy officials operating within the military chain of command are combatants and not enemies hors de combat.  By this reasoning, widely accepted with reference to the question of assassinating Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War, certa in enemy officials are lawful targets and assassination of enemy leaders is allowed for as long as it displays respect for the laws of war.

The above argument disregards Art.23(b) of Hague Convention IV but has two possible bases of jurisprudential support: 1.	It can be argued that this kind of assassination does not evidence behavior designed "to kill or wound treacherously" (emphasis added), as defined by Hague Art. 23(b); and/or 2.	It can be argued that there is a "higher" or jus cogens obligation to assassinate in particular circumstances that transcends and overrides pertinent treaty prohibitions.  To argue the first position would focus primarily on a "linguistic" solution; to argue the second would be to return to t he historic natural law origins of international law. (9)


The case of Israel
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The Case of Israel

The minute size of Israel within its pre-1967 borders lacks strategic depth, and makes preemption when its enemies are expected to strike mandatory if prohibitive casualties and defeat are to be avoided.  Israel's present de facto borders are defensible against any kind of conventional attack, but in certain circumstances preemption could still make the difference between a quick elimination of a military threat and a lengthy and costly war of attrition.  As mentioned at the beginning of this study, international law does not forbid preemption of this kind.

On the other hand, Israel is bound by the Hague codification and by the 1945 Nuremberg judgment that the Hague regulations had become customary international law as of 1939. (10)  As formal belligerency obtains in its relations with all Arab states except Egypt, it follows that any form of anticipatory self-defence against these states (again except Egypt) must be evaluated according to the law of war.

However, what of circumstances where anti-Israel terrorism is itself the cause of Israeli resort to assassination and where the objects of counter-terrorism represent an insurgent organization?  In this case the target persons are apt to be Palestinian Arabs and the question of whether or not a state of war exists would be irrelevant. (11)  Israel may already have employed assassination of this sort.  In one case, Khalil Al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a trusted lieutenant of Yasser 'Arafat, was assassinated by a skilled commando team in his home outside Tunis on 16 April 1988.  The senior figure in the military arm of the P.L.O., he had dispatched the first Fattah squad in 1965 to sabotage Israel's main water project and had been in charge of terrorist operations inside Israel since 1973.  Israel did not take credit for this action, but it bore the identifying marks of its intelligence services.

Was this an instance of criminality or law enforcement?  In the large majority of cases, assassination violates international law, but in certain circumstances it can be construed as law enforcing.  The wide gap between the theoretical presumption of an effective centralized world legal order an d the reality of a generally weak and decentralized pattern of enforcement supports the principle of anticipatory self-defence in many forms, including under some conditions assassination as counter-terrorism.

Of course, there are some rules that must still be followed, including at least the generally accepted standards of "due process".  The intended victim must be painstakingly identified as a terrorist (i.e. must be distinguished from a lawful insurgent according to the prevailing criteria of jus ad bellum and jus in bello).  He or she must be guilty of a major or egregious crime involving loss of life against the state considering assassination and this guilt must be determined "beyond a reasonable doubt".  Moreover, it must be plain that the normal processes of extradition and prosecution are patently unworkable and that abduction for trial (e.g. the Eichmann case in Israel) is either impossible or would create a variety of major risks likely to produce an even greater loss of life. (12)

In a world system where self-help is sometimes the only path to justice, international law does not regard assassination as necessarily illegal.  In the absence of prospects of extradition and proper trial, extra-judicial execution can even be law- enforcing.  In the case of Khalil Al-Wazir, his assassination can be regarded as legally permissible if it was self-defense against terrorism, anticipatory or otherwise, but not if it was a purely punitive reprisal.

Contemporary international law regards terrorists as hostes humani generis - common enemies of humankind.  Like pirates, who, in the words of Vattel, are "to be hanged by the first persons into whose hands they fall", terrorists are international outlaws who fall within the scope of "universal jurisdiction". (13)  The fact that Al-Wazir's crimes had been directed specifically at Israel should remove any doubt concerning that country's jurisdiction in the matter.

In his 1758 classic, The Law of Nations, Vattel wrote: "Men who are by profession poisoners, assassins or incendiaries may be exterminated wherever they are caught, for they direct their disastrous attacks against all Nations, by destroying the foundations of their common safety." When the Nurem berg Tribunal was established in 1945, the Court ruled that in certain exceptional circumstances literal adherence to due process (the Tribunal was referring to the question of retroactivity and crimes against humanity) could represent the greatest injustice.  Concluding that retroactivity need not be unjust, the Tribunal affirmed: "So far from it being unjust to punish him, it would be unjust if his wrongs were allowed to go unpunished."

Anticipatory self-defense can be used as a pretext for aggression, but this is an abuse Israel can only commit against Egypt.  As the rest of the Arab world considers itself at war with the Jewish state, any Israeli preemption against these Arab states is, in the legal sense, not an act of anticipatory self-defense but only one more military operation in an ongoing, protracted war.  The legality of such an operation would have to be appraised exclusively in terms of its conformance with the laws of war in international law (jus in bello).  To identify such preemption as an act of aggression against a state at war with Israel would be nonsense.

Since the unsuccessful rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada against British rule (the Caroline incident), a serious threat of armed attack has generally been taken to justify military action.  In an exchange of diplomatic notes between the United States and Great Britain, U.S. Secretary of State, D aniel Webster, outlined a framework for self-defense, judging military response to a threat permissible if the danger posed was "instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means and no moment for deliberation."

Today, some scholars argue that the customary right of anticipatory self-defense has been overridden by the specific language of Art. 51 of the U.N. Charter, which fashions a far more restrictive concept of self-defense relying on the qualification "if an armed attack occurs".  This interpretation ignores that international law cannot compel a state to wait until it absorbs a devastating or even lethal first strike before acting to protect itself.  The argument against the restrictive view of self-defense is reinforced by the obvious inability of the U.N. Security Council to offer collective security against an aggressor, of which the fate of Kuwait in August 1990 is only one recent example.  In 1967, both the Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly refused to censure Israel for its preemptive attack against certain Arab states, signifying the U.N.'s implicit approval for this particular resort to anticipatory self-defense.

The obligation codified in Art. 1 and Art. 2(3) of the U.N.  Charter should not be binding on Israel because of the condition of belligerency declared by its Arab enemies. (14) However, in practice, the global community has been ignoring this condition.  Therefore, Israel would be well advised to demonstrate its prior efforts at peaceful settlement before deciding to assassinate Arab officials as a preemptive measure.  Its problem is that talking to the P.L.O., which is only one of a large number of Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations, is likely to prove an exercise in futility as regards the prevention of terrorism against Israel.

During its 44 years of conflict with Arab states, Israel has usually defended its resorts to military force as measures of self-help short of war.  Mostly, this kind of defense shifted the burden of jurisprudential responsibility for lawful behavior from the Arab states to Israel - focusing blame unfairly on the Jewish state.  Moreover, Israel often identified its uses of military force as "reprisals", choosing a problematic concept under international law that compounds one legal mistake with another.  As the current Charter system of international law makes the right of reprisal cont ingent on self-defense, (15)  it would be proper for Israel to recognize the condition of declared war announced by its Arab enemies as grounds for very different legal justifications of its resorts to armed force based on its continuing right of self- defense.


References
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Notes

1 Hugo Grotius, The Law of War and Peace, Chapter I, "Of the Causes of War; and first of Self-Defense and Defense of our Property".

2 According to the rules of international law, every use of force must be judged twice - once with regard to the right to wage war (jus ad bellum) and once with regard to the means used in conducting war (jus in bello).  Today, in the aftermath of the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 and the United N ations Charter, all right to aggressive war has been abolished.  However, the long- standing customary right of self-defense remains, codified in Article 51 of the U.N. Charter.  Subject to conformance with jus in bello criteria, certain instances of humanitarian interventions and collective sec urity operations may also be consistent with jus ad bellum.

3 See Resolution on the Definition of Aggression, 14 December 1974, U.N. Gen. Assembly Res. 3314 (XXIX), 29 U.N. GAOR, Supp.  (No.31) 142, U.N. Doc. A/9631, 1975.

4 See Charter of the United Nations, art. 2, para. 7.  Done at San Francisco, 26 June 1945.  Entered into force for the U.S.A., 24 October 1945.  See also Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of t he United Nations.  Adopted by the U.N. Gen. Assembly, 24 October 1970.  U.N.G.A.  Res. 2625 (XXV), 25 U.N. GAOR, Supp. (No. 28) 121, U.N. Doc.  A/8028 (1971).  Also Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of their Independence and Sovereignty, Res. 2131 (XX), U.N. Doc.  A/Res/2131 (XX)Rev. 1 (1966).

5 Art. 2 stipulates that where the first use of force is not "in contravention of the Charter" as determined by the Security Council, it can be construed as permissible or even as law- enforcing.  In principle, this may apply even to assassination, but in practice the Security Council is unlikel y to endorse it.

6 For current conventions in force concerning terrorism, see especially Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents.  Adopted by the U.N. Gen. Assembly, 14 December 1973.  U.N.G.A. Res. 3166 (XXVIII), 28 U.N. GAOR, Supp. No. 30.  U.N.  Doc. A/9030.  Entered into force for the United States, 20 February 1977.  T.I.A.S. No. 8532.

7 See European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism. Done at Strasbourg, 10 November 1976. Entered into force, 4 August 1978.  Europ. T.S. No. 90.

8 See Convention [No.IV] Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, with Annex of Regulations.  Done at The Hague, 18 October 1907.  Entered into force, 26 January 1910.  36 Stat. 2277, T.S. No. 539.

9 The idea of natural law is based upon the acceptance of certain principles of right and justice that prevail because of their own intrinsic merit.  This idea runs continuously from Mosaic Law and the ancient Greeks and Romans to the present day.  For a comprehensive assessment of the natural l aw origins of international law, see Louis Rene Beres, Justice and Realpolitik:  International Law and the Prevention of Genocide, The American Journal of Jurisprudence, Vol. 33, 1988, pp. 123-159.

10 Art. 28 (1)(b) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice describes international custom as "evidence of a general practice accepted as law".  Under international law, such norms bind even states not parties to the relevant codifying instrument or convention.  In many states, custom ary international law is binding and self-executing, but an act of the legislature is required to transform international law into internal law.  The Israeli Supreme Court disregards Geneva Convention No. IV when reviewing acts of the Military Government in administered territories on the ground s that this Geneva law is exclusively conventional rather than customary and has not been incorporated into Israeli codes by appropriate legislation.  See Roberts, What is a Military Occupation?  55th British Yearbook of International Law (249, 283) 1984.

11 The P.L.O. has declared itself a state, but its declaration does not satisfy the generally accepted criteria for statehood identified under international law: control over a fixed and clearly defined territory, a government, a capacity to engage in diplomatic relations and a capacity to fulfil international obligations.  See Convention on Rights and Duties of States.  Done at Montevideo, 26 December 1988.  49 Stat. 3097, T.S. No. 881.

12 Under international law, there is a very substantial difference between abduction of a terrorist or other hostes humani generis and abduction of a high official representing a state.  Normally, there is a presumption of sovereign immunity, which exempts each state and its high officials from the judicial jurisdiction of another state.  Though the rule of sovereign immunity is not absolute in the post-Nuremberg world order, the right of one state to seize a high official of another state is exceedingly limited.

13 This principle is founded upon the presumption of solidarity between states in the fight against crimes.  It is mentioned in the Corpus Juris Civilis; in Grotius' De jure belli ac pacis (Book II, Chapter 20); and in Vattel's Le droit des gens (Book I, Chapter 19).  The case for universal juri sdiction is also built into the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, which impose on the High Contracting Parties the obligation to punish certain grave breaches of their rules, regardless of where the infraction was committed or the nationality of the authors of the crimes.  See Art. 49 o f Convention No. 1; Art. 50 of Convention No. 2; Art. 129 of Convention No. 3; and Art. 146 of Convention No. 4.

14 Contrary to the general belief, the peace treaty with Israel does not constrain Egypt from waging war against Israel together with other states.  A Minute to Art. 6, Para. 5 of the Israel- Egypt Peace Treaty affirms the parties' agreement that the Peace Treaty does not prevail over other trea ties or agreements.  This means that it does not prevail over defense pacts Egypt concluded with Syria and that Cairo can declare war against Israel on behalf of Damascus if it decides that Israel has committed aggression against Syria.  Even if Syria starts a war to recover the Golan Heights, E gypt may abrogate its treaty with Israel and help Syria militarily.  Shortly after the signature of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, the then Prime Minister of Egypt, Mustafa Khalil, stated he would regard any Syrian attempt to recover the Golan Heights as a defensive war which would activate the Egypt-Syria defense pact, despite the peace treaty with Israel.  For terms of pertinent treaties, see Egypt-Israel Treaty of Peace, 26 March 1979, Minute to Art. VI(5), 18 I.L.M., 362, 392; and Joint Defense Agreement Between Syria and Egypt, 20 October 1955, 227 U.N.T.S., 126.

15 See Declaration of Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation Among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.  Adopted by U.N. Gen. Assembly on 24 October 1970.  U.N.G.A. res. 2625 (XXV), 25 U.N. GAOR, Supp.  (No.28) 121, U.N. Doc. A/8028 (1971).  This states categorically that "States have a duty to refrain from acts of reprisal involving the use of force." The prohibition of reprisals can also be deduced from the obligation to settle disputes peacefully in Art. 2(3) and from the general limiting of permissible force by states t o self-defense.  Yet a total ban on reprisals presupposes a degree of global cohesion that simply does not exist.  Clearly, in certain circumstances, reprisals can be distinctly law-enforcing.  This applies especially when they follow acts of terrorism.  An argument accepting a permissible role for reprisals under international law is offered by J. Stone, Aggression and World Order, 43, 94-98 (1958).  But see also Richard A. Falk, The Beirut Raid and the International Law of Retaliation, 63 A.J.I.L. 415-443 (1969).

Although reprisal and self-defense are both forms of self-help, there is an essential difference in their respective purpose.  Reprisals after the harm has already been absorbed are regarded as punitive in character and international law usually assumes that they cannot be undertaken for protect ion.  Self-defense, on the other hand, is by its very nature intended to mitigate harm.  For a useful and informed discussion of the distinction between reprisals and self-defense, see Derek Bowett, Reprisals Involving Recourse to Armed Force, in Richard A. Falk, Friedrich Kratochwil and Saul H.

 Mendlovitz, eds., International Law:  A Contemporary Perspective (Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1985), pp. 394-410. .


UN's Double Standard Targets Israel
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UN's Double Standard Targets Israel

{Arab spokesmen and their supporters have recently charged the international community with applying a double standard when it imposed UN sanctions against Iraq for the invasion of Kuwait but not against Israel for deporting Hamas militants to Lebanon.  The outlandish charges are the latest chapter in the Arab campaign to delegitimize Israel in the forum of the United Nations.  It is Israel, not Iraq, that has been subjected to a relentless and pernicious double standard.}

No similarity whatever exists between the defensive Israeli action that removed known leaders of Hamas, an organization openly professing responsibility for terrorist killings and dedicated to the destruction of Israel, and Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.  Iraq's bloody, unprovoked aggres sion and annexation of a sovereign state cost hundreds of thousands of lives and vast global disruption.  Israel's deportation of Islamic extremists sworn to fight "until the last Jew in the world is exterminated" has not cost a single life.

Not a word of criticism ushered from the halls of the UN when more than 300,000 Palestinians were driven out of Kuwait.  No UN voice was heard in condemnation of Saudi Arabia for its peremptory expulsion of nearly 800,000 Yemenis in the wake of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.  The desperate conditi on of black Sudanese Christians and animists, more than 400,000 of whom were driven into the desert in early 1992 by their Islamic overlords, was greeted with total silence by the minions of the UN.  (The decades-old slaughter of black Christians that has taken at least 600,000 lives has never b een addressed at the UN)

The genocidal mass deportations of Tibetans from their homeland and mass murder of Cambodians under thrall of the Khmer Rouge were ignored by the United Nations.

Israel's limited action to halt the surge of attacks by Muslim fundamentalists is a dramatic counterpoint to the ruthless policies pursued by other states in the region against rising indigenous fundamentalism.  In the aftermath of the killings of a half dozen of its soldiers in 1982, Syria slew 20,000 people in the Muslim stronghold of Hama.  In Egypt, according to Amnesty International and Middle East Watch, fundamentalists have been rounded up, imprisoned and tortured.  Algeria has engaged in mass arrests, long-term detention and the abrupt suspension of democratic reforms.  The U N's response in each instance: silence.

In UN debates dictators, military strongmen and feudal monarchs denounce the Middle East's sole democracy, while vetoing discussion of their own crimes.  Among actions taken in the UN over many years have been efforts by the erstwhile Soviet bloc in collusion with Arab states to eject Israel f rom the organization; efforts to prevent international trade with Israel; exclusion of Israel from UN committees and secretarial bodies; exclusion of Israel from the same UN councils in which the PLO has been permitted to participate; the slandering of Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, as a form of racism; condemnation of Israel for archeological digs in Jerusalem deemed justifiable by the UN's own experts; relentless condemnation of Israel for responding to terror assaults against her Jewish and Arab citizens; refusal to permit Israel its rightful turn as a member of the Security Council; and on and on.

Never in the decades of terrorist attack - whether at the Munich Olympics, on the beaches of Tel Aviv, in tourist hotels, in kibbutz classrooms, on commuter buses, in Jerusalem marketplaces and throughout the Jewish state - has the United Nations ever denounced an Arab or PLO assault against Israelis.


The United Nations since the Rabin/Arafat Accord
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The Rabin/Arafat Accord of 13 Sep 93 was supposed to end Israel's diplomatic isolation from the Arab and other Moslem countries.  Israel's leaders told the public the accord would also mitigate the pressure from world organizations, Europe and America for constant Israeli concessions, and also terminate the geyser of indescribably one-sided resolutions and threats against Israel from the United Nations.

Israel's opposition, as well as most commentators whose political careers were not wedded to Rabin, countered that the hostility of the United Nations was not motivated by notions such as justice or self-determination.  Rather, the hostility resulted from business ties to the one billion strong, largely anti-semitic Islamic market, the 51 or more Islamic votes in the United Nations, placating the Arab oil sheikhs, and traditional European anti-semitism.

Guess who was right?

-----------------------------

Articles and Items:

The General Assembly still displays anti-Israel bias.   /  Preview

48th Session of General Assembly filled with hypocricy.


General Assembly Still Displays Anti-Israel Bias
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General Assembly Still Displays Anti-Israel Bias

It was certainly no surprise, given recent events here, that Israeli UN Ambassador Gad Yaacobi's recent call to the UN membership not to approve a number of anti-Israel resolutions--which both ignore and impeded Israel-Arab negotiations--would fall on deaf ears, as many of the same resolutions he requested to be eliminated were overwhelmingly approved by the General Assembly.

Overall, the Assembly passed 14 resolutions involving Israel and the territories: 10 were based on a report of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA), and four were contained in a report of the notorious Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices (Special Committee). With the exception of two resolutions on UNRWA financing and support of the Agency's humanitarian work, which were approved without a vote, and two resolutions dealing with refugee assistance and educational financing on which Israel abstained, the Jewish State voted against the other 10 resolutions.

The 10 resolutions which Israel voted against dealt with virtually all peace-negotiating issues; including the prohibition of Israel defending itself against terrorist attacks by Lebanese-based Palestinian and Shiite terrorist groups, the Golan Heights, the status of their alleged property, the release of Palestinian prisoners, etc.  Other resolutions involved such nonsense as preventing Israel from moving Palestinians from dilapidated dwellings into decent housing, the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the territories, and the Special Committee continuing its wasteful anti-Israel work.

The General Assembly was also considering a resolution entitled "Middle East Peace Process." Sponsored by the US, Russia and Norway, this resolution essentially "expresses its full support for the achievements of the peace process thus far, in particular, the 'Declaration of Principles' signed by Israel and the PLO and the agreement between Israel and Jordan." What is particularly interesting about this resolution supporting Middle East peace, is who is co- sponsoring it, and who is not. Israel and the Arab countries of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia were among the sponsors. Missi ng were members of the terrorist Syria, its appendage Lebanon, Iran, Sudan and Libya, among others. And what about Saudi Arabia and ungrateful Kuwait?

If Syria cannot even endorse a resolution dedicated to Middle East peace--indeed, in Third and Sixth Committee meeting, Syria attempted to justify acts of terror by saying that "a distinction between acts of terrorism and 'just' struggles" needs to be made" How can Israel ever expect to have a meaningful peace with Syria?

-- Am Yisrael Chai "Lo Ta'amod Al Dam Rei'echa"

Murray Kahl ah287@yfn.ysu.edu


Preview
Despite the Rabin/Arafat accord whose proponents claimed would end UN hostility toward Israel, the General Assembly passed its usual assortment of Jew-bashing resolutions.  As usual, the body ignored terrorist assaults on Israel.  Syria even refused to vote for a resolution supporting the peace process.


48th session of General Assembly spews hypocritical Israel-hatred
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ROUNDING-UP THE 48TH ASSEMBLY

Now that the 48th General Assembly is in the history books, we can examine several items of interest that occurred during the Session that are worthy of mention.

Commenting on the General Assembly's approval (without a vote) of the Fifth Committee's recommendations to appropriate a total of $2.6 billion to the UN's coffers (for the 1994-1995 biennium) for all UN peace-keeping operations worldwide, Syrian delegate Jawdat Ali babbled that "if the resolutions had been put to a vote, he would not have voted in favor of them"--saying that "the costs for those missions should be borne by the aggressors which had caused the situation."

Since the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan was created in 1974 as a direct result of Syrian aggression during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the ineffective UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created in 1978 as a direct result of Syrian-supported Palestinian and other terrorist groups attacking Israel--not to mention Syria's destabilization of the then legitimate Lebanese government-- then, according to Mr. Ali, the UN should be expecting a check from the Syrian government for $34.7 million, the combined amount appropriated for both UNDOF and UNIEIL. But the UN should not hold its breath waiting for the Syrian remittance, since Damascus has failed to pay only $211,000, its assessed contribution (according to the US status of Contributions as of November 30, 1993" report) for the operations of UNDOF and UNIFIL.

There were also discussions about enlarging the membership of the Security Council, with many countries favoring permanent seats for Japan and Germany. Now Japan and Germany getting permanent Security Council seats is one thing (moral objections aside), but for Syria and the United Arab Emirates to call for the Arab bloc to receive a permanent Council seat, which they did, is entirely something else. One can only imagine the disaster a permanent Arab Council seat would cause Israel, the Council itself, and the world in general.

It gets worse. Syria was joined by Iran and many Third World countries in calling for the repeal of the veto for the five current permanent members (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France) of the Council. What a chilling thought ... having a permanent Arab Council seat--occupied by Syria, or  Libya, or even Iraq, among others--on a Security Council which has no veto. This could mean the demise of the U.N. Hopefully, when the issue is discussed again, the majority of the member states will heed the advice of U.S. delegate Karl Inderforth who explained that the "expansion of the Council" should be "in a manner that will best contribute to its effective operation." Simply meaning:  Keep the veto ... and no Arab seat!

Human Rights issues also played a major part of the Assembly's activities, especially with the establishment of a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Responding to the condemnation of Iran by the UN and Amnesty International for human rights abuses, the tyrannical Iranian dictators showed how low they can go when they released an obviously fabricated statement attributed to the "Central Committee of the Jewish Community in Teheran" that mocks Amnesty and supports the regime.  Sounding similar to other Iranian propaganda, the alleged statement reads: "The Jewish Community in Iran considers the report of Amnesty International unrealistic and denounces it. The drafters of the Amnesty International report do not bother to see for themselves how religious minorities live in Iran but prefer to repeat what their instigators tell them by altering the truth. The Jewish people are entitled to freedom of religion in accordance with the law of the land and are living with their Moslem compatriots in a brotherly fashion." The falsehood of this "statement" was also confirmed by the fact that it was not signed by any member of the community; it simply had "signed and sealed" in place of a name.

Commenting on human rights' monitoring, Syrian delegate Bachar Jaafari stated that "deploying a group of human rights monitors constituted an interference in a country's internal affairs and contradicted the UN Charter." For a country with a dismal human rights record like Syria, what else woul d they say? It will be interesting to see if the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will be both objective and effective.

The chutzpah and hypocrisy award has to go to Mansour Al-Otaibi of ungrateful Kuwait, who expounded, with a straight face, during a meeting of UNRWA that "given its own recent experience of occupation by Iraq, Kuwait had great sympathy with the plight of the Palestinians." This idiotic statemen t shows how shameless Kuwait actually is.  (Kuwait expelled 200,000 - 300,000 Palestinians after the war for siding with Iraq. Needless to say, the UN didn't condemn this mass expulsion, or even mention it. Kuwait has oil.  Israel doesn't.)

--Murray Kahl ah287@yfn.ysu.edu

-Hatikva 29 Jan 94


Just the Facts
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Just the Facts

Committee whose secretary stated in September, 1948 that "The fact that there are these [Palestinian Arab] refugees is the direct consequence of the act of the Arab states in opposing partition and the Jewish state.  The Arab states agreed upon this policy unanimously, and they must share in thesolution of the problem."

Palestine Arab Higher Committee (Emile Ghoury)

Proclamation which stated "In the midst of wanton aggression, we yet call upon the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to return to the ways of peace and to play their part in the development of the state, with full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its bodies and institutions, provisional or permanent"

Israel's Proclamation of Independence, May 14, 1948

Organization which distributed leaflets asking the Arabs to return toIsrael

the Histadrut (Israel's labor federation)

Group that urged Arabs to evacuate Palestine for two weeks in 1948, stating that "`A cannon cannot differentiate between a Jew and an Arab.'":

the Arab High Command

Estimated number of children from Bangladesh sold into Arab slavery in

recent years:

95,000

Amount of money Yasir Arafat gave Erich Honecker as a parting gift when theEast German dictator went into exile:

$150,000

UN-member nation never elected to the Security Council:

Israel

Number of Arab League members elected to the Security Council:

15

Number of Security Council resolutions and drafts condemning Israel between 1967-1991:

69

Number of UN General Assembly resolutions criticizing Israel within a week of repealing resolution 3379 (equating Zionism with racism):

4

Number of Security Council resolutions condemning PLO or Arab terror attacksagainst Israel:

0

Number of Security Council resolutions condemning Iraq for gassing of 5,000 Kurds:

0

Number of Security Council resolutions condemning Syria for killing of 20,000 at Hama:

0

Organization that observes every November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People:

the United Nations

(Note:  Naturally, there is no day of solidarity with the Tibetan people, the Dinka people in Sudan, the Coptic people in Egypt, Kurdish or Shiite people in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, or Yemenite people in Saudi Arabia - who aren't there anymore,, as they've all - all 1,000,000 - been expelled from their homes and the country. )

Reason why the UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali was never permitted to hold the full title of Foreign Minister of Egypt:

Religion (He is not Muslim)

Nation in which school songs have been changed to Islamic absolutist anthems in praise of jihad:

Sudan

Spiritual leader of Egypt's outlawed Jihad revolutionary group who issued the fatwa, or Islamic sanction, for the assassination of Egyptian president  Anwar Sadat:

Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman

City in which Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman preaches jihad from local mosques:

Brooklyn, NY

Number of Nigerians deported from Saudi Arabia in August 1992:

600

Number of Albanians expelled from Greece in February 1993:

400

Government expelling 2 Palestinians suspected of terrorism:

Sweden

Number of Palestinians under the age of 15 deported from Kuwait and other  Gulf states after the Gulf War :

135,000

Nation in which a Muslim newspaper claims that "`Israel ...  is training Serb fighters to massacre Muslims in Bosnia'":

Egypt

Number of Muslim refugees absorbed by Israel in February 1993 from war-torn Bosnia:

84

City to which a 35 member Israeli medical team is scheduled to travel in early 1993 to treat casualties of ongoing civil war:

Sarajevo


just the facts references
Sources:

1-4 Midstream, June/July 1992; 5 Boston Globe, 12/16/92; 6 Washington Post, 1/14/93; 7-11Myths and Facts, 1992; 12-13 St.  Petersburg Times, 2/4/93; 14 "For the Rights of the Palestinians: The Work of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People," UN, 12/1992 ; 15-16 "Sudan: The Copts: Passive Survivors under Threat," Africa Watch, 2/10/93; 17-18 Wall Street Journal, 1/6/93; 19 Xinhua New Service, 8/23/92; 20 Boston Globe, 2/7/93; 21 Asociated Press, 12/11/92; 22 World Refugee Survey, 1992; 23 The Economist, 8/1/92; 24 New York Times, 2/18/93; 25 Jer usalem Report , 2/25/93


Guess why?
How many seats in the UN belong to Arabs? 22.  To Moslems?  54.  To Jews? 1

Who has most the world's oil supply?  Arabs or Jews?  Who has a market of 250 million people.  Arabs or Jews?  Who has a market of 1,200,000,000 people?  Moslems or Jews?


Poch's UN resolutions placeholder


Introduction:  UN Resolutions on Israel
Introduction:  UN Resolutions on Israel  Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Introduction and Explaination to the UN Resolutions on Israel

Welcome to the United Nations section of the Jerusalem One Gopher.

The idea behind this section is to show the one-sidedness of United Nations resolutions as they pertain to Israel.  What is stored in this gopher section are all the resolutions passed by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council during sessions 36-47  .  We are presenting this service as a source of information on Israel's perception in the international community as represented by the United Nations.

The resolutions included herein, as well as all other resolutions passed by the General Assembly and the Security Council for these sessions, can be found in the United Nations gopher by accessing through World Organizations or Other organizations on your home gopher server.  As well, basic documents such as the United Nations Charter and various universal declarations passed by the United Nations can be found there.

It must be pointed out that the anti-Israel bias found in UN resolutions often contravenes the United Nations charter itself.

For more information on this section of the gopher, or on access to the United Nations gopher, please contact me at either of the addresses below.

Yehuda Poch, Jerusalem One area representative, Toronto.  yehuda@utcc.utoronto.ca yehuda@io.org


Meanwhile, back at the ranch
While the United Nations passed these condemnations of Israel, among many more, other events escaped their attention.  Saddam Hussein was in the midst of his war on Iran, a war that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands.  China was eradicating Tibetan dissidents.  Russia was in the midst of killing 2 to 3 million Afghanis.  The Khmer Rouge had exhausted itself after murdering a million or so Cambodians.  Ethiopia and Somalia and Eritrea were at war among and between themselves, costing several million lives.  For dessert, Saddam was killing a few hundred thousand Kurds and Sudan was in the early stages of its war of annihilation against the non-Moslem black Dinkas in the South.  No resolutions against any of this.  But a few Jews building homes in Juda and Samaria, now this was a serious crime that demanded attention...


16 Nov '82: Israel condemned for bombing Saddam's nuclear reactor
16 Nov '82: Israel condemned for bombing Saddam's nuclear reactor   Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 37/18 - November 16, 1982

Armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave consequences for the established international system concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and international peace and security

The General Assembly,

Having considered the item entitled "Armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave consequences for the established international system concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and international peace and security ",

Recalling the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,

Taking note also of the relevant resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Commission on Human Rights,

Viewing with deep concern Israel's refusal to comply with those resolutions, particularly Security Council resolution 487 (1981) of 19 June 1981,

Gravely alarmed by the dangerous escalation of Israel's acts of aggression in the region,

Gravely concerned that Israel continues to maintain its threats to repeat such attacks against nuclear installations,

Reiterating its alarm over the information and evidence regarding the acquisition and development of nuclear weapons by Israel,

Recalling the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States and the Declaration on the Use of Scientific and Technological Progress in the Interests of Peace and for the Benefit of Mankind,

Affirming the need to ensure against the repetition of such an attack on nuclear facilities by Israel or any other State,

1.	Condemns Israel's refusal to implement resolution 487 (1981), unanimously adopted by the Security Council;

2.	Strongly condemns Israel for the escalation of its acts of aggression in the region;

3.	Condemns Israel's threats to repeat such attacks, which would gravely endanger international peace and security;

4.	Demands that Israel withdraw forthwith its officially declared threat to repeat its armed attack against nuclear facilities;

5.	Considers the Israeli act of aggression to be a violation and a denial of the inalienable sovereign right of States to scientific and technological progress for achieving social and economic development and raising the standards of peoples and the dignity of the human person, as well as a vi olation and a denial of inalienable human rights and the sovereign right of States to scientific and technological development;

6.	Requests the Security Council to consider the necessary measures to deter Israel from repeating such an attack on nuclear facilities;

7.	Calls for the continuation of the consideration, at the international level, of legal measures to prohibit armed attacks against nuclear facilities, and threats thereof as a contribution to promoting and ensuring the safe development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes;

8.	Requests the Secretary-General to prepare, with the assistance of a group of experts, a comprehensive study on the consequences of the Israeli armed attack against the Iraqi nuclear installations devoted to peaceful purposes, and to submit that study to the General Assembly at its thirty-eig hth session;

9.	Further requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

10.	Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-eighth session the item entitled "Armed Israeli aggression aginst the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave consequences for the established international system concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the non-proliferat ion of nuclear weapons and international peace and security".


9 Dec 82: Israel's nuclear weapons deemed threat to world peace
9 Dec 82: Israel's nuclear weapons deemed threat to world peace   Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 37/82 - December 9, 1982

Israeli nuclear armament

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 35/157 of 12 December 1980 and 36/98 of 9 December 1981 on Israeli nuclear armament,

Recalling also its relevant resolutions on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East,

Recalling further its resolution 33/71 A of 14 December 1978 on military and nuclear collaboration with Israel,

Recalling its repeated condemnation of the nuclear collaboration between Israel and South Africa,

Recalling Security Council resolution 487 (1981) of 19 June 1981 and taking note of the first special report of the Special Committee against Apartheid on recent developments concerning relations between Israel and South Africa,

Noting with grave concern Israel's persistent refusal to adhere to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, despite repeated calls by the General Assembly, the Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and to place its nuclear facilities under Agency safeguards ,

Conscious of the grave consequences which endanger international peace and security as a result of Israel's nuclear-weapon capability and its collaboration with South Africa to develop nuclear weapons and their delivery systems,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on Israeli nuclear armament,

1.	Reaffirms its demand that Israel renounce, without delay, any possession of nuclear weapons and place all its nuclear activities under international safeguards;

2.	Calls again upon all States and other parties and institutions to terminate forthwith all nuclear collaboration with Israel;

3.	Requests again the Security Council to investigate Israel's nuclear activities and the collaboration of other States, parties and institutions in these activities;

4.	Calls upon all States to submit to the Secretary-General all information in their possession concerning the Israeli nuclear programme or any public or private assistance thereto;

5.	Requests the Security Council to consider taking effective action so as to prevent Israel from endangering international peace and security by pursuing its policy of aggression, expansion and annexation of territories;

6.	Condemns Israel's officially declared intention to repeat its armed attack against nuclear facilities;

7.	Requests the Secretary-General to keep Israeli nuclear activities under constant review and to report thereon as appropriate;

8.	Also requests the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the Organization of African Unity and the League of Arab States, to follow closely the nuclear and military collaboration between Israel and South Africa and the dangers it constitutes to peace and security and to efforts aimed at the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones in Africa and the Middle East;

9.	Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-eighth session the item entitled "Israeli nuclear armament".


16 Dec '82: UN condemns Israel's proposed canal on "Palestinian" land
16 Dec '82: UN condemns Israel's proposed canal on "Palestinian" land   Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 37/122 - 16 December 1982

Israel's decision to build a canal linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 36/150 of 16 December 1981,

Recalling the rules and principles of international law relative to the fundamental rights and duties of States,

Bearing in mind the principles of international law relative to belligerent occupation of land, including the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and reaffirming their applicability to all Arab territories occupied since 1967, incl uding Jerusalem,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,

Recognizing that the proposed canal, to be constructed partly through the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, would violate the principles of international law and affect the interests of the Palestinian people,

Confident that the canal linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Dead Sea, if constructed by Israel, will cause direct, serious and irreparable damages to Jordan's rights and legitimate vital interests in the economic, agricultural, demographic and ecological fields,

Noting with regret the non-compliance by Israel with General Assembly resolution 36/150,

1.	Deplores Israel's non-compliance with its resolution 36/150;

2.	Emphasizes that the canal linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Dead Sea, if constructed, is a violation of the rules and principles of international law, especially those relating to the fundamental rights and duties of States and to belligerent occupation of land;

3.	Demands that Israel not construct this canal and cease forthwith all actions and/or plans taken towards the implementation of this project;

4.	Calls upon all States, specialized agencies, governmental and non-governmental organizations not to assist, directly or indirectly, in preparations for and execution of this project and strongly urges national, international and multinational corporations to do likewise;

5.	Requests the Secretary-General to monitor and assess, on a continuing basis and through a competent expert organ, all aspects - juridical, political, economic, ecological and demographic - of the adverse effects on Jordan and on the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, arising from the implementation of the Israeli decision to construct this canal and to forward the findings of this organ on a regular basis to the General Assembly;

6.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

7.	Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-eighth session the item entitled "Israel's decision to build a canal linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea".


16 Dec '82: Long scathing denunciation of Israel over sweet, innocent Arab refugees
16 Dec '82: Long scathing denunciation of Israel over sweet, innocent Arab refugees   Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 37/120 - December 16, 1982

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

A Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 2656 (XXV) of 7 December 1970, 2728 (XXV) of 15 December 1970, 2791 (XXVI) of 6 December 1971, 2964 (XXVII) of 13 December 1972, 3090 (XXVIII) of 7 December 1973, 3330 (XXIX) of 17 December 1974, 3419 D (XXX) of 8 December 1975, 31/15 C of 23 November 1976, 32/90 D of 13 December 1977, 33/112 D of 18 December 1978, 34/52 D of 23 November 1979, 35/13 D of 3 November 1980 and 36/146 E of 16 December 1981,

Recalling also its decision 36/462 of 16 March 1982, whereby the General Assembly took note of the special report of the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and adopted the recommendations contained therein,

Having considered the report of the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East,

Taking into account the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982, and his special report issued on 28 September 1982,

Gravely concerned at the critical financial situation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which has already reduced the essential minimum services being provided to the Palestine refugees and which threatens even greater reductions in the future,

Emphasizing the urgent need for extraordinary efforts in order to maintain, at least at their present minimum level, the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East,

1.	Commends the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East for its efforts to assist in ensuring the Agency's financial security;

2.	Takes note with approval of the report of the Working Group;

3.	Requests the Working Group to continue its efforts, in co-operation with the Secretary-General and the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East for the financing of the Agency for a further period of one year;

4.	Requests the Secretary-General to provide the necessary services and assistance to the Working Group for the conduct of its work.

B

Assistance to persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 36/146 D of 16 December 1981 and all previous resolutions on the question,

Taking note of the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982, and his special report covering the period from 6 June to 31 August 1982,

Concerned about the continued human suffering resulting from the hostilities in the Middle East,

1.	Reaffirms its resolution 36/146 D and all previous resolutions on the question;

2.	Endorses, bearing in mind the objectives of those resolutions, the efforts of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to continue to provide humanitarian assistance as far as practicable, on an emergency basis and as a te mporary measure, to other persons in the area who are at present displaced and in serious need of continued assistance as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities;

3.	Strongly appeals to all Governments and to organizations and individuals to contribute generously for the above purposes to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and to the other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations concerned.

C

University of Jerusalem for Palestine refugees

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 36/146 G of 16 December 1981,

Having examined with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General concerning the establishment of a university at Jerusalem in pursuance of paragraphs 5 and 6 of resolution 36/146 G,

Having also examined with appreciation the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982,

1.	Commends the constructive efforts made by the Secretary-General, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Council of the United Nations University and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizati on, which worked diligently towards the implementation of General Assembly resolution 36/146 G;

2.	Further commends the close co-operation of the competent educational authorities concerned;

3.	Emphasizes the need for strengthening the educational system in the Arab territories occupied since 5 June 1967, including Jerusalem, and specifically the need for the establishment of the proposed university;

4.	Endorses the various steps recommended in the report of the Secretary-General, including the creation of a voluntary fund to be administered by the Department of Technical Co-operation for Development of the Secretariat, in order to provide graduate and post-doctoral fellowships for a highly trained core faculty of the proposed university;

5.	Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take all necessary measures, including the conduct of a functional feasibility study, for establishing the University of Jerusalem in accordance with the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General;

6.	Calls upon Israel as the occupying Power to co-operate in the implementation of the present resolution and to remove the hindrances which it has put in the way of establishing the University of Jerusalem;

7.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.

D

Offers by Member States of grants and scholarships for higher education, including vocational training, for Palestine refugees

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 212 (III) of 19 November 1948 on assistance to Palestine refugees,

Recalling also its resolutions 35/13 B of 3 November 1980 and 36/146 H of 16 December 1981,

Cognizant of the fact that the Palestine refugees have, for the last three decades, lost their lands and means of livelihood,

Having examined with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General on offers of grants and scholarships for higher education for Palestine refugees and on the scope of the implementation of resolution 36/146 H,

Having also examined the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982, dealing with this subject,

Noting that fewer than one per thousand of the Palestine refugee students have the chance to continue higher education, including vocational training,

Noting also that over the past several years the number of scholarships offered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has dwindled to half of what it was because of the Agency's recurring budgetary difficulties,

1.	Urges all States to respond to the appeal contained in General Assembly resolution 32/90 F of 13 December 1977 in a manner commensurate with the needs of Palestine refugees for higher education and vocational training;

2.	Strongly appeals to all States, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations to augment the special allocations for grants and scholarships to Palestine refugees in addition to their contributions to the regular budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Re fugees in the Near East;

3.	Expresses its appreciation to all Governments, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations that responded favourably to General Assembly resolution 36/146 H;

4.	Invites the relevant United Nations agencies to continue to expand the inclusion, within their respective spheres of competence, of assistance for higher education for Palestine refugee students;

5.	Appeals to all States, specialized agencies and the United Nations University to contribute generously to the Palestinian universities in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967;

6.	Also appeals to all States, specialized agencies and other international bodies to contribute towards the establishment of vocational training centres for Palestine refugees;

7.	Requests the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to act as recipient and trustee for such special allocations and scholarships and to award them to qualified Palestine refugee candidates;

8.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

E

Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip

The General Assembly,

Recalling Security Council resolution 237 (1967) of 14 June 1967,

Recalling also General Assembly resolutions 2792 C (XXVI) of 6 December 1971, 2963 C (XXVII) of 13 December 1972, 3089 C (XXVIII) of 7 December 1973, 3331 D (XXIX) of 17 December 1974, 3419 C (XXX) of 8 December 1975, 31/15 E of 23 November 1976, 32/90 C of 13 December 1977, 33/112 E of 18 December 1978, 34/52 F of 23 November 1979, 35/13 F of 3 November 1980 and 36/146 A of 16 December 1981,

Having considered the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982, and the report of the Secretary-General of 17 September 1982,

Recalling the provisions of paragraph 11 of its resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 and considering that measures to resettle Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip away from the homes and property from which they were displaced constitute a violation of their inalienable right of return,

Alarmed by the reports received from the Commissioner-General that the Israeli occupying authorities persist in their policy of demolishing, on punitive grounds, shelters occupied by refugee families,

1.	Reiterates its demand that Israel desist from the removal and resettlement of Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip and from the destruction of their shelters;

2.	Requests the Secretary-General, after consulting with the Commissioner- General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to report to the General Assembly, before the opening of its thirty-eighth session, on Israel's compliance with paragraph 1 above.

F

Resumption of the ration distribution to Palestine refugees

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 36/146 F of 16 December 1981 and all previous resolutions on the question, including resolution 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949,

Having considered the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982, and his special report covering the period from 6 June to 31 August 1982,

Deeply concerned at the interruption by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, owing to financial difficulties, of the general ration distribution to Palestine refugees in all fields in the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan and the Syrian Arab

 Republic,

1.	Calls upon all Governments, as a matter of urgency, to make the most generous efforts possible to meet the interrupted needs of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, particularly in the light of the interruption by the Agency of the general ratio n distribution to Palestine refugees in all fields, and therefore urges non-contributing Governments to contribute regularly and contributing Governments to consider increasing their regular contributions;

2.	Requests the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to resume on a continuing basis and as soon as possible the interrupted general ration distribution to Palestine refugees in all fields.

G

Population and refugees displaced since 1967

The General Assembly,

Recalling Security Council resolution 237 (1967) of 14 June 1967,

Recalling also General Assembly resolutions 2252 (ES-V) of 4 July 1967, 2452 A (XXIII) of 19 December 1968, 2535 B (XXIV) of 10 December 1969, 2672 D (XXV) of 8 December 1970, 2792 E (XXVI) of 6 December 197l, 2963 C and D (XXVII) of 13 December 1972, 3089 C (XXVIII) of 7 December 1973, 333l D (XXIX) of 17 December 1974, 3419 C (XXX) of 8 December 1975, 3l/15 D of 23 November 1976, 32/90 E of 13 December 1977, 33/112 F of 18 December 1978, 34/52 E of 23 November 1979, ES-7/2 of 29 July 1980, 35/13 E of 3 Novembe r 1980 and 36/146 B of 16 December 1981,

Having considered the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982, and the report of the Secretary-General of 20 September 1982,

1.	Reaffirms the inalienable right of all displaced inhabitants to return to their homes or former places of residence in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967 and declares once more that any attempt to restrict, or to attach conditions to, the free exercise of the right of return by any displaced person is inconsistent with their inalienable right and inadmissible;

2.	Considers any and all agreements embodying any restriction on or condition for the return of the displaced inhabitants as null and void;

3.	Strongly deplores the continued refusal of the Israeli authorities to take steps for the return of the displaced inhabitants;

4.	Calls once more upon Israel:

(a)	To take immediate steps for the return of all displaced inhabitants;

(b)	To desist from all measures that obstruct the return of the displaced inhabitants, including measures affecting the physical and demographic structure of the occupied territories;

5.	Requests the Secretary-General, after consulting with the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to report to the General Assembly before the opening of its thirty-eighth session on Israel's compliance with paragraph 4 abov e.

H

Revenues derived from Palestine refugee properties

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 35/13 A to F of 3 November 1980, 36/146 C of 16 December 1981 and all its previous resolutions on the question, including resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General of 28 September 1982,

Taking note also of the report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, covering the period from 1 October 1981 to 30 September 1982,

Recalling that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the principles of international law uphold the principle that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of one's private property,

Considering that the Palestinian Arab refugees are entitled to their property and to the income derived from their property, in conformity with the principles of justice and equity,

Recalling, in particular, its resolution 394 (V) of 14 December 1950, in which it directed the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, in consultation with the parties concerned, to prescribe measures for the protection of the rights, property and interests of the Palestine Arab refugees,

Taking note of the completion of the programme of identification and evaluation of Arab property, as announced by the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine in its twenty-second progress report, of 11 May 1964, and of the fact that the Land Office had a schedule of Arab owners and file of documents defining the location, area and other particulars of Arab property,

1.	Requests the Secretary-General to take all appropriate steps, in consultation with the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, for the protection and administration of Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel, and to establish a fund for the receipt of income derived therefrom, on behalf of their rightful owners;

2.	Calls once again upon the Governments concerned, especially Israel, to render all facilities and assistance to the Secretary-General in the implementation of the present resolution;

3.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

I

Special identification cards to all Palestine refugees

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 36/146 F of 16 December 1981 and all previous resolutions on the question,

Recalling, in particular, its resolutions 194 (III) of 11 December 1948 and 302 (IV) of 8 December 1949,

Recognizing the concern of the United Nations with the problem of the Palestine refugees,

1.	Reiterates its regret that paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III) has not thus far been implemented;

2.	Requests the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the Commissioner- General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to issue identification cards to all Palestine refugees and their descendants, irrespective of whether they are recipients or not of rations and services from the Agency, as well as to all displaced persons and to those who have been prevented from returning to their home as a result of the 1967 hostilities, and their descendants;

3.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

J

Protection of Palestine refugees

The General Assembly,

Recalling Security Council resolutions 508 (1982) of 5 June 1982, 509 (1982) of 6 June 1982, 511 (1982) of 18 June 1982, 512 (1982) of 19 June 1982, 513 (1982) of 4 July 1982, 515 (1982) of 29 July 1982, 517 (1982) of 4 August 1982, 518 (1982) of 12 August 1982, 519 (1982) of 17 August 1982, 520 (1982) of 17 September 1982 and 523 (1982) of 18 October 1982,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions ES-7/5 of 26 June 1982, ES-7/6 of 24 August 1982, ES-7/8 of 19 August 1982 and ES-7/9 of 24 September 1982,

Having considered the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982, and his special report covering the period from 6 June to 3l August 1982,

Referring to the humanitarian principles of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and to the obligations arising from the regulations annexed to the Hague Convention of 1907,

Deeply distressed at the sufferings of the Palestinians resulting from the Israeli invasion of Lebanon,

1.	Urges the Secretary-General, in consultation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and pending the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem, to undertake effective measures to guarantee the safety and security and the legal and human rights of the Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories;

2.	Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to release forthwith all detained Palestine refugees, including the employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East;

3.	Also calls upon Israel to desist forthwith from preventing those Palestinians registered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East as refugees in Lebanon from returning to their camps in Lebanon;

4.	Further calls upon Israel to allow the resumption of health, medical, educational and social services rendered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to the Palestinians in the refugee camps in southern Lebanon;

5.	Requests the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to co-ordinate his activities in rendering these services with the Government of Lebanon, the host country;

6.	Urges the Commissioner-General to provide housing, in consultation with the Government of Lebanon, to the Palestine refugees whose houses were demolished or razed by the Israeli forces, in order to protect them from the severity of the weather;

7.	Requests the Commissioner-General, in consultation with the Government of Lebanon, to prepare a report on the totality of the damage caused to the Palestine refugees and their property and to the Agency's facilities, as well as those of other international bodies, as a result of the Israeli aggression;

8.	Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Commissioner- General, to report to the General Assembly before the opening of its thirty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

K

Assistance to Palestine refugees

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 36/146 F of 16 December 1981 and all previous resolutions on the question, including resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948,

Taking note of the report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, covering the period from 1 July 1981 to 30 June 1982,

1.	Notes with regret that repatriation or compensation of the refugees as provided for in paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III) has not been effected, that no substantial progress has been made in the programme endorsed by the Assembly in paragraph 2 of its resolution 513 (VI) of 26 January 1952 for the reintegration of refugees either by repatriation or resettlement and that, therefore, the situation of the refugees continues to be a matter of serious concern;

2.	Expresses its thanks to the Commissioner-General and to all the staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, recognizing that the Agency is doing all it can within the limits of available resources, and also expresses its thanks to the speciali zed agencies and private organizations for their valuable work in assisting the refugees;

3.	Reiterates its request that the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East should be relocated to its former site within its area of operations as soon as practicable;

4.	Notes with regret that the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine has been unable to find a means of achieving progress in the implementation of paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III) and requests the Commission to exert continued efforts towards the implementati on of that paragraph and to report to the Assembly as appropriate, but not later than 1 October 1983;

5.	Directs attention to the continuing seriousness of the financial position of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, as outlined in the report of the Commissioner-General;

6.	Notes with concern that, despite the commendable and successful efforts of the Commissioner-General to collect additional contributions, this increased level of income to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is still insufficient to cover essenti al budget requirements in the present year and that, at currently foreseen levels of giving, deficits will recur each year;

7.	Calls upon all Governments as a matter of urgency to make the most generous efforts possible to meet the anticipated needs of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, particularly in the light of the budgetary deficit projected in the report of the Commissioner-General, and therefore urges non-contributing Governments to contribute regularly and contributing Governments to consider increasing their regular contributions.


17 Dec 82: Israel denounced for Palestinian suffering during invasion of Lebanon
17 Dec 82: Israel denounced for Palestinian suffering during invasion of Lebanon   Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 37/134 - December 17, 1982

Assistance to the Palestinian people

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution ES-7/5 of 26 June 1982,

Recalling also Security Council resolution 512 (1982) of 19 June 1982,

Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolution 1982/48 of 27 July 1982,

Expressing its deep alarm at the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which claimed the lives of a very large number of civilian Palestinians,

Horrified by the Sabra and Shatila massacre,

Noting with deep concern the dire need of the Palestinian victims of the Israeli invasion for urgent humanitarian assistance,

Noting also the need to provide economic and social assistance to the Palestinian people,

1.	Condemns Israel for its invasion of Lebanon, which inflicted severe damage on civilian Palestinians, including heavy losses of human lives, intolerable sufferings and massive material destruction;

2.	Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution 1982/48;

3.	Calls upon Governments and relevant United Nations bodies to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian victims of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon;

4.	Requests the relevant programmes, organizations, agencies and organs of the United Nations system to intensify their efforts, in co-operation with the Palestine Liberation Organization, to provide economic and social assistance to the Palestinian people;

5.	Also requests that United Nations assistance to the Palestinians in the Arab host countries should be rendered in co-operation with the Palestine Liberation Organization and with the consent of the concerned Arab host Government;

6.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session, through the Economic and Social Council, on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.


10 Nov '93: Israel condemned for bombing Saddam's nuclear reactor
10 Nov '93: Israel condemned for bombing Saddam's nuclear reactor  Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 38/9 - November 10, 1983

Meeting no. 9

Armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave consequences for the established international system concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and international peace and security

The General Assembly,

Having considered the item entitled "Armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave consequences for the established international system concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and international peace and security ",

Recalling the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly,

Taking note of the relevant resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency,

Taking note also with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General,

Viewing with deep concern Israel's continued refusal to comply with those resolutions,

Reiterating its alarm over the information and evidence regarding the acquisition and development of nuclear weapons by Israel,

Recalling Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations, which enjoins all Member States to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations,

Noting that serious radiological effects would result from an armed attack with conventional weapons on a nuclear installation, which could also lead to the initiation of radiological warfare,

1.	Reiterates its condemnation of Israel's continued refusal to implement Security Council resolution 487 (1981), unanimously adopted by the Council on 19 June 1981;

2.	Notes that the statements made so far by Israel have not removed apprehensions that its threat to repeat its armed attack against nuclear facilities, as well as any similar action against such facilities, will continue to endanger the role and activities of the International Atomic Energy Ag ency and other international instruments in the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and in safeguarding against further proliferation of nuclear weapons;

3.	Considers that any threat to attack and destroy nuclear facilities in Iraq and in other countries constitutes a violation of the Charter of the United Nations;

4.	Reiterates its demand that Israel withdraw forthwith its threat to attack and destroy nuclear facilities in Iraq and in other countries;

5.	Once again requests the Security Council to consider the necessary measures to deter Israel from repeating such an attack on nuclear facilities;

6.	Reaffirms its call for the continuation of the consideration, at the international level, of legal measures to prohibit armed attacks against nuclear facilities, and threats thereof, as a contribution to promoting and ensuring the safe development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes;

7.	Expresses its deep appreciation to the Secretary-General and the Group of Experts on the Consequences of the Israeli Armed Attack against the Iraqi Nuclear Installations for their comprehensive study;

8.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

9.	Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-ninth session the item entitled "Armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave consequences for the established international system concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the non-proliferati on of nuclear weapons and international peace and security".


15 Dec '83: UN condemns Israel's proposed canal on "Palestinian" land
15 Dec '83: UN condemns Israel's proposed canal on "Palestinian" land  Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 38/85 - December 15, 1983

Meeting no. 98

Israel's decision to build a canal linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 36/150 of 16 December 1981 and 37/122 of 16 December 1982,

Recalling the rules and principles of international law relative to the fundamental rights and duties of States,

Bearing in mind the principles of international law relative to belligerent occupation of land, including the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and reaffirming their applicability to all Arab territories occupied since 1967, incl uding Jerusalem,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General,

Recognizing that the proposed canal, to be constructed partly through the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, would violate the principles of international law and affect the interests of the Palestinian people,

Confident that the canal linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Dead Sea, if constructed by Israel, will cause direct, serious and irreparable damage to Jordan's rights and legitimate and vital interests in the economic, agricultural, demographic and ecological fields,

Noting with regret the non-compliance by Israel with General Assembly resolution 36/150,

1.	Deplores Israel's non-compliance with General Assembly resolution 37/122 and its refusal to receive the team of experts;

2.	Emphasizes that the canal linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Dead Sea, if constructed, is a violation of the rules and principles of international law, especially those relating to the fundamental rights and duties of States and to belligerent occupation of land;

3.	Demands that Israel not construct this canal and cease forthwith all actions taken and/or plans made towards the implementation of this project;

4.	Calls upon all States, specialized agencies and governmental and non-governmental organizations not to assist, directly or indirectly, in the preparation and execution of this project and strongly urges national, international and multinational corporations to do likewise;

5.	Requests the Secretary-General to monitor and assess, on a continuing basis and through a competent expert organ, all aspects - juridical, political, economic, ecological and demographic - of the adverse effects on Jordan and on the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, arising from the implementation of the Israeli decision to construct this canal and to forward the findings of that organ on a regular basis to the General Assembly;

6.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

7.	Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-ninth session the item entitled "Israel's decision to build a canal linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea".


19 Dec 83:  Long, long denunciation of Israel over "Palestinians", Jerusalem, Golan Heights, Lebanon, etc.
19 Dec 83:  Long, long denunciation of Israel over "Palestinians", Jerusalem, Golan Heights, Lebanon, etc.  Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 38/180 - December 19, 1983

Meeting no. 102

The situation in the Middle East

A

The General Assembly,

Having discussed the item entitled "The situation in the Middle East",

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General of 30 September 1983,

Recalling Security Council resolution 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,

Reaffirming its resolutions 36/226 B of 17 December 1981, ES-9/1 of 5 February 1982 and 37/123 A of 16 December 1982,

Recalling its resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974, in which it defined an act of aggression, inter alia, as "the invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof" and provided that "no consideration of whatever nature, whether political, economic, military or otherwise, may serve as a justification for aggression",

Reaffirming the fundamental principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,

Reaffirming once more the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, including Jerusalem,

Noting that Israel's record, policies and actions establish conclusively that it is not a peace-loving Member State and that it has not carried out its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations,

Noting further that Israel has refused, in violation of Article 25 of the Charter, to accept and carry out the numerous relevant decisions of the Security Council, in particular resolution 497 (1981), thus failing to carry out its obligations under the Charter,

1.	Strongly condemns Israel for its failure to comply with Security Council resolution 497 (1981) and General Assembly resolutions 36/226 B, ES-9/1 and 37/123 A;

2.	Declares once more that Israel's continued occupation of the Golan Heights and its decision of 14 December 1981 to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights constitute an act of aggression under the provisions of Article 39 of the Charter of the Un ited Nations and General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX);

3.	Declares once more that Israel's decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is illegal and therefore null and void and has no validity whatsoever;

4.	Declares all Israeli policies and practices of, or aimed at, annexation of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, including Jerusalem, to be illegal and in violation of international law and of the relevant United Nations resolutions;

5.	Determines once more that all actions taken by Israel to give effect to its decision relating to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights are illegal and invalid and shall not be recognized;

6.	Reaffirms its determination that all relevant provisions annexed to the Hague Convention No. IV of 1907, and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, continue to apply to the Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, and ca lls upon the parties thereto to respect and ensure respect of their obligations under these instruments in all circumstances;

7.	Determines once more that the continued occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967 and their annexation by Israel on 14 December 1981, following Israel's decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on that territory, constitute a continuing threat to international pea ce and security;

8.	Strongly deplores the negative vote by a permanent member of the Security Council which prevented the Council from adopting against Israel, under Chapter VII of the Charter, the "appropriate measures" referred to in resolution 497 (1981) unanimously adopted by the Council;

9.	Further deplores any political, economic, financial, military and technological support to Israel that encourages Israel to commit acts of aggression and to consolidate and perpetuate its occupation and annexation of occupied Arab territories;

10.	Firmly emphasizes once more its demand that Israel, the occupying Power, rescind forthwith its illegal decision of 14 December 1981 to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Syrian Golan Heights, which resulted in the effective annexation of that territory;

11.	Reaffirms once more the overriding necessity of the total and unconditional withdrawal by Israel from all the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, which is an essential prerequisite for the establishment of a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East;

12.	Determines once more that Israel's record, policies and actions confirm that it is not a peace-loving Member State, that it has persistently violated the principles contained in the Charter and that it has carried out neither its obligations under the Charter nor its commitment under Genera l Assembly resolution 273 (III) of 11 May 1949;

13.	Calls once more upon all Member States to apply the following measures:

(a)	To refrain from supplying Israel with any weapons and related equipment and to suspend any military assistance that Israel receives from them;

(b)	To refrain from acquiring any weapons or military equipment from Israel;

(c)	To suspend economic, financial and technological assistance to and co-operation with Israel;

(d)	To sever diplomatic, trade and cultural relations with Israel;

14.	Reiterates its call to all Member States to cease forthwith, individually and collectively, all dealings with Israel in order totally to isolate it in all fields;

15.	Urges non-member States to act in accordance with the provisions of the present resolution;

16.	Calls upon the specialized agencies and other international institutions to conform their relations with Israel to the terms of the present resolution;

17.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

B

The General Assembly,

Recalling the relevant provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Recalling also the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and all other relevant international instruments concerning the right to cultural identity in all its forms,

Having learned that the Israeli army, during its occupation of Beirut, seized and took away archives and documents of every kind concerning Palestinian history and culture, including cultural articles belonging to Palestinian institutions - in particular the Palestine Research Centre - archives , documents, manuscripts and materials such as film documents, literary works by major authors, paintings, objets d'art and works of folklore, research works and so forth, serving as a foundation for the history, culture, national awareness, unity and solidarity of the Palestinian people,

1.	Condemns those acts of plundering of the Palestinian cultural heritage;

2.	Calls upon the Government of Israel to make full restitution, through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, of all cultural property belonging to Palestinian institutions, including the archives and documents removed from the Palestine Research Centre and arbi trarily seized by the Israeli forces;

3.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

C

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 36/120 E of 10 December 1981 and 37/123 C of 16 December 1982, in which it determined that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which had altered or purported to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, in particular the so-called "Basic Law" on Jerusalem and the proclamation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, were null and void and must be rescinded forthwith,

Recalling Security Council resolution 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980, in which the Council, inter alia, decided not to recognize the "Basic Law" and called upon those States that had established diplomatic missions at Jerusalem to withdraw such missions from the Holy City,

1.	Declares once more that Israel's decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem is illegal and therefore null and void and has no validity whatsoever;

2.	Deplores the transfer by some States of their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem in violation of Security Council resolution 478 (1980);

3.	Calls once again upon those States to abide by the provisions of the relevant United Nations resolutions, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations;

4.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

D

The General Assembly,

Having discussed the item entitled "The situation in the Middle East",

Reaffirming its resolutions 36/226 A and B of 17 December 1981, ES-9/1 of 5 February 1982 and 37/123 F of 16 December 1982,

Recalling Security Council resolutions 425 (1978) of 19 March 1978, 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981, 508 (1982) of 5 June 1982, 509 (1982) of 6 June 1982, 511 (1982) of 18 June 1982, 512 (1982) of 19 June 1982, 513 (1982) of 4 July 1982, 515 (1982) of 29 July 1982, 516 (1982) of 1 August 1982, 5 17 (1982) of 4 August 1982, 518 (1982) of 12 August 1982, 519 (1982) of 17 August 1982, 520 (1982) of 17 September 1982 and 521 (1982) of 19 September 1982,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General of 12 October 1982,

Welcoming the world-wide support extended to the just cause of the Palestinian people and the other Arab countries in their struggle against Israeli aggression and occupation in order to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East and the full exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable national rights, as affirmed by previous resolutions of the General Assembly relating to the question of Palestine and to the situation in the Middle East,

Gravely concerned that the Arab and Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, still remain under Israeli occupation, that the relevant resolutions of the United Nations have not been implemented and that the Palestinian people is still denied the restoration of its land and the exercise of its inalienable national rights in conformity with international law, as reaffirmed by resolutions of the United Nations,

Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to all the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, including Jerusalem,

Reiterating all relevant United Nations resolutions which emphasize that the acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible under the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law and that Israel must withdraw unconditionally from all the Palestinian and other Arab te rritories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem,

Reaffirming further the imperative necessity of establishing a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region, based on full respect for the Charter and the principles of international law,

Gravely concerned also at recent Israeli actions involving the escalation and expansion of the conflict in the region, which further violate the principles of international law and endanger international peace and security,

Recognizing the great importance of the time factor in the endeavours to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East,

1.	Reaffirms its conviction that the question of Palestine is the core of the conflict in the Middle East and that no comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region will be achieved without the full exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable national rights and the immediate, un conditional and total withdrawal of Israel from all the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories;

2.	Reaffirms further that a just and comprehensive settlement of the situation in the Middle East cannot be achieved without the participation on an equal footing of all the parties to the conflict, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people;

3.	Declares once more that peace in the Middle East is indivisible and must be based on a comprehensive, just and lasting solution of the Middle East problem, under the auspices and on the basis of relevant resolutions of the United Nations, which ensures the complete and unconditional withdraw al of Israel from the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, and which enables the Palestinian people, under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, to exercise its inalienable rights, including the right to return and the right to self- determination, national independence and the establishment of its independent sovereign State in Palestine, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations relevant to the question of Palestine, in particular General Assembly resolutions ES-7/2 of 29 July 1980, 36/120 A to F of 10 Decem ber 1981, 37/86 A to D of 10 December 1982 and 37/86 E of 20 December 1982;

4.	Welcomes the Arab Peace Plan adopted unanimously at the Twelfth Arab Summit Conference, held at Fez, Morocco, on 25 November 1981 and from 6 to 9 September 1982;

5.	Condemns Israel's continued occupation of the Palestinian and other Arab territories, including Jerusalem, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the principles of international law and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, and demands the immediate, unconditional and t otal withdrawal of Israel from all the territories occupied since June 1967;

6.	Rejects all agreements and arrangements which violate the recognized rights of the Palestinian people and contradict the principles of just and comprehensive solutions to the Middle East problem to ensure the establishment of a just peace in the area;

7.	Deplores Israel's failure to comply with Security Council resolutions 476 (1980) of 30 June 1980 and 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980 and General Assembly resolutions 35/207 of 16 December 1980 and 36/226 A and B of 17 December 1981, determines that Israel's decision to annex Jerusalem and to de clare it as its "capital" as well as the measures to alter its physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and status are null and void and demands that they be rescinded immediately, and calls upon all Member States, the specialized agencies and all other international organizations to abide by the present resolution and all other relevant resolutions, including Assembly resolutions 37/86 A to E;

8.	Condemns Israel's aggression, policies and practices against the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories and outside these territories, particularly Palestinians in Lebanon, including the expropriation and annexation of territory, the establishment of settlements, assassin ation attempts and other terrorist, aggressive and repressive measures, which are in violation of the Charter and the principles of international law and the relevant international conventions;

9.	Strongly condemns the imposition by Israel of its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, its annexationist policies and practices, the establishment of settlements, the confiscation of lands, the diversion of water resources and the imposition of Israeli citizenship on Syrian nationals, and declares that all these measures are null and void and constitute a violation of the rules and principles of international law relevant to belligerent occupation, in particular the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of Wa r, of 12 August 1949;

10.	Considers that the agreements on strategic co-operation between the United States of America and Israel signed on 30 November 1981, together with the recent accords concluded in this context, would encourage Israel to pursue its aggressive and expansionist policies and practices in the Pale stinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, would have adverse effects on efforts for the establishment of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East and would threaten the security of the region;

11.	Calls upon all States to put an end to the flow to Israel of any military, economic and financial aid, as well as of human resources, aimed at encouraging it to pursue its aggressive policies against the Arab countries and the Palestinian people;

12.	Strongly condemns the continuing and increasing collaboration between Israel and the racist regime of South Africa, especially in the economic, military and nuclear fields, which constitutes a hostile act against the African and Arab States and enables Israel to enhance its nuclear capabili ties, thus subjecting the States of the region to nuclear blackmail;

13.	Reaffirms the call for the convening of an international peace conference on the Middle East - as specified in paragraph 5 of the Geneva Declaration on Palestine, adopted on 7 September 1983 by the International Conference on the Question of Palestine - under the auspices of the United Nati ons and on the basis of relevant resolutions of the United Nations;

14.	Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council periodically on the development of the situation and to submit to the General

Assembly at its thirty-ninth session a comprehensive report covering the developments in the Middle East in all their aspects.

E

The General Assembly,

Having considered the item entitled "The situation in the Middle East",

Recalling its resolutions 36/226 A of 17 December 1981 and 37/123 F of 20 December 1982, in which it stated, inter alia, its concern over certain factors which exacerbate the situation in the Middle East,

Deeply concerned at recent developments in the Middle East and the critical situation confronting the region resulting from the continued escalation of Israel's policy of aggression, expansion and annexation in the region,

Expressing grave concern over the continued supply of modern arms and war materials to Israel, augmented by substantial economic aid, without which Israel's policy of aggression and of flouting United Nations resolutions could not be maintained,

Deeply aware that the recent reported agreements following the memorandum of understanding between the United States of America and Israel will increase Israel's intransigence and its war potential and escalate its expansionist and annexationist policies in the Palestinian and other Arab territ ories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, at a time when it is defying United Nations resolutions,

1.	Declares, accordingly, the international responsibility of any party or parties that supply Israel with arms or economic aid that augment its war potential;

2.	Expresses deep concern at and condemns all steps which may result in augmenting the capability of Israel and contributing to its policy of aggression against countries in the region;

3.	Demands that all States, particularly the United States of America, in the light of the said agreements, refrain from taking any step that would support Israel's war capabilities and consequently its aggressive acts, whether in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 o r against countries in the region;

4.	Calls upon all States to review, in the light of the present resolution, any agreement, whether military, economic or otherwise, concluded with Israel.


19 Dec 83: Israel roasted for allowing Jews to live in Judea and Samaria
19 Dec 83: Israel roasted for allowing Jews to live in Judea and Samaria   Resolutions list  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jerusalem One

Resolution 38/166 - December 19, 1983

Meeting no. 102

Living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories

The General Assembly,

Recalling the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, 1976, and the relevant recommendations for national action adopted by Habitat:  United Nations Conference on Human Settlements,

Recalling also resolution 3, entitled "Living conditions of the Palestinians in occupied territories", contained in the recommendations for international co-operation adopted by Habitat:  United Nations Conference on Human Settlements,

Recalling further its resolution 37/222 of 20 December 1982,

Taking note of resolution 6/2 adopted by the Commission on Human Settlements on 4 May 1983,

Gravely alarmed by the continuation of the Israeli settlement policies which have been declared null and void and a major obstacle to peace,

1.	Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories;

2.	Takes note also of the statement made by the observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization;

3.	Rejects the Israeli plans and actions intended to change the demographic composition of the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the increase and expansion of the Israeli settlements, and other plans and actions creating conditions leading to the displacement and exodus of Palestin ians from the occupied Palestinian territories;

4.	Expresses its alarm at the deterioration in the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 as a result of the Israeli occupation;

5.	Affirms that the Israeli occupation is contradictory to the basic requirements for the social and economic development of the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip;

6.	Calls upon the Israeli occupation authorities to give United Nations experts access to the occupied Palestinian territories;

7.	Recognizes the need for a comprehensive report on the impact of the Israeli settlements on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories;

8.	Requests the Secretary-General to prepare and submit to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session, through the Economic and Social Council, a comprehensive report on the current and future impact of the Israeli settlements on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occu pied Palestinian territories, including a comparison between the living conditions of the latter and those of the residents of the Israeli settlements.


Miscellaneous master


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CAMERA MEDIA REPORT

The CAMERA Media Report is published by CAMERA

Editor Andrea Levin

Contributors Alex Goldberg Jon Haber Michael Minkus Rebecca Rabin Alex Safian Yale Zussman

Electronic version prepared by Charles S. Cramer

Copyright (c) 1994 by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted to reproduce this information without changes or additions to individual stories, segments or articles.  Reproduction may be in either mechanical or electronic form, provided that this copyright statement is included.

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Link Master


Internal links 1
United Nations, Int'l law, other Int'l organizations

Preemption has been established for centuries in international law

UN's Double Standard Targets Israel

The United Nations since the Rabin/Arafat Accord

Just the Facts

Introduction:  UN Resolutions on Israel


un resolutions list
Introduction:  UN Resolutions on Israel

16 Nov '82: Israel condemned for bombing Saddam's nuclear reactor

9 Dec 82: Israel's nuclear weapons deemed threat to world peace

16 Dec '82: UN condemns Israel's proposed canal on "Palestinian" land

16 Dec '82: Long scathing denunciation of Israel over sweet, innocent Arab refugees

17 Dec 82: Israel denounced for Palestinian suffering during invasion of Lebanon

10 Nov '93: Israel condemned for bombing Saddam's nuclear reactor

15 Dec '83: UN condemns Israel's proposed canal on "Palestinian" land

19 Dec 83:  Long, long denunciation of Israel over "Palestinians", Jerusalem, Golan Heights, Lebanon, etc.

19 Dec 83: Israel roasted for allowing Jews to live in Judea and Samaria


UN since accord links
General Assembly Still Displays Anti-Israel Bias

48th session of General Assembly spews hypocritical Israel-hatred


US security guarantees to Israel in the past
US security guarantees to Israel in the past   Links  Links Links  Links


Link Master


us guarantees internal links 1
American Security guarantees to Israel


Water
Water   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Israel has less than 1/20  - 5% - as much water per person as does United States.(Chart:  also, click charts in title region above)  It is among the least water rich countries in the world.  Israel is famous for its agriculture, however.  It's Kibbutzes, Jaffa oranges, draining of swamps, and making the desert bloom are all known throughout the world.  Israel has managed this through the world's most advanced irrigation technology, which is sold throughout the world.

About 40% of Israel's water comes from the Golan Heights, that the Rabin government wishes to return to Syria in exchange for a piece of paper.  Syria has already said that Israel has no right to any of the water that drains into the Sea of Galilee.  In addition, before Israel captured the Golan Heights, Syria attempted to dam the water sources.  Currently, from another spot Syria dams the flow of water into its sister Arab nation Jordan, even though Jordan has less water than Israel, a tiny fraction - about 1/10th - of Syria's per capita supply.

About another 1/3 originates in the acquifer beneath the hills of Judea and Samaria stretching down the middle of the country.  This Rabin wishes to transfer to Yasser Arafat.  Arafat and the PLO unambiguously claim all the water.

Israel already suffers an annual water deficit, using the coastal aquifer beyond its carrying capaticty, resulting in the aquifer slowly becoming saline and polluted.  The country cannot survive without this water.  Some recommend importing water in ships from Turkey.  Others say the Syrians and PLO will keep their agreements and that Israel can bet the lives of their children on this uninhibited unpolluted source of water.

______________

Articles and Subtopics:

(!!!)   11Feb 94 Geologist Martin Sherman says water sources already inadequate for Israel's survival. Giving them to the PLO will prove disastrous.

Israel cannot relinquish its water resources and survive, by Murray Kahl.

Sections

Charts

Cover sheet

Foreign Ministry background paper, November 1991:  Water, Israel and the middle east.

Sections

Cover sheet

Alarms by Knesset committees, Israeli hydrologists and others on the fragility and vulnerability of Israel's water supply, and the utter folly of placing this most vital of resources into the hands of enemies.  All the alarms were simply ignored by the Rabin government.

Appeasement of the PLO over water issues by the Rabin gov't after the signing of the Rabin/Arafat Accord suggested much about Arab intentions.

Syria, water, and the Golan Heights.  Articles.

Turkey: A source of water for Israel to replace that in Judea/Samaria and the Golan?  Several articles and items.

Jordan.  Several articles on Jordan's water shortage, far worse than Israel's, due to its population explosion and poor water management.  A treaty with Jordan is not likely to be kept,  esepcially as Jordan's largest political party, Hamas, advocates the murder of all Jews.  Example One.  Example Two.

Egypt, the Horn of Africa(Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea), diplomacy, destabilization and the waters of the Nile River.  Articles.

Reports on the mideast water shortage by the western media.  Arab charges are normally printed without analysis or investigation.  Arab terminology - such as occupied territories or Palestine - is used without historical perspective.  Strategic implications of giving up one's water supply to people who haven't kept past agreements and who say Jews shouldn't exist are ignored.

Arab attitudes, actions, resolutions, diplomacy regarding the Mideast water shortage. It's everybody else's fault, particularly the Jews, who steal the Arabs' water and don't deserve any, anyway.  Only through American arm-twisting will Arabs allow Israelis to attend regional water conferences.

Israel's superbly efficient use of water.  Nevertheless, resources are stretched to the limit.  When the Golan and Judea/Samaria are managed by the Arabs, water will almost certainly be squandered and polluted.

Quotations on the conflict over water in the middle east


Cover sheet: Israel cannot relinguish its water supply
Cover sheet: Israel cannot relinguish its water supply   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

One:  scare and depleted water resources in middle east; comparative chart; southern Turkey source of almost all middle east's supply; now threatened by Attaturk dam.

Two:  Interaction of the Muslim countries in the region.  Syria damns the Yarmouk river cutting Jordan's water.  Iraq and Syria have threatened Turkey over damming the Euphrates. Syria refuses to engage in international water talks if Israel is admitted. Excessive use of pesticides and a lack of waste control make some Arab water supplies unusuable.

Three: Egypt, a source of water? Some claimed Israel could secure water from Egypt's incredible Nile river if peace was secured.  Egypt's population is huge, the Nile is threatened by fundamentalist Sudan to its south, whose own population is exploding.  Ethiopia, the source of the Nile, also with an exploding population has plans to drastically increase its take.

Four:  Effects upon Israel's water supply.  If PLO overpumps, pollutes or diversts Yarkon/Tanimim acquifer, Israel loses 40% of water.  Israel alrady invented drip irrigation and perfected agriculture with brackish water, yet allocations to agriculture down 30%.  Has 7% water defict now, faces 30% by 2000 even with all current sources.  Desalinization for sheikhs only, costing 10 times US midwest price. CIA says wars over water most likely in mideast.

Five:  Consequences if Israel give away its water supply  End to immigration. Destruction of agriculture. War.

Notes and references.


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ISRAEL CANNOT RELINQUISH ITS WATER RESOURCES AND SURVIVE

by Murray Kahl

The entire Middle East has always placed water at a premium, and indeed within the Hebrew bible we find many prayers concerning water.  The problem has accelerated since biblical times, and the future appears bleak due to rising populations says Hope, Young and Bellsari. And with enlarged agric ultural projects, industrialization, and better living standards, demand has increased, and yet the supply of water has diminished. Drought, pollution, waste, inefficiencies, all characterize the approaches used throughout the Middle east and foreshadow a problem of global consequences.

A MIDDLE EAST OVER VIEW

Starr says nations like Israel and Jordan are swiftly sliding into that zone where they are using all the water resources available to them. They have only 15 to 20 years left before their agriculture, and ultimately their food security is threatened. Starr and Stoll state that by the year 2000 , Jordan's water needs will probably exceed demand by about 20%.

To place this in perspective, we can compare nations in the Middle East to the United States and relate the freshwater potential. Rough numbers for 1990 indicate the following for the residents of each country:

Numbers in cubic meters (Vesiland)

U.S.	Iraq	Turkey	Syria	Egypt	Jordan	Israel ______________________________________________________________________ 10,000	5,500	4,000	2,800	1,100	260	460

TURKEY, THE WATER SUPER POWER OF THE AREA

These numbers are difficult to work with as nations downstream are vulnerable to the quantity of water available the farther they are away from the source, and since Turkey is mainly the source, old political battles raise their banners.

To clarify the impact upon Israel we must start with the source of most water for the Middle East and that is in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey. Of course, there are other sources of water such as fossil water that is a non-renewable source, and has only recently been tapped for u se, but this water buried deep underground for many thousands of years is limited and once used has no chance of renewal.

Turkey has effectively tapped this water with their new Attaturk Dam that holds back the Euphrates River, and also uses its flow to generate over nine billion kilowatt hours per year.

Since this river flows south through Syria, into Iraq to join the Tigris, and then into the Persian Gulf, it forms a massive watershed necessary to the survival of the entire Middle East.


Interaction of the Muslim countries in the area
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INTERACTION OF THE MUSLIM COUNTRIES OF THE AREA

Countries such as Iraq have payed little attention to environmental restraints and have corrupted much of the water flowing through their country with pollutants, over irrigation, and poor drainage that in turn have left stagnation and chemical pollutants over much of the country.  In Gaza, for example, there is only one aquifer but because of the heavy, local use of pesticides, fertilizers, and raw sewage, in many towns and villages, experts say their water will be unusable by the year 2000 with an anticipated population of about 1 million says Starr.

Syria attempted to dam water flowing to Israel in the 60s, and ironically they were the victim of a fellow Muslim nation, Turkey, who announced in 1989 that they would hold back the Euphrates River for a period of a month to initiate the filling of their Attaturk Dam. Syria and Iraq threatened Turkey, and Turkey made conciliatory gestures to head off a confrontation. Irani writes of a "secret deal" in which Syria agrees to stop their support of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (the PKK) in order to receive sizable amounts of water from Turkey.

Syria was also the victim of Turkey's efforts last year to irrigate the southern areas of Turkey. Syria's Euphrates Dam at Tabqa, Ath- Thawrah Dam which cost 1 billion dollars, was adversely affected by Turkey's actions, and the effect upon Syria is not only a shortage of drinking water, but a loss of power as they rely upon hydroelectric power extensively.  This results in almost daily power outages within Syria, and there is no solution within sight.

Iraq and Syria were on the brink of war in 1975 because of the Syrian plans to dam the Euphrates at the Ath-Thawrah Dam which Iraq claimed would negatively affect the lives of 3 million Iraqi farmers.

Problems between Turkey and Syria have ancient roots and are quite complex, as they involve not only water but geography, and ethnic minorities. Relations between these two nations are difficult at best and are based on Syrian and other Arab countries leaving Ottoman hegemony in 1916. This was compounded when during the 1930s when the French occupiers of Syria gave Turkey the Syrian district of Alexandretta (Iskenderun and Antakya).

Bakr states that Aleppo, the largest province of Syria, relied on the Qawig River for both drinking and agriculture and when Turkey in the late 1940s changed the course of the river, thousands of acres of Syrian farmland were destroyed.

Despite the water problems Syria faces, Syria adopts a rigid position with Israel and places political considerations before human needs and consequently refuses to join the multilateral talks over water rights, and other regional issues, until Israel agrees to completely withdraw from the Golan Heights. Syrian intransigence was also demonstrated at the Middle East Water Summit which took place in Istanbul in November 1991 when Syria refused to join unless Israel's presence was refused, and so it was.

The Golan, whose western slopes supply 1/5 of the water reaching the upper part of the Jordan River, and ultimately to the Sea of Galilee, is fed by the Banyas River, which flows through the Golan.  The Golan is the key to supplying over 35% of Israel's water supply, and to relinquish this wate r is dangerous to the point that only with complete trust in Syria can Israel continue its existence as an industrial nation; however, a realistic appraisal is that Israel cannot allow itself to be dependent on Syria, or even Turkey for its survival, as water cannot be a result of a peace agreem ent but rather a condition for peace.

Jordan also heavily depends on external sources of water and even though it shares the Jordan River as part of its border with Israel, Jordan must depend on the river's main tributary, the Yarmouk, which is on its northern border with Syria. To compound Jordan's problem, Syria has built 20 smal l dams on the sources of the Yarmouk River, diminishing their water supply even more.

Bakr, for example, acknowledges that Jordan, while doing little, is well aware of the problem, and Professor Elias Salameh of Jordan University predicts that most underground water reserves will be depleted by the year 2005, and the state will be almost totally dependent on rainwater, always da ngerous in a region where prolonged draught is commonplace.

Jordan's problems are especially severe due to the arrival of 400,000 Arab refugees from the gulf war and a birthrate so high that their present population of 3 million is expected to double by the year 2015 writes Hope, Young, and Bellisari.

This area is all part of Israel's natural reservoir and of paramount, strategic importance. The importance of this water source was well demonstrated when Israel in 1967 bombed a dam, erected by Damascus in the early 60s, that was to divert the Yarmouk River, which also feeds the Jordan. Since Damascus clearly stated their goal was to deny water to Israel, Israel destroyed the dam and Syria abandoned the project.

Under U.S. pressure, Israel has tacitly agreed to the construction of the Unity Dam, (the Wahda) on the Yarmouk River in Syria, near the Jordanian border, which while supplying Jordan with a temporary solution to its water problem, recreates the condition that most agree sparked the 1967 war. 	The Yarmouk River is also vital to Israel as it responsible for about 3% of Israel's water needs, and Israel withheld its approval of this project unless it was assured of some water. Israel's approval was necessary in order for the project to receive funding from the World Bank.

Starr feels that Lebanon alone of all the countries in area has adequate amounts of rechargeable water and enough to share with its neighbors, however, the country is crippled by civil war, Syrian occupation and mismanagement with resultant byproduct of severe water shortages in Beirut, neglect ed farmland, and saltwater intrusion in the coastal aquifers.


Egypt, a source of water?
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Vesiland agrees that no discussion of this area would be complete without the mention of Egypt as the thought of the Nile, one of the world's mightiest rivers, flowing through it gives impressions of unlimited water. Nothing could be farther from the truth as Egypt must be prepared to feed an estimated 25 million more people by 2010 and it is ill prepared to deal with this problem.

Both Besiland and Matthews write that Egypt has come to terms with the Sudan guaranteeing them 55.5 billion cubic meters a year from the Aswan Dam; however, with the fundamentalist Islamic takeover of the Sudan accompanied by their efforts to destabilize Egypt, all guarantees have to taken in context. To further complicate the problem, Ethiopia, the source of 85% of the headwaters of the Nile, is not a participant in regional talks on water (known as the Undugu talks), and has threatened to dam the headwaters and divert up to 39%of the river's water, which will be a severe blow to Egypt and the other nations depending on this water. Egyptian Water Minister Mahmoud Abu-Zeid says, "Egypt is not a water rich country any more. Beyond 2000 our water budget is very dark and serious."

All the nations of the Middle East are aware of the importance of water in allowing their individual countries to progress from backward third world countries to industrial economies necessary to compete in the 21st century. And as far back as 1985, UN Secretary General Boutros Ghali, then Egyp t's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, predicted the future when he warned that "The next war in the Middle East will be fought over water, not politics."

This information points out the pressures building up in the area, and consequently the danger to Israel, as it is predictable that when this problem reaches crisis stage, and it shortly will, history has proven who will be the first victim.


Effects Upon Israel's Water
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EFFECTS UPON ISRAEL'S WATER

Israel is susceptible to severe water shortages because of the very strong possibility of Israel relinquishing control of its major sources of water. Israel's receives 65% of its fresh water from two major aquifers, a shallow, slightly salty layer beneath the coastal plain that includes Gaza, a nd the Yarkon/Taninim limestone aquifer that rests under the mountains.

Up to 80% of the water in the Yarkon/Taninim aquifer resides mainly in Judea and Samaria, and up to 80% of the waters recharged by rain and this corresponds to Starr's estimates. In order for Israel to sustain growth, it has used the recharged water that flows naturally westward to the coastal plain and the Mediterranean.  If this water is overpumped in an Arab State, or diverted for any reason, it is estimated that Israel will lose up to 40% of its water. The remainder of Israel's needs are supplied by underground resources, waste water reclamation, catchments, saline springs, and ot her sources according to Starr.

The remainder is from the Jordan River and stored in the Sea of Galilee. "This is a time bomb," declares Meir Ben Meir, former director of Israel's agriculture ministry and an acknowledged water expert. "If the people of the region are not clever enough to discuss a mutual solution to the problem of water scarcity, war is unavoidable," quote Gowes and Walker.

Israel has been a responsible user of water and has pioneered in such developments as drip irrigation techniques that have benefitted all nations of the area. They have developed additional technology as exemplified by high frequency pulse irrigation and computerized irrigation schemes. Achievements in water reduction use has been the focus of high technology approaches in Israel, and results are many.  They include the use of recycled, urban wastewater that in the Tel Aviv area alone has been enough to cultivate about 20,000 acres of farmland.  In the Negev, they use brackish water f rom ancient aquifers. These are desperate measures for desperate times; however, we are dealing with a non-renewable resource, and making increasing demands upon it. These approaches have helped Israel's farmers double their output over the last 20 years while using no additional water.  And yet , Israel does face an immanent water crisis. The heavy rains of 1991-1992, while partially refilling aquifers, did not restore the water supply to non- emergency status. Actions taken by the Israeli government over the past few years include heavy cutting of water for agriculture by as much as 30%, but this has not solved the problem as it is compounded by new pressures brought by new arrivals to the country. " In practical terms, Israel has no water reserves in its reservoirs," says State Comptroller Miriam Ben Porat in a special report in 1991.

The ultimate question facing Israel is what are the direct results of Israel relinquishing control of their present water supplies?

Israel's Water Consumption, 1989 (Vesiland, Starr) __________________________________________________________________________

Israel (behind the Green Line) . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Billion Cubic Feet

Yesha. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Billion Cubic Feet

Available renewable water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Billion Cubic Feet

Deficit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Billion Cubic Feet

"Dr. Thomas Naff of the University of Pennsylvania estimates that by the end of the century, Israel's water needs may exceed its supply by 30 percent." This problem is so severe that even if Israel retained Judea and Samaria, it faces massive problems. The natural water table is shrinking, and salt water intrusion of coastal wells is an every day occurrence, and their use for irrigation has also been halted due to the heavy salt content. One approach to this problem, as adopted by the U.S.  and other nations, has been heavy reverse pumping of fresh water to reverse the salt water intrusion, but Israel cannot afford this luxury.

Israel's Water Supplies

(these are approximations as accurate numbers vary) 1 _

The Jordan and its reservoir, the Kinnerit . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1/3

Judea and Samaria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1/3

Other sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1/3

These number are approximate and can be examined in many ways; for example, much of the runoff from Judea and Samaria enter Israel; however, Israel would be vulnerable to any misuse, intentional or unintentional, from those having control.

Power wealthy countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and others in the UAE, can afford to construct and use oil powered, desalinization plants. The cost of reclaiming fresh water from the sea is estimated at more than two dollars for a cubic meter as compared to 20 cents in Midwest American cities. Clearly, this source of water is for the wealthy.

As shown above, the cost of desalinization is prohibitively expensive as large sums of power are required and so alternative forms of power must be explored. Nuclear power in this area of the world 2 poses political problems so severe that many consider them unacceptable, not to mention the accompanying strategic and environmental problems. Coal or oil power would be usable substitutes, however, these are not natural resources for Israel and to import them would again place Israel at the whims of the surrounding powers as when Iran cut off Israel's oil supply in 1973.

Estimates from the World Bank are that the Middle East has the highest median cost of water anywhere at about a median of $300 per capita in 1985. To place these numbers in perspective, compare them at twice that of the American continent and greater than five times that of Southeast Asia says Starr.

There are schemes to assist Israel with this problem of survival, but as of now none offer more than a possibility of some future technological breakthrough; but none offer a solution for today for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, Israel searches for alternative sources of water and some a pproaches are receiving serious consider ation. One possibility is to ship water from Turkey in flexible barges or floating bags. The additional costs beyond the cost of the water incurred in this scheme has been estimated at about 200 million dollars.  There are discussions taking place concerning this approach between Israeli and Turkish authorities, however, much will depend on the final price. Agriculture Minister Rafael Eitan said in November 1990 that the Israeli government would not import water, but they did encourage private importing arrangements according to Starr.

The history of the Middle East has been a violent one. History shows that Muslim countries do not hesitate to war with each other, and whether it's over religion, Sunni versus Shiite, or just for tyrants to remain in power, millions perish. The Iran-Iraq conflict consumed over a million lives a lone, and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait demonstrated the intrinsic, warlike nature of Muslim countries in this area of the world.  To even consider that Islam would assist Israel in their legitimate, humanitarian needs while Islamic countries are predictably impoverished by paucity of water is to st rain one's imagination.

The eventual destruction of Israeli lives due to future wars over water is unfortunately predictable, and Israel's only recourse is a strong Israel with control over its own natural resources.

As early as the mid-1980s, U.S. government intelligence services estimated that there were at least 10 places in the world where war could break out over dwindling shared water the majority in the Middle East, Jordan, Israel, . . . . says Starr.


Consequences if Israel gives away its water
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POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES FACING THE JEWISH STATE

 * The in-gathering must stop as Israel simply doesn't have the resources to accommodate newcomers.

* Substantial farming must also be halted and as pointed out by Starr,

"The agricultural sector supplies 5 per cent of Israel's gross national product but drains more than 70 per cent of the countries water."

* Energy costs will predictably rise due to the necessary diversion of resources to desalinating sea water.

* Higher energy costs traditionally slow down a nation's economy.

* Kibbutzim, Moshavim, and agricultural areas will experience the traditional exodus to urban areas with predictable high rates of unemployment.

Ploss and Rubenstein feel strongly that if Israel surrenders this all important natural resource, Israel will be at the mercy of their Muslim neighbors within a short time, and another holocaust will be in the making; but this time Israel is allowing it to happen and is an active participant in self destruction. "Israel cannot survive . . .  without retaining access to this water [Judea and Samaria] or replacing it from some other source. That is a real security problem."


Notes and references
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END NOTES

1.	These numbers vary from about 20% to 80% depending on the source; nevertheless, they are probably all true as the situation is dependent on how the flow of water is controlled by those occupying the source of water. I have used a conservative estimate of 33% but we must realize that even a 1% drop in the water supply could be devastating.

2.	This is the only practical approach for Israel using present day technology.  Israel has no choice but to ignore the cries of predictable anguish due to its use of nuclear technology and the financing problem is one Israel cannot ignore. Ploss and Rubenstein point out that a large scale desalting plant was completed in 1985 in Ashdod, but was abandoned because of the high cost of energy. Present day nuclear technology is the only feasible approach for power impover ished Israel, and it should be explored. Many other approaches have been explored but none have yet to be proved feasi ble for the foreseeable future. They include: Solar power generated in areas surrounding the Dead Sea.  Hydroelectric power generated by allowing the Mediterranean to flow down to the Dead Sea by building huge canals. However, all of these schemes, and many more, require enormous sums and have y et to be proven feasible. _________________________________________________________________________

Works Cited:

Bakr, Ishan.  "Storm over the Euphrates." World Press Review (May 1990) v37 n5 p68(1)

Gowers, Andrew and Walker, Tony.  "Water War in the Middle East." World Press Review, (May 1989) v36 n5 57(2)

Hope, Marjorie, Young, James and Bellsari, Anna.  "Water Disputes Trouble Middle East." The Christian Century (June 3, 1992) v109 n19 587.

Irani, Rustom.  "Water Wars." New Statesman & Society, (May 3, 1991) v4 n149 24(2)

Mathews, Nancy.  "A Key Resource at Risk " UNESCO Courier, (Oct. 1992) 26(2)

Ploss, Irwin and Rubinstein, Jonothan.  "Water for peace: an unlikely Mideast gambit." The New Republic (Sept. 7, 1992) v207 n11-12 200(3).

Starr, Joyce R.  "Water Wars." Foreign Policy (Spring 1991) n82 17(20)

Starr, Joyce R. and Stoll, Daniel C.  The Politics of Scarcity: Water in the Middle East.  Westview Press, 1988

Vesiland, Priit J.  "The Middle East's Water Critical Resource. " National Geographic (May 1993) 38-70. .


Cover sheet:  Background: Water, Israel and the Middle East
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Introduction.  Water, Israel and the middle east.  Saudi desalization plants were vulnerable to Iraq missiles. The Nile is dependent on Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan. Syria today has dammed one river Israel depends on, and Jordan and Syria are diverting the Yarmuk.

Israeli water sources:  The Jordan River, Yarkon-Taninim and coastal acquifers. Supplies and consumption are precariously balanced at 1.7 billion cu.m./year.

Past attempts at regional understandings.  In 1953 US President Eisenhower sent an envoy to plan a division of the waters of the Jordan River among Jordan, Israel, Syria and Lebanon.  The Arabs refused to sign any treaty including Israel as a beneficiary.

Water in Judea/Samaria and Gaza.  Israel applies pre-67 Jordanian Civil Law, which requires permits for drilling for either home or agricultural use.  Nevertheless, despite lies about Jews stealing water, 90% of water consumption goes to Arabs, 10% to Jews.  In Gaza, 97% to Arabs, 3% to Jews.  5.3million cu.m. transferred into Judea/Samaria from pre-67 Israel; most goes to Arabs.  Critics never cite the numbers - why ruin a good fantasy.

Summary:  Israel is generally recognized as among the most water-efficient countries, if not the most efficient.  In the fall of 1991, Turkey planned a regional water conference to plan the sharing and design of resources.  Syria refused to come if Israel was invited. All the invitees were willing to attend and ban Israel, but United States forced the meetings postponement.  Comment: Is it really reasonable to place the water supply of Israel's children in the hands of Syrian good will?

Annex:  Many journalists and Arab spokespersons accuse the Jews of stealing Arab water, Here are the yearly drilling statistics for wells in Judea and Samaria, so that you may judge the claims for yourselves.


Water, Israel and the Middle East
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Israel Information Service Gopher Director: Chaim Shacham, First Secretary

Information Division	Israel Foreign Ministry - Jerusalem Mail all Queries to ask@israel-info.gov.il

November 1991

Background: Water, Israel and the Middle East

Introduction

Water is a central problem throughout the entire Middle East.  Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states operate desalination plants, whose vulnerability was clearly demonstrated in the Gulf war.  In the heart of the Middle East, Egypt is totally dependent on the Nile River for water.  This dependency is affected both by natural causes and by the states that control the river sources and influence the flow of water (Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda). The same is true of Iraq, Syria and Turkey, which are mutually dependent on the Tigris, Euphrates and Orontes rivers for water. The damming of any one of these rivers may create critical water shortages for one or more of these countries.

Water has played a central role in the Arab-Israeli conflict as well Lebanon, Syria and Jordan rely on the same water sources as does Israel.  Syrian attempts in the 1960s to divert the sources of the Jordan river and the Sea of Galilee in order to deprive Israel of its main water suppy put the region on the brink of war.  Today, the construction of a series of dams by Syria is also potentially very harmful to Israel.  Jordan already has diverted the waters of the Yarmuk (a main tributary of the Jordan) and is engaged in a joint project with Syria to dam this river.

In the Middle East, water can either serve as a catalyst for cooperation for the advancement of peace and the development of the region, or remain a focal point of tensions.


Israeli Water Sources (and consumption)
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Israeli Water Sources

Today, Israel has three major sources of water:

1.	The Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, much of which has been transported since the 1960s by the National Water Carrier to supply the majority of Israel's water needs in the densely populated areas on the coastal plain and in the Negev.

2.	The Yarkon-Taninim aquifer, which provides about one quarter of Israel's yearly water consumption.

3.	The Coastal aquifer.

Israel's annual total water consumption for many years stood at 1.7 billion cm (cubic meters). In this past year, consumption was decreased to 1.45 billion cm.  The pumping of water from all sources within the 1949 armistice lines ("pre-1967 Israel"), including recycled water, is 1.7 billion cm, producing a deficit of 200 million cm.  The average consumption per person is approximately 75 cm annually.  The Water Commissioner hopes to reduce this figure (mainly among the urban Jewish population) to 70cm.


Past Attempts at Regional Understandings
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Past Attempts at Regional Understandings

In 1953, U.S. President Eisenhower sent a special envoy, Eric Johnston, to the area to prepare an acceptable regional plan ensuring an agreed-upon allocation of the waters of the Jordan River.  46.7% of the water was to go to the Kingdom of Jordan, 38.5% to Israel, 11.7% to Syria and 3.1% to Lebanon.  The Israeli authorities backed and accepted the agreement.  In the Arab countries, the authorities refused to sign any accord involving Israel as a partner and mutual beneficiary.  The Johnston Plan was never ratified.  Nonetheless, there is a tacit understanding between Jordan and Israel  to abide by its quotas.

Perhaps this best illustrates the fact that the issue of water has been intertwined in this area with political problems between Israel and her neighbors. A Palestinian activist, Gaza attorney Fayez Abu Rahme, has said that "... water is an issue, but compared with political problems, it is minor."

Israel is particularly vulnerable in this regard.  The region's water sources are scarce, and Arab states continue to be hostile toward Israel. Before 1967, much of Israel's water sources were dominated by hostile forces in the Golan Heights and Judea/Samaria (the West Bank).  Water, Israel's life-blood, was manipulated by the Arabs for political reasons. Israel's presence today in Judea/Samaria and the Golan Heights has prevented this from reoccuring.


Water in Judea/Samaria and Gaza
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Water in Judea/Samaria and Gaza

Both before and after 1967, all the residents of these areas have used the water sources jointly.  Man-made boundaries are meaningless when dealing with the common use of limited resources.  Only the coordinated, intelligent and controlled use of water by the entire population can maintain the necessary balance. Uncontrolled pumping in any one area can lead to the depletion of the entire aquifer and the dangerous salination of the water as the result of the penetration of sea water into the underground reserves. In order to prevent such damage, the use of water resources must be coordi nated through proper supervision of drilling and salinity control.

Over the years, many accusations have been made regarding Israel's use of the water resources in the territories -- accusations that are often anchored in misunderstandings or political exploitation and disinformation.

The following are a number of points to clarify the issue:  1. Since 1967, the previous Jordanian Civil Law has been maintained in Judea and Samaria. Jordanian Law requires that the Minister of Natural Resources review all applications for the drilling of wells and extraction licenses, and approve or reject such applications.  After 1967, in full compliance with international law, this responsibility has been carried out by the Israeli Army's Civil Administration of Judea/Samaria.

2.	Requests for the drilling of new wells for household uses have been granted as a matter of course.  However, the Jordanian Law imposes limitations on drilling for agricultural purposes.  Israel continues to apply the same law with the same limitations.  Nonetheless, the Civil Administration h as granted permits to drill wells for agricultural purposes when the criterion of the law are filled.

3.	Since 1967, 46 wells (12 for agriculture) have been drilled for the Arab population's needs in Judea and Samaria, both by residents themselves and by the Civil Administration.  In some cases, Arab residents turned to Mekorot, the Israel Water Development Corporation, for assistance in drilling.

4.	Over the same period of time, 17 permits were granted for wells serving the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria.  Most of these wells are located in the Jordan Valley, which is hydrologically and demographically isolated and separated from the Arab population centers.

5.	Israel has not altered the relative balance between the amount of water used by both parties before 1967.

6.	Israel has not reduced the quantity of the aquifer water (as is often falsely claimed), nor has it affected or damaged its quality.

7.	In the Gaza District, the total water consumption for household and agricultural purposes in 1988/89 was 92 million cm.  The local Arab population consumed 90 million cm (approximately 97% of the total water consumption). The Jewish population used the remaining 2 million cm (approximately 3% ).

8.	The Jewish communities in the Gaza District derive their water from sophisticated drilling operations that collect water that would otherwise flow into the sea.  A new regional project that will provide water from within "pre-1967" Israel to the Jewish sector in the Gaza District is under con struction.  When it is completed, the runoff water that saved by the previously mentioned sophisticated drilling system will add to the resources available to the Arab sector.

9.	In Judea/Samaria, the total water consumption for household and agricultural purposes in 1988/89 was 152 million cubic meters. The local Arab population consumed approximately 90% of this total, while the Jewish population used the remaining 10%. Moreover, during the same year an amount of 5. 3 million cm from sources within "pre-1967" Israel have been transferred to these areas, 4 million cm (75%) of which were used by the Arab residents and the remaining 25% by Jews.

10.	There are still approximately 175 Arab villages out of a total of 425 villages and towns in Judea/Samaria that are not yet connected to the water network. Limited water sources, low well-output, insufficient network infrastructure and lack of reservoirs are the main problems facing the water system in the area.  A master-plan that will cost $2-3 million is now being implemented, and will address the water needs of these villages as well.

The plan will be directed towards developing new sources:  the drilling of new wells, the utilization of brackish water for agricultural purposes (which will help prevent the contamination of joint water sources), and the improvement and renewal of pipelines and reservoirs (five have already been constructed).

11.	Other programs in the planning stage include the building of six new pumping stations and four additional large water towers, the improvement of urban water systems, sewage purification, and closer supervision to avoid the illegal digging of new, unauthorized wells.  Primarily in the Gaza District, there will be projects dedicated to the collection of rain water.


Summary
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Summary

In Israel there is a profound awareness of the scarcity of water.  Frequent television broadcasts sharpen public awareness of the need to use water sparingly, and schoolchildren are taught from an early age not to waste water.  Israel is a world leader in the development of agricultural irrigati on systems that reduce water consumption.

A strident, comprehensive report recently published by the State Comptroller asserts that despite Israel's efforts to conserve water, there is still room for improvement.  In 1991, The Minister of Agriculture issued stringent regulations on the use of water in both the public and private sectors (including a ban on watering gardens and filling private swimming pools and encouraging the installation of home water-saving devices), as well as in the agricultural sector (a reduction of overall consumption and switching to less water-intensive crops).

In the fall of 1991, Turkish President Turgut Ozal, had planned on hosting a regional summit on the subject of water in the Middle East.  All of the countries in the area were to be invited.  Unfortunately, Syria threatened that it would not attend the meeting if Israel would be present. The United States stated that it would not take part under such threats, and would not agree that any of the neighboring countries be banned from the summit.  In the end, the summit was postponed.  Once again, the issue of water fell victim to regional politics and continued Arab hostility towards Israel.

An understanding of the need for cooperation in the use of water resources, along with control and supervision, can serve as an important element in building relations between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as between Israel and its neighboring Arab states.  Hopefully, a cooperative seach fo r a mutually satisfactory solution to the region's water problems could play a central role in the Middle East peace process.

November 1991


Annex:  Drilling permits
Annex:  Drilling permits  Prev  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links  Links

ANNEX: DRILLING PERMITS ISSUED IN JUDEA/SAMARIA SINCE 1967

These figures describe the drilling permits issued since 1967. They do not include replacement wells or existing wells that have been deepened:

NO.  NAME OF WELL DISTRICT	YEAR PURPOSE	NOTES ========================================================================

1.	Herodian	Bethlehem	1968 drinking water successful

2.	Samoua	Hebron	1968	"	"	drilling only

3.	Yakhma	Nablus	1968	"	"	unsuccessful

4.	Tubas	"	1969	"	"	successful

5.	Beidan-I	"	1970	"	"	"

6.	Abu Hashem	" (Fara'a) 1970 agricultural	"

7.	Herodion-II	Bethlehem	1972 drinking water	"

8.	Mikhmash	Ramallah	1972	"	"	unsuccessful

9.	El-Yamoun	Jenin	1972	"	"	"

10.	Beit Qad	"	1972	"	"	"

11.	Experimental Jiftlik-	1972 agricultural	"

Station	Jordan R. Val.

12.	Dotan-I	Jenin	1973 drinking water successful

13.	Tulkarem	Tulkarem	1975	"	"	"

14.	Bardeleh-II	Jordan Valley 1976 agricultural	"

15.	Anabta-II	Nablus	1977 drinking water	"

16.	Samoua-II	Hebron	1978	"	"	"

17.	Ein Samia-IV Ramallah	1978	"	"	"

18.	Naser Hussein Jenin	1978 agricultural	"

19.	El-Masri	Jiftlik	1979	"	"

20.	Shibtin-IV	Ramallah	1980 drinking water	"

21.	Dotan-II	Jenin	1981	"	"	"

22.	Qalqilya	Tulkarem	1981	"	"	"

23.	Ein-Samia V	Ramallah	1981	"	"	"

24.	Koutub	Uja	1981 agricultural	unsuccessful

25.	Nusseiba	Uja	1981	"	not drilled

26.	Mousa Allami Jericho	1981 agriculture	"	"

27.	Shouffa	Tulkarem	1981 drinking water successful

28.	Herodion-III Bethlehem	1982	"	"	"

29.	Shibtin-V	Ramallah	1982	"	"	"

30.	Beit Ibba	Nablus	1982	"	"	"

31.	E-Zawiya	Tulkarem	1982	"	"	"

32.	Hableh	"	1982	"	"	"

33.	Azoun	"	1983	"	"	"

34.	Zeita	"	1983	"	"	"

35.	Kaffin	"	1983	"	"	"

36.	Dir El-Gasoun	"	1984	"	"	"

37.	Bala'a	Nablus	1984	"	"	"

38.	Tequa/Beit Fajar Bethlehem	1985	"	"	"

39.	Dammen	Jordan Valley 1985 agricultural	"

40.	Fara'a-II	Nablus	1986 drinking water	"

41.	Zif-I/Rehear Hebron	1986	"	"	"

42.	Hashem Dragma Jiftlik	1986 agricultural	"

43.	"	"	"	1986	"	"

44.	"	"	"	1986	"	"

45.	Dotan-III	Jenin	1988 drinking water	"

46.	Ein Samia-VI Ramallah	1990	"	"	drilling in

progress .


Quotations on the importance of water
Quotations on the importance of water   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Egyptian Water Minister Mahmoud Abu-Zeid says, "Egypt is not a water rich country any more. Beyond 2000 our water budget is very dark and serious."

And as far back as 1985, UN Secretary General Boutros Ghali, then Egyp t's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, predicted the future when he warned that "The next war in the Middle East will be fought over water, not politics."

The remainder(of Israel's water) is from the Jordan River and stored in the Sea of Galilee. "This is a time bomb," declares Meir Ben Meir, former director of Israel's agriculture ministry and an acknowledged water expert.   "If the people of the region are not clever enough to discuss a mutual s olution to the problem of water scarcity, war is unavoidable," quote Gowes and Walker.

 	" In practical terms, Israel has no water reserves in its reservoirs," says State Comptroller Miriam Ben Porat in a special report in 1991.

Dr. Thomas Naff of the University of Pennsylvania estimates that "by the end of the century, Israel's water needs may exceed its supply by 30 percent."

 	"Israel cannot survive . . .  without retaining access to this water [Judea and Samaria] or replacing it from some other source. That is a real security problem."  -Ploss, Irwin and Rubinstein, Jonothan.  "Water for peace: an unlikely Mideast gambit." The New Republic (Sept. 7, 1992) v207 n11-12 200(3).


Ignored by Rabin gov't: Alarms on water by Israeli hydrologists, parliamentarians and others
Ignored by Rabin gov't: Alarms on water by Israeli hydrologists, parliamentarians and others  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

A dry, dangerous future by Martin Sherman  / Preview

Let's talk water:  A short article on the reliability of Turkey, the sanctity of treaties with Syria and the PLO who will need the water themselves, and the astronomical cost of desalinization.

Jordanian positions at Tulkarm before the 1967 war overlooked Tel-Aviv's main water supply.  This position Rabin proposes to hand to Yasser Arafat, who naturally, would never, never think of using a laser targeting device and...

Oct 92:  Syria drills for water, despite per capita resources at least 6 times Israel's. Chart  Chart  What chances Syria'll keep its hands off the Golan's water, agreement or no?  And if comparatively advanced Syria is so inefficient with its abundant resources, how efficiently with the PLO handle Israel's water?  Give me a break.

24 Feb 93:  The Truth About Water.  A journalist warns against surrendering Israel's water supply.  Even with the best of intentions, the Palestinians will pollute the mountain aquifer, dig unregulated wells, and divert the water.  So will Syria as her population increases and Turkey diverts water.  Who would have believed that months later Israel's government would so eagerly give away Israel's most critical resource, in exchange for awards, a few months of diplomatic acclaim, and a short dance on center stage.

29 July 93: (1993, not 1994). FM Shimon Peres in TV interview with leading PLO official makes hifalutin' speech about reconciliation, brotherhood, the New World Order and how borders and imperialism are outdated in solving problems like water and economics.  Clearly in love with grand speeches.

24 Jan 94 Knesset resolution: Israel must have control over water sources

(!!!) 11Feb 94 Geologist Martin Sherman says water sources already inadequate for Israel's survival. Giving them to the PLO will prove disastrous.

28 Mar 94: Not finding Israel's water crisis palatable or consistent with big-boy diplomacy, Rabin gov't escapes into fantastic schemes.

20 Jun 94  Water Commissioner Gideon Tzur calls water threat "critical".  Rami Gabzion, water expert for state controller says their is a great threat of contamination by unregulated PLO industry.  Note: See Appeasement over water.  / Rabin gives PLO rights to drill without regulation  /


Jordanian artillery overlooked Tel-Aviv's main water pumping station
Jordanian artillery overlooked Tel-Aviv's main water pumping station  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

...Moreover, the pre-1967 borders afforded Jordan a number of strategic positions which made Israel and its population extremely vulnerable.  From its position at Tulkarm, the Jordanian Army possessed could control Israeli traffic from north to south and overlooked the main water supply to the greater Tel Aviv region. At Latrun, the Jordanians controlled the approaches to the only road connecting Jerusalem to the rest of Israel.

-Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, 3rd Quarter 1992 issue, available by gopher, www or ftp from jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


29 July 93: Peres says water problems must be solved
29 July 93: Peres says water problems must be solved  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

...I do not believe it possible to solve the economic problems of the Arabs or the Jews by means of a national solution. There has to be a regional solution. All the talk of an Israeli takeover, of imperialism -- it's nonsense. Today, in the realm of economics, there is no domination; there is competition. Japan has a massive armory, not because it dominates, but because it competes effectively. Everyone has to compete across open borders. We have to solve the water problem. We have to develop tourism. We have to set up an infrastructure so that people can move about.

- From Transcript of "Encounter", with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Faisal Husseini Israel Television, 29 July 1993, 7:00 P.M.


Dry, dangerous future
Dry, dangerous future   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

A November 5 broadcast on Israel Television highlighted an issue which many in the "peace camp" would prefer to play down: water...

In no uncertain terms, the water experts on the TV program drove home the fact that by relinquishing the Golan and the highlands of Judea and Samaria, Israel would in effect also be yielding its capacity to supply the country with water.  The issue, the program made clear, isn't only one of quantity but also (and perhaps even more important), quality.

The water issue is unique as a factor in the dispute over the need for continued Israeli control over the "territories."  In contrast to military security, for example, the dangers Israel would be exposed to after evacuation could arise with equal severity even in the absence of malicious purpose or hostile Arab intent.  They could result from lack of awareness, poor management or even legitimate exigency on the part of the Arabs.

The experts warned of a nightmare situation:  The rapid growth of the Arab population in the Judean and Samarian hills, owing to the influx of returnees and refugees under the terms of the agreement, would result in uncontrolled flows of sewage and other pollutants running westward toward Israel's coastal metropolis, seeping into the fresh groundwater sources and contaminating them with sickness and diseases such as dysentery and typhoid...

Israel would be able to prevent it only by retaining the authority to supervise urban planning and administer immigration policy; and by retaining the power to determine and the ability to enforce standards of public health and hygiene and regulations for sewage treatment and pollution control.

Ensuring the water supply to the greater Tel Aviv area and other coastal towns would require Israel's maintaining a wide range of functions under its jurisdiction.  These would include the right to determine the amounts of water pumped from the various drilling site in the "West Bank," control over the infrastructure needed to operate these sites(such as electrical supply), the capacity to secure the pumping installations and pipelines and the freedom of movement of the access roads leading to and from them...

Since the Palestinian authorities would be those physically present in the areas which afford direct control over the water sources, they would have an inherent advantage in the event of any clash of interests or disagreement.  In fact, Israel would find itself in a situation where some of its most vital strategic interests are totally dependent on the goodwill of the PLO or any future successor, such as Hamas.

In the north of the country, the situation is much the same.  Withdrawal would leave almost the entire catchment area of the Sea of Galilee in the hands of the Syrians.

Here it should be mentioned that dam construction in turkey is diminishing available water in the north of Syria, compelling the Syrians to rely increasingly on sources in the south of their country.

According to expert hydrological opinion, damming of the numerous rivers and streams which flow from the Golan into the Sea of Galilee would cause ecological catastrophe for the lake; reducing the winter flows into it would result in an increase in the salinity of agricultural irrigation.

It must be recalled that nearly all the water for non-agricultural purposes in Israel comes from three major sources:

The Sea of Galilee, whose catchment area is controlled from the Golan:

The Mountain Aquifer, which is Israel's major source off urban drinking water, controlled from the highlands of Judea and Samaria;

the Coastal Aquifer.  If the present policy trends of the Rabin government policy are implemented, the catchment area of the Sea of Galilee will be controlled by the Syrians and the Mountain Aquifer by the PLO.  Consequently, the only source of water remaining under Israeli control will be the Coastal Aquifer.

As emphasized in the State Comptroller's report, the Coastal Aquifer source is in extremely poor condition.  In fact, its preservation as a viable source of supply requires that pumping from it be reduced!

Moreover, this government's building policy, concentrating on the construction of new residential sites in the coastal region instead of spreading them out over the hills to the east, can only serve to aggravate the situation even further.  "Sealing" the land surface above the aquifer with ever -larger areas of concrete and asphalt, which such a policy inevitably involves, reduces its capacity to absorb rainwater, thereby diminishing the replenishment of the dwindling groundwater supply.

These growing areas of cement and tarmac cause rainwater to run off into the sea before it can seep down to the subterranean water table.  In addition,, the increased volume of human activity above the aquifer increases the sources of pollution, contributing even more to the deteriorating condition of the only remaining water source to be left under Israeli control...

-Martin Sherman, Dry, dangerous future, Jerusalem Post, November 21, 1993

Martin Sherman teaches political science at Tel Aviv University.


Preview

Even without hostile intent, poor water management by the PLO will pollute Israel's extremely fragile coastal aquifer as sewage drains from the West Bank toward the sea.  The Rabin/Arafat accord is literally foresaking the state's ability to supply its population with water.


Let's talk water
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LET'S TALK WATER!

Every commentator I have read, without exception, point out the common problem of ALL countries in this area regarding water. They all have problems that will only accelerate with time, and no solution is in sight. Yossi Beilin aside, desalinization is NOT an economic reality, as typical costs given for oil fired desalinization plants in Saudi Arabia (usually given as an example), the world's largest, are two dollars per cubic meter as opposed to an average of twenty cents for most mid-Western cities here in the U.S.

Water resources diminish as salt water intrusion contaminates the coastal aquifers, and fossil water vanishes at an accelerating rate.

One third of Israel's water comes from water entering the country through the Golan and on to Israel's natural reservoir, the Sea of Galilee. An additional third comes from two natural aquifers that are in the territories that Israel expects to return.

Political considerations aside, does anyone seriously predict that these bitter enemies of Israel are prepared to continue the flow of water to Israel THAT THEY THEMSELVES DESPERATELY NEED?

The plans are to ship water from Turkey by floating barges and supplemented by large tankers. This sounds as if it is a possibility, yet we know that when Syria objected to Israel's presence at the regional water conference in Istanbul in 1991, Israel was uninvited. We must also ask what happen s in a crunch when a tanker is easily poisoned, and would a Muslim country ship water to Israel if Israel were engaged in a confrontation with another Muslim country?

From a practical point of view, how easy would it be to attack and destroy a tanker sailing from Turkey to Israel? This simply is not a reliable source of water, and to deny the obvious is to deny reason.

To put this into perspective, try to imagine your reaction if you were given a choice between:

* Purchasing your major water supplies from Turkey, a country that has proven undependable and a means of transportation susceptible to total cutoff in time of an emergency.

* Installing desalinization plants that based on current technology would increase your water costs by a factor of ten, and would be a prime target in case of war.

* Basing your existence on the generosity of the PLO who predictably will need this water for themselves.

Of course, we can play mix and match; however, no combination of the above offers Israel a safe and secure water supply that they alone control.

-extracted from Hatikva, news from Israel you haven't heard, 2 Jan 94 issue


24 Jan 94 Knesset: Israel must have control of water sources
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KNESSET: ISRAEL MUST HAVE CONTROL OF WATER SOURCES

The Knesset Economics Committee Monday passed a resolution calling for exclusive Israeli control of the water sources in the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria, in any Arab-Israeli agreement.

"The transfer of the water sources to the control of the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and the transfer of the Golan water sources to Syria could endanger the water supply to agriculture, disrupt the economic development of Israel, cause an irreversible ecological catastrophe to Lake Kineret(Sea of Galilee) and the mountain aquifers and prevent the state from successfully absorbing substantial immigration in the coming decade," said the resolution.

Therefore, the committee resolved that "Israel must reserve the authority to decide and enforce its decisions with regard to all issues in dispute involving the water sources in Judea, Samaria and the Golan, their use and preservation."

-extracted from Hatikva, 27 Jan 94


Geologist: Water as an impossible impasse in the Arab-Israeli Conflict
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THE PEACE PROCESS: WATER IS A MAJOR PROBLEM

A high degree of regional stability, close international cooperation, and increased democratization in Arab countries is required to solve the Middle East's water problem, argues Martin Sherman, a geologist specializing in water issues. Sherman is author of "Water as an Impossible Impasse in the Israel-Arab Conflict," a policy paper published by the Israeli NATIV Center for Policy Research.  Solutions to Middle Eastern water problems will require large-scale, long-term enterprises, and given existing political conditions in the region,.Israel cannot afford to relinquish any control ov er its scarce water supply, Sherman asserts.

Israel's water problems have passed the point of merely being a matter of resource allocation. Water is now a strategic issue affecting Israel's very survival, Sherman writes. In fact, "the present water supply is insufficient for her to fulfill her most rudimentary intermediate and long-term needs without incurring serious and irreversible damage to the existing natural reservoirs."

Three major sources comprise Israel's National Water System; the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret), the Coastal Aquifer, and the Mountain (Yarkon-Taninim) Aquifer. Annual precipitation determines the amount that the National Water System is able to produce, typically ranging from 600-800 million c ubic meters per year. In recent years, non-agricultural water demand has consumed 600-700 million cubic meters annually. Although Israel uses almost all the water produced by the system each year, Sherman notes that, compared to other Western sites situated in similar climates, Israelis consume a much smaller amount of water. For example, while personal consumption in Israel averages 75-95 cubic meters per person, per year, southern Californians consume 150-- 200 cubic meters of non-agriculture water per person annually.

Despite the fact that Israeli farmers have become "increasingly dependent on recycled sewage and other types of low grade water unsuitable for drinking purposes," the report noted that "continued use of potable water at recent usage rates for agriculture, will jeopardize the entire water supply ."

Even if Israel were able to stabilize its agricultural and non-agricultural demand for water, water quality will remain a pressing problem. Given current trends, scientists predict that many existing sites on the Coastal Aquifer will be closed by the year 2010 because of high concentrations of minerals and other pollutants. This aquifer's situation is further exacerbated by the magnitude of coastal residential construction. Sherman notes, "such measures will necessarily reduce the amount of rainfall that the aquifer can absorb (because of increased area covered by concrete, roads, pavements) and increase the dangers of pollution of the existing ground water (because of the increased volume and intensity of human activity above the aquifer). In addition to the Coastal Aquifer, the waters in the Sea of Galilee have also become "less suitable" for agricultural and non-agricul tural uses due to high concentrations of chemical and biological substances.

As the quantity and quality of water from the Coastal Aquifer and the Sea of Galilee decline, the Mountain Aquifer becomes the critical source of high grade fresh water for Israel.

Here lies a major reason for the water "impasse" between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Sherman points out' Since the Mountain Aquifer extends physically into Judea and Samaria and this territory may be involved in a political settlement with the Palestinians, there's a strong possibility t hat "relinquishing the western slopes of the Judean and Samaria hills would ... create a situation in which the fate of the national water supply would be determined by what ever Arab authority controlled the ... areas after withdrawal." In such a scenario, Israel would no longer be able to guarantee the careful management needed to maintain the quantity and quality of the water.

Since the flow of the Mountain Aquifer runs from East to West, significant over pumping of water on the eastern end would both decrease the amount of water flowing to Israel and diminish the level of the whole aquifer. This lowering of the water level could allow sea water "to penetrate into th e aquifer via its interface with the sea, as well as saline water from adjacent subterranean salt concentrates." Sherman notes that damage of this type to the aquifer would be permanent.

Sherman maintains that Israel would likely be constrained from efficiently monitoring the extent of the deterioration of the Mountain Aquifer under Arab control. Ground water sources, such as the Mountain Aquifer, "may be depleted ... by means of numerous, small and widely scattered drilling si tes which are not easily detectable."

To truly achieve a long-term solution to the Middle East's water situation, the region's total supply of water must be increased by a much greater use of large scale desalination plants. Such plants, however, require significant capital and multi-national cooperation.  Sherman argues that long term regional stability must be a precondition for such a high degree of cooperation. "The very structure of the regimes in the Middle East--the vast majority of which are military dictatorships of one form or another--is inimical to the creation of the kind of conditions necessary for regional stability and international cooperation." Since history demonstrates that democracies generally hold more peaceful views, the democratization of Arab governments should be a focus of efforts to bring stability to the area.

The author concludes that, until such Arab political reform occurs, "any relinquishment of control of the water sources in Judea and Samaria is totally incompatible with Israel's future survival, wellbeing, and development."

(Source: JINSA-security Affairs)

-extracted from Hatikva, 11Feb 94


State Controller and Water Commissioner call water threat "critical"
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ISRAEL'S WATER SUPPLY CAN BE CONTAMINATED

TEL AVIV--Industrial waste from PLO-ruled areas could severely damage Israel's water supply, according to Rami Gabizon, a water expert from the State Comptroller's office. Gabizon explained that if the Arabs set up industries in the Judean Hills, waste could seep into the groundwater and pollute underground reservoirs.

Jewish communities in the Binyamin region have already begun suffering a severe water shortage. The Bet El area is served by the poorly equipped water processing plant in Ramallah, resulting in frequent water cutoffs, some planned. The plant usually announces the cutoffs only in the Arab press, not bothering to inform the Jewish communities.

Gabizon criticized the Israeli negotiating team for not dealing with the water issue sufficiently during talks with the PLO. Water Commissioner Gideon Tzur described the water threat as "cardinal," and "critical." If steps are not taken to prevent the threat from being realized, it could even constitute a good reason for breaking off talks with the PLO.

-Hatikva 20 Jun 94


Israel adopts fairy-tale water schemes as pretext to give away water resources
Israel adopts fairy-tale water schemes as pretext to give away water resources  Comment   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

New Plan To Ease Region's Water Problems

Monday's(28 Mar 94) YEDIOT AHRONOT reports on a plan for a "New Jordan River" which would help solve the regions' water problems by pumping desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea into the river. The plan was presented to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Shomron who heads the Ta'as corporation. Three German companies and one Jordanian company would join with Ta'as in the project. The project's cost is estimated at $3 billion. Most of the financing would come from the German companies and the plan would take 10 years to complete.

-Israeline, 30 Mar 94


Comment
A week later Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin announced Israel would allow the PLO to establish a water authority.  Obviously with such grandiose proposals, Israel had no need for mundane little water sources like rivers, acqifers and catchment areas.The schemes proposed here were never heard of again, having served their purpose as a pretext for giving away the mountain acquifer.


The Truth About Water: pollution, sewage and diversion threaten Israel's existence
The Truth About Water: pollution, sewage and diversion threaten Israel's existence   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

While arguments go back and forth over whether Israel's security is threatened by unilateral territorial withdrawal from the administered territories and the Golan Heights, one issue - water - has been glossed over by advocates for territorial concessions.

This country has a water problem.  Located on the fringe of a desert, it is wholly dependent on seasonal rainfall, yet its growing population maintains a modest level of Western- style living, where water usage (bathing regularly, drinking freely, etc.) is not considered a luxury.

Our water supply comes from three main sources:  Lake Kinneret, the Coastal Aquifer, and the Mountain (Yarkon-Taninim) Aquifer.  Together, these comprise the National Water System.

A recent study done by geologist Martin Sherman for the Nativ Center for Policy Research pointed out that the output of these sources varies from year to year, according to the annual rainfall, which ranges from 600 to 800 million cubic meters per annum.

Current non-agricultural demand has reached 600 to 700 million cubic meters.

In other words, the current population needs virtually the entire annual output of both the surface and underground water reservoirs that make up the National Water System.  This means that the necessary quantities of water required by the agricultural sector can only be supplied by over-exploi ting the system and reaching the danger levels.

As a result, agriculture has become increasingly dependent on recycled sewage and other types of low-grade water unsuitable for drinking.  Thus, the oft-repeated claim that the water crisis can be resolved by reallocating water used for agriculture to the non-agricultural sector is untrue.

As while the population increases, the water supply is actually decreasing, owing to a deterioration of both the quantity and quality of the country's water resources.

From the Nativ study: "The diminishing quantities and deteriorating quality in one water sources inevitably increases the importance of other sources in the system."

The source in question is the Coastal Aquifer, where "the level of salting and other pollutants in the water have reduced the quality in numerous sites to below that permissible for drinking water."

A similar pattern has begun in Lake Kinneret, albeit to a lesser extent (the unusually heavy rainfalls of last and this winter have relieved this problem partially for the time being).

What this means, however, is that the importance of the Mountain Aquifer has increased.  As the State Comptroller's Annual Report stated:

"The Mountain Aquifer, extending eastward of the Coastal Aquifer, from the slopes of Mt. Carmel to Beersheba, and from the crests of mountain ridges in Judea and Samaria to the coastal plain, serves as the principle reservoir of drinking water for the Dan region, Tel Aviv,, Jerusalem and Beersh eva.  Today, it is the most important long-term source in the (National) Water System."

Now comes the political problem.  This "most important long-term source" physically straddles the pre-1967 ceasefire lines, the "Green Line," into Judea and Samaria.  Any activity affecting one side affects the water on the other side.  So pumping operations or the uncontrolled flow of sewage a nd industrial waste on the western slopes of Judea and Samaria would cause serious, and most probably irreversible, damage to the key source of drinking water for our major urban centers and their environs.

The political and strategic significance is clear.  Withdrawing from Judea and Samaria would create a situation whereby the fate of the country's water supply would be determined by whatever autonomous Palestinian Arab entity controls the administered territories, and the Syrians.

Can Israel really afford to trust its most valuable and irreplaceable national resource to those who have a long history of trying to destroy it - including diverting and/or poisoning its water supply?

Even if the autonomous Palestinian Arab entity is sincere in its attempts to keep the peace, simple municipal mismanagement, poor planning, insufficient knowledge or policing, or just plain neglect, would still cause irreparable damage to this country's main drinking water supply.

Let us assume that the Syrians are also genuinely interested in keeping the peace.  Nevertheless, a few years down the road, with the increase in Syria's own population and continued Turkish diversion of water from the Euphrates River on Syria's other side, Damascus may decide to divert water f rom the Golan for peaceful means and not just to dry out Israel.  Yet for Israel, the effect would be the same.

Even with Israel's national survival at stake, at what point could Jerusalem re-invade the Golan or Judea and Samaria?  When the water supply goes down to the danger levels, or when it is irreversibly damaged?  What justification would be acceptable to the US and/or the UN, who may feel there a re more pressing problems to deal with than Palestinian municipal mismanagement or terrorist well digging, or Damascus's diverting the Jordan's headwaters to irrigate Syrian fields?

True, there is a peace talks subcommittee dealing with the water issue.  But what is there to talk about?  It's like this:  Either Israel has sole control, or its very survival is threatened.

-Yediddya Atlas, Plain truth about water, Jerusalem Post, 24 Feb  93


Articles: Water, Syria and the Golan
Articles: Water, Syria and the Golan  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

The importance to Israel of the Golan as a water source is intimately related to the flow of water from Turkey to Syria and Iraq  the trustworthiness of treaties with Syria, the willingness of Syria to support rebellion in Turkey over water issues, and whether Turkey has the character to supply Israel with water in spite of the objections of Iraq, Iran, and Syria, objections they have backed with force.  See:  Turkey as a water source for Israel

Early 60s:  Syria interferes with Israeli water sources on Golan and the National Water Carrier.  Short

Oct 73:  During the Yom Kippur War, Syrian tanks reached to within 6 miles of Israel's main water pumping station near the Sea of Galilee.  Without the Golan Heights to absorb the first blow, Syria would have cut off the water to 3/4 of Israel and the nation most likely would have ceased to exist.  More

Oct 92:  Syria drills for water, despite per capita resources at least 6 times Israel's. Chart  Chart  What chances Syria'll keep its hands off the Golan's water, agreement or no?  And if comparatively advanced Syria is so inefficient with its abundant resources, how efficiently with the PLO handle Israel's water?  Give me a break.

19 Oct 93: Article by Professor Haim Gvirtzman of Hebrew University.  Sea of Galilee is all Israel has and Syria is expected to run a water deficit soon.

A short extract from the Israeli foreign ministry background paper on the Golan Heights describing its hydrological features.

24 Dec 93: Arab newspaper from United Arab Emirates confirms Turkey/Syria water for restraint of terrorism pact.  Details on water flow from Turkey to Syria, other Syrian water resources.

21 Jan 94:  The necessary security conditions for peace with Syria.  A leftist journalist in Ha'aretz, a leftist newspaper, said Rabin/Peres must retain some portions of the Golan to protect Israel's water.  Later, Rabin declared his willingness to give up every last inch and depend upon treaties to secure Israel's survival.

Brief topological description of Golan and the headwaters to the Jordan River so critical to Israel.


Yom Kippur War: Syrian tanks almost reached main Israeli water pumping station
Yom Kippur War: Syrian tanks almost reached main Israeli water pumping station  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

...On the other hand, some Syrian tanks reached the Jordan River near the Sea of Galilee after 48 hours.  An advance of another six miles would have given Syria control of the power station pumping water for three-quarters of Israel.  Thus, in the North, Israel's territorial depth in 1973 proved barely sufficient to avert disaster.  Today, as in 1973, it provides no strategic depth, but only tactical and operational depth.

-from Can Israel Make Territorial Concessions and Remain Defensible? By Shlomo Baum.  Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, 3rd Quarter, 1992 issue.


Syria will soon run a water deficit and the Sea of Galilee is all Israel has
Syria will soon run a water deficit and the Sea of Galilee is all Israel has  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

....Furthermore, he said,(Professor Haim Gvirtzman of Hebrew University) though 80% of the aquifers have their source in the territories, about half the water flows into Israel, and that is where it is pumped - a factor which international law usually takes into account...

"If we go back to the Green Line, the quality of water in the Kinneret will be dependent on the good will of the Syrians," he said.  "And God help us if someone damages the Kinneret's quality - it's all we have."

Even if we make peace with Syria, he said, Damascus would still have a strong incentive to starve the Kinneret - because, for the first time in history, the Damascus region is suffering from a severe water shortage, caused by massive population growth.  Within two years, Damascus' water needs are expected to exceed its supply by almost 100 m. cu. m. a year, he said...

Desalination, he added, cannot replace the sources in the territories for economic reasons:  producing a cubic meter of desalinated water costs about $1, compared to about 40 cents for ordinary pumping.

-Jerusalem Post, Tuesday, October 19, 1993


Golan Heights: A hydrological description
Golan Heights: A hydrological description  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

...The northern Golan has double the average rainfall of the south and often receives snow in the winter, as does the Mt.  Hermon area.  Hydrologically, nearly all of the Golan lies within the basin of Lake Kinneret which supplies 30% of Israel's water needs.  Two of the Jordan River's three main sources, the Dan and Hatzbani Rivers, rise on the slopes of Mt. Hermon, in addition to the many seasonal streams that rise on the Heights and flow into the Lake, either directly or via the Jordan.  In 1964, Syria sought to implement a plan to divert the sources of the Jordan and prevent their wat ers from reaching Israel.  This provoked a series of border incidents; the Syrian plan was ultimately thwarted by IDF operations in the spring of 1965.

-extracted from Israeli Foreign Ministry background report on the Golan Heights


The necessary security conditions for peace with Syria
The necessary security conditions for peace with Syria Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

THE NECESSARY SECURITY CONDITIONS FOR PEACE WITH SYRIA ------------------------------------------------------ (Analysis by Ze'ev Schiff, 'Ha'aretz', 21.1.94, p.B5)

Note: Schiff says Peres and Rabin won't give up the whole of the Golan, mainly because of the threat to Israel's sole water resevoir - the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret).  Later of course Israel's leaders state a willingness to give up every last inch and depend upon a piece of paper - called a treaty - and international guarantees - you know the effectiveness of international guarantees; just ask the people of Rwanda.)

...The security arrangements will include various components, some more important than others, but there are two conditions which I feel must definitely be addressed if Israel seeks to ensure its security and fundamental interests. If they are not accepted, Israel will have no choice but to continue with the existing situation, despite the inherent dangers -- until Damascus becomes reconciled to them.

First and foremost is the defense of the sources of Israel's water.  There are two sides to the water issue:  one is connected to Lake Kinneret, which is entirely in the sovereign territory of Israel; the other is connected to the sources of the Jordan River, which flow from the Golan Heights.  The matter of Lake Kinneret is more important, since we are talking about the largest (and only) water reservoir of the State of Israel. Israel can in no way agree to the Syrians returning again to the shores of Lake Kinneret.  It may be recalled that, up to the Six Day War, the international border passed about 10 meters from the northeast part of the lake.  In fact, the Syrians took over the narrow strip and saw themselves as partners in the lake. They interfered with fishing activities and harmed both civilians and security personnel. They even threatened to contaminate the water if Israel attempted to pump water from the Kinneret without their agreement. Here, the problem is not with Syrian tanks and army units. Not only must Syrian military personnel be prohibited from the lake, but Syrian fisherman as well. The reason for this is that the waters of the Kinneret must not become a bone of contention and source of trouble for both sides, especially for Israel.  This water is dearer and more important to Israel than oil. The way to resolve the problem lies in border corrections, which will be discussed below.

The Banias is a water source for the Jordan River, stemming from the Golan Heights. Here, too, it would be desirable to reach border corrections, but states do not rush to give up rivers. Damascus talks about the international law which instructs on joint use of river waters, but it also knows, from its dispute with Turkey, that this law is not clear. Therefore, Syria will have to undertake not to attempt again what it tried to do before the Six Day War, when it sought to divert the Banias. Israel will have to insist that in the framework of the agreement there will be a joint commission which will determine the division of the Banias waters.  Syria will also have to commit itself to regional cooperation on utilizing the flood waters which feed the Jordan River, the Kinneret and the Yarmuk, as well as to prevent contamination of the Kinneret.

Border Adjustments ------------------ When Rabin and Peres speak of withdrawal on the Golan Heights, their intent must be understood more as a proposal for border adjustments (and less as a demand to keep one-half or one-third of the Golan Heights). I do not know if this demand is intended (first and foremost) to save Israeli settlements. The intent, by way of border adjustments, is to improve the security conditions and to prevent an undesired deterioration in the current situation. The best example is the adjustment in the Sea of Galilee area due to Israeli sensitivity regarding this

 important water reservoir.  In order to achieve a border adjustment here, it would even be worth consenting to exchange symbolic territories elsewhere, despite the geographic difficulty this would entail.


Topological description of Golan's ciritical headwaters
Topological description of Golan's ciritical headwaters  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Topographically, the Golan is a 60 km. long by 20 km. wide mountainous plateau running from the upper Jordan Rift Valley and Lake Kinneret in the west, the Yarmuk Valley in the south and Mount Hermon in the north. On Israel's side of the Heights, there is a steep incline from the Golan plateau down to the densely populated Hula Valley and eastern shore of the Kinneret.

The Golan Heights, one of 3 sources that supplies Israel's fresh water needs, comprises the Jordan River's headwaters (60%), and the mountain streams (40%) that flow down into the Kinneret. (For a detailed analysis of the water issue, see Realities April 1, 1993, "Water: A Strategic Resource".) Today, water flows freely into the Kinneret and then, via massive pumps using 5% of Israel's electric power, the National Water Carrier supplies this water to the rest of Israel.  It was not always so.

In 1964, Syria, then occupying the Golan Heights, tried to divert these critical headwaters away from Israel in a blatant attempt to cripple Israel's fresh water supply.  Ironically, the IDF operation that destroyed the Syrian damming project was carried out under then Israeli Chief of Staff Yit zhak Rabin, who is now prepared to return control of Israel's fragile water lifeline to the Syrians, trusting them not to repeat past sins.

-Reflections, electronic magazine of Yesha council, available by gopher or ftp from Jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


Oct 92: Syria starts drilling for water underground
Oct 92: Syria starts drilling for water underground  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

SYRIA

Al-Sharq, Lebanon, 1 April 1992.

Summary of report.

The Syrian economist Birhan 'Odeh said that Syria has...

A company has also been established to drill wells for underground water, in view of the shortage of water in Syria.

Note:	Clearly, Syria too has a serious unemployment problem and a serious shortage of water, despite the record rains of last winter.  The water shortage can be remedied by an agreement with Turkey, but not by any political or economic accord with Israel, as even the diversion of Jordan river sources in the Golan Heights (which would deprive Israel of a crucial part of its water supply) would be totally inadequate for Syria's needs.

-Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, Arab Media Report,  Oct 92 edition.  JIWD available by www, ftp or gopher on jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


Early 60s Syrian interference with Israeli water sources
Early 60s Syrian interference with Israeli water sources   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

...The Syrians mounted campaigns against the Israeli project to drain the Lake Huleh swamps, interfered with Israel's comprehensive water plan, and repeatedly threatened to undertake an extravagant project to divert the headwaters of the Jordan (the waters of the Hasbani and Banyas rivers) up over  the Golan Heights and southwest to Jordan.  The project would have transformed Israel into a desert.  (Note: in the early 1960s)

-From Myths and Facts, published by the Near East Report


Turkey as a water source for Israel
Turkey as a water source for Israel  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Advocates of Israeli withdrawal from Judea/Samaria and the Golan often say agreements with the Arabs will guarantee a water supply for the Jewish people.  Simultaneously, they speak of desalinization.  Israel is not floating on oil so unlike Saudi Arabia cannot afford desalinization.  Desalinization plants attract terrorists, in any case.

Turkey is proposed as an alternative site.  It is the water superpower of the middle east.  ( charts )  Turkey has responded to these proposals with some agreeable noises.  The water would be shipped via barges or tankers.

These proposals imply that the agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors to secure a water supply will not be kept, or cannot be relied upon.  Yet, Israel is to literally bet its life that the agreements with Turkey will be kept.

And if not...

After all, when Syria objected to Israel's presence at a regional water conference in Istanbul in 1991, Turkey banned Israel from attending.  If Syria objects to the barges...

Right.

Turkey has had a long, hostile confrontation with its Arab neighbors Iraq and Syria over the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris.  Threats of war have occasionally been made.  Yet Turkey supplies each with more than 10 and 20 times as much water as Israel's total current annual resources, respectively.  No nation but Israel would be expected to vacate this vital, literally life-sustaining supply.

Iraq has already objected to the proposal, complaining it's a diversion of Moslem waters to the Zionists. Islamic fundamentalism is rising in Turkey, as it is in Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Tunesia, and even Syria. The fundamentalists object to the existence of Israel, let alone supplying it water.  Syria has for decades hosted, trained and armed the Kurdish terrorist group PKK, which carries out a civil war in eastern Turkey.  In January 1994, Syria promised to curtail the PKK in exchange for a guaranteed flow of water.  And if Syria unleashes them again until the water flow to Israel is ended?  A Moslem country will endure a near civil war for the sake of a small Jewish state that a large portion of Turkey's population believes should be eradicated?

Right.

And if the freighters are attacked by terrorists?

Right.

Israel should bet the lives of its children on that? Right.

_____________

29 Oct 93: Turkey announces willingness to supply water to Israel

24 Nov 93: Article on Syrian support for PKK Kurdish rebels to curtail Turkish water development    Comment

1 Dec 93: Turkish newspaper reports terms on secret pact between Turkey and Syria on water.  Turkey will supply Syria's water needs without reservation  and support Syria's position on Lebanon and against Israel.  In exchange, Syria will restrain the Kurdish rebels.

24 Dec 93: Arab newspaper from United Arab Emirates confirms Turkey/Syria water for restraint of terrorism pact.  Details on water flow from Turkey to Syria, other Syrian water resources.

3 Jan 94:  Egyptian paper reports on Turkey-Syria water deal.  Quotes Turkish Prime Minister Ciller denying that Syrian support for PKK was motivation.

4 Jan 94:  UAE newspaper confirms water talks between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.  Iraq rained missiles on Israeli cities without provocation.  Iran holds international conferences calling for the destruction of Israel.  Syria unleashes terrorists on Turkey to secure water.  What chance that Israel can rely upon a water supply from Turkey?

19 Jan 94:  Lebanese newspaper confirms Turkey - Syria water pact.

5 Feb 94:  Radio Damascus discusses Turkey - Syria water deal.

20 Mar 94: Iraq denounces Turkish plan to sell water to Israel   Comment


Turkey ready to supply water to Israel
Turkey ready to supply water to Israel Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Turkey is reportedly ready to place at Israel's disposal its water resources.  According to Kol Yisrael radio, a proposal to this effect has been transmitted to Jerusalem.  The proposal includes transporting water to Israel in large cargo ships.  Next week(first week in November) a delegation f rom the Foreign Ministry is due to travel to Turkey.

-Jerusalem Post, October 29, 1993


Syrian support for PKK to curtail Turkish diversion of water
Syrian support for PKK to curtail Turkish diversion of water   Comment  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Syria claims it is not harboring and assisting the PKK, whose leader, Mustafa Ojalan, is based in Damascus.

Informed observers see a connection between Syria's role and its concern over Turkish hydro-electric projects that affect Syria's water supply.

"The Syrians, despite all their contentions, are involved in the Kurdish struggle," said Prof. Aryeh Shmeulevitz, an expert on Turkey at Tel Aviv University.

"The head of the PKK lives and works in Syria, and the PKK has armed training bases in the Syrian-controlled Beka'a in Lebanon," Shmuelevitz said.  "The Syrians seem to be interested in this tension to prevent water development in southeastern Anatolia which will adversely affect the water supp ly of the Euphrates."

Turkey is building 19 dams along that river, but it has pledged to keep a steady water supply for Syria downstream.  And, earlier this month, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller sent her top foreign policy adviser, Volkan Vural to Syria to press Damascus on the Kurdish issue...

"The struggles have escalated because the Kurds want to put as much as possible pressure to make the Turkish authorities come to the table," Shmuelevitz said.

So far, however, the Ciller government has shown no desire to do that.  Indeed, there are already calls inside Turkey for taking a tougher stance against Syria, which curtailed PKK activities for a while after Turkish threats a year ago.

Syrian President Hafez el-Assad "knows full well that the Turks are treating him with kid gloves," Shmuelevitz said, noting that they had mounted cross-border raids into Iraq but had not done so into Syria.

-Jerusalem Post, November 24, 1993


Comment
Turkey and Syrian support for Kurdish rebels.  Turkey invades Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels.  No condemnations by world bodies.  Syria is not condemned by world bodies for supporting Kurdish rebels, but at least the world admits Syria is really responsible for them.  However, they won't make the same admission on Syrian support for Hizbullah against Israel, although the bases are next door in the Beka'a Valley.  Furthermore, Syria feels justified in taking such radical action to protect its own water supplies against Turkish dams, while Israel is expected to give much scarcer water resources to Syria.  Turkey doesn't claim Syria shouldn't exist or shouldn't have water.  Turkey claims Syria will get as much water after the dams are built.  On the other hand, Syria says Israel shouldn't exist, and won't promise not to dam up the sources of the Kinneret, and won't promise any water to Israel.


1 Dec 93: Turkish-Syrian pact on water for controlling terrorists
1 Dec 93: Turkish-Syrian pact on water for controlling terrorists  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

SYRIA

Aydinlink, Turkey, January 12, 1994.

Summarized text of a secret agreement between Syria and Turkey.

The following secret agreement was signed by Syria and Turkey on December 1, 1993.  It had previously been initialled in Ankara on November 20, 1993, by the head of the Syrian Secret Service and his Turkish counterpart.  The terms are as follows:

a.	Cooperation between Turkey and Syria will be immediately improved.

 b.	Turkey will supply Syria's water requirements without any reservations.

 c.	Turkey and Syria will act together concerning the Kurdish problem.

 d.	Turkey and Syria will cooperate against destructive activities threatening nat ional unity and the regime in both countries.

 e.	Turkey and Syria share the view that Iraq's territorial integrity and borders must be maintained.

 f.	Turkey will help Syria, to the best of its ability, against international intitiatives aimed at Syria.

 g.	Turkey will defend Syrian policy on Isra el against Israel and the United States.

 h.	Turkey will support Syrian positions on Lebanon.

 i.	The government of Syria will help the government of Turkey to prevent activities against Turkey from Syrian and Lebanese territory.  Both countries oppose terrorism and agree not to interfere in each other's internal affairs.  Syria will help to destroy the bases belonging to illegal organizations near its northern border and in the Beka'a Valley and will permit Turkish military activities against Kurds along the Turkish-Syrian border, provided it is informed of them in advance.

 j.	Extraditi on agreements between the parties will be honored.

 k.	Turkey will use friendly language in its announcements concerning Syria.

 l.	The implementation of this agreement will be aided by cooperation between the armies of the two states, which will be assured by special arrangements along the Syria- Turkey frontier.

 m.	The agreements reached by the foreign ministers, interior ministers and military commanders of the two countries will be submitted to the heads of state of Syria and Turkey for approval.

Note: Though at the time of writing we have no confirmation that the President or Prime Minister of Turkey signed such an agreement, its existence is likely, as the Clinton-Assad meeting in Geneva was a hint to Turkey that no serious U.S. pressure on Syria can be expected. There is plentiful evi dence that Iran initiated Syrian attempts to move closer to Turkey and is following a similar policy. As Syria has since offered to mediate between Egypt and Iran (see below), the agreement with Turkey cannot be part of a Syrian policy abandoning the Iranian alliance or seeking closer ties with the U.S., but is concerted with Teheran. (See also Al-Ittihad report in the "Turkey" section). The creation of a Turkey-Syria-Iran bloc may lead to the gradual Islamization of Turkey and prove a devastating blow to U.S. influence in Western Asia.

-extracted from Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, Arab Media Report, March 94 issue.  JIWD available by gopher, ftp, or www at jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


24 Dec 93:  UAE paper confirms Turkey-Syria water/terrorism pact
24 Dec 93:  UAE paper confirms Turkey-Syria water/terrorism pact    Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Al-Ittihad, United Arab Emirates, 24 December 1993.

Summary of report.

An agreement in principle under which Turkey will allocate not less than 350 and no more than 500 cubic meters of water per second [from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers] to Syria and Iraq for 25 years has already been initialled. Tests prove that it will be difficult to maintain these quotas after drilling projects and canals in Wadi Hardan are completed. In 50 years' time, it may be impossible to allocate more than 350 cubic meters per second.

Syria has given way on terminology, agreeing to "allocation", the term preferred by Turkey, rather than "division of the Euphrates waters" as Damascus previously insisted. The Vice-President of Iran, Hassan Habibi, during his talks with the Turkish Government which ended on 21 December 1993, stressed the need for a water agreement between Turkey and Syria in order to maintain regional stability.  President Hafez Assad is expected to visit Turkey in the first half of 1994 and sign an agreement on Syria's water allocation.

Note: Syria claims that it has only 10 billion cubic meters of water from all sources per annum. In fact, it has nearly double this figure. The 500 cubic meters per second it now receives from the Euphrates yield it over 15.7 billion cubic meters, and Syria also takes water from the Tigris, Khabur and Yarmuk rivers, from aquifers, etc. With a population of 14 million, Syria has six to seven times more water per capita of population than Israel and its administered territories, which get approximately 1.6 billion cubic meters of water per annum from all sources.

-extracted from Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, Arab Media Report, March 1994.  Available by www, gopher or ftp from jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


3 Jan 94:  Egyptian paper reports on Turkey - Syria water deal
3 Jan 94:  Egyptian paper reports on Turkey - Syria water deal  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Rose Al-Yusuf, Egypt, 3 January 1994.

Summary of report.

The Foreign Minister of Turkey, Hikmet Cetin, said that Syria and Turkey have agreed to oppose any foreign intervention in their dispute over the waters of the Euphrates. There is no crisis with Syria. The problem is Turkey's desire to build several dams on the Euphrates in order to store large quantities of water to be used during the summer months, when the flow of the river ebbs. Cetin denied reports that Syria had any links with the leaders of the Kurdish P.K.K.

Note: Turkey is presently allocating Syria 500 cubic meters of water per second from the Euphrates river - nearly 10 times the water consumption of Israel and its administered territories.

-extracted from Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, Arab Media Report, March 94.  Available on jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il by gopher, ftp or www.


4 Jan 94: UAE newspaper confirms Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey water talks
4 Jan 94: UAE newspaper confirms Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey water talks  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

TURKEY

Al-Ittihad, United Arab Emirates, 4 January 1994.

Summary of report.

It is now certain that Turkish delegations will visit Baghdad and Damascus this month. Iraq has been requesting official contacts between the two countries for the past two years. Until now, Ankara preferred indirect contacts, in view of the international embargo on Iraq. Turkey, Iran and Syria will discuss water and regional security in February.

-extracted from Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, Arab Media Report, Marcy 1994.  Available by gopher, ftp or www on jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


19 Jan 94:  Lebanese newspaper confirms Turkey-Syria water/terrorism pact
19 Jan 94:  Lebanese newspaper confirms Turkey-Syria water/terrorism pact  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Al-Safir, Lebanon, 19 January 1994.

Summary of report from Ankara.

President Hafez Assad of Syria is expected to visit Ankara in 1994, following the Geneva Conference. Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister, Yalchin, is preparing a detailed report on the water problems between the two countries. The Turks regard the security pact signed between Turkey and Syria on 20 November 1993 as "a historic event".  When the President of Lebanon, Rafiq Hariri, visited Ankara in December 1993, he brought a message from Hafez Assad to Turkey's Prime Minister, Tansu Ciller. In November 1993, a senior Turkish security official visited Beirut, bringing the following ultimatum

 to the Lebanese Government: "If you continue to support the Kurdish P.K.K., we will bomb the Beka'a valley." The Lebanese Government treated this threat very seriously and hastened to send a high level delegation to Ankara for negotiations with the Turks. Then Turkey invited Rafiq Al-Hariri., w ho was in Ankara on 16 December 1993.

Note: The security pact with Syria referred to here is identical with the treaty signed on 1 December 1993 and cited above. The reference to Geneva is misleading. President Clinton may well have given Hafez Assad his blessing for seeking an accommodation with Turkey, but hardly for an accommodation including Iran and leading to an agreement under which Turkey obliges itself to support Syria in opposition to U.S. policy on Israel.

-extracted from Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, Arab Media Report, Marcy 1994.  Available by gopher, ftp or www on jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


20 Mar 94:Iraq denounces Turkish plan to sell water to Israel
20 Mar 94:Iraq denounces Turkish plan to sell water to Israel   Comment  	Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

The Arab merry-go-round gets even dizzier when we get to Iran and Iraq. The Iranians, who can't make up their minds whether to direct their principal hatred against Israel or Iraq, recently claimed that over the past 11 months they arrested 40 Iraqi spies and 16 planters of bombs. The Iraqis, who are no less confused in their hatred priorities, took time off from their antiIranian activities to issue an outcry against the intention of Turkey to sell water to Israel, citing it as a dangerous precedent which could upset the delicate accord existing between Iraq, Turkey and Syria regarding the waters of the Euphrates-Tigris basin which the three countries share.

-extracted from Hatikva, 20 Mar 94


Comment
Turkey earns a great deal of money trading with Iraq, piping its oil to the Mediterannean.  Iraq is Turkey's primary source of oil.  Iraq and Syria both sometimes sponsor Kurdish terrorists fighting for independence in eastern Turkey, and crack down on those terrorists primarily when Turkey satisfies their demands on water.  Turkey will resist their demands to stop selling water to Israel?  Right.  Israelis should bet the lives of their children that those who offhandedly say so are right?


5 Feb 94: Radio Damascus discusses Turkey-Syria water deal
5 Feb 94: Radio Damascus discusses Turkey-Syria water deal  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Radio Damascus, 5 February 1994.

Summary of Faruq Al-Shara press conference after Turkey-Iran-Syria meeting in Istanbul on the same day...

d)	Syria is concerned about the quantity of water Turkey allows to flow into Syria and Iraq, but its main concern is the absence of a permanent agreement dividing the waters between the three countries.  Though Turkey implements the protocol signed in 1987, a new agreement was to be reached by t he end of 1993. This did not happen.  Syria's demands accord with international law and their satisfaction will assure stability, while failure to satisfy them will be a constant source of tension. Serious talks on this subject have been held with the Prime Minister of Turkey.

Note: This press conference confirms that Syria has moved closer to Turkey, acting in concert with Iran. It should be noted that the high-level Turkey-Iran-Syria conference that preceded it was the result of an Iranian initiative.

 -extracted from Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, Arab Media Report, Marcy 1994.  Available by gopher, ftp or www on jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


Jordan and water
Jordan and water  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

27 Oct 93: A Jordanian official discusses the country's critical water shortage

28 Nov 93:  Jordan demands "restoration" of water rights.


Comment
Jordan demands "restoration" of rights.  Was there an agreement on dividing the waters?  America proposed a division in 1953. Israel accepted, Jordan refused, as that implied Israel deserved any water.  Having bought their ticket and taken their chances, Jordan wants to rerun the race.  See: Previous attempts at regional understandings.


Jordan's critical water shortage
Jordan's critical water shortage  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jordan's defense minister has said his country is considering major desalination projects because of the large shortfall between rain and domestic water needs.  One of these is a Red Sea - Dead Sea Canal that would produce electricity for desalination.

Minister Bassam Kakish said over 71 percent of Jordan received less than 50mm of rain annually, while most of the rain fell sporadically in the northern part of the country.  The pervasiveness of droughts and unevenness of rainfall means that the water table is receding as ground waters are depleted.

The minister said Jordan had already developed 14 water-treatment plants for recycling sewage and partly degraded water.

Kakish said his government would restate its objective of increasing its take of Jordan River headwaters, noting that Jordan received only 90 to 120 million cubic meters of water annually from the Yarmuk, as opposed to the 277 m allocated to it under the proposed Johnston Plan of the 1950s. (Note:  Which Jordan rejected at the time because it implied Israel had a right to exist.  More )

 -Jerusalem Post, October 27, 1993

Comment: Water shortage is ever closer to critical; treaties can't possibly hold up under life and death situations, especially as Jordanians don't really accept that Jews have a right to sovereignty.  Jordan's largest political party is Hamas, which claims in its charter that all Jews should be murdered.  Example One.  Example Two.  Israel should cede part of its water supply to such a state?


28 Nov 93: Jordan demands "water rights"
28 Nov 93: Jordan demands "water rights"  Comment   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Jordan

The minister of state said Jordan will not concede its rights to land or water and insists on their 'restoration' under international resolutions. (Amman Radio, Nov 24). The information minister said (Nov 25) Jordan regards a comprehensive agreement -- not a separate deal -- as a very important principle.  Informed Jordanian sources said King Hussein would not sign a peace agreement with Israel now, but very soon would take clear steps to build confidence with her.  ('Al-Quds al-Arabi' Nov 26).

- ARAB MEDIA SURVEY 28-NOV-1993, Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence


Arabs on Mideast Water: statements, actions, diplomacy
Arabs on Mideast Water: statements, actions, diplomacy  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

23 May 92:  Al-ahram, semi-official Egyptian newspaper, blames the mideast water shortage on the Jews.  (click here   Then here.   Lastly, here ).  Article is accompanied by a  anti-semitic cartoon similar to those published by neo-Nazis in the West.

9 Apr 93: Everybody else's fault: Arab League report on Mideast water crisis.  Turkey, Israel and Ethiopia are blamed for the Arabs' water shortage.  It seems nobody has a right to water but the Arabs.

_______________________

Apr 94 mulilateral water conference in Oman.

5 Apr 94: Oman asks Israel to postpone arrival to talks, hints Israeli journalists won't be allowed.

8 Apr 94: Bahrain "uninvites" Israel to conference, although allowing Israel to attend was a condition for holding the conference in Oman and advance talks in Bahrain.

11 Apr 94:  Oman cracks under US pressure and allows Israeli representatives to participate in multilaterals, just as if Jews were humans.  Deputy FM Yossi Beilin is so pleased at being allowed to dance on stage with the big boys that a week later he gives Israel's water to the PLO.

18 Apr 94:  Intoxicated by an invitation to Oman, a chance to play with the "big boys" and have their egos stroked as being in the thick of the international "big leagues"  Israel grants PLO the right to establish a water authority and take control of Israel's water resources out of Israel's hands.  Oman made noises about cooperative projects that were never heard of again.

_________________________

Jun 94:  UN committee accuses Israel of stealing Lebanese water since 1978 - offers no evidence, ignores its own on-site soldiers (UNIFIL), refuses the right of reply to Israel.  One Lebanese water authority ridicules the accusations.

1 Jun 94:  Report that UN subcommittee levies accusation, probably at instigation of Syria.

3 Jun 94:  Lebanese water authority ridicules accusations that Jews stole water from the Litani River.


Egyptian semi-official newspaper blames Jews for mideast water crisis
Egyptian semi-official newspaper blames Jews for mideast water crisis  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Al-Ahram, Egypt, 23 May 1992, p.5.

Summary of report from the May 1992 international convention on water in Canada within the framework of the multi-lateral Middle East peace negotiations.

200 experts from all parts of the world participated, but "Israel, which is the most important party to the problem and its chief cause, was absent." Nonetheless, the goal of the convention was achieved.  We are sick of Israel's political blackmail and their claims of historic rights to water.

Note:	The Goebbels "big lie" technique is used here unashamedly.  Egypt's population increased by 1.3 million in 1991.  In most Arab states the population is growing at a similar rate.  Yet Israel is "the chief cause" of the Middle East's water problem.  The caricature illustrating the report shows a gush of water absorbed by a vampire-like Jew with a Star of David on his helmet pointing a gun at an Arab boy with an empty pail.  All this in the supposedly most "moderate" semi-official newspaper in Egypt.

Comment:  Take a look at the comparative water resource charts by clicking charts in the title region above.  Or, click here.


Everybody else's fault: Arab League report on Middle East water crisis
Everybody else's fault: Arab League report on Middle East water crisis  Comment   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

LEBANON

Al-Hawadith, Lebanon (publ. in London), 9 April 1993

Summary of Arab League report on Middle East water crisis.

Future wars in the Middle East are likely to result in conflicts over its water resources. This is why the water issue is on the agenda of the multi-lateral peace talks.

The Arab world covers some 9% of the globe's land surface, but its water resources are scarce. Rapid demographic growth and high consumption rates increase the possibility of conflicts over water.

Three non-Arab states challenge Arab strategic interests in this regard: Israel which controls Arab lands and builds Jewish settlements on them; Turkey which has constructed two dams near the source of the Euphrates and Tigres Rivers; and Ethiopia with its dam on the Blue Nile channel. Israel ha rms Palestinian interests, Turkey undermines the interests of Syria and Iraq, while Ethiopia threatens the welfare of Sudan and Egypt. The Ataturk dam in Upper Anatolia is a great source of tension despite negotiations and agreements between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The Arab League report recomme nds the need for a new agreement in order to provide for a just and peaceful distribution of water whose source is in Turkey.

The same report contends that Israel will be short of 800 million cubic meters of water by the year 2000. Over the years, Israel has stolen Arab waters from Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, storing them in the Sea of Galilee. Besides, it has exploited water from acquifiers in the occupied Arab territo ries (Samaria and the Jordan Valley).  The report concludes that Israel aspires to maintain control over all the water resources it presently controls, including those of southern Lebanon. The Arab world must take up a united stand and reject any settlement of the water question with Israel unti l there is a just resolution of the Palestinian problem and Israel withdraws from the occupied Arab land.

Note: The Arab world created the water problem in the Middle East by uncontrolled demographic growth, which apparently it has no intention to check. Egypt receives more than its just share of Nile water, but begrudges Ethiopia even the little it takes. Syria has been organizing terrorist activit ies in Turkey for decades, yet demands that Turkey should treat it generously. Given the likely internal pressures in Arab states, no agreement on the division of water resources with non-Arab states is likely to be honored for long. Therefore, any settlement transferring the Golan Heights and J udea-Samaria to Arab sovereignty will eventually deprive Israel of most of its water resources. This is yet another reason why such a settlement is more likely to lead to war than to a lasting peace.


Comment: Everybody else's fault
Accusations that Israel steals Lebanese water - usually from the Litani River - are common.  Even the United Nations condemned Israel in June 1994 for stealing Lebanese water.  The Litani River authority ridiculed the claim - you'll find it elsewhere in this section on water - saying where are the pumping stations, pipes, construction crews, etc. that would accompanying such a massive project as shipping water from Lebanon to Israel.  Where are the photographs?  Where are the guerilla operations against the pipes and pumping stations?  Of course, its nonsense.  No?  Please, where are the pipes, pumping stations, maintenance crews, etc.


Bahrain "uninvites" Israel to Apr 94 multilateral water conference
Bahrain "uninvites" Israel to Apr 94 multilateral water conference  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Water talks concerning the entire Middle East problem have been taking place in Bahrain. Israel was invited and this week Israel was informed that the invitation was cancelled. (Ha'Eretz, April 8)

-extracted from Hatikva, 10 Apr 94


Oman asks Israel to Postpone Arrival of representatives to water talks
Oman asks Israel to Postpone Arrival of representatives to water talks  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Oman Asks Israel to Postpone Arrival of Advance Team

Today's DAVAR reports that the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem received a message from Oman yesterday, asking that Israel delay the arrival of its advance delegation to the multilateral talks on water by one week. It was also hinted that Israeli reporters will not be allowed to travel to Oman to report on the talks. The advance team was scheduled to arrive in Oman yesterday, with the actual talks on water issues set to begin on April 17th. According to the paper, the U.S. and Russia, co-sponsors of the peace talks, will examine Oman's action over the next several days. When Oman agreed to host the talks on water, it was agreed that Israel would be accorded the same working conditions as the other delegations, including the right to send an advance team and the opportunity for reporters from each participating country to travel to Oman and report on the talks.

-Israeline Tuesday, 5 Apr 94


Under US pressure, Oman allows Israeli representatives
Under US pressure, Oman allows Israeli representatives  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Israeli Media Allowed in Oman to Cover Multilateral Talks on Water Next Week

Today's YEDIOT AHRONOT reports that the Israeli delegation to the multilateral talks on water will fly to Oman on Friday. The delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin, will take part in the discussions on developing water sources in the region. Shlomo Gur, head of the Israeli t eam who traveled to Oman to prepare for the talks, said that his delegation was warmly received by their Arab hosts. Oman agreed to allow the landing of an Israeli airplane to bring the delegation and also that representatives of the Israeli media would come to cover the event.

-Israeline, Monday 11 Apr 94


UN accuses Israel of stealing Lebanese water
UN accuses Israel of stealing Lebanese water  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

...Furthermore, Syria has always had some kind of festering dispute, not only with Iraq, but with Turkey as well. Turkey's population is almost totally Moslem. They have constantly been arguing with Syria over the division of the Euphrates River's water resources. In fact, just last week there was a highly critical report issued by the United Nations in which Israel was accused of diverting large volumes of water from areas in Lebanon since 1978. The irony of this is that Lebanon has never accused Israel of taking its water and Israel has always denied those allegations. Therefore, it is quite possible it was Syria who registered the complaint in the U.N. in an effort to throw Israel off balance if and when negotiations with Syria begin.  Syria knows Israel needs the water from the Wazzani River to cultivate farms in some of the arid areas, some even in Lebanon. We have to reme mber that even though Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon, Israel still maintains a security zone that extends nine miles into Lebanon.

-Hatikva, 14 Jun 94


Lebanese authority ridicules UN accusations of Israeli water theft
Lebanese authority ridicules UN accusations of Israeli water theft  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

LEBANESE WATER AUTHORITY:  ISRAEL ISN'T STEALING WATER

The Litani Water Authority, controlled and run by the Lebanese government, yesterday refuted a United Nations report that Israel has been taking large volumes of water from Lebanon since 1978.  Officials have been unable to uncover any evidence of water being diverted to Israel from the Litani River, and say that the transfer of such a large volume of water would be impossible to keep secret.( Note:  This would include pipelines, pumping stations, security and maintenance installations, roads, electrical power generation, etc..  Of course, evidence has never been a prerequisite for leveling charges against Jews, no matter how absurd.)

The reaction of the water authority has not stopped Lebanese politicians for calling for a full UN inquiry into the allegations.  (Jerusalem Post, June 3)

The report was released by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, which includes Arab states from Egypt to the Persian Gulf, but not Israel.  (Jerusalem Post, June 1)

-Yesha daily news service, 5 Jun 94, available through jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


Articles: Egypt, water and the Nile
Articles: Egypt, water and the Nile  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Nov 92: Arab newspaper discusses Egyptian diplomacy toward Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia with the waters of the Nile in mind.  Egypt demands and receives 84% of the Nile's waters, destabilizes the other countries to prevent water resource development, and sabotages Ethiopian-Israel cooperation, which includes agricultural development and the use of more water from the Nile River..


Egyptian diplomacy in Horn of Africa to monopolize 84% of Nile River's waters
Egyptian diplomacy in Horn of Africa to monopolize 84% of Nile River's waters  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

EGYPT

Al-Ittihad, United Arab Emirates, 2 July 1992.

Summary of critical analysis of Egyptian foreign policy in Africa.

The National Center for Middle East studies in Cairo recently published research by Dr. Hamdi Abdul Rahman, which has three chapters on the Horn of Africa.  They deal with the Ethiopia- Somalia and Ethiopia-Eritrea conflicts, as well as with the civil war in the Sudan which affects them.

The goals of Egyptian policy in these regions are:

1.	To assure that 84% of the Nile waters flow into Egypt from the mountains of Ethiopia.

 2.	To secure the southern borders of Egypt, so that provinces of Sudan and Somalia will provide Egypt with strategic depth.

3.	To secure the southern entrance to the Red Sea and eliminate Israeli influence in this region.

Egypt has signed several international treaties to divide the Nile waters, the first of which was the Rome protocol prepared by Italy when it conquered Ethiopia in order to prevent interference with the Atbarah tributary of the Nile (which carries water to Sudan and Egypt).  Other agreements with the states of the Nile basin followed.

In Somalia, Egypt is acting rapidly to assure its interests, in order to create its strategic rear there.  The study does not deal with the problem of preventing Israel from initiating large water projects in Ethiopia, together with the United States, which would enable it to exert pressure on Egypt and the Sudan.

Note:	To what extent Egyptian meddling is responsible for the current chaos in Somalia bears investigation.  The unstated implications of the thesis presented are:

 a)	Egypt will try to weaken Ethiopia by every possible means, including the final detachment of Eritrea, fostering tense relations b etween Eritrea and Ethiopia, Egyptian hegemony in Somalia and the prevention of an independent Sudanese policy towards Ethiopia.  For the present, the Government of Eritrea is rightly much more afraid of Egypt than of Ethiopia and behaves accordingly, while fundamentalist Sudan has much improved

 its relations with Ethiopia since it began to conduct an independent foreign policy on which Cairo exerts little influence.

 b)	Egypt will do what it can to stop closer ties between Israel and Ethiopia, and in particular any Israeli agricultural development projects in Ethiopia which involve gre ater exploitation of Ethiopia's water resources.

from jiam1192.txt


Western media reports on the Mideast water shortage
Western media reports on the Mideast water shortage   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Western media reports on the water shortage rarely include charts and graphs comparing the resources of nations in the area - they would render charges of Israeli water imperialism absurd.  Furthermore, the reports repeat Arab charges of water theft without comment, analysis or investigation, any of which would expose the charges as preposterous.  Where are the pipelines and pumping stations transporting the allegedly stolen water from Lebanon to Israel, for example?  Where are the satellite photos?

9 Oct 93 Associated Press article: Water becomes second most vital issue after security in talks.  / Guaranteeing access to water? / Common disinformation in article


Water Becomes Issue In Talks Only Second To Security
Water Becomes Issue In Talks Only Second To Security  Comment  Comment  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Oct. 9, 1993

Water Becomes Issue In Talks Only Second To Security

JERUSALEM (AP) -- A secret study says Israel could give back land in the West Bank and Golan Heights if it guaranteed access to water in those areas or from alternate sources.

   Details of the study, kept under wraps by successive Israeli governments since the start of the peace talks two years ago, were revealed Friday by the daily Ha'aretz newspapers and confirmed by officials.

   Researched by two engineers of the state water company Tahal, the report defines water as perhaps the second most vital issue -- after security -- in the peace talks with the Arabs.

   "A concession here can only be made possible if and when there is an unequivocable political benefit," said the report, as quoted by Ha'aretz.

   Joseph Alpher, who commissioned the study for the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, suggested Israel would want access to water in the West Bank and Golan even if it relinquished them. The lands were taken from Jordan and Syria, respectively, in the 1967 Middle East war.

   "If we do give up water resources, some compromise or measure will be necessary to insure that we have access to the water," he told The Associated Press.

   "Water is essential. It doesn't mean you can't withdraw, but you can't withdraw without making certain Israel's supply of water is secure," Alpher said.

   The water resources in the occupied lands have become more important to Israel over the years because of population growth. The Arabs are demanding the return of all occupied land and control over its resources.

   The report suggested alternative sources would have to be guaranteed first if sharing was not possible. It suggested water imported from an outside source or financing to desalinate sea water.

   Agriculture Minister Yaacov Tsur said in a telephone interview that water was a difficult issue because there was a shortage in Israel, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza.

   He said the Palestinians and Israelis would have to share the water resources in the West Bank, in part because the main underground aquifer extended into Israel. He refused to discuss the Golan Heights.

   The report also said Israel should seek guarantees that Arab states would not divert water from rivers that fed the Sea of Galilee or allow pollution to filter into Israel's supplies of drinking water.

   Alpher said the report was prepared as a "handbook for negotiators," one that contained maps, cost estimates and useful statistics. It was distributed to a select group of government officials and water experts in November 1991.     .


Comment 1: And if the guarantees aren't kept
And if the guarantees aren't kept?

Will the Arabs grant Israel the right to invade and retake the areas if water is polluted or diverted?  Will the United Nations pass a resolution granting Israel that right?  Will President Clinton say, "Go ahead and invade, Israel?"  Or will everybody urge restraint on Israel, waiting for a diplomatic solution.  The same kind of diplomatic solutions that "saved" Aden, Bosnia, Haiti, Rwanda and prevented North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons?

In reality Israel will be restrained by diplomatic delays that in the end will establish a fait accompli.

 Have the Palestinians kept their agreements under the DOP  to punish and condemn violence?  To urge Palestinians to solve their disputes with Jews peacefully?  To repeal the Covenant that demands the annihilation of Israel and explusion of the surviving Jews? But this guarantee they'll keep.

Right.  But if they don't...


Comment 2: The article is stuffed with disinformation
Disinformation that appears in most mainstream media...

"give back..." - to whom?  Jordan occupied Judea/Samaria illegally during its invasion of Israel in 1948.   "The lands were taken from Jordan and Syria ..." - the media avoid mentioning the Arabs lost the lands during a war of - explicit - annihilation against the Jews.  They imply moral equivalence or Israeli aggression.  "Occupied lands" - occupied from whom?  Jordan's possession was illegal - unrecognized by other Arab nations, even.  From Palestinians?  They weren't invented yet.  See Palestine and Palestinians


Appeasement of the PLO over water issues since the Rabin/Arafat Accord
Appeasement of the PLO over water issues since the Rabin/Arafat Accord  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

16 Apr 88:  Israel assassinates PLO terrorist who sabotaged Israel's main water project.  This was long before the Rabin gov't, when the objective of the country's leaders was to protect Israel's citizens, rather than court the left wing glitterati in the west, using its citizens as currency to gain their favor.

10 Feb 94: Press notes that Oslo Accord implementation negotiations in Cairo "resusitate" Arafat against the accusations of more radical elements.  This can only be by making concessions on important issues.  As it later turns out, water among them.

28 Mar 94: Not finding Israel's water crisis condusive to wheeling and dealing in the world of diplomacy, Rabin gov't adopted  fantastic water-producting schemes to justify giving mountain acquifer to the PLO.

6 Apr 94:  Palestinians complete Israeli course in water management, at Israel's expense.  Thus Israel teaches its enemies how to divert its water, but a year or two before the PLO put the knowledge to use, the government could point at the course and say "Isn't that nice, Jewish-Arab cooperation!"

18 Apr 94: Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin announces that Israel will permit the PLO to establish a water authority.

20 Apr 94: Israeli water company Mekorot agrees to help PLO water authority take control in Gaza

21 Apr 94: Israel grants PLO authority over water in Gaza and Jericho, setting precedent for Judea/Samaria.

12 May 94: Opposition reveals that PLO allowed to drill for water without cooperation or coordination with Israel.

31 May 94: Rabin gov't cuts off water to Jewish communities north of Jerusalem, due to chronic shortage, without informing them in advance.  Arab communities are informed in advance.

6 Jun 94:  Article 1, Paragraph 31c of 4 May 94 withdrawal document restricts the use of water by Jews and only Jews.  Thus the Jewish state became the only political entity in the world to restrict the use of water by members of a particular religion.   Comment

15 Jun 94: Peres discusses plans to increase mideast water supplies with EC President.  "Power diplomacy."  Wow.  Naturally, nobody ever heard of these plans again.

20 Jun 94: Water plant in Judea/Samaria cutting off supply to Jews without notice; only print warnings in Arabic press.  A hint of intentions?


16 Apr 88: Israel assassinates terrorist who sabotaged Israel's main water project
16 Apr 88: Israel assassinates terrorist who sabotaged Israel's main water project  Comment   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

...In one case, Khalil Al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), a trusted lieutenant of Yasser 'Arafat, was assassinated by a skilled commando team in his home outside Tunis on 16 April 1988.  The senior figure in the military arm of the P.L.O., he had dispatched the first Fatah squad in 1965 to sabotage Israel's main water project and had been in charge of terrorist operations inside Israel since 1973.  Israel did not take credit for this action, but it bore the identifying marks of its intelligence services.

- extracted from Jerusalem Institute for Western Defence, February 92 issue.


Comment


10 Feb 94: Press notes Israel appeases Arafat in negotiations
10 Feb 94: Press notes Israel appeases Arafat in negotiations  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

DAILY PRESS SURVEY (GPO) ------------------------ Jerusalem, 10 February 1994 (Hebrew Press)

'MA'ARIV', (p.1) -- Commentary by Oded Granot -- The Cairo agreement is not the finished product. Many details must still be completed before [IDF] forces begin withdrawing from Gaza and Jericho.

...The Cairo agreement renews the 'oxygen supply' of Arafat -- which has been rapidly depleted by the Fatah Hawks who are rebelling against his leadership in the Gaza Strip. It returns some of the honor lost by Foreign Ministry personnel who were accused of being responsible for large holes in the Oslo accord.

As stated above, the agreement is far from its final form. There are still complicated problems which must be resolved in the civilian sphere -- such as passports and control over water resources -- and in the area of economics. The hope is that the Cairo agreement will now grant sufficient mome ntum to quickly conclude remaining issues.


6 Apr 94: Palestinian Hydrologists Complete Course in Israel
6 Apr 94: Palestinian Hydrologists Complete Course in Israel  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Palestinian Hydrologists Complete Course at Givat Haviva.  ('Al Hamishmar' April 6)

The first course of its kind in the country for Palestinian hydrologists dealing with water resources was completed this week at a seminary at Givat Haviva.  The course lasted three days and 20 professionals dealing with water problems in the territories participated.  Members of the Jewish Arab Institute at the kibbutz directed the course, sponsored and aided by the Israeli deputy minister of agriculture, Wali Sadek.  The participants visited a plant manufacturing computerized water meters, the Ein Shemer hothouse, and the Dagei Noy fish pond at Hazorea, as well as installations makin g drip and other irrigation systems.  They also visited Mekorot Water Corporation plants in the north.

FRUITS OF PEACE April 11, 1994

This is all Israel's foreign ministry's internet information system could come up with to justify setting up a PLO army on the outskirts of Tel-Aviv - that its enemies agreed - at Israel's expense - to learn how to prevent Jews from getting any water.


18 Apr 94: Israel okays PLO water authority
18 Apr 94: Israel okays PLO water authority  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Beilin: Palestinians Can Have Water Authority as Part of Self-Rule

Today's AL HAMISHMAR reports that Israel has agreed to the establishment of a Water Authority as part of Palestinian self-rule in the Territories and according to the parameters set forth in the DOP. This development was announced yesterday by Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin at the end of the first day of discussions of the multilateral working group on water, currently meeting in Oman.  According to the newspaper, it appears that Oman is coordinating the matter of water desalination, while Israel is coordinating the matter of water conservation. Other projects will be overseen by the U.S. and certain European countries. Beilin emphasized the positive atmosphere in the talks. Oman was the first Gulf state to agree to discuss cooperation with Israel in regard to water usage in the region. The Foreign Minister of Oman said yesterday that only direct talks and serious negot iations can bring an end to the Middle East conflict.

-Israeline, 18 Apr 94


20 Apr 94: Israel agrees to help PLO water authority in Gaza
20 Apr 94: Israel agrees to help PLO water authority in Gaza  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Today's AL HAMISHMAR reports that Israel and the Palestinians agreed in Cairo that the Palestinian security agency, Al-Aman al- Wakai, will operate throughout the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip.  This is the first matter for which the Palestinians will have independent responsibility throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, not just in the Gaza-Jericho areas. Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reports this evening that Nabil Shaat, head of the Palestinian delegation in Cairo, said that an agreement on water issues has been reached. Shaat said that the Israeli water company, Mekorot, will cooperate with the Palestinian water authority on providing water services for the Gaza Strip.

-Israeline, 20 Apr 94


21 Apr 94:  PLO granted authority over water
21 Apr 94:  PLO granted authority over water  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

ISRAEL GRANTS PLO AUTHORITY OVER WATER

In Cairo on Wednesday, Israel agreed to grant the PLO control over water sources in Gaza and Jericho.  Israel will continue to supply water to Jewish communities in the regions.  (Ma'ariv, Apr.  21)

-from Yesha daily news service, 1 Jun 94  jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


12 May 94: PLO allowed to drill for water without coordination or supervision
12 May 94: PLO allowed to drill for water without coordination or supervision  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Netanyahu(leader of Israel's opposition) disclosed that he has also learned that Israel has agreed to let the PLO go ahead with "independent water drilling projects, without any coordination or cooperation with Israel. This can mean enormous problems for Israel and can directly and adversely affect our water resources."

-Hatikva, 12 May 94


31 May 94: Water shortages north of Jerusalem
31 May 94: Water shortages north of Jerusalem  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

WATER SHORTAGES IN BENJAMIN REGION COMMUNITIES

Jewish communities in the Benjamin region north of Jerusalem are suffering a severe water shortage lately. The Beit El area is served by the poorly-equipped water processing plant in Ramallah, resulting in frequent water cutoffs, some planned.  The plant usually announces the cutoffs only in th e Arab press, not bothering to inform the Jewish communities.  Last week, the civil administra- tion announced that water to the Jewish communities will be out for two days a week.  (Hadashot Binyamin, May 31)

-Yesha daily news service, 1 Jun 94, jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il


6 Jun 94: Jewish water usage restricted by annex to 4 May 94 withdrawal document
6 Jun 94: Jewish water usage restricted by annex to 4 May 94 withdrawal document  Comment   Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

According to the PLO-Israel agreement, it appears that Israel has given in to PLO demands to freeze all settlements. In annex to the Protocol concerning civil affairs, Article I, Paragraph 31c reads:

"All pumping from water resources in the settlements and the military installation area shall be in accordance with existing quantities of drinking water and agricultural water."

Yisrael Medad, Parliamentary Adviser to Likud MK Limor Livnat, said, "with this paragraph the Arabs have effectively achieved the freezing of the settlements by literally drying them up. If new families want to move in or even if there are new births, the communities would be unable to supply the additional water needs."

-Hatikva, 6 Jun 94


comment 1
Imagine the outcry if Chancellor Kohl of Germany restricted the use of water by Turks because they were Turks.  Imagine if Israel restricted the use of water by Moslems.   But Jews?  Jews are fair game.


15 Jun 94: Peres discusses mideast water problems with EC President
15 Jun 94: Peres discusses mideast water problems with EC President  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

PERES' MEETINGS IN LUXEMBOURG June 15, 1994 Communicated by Foreign Ministry Spokesman

In a meeting in Luxembourg, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and European Community President Jacques Delors, discussed the latter's initiative to establish a plan for supplying water and energy in the Middle East.


Israel's superbly efficient use of water
Israel's superbly efficient use of water  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

Rhoda Boyko:  Making the desert bloom.  A short article on the woman most instrumental in Israel's success in greening the desert.


Rhoda Boyko:  Making the desert bloom
Rhoda Boyko:  Making the desert bloom  Charts  Links  Links  Links  Links

RHODA BOYKO, A MODERN DEBORAH, INITIATED NEGEV BATTLE AGAINST DESERTIFICATION

While this World Organization has been preoccupied for many years through its Convention to combat Desertification in attempts to fructify arid regions in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere on the global scene--where millions of people are starving and dying from lack of food, water, etc.--little note has been taken of what tiny Israel has accomplished in this realm, thanks to the discovery made there by a Jewish scientist several decades ago, a discovery in the arid Negev that opened the door to a solution to the threatening environmental problem affecting so many nations. The UN Conference on the Environment and Development has published a draft proposal outlining a Summary entitled "Agenda 21" citing the problems and needs of our times and warning that "the overuse of marginal land for farms and livestock causes a cycle of desertification and poverty; halting the sprea d of deserts," it declares, "will require actions to protect areas still viable and to restore degraded lands..."

The Jewish scientist was the late Dr. Hugo Boyko who had started it all, but it was his sister-in-law, a militant champion of Israel, a modern Deborah, Mrs. Rhoda Boyko, who, together with her late husband, Rudolph, had initiated the project and who had played a major role in the reclamation of  the desert.

For many years, this correspondent was privileged to personally witness the phenomenal activities of the Boykos, both in Israel via the Ben Gurion University of the Negev and here in the U.S., where Rhoda Boyko is also renowned as a sculptor of note who is currently preparing an exhibit of her artistic creations.

This writer has termed Rhoda a modern Deborah --a mighty prophetess in ancient Israel, whose General would not go to battle without her--because of her lifelong valiant stand in our Jewish struggle for Israel's rebirth and for our Hebraic tradition. Interviewed by writer Carol Gregor, it is wo rth noting what Ms. Gregor has to say. In a special article appearing in the current issue of Lifestyles, she voices much of the views held by your correspondent:

"But art is not Rhoda Boyko's sole claim to fame. She begins her reminiscences of her involvement in the greening of the desert in Israel with the comment, "What Ben-Gurion wanted, we provided!" "The quest began in 1959, when Rhoda traveled to Israel soon after her marriage to Rudolph and met her brother-in-law, scientist Dr. Hugo Boyko. At that time, she remembers, 'Hugo was working on growing plants in barrels filled with sand in his backyard. It became clear Hugo was on the verge of a major scientific breakthrough in desert saltwater or brackish water, irrigation.

"If it became possible to implement his discoveries, they could bring the Middle East the equivalent of a new continent of farmland twice the size of America. One third of the earth's surface is arid sand-desert, useless for food production. Yet most deserts lie over limitless bodies of saline water. By utilizing Dr. Boyko s amazing discoveries and tapping into and using underground saline water and brackish water sources for irrigation, these lands could become productive farming communities and inhabited areas.

"Dr. Hugo Boyko was well qualified to provide these solutions. He and his wife Elizabeth started their research in 1949, when he served as ecological advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, and Elizabeth served as Ministry horticulturist. Pioneers in the field of saline water irrigation , they were among the original scientists at the Negev Institute of Arid Zone Research. Rhoda, an avid Zionist, was motivated to help Hugo make the desert bloom. 'I wanted a safe place for our Jewish people,' she says. 'I wanted them to have their own land, to show the world what Jews could do, without being ashamed.' " 'Israel needed to be created and I knew they needed water to survive and it was hard to get," Rhoda Boyko insisted. 'I knew that saltwater had to be used, and through Hugo's discoveries this would become pos- sible.' Through her efforts, Desert Plants, Ltd. was established in New York City and Israel to implement Hugo's findings on plant growth using saline water. Rhoda served as Desert Plant's first general secretary. The company was successful and brought new potential to the desert through the cultivation of vegetables and flowers...

"In 1963, the Boykos won the support of the late Moshe Dayan, then Minister of Agriculture. He happily leased the company 4,000 acres of forsaken, sandy wasteland in the Wadi Araba region ... The effort paid off."

"September 3, 1981, will be a day that Rhoda will always treasure. On that day the Boyko Institute for Agriculture and Applied Biology, made possible through the generous gift of Rudolph and Rhoda Boyko, was dedicated at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Institute houses the main office facilities and laboratories for the departments of the University's Applied Research Institute; it also contains the Elizabeth and Hugo Boyko Library, commemorating the lifework of the Boykos. Headed by Dr. Dov Pasternak, the Boyko Institute continued to develop new projects based on the application of Dr.  Boyko's research, expanding the possibilities of agriculture in the desert and bringing new life to the barren Negev. Moreover, its research has given new hope to several Arab states in the Middle East and Africa, as well as to countries in Asia and Latin America whose major la nd areas are barren."

As Ms. Boyko sums it up: "Peace will come through the independence of the individual, when countries have the know-how for each person to work and provide food for their families and not to be dependent, then there will be peace, brotherhood and loving neighbors.  It is through personal relationships, not through political strategy, that this utopia will exist" and Isaiah's vision of world peace will be fulfilled.

When Rudolph and Rhoda Boyko turned to this writer to find a title in the Bible for their huge sculpture gift of a Mother now gracing the Ben-Gurion University campus, he cited Genesis' Hebrew designation of Eve-Chavah: "Mother of all Life." And it must be noted that her death is nowhere record ed in the Bible. Adam's demise is.  That reveals much of "Zoth Na-Ishah!" .

-Hatikva, 17 Jun 94


Chart placeholder


Table: Comparative per capita water resources
Comparative per capita water resources


3d pie Graph: Comparative per capita water supply


3D bar chart: Comparative water resources


3D pie chart: Comparative percentage water resources


Table: Comparative water resources, selected mideast nations


3D pie chart: Moslem vs Israeli water resources


3D bar chart: wells drilled, West Bank 67-91


3D bar chart: West Bank water usage 1991


3D bar chart: Gaza water usage 1991


3D pie chart: Syria vs Israel - water resources


3D pie chart: Syria vs. Israel - per capita water supply


Link master


Water Internal Links
Israel cannot relinquish its water resources and survive

Background: Water, Israel and the middle east

Quotations on the explosiveness of water in the  Middle East

Ignored by Rabin gov't: Alarms on water by Israeli hydrologists, parliamentarians and others

Dry, dangerous future

Articles: Water, Syria and the Golan

Turkey as a water source for Israel

Jordan and water

Arabs on Mideast Water: statements, actions, diplomacy

Articles: Egypt, water and the Nile

Western media reports on the Mideast water shortage

Appeasement of the PLO over water issues since the Rabin/Arafat Accord

Israel's superbly efficient use of water


Closely related links
Jewish settlements in the "occupied" territories

Syria

The Golan Heights

Palestine and Palestinians


Israel cannot links
Cover sheet:

Israel cannot relinquish its water resources and survive

Interaction of the Muslim countries in the area

Egypt, a source of water?

Effects Upon Israel's Water

Consequences if Israel gives away its water

Notes and references


Background links
Contents page, water, Israel and the Middle East

Water, Israel and the Middle East

Israeli Water Sources (and consumption)

Past Attempts at Regional Understandings

Water in Judea/Samaria and Gaza

Summary

Annex:  Drilling permits


Chart links
Table: Comparative per capita water resources

3D pie chart: Comparative per capita water resources

3D bar chart: Comparative total water resources

3D pie chart: Comparative percentage water resources

Table: Comparative water resources, selected mideast nations

3D pie chart: Moslem vs. Israeli water resources

3D bar chart: wellsdrilled, West Bank 67-91

3D bar chart: West Bank water usage 1991

3D bar chart: Gaza water usage 1991

3D pie chart: Syria vs Israel - water resources

3D pie chart: Syria vs. Israel - per capita water supply