Why Was This Paper Written?

The horrific events on 11 September 2001 at New York City, Washington, DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania presented all of us with an opportunity to consider how we as Americans relate to the rest of the world. More to the point, how do we see ourselves in a world context? And perhaps most importantly, how does the rest of the world see us? We should be asking ourselves: “Why do they hate us?” This Paper is an attempt to understand the Arab–Israeli–Palestinian Tragedy (and its Middle East spin-offs; for example, the Second War against Iraq) from the Arab–Muslim side, and in terms of “9/11.” The Middle Eastern Arabs have long considered that the western world (especially the United States) has been strongly unbalanced in its fifty-three year support for the Zionist colonization of Palestine. As an illustration, “It took more than 50 years since the establishment of Israel for a U.S. president to utter the word ‘Palestine,’ and he—George W. Bush—uttered the unspeakable word in response to strong Saudi pressure following the attacks of September 11.” ^47, ^p. ⁴¹ Of course, the official Israeli government view is that “Any attempt to connect the September 11 terrorist attacks to U.S. policy towards Israel is not only factually wrong, it is a shameful exploitation of that tragedy.” ^48, ^pp. ^15-17 This official Israeli statement is, most assuredly, not only factually wrong itself, but it is not how knowledgeable people with a more balanced understanding (and no hidden agendas to satisfy) see this tragedy! Three years prior to 11 September 2001 Bin Laden made it very clear, during an interview with ABC television reporter John Miller, that he considered the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict (including America’s support for Israel), and the post Gulf War American and British sanctions against Iraq, to be two of his early concerns. ¹⁰⁶ [See Appendix, Number 5, pp. 55-56.]

The Holocaust in Europe provided the final driving force behind the flood of European and Asian Jewish immigrants [read: invaders from the Arab perspective] into Arab Palestine just after World War II. It seems to be forgotten that the Arabs were in no way responsible for the Holocaust. The indigenous Palestinian Arabs were treated, at best, as people who just happened to be living in a “barren” land that was to be colonized. At worst, they have been increasing humiliated by being deemed an inferior second-class people hardly worthy of respect as human beings. Note the early Zionist popular saying “A land [Palestine] without a people for a people [Jews] without a land.” Primo Levi (a Jewish survivor of the Nazi Concentration Camps) sums this up well when he termed the Palestinians “The Jews of the Middle East.” ⁷⁶

It should be also noted that the present Israeli Government (under Prime Minister Sharon) has used the 9/11 tragedy to advantage in order to justify to the U.S. that Israel too is defending itself from terrorists by its spring 2002 rampage in the Palestinian West Bank.

Most Americans spent a lot of time watching TV during the two weeks following the 11^th of September. Can anyone recall any TV commentator asking, “Why this terrible event happened?” or any mention of Israel or of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict? This national tragedy was not caused by random individual terrorism, but rather by a well-planned, coordinated program involving a group of people of Middle Eastern origin (the al-Qaeda Network) working together over a period of time. Note that none of these perpetrators were Arab-Americans, or Afghanis or Iraqis. The actual perpetrators and leaders of these crimes against innocent people have performed a major evil act. However, for the group to also be willing to commit suicide speaks of a deeply shared commitment and desperation. We must be very careful to not blame whole populations for the actions of a small minority of fanatics. But we must question: “What is the social milieu, and the historical experience, that these fanatics came from that has so strongly motivated them?” It must be emphasized that the Israeli/Palestinian Tragedy is the core issue for Arabs.

Since the Six-Day War is a logical starting point to trace the steady escalation to the present Tragedy, this paragraph is presented as a brief overview. For details see the sections entitled: The Palestinians and The Israelis. On 5 June 1967, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike (notice the similarity to Bush’s initially proposed preemptive strike against Iraq) against Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Because Israel managed in the first few hours to destroy the Arab air force by attacking its military air bases, Israeli air power was able to assure a quick victory. Politically, the military posturing of Egypt’s President Nasser was the immediate cause of the War. However, the case can be made that a prime basic cause was the unequal access to the area’s limited resource of water. “Israel’s victory had reversed the balance of water resources in the Middle East. Its occupation of the Golan Heights gave it control over the Banias headwaters. Lebanon and Syria lost their riparian status, and played no further part on the dispute over the Jordan basin. Israel’s occupation of the West Bank gave it important groundwater resources; by contrast, Jordan lost a third of its population and agricultural land, accounting for 45% of its GNP. Since 1967, the Arab goal has changed: curbing Israel’s economic development is no longer a possibility and the aim is to secure an equitable distribution of the Jordan–Yarmouk waters. The worst wars of this century are likely to be fought over water rather than oil. The current U.S. focus on international terrorism does nothing to allay that fear.” ⁶⁰

Liberal Israelis (for example, retired Premier David Ben-Gurion ⁸⁵) then recommended returning these Territories; however, powerful religious fundamentalists and others with their goal of a Greater Israel won the day and settlements began to be built in the Occupied Territories!

After the Six-Day War in 1967, the Arabs observed that the U.S. only gave lip service to the return of the Occupied Territories, and to limiting the number of illegal [see: Israel Has Ignored The United Nations, p. 22] Jewish settlements being built in the Occupied Territories while it [the U.S.] continued to finance these settlements with ongoing very large annual funding given to Israel. Rachelle Marshall has succinctly stated: “as long as Americans continue to support Israel’s unjust occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and help finance and arm Israel in its efforts to maintain it, we will continue to feed the alienation and resentment that give birth to terrorism.” ³¹ As’ad AbuKhalil, born in Tyre, Lebanon, provides an excellent understanding of this issue from the Arab side. ⁴⁷ Noam Chomsky has systematically recognized the relevant historical facts. ^4, ³²

It is now still in the United States’ power to begin to bring about a balanced resolution. If a resolution of this one issue could now be achieved, this would have a very positive ripple effect throughout the Arab and Muslim World. And in turn, this would immediately begin to restore the good American relations that existed in the Middle East until well into the 1970s.

Prof. Sari Nusseibeh stated that there are two possible solutions to the ongoing tragedy: one, the establishment of a joint state in which there will be an equal division of legal and civic rights; and two, a division of the territory in an equable manner and the establishment of two states for the two peoples within the June 4, 1967 borders, with minor adjustments as necessary, evacuation of the settlements and the possibility of exchanges of territory one-for-one. Nusseibeh expressed his opinion that the latter solution must be carried out. He stressed that what is possible today will not be possible in the future, for geographic, demographic and other reasons. Therefore, there should be no delay in carrying out the division. ³⁶

This Paper’s Goals and Its Background

This Paper was begun shortly after 11 September 2001. The purpose in writing this Paper is to present a new perspective to Americans, from the Palestinian point of view. Our American news Media has for too long been unbalanced in its presentation of Middle Eastern factual events and objective analysis. Furthermore, since only some seven percent of Americans have traveled overseas, many lack a basic interest in present day foreign societies and their ethnic groups.

This Paper’s Goals

Those of us who have had actual experiences living in the Arab Middle East have known for many years that very powerful and angry frustrations were building up there. There was an excellent opportunity for Israel to be magnanimous and return the Occupied Territories immediately after the 1967 War. This was the ethical gesture that many expected of Israel! This was not to be, and the 35 years since then have only increased the world’s disillusionment.

An argument follows that is presented to try to develop the background behind the anti-American feeling that has been growing among the world’s Muslims primarily due to the core issue of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict.

Additionally, an attempt is made by this Paper to understand the Israeli Government’s hidden plan(s) (past, present and future) in relation to the Palestinians.

It must be clearly stated that in no way is this Paper to be considered as anti-Semitic. It is possible for one to criticize policies of the secular Israeli government without being anti-Semitic (or a self-hating Jew). Rabbi Michael Lerner, of Tikkun ¹⁷ well understands this. Additionally, since both the Israelis and the Palestinians are of the Semitic race, anti-Semitism in this case is an oxymoron! This Paper tries to achieve a more balanced understanding for Americans. This issue has become a major tragedy for both peoples. The author’s intent is to collect and combine relevant facts and opinions from various sources not generally available to Americans and present them in a single concise document.

Unbalanced Coverage by American News Media Plus Cover-Ups

The mainline American news media has been consistently unbalanced in favor of the official Israeli position for far too long. ⁴⁶ Rabbi Michael Lerner has this to say about our media: “… the media has repeatedly framed issues in ways that were far more sympathetic to Israeli narratives than to those of the Palestinian people. The reasons for this are complex. They include the guilt that many American Christians have felt about the Holocaust, the increasing influence of Jewish reporters and news editors, the placing of media bureaus in the Jewish section of Jerusalem without any corresponding bureaus in the Palestinian sector or in the West Bank or Gaza, the higher level of English language skills among Israelis which makes it much easier for them to make their case through the media, the higher level of commitment to democratic forms in Israel than in Arab countries, and the economic integration between American and Israeli capital. But the most decisive factor has been Israel’s strategic role in America’s political and military plans—first during the struggle against world communism, and now in the struggle against the Arab world, and against anyone challenging American economic or political hegemony.” ⁷⁹ Reference materials in the included Bibliographic End Notes are provided in an effort to begin to redress this imbalance. Superscript numbers referencing the Bibliographic End Notes are inserted in the text at appropriate locations.

Not only has there been an unbalance of American mainline news media coverage; but also there have been ongoing cover-ups both by our Government and our U.S. military of vital historical facts relating to the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict. First, in the 1950s the Israeli Mossad had agents in Egypt blowup U.S. installations to make it appear the work of Egypt. This was done in order to destroy U.S. relations with the new Nasser government. ¹⁰⁸ As a prime example of these cover-ups, a short outline follows of what has lately, after 34 years, been revealed about the attack upon the USS Liberty. ²⁰

During the Six-Day War that started on 8 June 1967 the Israeli military attacked the USS Liberty, a U.S. Navy intelligence-gathering ship off the coast of the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula, killing 34 Americans and injuring 171. Israel has insisted ever since that the attack was “a tragic accident”—in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. In the fall of 2001, NSA’s Hebrew-language recordings of the Israeli attackers were finally made publicly available to provide direct evidence that the Israeli military knew that they were attacking a United States Navy ship! It is speculated that Israel sought to prevent the U.S. from learning of its forthcoming attack on Syria’s Golan Heights, an attack that Israel performed after agreeing to a cease-fire. This cover up began with the Johnson Administration. To its credit, American TV’s History Channel ran a documentary re: the Attack on the Liberty on 9 August 2001, and a second documentary was shown on 14 March 2002. This cover-up is beginning to break apart! However, Israel still insists that their attack was an accident, and few in our government seem concerned about the actual truth of the matter! ^20, ⁶⁶

Camp David Accords

President Carter invited Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin to Camp David in September 1978. The Israeli team included Moshe Dayan, Ezer Weizman and Aharon Barak. Sadat’s general requirements were: (a) that all Israelis leave Egyptian soil in the Sinai; (b) that any bilateral agreement be based on a comprehensive accord involving the Occupied Territories; (c) Palestinian rights; (d) Israel’s commitment to resolve peacefully any further disputes with its neighbors. Neither the Jordanians nor the Palestinians (nor the other Arab leaders) were willing to be part of this meeting or the subsequent associated peace talks. The Israelis soon reneged on all but their withdrawal from the Sinai, and Egypt was temporarily ostracized by the other Arab leaders causing a buildup of animosity toward Sadat resulting in his assassination on 6 October 1981. For a detailed account of the Camp David Accords read The Blood of Abraham, by Jimmy Carter. ⁸² It has only recently been revealed to the public that Jordan’s King Hussein waited anxiously in London for many days to be called to join in these talks. ¹¹⁴ He was deeply annoyed that the promised (by Sadat) call never came. ¹¹⁴ In retrospect, it can be seen as a grave mistake to not have included the King in these talks, since he was probably the one Arab leader that had the best interests of the Palestinians at heart, i.e., he would have insisted on self-determination for the Palestinians. “At the Camp David talks, Menachem Begin said that he would, at most, grant the Palestinians ‘personal’ but not ‘territorial’ autonomy, meaning that they could not have a government of their own.” [Ed.’s italics] ¹¹⁴

Oslo

“… in 1993, the Oslo Agreement brought recognition of Israel’s legitimacy by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).” ⁶⁸ “It took the Palestinians until 1988 to formally recognize the fact, if not the full legitimacy, of the Israeli ‘side,’ which they did in their declaration of independence in Algiers. They did so again in the Oslo Declaration of Principles of 1993, where by recognizing Israel as within the 1967 borders, the PLO conceded not only the 56% of the land partitioned to the Jewish state by the UN in 1947, but also the additional 22% conquered from the prospective Palestinian state – 78% altogether. In return, Israel did not recognize the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people. In the Oslo Accords it agreed only to negotiate ‘final status issues’ with the PLO, without committing itself to any particular outcome, including the establishment in the end of a viable, sovereign Palestinian state.” [Ed.’s italics] ⁶⁴ Yitzhak Rabin was Israeli Prime Minister from 1992 up until his assassination in 1995.

Again, King Hussein of Jordan was deeply disappointed that he was not included in the Oslo talks. “Both Yasser Arafat and Simon Peres, the Israeli foreign minister, had misled him about the talks. ‘Why not co-ordinate?’ Hussein complained. ‘How can we possibly work this way?’ . . . He feared, though, that the Palestinians had given away too much in return for an agreement so vague that it sidestepped the truly important issues: the status of Jerusalem, the future of refugees, settlements, and border.” [Ed.’s italics] ¹¹⁴ Rabin was the one Israeli leader who could share Hussein’s perspective. ¹¹⁴ Hussein “wept at Rabin’s funeral.” ¹¹⁴ Hussein died in 1999.

“The initiation of the Oslo process raised high hopes on both sides. It boosted Israel‘s peace camp, and it prompted 80,000 members of al-Fatah to demonstrate in favor of it in the major Palestinian cities. . . . The very prospect of a peace settlement involving territorial compromise provoked the rejectionists on both sides, who refused to accept anything less than ‘Greater Palestine’ and ‘Greater Israel’ respectively. On the Palestinian side, Hamas immediately launched a new series of terror attacks against Israel. On the Israeli side, Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians praying in a Hebron mosque, and Yigal Amir assassinated Yitzhak Rabin.” ⁹⁰

Camp David (II) and Taba

The myth that the Palestinians were offered at Camp David (2000) “the best that they [Palestinians] could ever expect” must be countered. Actually, Barak offered Arafat (initially) “less than had been promised in 1993. . . . he [Barak] refused to provide anything in the way of reparations for the [Palestinian] refugees. No Palestinian leader could have signed that agreement.” ⁵² “The initial U.S./Israeli offering at Camp David was unacceptable to the Palestinians—as the Israelis well understood—which is why Clinton made a revised proposal in December (2000) and the Israelis came back with a much-improved version at Taba. ⁵² The negotiators (but not the principals) met at Taba in Egypt between January 21 and 27 in 2001 and issued a statement saying, “The two sides have never been closer to reaching an agreement and it is thus our shared belief that the remaining gaps could be bridged. . . .” ⁸⁵ It was too late: Clinton had left office, and the Israeli elections were impending. Like every other observer, Arafat was aware that Barak would lose. ⁸⁵ Ehud Barak was Israeli Prime Minister 1999 to 2001.

By the end of January 2001 both sides were closer to agreement than ever before, as the Israeli negotiators themselves acknowledged; at which point the Israeli electorate replaced Ehud Barak with Ariel Sharon and the talks could not be resumed. ⁶¹ It has been said, “… neither Barak nor Arafat after Taba was willing or able to face down the opposition to the agreement in his own camp.” ⁶¹

Because of the heavy blanket of disinformation that has plagued this ongoing tragedy, the following must be said concerning the “facts on the ground” [an Israeli phrase] that the Palestinian people were and are experiencing. A primary problem is the 380,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. These settlements need supplies of the very scarce water, and they need their own private access with security—requiring a heavy IDF (Israeli Defense Force) presence in the area. A great deal of land around the settlements and along the interconnecting Israeli only road systems has been seized and cleared of Palestinian homes and centuries old olive groves. The result of this 36-year ongoing process (since 1967) is the creation of a Balkanization ⁸⁸ of the remaining 22% of Palestine that the United Nations assigned to the Palestinians in 1947! Foreign visitors have long been kept away from seeing these “facts on the ground.” Detailed maps of the present settlement systems in the Occupied Territories are not generally available to the outside world. During a live three-hour question-and-answer presentation, Noam Chomsky made the point re: the lack of maps of the present actual geographical system of Israeli settlements and Jews-only roads, plus Palestinian checkpoints—over 300 now [C-SPAN, 1 June, 2003]. The average Israeli prefers to simply not know about all this, and the outside world has not been informed. The outside world, with very few exceptions, does not understand. However, three million Palestinians are forced to live with these settlement “facts” (plus the ever ongoing Palestinian home and farm demolitions, and a general breakup of their civil infrastructure) day in and day out! No Israeli prime minister (including Sharon), since 1967, has ever seriously considered relinquishing these settlements – certainly not Barak! The settlements were the primary cause of both intifadas! No responsible Palestinian leader would ever sign an agreement that countenanced the settlements!

It is a telling observation concerning Israel’s background attitude at Camp David that the Israeli leader Ehud Barak later had this to say as a general statement about the Palestinian people: “They [the Palestinians] are products of a culture in which to tell a lie … creates no dissonance. They don’t suffer from the problem of telling lies that exists in Judeo-Christian culture. Truth is seen as an irrelevant category. There is only that which serves your purpose and that which doesn’t. They see themselves as emissaries of a national movement for whom everything is permissible. There is no such thing as ‘the truth.’” ⁶² This seems to be a good example of blame the victim. As for lies versus the truth, we should consider that the Israeli government is guilty of a thirty-six year lie that its attack on the USS Liberty, during the Six-Day War, was an accident! Also, when have Christians been overly concerned about telling lies? Anyone who attributes specific individual personality characteristics to whole populations of humans is treading in deep illogical waters!

Of course, once Sharon became Prime Minister, no further negotiations (of any nature) have been possible between the Israelis and the Palestinians! Sharon’s mid-2003 “acceptance” of Bush’s “Roadmap” not withstanding – Sharon (The Bulldozer) has not changed!

It needs to be said that Arafat is a poor leader for the Palestinians. As a negotiator, he would only say “no,” and seldom offered counter proposals. The Palestinians deserve a much better leader! However, this is not to say that the Palestinians will welcome blunt interference in the replacement of their leader by the United States! The U.S. should be much more subtle, and press for Palestinian elections to be independently monitored, even if this means pushing for something that Israel will strongly object to.

No wonder President Clinton became frustrated at Camp David. Unfortunately, the subsequent final negotiations at Taba, Israel were poorly reported in the American News Media. This is a prime example of how whole peoples (Israelis and Palestinians) can be sacrificed by weak, dishonest, and inept leaders; plus powerful and destructive social movements.

The Palestinians

“At the time of UN partition in 1947 the demographic problem was of the greatest concern for the Zionists because Palestinians outnumbered Jews by two to one in Palestine.” ^94, ^pp. ^24-25 The proposed Jewish state: 498,000 Jews vs. 435,000 Palestinians; and the proposed Palestinian state: 10,000 Jews vs. 725,000 Arabs. ^94, ^pp. ^24-25 These population numbers make it very clear why chasing the Palestinians from their land became a Zionist imperative. ^94, ^p. ²⁵

In the year 2000 the total Palestinian population was 8,955,000 [as given by Newsweek]: Jordan 2,560,000; West Bank 2,057,000; Gaza Strip 1,167,000; Israel 1,131,000; Lebanon 501,000; Syria 463,000; Saudi Arabia 296,000; United States 214,000; other countries 566,000. Children per woman: 6.1. ³³ Note that the San Francisco Chronicle (30 April 2002) presented the following Arab populations: West Bank = 2,034,000; Gaza Strip = 1,093,000; and Golan Heights = 18,300. ⁷³ Bibliographic End Notes reference #85 confirms these numbers of Palestinians and Jews now living in Palestine–Israel. The number of Palestinian refugees (year 2003) is given as 4 million. The higher Palestinian birthrate assures an absolute Palestinian majority within Israel in a generation. ⁸⁵

The Palestinians are an indigenous Semitic people, who are descendants of Canaanites, Arabs and others, in the Middle Eastern land called Palestine by Great Britain after World War I. ²⁹ Rabbi Lerner gives the first usage of the name “Palestine” to the Romans, some 2000 years ago. ^91, ^p. ¹⁴ The Canaanites lived in this land before the Hebrews came ca. 1800 BC. ²⁹ The Jewish Kingdoms were only one of many periods in ancient Palestine, and endured for only a brief time. ²⁹ Modern day Palestinians have not known independence dating from the time of the Ottoman Empire (starting in the 16^th century), then later as a British Mandate after World War I, and finally after 1947 when colonization was forced upon them primarily by Great Britain and the United States plus the World Zionist Movement. ⁷ It should be noted that “the British Government had promised independence to the Arabs who joined them in driving out the Ottoman Turks who had ruled the area for 400 years.” ^98, ^p. ¹⁷ The fact that Semitic Palestinians have never yet had their own internationally recognized national status does not mean that they should be expected to willingly accept colonization by a foreign Semitic people. ¹⁷ Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir’s infamous 1965 remark, “There is no such thing as a ‘Palestinian.’ There is no ‘Palestinian nation.’ There never will be.” ²³ well illustrates the Israeli leaders’ majority attitude. David Ben Gurion is quoted as saying: “If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?” ⁸⁰

Three to four generations of Palestinians have now grown to maturity in “temporary” refugee camps, which are of course hot beds for creating an ongoing supply of suicidal terrorists. [Read: freedom fighters and martyrs from some Palestinians’ perspective.]

“When Israel took over almost 80% of Palestine in 1948, it did so through settlement and ethnic cleansing of the original Palestinian population.” ^67, ⁷⁷ “Benny Morris, an Israeli history professor who outraged [Israeli] conservatives by writing, in a 1988 book, that the thousands of Arabs who fled the new Israel in 1948 in large part did so not because of broadcast advice from the Arab world—as the traditional Israeli thesis had it—but because Israeli fighters forced or frightened them into fleeing.” ⁶⁸ It is interesting to note that 1948 period Israeli massacres, which have been concealed not only from the Western world but also from the Israeli public, are slowly being revealed! For example: “… the Tantura Affair. This erupted after an MA student at my university, Haifa, exposed an hitherto unknown massacre, one of the largest yet known, carried out during the 1948 War by Israeli forces in the Palestinian village of Tantura. This student was taken to court in December 2000 accused of defamation, and later, in November 2001, he was expelled from the university for daring to add yet further evidence of Israel’s responsibility for the Palestinian catastrophe. The [Israeli] court system, it transpired, thus willingly joined the denial process.” ⁶⁷

Most informed Middle East watchers will agree that the oldest cause in the 20^th century of Middle Eastern Arab angry frustration with the Western World has been the over fifty year forced colonization of Palestine by the creation [and continuing expansion] of Israel. ^1, ^5, ^7, ^8, ^12, ^14, ^19, ^32, ^38, ⁴⁷ No other indigenous people in history has ever freely accepted colonization. ⁷ In 1948 the Palestinians lost 78% of Palestine. In 1967 they lost the remaining 22%. ^41, ^B

[See Appendix, Number 6, pp. 56-57, for an up-to-date situation report on the Occupied Territories.]

Docile Palestinians in the West Bank Immediately After the Six-Day War

The overwhelming majority of American expatriates who have had work and living experiences in the Arab Middle East (at least up through the 1970s) will agree that they found the Arabs to be very friendly and thoughtful in their relations to Americans. Social interaction proved that young Arab adults, especially, based their affability on a deep admiration for Americans. The 19^th century accounts, by mostly British travelers in the Middle East, uniformly noted the Bedouin custom of extending a fulsome welcome to foreign strangers. Of course, it should be understood that the foreigners traveling through these remote and sparsely populated lands also understood (and practiced) the native customary ways to show respect and friendliness. Rabbi Lerner confirms the peacefulness of the Palestinians prior to the arrival of the Zionists. ^91, ^p. ¹⁵

The Palestinians were no exception to this cultural trait right up to the Six-Day War as illustrated by the following. “Palestinian society used to be, by and large, remarkably docile. Hardly a shot was fired in 1967 during the Israeli takeover of the West Bank; the only resistance encountered by the advancing Israeli forces came from Jordanian troops. Remembering that period, one begins to realize what thirty-five years of Israel’s mean, arrogant land grabbing; and deeply humiliating occupation have wrought in this society. There was no [Palestinian] rage in 1967. Israelis were greeted in most Palestinian towns with cries of ‘Welcome, Welcome’ and ‘Have a cup of coffee.’ Little boys ran after Israeli tanks crying, ‘Shalom, Shalom.’ I knew a Palestinian who during the first weeks of the Israeli occupation was so impressed by the kindness of the soldiers that he said he was ready to join the Israeli army. It took Palestinian society almost twenty years to launch the First Intifada in 1987; its main weapons consisted then only of stones thrown by similar young boys.” ⁵¹

Noam Chomsky has written (before the Second Intifada): “Israel has tried killing, beating, [tear-] gassing, mass arrests, deportation, destruction of houses, curfews and other forms of harsh collective punishment. Nothing has succeeded in enforcing obedience or eliciting a violent response. The Palestinian uprising (First Intifada) is a remarkable feat of collective self-discipline. It is quite different from the struggle of the Jews of Palestine for a Jewish state, with the murder of British officials, the assassination of UN mediator Folke Bernadotte, the hanging of British hostages, and many atrocities against Arab civilians.” ^32, ^p. ⁴⁸⁵ Of course the Second Intifada, begun September 2000, has seen an ongoing escalation of Palestinian rage!

Casualties of Palestinian Children

Three years ago (1999) it was reported that Israeli security forces had injured over 22,000 Palestinian children with live ammunition, and 93% of Palestinian children had been tear gassed by the Israelis. ¹⁹ American News Media has not covered well the high tide of Islamic anti-Americanism beginning in the 1990s. ²² Of course, the official Israeli view re: the high number of Palestinian children wounded [those killed are not mentioned] during the second Intifada is that they “are sent into the streets to throw rocks, firebombs and even grenades at Israeli soldiers.” ^48, ^pp. ^10-11 The reported fact, that many child casualties have wounds to vital locations (head, chest, etc.), is not referred to. Incidents like the following are never mentioned: “the case of the three-year old [Palestinian] boy who was beaten with a club by a soldier [IDF] after he threw an Israeli ID card to the floor; his mother was shot when she came to his aid.” ^32, ^p. ¹³³

“The Swedish Save the Children Fund, in research financed by the Ford Foundation, reported in mid-1990 that Israeli troops used ‘severe, indiscriminate and recurrent’ violence against Palestinian children. It said 159 children with an average age of ten had been killed in the first two years, 6,500 wounded by gunfire and 35,000 to 48,000 others (40% of them ten years old or younger) treated for injuries during the first two years of the [First] Intifada.” ^94, ^p. ⁷⁹

First Intifada (Uprising)

“The First Intifada erupted on 9 December 1987 in the crowded Gaza Strip and quickly spread to the West Bank. . . . The immediate stimulus for the uprising occurred on 8 December when an Israeli army truck ran into a group of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. . . . Palestinians suspected that the collusion was deliberate.” ^94, ^p. ⁷⁷ “Palestinian revolt in 1987-1993 against the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Initially a spontaneous reaction to 20 years of occupation and worsening economic conditions, it was soon taken over by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Its tactics included strikes, boycotts and confrontations with Israeli troops. The International Red Cross estimated that by 1990 Israeli security forces had killed 800 Palestinians—more than 200 under the age of 16. Intifada pressure is credited with helping make possible the 1993 Israeli–PLO agreement on Palestinian self-rule.” ⁷²

Perhaps this first Intifada is best know by the news media images of Palestinian children throwing rocks at the Israeli Defense Force!

A breakdown in further negotiations in late 2000 led to another outburst of violence, which quickly became known as the Aqsa Intifada, named for the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem where the fighting first began.” ⁷²

Al-Aqsa Intifada (Second Uprising)

The present war between the Palestinians and the Israelis is the result of an escalation since Ariel Sharon became Prime Minister. The trigger event for the present al-Aqsa Intifada (Second Uprising) was Sharon’s provocative forced walk on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount compound (where two ancient Muslim Mosques stand) in September 2000. ^53, ^p. ^12; ^51, ^p. ¹⁶ Of course, Sharon’s responsibility here is denied by official Israeli policy. ^48, ^p. ³ Reuters reported, 20 December 2001, that approximately 785 Palestinians vs. 233 Israelis had been killed since the beginning of the Second Intifada. Approximately one year later, at the end of 2002, this number had risen to: approximately 1785 Palestinians vs. 595 Israelis. ⁹⁵ The death toll has risen sharply during 2002! By mid-2003 the Palestinian death toll had risen to 2300 [al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition]. It was in March 2003 that the first non-Palestinian peace activist, Rachel Corrie was murdered by being crushed by a bulldozer demolishing a Palestinian home. Rachel was a 23-year-old member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and a college student from Washington State.

This second Intifada is a response to an escalation of Palestinian despair, frustration and rebellion. It has been characterized by an escalation of Palestinian violence, i.e., individual suicide bombers attacking Israeli military and especially civilian targets. The Palestinian bombers have been young men and also young women. Probably some of the same young people who, when even younger, first threw rocks during the First Intifada—only to see Israel’s response become even more violent and humiliating. The bombers are considered to be martyrs by the Palestinians, and terrorists by the Israelis. Israel’s IDF response has been disproportionately much more severe, e.g., tanks destroying whole village blocks (Jenin), F-16 fighter/bomber planes dropping one ton bombs on to crowded apartment buildings at night (Gaza City) and lately, Israeli vendettas against the Palestinian bomber’s family. This ongoing cycle of increasing violence again proves the truism of Secretary of State Powell’s remark (spring 2002) that violence always breeds more violence! However, speaking of our Secretary of State – Powell refused to visit the smashed Jenin refugee camp while he was in Israel spring 2002. Powell, when he was a major during the Vietnam War, helped in 1968 to cover up the My Lai massacre for over one year! ^109, ^p. ³¹

It needs to be clearly understood that the fuel feeding the Palestinian rage, expressed by both intifadas, has been [and continues to be] the Israeli settlement systems in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The United Nations has clearly deemed these settlements to be illegal.

Palestinian Rage

We should be aware that the present Palestinian rage has been long in forming, but is all the more severe for its long incubation period! The Israeli Occupation of territories assigned to the Palestinians by the United Nations in 1947, began in earnest on 11 June 1967, and is now the longest occupation in modern history! As has been noted, Palestinian unrest had relatively subsided prior to the Occupation. After the Occupation, the face that Israel showed to the Palestinians became increasingly more ugly. Israeli Cabinet minister Rehavam Ze’evi, assassinated by an Arab in October 2001, is quoted as having said “I believe there is no place for two people in our country. Palestinians are like lice. You have to take them out like lice.” ^10, ²³

Israeli leaders have made other public, racist remarks: Menachem Begin likened Palestinians to “two-legged animals;” Yitzhak Shamir compared a Palestinian to a “fly” and to a “grasshopper;” Shamir also called Palestinians “brutal, wild, alien invaders in the Land of Israel that belongs to the people of Israel, and only to them; Rafael Eitan said in 1982 “When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be scurry around like drugged roaches in a bottle.” ^94, ^p. ¹⁶⁸

Israel’s IDF has long been practicing escalating humiliating tactics in the Occupied Territories. Noam Chomsky early documented this in 1999. ³² Reem Haddad presents a vignette of a young Palestinian’s probably fatal experience in 2001. ¹² Suzanne Russ continues in the fall of 2002. ⁸⁶ This last account concerns Yasser Sharar, 25, caught violating the curfew in Nablus. Yasser was ordered by Israeli soldiers to take off all his clothes and then to walk on all fours like a dog. Yasser was in a very stressful condition and very embarrassed, particularly since women were watching, and burst out into uncontrollable crying. The IDF, of course, justifies this treatment as a “security precaution.” Could this young man possibly be a potential future suicide bomber? Something must have gone terribly wrong with the IDF’s behavior in the Occupied Territories for so many Israeli reservists to refuse service there! Reports now available over the Internet indicate that the IDF’s treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories to be characterized by a serious breakdown in military morale and discipline resulting in acts of pure inhumanity! This will, of course, result in even more Palestinian fury and vengeance – making a mockery of Sharon’s public logic that an increasingly tough line will pacify the Palestinians.

There Is Still Hope for More Viable Palestinian Leadership

A major “peace current” was forming in Palestine early in 2002. It was secular and non-violent, calling itself the International Solidarity Movement or Palestinian National Initiative. This early Palestinian group included about 550 European observers who met at their own expense during December 2001 in Palestine. A collective statement was issued in mid-December 2001 that was well covered in the Arab and European media [it went unmentioned in the United States]. The statement calls for: Palestinian unity, the unconditional end to Israeli military occupation (of the lands taken during the Six-Day War) and a call for new Palestinian parliamentary elections. All this occurred while the United States was vetoing a UN Security Council resolution mandating an international group of unarmed observers to interpose themselves between the Israeli army and defenseless Palestinian civilians. This visible group has true independence and popular status. Three prominent Palestinians are part of this leadership: Dr. Haidar Abdel Shafi, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi [not to be confused with his distant relative, Fatah militia activist Marwan Barghouti] and Rawia al-Shawa. This new current may have one of the best present possibilities of moving the crisis impasse toward a just and peaceful resolution. It deserves American appreciation and support. ²⁶ Unfortunately, this hope has been deliberately devastated by Sharon’s subsequent destruction (with the U.S.’ tacit approval) of any possibility of a near future Palestinian voice to proclaim their right to their own sovereignty. Israeli state terrorism has now made basic survival the priority for the Palestinians. ^41B The good news is that after a very difficult year the ISM/PNI movement is still viable! Professor Said enthusiastically endorses it. ⁹² “It argues for liberation and not a readjustment of the occupation to suit elites and VIPs.” ⁹² Educated and principled Palestinians lead this movement. ⁹²

At the start of year 2003 the conditions for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have reached a stage of desperation greater than ever before experienced by them! The fact that illegal Israeli practices continue to deliberately bleed the Palestinian civilian population is obscured to the outside world. Currently there is: 65% unemployment, 50% poverty (people living on less than $2 a day), schools, hospitals, universities and businesses all under constant military pressure. ⁹² Over 40% of the Palestinian population is undernourished and famine is now a genuine threat. ⁹² Ethnic cleansing is what this is all about, although Sharon’s demonic plan is to do it in tiny daily increments that won’t properly be reported and are never seen cumulatively as part of a general pattern. ⁹²

On 29 April 2003 the Palestinian Legislative Council approved the cabinet proposed by the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). It remains to be seen if PM Abbas will be able to achieve anything meaningful for the Palestinians from his position of extreme relative weakness. Certainly the present Israeli Likud Government (Sharon) has no intention of granting the Palestinians a fair peace plan from their (Israeli) position of overwhelming power. As the world’s sole superpower, the present United States government (Bush II) will never have a balanced policy agenda as long as the Washington Neocons set the U.S. Middle East policy! [See Appendix, Number 8.]

Perhaps it is fitting to close this Section with a quote from an Israeli dove: “Those who shall sober up from the collective intoxication will have to admit that the Palestinians are the Jews of our era, a small, hunted people, defenseless, standing alone against the best weapons, helpless … the whole world is against them.” ^32, ^p. ¹⁶⁴

The Israelis

“The Hebrew period of rule started only in 1020 B.C. and lasted until 587 B.C. The Israelites were then overrun by Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians and Syrians until the Hebrew Maccabeans regained partial rule in 164 B.C. However, in 63 B.C. the Roman Empire conquered Jerusalem and in 70 A.D. destroyed the Second Temple and scattered the Jews into other lands. In sum, ancient Jews controlled Palestine or some major parts of it for less than six hundred years in the five-thousand period of Palestine’s recorded history – less than Canaanites, Egyptians, Muslims, or Romans.” ^94, ^p ⁴

The population of Israel in year 2003 is 6,700,000 (including 1,300,000 Arabs). Israel’s religious diversity is (year 2003): Jewish 81.0 %. ¹¹⁵ Of the 1.3 million Arab-Israelis: 82% are Muslim, 9% Christian and 9% Druze. ¹¹⁵ This is only a Jewish population increase of 0.9% in 3 years. ³³ Israel’s population ca. 1967 was approximately just under 3,000,000. Children per woman: 2.6. ³³ The San Francisco Chronicle [30 April 2002] presented the following Jewish occupation populations: West Bank = 416,000; Gaza Strip = 7,000; and the Golan Heights = 19,900. ⁷³ In year 2000 there were 6,040,000 “citizens” living in Israel (including 1,131,000 Arabs). ³³ The higher Palestinian birthrate assures an absolute Palestinian majority in Israel (including the Occupied Territories) within ten or fifteen years. ⁸⁵

Two unique conditions concerning the state of Israel are: (1) Israel has never yet defined its borders with its immediate neighbors; and, (2) the nation has never agreed upon a written constitution.

Balfour Declaration

On 2 November 1917 the British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour released the Balfour Declaration that stated that a national home for the Jewish people should be established in Palestine. This Declaration additionally stated “it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine. . . .” ⁹¹

Guerrilla War Against the British, the Partition and Early Terrorists’ Actions

The Zionist movement fought a guerrilla war with the British in Palestine from 1945 to 1948. ⁹¹

“At the end of WWII the British Army was demobilized . . . large contingents who had enlisted in Jewish and Arab brigades . . . [were released in Palestine – Ed.’s insert]. Members of the Jewish brigades, moreover, carefully preserved their military units and ranks, and actively prepared to fight for establishment of a Jewish state.” ^98, ^p. ¹⁷

It has been generally overlooked that some Zionists were active terrorists during the early formation of modern Israel. “In 1937-1938 Jewish terrorists bombed Arab houses and markets in Haifa and Jaffa, killing dozens of women and children, a tactic renewed to murderous effect in the period preceding Israel’s War of Independence and culminating on 9 April 1948 …” ⁶¹ The terrorist Irgun and LEHI (Stern Group) were led by two men who later became Israeli prime ministers: Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir! Begin’s Irgun murdered over 100 civilians (including more than 100 women and children) at the Arab village of Deir Yassin on 9 April 1948. ⁶¹ It is noted that the Haganah command (the Defense Force of the Jewish settlement in Palestine, the precursor of the IDF) condemned this operation, which included looting and plunder. ^32, ^pp. ^95-96 The King David Hotel in Jerusalem was blown up, and UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte was assassinated on 17 September 1948 [by Jewish terrorists led by M. Begin and Y. Shamir]. It may be assumed that these events are only the “tip of the iceberg,” since obviously many historical facts have been suppressed. [See the “Tantura Affair,” p. 9.] “The record is generally suppressed in the U.S. where cynics refer to terror and intimidation as an invention of the PLO.” ^32, ^p. ^164-166 Shamir, as Prime Minister, is quoted as saying “Neither Jewish ethics nor Jewish tradition can disqualify terrorism as a means of combat.” [Ed.’s italics] ^32, ^p. ⁴⁸⁵ Shamir is quoted in 1991 as unabashedly justifying his early terrorist activities: “I have always said, I always say, I am proud of everything I have done in the past. I do not disown a single step. . . . I am proud of what I have done and I do not owe an accounting to anyone.” ^94, ^p. ²²⁷

To be balanced one should note that “in 1929, a Muslim pogrom destroyed its [Hebron’s] ancient and defenseless Jewish community, murdering sixty-seven people and mutilating dozens more.” ^84,p. ³⁷ Author Yossi Halevi mentions Dr. Baruch Goldstein’s massacre of 29 Muslims at prayer in the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. ^84, ^p. ³⁷ “The systematic demolition of 9000 Palestinian homes since 1967, violates international humanitarian law, and particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.” ⁶⁴

Israel’s Declaration of Independence and the Israel–Arab 1948 War

The United Nations voted in November 1947 to partition Palestine between the Jews (55% of the land) and the Arabs (45% of the land). Note that the Jews’ 56% was contiguous, whereas the Arabs’ 44% was in three separate areas. The fifth, Jerusalem area, was designated a permanent trusteeship. ⁹¹ Israel’s independence was declared on 14 May 1948 in Tel Aviv as a “natural and historic right.” ^94, ^p. ⁴ Israel’s Declaration of Independence did not mention any borders! [Ed.’s italics] ⁹⁴ However, one should note that: “This independence was based on a United Nation’s resolution giving the Jews 56.4 percent of Palestine.” ^98, ^p. ¹⁸ Note, that at the time of independence the Jews were in a minority in Palestine! Of course, no indigenous Arab Palestinians were present at this declaration.

The U.S. (Truman’s Administration) recognized the state of Israel 11 minutes after the British Mandate ended. “Never before or since, has the U.S. recognized a state that had not defined its own boundaries.” ^98, ^p. ¹⁹ Shortly after the British departed Palestine on 15 May 1948 the Arab armies invaded Palestine. The Palestinians were not formally involved in the planning or the participation in the War. ⁹¹ The War was bloody and horrific on both sides. Israel won a military victory and secured its existence. ⁹¹ Jordan annexed the West Bank, and Egypt annexed the Gaza Strip.

The UN Partition Plan allotted 56.47% (5,893 square miles) of Palestine to the Jews. ^94, ^p ¹⁷ “By the end of the 1948 War Israel controlled an area of 77.4 percent (8,000 sq. miles).” ^94, ^p. ¹⁷ David Ben Gurion was the first Israeli Prime Minister from 1949 to 1953.

This War’s “Dalit Plan” produced 750,000 Palestinian refugees and destroyed over 400 Palestinian villages. This ethnic cleansing plan forcibly moved Palestinians from their villages and towns to 60 refugee camps in Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, plus many more Palestinians fled further to the Gulf states, the Americas, Europe and Australia. ¹⁰⁷

The Suez 1956 War ¹³

On 26 July 1956 Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company; in order, he said, to obtain funds (estimated at $1.3 Billion) for building the Aswan Dam. On 29 October the Israelis informed President Eisenhower that they intended to eliminate Egyptian guerrilla bases in the Sinai Peninsula. The French and British invaded Egypt on 1 November. Eisenhower immediately ordered the French and British to halt their invasion, and requested that Israel return behind the truce lines. France and Britain capitulated on 6 November, but Israel continued to hold out. This was a rare time when an American administration stood up to Israel. After a firm stand by Eisenhower, on 16 March 1957. “Israel withdrew from almost all the territory it had occupied in the Suez offensive.” For a detailed account of all the political maneuvering see The Passionate Attachment, by G. W. and D. B. Ball. ^13, ^pp. ^45-49 [David Ben Gurion PM 1955-1963]

The Six-Day 1967 War

The Six-Day War was preempted and won by Israel. It marked the great watershed in terms of making the achievement of a just peace between the Palestinian people and the Israelis much more difficult in terms of the length of their struggle and the cost of human suffering to both. ⁸⁵ Immediately after the War, for the first time (at least in theory) Israel had enough territory to exchange land for peace! ⁸⁵ Levi Eshkol was the Israeli Prime Minister from 1963 to 1969. Lyndon Johnson was the United States President during the Six-Day War.

Immediately after the War, Israel had its best opportunity to establish peace with the Palestinians. David Ben Gurion was the only leading figure in the political elite who broke the general euphoria by suggesting that Israel withdraw immediately, if need be unilaterally, from all occupied territories. ⁸⁵ But Ben-Gurion was old and retired and politically isolated. ⁸⁵ Yigal Allon and Moshe Dayan strongly opposed giving up the Occupied Territories. ⁸⁵ Note that Rabbi Lerner credits Moshe Dayan with quitting the Labor Party, and calling upon the Israeli government to withdraw from the West Bank and create an independent Palestinian state in this territory. ⁹¹ They (the Israelis who favored Israeli control) dismissed the aspirations of over a million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as of limited political importance. ⁸⁵ They had no intention to offer them Israeli citizenship. ⁸⁵ Some 300,000 Palestinians already lived in Israel proper, increasingly embittered by their status as second-class citizens. ⁸⁵

The 1973 War (The Yom Kippur War)

Golda Meir was PM of Israel from 1969 to 1974. Yitzhak Rabin, PM 1974 to 1977. Egypt and Syria launched strikes to win back th