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More Settlers: Goodbye U.S., Hello Israel
Some Jewish immigrants to Israel are being given loans of $7,000 to $18,000, offered by a privately funded organization called Nefesh B'Nefesh. The loans become grants if the immigrants remain in Israel for at least three years. About 2,040 North American Jews moved to Israel last year, and the numbers are up more than 20 percent this year, according to the Jewish Agency, an Israeli quasi-governmental agency that helps the immigration process.
Tali Berman was born in America, but surrounded by her baby and belongings at Kennedy Airport, she said she was flying home - to Israel.
"We're Jewish, and it feels like home," said Berman, 27, who was "making aliyah" - making Israel her new home - with husband Joshua and their 15-month-old daughter, Anava.
Berman and her family joined about 330 Jews from the United States and Canada who flew to Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Another chartered jet of about 300 people is leaving later this month.
About 2,040 North American Jews moved to Israel last year, and the numbers are up more than 20 percent this year, according to the Jewish Agency, an Israeli quasi-governmental agency that helps the immigration process.
Some Jews feel compelled to show their support for the country as it faces heightened violence in its conflict with the Palestinians, according to agency officials.
"It's the feeling of the community that this time Israel is really needing them," said Michael Landsberg, executive director of the agency's North American aliyah movement.
He said others with bills to pay are taking advantage of loans of $7,000 to $18,000 offered by a privately funded organization called Nefesh B'Nefesh. The loans become grants if the immigrants remain in Israel for at least three years.
"I know that there are many Jews who would consider aliyah if they could escape from their loans and mortgages," Landsberg said.
Nefesh B'Nefesh, or Jewish Souls United, is sponsoring the moves of about 940 North American Jews this year, up from 519 last year, spokesman George Birnbaum said. About 300 are leaving on a chartered jet July 22, the rest in groups of 30 or so over the following six weeks.
"In terms of immigrants moving en masse," Birnbaum said, "there haven't been these numbers in 25 or 30 years."
Nevertheless, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said this year that worldwide immigration to Israel in 2002 had fallen to its lowest level in 13 years. About 33,000 people immigrated in 2002, about 10,000 fewer than in 2001.
As the travelers on Tuesday waited for their flight, many families danced to traditional Jewish melodies played by a band. Luggage carts were stacked high with belongings. Some immigrants wore signs reading, "I'm making aliyah."
Jewish Agency officials said about 30 percent of the immigrants who arrived this week will live in the occupied West Bank, with most of the others headed for large cities.
"Living in Israel for some period of time is the right thing for anyone who's Jewish to do," said Lauran Hazan, a software marketer from Toronto who is moving to Tel Aviv next month.
Hazan, 28, is also pursuing a master's degree in Middle Eastern history at Tel Aviv University. "This isn't just about politics," she said. "I mean, it's my life."
Hazan and Berman said they weren't fearful of increased violence in the region, although Hazan said she worried about finding work in an economy battered by the conflict.
"Now, as things are becoming more intense, it's an important time to make a claim that the Jewish state has a right to exist," said Berman, who plans to work with autistic children and reunite with family members already there.
Along with the jump in North American immigrants to Israel, Jewish Agency officials say the number of groups that help with the process has grown in recent years.
Melissa and Yishai Fleisher founded such an organization, called Kumah. The Fleishers, who were at the airport for Tuesday's sendoff, said they will move to Israel in October.
© MMIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
"We're Jewish, and it feels like home," said Berman, 27, who was "making aliyah" - making Israel her new home - with husband Joshua and their 15-month-old daughter, Anava.
Berman and her family joined about 330 Jews from the United States and Canada who flew to Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Another chartered jet of about 300 people is leaving later this month.
About 2,040 North American Jews moved to Israel last year, and the numbers are up more than 20 percent this year, according to the Jewish Agency, an Israeli quasi-governmental agency that helps the immigration process.
Some Jews feel compelled to show their support for the country as it faces heightened violence in its conflict with the Palestinians, according to agency officials.
"It's the feeling of the community that this time Israel is really needing them," said Michael Landsberg, executive director of the agency's North American aliyah movement.
He said others with bills to pay are taking advantage of loans of $7,000 to $18,000 offered by a privately funded organization called Nefesh B'Nefesh. The loans become grants if the immigrants remain in Israel for at least three years.
"I know that there are many Jews who would consider aliyah if they could escape from their loans and mortgages," Landsberg said.
Nefesh B'Nefesh, or Jewish Souls United, is sponsoring the moves of about 940 North American Jews this year, up from 519 last year, spokesman George Birnbaum said. About 300 are leaving on a chartered jet July 22, the rest in groups of 30 or so over the following six weeks.
"In terms of immigrants moving en masse," Birnbaum said, "there haven't been these numbers in 25 or 30 years."
Nevertheless, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said this year that worldwide immigration to Israel in 2002 had fallen to its lowest level in 13 years. About 33,000 people immigrated in 2002, about 10,000 fewer than in 2001.
As the travelers on Tuesday waited for their flight, many families danced to traditional Jewish melodies played by a band. Luggage carts were stacked high with belongings. Some immigrants wore signs reading, "I'm making aliyah."
Jewish Agency officials said about 30 percent of the immigrants who arrived this week will live in the occupied West Bank, with most of the others headed for large cities.
"Living in Israel for some period of time is the right thing for anyone who's Jewish to do," said Lauran Hazan, a software marketer from Toronto who is moving to Tel Aviv next month.
Hazan, 28, is also pursuing a master's degree in Middle Eastern history at Tel Aviv University. "This isn't just about politics," she said. "I mean, it's my life."
Hazan and Berman said they weren't fearful of increased violence in the region, although Hazan said she worried about finding work in an economy battered by the conflict.
"Now, as things are becoming more intense, it's an important time to make a claim that the Jewish state has a right to exist," said Berman, who plans to work with autistic children and reunite with family members already there.
Along with the jump in North American immigrants to Israel, Jewish Agency officials say the number of groups that help with the process has grown in recent years.
Melissa and Yishai Fleisher founded such an organization, called Kumah. The Fleishers, who were at the airport for Tuesday's sendoff, said they will move to Israel in October.
© MMIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
For more information:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/10/...
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Man whose father and grandfather lived in Haifa...
Ineligable for Israeli citizenship.
Man who converted to Judaism and never has been ourside the USA...
Eligable for Israeli citizenship.
The millions of "refugees" are denied by Israel and the Arab states and American Jews head off to what they call "Judea" and "Samaria" using thousand year old maps and proceed to become lawless terrorizers, often only respecting the authority of the local religious leader, not the government coalition.
Point being,
can you be a liberal democracy and a "jewish state"?
Answer: You can be a "Jewish Democracy", but you cannot be a free state, if you are constantly organizing the electorate in a racist fashion (id. the trick "literacy" test administered in the South to disenfrancise blacks) then you won't have "a beacon of liberty in the Middle East" for non-jews.
Ineligable for Israeli citizenship.
Man who converted to Judaism and never has been ourside the USA...
Eligable for Israeli citizenship.
The millions of "refugees" are denied by Israel and the Arab states and American Jews head off to what they call "Judea" and "Samaria" using thousand year old maps and proceed to become lawless terrorizers, often only respecting the authority of the local religious leader, not the government coalition.
Point being,
can you be a liberal democracy and a "jewish state"?
Answer: You can be a "Jewish Democracy", but you cannot be a free state, if you are constantly organizing the electorate in a racist fashion (id. the trick "literacy" test administered in the South to disenfrancise blacks) then you won't have "a beacon of liberty in the Middle East" for non-jews.
For more information:
http://blackhouse.blogspot.com
Of course you can become a naturalized israeli citizen if you are not Jewish
If these immigrants are "urged" to live in the Palestine territories (= anywhere outside the green line), the organisation Nefesh B'Nefesh is funding terrorism, and it's assets should be seized by the FBI.
Surely you've heard of the "double standard"??
It's perfectly okay to seize the assets of everyone else, it would appear, but in this case???? Nah, not a chance.
That's why I'm appalled that the rest of the international community hasn't had the guts tos tand up and stop this theft of land and livelihood NOW!!!
It's perfectly okay to seize the assets of everyone else, it would appear, but in this case???? Nah, not a chance.
That's why I'm appalled that the rest of the international community hasn't had the guts tos tand up and stop this theft of land and livelihood NOW!!!
Just one more reason we need a Palestinian State NOW!!!!
So Israel can no longer get away with these horrific injustices...
Where is the outrage???
I have nothing against these People moving to Israel Proper by to take more land from the Palestinian People who have so little this is an atrocity beyond any human reasoning...
West Bank and Gaza are only 22% of what is TODAY, Israel, West Bank and Gaza.
PLEASE LOOK AT THE MAP IN THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
The Orange areas are Israeli settlements in the already small 22% that is West Bank and Gaza. What kind of carved up mess will the Palestinian State be unless all the settlements are removed (which will probably never happen) or just make the settlements part of the New Palestinian State (which can happen right now)??
CLICK HERE > http://mondediplo.com/maps/IMG/artoff3260.jpg
For there to be Peace and for there to be a reason for the Palestinian People to stop their fight for Freedom:
We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
Then have the Biased (biased because they will always be on the side of the settlers) Israeli Military retreat to the pre 1967 Israeli Borders, They can then concentrate their effort on guarding this Border..
(MAHMOUD ABBAS HAS SAID MORE THEN ONCE THAT HE WANTS U.S. OBSERVERS THERE, THAT IS THE ONLY WAY, THAT THE TRUTH OF WHAT IS REALLY OCCURRING WILL BE BELIEVED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.)
Example of a possible solution:
SET THE BORDERS BACK TO 1967...
In return the Refugees have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders..
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, (The Right of return is almost impossible any way because the land and homes they lost are now built up with Jewish homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay..
If you take Israel, West Bank and Gaza, West Bank and Gaza is only 22% of the total area in Question, This small amount is not too much to ask for millions of Palestinians who must have their freedom to have a peaceful life.
If this solution was implemented there is a good chance the so called terrorist (seen as freedom fighters by the oppressed Palestinian People) would stop their fight, if not they would be very foolish because then Israel would have a just cause to fight back and the U.S. would have a just cause to help Israel fight back.
Otherwise we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes because there are suicide bombers???
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because Israel is slowly confiscating all our land and demolishing our homes. We have no military to defend ourselves and our land. If we do nothing, we will soon have nothing at all???
The era of colonization is past,. We can not expect to oppress millions of Palestinian People and still have peace.
So Israel can no longer get away with these horrific injustices...
Where is the outrage???
I have nothing against these People moving to Israel Proper by to take more land from the Palestinian People who have so little this is an atrocity beyond any human reasoning...
West Bank and Gaza are only 22% of what is TODAY, Israel, West Bank and Gaza.
PLEASE LOOK AT THE MAP IN THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
The Orange areas are Israeli settlements in the already small 22% that is West Bank and Gaza. What kind of carved up mess will the Palestinian State be unless all the settlements are removed (which will probably never happen) or just make the settlements part of the New Palestinian State (which can happen right now)??
CLICK HERE > http://mondediplo.com/maps/IMG/artoff3260.jpg
For there to be Peace and for there to be a reason for the Palestinian People to stop their fight for Freedom:
We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
Then have the Biased (biased because they will always be on the side of the settlers) Israeli Military retreat to the pre 1967 Israeli Borders, They can then concentrate their effort on guarding this Border..
(MAHMOUD ABBAS HAS SAID MORE THEN ONCE THAT HE WANTS U.S. OBSERVERS THERE, THAT IS THE ONLY WAY, THAT THE TRUTH OF WHAT IS REALLY OCCURRING WILL BE BELIEVED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.)
Example of a possible solution:
SET THE BORDERS BACK TO 1967...
In return the Refugees have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders..
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, (The Right of return is almost impossible any way because the land and homes they lost are now built up with Jewish homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay..
If you take Israel, West Bank and Gaza, West Bank and Gaza is only 22% of the total area in Question, This small amount is not too much to ask for millions of Palestinians who must have their freedom to have a peaceful life.
If this solution was implemented there is a good chance the so called terrorist (seen as freedom fighters by the oppressed Palestinian People) would stop their fight, if not they would be very foolish because then Israel would have a just cause to fight back and the U.S. would have a just cause to help Israel fight back.
Otherwise we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes because there are suicide bombers???
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because Israel is slowly confiscating all our land and demolishing our homes. We have no military to defend ourselves and our land. If we do nothing, we will soon have nothing at all???
The era of colonization is past,. We can not expect to oppress millions of Palestinian People and still have peace.
"Jewish Agency officials said about 30 percent of the immigrants who arrived this week will live in the occupied West Bank, with most of the others headed for large cities."
I thought we were trying to have a Palestinian State.
Why are more Jewish People moving to West Bank?
Looks like something is very wrong here.
How come the U.S. Government is not seeing this?
I thought we were trying to have a Palestinian State.
Why are more Jewish People moving to West Bank?
Looks like something is very wrong here.
How come the U.S. Government is not seeing this?
Settlements are going up whilst Sharon is pretending to accept the conditions of the road map.
Instead of these illegall setlements being removed, more are being erected.
By the time it's over, if if ever is, there won't be any room left for the peoples who now inhabit the area.
It's been the plan all along. For the past fifty plus years the only plan, through whatever means, has been to rid the peoples of Palestine from the Gaza and West Bank.
We've been watching and following the pattern. It starts with a couple of rowdies in few ramshackle trailers on a hill somewhere not too far from a Palestinian village; soon a few more are added, a waer tower appears, etc. Before Palestinians know what's happening, there is the IDF "protecting" these illegal individuals, all roads to and from the farms of the Palestinians are effectively cut off, and so it goes.
There's a great article by Uri Avnery, and I'll get the name and site and post it here, which tells exactly how this has been going on for WAY TOO LONG!!!
The United States couldn't care less what Israel does. Don't ever think otherwise because it would be a fallacy.
And this is the environment in to which the Palestinian peoples are expected to have a state. Yes, and the sky is falling.
Instead of these illegall setlements being removed, more are being erected.
By the time it's over, if if ever is, there won't be any room left for the peoples who now inhabit the area.
It's been the plan all along. For the past fifty plus years the only plan, through whatever means, has been to rid the peoples of Palestine from the Gaza and West Bank.
We've been watching and following the pattern. It starts with a couple of rowdies in few ramshackle trailers on a hill somewhere not too far from a Palestinian village; soon a few more are added, a waer tower appears, etc. Before Palestinians know what's happening, there is the IDF "protecting" these illegal individuals, all roads to and from the farms of the Palestinians are effectively cut off, and so it goes.
There's a great article by Uri Avnery, and I'll get the name and site and post it here, which tells exactly how this has been going on for WAY TOO LONG!!!
The United States couldn't care less what Israel does. Don't ever think otherwise because it would be a fallacy.
And this is the environment in to which the Palestinian peoples are expected to have a state. Yes, and the sky is falling.
" The United States couldn't care less what Israel does."
Intelectual lazyness and since us predidents have been involved in the issue for a long time a obviously false statement.
"Don't ever think otherwise because it would be a fallacy. "
you are amazingly confident in the truth of your "falseism"
Intelectual lazyness and since us predidents have been involved in the issue for a long time a obviously false statement.
"Don't ever think otherwise because it would be a fallacy. "
you are amazingly confident in the truth of your "falseism"
If you can prove to me SOMETHING, anything that any US President in recent times has done to stop the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians, to stop the theft of land, the re-routing of water, the home demolitions, the destruction of the Palestinian Authority's offices, yanking its financial aid until such time as Israel carried out its obligations under the Conventions and agreements (if it planned to ignore same, why did it sign??) then you go ahead and point it out to me.
You tell me why Colin Powell didn't visit the Jenin
camp in April 2002 when he was laughing and joking with Sharon for the cameras whilst people were dying in the streets of Jenin, without medical assistance, etc.
You tell me why a United States President would call Ariel Sharon "a man of peace" as the war criminal was trying to eliminate as many Palestinians as he could under the guise of "fighting terror".
If the US cared a damn about fixing the problem it helped to create in the Middle East, it would have done so a long, long time ago. Don't expect it to happen now. The only interest right now on the part of bush is the upcoming election. Look at me, America. I solved the Middle East crisis.
Let me just move on and throw up.
You tell me why Colin Powell didn't visit the Jenin
camp in April 2002 when he was laughing and joking with Sharon for the cameras whilst people were dying in the streets of Jenin, without medical assistance, etc.
You tell me why a United States President would call Ariel Sharon "a man of peace" as the war criminal was trying to eliminate as many Palestinians as he could under the guise of "fighting terror".
If the US cared a damn about fixing the problem it helped to create in the Middle East, it would have done so a long, long time ago. Don't expect it to happen now. The only interest right now on the part of bush is the upcoming election. Look at me, America. I solved the Middle East crisis.
Let me just move on and throw up.
re: Ariel Sharon has never "tried to eliminate as many palestinians as he could." If he did that, about 50,000 could have been dead on any given weekend. He didn't. Stop lying, thanks.
Actually, the so-called "man of peace" has abused the so-called "war on terror" to the point where his 'motives' long questioned internationally, and becomming more and more questioned in the U.S.
Do you dare to think, that the state of Israel could actually commit such a blatant act and get away with it?
If the U.S. at that point, continued to support Israel, do you really believe the U.S. Congress inspite of the massive contributions from AIPAC and other jewish organizations would be allowed by their constituants to continue to sit there and ignore the actual facts of the matter.
The ONLY reason that Israel continues to act like a "spoiled child" is because the people of the U.S. don't know the truth.
Actually, the so-called "man of peace" has abused the so-called "war on terror" to the point where his 'motives' long questioned internationally, and becomming more and more questioned in the U.S.
Do you dare to think, that the state of Israel could actually commit such a blatant act and get away with it?
If the U.S. at that point, continued to support Israel, do you really believe the U.S. Congress inspite of the massive contributions from AIPAC and other jewish organizations would be allowed by their constituants to continue to sit there and ignore the actual facts of the matter.
The ONLY reason that Israel continues to act like a "spoiled child" is because the people of the U.S. don't know the truth.
All the Arab states surrounding the West Bank and Gaza began sending their people in to live in these areas. They'd be shot by the IDF probably. Only one can play the game in this conflict.
WHY IS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ALLOWING THE CONTINUATION OF THESE SETTLEMENTS????
WHEN IS IT GOING TO STOP???
WHEN ARE THE LIES GOING TO CEASE?
HOW COME NO ONE OUT THERE WHO'S SO EAGER TO DEMONIZE THE PALESTINIANS CAN'T TELL US WHY ISRAEL CONTINUES TO STEAL LAND AND GIVE IT TO NON-RESIDENTS IN BREACH OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE SO-CALLED ROAD MAP? IN BREACH OF THE FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION, THE OSLO AGREEMENTS AND ALL ESLE BESIDES?
WHAT A DAMN DOUBLE STANDARD!
WHAT A BLEEDING MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE!!!
WHAT BLATANT HYPOCRISY!!!
You're damn right I'm furious, and so should all of you.
WHY IS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ALLOWING THE CONTINUATION OF THESE SETTLEMENTS????
WHEN IS IT GOING TO STOP???
WHEN ARE THE LIES GOING TO CEASE?
HOW COME NO ONE OUT THERE WHO'S SO EAGER TO DEMONIZE THE PALESTINIANS CAN'T TELL US WHY ISRAEL CONTINUES TO STEAL LAND AND GIVE IT TO NON-RESIDENTS IN BREACH OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE SO-CALLED ROAD MAP? IN BREACH OF THE FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION, THE OSLO AGREEMENTS AND ALL ESLE BESIDES?
WHAT A DAMN DOUBLE STANDARD!
WHAT A BLEEDING MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE!!!
WHAT BLATANT HYPOCRISY!!!
You're damn right I'm furious, and so should all of you.
Do you really want to know why the international community 'let's Israel get away with it'?
The reason is simple - every time any meaningful vote or resolution is, or has been brought up in the Security Council the United States vetos it, if Israel has been 'really bad' usually a 'non-binding' resolution may be 'allowed' through as long as it more-or-less states "now stop that - you" anything stronger; goodbye.
In the General Assembly - members have, in the past, been intimitated into following the U.S. using a variety of 'sticks'.
Actually, it is long past time for a "new" well-armed UN supported by tithe.
The reason is simple - every time any meaningful vote or resolution is, or has been brought up in the Security Council the United States vetos it, if Israel has been 'really bad' usually a 'non-binding' resolution may be 'allowed' through as long as it more-or-less states "now stop that - you" anything stronger; goodbye.
In the General Assembly - members have, in the past, been intimitated into following the U.S. using a variety of 'sticks'.
Actually, it is long past time for a "new" well-armed UN supported by tithe.
You're right, of course, and I suppose in a way my questions were directed more out of frustration and anger, mingled with disbelief, more than anything else.
HOWEVER:
I apologize for interrupting your afternoon (or evening), but could you check something for me?
My home page, as you know, is the Uri Avnery site you gave me a few days ago re his e-mail address.
I note yesterday I was having trouble with it, and today in the "back columns" I could only access the first few lines of each, and now when I checked again it says URL not found or whatever.
Would you check this out for me, please, and see what you make of it??? today's column is there, the bio is there, so what's happened to his columns???
Thanks.
Angie
HOWEVER:
I apologize for interrupting your afternoon (or evening), but could you check something for me?
My home page, as you know, is the Uri Avnery site you gave me a few days ago re his e-mail address.
I note yesterday I was having trouble with it, and today in the "back columns" I could only access the first few lines of each, and now when I checked again it says URL not found or whatever.
Would you check this out for me, please, and see what you make of it??? today's column is there, the bio is there, so what's happened to his columns???
Thanks.
Angie
It would appear that the archives are on the Gush-Shalom web-site and that site isn't responding at the moment - could be down for maintenance.
B.C.?
B.C.?
I hope they won't be permanently removed here. With so many sites being removed of late one worries and wonders.
Ah, no.
Ah, no.
"If you can prove to me SOMETHING, anything that any US President in recent times ... then you go ahead and point it out to me."
- Clinton.. Oslow. besides that jsut about everything that american presidents have done in the region.
You tell me why Colin Powell didn't visit the Jenin
camp in April 2002.
- you are sayin that because a certain person did not visit a certain place that means they dont believe in human rights? why didn't YOU visit Jenin? sound ridiculous? that is because it is.
Being at the negotiating table is ALOT more important than surveying the damage. Surely even you can see that.
"You tell me why a United States President would call Ariel Sharon "a man of peace" as the war criminal was trying to eliminate as many Palestinians as he could under the guise of "fighting terror"."
- Sharon does want peace. War isnt good for his country you know it i know it and EVEN HE knows it. So he wants peace with security just like he has always said. Just the same position he has brought to the negotiating table.
"If the US cared a damn about fixing the problem it helped to create in the Middle East, it would have done so a long, long time ago."
How long has it taken to fix northern ireland and their problem isnt as big as this one. The US doesnt have the power to "solve it quickly"
Don't expect it to happen now. The only interest right now on the part of bush is the upcoming election. Look at me, America. I solved the Middle East crisis.
-Not that that is true (bush is a conviction politician) but if that was his motivation it is pretty much s good as any other motivation because the result is SOLVING THE CRISIS. It is exactly the sort of pressure you WANT to be on a president.
!
We are discussing if he is a person who in the end wants peace under some conditions or one who is a insane manson type person like angie seems to think.
Obviously he isnt manson.
Angie
All the Arab states surrounding the West Bank and Gaza began sending their people in to live in these areas. They'd be shot by the IDF probably. Only one can play the game in this conflict.
- You are making up stuff again. Lots of people try to cross boarders around the world already and if the westbank and gaza boarders were as you said we would have heard about the ongoing bloodbath.
WHY IS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ALLOWING THE CONTINUATION OF THESE SETTLEMENTS????
- what do you want the international comunity to do?
HOW COME NO ONE OUT THERE WHO'S SO EAGER TO DEMONIZE THE PALESTINIANS CAN'T TELL US WHY ISRAEL CONTINUES TO STEAL LAND AND GIVE IT TO NON-RESIDENTS IN BREACH OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE SO-CALLED ROAD MAP?
- we have told you lots of times. Also who has "demonized the palistinians". also if oyu are going to say "israel is stealing land and giving it to non residents please prove this. when have the israelis taken posesion of some land from locals in order to give it to settlers?
WHAT A DAMN DOUBLE STANDARD!
double standard compared to what? did terrorist attacks stop? if not then demanding tha settlements go away is a double standard in itself.
!
"Actually, it is long past time for a "new" well-armed UN supported by tithe. "
First job - attack israel second job - attack USA eh? The UN will be lucky to get past the first job.
- Clinton.. Oslow. besides that jsut about everything that american presidents have done in the region.
You tell me why Colin Powell didn't visit the Jenin
camp in April 2002.
- you are sayin that because a certain person did not visit a certain place that means they dont believe in human rights? why didn't YOU visit Jenin? sound ridiculous? that is because it is.
Being at the negotiating table is ALOT more important than surveying the damage. Surely even you can see that.
"You tell me why a United States President would call Ariel Sharon "a man of peace" as the war criminal was trying to eliminate as many Palestinians as he could under the guise of "fighting terror"."
- Sharon does want peace. War isnt good for his country you know it i know it and EVEN HE knows it. So he wants peace with security just like he has always said. Just the same position he has brought to the negotiating table.
"If the US cared a damn about fixing the problem it helped to create in the Middle East, it would have done so a long, long time ago."
How long has it taken to fix northern ireland and their problem isnt as big as this one. The US doesnt have the power to "solve it quickly"
Don't expect it to happen now. The only interest right now on the part of bush is the upcoming election. Look at me, America. I solved the Middle East crisis.
-Not that that is true (bush is a conviction politician) but if that was his motivation it is pretty much s good as any other motivation because the result is SOLVING THE CRISIS. It is exactly the sort of pressure you WANT to be on a president.
!
We are discussing if he is a person who in the end wants peace under some conditions or one who is a insane manson type person like angie seems to think.
Obviously he isnt manson.
Angie
All the Arab states surrounding the West Bank and Gaza began sending their people in to live in these areas. They'd be shot by the IDF probably. Only one can play the game in this conflict.
- You are making up stuff again. Lots of people try to cross boarders around the world already and if the westbank and gaza boarders were as you said we would have heard about the ongoing bloodbath.
WHY IS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ALLOWING THE CONTINUATION OF THESE SETTLEMENTS????
- what do you want the international comunity to do?
HOW COME NO ONE OUT THERE WHO'S SO EAGER TO DEMONIZE THE PALESTINIANS CAN'T TELL US WHY ISRAEL CONTINUES TO STEAL LAND AND GIVE IT TO NON-RESIDENTS IN BREACH OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE SO-CALLED ROAD MAP?
- we have told you lots of times. Also who has "demonized the palistinians". also if oyu are going to say "israel is stealing land and giving it to non residents please prove this. when have the israelis taken posesion of some land from locals in order to give it to settlers?
WHAT A DAMN DOUBLE STANDARD!
double standard compared to what? did terrorist attacks stop? if not then demanding tha settlements go away is a double standard in itself.
!
"Actually, it is long past time for a "new" well-armed UN supported by tithe. "
First job - attack israel second job - attack USA eh? The UN will be lucky to get past the first job.
So tell us, oh knowing all master, just what land is Israel "giving" to the "settlers"?
Isn't part of the road map a cessation of settlements? If so, how can you (and your infamous "we") state that Israel has accepted the road map?? Maybe one of "we" can answer that for "all of us".
Isn't part of the road map a cessation of settlements? If so, how can you (and your infamous "we") state that Israel has accepted the road map?? Maybe one of "we" can answer that for "all of us".
Colin Powell was sent to the area to check out the scene, shall we say, in the vernacular, and if he or the US ever needed to make a statement, to tell the waiting world the horror it felt at what was once Jenin, he would have gone to see the devastation for himself.
But then the fact that he meandered about the Middle East for over a week before landing in Israel tells us everything we need to know. As intelligent people the world over have said, his "visits" everywhere but where he was supposed to be was an excuse to give Sharon the opportunity to carry out his massacre(s).
Why wasn't I in Jenin? Because I am not the Secretary of State for the US, sent to "attempt peace".
You still haven't told us what any US president in recent years has done to bring about a dignified and just peace.
And don't go dragging in the Clinton-led peace talks either. Go watch "Shattered Dreams" and you'll hear for yourself exactly what transpired therein, who said what, and what was promised and not promised.
I prefer to believe the spoken word of the individual, himself, to someone trying to score points on the SF Indymedia.
But then the fact that he meandered about the Middle East for over a week before landing in Israel tells us everything we need to know. As intelligent people the world over have said, his "visits" everywhere but where he was supposed to be was an excuse to give Sharon the opportunity to carry out his massacre(s).
Why wasn't I in Jenin? Because I am not the Secretary of State for the US, sent to "attempt peace".
You still haven't told us what any US president in recent years has done to bring about a dignified and just peace.
And don't go dragging in the Clinton-led peace talks either. Go watch "Shattered Dreams" and you'll hear for yourself exactly what transpired therein, who said what, and what was promised and not promised.
I prefer to believe the spoken word of the individual, himself, to someone trying to score points on the SF Indymedia.
Show me a reputible source on your problem with the settlements and we will see exactly what the problem is.
"But then the fact that he meandered about the Middle East for over a week before landing in Israel tells us everything we need to know."
- Lazy. There is not just "one thing" happening in the whole of hte middle east. and going to jenin might or might not have been productive.
"Why wasn't I in Jenin? Because I am not the Secretary of State for the US, sent to "attempt peace"."
There you go "sent to attempt peace". if you believe that then you have disproven your previous argument if you dont believe it your comment is nonsense.
"You still haven't told us what any US president in recent years has done to bring about a dignified and just peace."
- yes I have. Oslo etc. The US could have stayed home like every other country did.
"And don't go dragging in the Clinton-led peace talks either. "
- they were peace talks we cant help it if the palistinians did not want to negotiate on ROR. we did not know that until they proved it.
"I prefer to believe the spoken word of the individual, himself."
If he agrees with your adgenda.
"But then the fact that he meandered about the Middle East for over a week before landing in Israel tells us everything we need to know."
- Lazy. There is not just "one thing" happening in the whole of hte middle east. and going to jenin might or might not have been productive.
"Why wasn't I in Jenin? Because I am not the Secretary of State for the US, sent to "attempt peace"."
There you go "sent to attempt peace". if you believe that then you have disproven your previous argument if you dont believe it your comment is nonsense.
"You still haven't told us what any US president in recent years has done to bring about a dignified and just peace."
- yes I have. Oslo etc. The US could have stayed home like every other country did.
"And don't go dragging in the Clinton-led peace talks either. "
- they were peace talks we cant help it if the palistinians did not want to negotiate on ROR. we did not know that until they proved it.
"I prefer to believe the spoken word of the individual, himself."
If he agrees with your adgenda.
Mob attacks researchers who found few Palestinians want their old homes now in Israel
By Eric Silver in Jerusalem
14 July 2003
A mob of about 100 Palestinian refugees stormed the office of a Ramallah polling organisation yesterday to stop it publishing a survey showing that five times as many refugees would prefer to settle permanently in a Palestinian state than return to their old homes in what is now Israel.
The protesters pelted Khalil Shikaki, the director of the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, with eggs, smashed computers and assaulted the nine staff members on duty. A female worker was treated in hospital for her injuries. "This is a message for everyone not to tamper with our rights," one of the rioters said.
Dr Shikaki, a leading West Bank political scientist, was undeterred. He said he was still putting the survey results on the centre's website and seeking the widest possible exposure. "These people," he said, "had no idea what the results were. They were sold disinformation."
The poll, conducted among 4,500 refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan, was the first to ask where they would want to live if Israel recognised a right of return.
Only 10 per cent of the refugees chose Israel, even if they were allowed to live there with Palestinian citizenship; 54 per cent opted for the Palestinian state; 17 per cent for Jordan or Lebanon, and 2 per cent for other countries. Another 13 per cent rejected all these options, preferring to sit it out and wait for Israel to disappear, while 2 per cent didn't know.
The future of more than three million refugees is critical to any lasting peace. It was one of the unresolved issues that caused the July 2000 Camp David summit to break down.
• The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad warned yesterday they would end a truce announced last month if the Palestinian Authority continued to try to disarm them.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=424237
By Eric Silver in Jerusalem
14 July 2003
A mob of about 100 Palestinian refugees stormed the office of a Ramallah polling organisation yesterday to stop it publishing a survey showing that five times as many refugees would prefer to settle permanently in a Palestinian state than return to their old homes in what is now Israel.
The protesters pelted Khalil Shikaki, the director of the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, with eggs, smashed computers and assaulted the nine staff members on duty. A female worker was treated in hospital for her injuries. "This is a message for everyone not to tamper with our rights," one of the rioters said.
Dr Shikaki, a leading West Bank political scientist, was undeterred. He said he was still putting the survey results on the centre's website and seeking the widest possible exposure. "These people," he said, "had no idea what the results were. They were sold disinformation."
The poll, conducted among 4,500 refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan, was the first to ask where they would want to live if Israel recognised a right of return.
Only 10 per cent of the refugees chose Israel, even if they were allowed to live there with Palestinian citizenship; 54 per cent opted for the Palestinian state; 17 per cent for Jordan or Lebanon, and 2 per cent for other countries. Another 13 per cent rejected all these options, preferring to sit it out and wait for Israel to disappear, while 2 per cent didn't know.
The future of more than three million refugees is critical to any lasting peace. It was one of the unresolved issues that caused the July 2000 Camp David summit to break down.
• The Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad warned yesterday they would end a truce announced last month if the Palestinian Authority continued to try to disarm them.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=424237
Myths
The Arabs started all the wars
Written by Arjan El Fassed. Edited by Laurie King-Irani.
Since the establishment of Israel there have been five major wars between Arabs and the Israelis. These wars occurred in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982. Israel claims that the Arabs started all the wars. Although there has been low-intensity conflict in the intervening years and major conflagrations during the "War of Attrition" in 1969-1970 and the 1978 invasion of Lebanon, massive civil disobedience during the Uprising of 1988, and in 2000-2001 during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, it is these five wars Israel refers to when it makes its claims, creating the impression that Israel has only acted "in self-defense".
1948
The roots of the 1948 war go as far back as the first recognition on the part of the Palestinians that the Zionists wished to establish a Jewish state on their land. In late 1947 the United Nations proposed that Palestine be divided into a Palestinian Arab state and a Jewish state. The UN Partition Plan recommended that 55 percent of Palestine, and the most fertile region, be given to the Jewish settlers who compromised 30 percent of the population. The remaining 45 percent of Palestine was to comprise a home for the other 70 percent of the population who were Palestinians. The Palestinians rejected the plan because it was unfair.
Israel and its supporters claim that the Arabs first attacked in January 1948 and then invaded Israel in May 1948.
Facts
The truth is that by May 1948 Zionist forces had already invaded and occupied large parts of the land which had been allocated to the Palestinians by the UN Partition Plan. In January 1948 Israel did not yet exist.
The evidence that Israel started the 1948 war comes from Zionist sources. The History of the Palmach which was released in portions in the 1950s (and in full in 1972) details the efforts made to attack the Palestinian Arabs and secure more territory than allotted to the Jewish state by the UN Partition Plan (Kibbutz Menchad Archive, Palmach Archive, Efal, Israel).
Already, Zionist forces were implementing their "Plan Dalet" to
"control the area given to us [the Zionists] by the U.N. in addition to areas occupied by Arabs which were outside these borders and the setting up of forces to counter the possible invasion of Arab armies after May 15" (Qurvot 1948, p. 16, which covers the operations of Haganah and Palmach, see also Ha Sepher Ha Palmach, The Book of Palmach).
Operation Nachson, 1 April 1948
Operation Harel, 15 April 1948
Operation Misparayim, 21 April 1948
Operation Chametz, 27 April 1948
Operation Jevuss, 27 April 1948
Operation Yiftach, 28 April 1948
Operation Matateh, 3 May 1948
Operation Maccabi, 7 May 1948
Operation Gideon, 11 May 1948
Operation Barak, 12 May 1948
Operation Ben Ami, 14 May 1948
Operation Pitchfork, 14 May 1948
Operation Schfifon, 14 May 1948
The operations 1-8 indicate operations carried out before the entry of the Arab forces inside the areas allotted by the UN to the Arab State. It has to be noted that of thirteen specific full-scale operations under Plan Dalet eight were carried out outside the area "given" by the UN to the Zionists.
Following is a list drawn from the New York Times of the major military operations the Zionists mounted before the British evacuated Palestine and before the Arab forces entered Palestine:
Qazaza (21 Dec. 1947)
Sa'sa (16 Feb. 1948)
Haifa (21 Feb. 1948)
Salameh (1 March 1948)
Biyar Adas (6 March 1948)
Qana (13 March 1948)
Qastal (4 April 1948)
Deir Yassin (9 April 1948)
Lajjun (15 April 1948)
Saris (17 April 1948)
Tiberias (20 April 1948)
Haifa (22 April 1948)
Jerusalem (25 April 1948)
Jaffa (26 April 1948)
Acre (27 April 1948)
Jerusalem (1 May 1948)
Safad (7 May 1948)
Beisan (9 May 1948).
David Ben-Gurion confirms this in an address delivered to American Zionists in Jerusalem on 3 September 1950:
"Until the British left, no Jewish settlement, however remote, was entered or seized by the Arabs, while the Haganah, under severe and frequent attack, captured many Arab positions and liberated Tiberias and Haifa, Jaffa and Safad" (Ben-Gurion, Rebirth and Destiny of Israel (N.Y.: Philosophical Library, 1954, p. 530).
Although late PM Ben-Gurion speaks of "liberating" Jaffa it was allotted to the Palestinians by the UN Partition Plan.
Late PM Menachem Begin adds:
"In the months preceding the Arab invasion, and while the five Arab states were conducting preparations, we continued to make sallies into Arab territory. The conquest of Jaffa stands out as an event of first-rate importance in the struggle for Hebrew independence early in May, on the eve [that is, before the alleged Arab invasion] of the invasion by the five Arab states" (Menachem Begin, The Revolt, Nash, 1972, p. 348)
On 12 December 1948 David Ben Gurion confirmed the fact that the Zionists started the war in 1948:
"As April began, our War of Independence swung decisively from defense to attack. Operation 'Nachson'...was launched with the capture of Arab Hulda near where we stand today and of Deir Muheisin and culminated in the storming of Qastel, the great hill fortress near Jerusalem" (Ben Gurion, Rebirth and Destiny of Israel (N.Y.: Philosophical Library, 1954, p. 106).
Israeli historians have themselves refuted the claim that the Arabs started the 1948 war. Benny Morris uncovered a report from the Israeli Defense Force Intelligence Branch (30 June 1948) that shows a deliberate Israeli policy to attack the Arabs should they resist and expel the Palestinians (Benny Morris, "The Causes and Character of the Arab Exodus from Palestine: the Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Branch Analysis of June 1948", Middle Eastern Studies, XXII, January 1986, pp. 5-19).
Conclusion
In sum, it is not true that the Arabs "invaded Israel" in 1948.
First, Israel did not exist at the time of the alleged invasion as an established state with recognized boundaries. When the Zionist leaders established Israel on 15 May 1948 they purposely declined to declare the boundaries of the new state in order to allow for future expansion.
Secondly, the only territory to which the new state of Israel had even a remote claim was that allotted to the Jewish state by the UN Partition Plan. But the Zionists had already attacked areas that were allotted to the Palestinian Arab state.
Thirdly, those areas which the Arab states purportedly "invaded" were, in fact, exclusively areas allotted to the Palestinian Arab state proposed by the UN Partition Plan. The so-called Arab invasion was a defensive attempt to hold on to the areas allotted by the Partition Plan for the Palestinian state.
Finally, the commander of Jordan's Arab Legion, was under orders not to enter the areas allotted to the Jewish state (Sir John Bagot Glubb, "The Battle for Jerusalem", Middle East International, May 1973).
The Arabs started all the wars
Written by Arjan El Fassed. Edited by Laurie King-Irani.
Since the establishment of Israel there have been five major wars between Arabs and the Israelis. These wars occurred in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982. Israel claims that the Arabs started all the wars. Although there has been low-intensity conflict in the intervening years and major conflagrations during the "War of Attrition" in 1969-1970 and the 1978 invasion of Lebanon, massive civil disobedience during the Uprising of 1988, and in 2000-2001 during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, it is these five wars Israel refers to when it makes its claims, creating the impression that Israel has only acted "in self-defense".
1948
The roots of the 1948 war go as far back as the first recognition on the part of the Palestinians that the Zionists wished to establish a Jewish state on their land. In late 1947 the United Nations proposed that Palestine be divided into a Palestinian Arab state and a Jewish state. The UN Partition Plan recommended that 55 percent of Palestine, and the most fertile region, be given to the Jewish settlers who compromised 30 percent of the population. The remaining 45 percent of Palestine was to comprise a home for the other 70 percent of the population who were Palestinians. The Palestinians rejected the plan because it was unfair.
Israel and its supporters claim that the Arabs first attacked in January 1948 and then invaded Israel in May 1948.
Facts
The truth is that by May 1948 Zionist forces had already invaded and occupied large parts of the land which had been allocated to the Palestinians by the UN Partition Plan. In January 1948 Israel did not yet exist.
The evidence that Israel started the 1948 war comes from Zionist sources. The History of the Palmach which was released in portions in the 1950s (and in full in 1972) details the efforts made to attack the Palestinian Arabs and secure more territory than allotted to the Jewish state by the UN Partition Plan (Kibbutz Menchad Archive, Palmach Archive, Efal, Israel).
Already, Zionist forces were implementing their "Plan Dalet" to
"control the area given to us [the Zionists] by the U.N. in addition to areas occupied by Arabs which were outside these borders and the setting up of forces to counter the possible invasion of Arab armies after May 15" (Qurvot 1948, p. 16, which covers the operations of Haganah and Palmach, see also Ha Sepher Ha Palmach, The Book of Palmach).
Operation Nachson, 1 April 1948
Operation Harel, 15 April 1948
Operation Misparayim, 21 April 1948
Operation Chametz, 27 April 1948
Operation Jevuss, 27 April 1948
Operation Yiftach, 28 April 1948
Operation Matateh, 3 May 1948
Operation Maccabi, 7 May 1948
Operation Gideon, 11 May 1948
Operation Barak, 12 May 1948
Operation Ben Ami, 14 May 1948
Operation Pitchfork, 14 May 1948
Operation Schfifon, 14 May 1948
The operations 1-8 indicate operations carried out before the entry of the Arab forces inside the areas allotted by the UN to the Arab State. It has to be noted that of thirteen specific full-scale operations under Plan Dalet eight were carried out outside the area "given" by the UN to the Zionists.
Following is a list drawn from the New York Times of the major military operations the Zionists mounted before the British evacuated Palestine and before the Arab forces entered Palestine:
Qazaza (21 Dec. 1947)
Sa'sa (16 Feb. 1948)
Haifa (21 Feb. 1948)
Salameh (1 March 1948)
Biyar Adas (6 March 1948)
Qana (13 March 1948)
Qastal (4 April 1948)
Deir Yassin (9 April 1948)
Lajjun (15 April 1948)
Saris (17 April 1948)
Tiberias (20 April 1948)
Haifa (22 April 1948)
Jerusalem (25 April 1948)
Jaffa (26 April 1948)
Acre (27 April 1948)
Jerusalem (1 May 1948)
Safad (7 May 1948)
Beisan (9 May 1948).
David Ben-Gurion confirms this in an address delivered to American Zionists in Jerusalem on 3 September 1950:
"Until the British left, no Jewish settlement, however remote, was entered or seized by the Arabs, while the Haganah, under severe and frequent attack, captured many Arab positions and liberated Tiberias and Haifa, Jaffa and Safad" (Ben-Gurion, Rebirth and Destiny of Israel (N.Y.: Philosophical Library, 1954, p. 530).
Although late PM Ben-Gurion speaks of "liberating" Jaffa it was allotted to the Palestinians by the UN Partition Plan.
Late PM Menachem Begin adds:
"In the months preceding the Arab invasion, and while the five Arab states were conducting preparations, we continued to make sallies into Arab territory. The conquest of Jaffa stands out as an event of first-rate importance in the struggle for Hebrew independence early in May, on the eve [that is, before the alleged Arab invasion] of the invasion by the five Arab states" (Menachem Begin, The Revolt, Nash, 1972, p. 348)
On 12 December 1948 David Ben Gurion confirmed the fact that the Zionists started the war in 1948:
"As April began, our War of Independence swung decisively from defense to attack. Operation 'Nachson'...was launched with the capture of Arab Hulda near where we stand today and of Deir Muheisin and culminated in the storming of Qastel, the great hill fortress near Jerusalem" (Ben Gurion, Rebirth and Destiny of Israel (N.Y.: Philosophical Library, 1954, p. 106).
Israeli historians have themselves refuted the claim that the Arabs started the 1948 war. Benny Morris uncovered a report from the Israeli Defense Force Intelligence Branch (30 June 1948) that shows a deliberate Israeli policy to attack the Arabs should they resist and expel the Palestinians (Benny Morris, "The Causes and Character of the Arab Exodus from Palestine: the Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Branch Analysis of June 1948", Middle Eastern Studies, XXII, January 1986, pp. 5-19).
Conclusion
In sum, it is not true that the Arabs "invaded Israel" in 1948.
First, Israel did not exist at the time of the alleged invasion as an established state with recognized boundaries. When the Zionist leaders established Israel on 15 May 1948 they purposely declined to declare the boundaries of the new state in order to allow for future expansion.
Secondly, the only territory to which the new state of Israel had even a remote claim was that allotted to the Jewish state by the UN Partition Plan. But the Zionists had already attacked areas that were allotted to the Palestinian Arab state.
Thirdly, those areas which the Arab states purportedly "invaded" were, in fact, exclusively areas allotted to the Palestinian Arab state proposed by the UN Partition Plan. The so-called Arab invasion was a defensive attempt to hold on to the areas allotted by the Partition Plan for the Palestinian state.
Finally, the commander of Jordan's Arab Legion, was under orders not to enter the areas allotted to the Jewish state (Sir John Bagot Glubb, "The Battle for Jerusalem", Middle East International, May 1973).
1956
Israel blames the 1956 Sinai war on Egypt's aggressive behavior, including the closing of the Suez Canal.
Facts
The facts concerning the Sinai war come from Israeli sources. A decisive and authoritative contribution exploding the myth of Israel's accusations are the revelations from former Prime Minister Moshe Sharett's Personal Diary (Moshe Sharett, Yoman Ishi, Ma'ariv, 1979, in Hebrew with portions trans. in Livia Rokach, Israel's Sacred Terrorism: A Study Based on Moshe Sharett's Personal Diary and Other Documents, AAUG, 1980).
The main reason often given for the origin of the 1956 war was Egypt's closing of the Suez Canal. Moshe Sharett reveals that the Israeli leadership was planning the territorial conquest of the Sinai and Gaza as early as the fall of 1953. The Israeli attack on Gaza in February 1955 was undertaken as a conscious preliminary act of war. David Ben-Gurion became Prime Minister and Israel soon became very aggressive.
On 28 February 1955 Israeli troops invaded Gaza killing 37 Egyptians and wounding 31. The attack came out of the blue. Egyptian President Gamal Nasser said it "was revenge for nothing. Everything was quiet there" (Kennett Love, Suez: the Twice Fought War, McGraw-Hill, 1969, p. 83). The Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, Swedish General Carl von Horn, confirmed Nasser's claim, asserting that there had been
"comparative tranquility along the armistice demarcation lines during the greater part of the period November 1954 to February 1955" (Report to the Security Council, UN Doc. S3373, 17 March 1955).
In the 1950s few people believed that Nasser had aggressive intentions towards Israel. Richard Grossman, a British Zionist, wrote in 1955 that:
"not only Egypt, but the whole Middle East must pray that Nasser survives the assassin's bullet. I am certain that he is a man who means what he says, and that so long as he is in power directing his middle-class revolution, Egypt will remain a factor for peace and social development" (Richard Grossman, New Statesman and Nation, 22 January 1955).
The Gaza raid changed everything. Arab public opinion was outraged and demanded action, as it was intended to. Nasser needed arms to equip his army which was hopelessly outgunned by Israel. Western Intelligence was convinced that Egypt had no intention of attacking Israel. The Americans rebuffed Nasser in any case and Egypt turned to the Russians who orchestrated the famous Czech arms deal which was used by Israel for feigned outrage. The Russians had also used the Czechs to supply arms to Israel in 1948.
Nasser did not realise that he was being set up for the Israeli invasion, although he did recognise that the situation was heating up. In October 1955, a year before the war, Israeli PM David Ben-Gurion ordered his Chief of Staff, General Moshe Dayan, to prepare invasion plans. Ben Gurion was determined, according to Dayan,
"not to miss any politically favorable opportunity to strike at Egypt" (Moshe Dayan, Diary of the Sinai Campaign, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966, p. 37).
Dayan expressed the hopes of the Israeli leadership when he said in December 1955:
"One of these days a situation will be created which makes military action possible" (Kennet Love, Suez: The Twice Fought War, McGraw-Hill, 1969, p. 106).
The opportunity to make war against Egypt came in July 1956 when Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal, an act within the legal right of the Egyptian state. The Suez Canal was controlled by foreigners in 1956 and represented an important vestige of colonialism affronting the Arab people. Nasser's action was popular although, in hindsight, politically cataclysmic. France and Britain, in one of the last spasms of European colonialism, colluded in a secret alliance with Israel to invade the Sinai and destroy Nasser.
On 29 October 1956 Israel attacked Egypt and occupied the entire Sinai. French war equipment poured into Israel and French and British warships bombarded the Egyptian coast. French and British troops landed and helped the Israeli armed forces. Eisenhower, who had been in the dark about the invasion plans and the secret alliance, demanded that Israeli forces withdraw from Egyptian territory. Israel refused, leading Eisenhower to exclaim:
"Should a nation which attacks and occupies foreign territory in the face of U.N. disapproval be allowed to impose conditions on its own withdrawal? If we agree that armed attack can properly achieve the purpose of the assailant, then I fear we will have turned back the clock of international order..." (Address to the nation, 20 February 1957).
Israel blames the 1956 Sinai war on Egypt's aggressive behavior, including the closing of the Suez Canal.
Facts
The facts concerning the Sinai war come from Israeli sources. A decisive and authoritative contribution exploding the myth of Israel's accusations are the revelations from former Prime Minister Moshe Sharett's Personal Diary (Moshe Sharett, Yoman Ishi, Ma'ariv, 1979, in Hebrew with portions trans. in Livia Rokach, Israel's Sacred Terrorism: A Study Based on Moshe Sharett's Personal Diary and Other Documents, AAUG, 1980).
The main reason often given for the origin of the 1956 war was Egypt's closing of the Suez Canal. Moshe Sharett reveals that the Israeli leadership was planning the territorial conquest of the Sinai and Gaza as early as the fall of 1953. The Israeli attack on Gaza in February 1955 was undertaken as a conscious preliminary act of war. David Ben-Gurion became Prime Minister and Israel soon became very aggressive.
On 28 February 1955 Israeli troops invaded Gaza killing 37 Egyptians and wounding 31. The attack came out of the blue. Egyptian President Gamal Nasser said it "was revenge for nothing. Everything was quiet there" (Kennett Love, Suez: the Twice Fought War, McGraw-Hill, 1969, p. 83). The Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, Swedish General Carl von Horn, confirmed Nasser's claim, asserting that there had been
"comparative tranquility along the armistice demarcation lines during the greater part of the period November 1954 to February 1955" (Report to the Security Council, UN Doc. S3373, 17 March 1955).
In the 1950s few people believed that Nasser had aggressive intentions towards Israel. Richard Grossman, a British Zionist, wrote in 1955 that:
"not only Egypt, but the whole Middle East must pray that Nasser survives the assassin's bullet. I am certain that he is a man who means what he says, and that so long as he is in power directing his middle-class revolution, Egypt will remain a factor for peace and social development" (Richard Grossman, New Statesman and Nation, 22 January 1955).
The Gaza raid changed everything. Arab public opinion was outraged and demanded action, as it was intended to. Nasser needed arms to equip his army which was hopelessly outgunned by Israel. Western Intelligence was convinced that Egypt had no intention of attacking Israel. The Americans rebuffed Nasser in any case and Egypt turned to the Russians who orchestrated the famous Czech arms deal which was used by Israel for feigned outrage. The Russians had also used the Czechs to supply arms to Israel in 1948.
Nasser did not realise that he was being set up for the Israeli invasion, although he did recognise that the situation was heating up. In October 1955, a year before the war, Israeli PM David Ben-Gurion ordered his Chief of Staff, General Moshe Dayan, to prepare invasion plans. Ben Gurion was determined, according to Dayan,
"not to miss any politically favorable opportunity to strike at Egypt" (Moshe Dayan, Diary of the Sinai Campaign, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966, p. 37).
Dayan expressed the hopes of the Israeli leadership when he said in December 1955:
"One of these days a situation will be created which makes military action possible" (Kennet Love, Suez: The Twice Fought War, McGraw-Hill, 1969, p. 106).
The opportunity to make war against Egypt came in July 1956 when Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal, an act within the legal right of the Egyptian state. The Suez Canal was controlled by foreigners in 1956 and represented an important vestige of colonialism affronting the Arab people. Nasser's action was popular although, in hindsight, politically cataclysmic. France and Britain, in one of the last spasms of European colonialism, colluded in a secret alliance with Israel to invade the Sinai and destroy Nasser.
On 29 October 1956 Israel attacked Egypt and occupied the entire Sinai. French war equipment poured into Israel and French and British warships bombarded the Egyptian coast. French and British troops landed and helped the Israeli armed forces. Eisenhower, who had been in the dark about the invasion plans and the secret alliance, demanded that Israeli forces withdraw from Egyptian territory. Israel refused, leading Eisenhower to exclaim:
"Should a nation which attacks and occupies foreign territory in the face of U.N. disapproval be allowed to impose conditions on its own withdrawal? If we agree that armed attack can properly achieve the purpose of the assailant, then I fear we will have turned back the clock of international order..." (Address to the nation, 20 February 1957).
1967
Israel claims that its attack against Egypt in June 1967 was a defensive measure to prevent Gamal Abdel Nasser from attacking.
Facts
Israel began planning the re-conquest of the Sinai soon after its forced withdrawal in 1956. In 1967, as in 1956, Israel waited for favorable circumstances to put its plan into action.
In 1967, however, Israel had a greater appreciation of the necessity and utility of a sophisticated publicity campaign, waged through the international media, to convince Western opinion that any Israeli military actions could only be construed as acts of self-defense. This publicity campaign was two-pronged: stressing that the Arabs attacked Israel and that Israel was in danger of annihilation. Both presuppositions were patently false.
In the early hours of 5 June 1967, Israel announced to a credulous Western world that the Egyptian Air Force had initiated hostile actions. In fact, it was the Israelis who had attacked the Egyptians and destroyed virtually the entire Egyptian Air Force while its fleet was still on the ground.
General Matityahu Peled, one of the architects of the Israeli conquest, committed what the Israeli public considered blasphemy when he admitted the true thinking of the Israeli leadership:
"The thesis that the danger of genocide was hanging over us in June 1967 and that Israel was fighting for its physical existence is only bluff, which was born and developed after the war" (Ha'aretz, 19 March 1972).
Israeli Air Force General Ezer Weizmann declared bluntly that "there was never any danger of extermination" (Ma'ariv, 19 April 1972). Mordechai Bentov, a former Israeli cabinet minister, also dismissed the myth of Israel's imminent annihilation: "All this story about the danger of extermination has been a complete invention and has been blown up a posteriori to justify the annexation of new Arab territories" (Al Hamishmar, 14 April 1972).
After the 1967 war Israel, claimed it invaded because of imminent Arab attack. It claimed that Nasser's closing of the Straits of Tiran constituted an act of war. It also cited Syrian shelling on the demilitarized zone of the Syrian-Israeli border. The claim that the Arabs were going to invade appears particularly ludicrous when one recalls that a third of Egypt's army was in Yemen and therefore quite unprepared to launch a war. On the Syrian front, Israel was engaging in threats and provocations that evidenced many similarities to its behavior in the lead up to the Gaza raid of 1955.
The demilitarized zone on the Syrian-Israeli border was established by agreement on 20 July 1949. Israeli provocations were incessant and enabled Israel to increase and extend its sovereignty by encroachment over the entire Arab area. According to one UN Chief of Staff, Arab villagers were evicted and their homes destroyed (E.L.M. Burns, Between Arab and Israeli, Ivan Obolensky, 1962, pp. 113-114). Another Chief of Staff described how the Israelis ploughed up Arab land and "advanced the 'frontier' to their own advantage" (Carl von Horn, Soldiering for Peace, Cassell, 1966, p. 79).
Israel attempted to evict the Arabs living on the Golan and annex the demilitarized zone. When the Syrians inevitably responded, Israel claimed that "peaceful" Israeli farmers were being shelled by the Syrians. Unmentioned was the fact that the "farmers" were armed and using tractors and farm equipment to encroach on the demilitarized zone (David Hirst, The Gun and the Olive Branch: the Roots of Violence in the Middle East, Faber and Faber, 1984, pp. 213-15). This was part of a "premeditated Israeli policy [..] to get all the Arabs out of the way by fair means or foul."
Shortly after the Syrian response on 7 April 1967, the Israeli Air Force attacked Syria, shooting down six planes, hitting thirty fortified positions and killing about 100 people (Hirst, op. cit., p. 214). It was unlikely that any Syrian guns would have been fired if not for Israel's provocation.
Israel's need for water also played a role in the 1967 attack. The invasion completed Israel's encirclement of the headwaters of the Upper Jordan River, its capture of the West Bank and the two aquifers arising there, which currently supply all the groundwater for northern and central Israel.
The Israelis followed-up their massive retaliation with stern warnings. On 11 May 1967, General Yitzhak Rabin said on Israeli radio: "The moment is coming when we will march on Damascus to overthrow the Syrian Government" (Godfrey Jansen, "New Light on the 1967 War", Daily Star, London, 15, 22, 26 November 1973). Syria sought Egypt's assistance under their Mutual Defense Pact of November 1966. Nasser could not afford to stand idly by. He ordered the removal of the small UN force stationed in Sinai and closed the Straits of Tiran. This action provided the casus belli that Israel soon invoked.
Nasser's move was a gesture of solidarity with Syria and no threat to Israel's economy or its security. The closure of the Straits did not force Israel into war. Claims of economic strangulation were absurd since only 5 percent of Israel's trade depended on free movement through the Straits of Tiran. No Israeli merchant vessel had passed through the Straits during the previous two years (Michael Howard and Robert Hunter, Israel and the Arab World: the Crisis of 1967, Adelphi Papers 41, Institute for Strategic Studies, 1967, p. 24).
In sum, the threat to Israel's survival in 1967 was non-existent. According to the British newspaper The Observer, Nasser's purpose was clearly "to deter Israel rather than provoke it to a fight" (The Observer, London, 4 June 1967). New York Times columnist James Reston reported that "Egypt does not war [...] certainly is not ready for war" (New York Times, 4 and 5 June 1967).
The Israelis themselves were perfectly aware of this, given their sophisticated military intelligence capabilities. Later, in the first few days of the war, they were so concerned that their plans for attacking Syria would be discovered that they deliberately attacked the USS Liberty, killing 33 American sailors, in an attempt to prevent it from monitoring war preparations.
A few months after the war, Yitzhak Rabin remarked: "I do not think Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent to the Sinai on 14 May would not have been sufficient to launch an offensive against Israel. He knew it and we knew it" (Le Monde, 29 February 1968).
Israeli General Peled was even more frank: "To pretend that the Egyptian forces massed on our frontiers were in a position to threaten the existence of Israel constitutes an insult not only to the intelligence of anyone capable of analyzing this sort of situation, but above all an insult to the Zahal [Israeli army]" (Ha'aretz, 19 March 1972).
Finally, in 1982, the Israelis admitted that they had started the war (although official Zionist propaganda in the United States still does not acknowledge this fact). Prime Minister Menachem Begin, in a speech delivered at the Israeli National Defense College, clearly stated that: "The Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him" (Jerusalem Post, 20 August 1982).
Israel claims that its attack against Egypt in June 1967 was a defensive measure to prevent Gamal Abdel Nasser from attacking.
Facts
Israel began planning the re-conquest of the Sinai soon after its forced withdrawal in 1956. In 1967, as in 1956, Israel waited for favorable circumstances to put its plan into action.
In 1967, however, Israel had a greater appreciation of the necessity and utility of a sophisticated publicity campaign, waged through the international media, to convince Western opinion that any Israeli military actions could only be construed as acts of self-defense. This publicity campaign was two-pronged: stressing that the Arabs attacked Israel and that Israel was in danger of annihilation. Both presuppositions were patently false.
In the early hours of 5 June 1967, Israel announced to a credulous Western world that the Egyptian Air Force had initiated hostile actions. In fact, it was the Israelis who had attacked the Egyptians and destroyed virtually the entire Egyptian Air Force while its fleet was still on the ground.
General Matityahu Peled, one of the architects of the Israeli conquest, committed what the Israeli public considered blasphemy when he admitted the true thinking of the Israeli leadership:
"The thesis that the danger of genocide was hanging over us in June 1967 and that Israel was fighting for its physical existence is only bluff, which was born and developed after the war" (Ha'aretz, 19 March 1972).
Israeli Air Force General Ezer Weizmann declared bluntly that "there was never any danger of extermination" (Ma'ariv, 19 April 1972). Mordechai Bentov, a former Israeli cabinet minister, also dismissed the myth of Israel's imminent annihilation: "All this story about the danger of extermination has been a complete invention and has been blown up a posteriori to justify the annexation of new Arab territories" (Al Hamishmar, 14 April 1972).
After the 1967 war Israel, claimed it invaded because of imminent Arab attack. It claimed that Nasser's closing of the Straits of Tiran constituted an act of war. It also cited Syrian shelling on the demilitarized zone of the Syrian-Israeli border. The claim that the Arabs were going to invade appears particularly ludicrous when one recalls that a third of Egypt's army was in Yemen and therefore quite unprepared to launch a war. On the Syrian front, Israel was engaging in threats and provocations that evidenced many similarities to its behavior in the lead up to the Gaza raid of 1955.
The demilitarized zone on the Syrian-Israeli border was established by agreement on 20 July 1949. Israeli provocations were incessant and enabled Israel to increase and extend its sovereignty by encroachment over the entire Arab area. According to one UN Chief of Staff, Arab villagers were evicted and their homes destroyed (E.L.M. Burns, Between Arab and Israeli, Ivan Obolensky, 1962, pp. 113-114). Another Chief of Staff described how the Israelis ploughed up Arab land and "advanced the 'frontier' to their own advantage" (Carl von Horn, Soldiering for Peace, Cassell, 1966, p. 79).
Israel attempted to evict the Arabs living on the Golan and annex the demilitarized zone. When the Syrians inevitably responded, Israel claimed that "peaceful" Israeli farmers were being shelled by the Syrians. Unmentioned was the fact that the "farmers" were armed and using tractors and farm equipment to encroach on the demilitarized zone (David Hirst, The Gun and the Olive Branch: the Roots of Violence in the Middle East, Faber and Faber, 1984, pp. 213-15). This was part of a "premeditated Israeli policy [..] to get all the Arabs out of the way by fair means or foul."
Shortly after the Syrian response on 7 April 1967, the Israeli Air Force attacked Syria, shooting down six planes, hitting thirty fortified positions and killing about 100 people (Hirst, op. cit., p. 214). It was unlikely that any Syrian guns would have been fired if not for Israel's provocation.
Israel's need for water also played a role in the 1967 attack. The invasion completed Israel's encirclement of the headwaters of the Upper Jordan River, its capture of the West Bank and the two aquifers arising there, which currently supply all the groundwater for northern and central Israel.
The Israelis followed-up their massive retaliation with stern warnings. On 11 May 1967, General Yitzhak Rabin said on Israeli radio: "The moment is coming when we will march on Damascus to overthrow the Syrian Government" (Godfrey Jansen, "New Light on the 1967 War", Daily Star, London, 15, 22, 26 November 1973). Syria sought Egypt's assistance under their Mutual Defense Pact of November 1966. Nasser could not afford to stand idly by. He ordered the removal of the small UN force stationed in Sinai and closed the Straits of Tiran. This action provided the casus belli that Israel soon invoked.
Nasser's move was a gesture of solidarity with Syria and no threat to Israel's economy or its security. The closure of the Straits did not force Israel into war. Claims of economic strangulation were absurd since only 5 percent of Israel's trade depended on free movement through the Straits of Tiran. No Israeli merchant vessel had passed through the Straits during the previous two years (Michael Howard and Robert Hunter, Israel and the Arab World: the Crisis of 1967, Adelphi Papers 41, Institute for Strategic Studies, 1967, p. 24).
In sum, the threat to Israel's survival in 1967 was non-existent. According to the British newspaper The Observer, Nasser's purpose was clearly "to deter Israel rather than provoke it to a fight" (The Observer, London, 4 June 1967). New York Times columnist James Reston reported that "Egypt does not war [...] certainly is not ready for war" (New York Times, 4 and 5 June 1967).
The Israelis themselves were perfectly aware of this, given their sophisticated military intelligence capabilities. Later, in the first few days of the war, they were so concerned that their plans for attacking Syria would be discovered that they deliberately attacked the USS Liberty, killing 33 American sailors, in an attempt to prevent it from monitoring war preparations.
A few months after the war, Yitzhak Rabin remarked: "I do not think Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent to the Sinai on 14 May would not have been sufficient to launch an offensive against Israel. He knew it and we knew it" (Le Monde, 29 February 1968).
Israeli General Peled was even more frank: "To pretend that the Egyptian forces massed on our frontiers were in a position to threaten the existence of Israel constitutes an insult not only to the intelligence of anyone capable of analyzing this sort of situation, but above all an insult to the Zahal [Israeli army]" (Ha'aretz, 19 March 1972).
Finally, in 1982, the Israelis admitted that they had started the war (although official Zionist propaganda in the United States still does not acknowledge this fact). Prime Minister Menachem Begin, in a speech delivered at the Israeli National Defense College, clearly stated that: "The Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him" (Jerusalem Post, 20 August 1982).
1973
Written by Arjan El Fassed.
Facts
After coming to power in late 1970, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat indicated to the United States that he was willing to negotiate with Israel to resolve the conflict in exchange for Egyptian territory lost in 1967. In February 1971 he offered a full peace treaty to Israel, which it rejected, although international consensus supported the Sadat offer which conformed to the US position (John Kimche, There Could Have Been Peace, Dial, 1973, p. 286). When these overtures were ignored by Washington and Tel Aviv, Egypt and Syria launched an coordinated action in October 1973 against Israeli forces occupying the Egyptian Sinai and Syrian Golan Heights.
The devastating defeat of 1967 left Israel in control of the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Sinai. Israel rapidly moved to incorporate these occupied territories into its domain. Israel illegally annexed Jerusalem and began establishing colonial settlements in all the occupied territories.
It was clear that the Arab World could not go on indefinitely watching the Israel expel Egyptians, Syrians and Palestinians while installing Jewish settlers in their thousands. By 1973 nearly 100 settlements had been established and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had been displaced, expelled, imprisoned or deported.
On 6 October 1973 the Egyptian and Syrian armies attacked Israeli positions in the Sinai and on the Golan Heights in an attempt to liberate their territory occupied by Israel. The Secretary-General of the Arab League explained the Arab action:
"In a final analysis, Arab action is justifiable, moral and valid under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. There is no aggression, no attempt to acquire new territories. But to restore and liberate all the occupied territories is a duty for all able self-respecting peoples" (Sunday Times, 14 October 1973).
Written by Arjan El Fassed.
Facts
After coming to power in late 1970, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat indicated to the United States that he was willing to negotiate with Israel to resolve the conflict in exchange for Egyptian territory lost in 1967. In February 1971 he offered a full peace treaty to Israel, which it rejected, although international consensus supported the Sadat offer which conformed to the US position (John Kimche, There Could Have Been Peace, Dial, 1973, p. 286). When these overtures were ignored by Washington and Tel Aviv, Egypt and Syria launched an coordinated action in October 1973 against Israeli forces occupying the Egyptian Sinai and Syrian Golan Heights.
The devastating defeat of 1967 left Israel in control of the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Sinai. Israel rapidly moved to incorporate these occupied territories into its domain. Israel illegally annexed Jerusalem and began establishing colonial settlements in all the occupied territories.
It was clear that the Arab World could not go on indefinitely watching the Israel expel Egyptians, Syrians and Palestinians while installing Jewish settlers in their thousands. By 1973 nearly 100 settlements had been established and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had been displaced, expelled, imprisoned or deported.
On 6 October 1973 the Egyptian and Syrian armies attacked Israeli positions in the Sinai and on the Golan Heights in an attempt to liberate their territory occupied by Israel. The Secretary-General of the Arab League explained the Arab action:
"In a final analysis, Arab action is justifiable, moral and valid under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. There is no aggression, no attempt to acquire new territories. But to restore and liberate all the occupied territories is a duty for all able self-respecting peoples" (Sunday Times, 14 October 1973).
1982
In 1982, Israel claimed that its military objective was to attack, not Lebanon, but the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Lebanon in order to 'safeguard the Galilee region from enemy artillery and infiltration'.
Facts
The facts are that Israel invaded Lebanon on 6 June 1982 in order to totally destroy the PLO, not only its insignificant military capability, but also all of its civilian functions. The other basic war aim was described by Israeli Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon:
"The bigger the blow and the more we damage the PLO infrastructure, the more the Arabs in Judea and Samaria, [the Biblical name for the West Bank used for obvious political reasons by Israel] and Gaza will be ready to negotiate with us"
-- The Times, 5 August 1982 --
Israel had hoped that, with the destruction of the PLO, Lebanon could be ripped from its Arab moorings in order to create an Israeli puppet regime of pro-Israeli Maronite Christian Lebanese, a minority of the population. As early as 1954, David Ben-Gurion had urged that one of the "central duties" of Israel's foreign policy should be to push the Maronite Christians to "proclaim a Christian state". Moshe Dayan had said that:
"[the] Israeli army will enter Lebanon, will occupy the necessary territory, and will create a Christian regime which will ally itself with Israel"
-- Livia Rokach, Israel's Sacred Terrorism, op.cit., pp. 24-30.
Also see, Laura Zittrain Eisenberg: My Enemy's Enemy: Zionist Intentions in Lebanon.
The Israeli claim that it had invaded Lebanon "in self-defense" is false. Between August 1981 and May 1982 the PLO maintained a truce, sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia, on Lebanon's southern border. Israel, on the other hand, violated the truce 2,777 times (United Nations records cited by Robin Wright in the Christian Science Monitor, 18 March 1982; Alexander Cockburn and James Ridgeway, Village Voice, 22 June 1982). [For the most thorough, as well as the most compelling treatment of Israel's invasion of Lebanon, see Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation]
Once again Israel only needed an excuse to make war. This time the casus belli was the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to London, an act determined by Scotland Yard to have been conducted by the PLO-dissent Abu Nidal group. In any case, Israel's excuse was so flimsy that, for the first time in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli propaganda was not taken on board without question by the international community.
At first the Israelis operated under the pretense that they were only securing their borders and stated that they did not intend to go beyond a 25 mile limit. But the truth was very different as described by the former chief of Israeli military intelligence, Aharon Yariv:
"I know in fact that going to Beirut was included in the original military plan"
-- Jerusalem Post, 24 September 1982.
Israel's invasion of Lebanon has no validity in international law. Israel thus had no grounds to rely on the provision of the Charter of the United Nations concerning self-defense, while the means used to effect the invasion clearly lacked proportionality. The cease-fire of July 1981 had been observed scrupulously. The objective of the 1982 invasion and war, therefore, was to achieve certain political and strategic aims at a high cost, which included breaches of some of the most fundamental rules of international law.
As for the Israeli justification for the conduct of hostilities, the principle of military necessity cannot excuse the massive number of civilian casualties which resulted from Israeli attacks on refugee camps, hospitals, schools, cultural, religious and charitable institutions, commercial and industrial premises, Lebanese government and PLO offices, diplomatic premises and urban areas generally.
Particularly heinous was the August 8th bombardment of Beirut by the Israeli Air Force, which some correspondents compared to the WWII bombing of Dresden in its ferocity. Hundreds of innocent Beiruti civilians died as a result of this war crime. [See Thomas Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem; Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation; Jean Said Makdisi, Beirut Fragments; Chris Giannou, Besieged: A Doctor in Lebanon.]
In 1982, Israel claimed that its military objective was to attack, not Lebanon, but the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Lebanon in order to 'safeguard the Galilee region from enemy artillery and infiltration'.
Facts
The facts are that Israel invaded Lebanon on 6 June 1982 in order to totally destroy the PLO, not only its insignificant military capability, but also all of its civilian functions. The other basic war aim was described by Israeli Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon:
"The bigger the blow and the more we damage the PLO infrastructure, the more the Arabs in Judea and Samaria, [the Biblical name for the West Bank used for obvious political reasons by Israel] and Gaza will be ready to negotiate with us"
-- The Times, 5 August 1982 --
Israel had hoped that, with the destruction of the PLO, Lebanon could be ripped from its Arab moorings in order to create an Israeli puppet regime of pro-Israeli Maronite Christian Lebanese, a minority of the population. As early as 1954, David Ben-Gurion had urged that one of the "central duties" of Israel's foreign policy should be to push the Maronite Christians to "proclaim a Christian state". Moshe Dayan had said that:
"[the] Israeli army will enter Lebanon, will occupy the necessary territory, and will create a Christian regime which will ally itself with Israel"
-- Livia Rokach, Israel's Sacred Terrorism, op.cit., pp. 24-30.
Also see, Laura Zittrain Eisenberg: My Enemy's Enemy: Zionist Intentions in Lebanon.
The Israeli claim that it had invaded Lebanon "in self-defense" is false. Between August 1981 and May 1982 the PLO maintained a truce, sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia, on Lebanon's southern border. Israel, on the other hand, violated the truce 2,777 times (United Nations records cited by Robin Wright in the Christian Science Monitor, 18 March 1982; Alexander Cockburn and James Ridgeway, Village Voice, 22 June 1982). [For the most thorough, as well as the most compelling treatment of Israel's invasion of Lebanon, see Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation]
Once again Israel only needed an excuse to make war. This time the casus belli was the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to London, an act determined by Scotland Yard to have been conducted by the PLO-dissent Abu Nidal group. In any case, Israel's excuse was so flimsy that, for the first time in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli propaganda was not taken on board without question by the international community.
At first the Israelis operated under the pretense that they were only securing their borders and stated that they did not intend to go beyond a 25 mile limit. But the truth was very different as described by the former chief of Israeli military intelligence, Aharon Yariv:
"I know in fact that going to Beirut was included in the original military plan"
-- Jerusalem Post, 24 September 1982.
Israel's invasion of Lebanon has no validity in international law. Israel thus had no grounds to rely on the provision of the Charter of the United Nations concerning self-defense, while the means used to effect the invasion clearly lacked proportionality. The cease-fire of July 1981 had been observed scrupulously. The objective of the 1982 invasion and war, therefore, was to achieve certain political and strategic aims at a high cost, which included breaches of some of the most fundamental rules of international law.
As for the Israeli justification for the conduct of hostilities, the principle of military necessity cannot excuse the massive number of civilian casualties which resulted from Israeli attacks on refugee camps, hospitals, schools, cultural, religious and charitable institutions, commercial and industrial premises, Lebanese government and PLO offices, diplomatic premises and urban areas generally.
Particularly heinous was the August 8th bombardment of Beirut by the Israeli Air Force, which some correspondents compared to the WWII bombing of Dresden in its ferocity. Hundreds of innocent Beiruti civilians died as a result of this war crime. [See Thomas Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem; Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation; Jean Said Makdisi, Beirut Fragments; Chris Giannou, Besieged: A Doctor in Lebanon.]
The 1973 War
Myth
The 1973 war – the Yum Kipur war – holds a special place in Israeli mythology. Again, the myth is that Israel was attacked unprovoked, that its existence was again at stake, and that Israelis were at the periloud risk of annihilation.
Fact
After coming to power in late 1970, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat indicated to the United States that he was willing to negotiate with Israel to resolve the conflict in exchange for Egyptian territory lost in 1967. In February 1971 he offered a full peace treaty to Israel, which it rejected, although international consensus supported the Sadat offer which conformed to the US position (John Kimche, There Could Have Been Peace, Dial, 1973, p. 286).
When these overtures were ignored by Washington and Tel Aviv, Egypt and Syria launched an coordinated action in October 1973 against Israeli forces occupying the Egyptian Sinai and Syrian Golan Heights. The devastating defeat of 1967 left Israel in control of the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Sinai. Israel rapidly moved to incorporate these occupied territories into its domain. Israel illegally annexed Jerusalem and began establishing colonial settlements in all the occupied territories.
It was clear that the Arab World could not go on indefinitely watching Israel expel Egyptians, Syrians and Palestinians while installing Jewish settlers in their thousands. By 1973 nearly 100 settlements had been established and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had been displaced, expelled, imprisoned or deported.
On 6 October 1973 the Egyptian and Syrian armies attacked Israeli positions in the Sinai and on the Golan Heights in an attempt to liberate their territory occupied by Israel. The Secretary-General of the Arab League explained the Arab action: "In a final analysis, Arab action is justifiable, moral and valid under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. There is no aggression, no attempt to acquire new territories. But to restore and liberate all the occupied territories is a duty for all able self-respecting peoples" (Sunday Times, 14 October 1973).
Myth
The 1973 war – the Yum Kipur war – holds a special place in Israeli mythology. Again, the myth is that Israel was attacked unprovoked, that its existence was again at stake, and that Israelis were at the periloud risk of annihilation.
Fact
After coming to power in late 1970, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat indicated to the United States that he was willing to negotiate with Israel to resolve the conflict in exchange for Egyptian territory lost in 1967. In February 1971 he offered a full peace treaty to Israel, which it rejected, although international consensus supported the Sadat offer which conformed to the US position (John Kimche, There Could Have Been Peace, Dial, 1973, p. 286).
When these overtures were ignored by Washington and Tel Aviv, Egypt and Syria launched an coordinated action in October 1973 against Israeli forces occupying the Egyptian Sinai and Syrian Golan Heights. The devastating defeat of 1967 left Israel in control of the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Sinai. Israel rapidly moved to incorporate these occupied territories into its domain. Israel illegally annexed Jerusalem and began establishing colonial settlements in all the occupied territories.
It was clear that the Arab World could not go on indefinitely watching Israel expel Egyptians, Syrians and Palestinians while installing Jewish settlers in their thousands. By 1973 nearly 100 settlements had been established and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had been displaced, expelled, imprisoned or deported.
On 6 October 1973 the Egyptian and Syrian armies attacked Israeli positions in the Sinai and on the Golan Heights in an attempt to liberate their territory occupied by Israel. The Secretary-General of the Arab League explained the Arab action: "In a final analysis, Arab action is justifiable, moral and valid under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. There is no aggression, no attempt to acquire new territories. But to restore and liberate all the occupied territories is a duty for all able self-respecting peoples" (Sunday Times, 14 October 1973).
If you will notice very nearly every single report and citation is Israeli!
Sort of dispells quite a few myths!
I'd say 'American zionists - you've been had'!
What other lies do you believe in?
Sort of dispells quite a few myths!
I'd say 'American zionists - you've been had'!
What other lies do you believe in?
sorry - thanx!
However the original document is momentarily off-line.
However the original document is momentarily off-line.
On Thursday 10 July, I was shocked to learn that Washington had prior knowledge to Israel's plans preceding the 1967 war. In fact it seems Israel had fears that if they attacked Egypt the Soviet Union could be drawn into the conflict. Not only was Israel asking for a "green-light" they were also requesting possible assistance.
see (about halfway through the show):
KPFA's Flashpoints 10/07/2003
http://www.flashpoints.net/index-2003-07-10.html
see (about halfway through the show):
KPFA's Flashpoints 10/07/2003
http://www.flashpoints.net/index-2003-07-10.html
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I am always happy to see an intelligent response, as it shows the painstaking collection of facts, intelligence and reason of the poster.
"Later, in the first few days of the war, they were so concerned that their plans for attacking Syria would be discovered that they deliberately attacked the USS Liberty, killing 33 American sailors, in an attempt to prevent it from monitoring war preparations."
(no sources provided)
--------------------
Declassified recordings back Israeli claim that 1967 attack on U.S. spy ship was accidental
PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, July 9, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(07-09) 15:28 PDT JERUSALEM (AP) --
Newly declassified transcripts back up Israel's claim that its attack on a U.S. spy ship during the 1967 Middle East war was an accident, a Florida judge who has been investigating the case for 16 years said Wednesday.
Israel has always maintained it thought the USS Liberty was an Egyptian military supply ship when it ordered its forces to attack on June 8, 1967, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 171. But critics charge Israel knew the ship was American. Questions about the case have long dogged U.S.-Israel relations.
Miami Judge A. Jay Cristol received transcripts of transmissions from two Israeli helicopter pilots, sent to check for survivors after the attack. The pilots referred to the ship as Egyptian and were surprised to discover it was flying an American flag.
The recordings, in Hebrew, were made by a U.S. spy plane hovering over the site.
The transcript of the transmissions records the air controller telling one of the pilots, "The ship is now identified as Egyptian, you can return home now."
Cristol told The Associated Press he received the transcripts after submitting a Freedom of Information request to the U.S. National Security Agency, which had kept the recordings secret for 37 years. After his request was denied, Cristol filed suit in federal court and forced their release.
Agency spokesman Patrick Weadon confirmed Cristol had been sent the transcripts.
"We provided the tapes as part of the historical record," Weadon said. "The agency takes no official position on what happened to the Liberty."
Cristol, who has written a book about the case, said, the tapes "show both the helicopter pilots and their controller ... believed the Israeli air force had targeted an Egyptian ship."
A National Security Agency summary of the incident says the Israelis were confused over the stricken ship's identity more than an hour after the attack.
Cristol provided the summary and full transcripts of the pilot and tower recordings to The Associated Press.
Israel has long maintained the attack was the result of a tragic mistake during the heat of battle. Israel was at war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan at the time.
An Israeli commission of inquiry concluded the Israeli air force believed the targeted ship was an Egyptian cargo vessel ferrying supplies to Egyptian troops fighting Israeli forces.
However, some of the Liberty's survivors and some officials in the U.S. defense establishment have rejected this view, contending Israel deliberately targeted the ship to keep the United States from learning that Israel was planning to attack Syria as part of its strategy during the war.
The Israeli daily Haaretz, which first reported the disclosures in its Wednesday edition, quoted Cristol as saying the tape transcripts were the last classified intelligence about the Liberty.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/07/09/international1828EDT0752.DTL
(no sources provided)
--------------------
Declassified recordings back Israeli claim that 1967 attack on U.S. spy ship was accidental
PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, July 9, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(07-09) 15:28 PDT JERUSALEM (AP) --
Newly declassified transcripts back up Israel's claim that its attack on a U.S. spy ship during the 1967 Middle East war was an accident, a Florida judge who has been investigating the case for 16 years said Wednesday.
Israel has always maintained it thought the USS Liberty was an Egyptian military supply ship when it ordered its forces to attack on June 8, 1967, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 171. But critics charge Israel knew the ship was American. Questions about the case have long dogged U.S.-Israel relations.
Miami Judge A. Jay Cristol received transcripts of transmissions from two Israeli helicopter pilots, sent to check for survivors after the attack. The pilots referred to the ship as Egyptian and were surprised to discover it was flying an American flag.
The recordings, in Hebrew, were made by a U.S. spy plane hovering over the site.
The transcript of the transmissions records the air controller telling one of the pilots, "The ship is now identified as Egyptian, you can return home now."
Cristol told The Associated Press he received the transcripts after submitting a Freedom of Information request to the U.S. National Security Agency, which had kept the recordings secret for 37 years. After his request was denied, Cristol filed suit in federal court and forced their release.
Agency spokesman Patrick Weadon confirmed Cristol had been sent the transcripts.
"We provided the tapes as part of the historical record," Weadon said. "The agency takes no official position on what happened to the Liberty."
Cristol, who has written a book about the case, said, the tapes "show both the helicopter pilots and their controller ... believed the Israeli air force had targeted an Egyptian ship."
A National Security Agency summary of the incident says the Israelis were confused over the stricken ship's identity more than an hour after the attack.
Cristol provided the summary and full transcripts of the pilot and tower recordings to The Associated Press.
Israel has long maintained the attack was the result of a tragic mistake during the heat of battle. Israel was at war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan at the time.
An Israeli commission of inquiry concluded the Israeli air force believed the targeted ship was an Egyptian cargo vessel ferrying supplies to Egyptian troops fighting Israeli forces.
However, some of the Liberty's survivors and some officials in the U.S. defense establishment have rejected this view, contending Israel deliberately targeted the ship to keep the United States from learning that Israel was planning to attack Syria as part of its strategy during the war.
The Israeli daily Haaretz, which first reported the disclosures in its Wednesday edition, quoted Cristol as saying the tape transcripts were the last classified intelligence about the Liberty.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/07/09/international1828EDT0752.DTL
WHO SAYS THE LIBERTY ATTACK WAS DELIBERATE?
http://home.cfl.rr.com/gidusko/texts/support.txt
What does a fighter pilot realy 'see'?
Interview with a TopGun
http://ussliberty.org/topgun.txt
Cristol, who has written a book about the case, said, the tapes "show both the helicopter pilots and their controller ... believed the Israeli air force had targeted an Egyptian ship."
Please note these are the purported 'rescue' helicopters with door gunners.
See survivors accounts (Liberty web-site)
http://home.cfl.rr.com/gidusko/texts/support.txt
What does a fighter pilot realy 'see'?
Interview with a TopGun
http://ussliberty.org/topgun.txt
Cristol, who has written a book about the case, said, the tapes "show both the helicopter pilots and their controller ... believed the Israeli air force had targeted an Egyptian ship."
Please note these are the purported 'rescue' helicopters with door gunners.
See survivors accounts (Liberty web-site)
Good news, my friend!
My home page is now complete! It seems that for the moment at least I can once again access dear Uri's earlier columns!
The relief, she sighs, wiping brow!
Thought I'd let you konw at once seeing as how you were SO KIND to check it out and confirm its disappearance a few days ago!
My home page is now complete! It seems that for the moment at least I can once again access dear Uri's earlier columns!
The relief, she sighs, wiping brow!
Thought I'd let you konw at once seeing as how you were SO KIND to check it out and confirm its disappearance a few days ago!
As you will find URLs (Web-sites) come and go... sometimes are attacked (often when people run out of valid arguments they revert to anything that comes to hand - including the purposeful overloading web-sites), and then again sometimes they are just down for maintenance.
When it comes to web-sites/pages on the internet, one should try not to grow too attached to anything...
When it comes to web-sites/pages on the internet, one should try not to grow too attached to anything...
NEWS!!!!!
YEP! Angie (that's me) has received a response to my e-mail to dear URI!!!
Told you I would let you know seeing as how you were so kind as to point out his e-mail address to me!
It was a charming note, and I'm enchanted! Couldn't wait to tell you. Thanks, again for your help!!!
YEP! Angie (that's me) has received a response to my e-mail to dear URI!!!
Told you I would let you know seeing as how you were so kind as to point out his e-mail address to me!
It was a charming note, and I'm enchanted! Couldn't wait to tell you. Thanks, again for your help!!!
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