A Letter from Israel

[lily]

We were talking about the Middle East conflict on another thread, and I mentioned that I would post this letter. This is a letter from an Australian doctor who has lived in Israel for the past seven years. This was originally posted on FreeRepublic.com, by someone who knows this man. Here it is...




Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for your kind wishes on the occasion of our wedding. We had a wonderful time in Australia. It was so special to share the most wonderful day of our lives with friends and family from near and far.

We followed up with a honeymoon in Noosa Heads and Sydney. Two weeks ago we had a beautiful celebration for friends and relatives on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem. Again it was wonderful to be with good friends. The Maeirsdorf Faculty Club where we held our celebration is a sea of tranquility in our city. It commands majestic views over the Old City. You can look out in the beautiful midday sun over the Temple Mount and the Ancient Western Wall and feel the illusion of peace and tranquility.

We enjoyed it for a few hours and then went back to the reality of the war in which we are currently engaged. I drive a bullet-proof car to work but I cannot go the fastest route because the chances of being shot at solely for the reason that I am Jewish are too great.

I am writing this email as someone who has lived in Jerusalem for the past seven and one-half years, who has worked on a daily basis with Palestinian Arabs in the hospitals here, who has treated Palestinian Arabs as patients in the hospital, and who has worked as a doctor in the West Bank.

Perhaps I may seem biased, but simple facts speak for themselves. The simplest fact being the little old Arab lady who sells olives outside our supermarket in Jewish West Jerusalem. She comes, she goes, she has no need to fear for her safety. She, like thousands of Arabs that work in Israel can freely move around in Israel without any fear of being attacked by an Israeli.

If you are Jewish and you find yourself by accident in an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority the chance of you coming out of there alive is infinitesimal. It doesn’t matter if you are left-wing, right-wing, religious, or secular. It doesn’t matter if you are from Russia, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Europe or South America. It doesn’t matter if you have Palestinian friends or not. The fact is if you are a Jew and you make a wrong turn on a street you are unlikely to survive. There are many examples of left-wing ideologues who continue to do business in Area A (the West Bank) who have been taken out and shot by sections of the PA, wether Fatah, Al Aqsa Brigades or Tanzim. If you are mistaken for a Jew, your fate will be the same. There is a Greek Orthodox priest who was gunned down on the road to Jerusalem a few months ago because he was thought to be a Jew by his killers. A few days ago two UN observers were shot by Palestinian Authority gunmen. These people were not people inadvertently caught in cross fire - they were killed because their killers thought they were Jews.

All of my friends here and all of my relatives here are in the army. It is truly a citizen’s army that includes all strata of Israeli society and includes many brave Druze and Bedouin soldiers who are not required to go into the army, but who volunteer to serve their country.

A debate is going on in this country about how to perform imperative military actions against terrorist targets without harming Palestinian civilians. The debate is a heated one, but all Israelis are in agreement that no Palestinian civilians should be injured. Interestingly, we have not heard similar debates going on in the Palestinian community.

In fact the main target of the Palestinians are innocent civilians. In the past week alone, Palestinians have killed Jews at Passover seder, in cafes, in markets. I have not heard of any Palestinian attacking a base of the IDF.

There can be no hope for peace for at least a generation. The educational programs of the Palestinian schools teaches their children to hate Jews and to kill them when they can. Babies of 5 or 6 are taught to shoot guns and throw grenades. They are taught, despite the reality, that the Jews have to right to be in the Middle East, that they have unlawfully taken property belonging to the Arabs and that they should be killed. They encourage “martyrdom” and idolize suicide bombers. They are taught that their life on this earth is meaningless unless it is used to kill Jews.

The Palestinian Authority, under the OSLO accords, is supposed to arrest wanted terrorists and hand them over for prosecution. One of the suicide bombers was in PA custody last week. He told them what he wanted to do, and they let him go.

In some ways, we Israelis are to blame for not being more stringent with Arafat at the very beginning. In the name of giving peace a chance, we looked the other way. It gave the wrong message and I am afraid we are now paying the price.

If you look at the last few years you can this about Arafat: Either you can’t control your own people, in which case, why are we negotiating with you, or you are controlling your own people in these terrorist attacks, in which case, why are we negotiating with you?

People of little insight claim that there are extremists on both sides. This is true, but is a largely vacuous argument. There have been a small handful of incidents perpetrated by Jews on Palestinians in the past 10 years. The worst was the Baruch Goldstein massacre in Hebron in 1994. These incidents, without exception, have been totally and forcibly condemned by 99% of the Jewish population, left and right-wing alike. Jews who commit crimes against Palestinians are brought to trial and sentenced, and receive loud public condemnation.

When there is Arab terror against Jews there is no public condemnation among the Arabs. Just the opposite. There is cheering and laughing. Of the 100's of transcripts I have read of interviews of parents of suicide bombers I can remember only one case where a parent expressed remorse for the barbaric acts of their child. The overall feeling of parents of suicide bombers is one of brimming pride and satisfaction that their children have killed Jews.

We have heard much in the media about the fact that Palestine was “conquered” by the Jews who have no right to be here. That seems to be working well in the International arena. What are the facts?

At the end of World War I, in the Treaty of Versailles, Great Britain was awarded the Turkish district of Palestine on a mandate of facilitating the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine. The Declaration was called the Balfour Declaration. Palestine encompassed the historic Jewish homeland where there had been a continuous Jewish presence for several millenia. In the year 70 CE the Romans conquered the land that was then known as Judea (from which the designation “Jew” comes). They wanted to replace the name with one that didn’t refer to Jews so they chose a name from the Philistines who had invaded the area from Greece in about 1200 BCE and who had disappeared around 500 BCE. They changed the name of the area to Philistina (Palestine).

In the early 1920's 77% of Palestine (the area east of the Jordan River) was given by England to the Hashemite Kings of Saudi Arabia. That area came to be known as Trans-Jordan. It was a state of primarily Palestinian Arabs. At that time, all residents of the area, Jews, Christians and Arabs were known as Palestinians. The Palestinian Post (now the Jerusalem Post) and Palestine Radio were Jewish institutions, founded by Jews prior to the formation of the State of Israel. In modern times, Jews have been the largest religious group living in Jerusalem since the 1840's. Only at the end of the British Mandate, prior to the formation of the State of Israel was Palestinian considered to be a term applied to Arabs only. From the formation of the State of Israel in 1948 through the 1973 war the Arabs on the West Bank of the Jordan were considered to be Jordanians not Palestinians.

In 1947 the Jewish population of Palestine agreed to a UN brokered partition of the remaining 23% of the original area of Palestine (the area west of the Jordan River) so that the Jews could have their own state. The agreement was approximately to share the land 50% to the Jews and 50% to the Arabs under Jordanian rule. The Arab League rejected the partition and as soon as the State of Israel was declared they attacked Israel. A war was fought in which the result was a division of the land which was less favorable to the Arabs than the original UN Partition Plan.

In 1967 after years of shooting at Northern Israel from the vantage point of the Golan Heights and sending terrorists into Israel, Syria and Egypt created a joint command, massed large armed forces on Israel’s border and threatened to annihilate Israel. In a pre-emptive strike Israel defeated both armies and captured the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula to the Suez Canal.

Israel had told Jordan to stay out of the war, keep you borders quiet and we won’t bother you. Instead Jordan also attacked Israel. In the war against Jordan Israel defeated them and took control of the Temple Mount and the West Bank. On entering the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel found that the holiest Jewish sites had been gutted and desecrated. Tombstones from ancient Jewish graves on the Mt. of Olives had been used as pathways to Jordanian Army latrines and as stones to line the latrines.

When Israel conquered the West Bank and the Sinai Peninsula in the war of 1967 she offered to return all the properties in exchange for peace. The answer was the famous three “no’s” from the Arab League in the Khartoum Summit. No recognition of Israel, No negotiation with Israel, No peace with Israel.

In 1973 Sadat, the President of Egypt, decided to retake the Sinai Peninsula by force. The Egyptians were soundly defeated in that war. By 1977, because of a struggling economy, and because the United States convinced Sadat that there would be a “peace dividend” if Egypt made peace with Israel, Sadat offered recognition and peace in exchange for the return of the Sinai desert, despite domestic opposition within Egypt. He flew to Israel and spoke to the Knesset. Israel entered into a peace treaty with Egypt and gave them back the land, notwithstanding the fact that 7,000 Israelis were uprooted from their homes in settlements in the Sinai, some of them forcibly by the IDF. Israel also gave up its only chance to be energy-independent. The Alma oil field in Southern Sinai provided most of the energy for Israel, and projections were that Israel would be totally energy independent if it had kept that oil field.

The Palestinians could have achieved the same. Had they the courage of Sadat, they would have their own state today.

I have lived and worked in Jewish towns in the West Bank. I know the people that live there. Some of the communities I have worked and lived in were Jewish towns before 1948 - before statehood. Some are new towns on the sites of or near the sites of Ancient Jewish towns from 2000 years ago. I cannot speak for every West Bank resident, but I know that a strong majority of them would move voluntarily and make concessions if they felt the result would be a lasting peace.

There seems, unfortunately, to be no reciprocity coming from the Palestinians. For years now Arafat has been talking peace to the press in English, while at the same time inciting war in Arabic to the masses. Palestinian TV bombards the people, including children, daily with hate messages about Israel and Jews. Where will peace come from in the next generation?

In Israel the focus is on peace. We want to achieve it one way or another. There are political groups pressing for outlandish compromises in exchange for peace. Our children are named Shalom (Peace) and it is a frequent theme in our prayers. We have no children named Jihad - and there is no concept of a holy war as a Jewish goal. The non-Jewish population in Israel is not seen as an “infidel” and they are welcome to share our country with us. The Muslims want only a homogenous Muslim population from the Atlantic to Malaysia without Christians or Jews. The reason they hate us is because we are not Muslims, not because we are “occupying” their territory.

I have spent many Saturday afternoons with my cousins in Ramot. My 16 year old cousin had friend called Michal. She was always coming over to their house. She was a warm and sweet little girl. Seven months ago she went to get a pizza downtown and was blown up by a suicide bomber. She died with her best friend, another 16 year old girl from Ramot. Within a few days of their killing a museum was set up in the home town of the suicide bomber in Nablus - glorifying the act in every detail. The pizza shop was recreated and the locals could walk through the different rooms of the recreated pizza shop and look at the plastic models of severed limbs of Jewish children. The PA closed down the exhibit only after it started to get bad press overseas.

In July 2000 when Barak sat down with Arafat and offered him 97% of the West Bank - it was the most that Israel could do. Israel amounts to 1/2000 the size of its Arab neighbors - and is only nine miles wide at its center. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab country - it has always been a Jewish capital - yet we offered Arafat part of Jerusalem for his capital. We could do no more. Arafat rejected our offer.

I have not spent any time preparing these words. I speak to you from my gut and my heart as I read the foreign press and watch the BBC and see distorted reporting, bias and half-truths.

I hope that those of you who read this outside of Israel have a greater perspective about what is really going on here than you did before. Unfortunately you did not know those beautiful young innocents who I knew and who touched my life - and who were recently murdered by sick suicide bombers - Michal Raziel, Aish-Kodesh Gilmour and Malchi Roth. Some of you may know my cousin Adi who was shot at while driving to work three weeks ago, but was not hit.

Take a minute and try to feel what it is like after having offered everything we could and we are answered with bombs in our cafes and restaurants, our markets and malls and our Passover Seders. It is clear that the Palestinians do not want us to retreat to the 1967 borders - they want us out of the Middle East. Incidentally, if all the fighting is about our retreating to the 1967 borders - what was all the fighting about prior to 1967?

The recent bombings included many places where Leeba and I would go out to brunch or dinner until recently. Like most Israelis now, we stay home. I go to work. The tennis centre is near a mall that was targeted by so far the tennis centre hasn’t been, so I still go there to play tennis. It helps relieve my stress, but it is so weird playing tennis while the country is at war.

Take care and I am sorry about the sorrowful tone of the letter. Please try to understand where we are and what we are going through. We are lucky because we can leave if we need to, but we won’t. There are friends of mine who have been in this land for generations and some for hundreds of years. The Zinaati family goes back before the Roman revolt. These people have nowhere else to go. This is their home. So if you see the IDF taking more aggressive action you will know why. We have offered all we can - and we have nowhere else to go.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, we are at war. This is a war which we did not seek and we now pray for peace - however it may come.

Take care,

Danny

[Turbostang]

A view from the other side

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Number of Palestinians / Israelis Killed in Mideast Violence Over Past 10 Years
by Ali Abunimah

As a follow up to a previous report I wrote about Palestinian victims of Israeli violence since the Oslo accords, I did a little research at the web site of B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights monitoring group. The results are fascinating and disturbing.

The web site lists casualty statistics for Israelis and Palestinians since Dec. 1987 (the beginning of the Intifada). Here is a brief summary of what I found. The importance of the numbers is not to show that one side suffers more than another, or that one side is more "right" than another, but rather to use fact to challenge the media-inspired impression that it is overwhelmingly Israelis who suffer at the hands of Arabs. Facts show that this is simply not true.

While terrorism that targets civilians is in my view deplorable and unjustifiable, it is still a much ignored fact that Palestinians are at far greater risk of death at the hands of Israeli security forces and civilians, than Israelis are of death at the hands of Palestinians. As long as Israel seeks "security" for itself, while it (and the world) are unwilling to recognize the desperate need Palestinians have for protection from Israeli violence, there is unlikely to be much progress on this matter. Here are the numbers:

Since 1987, 1,342 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces in Israel and the Occupied Territories. An additional 132 were killed by Israeli civilians, and 161 of the total were killed by Israeli death squads. This brings the total Palestinian deaths to 1,474.
Since 1987, 304 Israeli civilians and security force personnel have been killed by Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Territories.
Of the total numbers of dead, 225 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of 1994 (roughly since the peace process began), while 170 Israelis have been killed in the same period.
Please note that these figures do not include either Israelis or Lebanese killed as a result of the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. If anyone knows of a reliable source for that information, please let me know.

If you want more information and breakdown of these numbers and on all aspects of human rights, I encourage you to visit B'Tselem's website at http://www.btselem.org. B'Tselem is capable of providing you with the name and circumstances of death of each and every person counted in their statistics. I thank them for their diligence and steadfastness in documenting these facts over the years.

[Turbostang]

Palestinian Victims of Israeli Violence Since the Oslo Accords Were Signed
by Ali Abunimah
September 1997

Because of the focus on Israeli security concerns, and the inevitable focus on terrorist bombings which claim many Israeli lives, U.S. media often does not report on Palestinian casualties.

The following list was compiled from news sources and includes incidents in which Palestinians are killed or injured by Israeli forces of settlers. The list is as complete as I can make it, but inevitably there are some gaps as many Palestinian deaths go unreported by media sources available in the United States. I have included the name and age and circumstances of persons killed whenever they have been available (except in the cases of the events in Lebanon, and in Palestine in September 1996, where I have summarized because of the sheer scale of the killing).

I have included all civilian deaths I have managed to find, and deaths at the hands of Israeli undercover units, or assassinations. I have also included separate sections summarizing land confiscations and house demolitions since Oslo was signed. All of the information below is cited from at least one of the following sources:

Middle East International (MEI)
Reuter News Agency
Agence France Presse
BBC World Service
B'Tselem--an Israeli human rights watch dog
LAW--The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment


Israeli violence, terror and extrajudicial executions
January 3, 1994: Three Palestinians shot dead by Israeli army undercover units in separate locations in the Occupied Territories. They are allegedly "militants."
January 7, 1994: Four Palestinians are cornered by the Israeli army in a house in Hebron. Using heavy-calibre machine guns, anti-tank rockets and grenades the Israelis demolish the house killing the four "suspects" inside.

February 3, 1994: Salim Muwafi, an unofficial leader of the "Fatah Hawks" a section of Arafat's Fatah movement is assassinated by Israeli army undercover agents in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Ayman Zaqqut another "suspect" is fatally wounded and dies two days later.

February 25, 1994: Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein opens fire on Palestinians saying Ramadan prayers in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank--a site sacred to Jews and Muslims--killing at least 29. 300 others are wounded. Israel imposes a severe curfew on the Palestinians in Hebron, and a closure on the Occupied Territories while the armed settlers continue to roam freely.

February 25-March 5, 1994: 33 Palestinians are killed by the Israeli army in the 8 days following the Hebron massacre. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem reports that in at least 12 cases there "was no danger to soldiers' lives." This is supposedly the condition for engagement.

March 22 & 23 1994: Israeli army mounts major military assault using heavy-calibre machine guns, grenades, and bulldozers in the Harat Al-Masharqa neighborhood in Hebron. After 30 hours of bombardment four Palestinian "suspects" are killed when the house they are holed up in is destroyed by an Israeli anti-tank missile. Three of the dead are identified as Marwan Abu Rumaila, Iyad Abu Hadid and Muhammad Atrash. The fourth remains unidentified. In addition, two Palestinian women were killed immediately when the Israeli assault began--Hunduq Zahda, a 33-year old pregnant mother of five children, who was shot in the chest, and 21-year old Manal Qunaibi, shot in the head. Both women were standing in their homes at the time of the attack. A further five Palestinians were wounded and several houses destroyed by anti-tank missiles. During the assault, the army invaded the local children's hospital in order to set up rocket launchers on the roof.

March 28, 1994: 6 Fatah security officials are killed by the Israeli army in Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp. According to eyewitnesses, the group was distributing leaflets when they were approached by two cars bearing Israeli undercover units who leapt out and shot them dead, also wounding one woman bystander. According to the Gaza Centre for Law and Rights, one of the wounded crawled into the office of a gas station and was pursued by a soldier who finished him off with a gunshot to the head. The United States issues a rare condemnation of this Israeli action, which was ordered directly by Prime Minister Rabin.

May 4, 1994: "Gaza-Jericho First" deal is signed in Cairo by Israel and Palestinians. Since the initial "Declaration of Principles" was signed in September 1993, 150 Palestinians and 45 Israelis have died in violence. (source MEI, 13 May, 1994)

May 20, 1994: Elite Israeli military unit conducts helicopter raid into Lebanon's Beqaa valley and kidnaps Islamist leader Mustafa Dirani from his house while his family is held at gun-point.

July, 6, 1994: 10,000 Israeli right-wingers angered by Israeli withdrawals from parts of Gaza and Jericho go on the rampage through occupied Arab East Jerusalem assaulting Arab by-standers and attacking shops. Among their cries are "Rabin-- traitor."

July 17, 1994: Two Palestinians are shot dead and 75 injured when rioting occurs at the Erez checkpoint between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Israeli army found itself unprepared when 6,000 Palestinians had gathered at the checkpoint hoping to be let into Israel to find day labor. The army attempted to herd the crowd using military vehicles. When Palestinians' frustration boils over, the army responds with live ammunition. A gun battle breaks out between Palestinian police and the Israeli army.

August 12, 1994: Israeli undercover unit in Jerusalem executes two "Hamas suspects."

September 18-23, 1994: 10 Israeli settlers near Hebron are arrested by the Israeli army and accused of planning terrorist attacks against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and in Occupied East Jerusalem.

September 16, 1994: Hatim Muhammad Abu Rayyan, 30, a resident of Halhul village near Hebron is shot dead by Israeli settlers as he stands outside his home. In ensuing clashes between Palestinian demonstrators in Hebron and the occupation forces, two Palestinian youths are severely beaten by Israeli undercover agents.

October 5, 1994: One Palestinian killed and several others wounded in stone- throwing clashes with Israeli troops in Hebron.

October 7, 1994: Ghazi al-Haymuni, 23, is shot dead by Israeli soldiers outside the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. It is claimed he attempted to stab a soldier.

October 16, 1994: Yusuf Abed Rabbu, 24, of Arrub refugee camp, is shot dead near Hebron by Israeli soldiers, as he is digging for antique artifacts. He was killed as he tried to flee from an Israeli army patrol who had come across him.

October 25, 1994: Jordan and Israel sign peace treaty

November 2, 1994: Hani Abed, a leader in the Islamic Jihad movement is killed by a booby trap bomb in his car in Gaza. Prime Minister Rabin declares "with one hand we are grasping the hand of peace with...Jordan and with the other we are pulling the trigger to hit at the murderers of Hizbullah, at the terrorists of Islamic Jihad and Hamas." Ten days later, one of Abed's students blows himself up at a checkpoint killing three Israeli officers.

December 22, 1994: Islamist leader Ibrahim Yaghi is assassinated by Israeli undercover operation in Jericho.

January 2, 1995: Israeli army patrol shoots dead four Palestinian police officers, and injures a fifth in a gun battle near the village of Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip. The Israelis reportedly "mistakenly" identified the police as "armed militants."

January, 1995: Widespread protests break out in the Occupied Territories as Israeli settlers attempt to confiscate 150 acres of land belonging to the Palestinian village of Al-Khader near Bethlehem.

February 20, 1995: Just days before the first anniversary of the Hebron massacre, the Israeli army arrests three settlers trying to smuggle firearms, ammunition and teargas canisters into the Ibrahimi Mosque where the massacre of at least 29 Palestinian worshippers took place. On February 16, hundreds of Israelis had gathered in Hebron to "celebrate" the "martyrdom" of Baruch Goldstein. The celebration was attended by Shaul Gutman, a member of the Israeli Knesset. An activist of the Kach movement, Avishai Raviv is quoted as saying "I came here to identify with the man. I am not sorry that Arabs died. I think many more should." (MEI, March 3, 1995)

April 2, 1995: Four Palestinians are killed and 30 injured when a bomb tears through an apartment building in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan district. Israel claims that the explosion was caused when something went wrong in a Palestinian "bomb factory," but Palestinians counter that the bomb was an Israeli undercover operation, part of a series of extra-judicial executions of wanted persons designed to eliminate one of the victims, Kamal Kheil, long sought by the Israelis.

June 2, 1995: Hamid Yaghmur, 23, is killed when the Hebron house he is hiding in is destroyed by anti-tank missiles fired by Israeli troops. Later the same day, in the nearby village of Halhul, the Israeli army destroys another house using anti-tank rockets on suspicion that "suspects" were hiding there. It turn out the house is empty.

June 14, 1995: Violent clashes erupt in Issawiye village near Jerusalem as Israeli troops and bulldozers arrive to demolish a Palestinian house. Scores are injured.

June 25, 1995: Shadi Al-Azayim, 19, Wail Kharraz, 21, and Imad Ramadan, 21 are shot dead when Israeli soldiers open fire on a largely peaceful demonstration at Al- Najah University in Hebron. The students were marching to Junayd Prison to protest the continued detention without charge or trial of thousands of Palestinians. A further 50 students sustain wounds from live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets.

July 1, 1995: A 16 year-old Jordanian boy visiting relatives in Hebron is shot dead by Israeli soldiers reportedly for "walking suspiciously." Palestinians say that the boy was first shot in the leg by Baruch Marzel, a former assistant to Baruch Goldstein, and after he fell to the ground Israeli soldiers came up and "finished him off," in the words of an Israeli settler. The boy's family denied an Israeli charge that the boy had attempted to stab an Israeli soldier. (MEI, July 7, 1997)

October 26, 1995: Dr. Fathi Shqaqi a top official of Islamic Jihad is assassinated in Malta by an Israeli undercover operation. According to reports, an assailant on a motorcycle rode up to him and shot him five times in the head with a silenced pistol.

November 1995: Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by Israeli extremists.

January 6, 1996: Yahya Ayyash, a Palestinian alleged to be behind several bomb attacks on Israelis, is assassinated by Israel when a booby-trapped cellular phone he is using explodes and blows his head off. This attack is seen to be the touch paper that set off a series of Hamas suicide attacks in February and March 1996.

January 20, 1996: Palestinian Elections

February and March 1996: A series of Hamas suicide bombings claim 54 Israeli lives and Israel imposes severe closure on the Occupied Territories. Hundreds of Palestinians are detained without charge or trial

March 28, 1996: Israeli army raids Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, causing extensive damage and arresting 400 people, 280 of them students. Most of the students were released, but only after being tied up, blind folded, interrogated and often beaten for 13 hours.

April 1996: At least 8 Palestinians died due to lack of access to medical care because of the closure in the weeks following the suicide bombings, according to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem (Reuter, April 1). This includes a new-born baby who died on March 14, after his mother gave birth to him at an Israeli checkpoint. The mother, from the village of Nahalin, was trying to get to hospital in Bethlehem, but even after she went into labour, the soldiers would not let her through (MEI, March 29)

April 11, 1996: Israeli occupation forces enter the Beni Naim neighborhood of Hebron and demolish 8 Palestinian houses belonging to the Abu Rajab and Idris families. The demolitions which took place without warning, were ostensibly because the houses had been built without permits. The houses had been standing for three years. An 80 year old man, and a woman who had recently given birth are injured in the operation.

May 29, 1996: Binyamin Netanyahu and right-wing coalition win Israeli elections.

July, 1996: Israeli authorities decide to reintroduce undercover units in Palestinian areas evacuated by Israeli troops. An Islamic Jihad activist is mysteriously assassinated in Ramallah (MEI, July 19, 1996)

August 26, 1996: Israeli army ransacks a Bedouin encampment at Al-Muntar in the West Bank and expels the residents. Residents say that the area had been earmarked for expansion of Jewish settlements, and that soldiers had stolen jewelry and money from them (Reuter, August 26)

August 28, 1996: At 4:00 AM Israeli forces backed by helicopters and bulldozers enter the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem in the occupied sector and demolish a community center for which serves disabled Palestinians. The structure, built four years previously, was run by the Bourge Luc Society.

September 23, 1996: In a middle-of-the-night, commando-style operation, Israel opens an entrance to a "tourist" tunnel, leading into the Muslim Quarter of occupied East Jerusalem. This sparks widespread protests throughout the Occupied Territories. In several days of heavy fighting, 61 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 15 Israeli soldiers, are killed and an estimated 1500 Palestinians wounded. On one day alone, 35 Palestinians are killed and 800 wounded. Eyewitnesses, including correspondents of the BBC World Service in Ramallah, observe Israeli Cobra helicopter gunships firing at crowds of demonstrators in Ramallah. Bir Zeit University web page publishes photographs of 50 mm shells fired into houses and buildings. In other areas, open warfare breaks out between Israeli forces and Palestinian police attempting to defend Palestinian "self rule" areas. Israelis deploy tanks and armored vehicles around all major Palestinian towns and lay siege to them.

October 21, 1996: Fathi Ali Assahouri, 40, of Sinjil village is killed in a settler drive- by shooting. He was travelling near the Ofra settlement when a settler car approached him with its bright lights on. The settlers fired into Mr. Assahouri's car. He died of a gunshot to the head.

October 22, 1996: Abdelraouf Karkara, 19, is shot in the neck and killed, reportedly by Israeli settlers. According to reports, he and other youths had been throwing stones at an Israeli army patrol.

October 27, 1996: Hilmi Shusheh, 11, from Husan village near Bethlehem is beaten to death with the butt of a pistol by Nahum Korman, the security chief of the nearby Beitar Illit settlement. The settler is arrested and later released in order to attend the birth of his own son.

November 3, 1996: A Palestinian house is firebombed near the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba adjacent to Hebron, injuring five people, one critically.

November 10, 1996: Atallah Hasan Amireh is killed and 12 other Palestinians injured when Israeli forces open fire on a peaceful demonstration in the West Bank village of Deir Qiddis. The villagers were protesting the confiscation of village land to expand the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Sefer. Mr. Amireh was killed by a bullet through the heart fired at a range of 12 metres.

January 1, 1997: Israeli soldier Noam Friedman opens fire on Palestinian shoppers in Hebron. 8 are injured, two seriously.

March 1997: Widespread protests throughout the Occupied Territories as Israel begins construction of "Har Homa" settlement on Jabal Abu Ghneim near Bethlehem.

March 23, 1997: 58 Palestinians suffer gunshot wounds as Israeli troops open fire on demonstrators in Hebron, according to Yusuf Sharawi, chief physician at the Princess Alia hospital in the city (MEI, April 4, 1997)

March 29, 1997: Abdallah Salah, 20, a student of Birzeit university dies of a gunshot wound to the head at an Israeli roadblock.

April 1, 1997: Kamal Zaraw, 18, is shot dead by Israeli troops near the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, reportedly for refusing to stop at a roadblock.

April 8, 1997: Two Israeli settlers in Hebron fire at a group of Palestinians, killing Isam Arafi, 30, and wounding three others. The settlers later claim they were attacked, while Palestinian eyewitnesses say it was a "public execution" and totally unprovoked. In subsequent protests two more Palestinians, Nadel said, 24, and Yaqub Julani, 15, are killed by rubber-coated metal bullets and 160 others injured.

April 27, 1997: Mahmud Abu Amiriya, 18, is shot dead by Israeli troops in the village of Kharas in the West Bank, after village children had thrown stones at them.

June 12, 1997: One Palestinian dies of tear gas inhalation, and two children are critically wounded in West Bank protests against settlements expansion.

June 22, 1997: Ibrahim Tawfiq Abu Ratima, a deaf-mute 14-year old is shot in the head by Israeli soldiers near the Morag settlement in the Gaza Strip after he reportedly failed to respond to orders to stop. He never regained consciousness and died of his wounds on July 3.

September 25, 1997: Khaled Mishal, a Hamas spokesman in Amman, Jordan is critically injured in an assassination attempt in which two agents of the Israeli external intelligence agency, Mossad, sprayed Mr. Mishal with a lethal gas. King Hussein protests to Israel.

[Turbostang]

Pt II

B'Tselem Reports on House Demolitions in the Occupied Territories
The following information is taken from a press release by B'Tselem, dated September 24, 1997:
Israel has demolished at least 1,800 Palestinian houses in the past ten years, rendering an estimated 10,800 people homeless.

In 1997, Israel has demolished 109 Palestinian houses.

According to official figures, 850 demolition orders were outstanding in March 1997

Israel claims that most of these houses were built without permits, but such permits are nearly impossible to obtain from the occupation authorities.


Land Confiscation
It is estimated by LAW, that some 194,000 dunums (one dunum= one quarter acre) of Palestinian land have been confiscated by Israel since the Oslo accords were signed. This is an area equal to 5% of the West Bank--more land than has been put under direct Palestinian "self rule."

Lebanon
April 10, 1996: Israel launches major onslaught on Lebanon. By the end of the assault 17 days later, some 250 Lebanese civilians have been killed, thousands wounded and many more made homeless. During the "Grapes of Wrath" operation, some 500,000 people were displaced as they fled from the Israeli advance.
Here are some of the most appalling events, in chronological order:

April 11, 1996: Israeli ships shell Lebanese coast killing at least two and wounding four others. Two others are killed the same day in separate Israeli air raids. One of them is a 60 year-old civilian. (Reuter, April 11)

April 13, 1996: Four children are killed and six others are wounded when an Israeli helicopter rockets the ambulance they are fleeing in, near the village of Hinneyeh, near the port of Tyre.

April 18, 1996: 101 Lebanese civilian refugees are killed when Israeli artillery shells a U.N. camp at Qana. Although the Israelis claim it was an accident, two independent investigations, one by a Dutch General on behalf of the United Nations, and another by Amnesty International, determine that the shelling was in all likelihood deliberate.

All in all, the Israeli assault killed 250 civilians, involved more than 1,000 aircraft, 15,000 artillery rounds and caused 500,000 people to flee from their homes. The declared purpose was to "put pressure on the Lebanese government."

During the Israeli assault, the U.S. media, such as the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune repeatedly claimed that the Israelis were prompted to act because Hizbullah had violated an unwritten July 1993 ceasefire deal. A search through Reuters newswire reports, however by a group of University of Chicago students during the period from August 1, 1993 until April 8, 1996, yielded the following findings which disprove completely the media impression:

In the period from August 1, 1993, to April 8, 1996, Hizbullah fired rockets into Israel on 12 different occasions, 7 of which caused civilian casualties. In the same period, there were 36 Israeli attacks which resulted in civilian casualties in Lebanon. 3 Israeli civilians were killed in these attacks, versus at least 45 Lebanese civilians. Of the 12 Hizbullah attacks, 8 were in direct response to Israeli-SLA attacks in which Lebanese civilians were killed or wounded.

So far in 1997 (as of mid September), there have been 63 Israeli air raids into Lebanon in 1997, according to National Public Radio.

On August 18, 1997, Seven Lebanese civilians including a baby boy are killed when the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia carries out a mortar attack on the port of Tyre. This brings to 32 the number of Lebanese civilians killed in 1997.

[Turbostang]

Understanding Palestinian Terror
by Eyad Sarraj

A few weeks ago I said that the struggle of Palestinians today is how not to become a bomb and that the amazing thing is not the occurrence of the suicide bombing, rather the rarity of them. The BBC interviewer appeared to understand. I was shocked because it is our understanding that the world out there will never understand. And who on earth in their right mind would understand terror and the killing of innocent people? Why do Palestinians kill themselves and Israelis in such an horrific way at the bus stop or in a crowded market? Do you really care to know? Well, let me try and explain.

I believe it is an act of absolute despair and a very serious stage of the seemingly perpetual conflict. Since the uprooting of the Palestinians in 1948 triggered by Irgun Jewish terror under the leadership of Yitzak Shamir and Menachem Begin, we have tried everything. We have tried Nasser and Arab Nationalism, only to be invaded in 1956 in our second homes in the refugee camps. It was only because of the Russian threat to bomb London and Paris and the resolve of US President Eisenhower that ended the Israeli occupation.

We have tried the United Nations and its Security Council, which by the way have made excellent resolutions on our behalf. For example Resolution 194 calls on Israel to allow us to return to our homeland, but to no avail. So we kept wandering around, between airports and refugee camps, waiting for a hero or an earthquake. All we wanted was to go home. But our story was getting worse and we grew bitter as we heard that a Jew from Poland would be declared a citizen of our country -- a country now called Israel. We were told that officially we were stateless with undefined nationality. So we went to universities. We believed then that Jews were so clever because they were educated. We were told that Jews controlled the world with their education. They are doctors, lawyers and scientists, never beggars or boxers.

In twenty years many of us became university graduates and we were in every university. We had some pride. Some of our educated people formed the resistance movement. They believed that the Arab countries would never fight Israel, and that we had to force them to fight. Fatah with Yasser Arafat was born. They forced the Arabs to fight by inviting Israel to attack Egypt in 1967. In the course of six days the Arabs were defeated again but worse. This time we lost Gaza and the West Bank, Egypt lost Sinai, and Syria lost the Golan. In a sudden stroke our fate was sealed and we had to live under Israeli military occupation for thirty years. Do you know what does it mean to live under Israeli military occupation? Do you really care to know? Let me tell you a few things.

You are given an identity number and a permit to reside. If you leave the country for more that three years in succession, you lose that right to residence.
When you leave the country on a trip, you are given a laissez passez, a travelling document, valid for one year and it tells you in its recording of your particulars that you are of undefined nationality.
Israeli occupation means that you are called twice a year by the intelligence for routine interrogation and persuasion to work as an informer on your brothers and sisters. No one is spared. If you are to be a member of a political organisation you will be sentenced for ten years. For a military action you will be sentenced to life.
To survive under the Israeli occupation you are given the chance to work in the jobs that Israelis do not like, sweeping the streets, building houses, collecting fruit or harvesting. You will have to leave your home in the refugee camp in Gaza at 3 am, go through the road blocks and check posts, spend your day under the sun and surveillance returning home in the evening to collapse in bed for a few hours before the following day.
We simply became the slaves of our enemy. We are building their homes on our villages, and we clean their streets. Do you know what does it do to you when you have to be the slave of your enemy in order to survive. No you will never know how painful it is unless your country is occupied by another force. Only then will you learn how to watch in silence pretending not to see the torture of your friends and the humiliation of your father.

Do you know what it means for a child to see his father spat at and beaten before his eyes by an Israeli soldier? Nobody knows what happened to our children. We don't know ourselves except we observe that they lose respect for their fathers.
So they, our children, the children of the stone as they became known, tried the Intifada -- the uprising. Seven long years our children were throwing stones and being killed daily. Nearly all our young men were arrested, the majority were tortured. All had to confess. The result was every one suspected that all people were spies. So, we were exhausted, tormented and brutalised. What else could we do to return to our home? We had almost forgotten that and all what we wanted was to be left alone.

What else could we try? Oh yes, peace. When the news came that Arafat had signed a peace treaty in Washington we were jubilant. At last we thought we were to get rid of that miserable life of military occupation, at last. So we had hope.

We could not believe our eyes when there were no more curfews and we could actually spend our evening on the beach or wander in streets which were now ours after eight o'clock at night. We were ecstatic. We even had elections and we had a parliament, so we were told.

Then came Binyamin Netanyahu.

He refused to meet Arafat and was clearly forced to shake hands in obvious disgust. He refused to free our prisoners, to have a safe passage for us to move between the West bank and Gaza. He even surrounded our towns and villages with his tanks and arrested our policemen. Then he went after our holy places and opened a tunnel under our holiest Mosque. Tens of our children and also Israeli soldiers were killed because of that tunnel, but he went on insulting us and driving out our sanity.

Arafat called for patience and we were patient, then Netanyahu started to build settlements in Jerusalem and drive the remaining Palestinians out. Settlers in Hebron spat on our prophet and called him a pig. All in the name of peace we were humiliated, even arrested and tortured by Palestinian forces to protect the peace. Our Authority was turning against us to please Netanyahu. Our officials were driving in big cars and building big villas. They have VIP cards and cross the check posts like human beings while we are left to rot.

I 've told you a few things. Now do you understand why we have turned into suicide killers?


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

Eyad Sarra is a Palestinian psychiatrist, Commissioner of Citizens Rights under the Palestinian Authority, and Physician for Human Rights honoree. He was detained three times by Arafat's forces in 1996.

[Cosmo]

The Jew doctor ws right, there will be no peace for a generation at least. As long as the facts can be twisted so, it is hopeless to find a peaceful solution. Mass killings, genociide, is a real possibility, and may be the answer.

[lily]

thanks Turbostang... but with all due respect, you don't have to post such long articles... a link will do.

[Truth Teller]

This will end poltically with a Palestinian state,but the Palestinians will have to give up on their fantasy that Israel will not exist.

Fact:In 1948 the UN offered two states one Jewish ,one Palestinian ,the Israleis said "yes",the Palestinians said "no".

Fact:Israeli Prime Minister Barrak offered to return 90% of [so-called] "occupied lands"[how many countires give back land they won in a war?Not many and the Israelis were not the aggressors] and a Palestinian state.

The PLO still said "no".

And the fact is Palestine was not a Palestinan state,it was a British colony and the British got it's milk and honey,not the Palestinians or the Jews.

In 1929 Palestinans murdered almost 80 Jews in Hebron ,so it goes back longer than 1948.

[Truth Teller]

Two questionso you think Israel has the right to exsist and do you anything good to say about Israel?

[Truth Teller]

I don't know how that smiley face got on there,it was an accident.

[The Frog]

Originally posted by Truth Teller
This will end poltically with a Palestinian state,but the Palestinians will have to give up on their fantasy that Israel will not exist.

Fact:In 1948 the UN offered two states one Jewish ,one Palestinian ,the Israleis said "yes",the Palestinians said "no".

Fact:Israeli Prime Minister Barrak offered to return 90% of [so-called] "occupied lands"[how many countires give back land they won in a war?Not many and the Israelis were not the aggressors] and a Palestinian state.

The PLO still said "no".

And the fact is Palestine was not a Palestinan state,it was a British colony and the British got it's milk and honey,not the Palestinians or the Jews.

In 1929 Palestinans murdered almost 80 Jews in Hebron ,so it goes back longer than 1948.

I just did a check for flying pigs outside. I saw one. had to be I guess, becuse TT and I are in agreement on something political!

Bravo on showing the facts, TT- Israel has not been the agressor, nor has it been he one that has screwed up peace.

[Truth Teller]

Originally posted by TheFrog


I just did a check for flying pigs outside. I saw one. had to be I guess, becuse TT and I are in agreement on something political!

Bravo on showing the facts, TT- Israel has not been the agressor, nor has it been he one that has screwed up peace.

I don't think Isreal [espeically the current government] is faultless,but the fact is the Palestinans twice [once very recently] had the chance and turned it down.

Israel is not perfect or faultless,but neither are the Palestinans and I just don't understand why some of you place a higher standard on Israel [and leave the Liberty out of it,it has nothing to do with the current situation].

I don't think the 16 year old Palestinan girl is equal to the 17 year old Israeli girl she killed,the 17 year old Israeli girl was going to the mall,the 16 year old Plaestinan girl is a murderer.

[The Frog]

*ding*

Another winnner.


No society is perfect, natch, and after all that's gone on there are hotheads on both sides, but by and large the criminal acts come from the Palestinian Militants.

[RedLine99]

Why can't they both exist together? Wouldn't that be the most logical solution rather than seeing who owns which side of which wall?

[lily]

Originally posted by TheFrog


I just did a check for flying pigs outside. I saw one. had to be I guess, becuse TT and I are in agreement on something political!

Bravo on showing the facts, TT- Israel has not been the agressor, nor has it been he one that has screwed up peace.

lol!! yeah, i too almost had a heart attack when i read that TT and I agree on something!!

[The Frog]

Originally posted by RedLine99
Why can't they both exist together? Wouldn't that be the most logical solution rather than seeing who owns which side of which wall?

That would be best, and so far Israel has said it's fine with them. THe problem is, most of the Palestinians are getting programmed that Jews are evil incarnate and must not be tolerated. Israel wants Palestine to just leave them the heck alone. Palestine wants Israel and all Jesws to die and die right (@*$ing now.

That's the problem.

[RedLine99]

Originally posted by TheFrog
Palestine wants Israel and all Jesws to die and die right (@*$ing now.

True. And that sucks. Someone should part the Red Sea for the Palistinians and let them see how that feels.

[Turbostang]

In 1929 Palestinans murdered almost 80 Jews in Hebron ,so it goes back longer than 1948.

No kidding. It goes back some 5000 years.

Two question so you think Israel has the right to exsist and do you anything good to say about Israel?

If you believe in might makes right, then I suppose so.

I don't hate Israel per say... I simply don't think that we have any special obligation towards them or anybody else in the world. Sorry, but the Liberty has EVERYTHING to do with it. They commited an act of war against the U.S. They, along with our leaders tried to cover it up. That alone is one good reason NOT to trust let alone unilaterally support Israel and fund her military. I can give you some 3000 more reasons why we shouldn't... all you have to do is look at the hole where the WTC used to be.

We wonder why muslem extremists get pissed at us then fly airliners into skyscrapers. It has nothing to do with freedom or our values. They want us to quit supporting Israel, and allow them to manage their own affairs. The arab terrorists attacked what they percieved to be the seat of Jewish power in this country.

We're basically meddling in an ancient feud, and we are stupid to think that we are going to resolve it, especially when we are playing one enemy against the other.

We are not the global policemen. I believe that about us being the defacto world leaders or that we have the moral authority to enforce the U.S. standards on other nations that don't want it is a load of crap. If we really want to be world leaders, we should do so by example, not by the end of a gun. When your on the business end of a gun, does it really amtter who or what the gunman is or represents? All you know is that you want to survive, and hopefully escape if not to eventually get back at the gunmen.

A good question to ask is what have they (Israel) done specifically for us? We've spent a buttload of money on them, money that could go a LONG ways towards fixing problems here at home.

I care more about Americans and American lives than I do about two otherwise backwards nations half the world away fighting over who's going to get the pie.

See my other post in this forum.

Why can't they both exist together? Wouldn't that be the most logical solution rather than seeing who owns which side of which wall?

Won't happen. BOTH groups want the whole pie. Both groups have demonstrated as much.

This will end poltically with a Palestinian state,but the Palestinians will have to give up on their fantasy that Israel will not exist.

That will be the acid test. It also proves my point above. Arafat has already threatened statehood for the Palastinians on several occasions... why doesn't he just do it? Israel has supposedly made provisions for Palastinian staehodd as well. It's supposed to be part of the Wye agreement. So why doesn't Israel just give them their territory?

[Truth Teller]

Originally posted by buttercup


lol!! yeah, i too almost had a heart attack when i read that TT and I agree on something!!

Liberals and conservatives are on all sides of this issue.

Some liberals and conservaitves are sympathetic for Israel,some liberals and conservatives are sympathetic for the Palestinains.

[Truth Teller]

Originally posted by Turbostang
[QUOTE ]





I don't hate Israel per say... I simply don't think that we have any special obligation towards them or anybody else in the world.

[/quote]

I disagree.

Sorry, but the Liberty has EVERYTHING to do with it.

I was refering to the Isareli/Palestinan conflict,not the U.S. and Israel.

They commited an act of war against the U.S. They, along with our leaders tried to cover it up. That alone is one good reason NOT to trust let alone unilaterally support Israel and fund her military.

Evevn if you're right about the Liberty [and I'm not saying that you are] ,that was a long time ago,the people in both governments are long dead and gone.

I can give you some 3000 more reasons why we shouldn't... all you have to do is look at the hole where the WTC used to be.

We wonder why muslem extremists get pissed at us then fly airliners into skyscrapers. It has nothing to do with freedom or our values. They want us to quit supporting Israel, and allow them to manage their own affairs. The arab terrorists attacked what they percieved to be the seat of Jewish power in this country.

I disagree,yes support of Israel is a big reason these extremists hate us,but they also hate that in this country women are free ,they hate our sexual freedom,they ahte that we [for the most part] accept homosexuality,they hate that we don't oppress Jews,they hate that we have bases in Saudi Arabia.

I care more about Americans and American lives than I do about two otherwise backwards nations half the world away fighting over who's going to get the pie.

I agree with the Torah [not a verbatim quote] "If I only care about myself what kind of person am I?"

So why doesn't Israel just give them their territory?

They offered it under Barrak,all the PLO had to do was say that Israel has the right to exsist ,they PLO said "no".