Occupied Palestine and the Politics of Terrorism

 

Colonial Power in the Middle East and its Ideological Base

Lie No. 1: Israel is under terror. As long as the terror continues, there cannot be any negotiations for peace

Lie No. 2: The biggest single obstacle to negotiations is the escalating spate of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli civilian targets

Lie No. 3: The suicide bombers are under Arafat’s control.

Lie No. 4: Arafat refuses to reign in his fanatical suicide bombers, illustrating the insincerity of his calls for a peace settlement

Lie No. 5: It is Palestinians who are fundamentally responsible for the ongoing war, for the violence, for the killing of innocents, and for the failure to come to a peaceful and equitable resolution of the conflict.

Lie No. 6: Until Palestinian terror ceases, Israel must continue to defend itself against the violence through targeted military action.

Notes

[1] Kaidy, Mitchell, ‘Neturei Karta, Shunned by the Media, Makes Jewish Anti-Zionism Known’, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November/December 1996, p. 40.

[2] Yediot Aahronot, 1992; cited in Selfa, Laura, ‘The U.S. and Israel’, International Socialist Review, Spring 1998. See Chomsky, Noam, ‘The Middle East Settlement: Its Sources and Contours’, in Power and Prospects, South End Press, Boston, 1996, p. 165 and Shahak, Israel, Open Secrets, Pluto Press, London, 1997, p. 40-43.

^[3] Cited in Chomsky, Noam, Deterring Democracy, Vintage, London, p. 55.

[4] Introductory paper on the Middle East by the UK, undated [1947], FRUS, 1947, Vol. V, p. 569.

[5] NSC 5401, quoted in Heikal, Mohammed, Cutting the lion’s tail; Suez through Egyption eyes, Andre Deutsch, London, 1986, p. 38.

[6] File FO 371/132 779. ‘Future Policy in the Persian Gulf’, 15 January 1958, FO 371/132 778.

[7] Aburish, Said K., A Brutal Friendship: The West and the Arab Elite, Indigo, London, 1998.

[8] Committee On The Middle East (COME), December 1997.

[9] See Ahmed, Nafeez M., ‘Why the Media Lies: The Corporate Structure of the Mass Media’, Media Monitors Network, 11 March 2002, http://167.160.86.106/mosaddeq32.html .

[10] B’Tselem Press Release, ‘The IDF has lost any moral compass’, B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Jerusalem, 12 March 2002, http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/2002/020312.asp.

[11] B’Tselem Statistics, ‘Total casualties since Dec. 1987’, B’Tselem, Jerusalem, viewed 7 April 2002, http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Total_Casualties.asp .

[12] PRCS Table of Figures, ‘Total daily number of deaths & injuries é West Bank & Gaza’, Palestine Red Crescent Society, Al-Bireh, viewed 7 April 2002, http://www.palestinercs.org/Crisis%20Tables/table_of_figures.htm

[13] IDF News, ‘Terror casualties during Ebb and Flow’, Israeli Defense Forces Official Website, 5 April 2002, http://www.idf.il/English/news/nifg.stm .

[14] Grinberg, Lev, ‘Israel’s State Terrorism’, Tikkun Magazine, 1 April 2002.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Cantarow, Ellen, ’34 Years of Israeli Policy have produced its Unholy War in the West Bank and Gaza’, Media Monitors Network (MMN), 10 April 2002,  http://167.160.86.106/cantarow3.html .

[17] Ibid.

^[18] Hedges, Chris, ‘A Gaza Diary: Scenes from the Palestinian Uprising’, Harpers Magazine, October 2001.

[19] Sale, Richard, ‘Israel gave major aid to Hamas’, United Press International (UPI), 24 February 2001.

[20] Shuman, Ellis, ‘Is Israel preparing to dismantle the Palestinian Authority?’, Israeli Insider, 12 July 2001, http://www.israelinsider.com

[21] Washington Times, 19 March 2002.

[22] Shuman, Ellis, ‘Is Israel preparing to dismantle the Palestinian Authority?’, op. cit.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Eldar, Akiva, Ha’aretz, 4 December 2001.

[25] Litvinovich, Dmitry, ‘Hamas and Israel Unite Against Arafat’, Pravda, 4 April 2002.

[26] Shalom, Stephen R., ‘The Crisis in Palestine’, ZNet, 2 April 2002.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Corriere della Sera, 11 December 2001.

[29] L”Espresso, 19 December 2001.

[30] Halper, Jeff, ‘The 94 Percent Solution: A Matrix of Control’, Middle East Report, 216, Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), Fall 2000. Article can be found online at http://www.merip.org/mer/mer216/216_halper.html .

[31] ‘Insulted by Israel’, Al-Ahram Weekly, No. 579, 28 March-3 April 2002.

[32] Malley, Robert and Agha, Hussein, ‘Camp David: The Tragedy of Errors’, New York Review of Books, 9 August 2001.

[33] New York Times, 8 July 2001.

[34] Keyser, Jason, ‘Peres Says Mideast Peace Process Flawed From Outset’, Associated Press, 21 February 2002.

[35] Shalom, Stephen R. and Shalom, Alex R., ‘Turmoil in Palestine: The Basic Context’, ZNet, October 2000, http://www.zmag.org .

[36] Boston Globe, 4 November 2000.

[37] Weitz, Yossef, Journal, Tel Aviv, 1965.

[38] Porath, Yoram Bar, Yediot Aahronot, 14 July 1972.

[39] Cantarow, ’34 Years..’, op. cit.

Mr. Nafeez Ahmed is a British political analyst and human rights activist based in London. He is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development and a Researcher at the Islamic Human Rights Commission.