Arafat's dead.

anyway. I liked how Bush called it a "significant moment", way to dodge there...

That's good, because Mandela is one of the greatest human rights figures of the 20th Century. Arafat... well he isn't.

I have to admit, Arafat made some really bad decisions, but at least he had some kind of a resolve to stick it out for reasonable demands. Israel kept backtracking and changing their side of the deal to take more and more. It's pretty hard to bargain with someone who keeps changing their mind about their end of the deal. Frustrating too, I imagine.

The real shame is that his bad decisions and rather shitty techniques for going about things overshadowed the fact that the palestinians were getting screwed in the whole 'peacemaking process' because the only arbiter was the US which is so pro-israel that it makes the process kind of a joke.

Much like George W Bush and Ariel Sharon.

"Mr. Arafat was once seen as a romantic hero and praised as a statesman, but his luster and reputation faded over time. A brilliant navigator of political currents in opposition, once in power he proved more tactician than strategist, and a leader who rejected crucial opportunities to achieve his declared goal."

at least he had the will not to give in to some of the shitty proposals that were thrown at him. It just would have been nice if he'd had some kind of a better barganing chip (and the know-how to weild it) to push for what he really wanted. Instead he just kind of muddled along and never really got very far.

Sad : (

x post

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remember who the chairman of the bbc is
-- Obvans (ob...), November 11th, 2004.

wait a moment, can we backtrack - what sort of a comment is that ???

so it's now ok to use spiteful racism on ILX cos it's 'only' against Jews ?? WTFingF ?

but to trigonalmayhem: take your jew hating and shove it up your ass, fuckface.

besides, that's the attitude that perpetuates the problem. how about instead of blaming just one side, blame BOTH sides. they both have valid complaints. it's not just one sad little group of innocents being oppressed by the big bad evils. that's propaganda bullshit.

how many times can this be pointed out and still be ignored?

(x-post)

The term "Palestinian" itself had referred to Israeli Jews back in the 1940s, and had been slowly deconstructed and redefined to refer to the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. The Middle East Conflict was always a war by Arabs against Jews, not a conflict between Israelis and "Palestinians." The war was repackaged as a conflict between Jews and Palestinians as a public relations gimmick by the Arab fascist regimes. These regimes had never had any interest in "Palestinians," in creating a "Palestinian" state, or in "Palestinian nationalism" before 1967. That is because Palestinian nationalism did not and DOES NOT exist. The Palestinians were a regional group of Arabs having virtually no cultural nor national distinctive traits separating them from Syrians, Lebanese, and Jordanians.

The bulk of what are called "Palestinian Arabs" are members of families who migrated into the land of Israel beginning in the late 19th century. Palestinian nationalism is a mislabeling of Arab nationalism. Arab nationalism exists, although it is closely bound up with Islamic nationalism and even Islamism. Palestinian nationalism, however, is a phantom. It is nothing more than genocidal hatred of Jews.

The Arab assaults and aggressions against Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1968, and 1973 had nothing to do with Palestinians. The Palestinian terror campaign would itself be easy to suppress today and eradicate if the Middle East conflict were really a Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel would simply obliterate the terrorists and expel their supporters to Syria and Lebanon. The Middle East war continues because it is really an Arab-Israeli war, not an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also in large part a war between barbarism and civilization. In many ways an Islamic religious jihad against the Jews.

From 1948 to 1967, Egypt ruled Gaza, Syria ruled the Golan Heights, while Jordan ruled the West Bank. They could have set up independent Arab-Palestinian states in any or all of those territories, but they didn't even consider it. Instead, in 1967 they used the Golan Heights, Gaza and the West bank to launch a war that was unambiguously aimed at destroying Israel, which is how Israel came into possession of those territories in the first place.

Failed attempt at a war actually. Nice use of language there.

Had Israel lost this 1967 defensive war, the Arab-Palestinians and their Arab allies would have raped, butchered or driven out every Israeli they could get their hands on

Of course they would have - Arabs are animals after all, "subhuman" you might describe them as.

Somewhat before most of the current inhabitants of Israel showed up - if you want to play inane games

I guess this sentence tells us exactly how objective your take on history is.

-- Dadaismus (kcoyne3...), November 11th, 2004.

So you deny the reality of the STATED goal of the PLO and other Arabs to "drive the Israelis into the sea"????

-- Tuomas (tuomas.alh...), November 11th, 2004.

I do side with Israel because they are on the just side of this conflict. That doesn't preclude me from stating that Israel has made many mistakes, has committed its own atrocities, and that Sharon is a terrorist and butcher.

-- Dadaismus (kcoyne3...), November 11th, 2004.

You know you're wrong. That's why you won't discuss it. I never brought up the word "subhuman" (YOU did), nor do I think that of Arabs. But to deny that Arabs didn't not and do not want to destroy Israel and wipe out the Jews is as ignorant as it gets.

“If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning,” declared Mr. Charles Malik, the Lebanese Delegate to the United Nations, immediately after the UN General Assembly adopted its plan of partition. Mr. Abba Eban, the Israeli Delegate, retorted, “If you keep saying this for two thousand years we shall start believing it.”1 Jews can trace their roots in Jerusalem back to the days of Abraham. Jerusalem has been in the hearts and minds of Jews throughout the history of the Jewish nation, who physically turn towards Jerusalem when they pray.

Throughout history the Jewish people have maintained their ties to their Promised Land (according to the promise made by God to their Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), from which they had been expelled by force.

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps. For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, And our tormentors asked of us mirth: "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy. (Psalms 137, 1-6)

During the two millennia of Diaspora, Jews retained a clear, direct link to their Jewish heritage through language (Hebrew), religion (Judaism), and culture (practices common to Jews all over the world). Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel has not ceased for even a single generation after sovereignty had been lost. The return of Jews to Israel has intensified and turned into waves of immigration since 1882.

No other people have ever turned Eretz Israel into a separate, sovereign, thriving entity to which they had unique spiritual and cultural links. The Biblical curse – “I will scatter you among the nations, and keep the sword drawn against you. Your land shall remain desolate, and your cities shall be a waste” (Leviticus 26: 33) – has been vindicated. After the Jewish people lost their sovereignty over the territory of Israel in 70 CE (Christian Era), the territory was governed in turn by the Romans, Byzantines, Arab Moslems, Christian Crusaders, Mamluks and Ottomans. Contrary to current popular thought, there was no Arab “Palestinian” state prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. Jerusalem fared no better under Islam. Whereas Mecca and Medina are mentioned many times in the Qur`an, Jerusalem is not mentioned even once. When Moslems controlled the city, they never turned it into their capital. During its occupation by Jordan from 1948 to 1967, no foreign Arab leader came to pray in the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.

It was in acknowledgement of the special ties of the Jewish people to their homeland that the international community recognized Israel as the state in which the Jewish people had the right to regain their sovereignty. This right was enhanced by the further acknowledgement that Jews in the Diaspora were in constant danger of persecution and annihilation, their precarious status culminating in the Holocaust. The right of all Jews to immigrate (“return”) to Israel has been an inherent characteristic of the Jewish State, whose raison d’être is to provide a safe harbor for Jews worldwide, who wish to practice Judaism openly and undisturbed, living in a state that, inter alia, celebrates the Sabbath rather than Friday or Sunday as its day of rest, and where life is free of anti-Semitic attacks on Jews, or, if such attacks nonetheless take place, they are capable of actively defending themselves.

2.1 The Palestine Mandate of the League of Nations

In 1920, the San Remo Conference of the Allied Powers assigned to Great Britain a mandate to establish the Jewish national home on a territory covering Israel, Jordan and part of the Golan Heights. The Preamble to the Mandate specifies that “recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine.”

*

Article 2 of the Mandate made Britain responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home in Palestine;

*

Article 6 required Britain to facilitate Jewish immigration to Palestine and encourage close settlement of the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes;

*

Article 11 required Britain to introduce a land system that would promote the close settlement and intensive cultivation of the land;

*

Article 7 made Britain responsible for enacting a nationality law that would facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up their permanent residence in Palestine;

*

Shortly prior to its ratification, Article 25 was added, empowering Britain, with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, to postpone or withhold application of the Mandate provisions to the territories lying between the Jordan and the eastern boundary of Palestine.

The Palestine Mandate does not mention Arab national or political rights in the Land of Israel. It only states that the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion, must be safeguarded. The reason for that is clear, since the object and purpose of the Mandate was to reconstitute the political ties of the Jewish people to their homeland.

Arab pressure and riots in Palestine (supported by British officials favoring the establishment of a homogenous Arab empire, affiliated with Britain, in the whole of the Middle East3) brought about Churchill’s White Paper of 1922, that reiterated the right of the Jews to a Homeland in Palestine, but detached (permanently!) from Palestine all of the area east of the Jordan River (constituting almost 80% of the territory), and gave it to the Hashemi family, brought by Britain from Arabia, first as an Emirate subject to the British Mandatory and, since 1946, as an independent kingdom. The Mandate was approved by the League of Nations on July 24, 1922. During the entire period of the Palestine Mandate, the British who were entrusted with ensuring its fulfillment, in practice acted to frustrate its very purpose, wishing thereby to appease the Arab and Moslem world. They did so by limiting Jewish immigration to Israel, by restricting the sale of land to persons who were not Arabs residents of Palestine, as well as by poorly administering State lands, allowing the Arab population to seize them freely. The Palestine Citizenship Order-in-Council, 1925, contained no provision that would facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jewish immigrants, as provided in the Palestine Mandate.

Yet, blame for the poverty and frustration of the Palestinians has been put on Israel. Moreover, human rights organizations have turned a blind eye to the grave transgressions committed by the PA which has shown no respect for the basic human rights of the Arab population (e.g., total repression of criticism, public executions of people suspected of cooperation with Israel, the use of ambulances to carry explosives and suicide bombers) while making every effort to detect, and often invent, “crimes” committed by Jews.

I. B.C.
600,000 - 10,000
Paleolithic and Mesolithic period. Earliest human remains in the area (found south of the Lake of Tabariyya), date back to ca. 600,000 BC.
10,000 - 5,000
Neolithic period. Establishment of settled agricultural communities.
5,000 - 3,000
Chalcolithic period. Copper and stone tools and artifacts from this period found near Jericho, Bi'r As-Sabi' and the Dead Sea.
3,000 - 2,000
Early Bronze Age.Arrival and settlement of the Canaanites (3,000 - 2,500 BC)
ca. 1,250
Israelite conquest of Canaan.
965 - 928
King Solomon (Sulayman), construction of the temple in Jerusalem.
928
Division of the Israelite state into the kingdom of Israel and Judah.
721
Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel.
586
Judah defeated by Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, deportation of its population to Babylon and destruction of the temple.
539
Persians conquer Babylonia, allowance of deportees to return and construction of a new temple.
333
Alexander the Great conquers Persia and Palestine comes under the Greek rule.
323
Alexander the Great dies, alternate rule by Ptolemies of Egypt and Seleucids of Syria.
165
Maccabees revolt against the Seleucid ruler (Antiochus Epiphanes) and establish an independent state.
63
Incorporation of Palestine into the Roman Empire.

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

II. A.D.
70
Destruction of the second temple by the Roman Emperor Titus.
132-135
Suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Jews barred from Jerusalem and Emperor Hadrian builds a pagan city on its ruins.
330-638
Palestine under Byzantine rule, Christianity spreads.
638
Omar ibn al-Khattaab enters Jerusalem and ends the Byzantine rule.
661-750
Palestine administered by the Umayyad chaliphs from Damascus and construct the Dome of the Rock ('Abd al-Malik, 685-705) and Al-Aqsa in its current shape (al-Walid, 705-715).
750-1258
Palestine administered from Baghdad by the'Abbasid caliphs.
969
Palestine administered by the Fatimids from Egypt as rivals to Baghdad.
1071
Saljuqs (originally from Isfahan) rule Jerusalem and parts of Palestine (officially still under the 'Abbasids).
1099-1187
The Crusaders arrive and establish the "Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem".
1187
Salah al-Diin al-Ayyoubi (from Kurdistan) conquers the crusaders in the battle of Hittin, kicks them back to Europe and frees Jerusalem. Palestine administered from Cairo.
1260
The Mamluks succeed the Ayyubis, continue to administer Palestine from Cairo and kick the Mongols in the battle of 'Ayn Jaluut near An-Nasira.
1291
The Mamluks (Khalil bin Qalawuun) conquer the last crusader stronghold in Akka and Qisariya.
1516-1917
Palestine incorporated into the Ottoman state and administered from Istanbul.
1832-1840
Moh'd Ali Pasha (Egypt) rules Palestine, Ottomans take over afterwards.
1876-1877
First Palestinian deputies from Jerusalem attend the first Ottoman parliament.
1878
First Zionist settlement (Petach Tiqva) established under the guise of agricultural community.
1882-1903
First wave of Zionists (25000 strong) enters Palestine as illegal immigrants from Eastern Europe.
1882
French Baron E. de Rothschild starts backing Zionists activities in Palestine financially.
1887-1888 Ottomans divide Palestine into three districts: Jerusalem (follows Istanbul) , Akka and Nablus (follow the 'wilaya' of Beirut).
1896
Theodor Hertzl, a journalist from an Austro-Hungarian origin published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) advocating the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine or elsewhere.
1896
JCA (Jewish Colonization Association) starts aiding Zionist settlements in Palestine.
1897
First Zionist congress in Switzerland issues the Basle Program "calling for a home for the Jewish people in Palestine" and establishes the WZO (World Zionist Organization to that end.
1901
JNF (Jewish National Fund) set up by the 5th Zionist congress to acquire land (in Palestine) and 'make it Jewish'.
1904-1914
Second wave (around 40000 strong) of Zionist illegal immigrants arrive in Palestine and increase the Jewish percentage to 6% of the total population.
1909
First Zionist Kibbutz (collective farm), establishment of Tel Aviv north of Yaafa.
1914
World War I starts.
Note: what follows is translation from the Arabic version of the book.
1916
- January: Hussein-McMahon talks regarding steps leading to Arab countries/provinces' independence from the Ottoman empire.
- May: The signing of the Sykes-Picot agreement dividing Arab countries/provinces between Britain and France!
- June: Sharif Hussein declares independence from Ottoman Empire and the start of Arab revolt against Istanbul.
1917
- November: The Balfour declaration - UK foreign minister declares support towards establishing a Jewish state in Palestine.
1918
- September: British forces, led by Gen. Allenby, occupy Palestine
- October: World War I ends.
1919
- Jan-Feb: first Palestinian National Conference in Jerusalem rejects Balfour declaration and calls (with letters to the Paris peace conference) for independence.
- August: Paris peace conference sends investigation committee to the Near East. UK and France did not participate. Committee recommends modification of Balfour ideas.
1919- 1923
- Third wave of Zionist-Jewish immigrants (around 35000) raising their percentage in Palestine to 12%, with land ownership at 3%.
1920
- April: disturbances start in Palestine. Five Jewish people killed and 200 injured. UK investigates and attributes causes to broken promises and fears of new waves of immigrants.
- April: Peace conference higher council in San Rimo places Palestine under British mandate
- May: British occupation prevents the second Palestinian National Council (PNC) from convening
- July: Sir H. Samuel (British Jew) opens British civil administration in Palestine.
- December: third PNC convenes in Haifa, elects executive committee that steers Palestinian political movement till 1935
1921
- March: formation of the Haganah, Jewish underground terror organization
- May: Disturbances in Haifa protesting Zionist waves of immigration leading, among casualties, to 46 Jewish immigrants. The British investigate, found as before.
- May: Haj Amin al-Husseini appointed a mufti for Jerusalem
- May-June: fourth PNC convenes in Jerusalem, sends a mission to London to explain position
1922
- June: British minister for colonies (W. Churchill) publishes the white paper excluding East of Jordan river from the Balfour declaration and calls for organizing Zionist immigration according to economic capacity of Palestine.
- July: League of Nations approves British mandate over Palestine
- August: 5th PNC approves economic boycott of the Zionists.
- October: 1st British census in Palestine found total population to be 757182 , 78% of whom were Muslim Arabs, 9.6 Christian Arabs and 11 % Jewish (mainly new immigrants)
1923
- September: British mandate officially begins
1924-1928
4th wave of Zionist immigrants (67000) arrives (50% of whom were from Polonia). This increases Jewish percentage to 16%, with land ownership up to 4.2 % in 1928).
1925
- Vladimir Jabutinsky's Zionist party calls for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine and east of the River Jordan. Stresses the military aspects of Zionism.
- October: 6th PNC convenes in haifa
1928
- June: 7th PNC convenes in Jerusalem
1929
- August: clashes over the Western (Alburaq) Wall i Jerusalem. Clashes led to 116 killed and 232 wounded among Palestinians (mainly by British fire) and 133 dead and 339 wounded among the Jewish side.
- October: General Palestinian Conference convenes in Jerusalem to discuss the situation around the Western (Alburaq) Wall
1929-1939
5th Zionist immigration wave brings 250000 immigrants raising their percentage to 30% and their land ownership to 5.7 %.
1930
- January: League of Nations forms an international committee to investigate the legal situation over the Jerusalem Wall.
- March: the British Shaw committee releases findings in the 1929 clashes.
- October: The Hope-Simpson report on immigration finds no enough resources for Zionist waves of immigration. UK colonies' minister issues a white paper incorporating findings of Shaw and H-S.
1931
- Irgon, another Jewish terrorist organization, formed by Zionist extremists and those who split from Haganah. Led by Vladimir Jabutinsky.
- February: British PM, R MacDonald, retracts from the white paper of October 1930, in a letter to H. Weissman, the Zionist leader.
- November: 2nd British census in Palestine finds 1,035,154 people. 73% Muslim Arabs, 8.6% Christian Arabs and 16.9% Jewish (mainly immigrants).
- December: L French, UK development director, publishes a report about Palestinian Arabs who lost their land thanks to Zionist settlements.
1933
-UK foreign minister issues a report concerning the need to re-settle Palestinian farmers who were expelled from their lands in favor of Zionist immigrants
1935
- October: Zionist revisionists leave the World Zionist Organization and establish a new one aiming at "liberating" Palestine and East Jordan.
- November: Sh. Izz Eddin al-Qassam leads the first Palestinian unit resisting British policies and dies in a battle with British forces near Jenin.
1936
- April: Palestinian parties for the Arab Higher Committee headed by Haj. Amin Husseini.
- May: Palestinian National Committees conference calls for a stop of tax payment (no taxation without representation). Revolt begins.
August: Fawzi Qawikji, along with 150 volunteers enter Palestine from Lebanon to help fight against the British occupation.
November: British royal committee, headed by Lord peel, arrives in Palestine
1937
- January: Royal committee leaves Palestine
- April: The Irgon, headed by Jabutinsky, re-organizes and calls for start of raids against Palestinians
- July: Peel committee report recommends partitioning Palestine into Jewish state (33%) on best areas and one for Palestinian Arabs in addition to British protectorates including Jerusalem. Reports refers to forced transfer, if needed, of Palestinians from the 'Jewish' part.
- July: Arab Higher Committee rejects the Peel recommendations, calls for Independence of whole Palestine with protection for the rights of all and the British interests. Revolution continues.
- September: Arab National Conference convenes in Bludan Syria). Rejects partition plans, calls for an end to British mandate, Zionist immigration and transfer of land ownership.
- October: British occupation dissolves Arab Higher Committee and the rest of Palestinian political organizations. Five leaders expelled and Haj A. Husseini escapes to Lebanon.
- November: Britain forms court martials to face the Palestinian revolution.
1938
- April - August: Irgon (Jewish underground terror organization) starts offensive against the Palestinians killing 119. Palestinians resist killing 8.
- June: British officer Orde Wingate forms Special Night Units from British soldiers and Irgon terrorists to attack Palestinian villages.
- October: Britain calls reinforcements. Governors replaced by army general to face the revolution.
- October: British forces re-occupy Jerusalem from the Palestinian rebels.
- November: Woodhead technical fact finding committee declares partition plan inappropriate, calls for general conference to be attended by Palestinians, Arabs and Zionists.
1939
- February: London conference convenes
- March: London conference ends. No agreement.
- May: British House of Commons votes in favor of a white paper by minister of colonies M. MacDonald. The paper calls for: conditional independence of a Palestinian state after ten years, acceptance of 15000 Zionist immigrants a year for 5 years, then by Arab agreement. British official sources put the number of Palestinians killed in the revolt at 3500-4000 in addition to 500 Jews/Zionists.
- September 1: World War II begins.
- October: Separatists from the Zionist Irgon organization form the Stern gang headed by Abraham Stern.
1940
- February: Land ownership rules according to British 1939 white paper enforced.
1940 - 1945
- Over 60,000 Zionist/Jewish immigrants enter Palestine (over 20,000 'illegally' as determined by Britain who controlled borders). Jewish/Zionist percentage rises to 31% and land they control to 6%.
1942
- February: Abraham Stern killed by British police
- May: Baltimore conference for Zionist leaders convenes in NY, calls for "making Palestine a Jewish homeland"
1943
- November: Britain extends the five year Zionist influx to exhaust the 75,000 permits according to its 1939 white paper.
1944
- January: Zionist organizations Irgon and Stern unite against the British.
- November: Stern group assassinates Lord Moyne (British minister)
1945
May 8: World War II ends.
- September: Zionist influx resumes, protected by the Haganah (Zionist terror organization).
- November: British foreign minister, E. Bevin, releases a white paper declaring the resumption of Jewish immigration.
1946
- March: Anglo-American committee arrives in Palestine to investigate British white paper of 1945.
- May: Anglo-America committee report indicates 61, 000 - 69,000 armed members in Zionist organizations Stern, Haganah and Irgon; declares special armies illegal, recommends 100,000 more immigrants and the cancellation of land ownership regulations. Palestinians strike in protest.
- June: Arab League convenes in Bludan (Syria), approves 'secret' decisions and warns UK and US that ignoring Palestinian rights will affect their interests in the Arab world.
- July: British white paper on terrorism in Palestine accuses Haganah, Stern and Irgon of 'violence and destruction'.
- July 22: Irgon blows up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem killing 91 people (among them British, Palestinian and Jewish employees of the mandate)
- July: Anglo-American conference convenes in London, suggests a federal plan (M-G) to solve the Palestinian problem. Suggestions rejected by both Zionist and Palestinian leaders.
1947
- January: round table conference re-convenes in London.
- February: British foreign minister, E. Bevin, suggests an amendment to the M-G plan and presents it to London conference. Plan rejected by Arab representatives and Jewish Agency.
- February 18: Bevin announces he'll take the problem of Palestine to the United Nations
- April 28 - May 15: UN General Assembly convenes the Palestine session, forms the 11-member UNSCOP committee
- September 8: UNSCOP report published. Majority of its members suggest partition, minority suggest federal solution.
- September 16-19: Arab League denounces partition, forms a committee to help in Palestinian defense needs
- September 26: Arthur Jones, British minister for colonies, announces Britain's decision to end its mandate over Palestine
- September 29: Arab Higher Committee rejects the partition plan.
- October 2: the Jewish Agency accepts the partition plan.
- October 7 - 15: Arab League convenes in Lebanon, warns of Zionist danger after Mandate and allocates a million Sterling Pounds for Palestine
- October 29: Britain announces departure in 6 months if no solution achieved
- November 27: Arab League Committee head report warns of inability of Palestinians to face the Zionist armies without help and organization.
- November 29: UN general Assembly votes on an amended partition plan calling for a 56.5 % of Palestine for a Jewish state, 43 % for a Palestinian one and internationalization of Jerusalem. Votes were 33 for, 13 against, 10 abstinations. Arab representatives left the meeting.
- November 30: The Haganah calls for Jews aged 17 to 25 to enlist for military service
- December: Arab League establishes the "Arab Salvation Army" from Arab non-regular volunteers, headed by Fawzi Qawikji.
- December 2: Palestinians declare a 3-day strike protesting partition. Disturbances result in killing of 6 Palestinians and 8 Zionists/Jews.
- December 8: Britain presents a recommendation to the UN calling for an end of its mandate on Palestine, immediate formation of a Jewish state and a Palestinian state two weeks after.
- December 8 - 17: Arab League political committee declares partition illegal and decides to supply the League Palestine Committee with rifles and volunteers
- December 15: Britain announces it will hand the admin of Tel Aviv/Petah Tikva to the Jews and Yafa to the Palestinians
- December 17: Jewish Agency executive body announces that American Jews should pay 250 million US$ to help the Zionists in Palestine
- December 21 - March 1948: Zionist organizations Irgon and Haganah start coastal ethnic cleansing of Palestinian villages
- December - January 1948: Arab Higher Committee forms local committees to defend Palestinian villages, towns and localities against Zionist cleansing.
1948
- January: AbdulQadir al-Husseini returns to Palestine from exile and becomes active in resisting the partition
- January 8 - 10: Arab Salvation Army's first unit of 330 fighters arrives in Palestine, meets resistance from both Britain and Zionist organizations
- January 14: The Haganah stockpiles on arms, mainly imported from Czechoslovakia, including artillery, machine guns, ammunition and 25 planes.
- January 16: British report to the UN estimates 1974 killed during the period November 30, 1947 and January 10, 1948
- January 20: Britain says it'll hand over administration according to local majority in each area
- January 21 - 28: an extra 760 volunteers arrive to join Arab Salvation Army (ASA)
- January - March: Jewish National Fund encourages the expulsion of Arabs from Haifa. The Haganah attacks Palestinians near al-Hula lake (north of Tabariyya) and the Palmach (another Zionist armed group) attacks bedouins in An-Naqab.
- February 16: ASA loses near Bisan.
- February 18: The Haganah calls men and women aged 25 - 35 to enlist in 'military service'.
- February 24: UN discusses the situation
- March: East Jordan government head meets UK's Bevin and both agree that East Jordan government forces enter areas allocated to Palestinians (according to partition plan) after the end of Mandate
- March 5 - 7: Qawikji assumes leadership of ASA units in the Jenin-Nablus-Tulkarm triangle 9areas assigned to an Arab state according to partition plan)
- March 6: the Haganah announces general mobilization
- March 10: British House of Commons votes on ending the mandate on May 15. The Haganah drafts "Plan Dalet" (Dalet is Hebrew for D) for military operations in Palestine.
- March 18: American president, Truman, receives Chaim Weizman and promises to support the declaration of the Jewish State on May 15.
- March 19 - 20: USA representative in the Security Council asks it to suspend the partition plan and calls for a General Assembly session to discuss a trusteeship on Palestine. Arabs accepted a limited one with a truce conditioned by Jewish acceptance. The Jewish Agency rejected.
- March 25: Truman calls for an immediate truce, announces willingness to participate in temporary trusteeship
- March 30 - May 15: 2nd coastal cleansing operation by the Haganah against Palestinians between Haifa and Yafa.
- April 1: First arms shipment to Jewish organizations lands in Haifa, more in air cargo. Security Council calls for a General Assembly session according to US suggestion.
- April 4: The Haganah starts executing "Plan Dalet (D)".
- April 4 - 15: Battle of Mishmar Ha 'Emeq. Haganah wins and Palmach occupies villages in the plains of marj bin Aamer
- April 6 - 15: Operation Nachshon (first part of Dalet Plan). Villages and towns on the Jerusalem - Tel Aviv road fell to Haganah.
- April 8: Abdur Qadir Husseini dies in counter offensive to restore al-Qastal (near Jerusalem)
- April 9: Deir Yassin massacre. Irgon and Stern terrorists kill 250 civilians in this village in Jerusalem district
- April 12: General Zionist Council decides to establish an independent state in Palestine on May 16.
- April 20: Operation Hariel of Plan Dalet. Palestinian villages on Jerusalem road targeted and destroyed. Continues till May 15.
- April 15 - May 25: Operation Yiftah captures Safad and uses psychological war to expel Palestinians. Operation Sweeper drives bedouins to Jordan River.
- April 16 - 17: Golani and Palmach units occupy Tabariyya (Tiberias) after British forces leave. Palestinian residents leave.
- April 17: Security Council calls for a military and political truce
- April 20: USA brings its trusteeship proposal to the UN
- April 21: Operation Misparim. British forces leave Haifa, Haganah launches offensive.
- April 22: Local defenders in Haifa lose. Residents leave due to heavy shelling and round offensive.
- April 25: Irgon attacks yafa.
- April 26 - 30: Haganah launches Operation Yabusi on and around Jerusalem and occupies areas there.
- April 27 - May 5: Irgon and Haganah intensifies shelling and ground offensive on Yafa (Operation Hamets) leading to expulsion of 50000
- April 30: Haganah captures all areas of West Jerusalem and expels Palestinians
- May 3: Reports say Zionist attacks left about 175,000 - 200,000 Palestinian refugees
- May 8 - 16: Haganah launches Operation Maccabi capturing villages on the Ramle-LaTrun road
- May 9 - June 1: Operation Barak. Haganah attacks around Ramle
- May 10 - 15: Golani brigade captures Bisan and launches attacks in area
- May 12 - 14: Zionist forces receive more arms shipments arrive from Czechoslovakia
- May 13: ASA and local fighters attack Gush Etsion and captures it in return of Zionists attack on the Hebron road. Yafa surrenders to the Haganah.
- May 13 - 21: Operation Ben Ami. Carmeli brigade captures Akka 9Acre) and coastal areas north of the city
- May 14: Haganah launches offensive on Jerusalem after British forces leave. Some residential areas captured in old city. An Israeli state was declared in Tel Aviv at 4 pm. USA president Truman recognizes the state
- May 15: British mandate ends. Israeli state declaration takes effect.
- May 15 - 17: Lebanese soldiers enter north border, restore 2 villages.
- May 15 - 28: Arab Army (East Jordan) crosses the river and takes positions in Jerusalem, captures areas from the Haganah
- May 15 - June 4: Iraqi units enter Palestine and take position in Jenin-Nablus-Tulkarm triangle. Haganah launches offensive, expel residents of villages on the Jenin road and even occupying Jenin but kicked out on June 3 -4 .
- May 15 - June 7: Egyptian units cross the border and reach Isdod (coastal town). Some volunteers connect with Jordanian units near Bethlehem.
- May 16 - 30: Operation Ben Nun. Zionists fail to capture Latrun to open Jerusalem - Yafa road, but capture neighboring villages
- May 16 - June 10: Syrian units enter from north. Restores a few villages together with Lebanese soldiers
- May 20: Security Council appoints Bernadotte its intermediary in Palestine
- May 22: Security Council issues a resolution calling for a ceasefire
- June 9 - 10: Operation Yuram fails to capture Latrun
- June 11 - July 8: First truce.
- June 28 - 29: Bernadotte suggests a solution between East Jordan and Palestine leading to Arab and Jewish states and allocates each party's share. Both parties rejected it.
- July 7: Security Council calls for an extension of the truce
- July 7 - 18: Operation Dani. Lod and Ramle fall, residents leave. Villages on the Yafa-Jerusalem road fall and a major offensive on Latrun ends with second truce taking effect.
- July 8 - 14: Operations An-Far and Dekel end in capture of areas near Ramle as well as Naasira and al-Jalil al-Asfal (Lower Galilee)
- July 9 - 18: Israeli army fails to restore a settlement from the Syrians
- July 15: Security Council calls concerned governments and authorities to issue a ceasefire and implement it in 3 weeks.
- July 17: Israeli Operation Kedem fails to capture old Jerusalem.
- July 18 - October 15: second truce
- July 24 - 26: Operation Shuteir. Israeli forces attack and capture 3 villages south of Haifa.
- August 16 - early October: expulsion of bedouins from an-Naqab by Negev and Yiftah brigades
- July 24 - 28: Operation Nikayon (cleansing): occupation of areas north of Isdod
- September 16: Bernadotte suggests a new partition of Palestine. An Arab state to join east Jordan (contains An-Naqab, Lod, Ramle), Jewish state in Galilee (al-Jalil), internationalization of Jerusalem, return of refugees or compensation. Arab league and 'Israel' reject.
- September 17: Zionist group, Stern, assassinates Bernadotte.
- October 15 - November 9: Operations Yuav and Hahar. Occupation of Bi'r as-Sabi', Majdal, Isdod, coastal areas and villages near Hebron.
- October 29 - 31: Operation Hiram. Capture of Jalil al-A'ala (Upper Galilee) and advance toward Litani river in Lebanon
- November 4: security Council resolution calls for withdrawal to the prior October 14 positions and establishment of permanent truce lines
- November - Mid 1949: Israeli forces expel villagers from a stretch 5 - 15 Km deep in Lebanon as well as residents of al-Jalil.
- December 22 - January 6, 1949: Operation Horef against Egyptian forces. Occupation of many towns and villages, advancement into Sinai followed by withdrawal and ceasefire on December 7 with forces on the outskirts of Rafah
- December 27: an attack on Egyptian forces fail.
1949
- February 24: Israeli-Egyptian truce. Egyptian forces leave Faluje and keeps gaza-Rafah strip.
- February (end): Israeli army expels Faluje residents in violation of truce.
- March: Israeli forces complete occupation of An-Naqab and reach Aqaba.
- March 23: Israeli-Lebanese truce. Israeli forces withdraw from most Lebanese areas.
- April 3: Israeli-Jordanian truce. Jordan keeps Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm but leaves Wadi Ara. Both accept status quo in Jerusalem.
- July 20: Israeli-Syrian truce. Demilitarized area between them.
Events that follow are taken from the PASSIA diary:
1949
UN Conciliation Commission for Palestine established; UNRWA founded; UN General Assembly resolution 303; 4th Geneva Convention.
1950
Israeli law of return and absentee property law; Jordan unified East Bank and what remains of West Bank (or the River Jordan)
1951
King Abdullah I assassinated in Jerusalem
1955
Israeli army attack and massacre in Gaza
1956
Israeli massacres in Qalqilya, kafr Qaasim and Khan Yunis; tripartite invasion (British, French, Israeli) of Egypt and the Suez crisis
1957
Israeli withdrawal from Sinai (Egyptian) and Gaza
1959
Fateh founded
1963
PLO draft constitution issued at Arab summit in Cairo
1964
PLO founded
1965
Israelis divert the Jordan River; Fateh carries first military operation in Palestine
1966
Israeli massacre in As-Sammu' village
1967
The six-day (June) war; occupation of the rest of Palestine; UN resolution 242; Arab league summit in Khartoum (Sudan)
1968
PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) founded; the Karamah battle; PNC (Palestinian National Charter) amended
1969
DFLP (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine) founded; Israeli arson attack on Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem; Arafat became PLO chairman
1970
Black September events in Jordan
1972
King Hussein's UAK (United Arab Kingdom) plan
1973
October War (Yom kippur); UN resolution 338; Geneva conference; Palestinian National Salvation Front founded
1974
Rejectionist Front formed; UN and Arab League recognize PLO as sole legitimate representative of the Palestinians; Arafat addresses the UN
1975
PLO granted access to the UNSC; UN General Assembly resolution 3379 (Zionism is a form of racism)
1976
Land Day; West Bank municipal elections (under Israeli occupation)
1977
Begin's (Israeli PM) autonomy plan
1978
National Guidance Committee formed, Israeli invasion of South Lebanon; Camp David Accords (Israeli-Egyptian)
1979
Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty; Int'l Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People declared; UN res. 446, 452 (againstIsraeli settlement policy)
1980
EC's Venice Declaration; Israeli Basic Law on Jerusalem (annexation)
1981
King Fahd plan
1982
Fez, Reagan and Brezhnev plans; Israeli invasion of Lebanon; Sabra and Shatila massacre (Sharon and co.); Palestinian Communist Party founded
1983
Geneva International Conference
1986
War of the camps in Lebanon
1987
The first Intifada
1988
Jordan's disengagement declaration; Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) founded; Shultz peace plan; Palestinian Declaration of Independence
1990
Massacres at Iyun Qarah (Rishon LeZion) and Al-Aqsa Mosque
1991
Gulf War; Madrid Conference
1992
Multilateral talks; Israeli Labor Party wins elections
1993
Closure policies begin; Declaration of Principles (Arafat-Rabin-Clinton)
1994
Hebron massacre; Oslo I agreement; PA established
1995
Oslo II agreement; Y. Rabin assassinated by an Israeli.
1996
Palestinian Elections; PLC (Palestinian Legislative Council) formed; Netanyahu (Israeli Likud) comes to power
1997
Hebron agreement; Sh. A Yassin released (in a deal over failed Israeli operation in Jordan)
1998
Wye River memorandum
1999
Sharm el-Sheikh agreement (Wye II or Wye+); end of interim phase (according to Oslo I)
2000
More failed talks over land, Jerusalem and refugees; Sharon's visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and second Intifada

1895 - 1917

1895

The total population of Palestine was 500,000 of whom 47,000 were Jews who owned 0.5% of the land.

1896

Following the appearance of anti-Semitism in Europe, Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism tried to find a political solution for the problem in his book, 'The Jewish State'. He advocated the creation of a Jewish state in Argentina or Palestine.

1897

The first Zionist Congress was held in Switzerland, which issued the Basle programme on the colonization of Palestine and the establishment of the World Zionist Organization (WZO).

1904

Fourth Zionist Congress decided to establish a national home for Jews in Argentina.

1906

The Zionist congress decided the Jewish homeland should be Palestine.

1914

With the outbreak of World War I, Britain promised the independence of Arab lands under Ottoman rule, including Palestine, in return for Arab support against Turkey which had entered the war on the side of Germany.

1916

Britain and France signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Arab region into zones of influence. Lebanon and Syria were assigned to France, Jordan and Iraq to Britain and Palestine was to be internationalized.

1917

Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary sent a letter to the Zionist leader Lord Rothschild which later became known as "The Balfour declaration". He stated that Britain would use its best endeavors to facilitate the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. At that time the population of Palestine was 700,000 of which 574,000 were Muslims, 74,000 were Christian, and 56,000 were Jews.

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

1919 - 1967

1919

The Palestinians convened their first National Conference and expressed their opposition to the Balfour Declaration.

1920

The San Remo Conference granted Britain a mandate over Palestine and two years later Palestine was effectively under British administration, and Sir Herbert Samuel, a declared Zionist, was sent as Britain's first High Commissioner to Palestine.

1922

The Council of the League of Nations issued a Mandate for Palestine. The Mandate was in favor of the establishment for the Jewish people a homeland in Palestine.

1936

The Palestinians held a six-month General Strike to protest against the confiscation of land and Jewish immigration.

1939

The British government published a new White Paper restricting Jewish immigration and offering independence for Palestine within ten years. This was rejected by the Zionists, who then organized terrorist groups and launched a bloody campaign against the British and the Palestinians. The aim was to drive them both out of Palestine and to pave the way for the establishment of the Zionist state.

1947

The United Nations approved the partition under which the Palestinian Arabs, who accounted for 70% of the population and owned 92% of the land, were allocated 47% of the country. (UN resolution 181)

1948

British forces withdrew from Palestine in May and the Zionists proclaimed the state of Israel without defining its borders. Arab armies moved to defend the Palestinians.

1949

A cease fire was finally agreed. The Zionists controlled 77% of Palestinian land and over 1 million Palestinians were forced to leave their country. The West Bank was put under Jordanian control and the Gaza Strip under Egyptian control.

1964

The Palestine Liberation Organization was established.

1965

The Palestine 'Revolution' began on 1 January.

1967

Israel launched a new war against the Arabs and seized the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai peninsula.

1973 - 1988

1973

The October War between Israel and the Arab states broke out.

1974

The Arab Summit in Rabat recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. At the United Nations General Assembly, the UN reaffirmed its commitment to an independent sovereign state in Palestine and gave the PLO observer status at the United Nations. Yasser Arafat, chairman of the PLO, addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations.

1978

Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Agreement under the auspices of the United States.

1982

Israel invaded Lebanon with the aim of destroying the PLO. Tens of thousands were killed and made homeless in the wake of the invasion which culminated in the massacres of Sabra and Shatilla.

1983

The United Nations called for the convening of a Peace Conference with the participation of the PLO on an equal footing with the other delegates as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

1987

The 18th Session of the Palestine National Council (PNC) supported the convening of a UN- sponsored conference. In December the Intifada-the Palestine Uprising - in the Occupied Territories began.

1988

Abu Jihad, Palestinian leader, was gunned down in his home in Tunis on 14April by the Israeli Mossad.

July 31

Jordanian disengagement - King Hussein of Jordan said he no longer considered the West Bank as part of his kingdom.

November 15

The PNC meeting in Algiers declared the State of Palestine as outlined in the UN Partition Plan 181.

December 9

British Junior Foreign Minister William Waldegrave met with Bassam Abu Sharif President Arafat's adviser, thus upgrading Britain's relations with the PLO.

Following the US government refusing President Arafat a visa to enter the US, the UN General Assembly held a special session on the question of Palestine in Geneva.

US/PLO dialogue began

1989 - 1996

1989

June 28: EEC Madrid Conference issued a new declaration calling for the PLO to be involved in any peace negotiations.

August 3: Fateh, the mainstream PLO organization, at their 5th Conference endorsed the PLO strategy adopted at the PNC in Algiers in November 1988.

1990

May 20: Seven Palestinian workers from Gaza were massacred by an Israeli gunman near Tel Aviv.

Yasser Arafat addressed the UN Security Council In Geneva after the massacre in which he called for the deployment of a UN emergency force to provide international protection for the Palestinian people to safeguard their lives, properties and holy places.

The US vetoed a motion which called for the Security Council to send a fact finding mission to the area. At the end of their hunger strike, Palestinian leaders in the Occupied Territories decided to boycott the US.

The Arab Summit in Baghdad pledged support fort he Palestinian Intifada and strongly denounced the settlement of Soviet Jews with in the Occupied Territories.

June 20: The US suspended its dialogue with the PLO after the PLO refused to denounce a military operation in the sea by the PLF.

June 26: The EEC in Dublin issued a new declaration on the Middle East which condemned Israeli human rights violations and the settlement of Soviet Jews in the Occupied Territories. It also doubled its economic aid programme to the Occupied Territories.

August 2: The Gulf Crisis erupted.

December 20: UN Security Council adopted Resolution 681.

1991

January 16: War in the Gulf started.

February 17: Cease fire agreed in War in the Gulf. - 23 September: The PNC met in Algiers and paved the way for the Palestinian delegation to participate in the Middle East Peace Conference.

October 30: The Middle East Peace Conference convened in Madrid.

December 3: The bi-lateral talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians and Lebanese started in Washington.

1992

June 23: Israeli Labor Party won the election in Israel and formed a Labor coalition government.

August 24: The sixth round of the bi-lateral talks ,W.

1993

September 9-10: PLO Israeli recognition

September 13: Palestinian-Israeli Declaration of Principle

1994

May 4: Gaza strip and Jericho Agreement in Cairo

August 29: Transfer of the power Agreement.

1995

September 28: Palestinian Israeli Interim Agreement signed in Washington.

1996

January: Election in Palestine

Israeli soldiers re deployed from major cities in the West Bank, yet Hebron is still controlled by the Israeli soldiers

1997

January: Agreement of the redeployment from Hebron

February: Release of the women prisoners.

March: The construction of the new Israeli settlement of Jabal Abu Ghneim (Har Homa) started.

March: Cease of the peace talks because of the continuous of the settlements policy of the Netanyahu Government.

-- Dadaismus (kcoyne3...), November 11th, 2004.

You're blinded by your rage. Not EVERY Arab is a barbarian, nor did I say that. The suicide bombers and their supporters/facilitators and people wishing for the destruction of Israel are barbarians.

But I guess it's easier for you just to say "racist scumbag" since you can't back up your position. So go fuck yourself, I'm not interested in your low-intelligence ranting.

(to the tune of "Son of My Father" by Chicory Tip)

The war *is* between barbarism and civilisation, but barbarism=one-sided, blinkered, thoughtlessly regurgitated argument and civilisation=accommodating the views and understanding the perceived injustices of both sides. How the hell is there going to be peace if you just spout a list of events stretching back thousands of years which at its heart relies on "well, god gave us the land so screw you".

I mean, if those bombers were going into Nate 'n Al's in Beverly Hills or into Starbucks and blowing up your mother or wife or your children - you would be after Arafat. Then he'd turn right around on Al-Jazeera and he'd say, 'The suicide bombers are with Allah, and they are heroes; Drive the Israelis and the Jews into the ocean; Kill every Jew; Let's get back all of Israel.' He would say that the Americans are the bullies of the world, they support Israel. And then in his [Ramallah] compound over there, when there's a mile of evidence as high as the Empire State Building that he has been a murderer and a terrorist - he's harboring two guys in there, in that room with him, who killed an Israeli [Minister], and they should be turned over the Israelis to be tried. He's a thug, a thug and a coward."

-- beanz (beanzil...), November 11th, 2004.

Because as much as I think Israel has done many awful things to the Palestinians, and Ariel Sharon should be tried as a murderer, the Palestinians have no legitimate right to the land they want, and for the onus to be on Israel to give in to all their demands in exchange for peace is entirely unfair. That said, Israel still needs to make concessions in order to try for peace, and then if the Palestinians get their state and continue to attack Israel as per their stated goal of taking over that whole region, then Israel should nuke their dumb hateful barbaric asses.

I know what he used to say on local tv. I didn't say he was a good man. I agree with that. But that's irrelevant - you don't seem to mind that the Arab population of the region was displaced (and, yes, treated terribly by surrounding Arab states) or left to rot in villages with no infrastructure within Israel. If you drive along the motorways in Israel you can spot instantly if a village is Arab - the people are trying to wash in buckets in the street and it looks like nothing has been repaired since the 19th century.

And the whole settlement building thing is outrageous too - the only defence people make for that is that "it's our land, god told us". Or: "well they're barbaric types and look, the Israelis have irrigated the place which proves how crap Arabs are at governing their own affairs". If you've got a good reason for the continued occupation (I don't mean the initial push, let's set that aside for now) I want to hear it.

xxpost

-- Dadaismus (kcoyne3...), November 11th, 2004.

That's all you've got - you're a mental midget. You've got no rational argument of your own. I'm not hateful and barbaric for calling out the true hateful and barbaric people -- the ones who want to destroy Israel and the Jews.

Bottom line, Dadaismus, you're a moron. If you're not going to educate yourself and figure shit the fuck out, then put a bullet in your head and save yourself and the rest of us a lot of trouble.

Israel is not a foreign occupying power in Yesha, and therefore there is no rule in international law to prevent Israel from establishing civilian Jewish towns and villages on state lands. The initiative to establish the settlements may be taken either by the state or by private persons. Insofar as private property is concerned, Israel is entitled to expropriate such land (against consideration) for a range of public purposes, according to the standards existing in democratic states (including “tiny” Israel – that is, pre-1967 Israel within the “Green Line” – itself).

The Interim Agreement of September 28, 1995, entered between Israel and the PLO for a period of five years from the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of May 4, 1994, provides that Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip (including state lands) will be handed over to the Palestinian Authority in stages (Art. 16 of Annex III – Protocol Concerning Civil Affairs – of the Interim Agreement). Therefore, in areas handed over to the Palestinian Authority, its authority extended also to state lands for an interim period of five years.

But the Interim Agreement does not apply at all to those issues which will be discussed during the final status negotiations, including the issues of Jerusalem and the Jewish settlement in Yesha (Art. XXXI(5) of the Interim Agreement). Moreover, the Interim Agreement provides that the parties agree that the results of the final status negotiations will not be influenced and not be adversely affected by the interim arrangements, and the parties will not be deemed to have waived any of the rights, claims and positions that they allege, as a result of their entering the Interim Agreement (Art. XXXI(6)). The Interim Period is over by now. Truly, Article XXXI(7) provides that the parties are prohibited from initiating activities that will change the status of Yesha prior to the final status arrangements. However, had this provision been capable of preventing the establishment of new Jewish settlements, it would have rendered Article XXXI(6) devoid of meaning and therefore redundant. The Palestinian Authority has not applied such an interpretation to its own acts, since that would have prevented the Arab population, too, from building in the land handed over to the PA under the Interim Agreement. In any case, the Interim Period has elapsed and this provision is not valid any longer.

In conclusion, the Interim Agreement does not restrict the Jewish settlement of Yesha. The existing settlements may be expanded, and new settlements may be established.

The Jewish people’s historical right to Eretz Israel had been recognized by the international community and upheld by the rule of public international law. Israel is not obliged to support the creation of an Arab state west of the Jordan River alongside Israel. The Oslo Agreements were made with a view to enhance “a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”. Yet, since their coming into effect, the Middle East has witnessed, not peace, but violence of the worst kind in recent history. The establishment of the Palestinian Authority should serve as a “guide to the bewildered” of the grave risks posed by such an Arab state, which may eventually lead to the destruction of the Jewish state.

Under public international law, Israel is entitled to diligently encourage and promote close Jewish settlement of Eretz Israel, thereby realizing the principles set out by the League of Nations in the original Mandate document.

That said, I fully support dismantling the settlements and giving the Palestinians the deal Barak offered them in 2000 for permanent peace. It's worth Israel taking the risk, with all parties involved knowing that if the Palestinians violate that agreement and pursue their stated goal of wiping Israel out, Israel has the right to fucking level them.

-- beanz (beanzil...), November 11th, 2004.

Be sure to direct the same admonishment at Dadaismus.

Oh no no, please carry on, it's highly amusing.

2. Dadaismus, you should stop abusing good.

3. Where's my Nobel Prize?

4. xpost.

-- Dadaismus (kcoyne3...), November 11th, 2004.

Dadaismus is a first-class idiot. He has no rational argument to back up his position, he just likes to fight for fightings sake, and apparently likes to get his ass kicked. His defense mechanism is to act smarmy to cover up his intellectual shortcomings, but that attempt is all too transparent. Anyways, I've made my point and obviously Mr. Dumbdaismus is too dense to do anything but throw imbecilic 5-word sentences around. So I'm done with this assclown. Have a good day, gents. Except for you, Dadaismus -- I hope you get hit by a bus.

actually i imagined it more in the voice of Holly in Red Dwarf when he was trying to Lister that everybody's dead.

Arafat was nothing but bad for his own people and for their neighbors. Yes, the Palestinians have had a rough time of it, but don't just blame Israel for that; look toward the guy at the top of the PA who was stealing from his own people while filling them with murderous dreams of jihadist glory. When Barak offered him a Palestinian state - complete with a capital in Jerusalem - and it didn't meet his specs, he didn't negotiate. Rather, he responded by sending bombers to kill Jewish civilians in pizza parlors, Passover seder tables and buses. That's not what a statesman or a politician does.

I'd like to hope that with Arafat gone, the ordinary citizens of the Middle East really can see peace. But I'm pessimistic enough to think that he's poisoned the well for generations to come.

whew, i've just been away for an hour.

Dadaismus and Good, you're as bad as the protagonists in terms of fruitless arguing - one of you is full of knowledgeable righteous indignation but doesn't want to listen, the other has nothing to offer beyond insults which seem to me to have an agenda behind them.

(it could have been about Emile Heskey though as well)

dave lister: haven't we just gone in?

dave lister: what's up with everybody, Hol?

holly: They're all evil, dave

dave lister: who is?

holly: Everybody, dave.

dave lister: What, Ariel Sharon?

holly: everybody's evil, dave.

dave lister: what about arafat?

holly: yes, arafat's evil, dave

dave lister: what? benjamin netanyahu?!?!

holly: Yes, benjamin netanyahu's evil, everyone's evil, dave

dave lister: no!! not geroge dubya bush!

holly: Gordon Bennett! Yes! Dubya, everybody. Everybody's evil, Dave. He's evil, everybody's evil. Everybody is evil, Dave!

dave lister: wait, are you trying to tell me everybody's evil?

Or is that just another lie that the Bush administration used to justify the Iraq war that's been blown out of the water and hastily forgotten?

actually, look at the country which stole their land and water resources and forced many thousands of them into exile.

When Barak offered him a Palestinian state - complete with a capital in Jerusalem - and it didn't meet his specs, he didn't negotiate.

christ, this Camp David thing again... where Barak & Clinton offer Arafat a mickey mouse country broken up into bantustans by apartheid roads for Israeli settlers, with purely notional sovereignty over Jerusalem and little or no guarantees of having real external borders and control over water resources... and then they are surprised when Arafat doesn't roll over and accept it.

...you mean, as opposed to the PLO/PA-favoured solution where (and don't kid yourself this is not still the case as suggested some posts above, o naif-like children) Israel is bludgeoned into oblivion.

You all know that both sides will claim the land is theirs and find a seemingly cast-iron reason for doing so. So for fuck's sake, why not just sod the history lessons altogether and, as George in Blackadder said, get all the big nobs around the table to thrash it out. Or is that too hard ?

All lies, which is no surprise considering the messenger ...
for instance, read here.

...you mean, as opposed to the PLO/PA-favoured solution where Israel is bludgeoned into oblivion.
Despite this, the PLO repeatedly refused to amend the part of their charter which calls for the destruction of Israel. It was supposed to be changed after Oslo, but it never was. So yes, Darren is right -- "bludgeoning Israel into oblivion" has technically never been removed from the PLO agenda.

Arafat's death has resulted in some surprisingly informative TV ... to name but one example of what I will call "the truth emerging" -- during the funeral, CNN correspondents actually acknowledged that other Arab nations have been abusing the Palestinians for decades, shunting their rights and needs aside in favour of a continuing war with Israel -- true of course, but nothing I've ever seen admitted on TV before.

I know Barry has strong feelings on this subject, but it really does no-one any good if he cites biased sites as evidence, as I (and I suspect others) can't accept what sites affiliated with or explicitly and unconditionaly pro, Israel claim happened at the peace talks.

If it wasn't obvious before, it's been obvious in the last few days -- I haven't seen a single media outlet, on any side of the political spectrum, say that Arafat didn't blow it at Camp David. The evidence has been weighed, and just about everybody other than the Palestinian delegation is in agreement over what happened. It's not "bias" to disagree with whatever that delegation wants to peddle.