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Resist Newsletter, Jan. 2001

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Recommended Citation Resist, "Resist Newsletter, Jan. 2001" (2001). Resist Newsletters. 329. https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/resistnewsletter/329 Inside: Stuggles in the Middle East

ISSN0897-2613 •Vol.10#1 A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority January 2001 AnalyzingtheAI-Aqsalntifada

NOAM CHOMSKY

fter three weeks of virtual war in he Israeli occupied territories, rime Minister Ehud Barak an­ nounced in late October a new plan to de­ termine the final status of the region. Dur­ ing these weeks, over 100 Palestinians were killed, including 30 children, often by "excessive use oflethal force in circum­ stances in which neither the lives of the security forces nor others were in immi­ nent danger resulting in unlawful killings," Amnesty International concluded in a de­ tailed report that was scarcely mentioned in the US. The ratio of Palestinian to Is­ raeli dead was then about 15-1, reflecting the resources of force available. Barak's plan was not given in detail, but the outlines are familiar: they conform to Palestinian youths shout over the Temple Mount wall. Photo by Nir Kafri, Impact Visuals the "final status map" presented by the US­ Israel as the basis for the Camp David ne­ to include Nablus and other Palestinian cit­ US aid, with increasing energy since the gotiations that collapsed in July. This plan, ies, a central canton is based in Ramallah, US was able to implement its version of extending US-Israeli rejectionist propos­ and a southern canton in Bethlehem; Jeri­ the "peace process" after the Gulf War. als of earlier years, called for cantonization cho is to remain isolated. Palestinians of the territories that Israel had conquered would be effectively cut off from Jerusa­ Tension and Violence Mount in 1967, with mechanisms to ensure that lem, the center of Palestinian life. Similar The goal of the negotiations was to se­ usable land and resources (primarily wa­ arrangements are likely in Gaza, with Is­ cure official PA adherence to this project. ·ter) remain largely in Israeli hands while rael keeping the southern coastal region Two months after they collapsed, the cur­ the population is administered by a cor- and a small settlement at Netzarim (the site rent phase of violence began. Tensions, al­ rupt and brutal Palestinian Authority (PA), of many of the recent atrocities), which is ways high, were raised when the Barak playing the role traditionally assigned to hardly more than an excuse for a large mili­ government authorized a visit by Ariel indigenous collaborators under the several tary presence and roads splitting the Strip Sharon with 1000 police to the Muslim re­ varieties of imperial rule: the Black lead­ below Gaza City. ligious sites (Al-Aqsa) on Thursday, Sep­ ership of South Africa's Bantustans, to These proposals formalize the vast settle­ tember 28. Sharon is the very symbol of mention only the most obvious analogue. ment and construction programs that Israel Israeli state terror and aggression, with a In the West Bank, a northern canton is has been conducting, thanks to munificent continued on page two

Vol. 10, #1 RESIST Newsletter Page 1 Analyzing the AI-Aqsa Intifada

continued from page one by the importation of an essential commod­ rich record of atrocities going back to 1953. ity to replace the cheap and exploited Pal­ Sharon's announced purpose was to estinian labor on which much ofthe economy demonstrate "Jewish sovereignty" over the relies: hundreds of thousands of illegal im­ Al-Aqsa compound, but as the veteran cor­ migrants from around the world, many of respondent Graham Usher points out, the them victims of the "neoliberal reforms" of "Al-Aqsa intifada," as Palestinians call it, the recent years of "globalization." Surviv­ was not initiated by Sharon's visit; rather, ing in misery and without rights, they are by the massive and intimidating police and regularly described as a virtual slave labor military presence that Barak introduced the force in the Israeli press. The current Barak following day, the day of prayers. Predict­ proposal is to extend this program, reduc­ ably, that led to clashes as thousands of ing still further the prospects even for mere people streamed out of the mosque, leav­ survival for the Palestinians. ing seven Palestinians dead and 200 A major barrier to the program is the wounded. Whatever Barak's purpose, there opposition of the Israeli business commu­ could hardly have been a more efficient nity, which relies on a captive Palestinian way to set the stage for the shocking atroci­ market for some $2.5 billion in annual ex­ ties of the following weeks. ports, and has "forged links with Palestin­ The same can be said about the failed ian security officials" and Arafat's "eco­ negotiations, which focused on Jerusalem, nomic adviser, enabling them to carve out a condition observed strictly by US com­ monopolies with official PA consent" (Fi­ mentary. Possibly Israeli sociologist Baruch nancial Times, October 22; also New York Kimmerling was exaggerating when he Young palestinian uses a slingshot next Times, same day). They have also hoped wrote that a solution to this problem "could to the Temple Mount gate. Photo by Nir to set up industrial zones in the territories, have been reached in five minutes," but he Kafri, Impact Visuals transferring pollution and exploiting a is right to say that "by any diplomatic logic 242), then pursued its unilateral rejection cheap labor force in maquiladora-style in­ [it] should have been the easiest issue to of Palestinian rights in the years that fol­ stallations owned by Israeli enterprises and solve (Ha 'aretz, October 4, 2000). It is un­ lowed, culminating in the "Oslo process." continued on page three derstandable that Clinton-Barak should Since all of this has been effectively ve­ want to suppress what they are doing in the toed from history in the US, it takes a little occupied territories, which is far more im­ work to discover the essential facts. They portant. Why did Arafat agree? Perhaps be­ are not controversial, only evaded. cause he recognizes that the leadership of the Arab states regard the Palestinians as a Rejectionist Plans, Closure and Power nuisance, and have little problem with the As noted, Barak's plan is a particularly Bantustan-style settlement, but cannot harsh version of familiar US-Israeli overlook administration of the religious rejectionism. It calls for terminating elec­ sites, fearing the reaction oftheir own popu­ tricity, water, telecommunications, and lations. Nothing could be better calculated other services that are doled out in meager to set off a confrontation with religious rations to the Palestinian population, who ILLEGITIMATE AUIIIORlff Fu,ndi~ w..°«l ~ '1l1Ce 1961 overtones, the most ominous kind, as cen­ are now under virtual siege. It should be For information and grant guidelines, write to: turies of experience reveal. recalled that independent development was Resist, 259 Elm St., Suite 201 Somerville, MA 02144 The primary innovation ofBarak's new ruthlessly barred by the military regime from www.resistinc.org; [email protected] plan is that the US-Israeli demands are to 1967, leaving the people in destitution and Resist Newsletter is published ten times a be imposed by direct force instead of co­ dependency, which has worsened consider­ year by RESIST, Inc., (617)623-5110. The ercive diplomacy, and in a harsher form. ably during the US-run "Oslo process." views expressed in articles, other than edi­ The outlines are in basic accord with poli­ One reason is the "closures" regularly torials, are those of the authors and do not cies established informally in 1968 (the instituted, must brutally by the more dov­ necessarily represent the opinions of the Allon Plan), and variants that have been ish Labor-based governments. As dis­ RESIST staff or board. proposed since by both political groupings cussed by another outstanding journalist, RESIST Staff: Jacquie Bishop (the Sharon Plan, the Labor government Amira Hass, this policy was initiated by Robin Carton plans, and others). It is important to recall the Rabin government "years before Amanda Matos-Gonzalez that the policies have not only been pro­ Hamas had planned suicide attacks, [and] Carol Schachet posed, but implemented, with the support has been perfected over the years, espe­ of the US. That support has been decisive cially since the establishment of the Pales­ RESIST Volunteer: Daphne Lees since 1971, when Washington abandoned tinian National Authority." Newsletter Editor: Carol Schachet the basic diplomatic framework that it had An efficient mechanism of strangulation Printing: Red Sun Press initiated (UN Security Council Resolution and control, closure has been accompanied ()Printed on Recycled Paper with Soy Ink~·

Page 2 RESIST Newsletter January 2001 Analyzing the AI-Aqsa Intifada

continued from page two the Palestinian elite, who are enriching The innovation of Barak's new plan is that themselves in the time-honored fashion. Barak's new proposals appear to be more the US-Israeli demands are to be imposed of a warning than a plan, though they are a natural extension of what has come before. by direct force instead of diplomacy. Insofar as they are implemented, they would extend the project of "invisible transfer" that settlement was "frozen," in accord leigh (North Carolina) press. that has been underway for many years, with the dovish image preferred in the US The sale of military helicopters was con­ and that makes more sense than outright and by much of the Israeli left. They made demned by Amnesty International (Oct. 19), "ethnic cleansing" (as we call the process use of the "freezing" to intensify settle­ because these "US-supplied helicopters when carried out by official enemies). ment, including economic inducements for have been used to violate the human rights the secular population, automatic grants for of Palestinians and Arab Israelis during the Settlements and Isolation ultra-religious settlers, and other devices, recent conflict in the region." Surely that was Current plans, whether imposed by co­ which can be carried out with little protest anticipated, barring advanced cretinism. ercive diplomacy or outright force, have while "the lesser of two evils" happens to Israel has been condemned internation­ similar goals as were articulated by Israeli be making the decisions, a pattern hardly ally (the US abstaining) for "excessive use government Arabists in 1948: that the refu­ unfamiliar elsewhere. "There is freezing and of force," in a "disproportionate reaction" gees "would be crushed" and "die" or join there is reality," the report observes causti­ to Palestinian violence. That includes even the impoverished classes in Arab coun­ cally. The reality is that settlement in the rare condemnations by the International tries. They are not unrealistic if they can occupied territories has grown over four Committee of the Red Cross, specifically, rely on the world-dominant power and its times as fast as in Israeli population cen­ for attacks on at least 18 Red Cross ambu­ intellectual classes. ters, continuing - perhaps accelerating - lances (New York Times, October 4, 2000). The current situation is described accu­ under Barak. Settlement brings with it large Israel's response is that it is being unfairly rately by Amira Hass, in Israel's most pres­ infrastructure projects designed to integrate singled out for criticism. The response is tigious daily (Ha 'aretz, October 18, 2000). much of the region within Israel, while leav­ entirely accurate. Israel is employing offi­ Seven years after the Declaration of Prin­ ing Palestinians isolated, apart from "Pal­ cial US doctrine, known here as "the Powell ciples in September 1993- which foretold estinian roads" that are travelled at one's peril. doctrine," though it is of far more ancient this outcome for anyone who chose to see: vintage, tracing back centuries: Use mas­ Israel has security and administrative US Media Keeps Us in the Dark sive force in response to any perceived control of most of the West Bank and Another journalist with an outstanding threat. Official Israeli doctrine allows "the 20% ofthe Gaza Strip. It has been able record, Danny Rubinstein, points out that full use of weapons against anyone who "to double the number ofsettlers in 10 readers of the Israeli press are largely endangers lives and especially at anyone years, to enlarge the settlements, to shielded from the unwelcome facts, though who shoots at our forces or at Israelis" continue its discriminatory policy of not entirely so. In the US, it is far more (Israeli military legal adviser Daniel Reisner, cutting back water quotas for three mil­ important for the population to be kept in Financial Times, October 6). Full use of lion Palestinians, to prevent Palestin­ ignorance, for obvious reasons: the eco­ force by a modem army includes tanks, he­ ian development in most of the area of nomic and military programs rely crucially licopter gunships, sharpshooters aiming at the West Bank, and to seal an entire on US support, which is domestically un­ civilians (often children), etc. US weapons nation into restricted areas, imprisoned popular and would be far more so ifits pur­ sales "do not carry a stipulation that the in a network ofbypass roads meantfor poses were known. weapons can't be used against civilians," Jews only. During these days of strict To illustrate, on October 3, after a week a Pentagon official said; he "acknowleged internal restriction ofmovement in the of bitter fighting and killing, the defense however that anti-tank missiles and attack West Bank, one can see how carefully correspondent of Ha 'aretz reported "the helicopters are not traditionally considered each road was planned: So that largest purchase of military helicopters by tools for crowd control"--except by those 200,000 Jews have freedom of move­ the Israeli Air Force in a decade," an agree­ powerful enough to get away with it, un­ ment, about three million Palestinians ment with the US to provide Israel with 35 der the protective wings of the reigning are locked into their Bantustans until Blackhawk military helicopters and spare superpower. "We cannot second-guess an they submit to Israeli demands. The parts at a cost of $525 million, along with Israeli commander who calls in a Cobra bloodbath that has been going on for jet fuel, following the purchase shortly be­ (helicopter) gunship because his troops are three weeks is the natural outcome of fore of patrol aircraft and Apache attack under attack," another US official said seven years oflying and deception,just helicopters. These are "the newest and most (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, October 3). as the first Intifada was the natural advanced multi-mission attack helicopters Accordingly, such killing machines must outcome ofdirect Israeli occupation. in the US inventory," the Jerusalem Post be provided in an unceasing flow. The settlement and construction pro- adds. It would be unfair to say that those It is not surprising that a US client state grams continue, with US support. On Au­ providing the gifts cannot discover the should adopt standard US military doctrine, gust 18, Ha'aretz noted that two govern­ fact. In a database search, David Peterson which has left a toll too awesome to record, ments- Rabin and Barak- had declared found that they were reported in the Ra- continued on page nine

Vol. 10, #1 RESIST Newsletter Page 3 Was it responsible to advise them to enter Olives, Stones and Bullets a war-zone? On the other hand, in these difficult Reflections on a Peace Activist's Visit to Hares days, in the middle of the Palestinian war of liberation, it is very important that the URIAVNERY threads still connecting Israelis and Pales­ tinians are not broken, as extremists on both uddenly I noticed that we were quite sides would wish. It is also important to Salone on the road. A wonderful road, show the Palestinians that there are peace six lanes wide, parts of it still in the build­ forces in Israel who want to display soli­ ing stage. Completely empty. darity during their hardest hour. This is a bypass-bypass road, an inven­ These arguments won. It was decided tion of the occupation. First, they built the to mobilize by phone the activists who were cross-Samaria road, from Kafr-Kassem to ready to leave their work on a working day Ariel and beyond, so as to by-pass the and to take part in the action. Within two Palestinian villages. But the Palestinian vil­ hours, 20 volunteered. And so, on Friday, lage of Bidia, which, on Saturdays, has we were on our way from Tel-Aviv in a mini­ become a shopping mall for Israelis, slowly bus driven by an Arab-Israeli. From Jerusa­ crept up to the road. In anticipation of the lem, another contingent, led by the "Rab­ next intifada, Benjamin Nethanyahu and bis for Human Rights" group, were also on Ehud Barak (each in his turn) decided on their way. an even more sterile, bypass-the-bypass We arrived at Hares without mishap. On road. Again great stretches of Palestinian the way we did not encounter any army land were expropriated, again we demon­ checkpoints. Even the checkpoint which strated together with the Palestinian vil­ was located for years on the green Line, lagers (November 1998), again Gush Sha­ near Kafr Kassem, had mysteriously dis­ lom activists were tear-gassed ( one does appeared. not shoot at Israelis), again to no avail. We entered the village by foot, climb­ But now the road is empty. Only from ing the hill, crossing a field of desolation - time to time we meet groups of cars. The old olive trees cut down, ancient terraces settlers are driving in convoys for fear of destroyed, apparently to enable the army stone-throwing children. But we were Uri Avnery in the Occupied Territories. to shoot without hindrance. lucky. Here and there we saw stones lying Photo courtesy of Gush Shalom From the direction of the mosque we around on the road, remnants of previous heard the Friday prayers as we crossed the stone-showers, but we passed unmolested. Hares is situated on a hill, 100 meters quiet village by foot and left it by the west­ On the previous evening we received a away from the road, at a stretch where the ern entrance, on the way to the plantations. SOS call from the villagers of Hares to bypass-bypass joins the bypass road. The There the army stopped us with armored please come there. This Palestinian village, stretch is an ideal place for throwing stones, jeeps and heavily armed soldiers. A tough near the big Ariel settlement, is cut off from and therefore the settlers are angry. We major ( or perhaps lieutenant-colonel, the the world. The army is blockading it, no know the landscape well, because in March, bullet-proof vest made it difficult to be sure) one is allowed to enter or leave. The ol­ 1999 we helped a family in the next village, quickly filled out a prepared form, signed ives, the only product of the village, are Kiffel-Hares, to build a house demolished in advance by the C/O Central Command going to rot on the trees, especially in the by the army. for all occasions, declaring the Hares plan­ orchard bordering the Revava settlement. tations a "closed military area." We were Anyone trying to harvest there is in mortal Crossing the Lines requested to leave. danger. A 14-year old boy was shot and It was not easy for us to decide what to We refused, of course. We pointed out killed there only three days ago, when he do. It was clear that this is a war zone. In that the settlers, who were shouting slo­ was alone in the orchard with his father. order to get to the place, we had to risk gans and cursing us, were allowed to pass The villagers hope that the presence of Is­ being stoned or shot at by Palestinians, freely in their cars. Then a superior officer, raelis will restrain the settlers and soldiers, who would think that we are settlers. On a lieutenant-colonel or perhaps colonel (as allowing them to harvest the olives on the other hand, our presence would be _like above) appeared. We were told that he was which their livelihood depends. a red rag to the settlers. The army would the brigade commander. A woman from the village also called. consider us breakers of the occupation We argued with him. He was a sympa­ She cried excitedly that at that moment the laws. All this in order to pick olives a few thetic, intelligent officer, with a sense of soldiers had opened fire on the village and dozen yards from a settlement. humor, one of those who are called "regu­ on her. She begged us to come the next Gush Shalom activists who can come lar fellows," which made what he said morning. Until darkness, she promised, on a workday include youngsters in their sound even more objectionable. Why the there is generally no shooting. teens and elderly people. Men and women. continued on page five

Page 4 RESIST Newsletter January 2001 Olives, Stones and Bullets continued from page four discrimination between the settlers and the We had to risk being stoned or shot at by Palestinian villagers? Well, it's because the villagers throw stones. Why punish a Palestinians, who would think that we are whole village for the deeds of a minority? "I am not sure it's a minority." It was quite settlers. On the other hand, the army clear that his heart is with the settlers, would consider us breakers of the whose life, as he said, "had become hell." For him, the Palestinians were enemies, no occupation laws. AU this in order to pick sentiments attached. Why does he not permit us to harvest olives a few dozen yards from a settlement. olives? "Because you came here to pro­ voke the settlers." We answered honestly presence oflsraelis and foreign TV crews. body of our bus was hit. At lightning speed that we had no such intention. Since the situation was deteriorating police and army jeeps appeared on the While this argument went on, our activ­ rapidly, we were asked to come and try to scene and took up firing positions oppo­ ists started to infiltrate into the plantations prevent a fatal clash. site the village. But the children had al­ one by one. The brigade commander had We boarded the minibus and drove into ready disappeared. to choose between several alternatives: he the village. Along the main street, a lot of In the meantime, we were told over the could call for reinforcements to get us out children were standing around. At some phone that the confrontation was really by force, or he could allow us to harvest distance, children were playing (training?) over, so we decided to make for home. On olives. Wisely, he chose the latter course. throwing stones at each other. Some local the way, the village head ( a renovation con­ youngsters volunteered to walk in front of tractor active in the Tel-Aviv area) alighted. Picking Olives and Dodging Stones our bus and tell the children that we were We waited for a few minutes, to make sure The next six hours were an experience not settlers. Proceeding this way we were that he got home safely. He started to climb taken straight out of an old Zionist propa­ nearing the place of the clash when we were the hill, but before he had gone no further ganda film. We picked olives, one by one, stopped by the village head and a very than a few meters, soldiers ran after him, from the trees nearest the settlement. We authoritative young man. The head said rifles ready to shoot. We got down from used our hats as containers, until buckets that the confrontation had ended and that the bus and convinced the soldiers that were brought. We climbed trees in order to he would show us the place. The young the man was not a dangerous terrorist, but get at the higher branches. Hard work, but man said that the confrontation was still a villager who had been kind enough to really enjoyable. On the hill, opposite us, going on and that we should not go on show us the way. They let him return to his at a distance of some fifty meters, a cluster any further. It was clear that he was the village. But in the meantime, police had of angry, bearded, scull-cap-wearing set­ boss. He strongly suggested that we go stopped near our bus and made out a traf­ tlers had gathered, but soldiers prevented by the way we had come. But first he gave fic-violation ticket, because it was stand­ them from approaching us. as a short, passionate speech, in which he ing on a part of the road where it was not When the villagers saw us working, fami­ called Ehud Barak some highly uncompli­ allowed to stand. A stubborn young po­ lies of the tree-owners dared to come and mentary names from the animal kingdom. lice woman refused to yield, but we finally harvest too. Friendships developed quickly. The village head volunteered to show convinced the Druze policeman at the Everything was done at a hectic speed. The us the way, so that we could view the site wheel to relent. After all, the bus had been Palestinians knew that they could work of the clash from the army side, from the standing there only because we were talk­ there only as long as we were there. They main road. But as we were leaving the vil­ ing with the soldiers. chose work methods that were damaging lage, we encountered an army jeep. A ser­ Over the phone we heard that two ac­ to the trees, hitting the branches, gather­ geant with Russian features stopped us tivists from the Jerusalem group had been ing the olives on nylon sheets spread on with a movement of his hand generally re­ arrested during the clash at the roadblock. the ground, in order to gather as many ol­ served for Arabs. One of us aske.d him to (Neither of the two belonged to Peace Now, ives as possible in a few hours. be polite. He became very angry and told us as was erroneously reported on the Israeli At 3 p.m., when we were about to finish, that we could not leave the village. A block­ Channel 1. Peace Now had taken no part in we received a call on the mobile phone. We ade was in force; no one comes in, no one the events of the day.) were asked to come as quickly as possible goes out. He doesn't give a damn whether This is how the reality of the occupa­ to the other side of the village, where a we are Israelis or not. Orders are orders. tion, November 2000, looks. confrontation was developing with the Only with great difficulty did we con­ We returned home tired but content, as army. The villagers wanted to use the pres­ vince him to call his superior, who told him, they say. The time was 4 p.'m., the hour ence oflsraelis (those who had come from of course, to let us pass. We reached the shooting usually starts. Jerusalem) in order to remove the roadblock main road (the cross-Samaria) and had to put up by the army to prevent them having drive behind a convoy of settlers, when Uri Avnery founded Gush Shalom and contact with the neighboring village and the suddenly we were hit by a shower of particpates in Peace Action in Israel. world at large. The Palestinians calculated stones. At some distance we saw a group This article is reprinted from www.gush­ that the army would not open fire in the of small children. Fortunately, only the shalom.org.

Vol. 10, #1 RESIST Newsletter Page 5 exclusively on the occupation, to the ne­ The Tragedy Deepens glect of the other two dimensions. But it should finally be clear that in all three instances it is Zionism that we fight EDWARD SAID the United States supplies Israel with the against, and until we have a leadership that largest ever order of attack helicopters dur­ can formulate an integrated strategy on all o one really knows whether the Al­ ing the past 10 years and Israel has added three fronts, we do not have leadership. The NAqsa Intifada temporarily subsided $500 million to its budget for settlements? tragedy is that as the Intifada goes on, lives because Yasser Arafat expressed his pub­ Not one word of official protest against US are tragically lost every day, in a political lic disapproval of it on 17 November or policy that has brought such catastrophe setting or framework that deepens the dif­ whether the short-lived lull was generated to our people. It is this timorousness that ferences between Palestinians instead of out of fatigue or a search for new positions. allows US policy-makers, of whom the bringing them closer together. We need a Despite the enormous cost in lives and unregretted Dennis Ross - the mediocre new vision, a new voice, a new truth. property to Palestinians, however, the es­ individual who has done more single­ Isn't it now clear that old slogans like sential problems remain, and the Israelis handedly to advance Israel's interest than "a Palestinian state" or "Jerusalem our continue their blind and finally stupid as­ anyone - is but one, to say that the Arabs capital" have brought us to this impasse? sault on Palestinians with the strangulation, trust the US and its policies and remain Shouldn't we expect a real leader to speak economic blockade, to all Palestinians, and bombings of cit­ honestly, fearlessly, ies and towns con­ Only a mass movement employing tactics without duplicity or tinuing without re­ winks at the US and spite. and strategy that maximize the popular Israel, and to chart a Every Arab leader course forward that who welcomed element has ever made any difference on links together oppo­ Barak's election a the occupier and/or oppressor . ... sition to occupation, year and a half ago to exile, and to ra- should now be asked cial discrimination? to repeat his declarations so that their hol­ close friends and allies of the US. Surely Why continue to delude people with the lowness can be demonstrated again and the time has come to speak frankly of a empty hope that "struggle," a word which again. I find official Arab attitudes virtu­ hypocrisy and brutality without parallel, seems to mean that others should do the ally incomprehensible, having spent most instead of standing silently by cap in hand dying, will get the Arab world generally of my life trying to decipher them accord­ as more and more Palestinians are killed and the Palestinians particularly what all ing to the laws of reason and elementary with arms paid for by US taxpayers. have so long wanted? It is nothing short of common sense. Did they seriously believe alarming that after more than half a cen­ that Barak was the saviour of the peace pro­ Leadership Void tury of blustering, of expending blood and cess, and if so weren't they aware that to But the core of the tragedy is what is treasure, of militarization, of abrogating save the peace process was nothing less happening to the victims themselves, the democracy and the most elementary re­ than to prolong the Palestinian agony? Did Palestinian people. Here one must speak quirements of citizenship in the Arab they think that he was any different from and think rationally, not letting emotion world, we find ourselves facing the same the great "war hero" who has devoted his and the passions of the moment sway the enemy, the same defeats, the same tactical entire career to killing Arabs, and if he mind too much. My general impression is shifts and hypocritical about-faces with the wasn't why did it take them so long to find that Palestinians everywhere feel the ab­ same tired arsenal of threats, promises, slo­ out? Does subservience to the United sence of real leadership, a voice or an au­ gans and cliches-all of which have been States require so much subservience, so thority that can speak both of the present proved more or less worthless and have many acrobatics, such a complicated twist­ and the future with some sense of vision, produced the same failures from 1967 to ing and turning and so profound a prostra­ some articulation of a coherent, inclusive Amman to October 1973 to Beirut to Oslo? tion? How long and for what do they cling goal beyond the usual platitudes. No one to a repressive, basically rejectionist sta­ has any doubt that Palestinians are strug­ Finding Common Ground tus quo with neither the will nor the ca­ gling against military occupation and have No one can deny that Palestine is an pacity to wage war nor to live in peace, been doing so for 33 years. But there are exception to nearly all the colonial issues simply to please a distant and arrogant su­ four million refugees struggling against of the past 200 years. It is exceptional, but perpower that has showed them and their exile, in addition to the one million Pales­ not removed from history. Human history people so much contempt, inhumanity and tinian citizens oflsrael who have been liv­ is full of similar instances. What has sur­ utter, unspeakable cruelty? ing under a regime of racial and religious prised me, as someone living at a distance Can they not do anything more substan­ discrimination that has too long been hid­ from the Middle East but close to it in all tial than what they are doing when Israel is den under labels like "Israeli democracy." sorts of ways, is how insulated from the using helicopter gunships to kill Palestin­ One of the many problems with Oslo has rest of the world we keep ourselves, ian civilians and destroy their homes, while been that Palestinian negotiators focused continued on page seven

Page 6 RESIST Newsletter January 2001 The Tragedy Deepens continued from page six pation, using imaginative means of to explain his policies, to tell the people whereas, I believe, a great deal can be struggle. That would necessarily involve where we are, how we got here, and where learned from the history of other oppressed large numbers of Palestinians intervening we are going. Is his heart made of stone, is peoples in the Americas, Africa, his conscience completely Asia and even Europe. Why do anaesthetised? we resist comparing ourselves, I find this astoundingly in­ say, with the South African comprehensible, and this after blacks, or with the American In­ 30 years ofleading us from one dians, or with the Vietnamese? catastrophe and ill-considered By comparing I don't mean me­ adventure to another, without chanically or slavishly, but respite and without even a rather creatively and imagina­ whispered "thank you for bear­ tively. ing with me and my appalling, The late Eqbal Ahmad, who bumbling mistakes and miscal­ was certainly one of the two or culations for so long!" I for one three most brilliant analysts of am fed up with his attitude of contemporary history and poli­ contempt for his people, and for tics that I ever knew, always his stony autocratic imperturb­ drew attention to the fact that ability, his inability either to lis­ successful liberation move- Palestinian workers cross the checkpoint at Eraz. Photo by Tsafrir ten or to take other people seri- Abayov, Impact Visuals ments were successful precisely ously, his unending ambigu­ because they employed creative ideas, directly in the settlement process, block­ ities, secrecy and blindingly irrational original ideas, imaginative ideas where in ing roads, preventing building materials lurches from one patron to another, all the other less successful movements (like ours, from entering, in other words, isolating the while leaving his long-suffering people to alas) there was a pronounced tendency to settlements instead of allowing them, con­ fend for themselves. formulas and an uninspired repetition of taining a far smaller number of people, to The Al-Aqsa Intifada is an Intifada past slogans and past patterns of behavior. isolate and surround Palestinians, which is against Oslo and against the people who Take as a primary instance the idea of what occurs today. constructed it, not only Dennis Ross and armed struggle. For decades we have re­ It is still true, for instance, that the Barak, but a small, irresponsible coterie of lied in our minds on ideas about guns and labourers who built the Israeli settlements Palestinian officials. These people should killing, ideas that, from the 1930s until to­ on a daily basis are in fact Palestinians: now have the decency to stand before their day, have brought us plentiful martyrs but this should give some fairly simple idea of people, admit their mistakes, and ask (if have had little real effect not so much on how deeply misled, misguided, under-mo­ they can get it) for popular support ifthere Zionism but on our own ideas about what bilized and u~politicized the Palestinian is a plan. If there isn't one (as I suspect) to do next. In our case, the fighting is done people are today. After 33 years of build­ they should then have the elementary cour­ by a small brave number of people pitted ing Israeli settlements, Palestinian workers tesy at least to say so. Only by doing this against hopeless odds, i.e. stones against should immediately be provided by the can there be anything more than tragedy helicopter gunships, Merkava tanks, mis­ Authority with alternative employment. at the end of the road. Palestinian officials siles. Yet a quick look at other movements­ Can't a few dollars be spared from the mil­ signed the agreement to partition Hebron, say the Indian nationalist movement, the lions spent on useless security and unpro­ they signed many other agreements with­ South African liberation movement, the ductive bureaucracy? This is of course a out getting prior assurances that the settle­ American civil rights movement- tell us failing of the leadership, but in the end it is ments would end ( and at least not be in­ first of all that only a mass movement em­ also those individuals who know better­ creased) and that all signs of military oc­ ploying tactics and strategy that maximize professionals, intellectuals, teachers, doc­ cupation would be effaced. They must now the popular element ever made any differ­ tors and so on-who have the power of explain publicly what they thought they ence on the occupier and/or oppressor. Sec­ expression and the means to do so who have were doing and why they did it. Then they ond, only a mass movement that has been still not put enough pressure on the leader­ must let us express our views on their ac­ politicized and imbued with a vision of par­ ship to make it responsive to the situation. tions and their future. And for once they ticipating directly in a future of its own And there at once is the greatest trag­ must listen and try to put the general inter­ making, only such a movement has histori­ edy of all: a people is giving passionately est before their own, despite the millions cal chance of liberating itself from oppres­ of itself, losing the flower of its youth and of dollars they have either squandered or sion or military occupation. The future, like all its energies in a valiant confrontation squirreled away in Paris apartments and the past, is built by human beings. They, with an implacably cruel enemy who has valuable real estate and lucrative business and not some distant mediator or saviour, no compunction about choking Palestin­ deals with Israel. Enough is enough. provide the agency for change. ians to death, and still Mr Arafat is silent. It is clear to me, for example, that the He has not truly and honestly addressed This article is reprinted from Al-Ahram immediate task in Palestine is to establish his people since the crisis began, not even Weekly, Cairo, Dec 7-13. Edward Said is the goal of ridding ourselves of the occu- a 10-minute broadcast to give it strength, a Palestinian activist and professor.

Vol. 10, #1 RESIST Newsletter Page 7 Israel-Land ofApartheid

TANYA REINHART this proposal. Or at least we have never heard oth­ n today's setting, it is hard to recall that erwise. Iust a few years ago, only some fringe But then Barak came lunatics demanded Israeli control of up with the new demand 'Temple Mount.' Every time they tried to that the Palestinians will enter the place and pray, Israeli police also renounce their hold would be there to block their entrance or in Al Aksa (Temple drag them out. Even the word 'Temple Mount). Even a collabo­ Mount' was perceived as belonging to the rator like Arafat cannot bizarre vocabulary of religious fanatics. accept such demands and Today it is the Israeli government that survive. launches the holy war. Israel's foreign af­ No rational account fairs minister-the ex-liberal Shlomo Ben­ An Israeli soldier directs traffic on a side road near the Kfar could tie these facts to­ Ami-declares day and night that "no na­ Darom Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip November 22, gether. It is hard to avoid 2000. Photo by Tsafrir Abayov,Impact Visuals tion can give up its sacred sites" and the the conclusion that Barak world nods and accepts. For Example, inHaaretz (May 5, 1998) it is is in the end not really wanting a formal [Former Isaeli military leader Ariel] reported that "Yaser Arafat accepts the idea agreement with the Palestinians, not even Sharon could not have entered the site that the capital of the Palestinian state will the rather full surrender that Arafat was without approval of Barak and the govern­ be Abu-Dis, neighboring Jerusalem, and willing to accept. ment. His visit had been carefully planned, sees the understandings included in Beilin­ Barak and Sharon see only one solution with a thousand soldiers securing it and AbuMaazen agreement as a realistic op­ to the 'Palestinian problem'-subjugation taking shooting positions on the roofs in tion for the final agreement with Israel." and control! It is not at all impossible that advance. It is not Sharon who is respon­ "In a meeting with the Middle East sec­ in their sick generals' minds they believe sible for the present massacre, but Barak, tion of the Council on Foreign Relations that if one applies sufficient force for suf­ Ben Ami, the Israeli government, and in New York, Arafat was asked if it is pos­ ficient time it may be possible to drive Israel's "peacenicks" who have been sup­ sible to reach an agreement with Israel also more and more Palestinians out of Jerusa­ porting them all the way through. on the question of Jerusalem. Arafat: 'Cer­ lem and the central West Bank so this area Israel's claim on 'Temple Mount' is com­ tainly, it is possible to accept the idea of becomes more Arab-free. And this ap­ pletely new-brought up only since the Abu-Dis, which belonged to Al-Quds also proach isn't confmed to just the occupied recent Camp David negotiations. In 1995 's under Jordanian rule." Palestinians. For several weeks now, Israeli Beilin-AbuMaazen plan for the final agree­ Even that was not good enough for Palestinians have been subject to vicious ment, which is the basis for the present Barak. In the original Beilin- AbuMazen attacks, and more and more voices in the 'negotiations,' it was still stated that the plan, only the land with the Jewish settle­ media ( orchestrated, as always, from area will be in 'exterritorial Palestinian sov­ ments of the central West Bank (labelled above) complain about how they have too ereignty'(!). The more Arafat gives in, the "Jerusalem") was to be annexed. So they many rights and are not "loyal" to Israel. more new demands are brought up by Israel. prepared a rather windy map that includes Israel has become the land of apartheid. The Beilin- AbuMazen document, it­ these settlements but includes no Palestin­ self, is a shameful document, which leaves ians. Israel's interest in doing it this way Professor Tanya Reinhart teaches at Tel all the settlements untouched, and ac­ was to avoid the need of giving these Pal­ Aviv University and the University of knowledges Israeli sovereignty over most estinians Israeli citizenship including so­ Utrecht. This article is reprinted with of the central West Bank. cial rights-health, etc, or political rights permission from Mid-East Realities It was agreed that Arafat will renounce, of voting. (www.MiddleEast. Org). For more on behalf of the Palestinians, any claim on Barak 'straightened' the maps. The an­ information, contact the Committee On Jerusalem, and the Palestinian institutions nexation proposed in Camp David will in­ The Middle East, PO Box 18367, will move to the village Abu-Dis, border­ clude also the areas with Palestinian resi­ Washington, DC 20036. ing with Jerusalem. In return, Arafat will dents. But these residents will not be given (1) Newsweek 9-17-00; Ha'aretz 9-18-00. be allowed to call Abu-Dis the capital of Israeli citizenship, since "they will vote for (2) Nahum Barnea "Yediot Aharonof" 6- the Palestinian state. The verbal trick was the Palestinian state". This additional little 30-00: "The Arabs living in the settle­ that Abu-Dis will be namedAl-Quds, so it trick then enables annexing the land with­ ment blocks which will be annexed to can be presented like the city is divided to out giving any rights to the annexed Pal­ Israel will have the same rights as the the Jewish part 'Jerusalem' and the Pales­ estinian residents (2). Israelis living in Palestine: They will tinian part 'Al Quds'. It appears that the Palestinian negotia­ vote for the Palestinian state and will Arafat has agreed to this long time ago. tors in Camp David have also agreed to live by its laws."

Page 8 RESIST Newsletter January 2001 ,,.

Analyzing the AI-Aqsa Intifada

Resource List for the Middle East Issues continued.from page three including very recent years. The US and Below is a partial list of groups that offer information and analyses on the Middle East, Israel are, of course, not alone in adopting particularly related to Israel and Palestine. this doctrine, and it is sometimes even con­ Alternative Information Center The Jewish Peace Lobby demned: namely, when adopted by en­ www.alternativenews.org 8604 Second Avenue, Suite 317 emies targeted for destruction. A recent AIC is a Palestinian-Israeli organization Silver Spring, MD 2091 O; 301 589 8764 example is the response of Serbia when its which disseminates information, research A national Jewish organization support­ territory (as the US insists it is) was at­ and political analysis on Palestinian and ing a two-state solution including a tacked by Albanian-based guerrillas, kill­ Israeli societies and conflicts while pro­ shared Jerusalem, as the best way to ing Serb police and civilians and abduct­ moting cooperation between Palestinians achieve peace, security and justice ing civilians (including Albanians) with the and Israelis based on the values of social openly-announced intent of eliciting a "dis­ justice, solidarity and community in­ Middle East Report (MERIP) proportionate response" that would arouse volvement. 1500 Massachusetts Avenue NW Suite 119 Western indignation, then NATO military Washington, DC 20005; www.merip.org attack. Very rich documentation from US, Bat Shalom Middle East Report (MERIP) provides NATO, and other Western sources is now www.batshalom.org news and perspectives about the Middle available, most of it produced in an effort A feminist peace organization oflsraeli East not available from mainstream news to justify the bombing. Assuming these women that works with the Palestinian sources. The magazine has a reputation sources to be credible, we find that the peace organization Jerusalem Center for for independent analysis of events and Serbian response-while doubtless "dis­ Women to comprise the Jerusalem Link. developments in the Middle East. proportionate" and criminal, as alleged­ The Jeruslame Link works towards a "real does not compare with the standard resort peace" not merely a treaty of mutual The Other Israel to the same doctrine by the US and its cli­ deterrence, but a culture of peace and http://members.tripod.com/-other_Israel/ ents, Israel included. cooperation between peoples. Bi-monthly publication that provides In the mainstream British press, we can coverage of the diverse struggles waged at last read that "IfPalestinians were black, BeitShalom by the Israeli peace movement at large. It Israel would now be a pariah state subject 114 West 26th Street, Suite 1001 reports on a variety of activities which to economic sanctions led by the United NewYork,NYlOOOl remain largely unreported in the world States [which is not accurate, unfortu­ A new coalition of 15 American Jewish media. nately]. Its development and settlement of support groups for the Israeli peace the West Bank would be seen as a system movement. Palestine Report Online of apartheid, in which the indigenous popu­ http://mail.jmcc.org/media/reportonline/ lation was allowed to live in a tiny frac­ Boston Committee on the Middle East report.html tion of its own country, in self-adminis­ (BCOME) A project of the Jerusalem Media and tered 'bantustans', with 'whites' www.salam.org Communications Center in Jerusalem. It is monopolising the supply of water and elec­ Publishes Salam Review, a monthly a continuation of the print Palestine tricity. And just as the black population was magazine about the struggle for peace report, which was established nearly 10 allowed into South Africa's white areas in and justice in the Middle East years ago as a means of informing En­ disgracefully under-resourced townships, glish-speakers about Palestinians and so Israel's treatment of Israeli Arabs - fla­ Gush Shalom their daily lives in the context of the grantly discriminating against them in PO Box 322, Tel Aviv 61033, Israel ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. housing and education spending - would www.gush-shalom.org be recognised as scandalous too" ( Ob­ Founded in 1992, in the aftermath of the Peace Now server, Guardian, October 15, 2000). deportation of 415 Palestinians by www.peace-now.org Such conclusions will come as no sur­ Rabin's government, Gush Shalom is a Founded by veteran Israeli reservist prise to those whose vision has not been Jewish group committed to the rights and officers who wrote then premier constrained by the doctrinal blinders im­ sovereignty of Palestinians in Jerusalem. Menachem Begin on the eve of Camp posed for many years. It remains a major They march alone, with the PLO and with David, imploring him to be flexible with task to remove them in the most important other organizations at demonstrations. the Egyptians. country. That is a prerequisite to any con­ structive reaction to the mounting chaos The Israeli-Palestine Center for Z-Net Middle East Watch and destruction, terrible enough before our Research and Information (IPCRI) http://www.lbbs.org/meastwatch/ eyes, and with long-term implications that www.ipcri.org meastwat.htm are not pleasant to contemplate. Founded in 1989, IPCRI is a Palestinian­ ZNet's Watch Areas are each subsites Israeli public-policy think tank devoted unto themselves that provide essays, Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguis­ to developing practical solutions for the reports, and links on the relevant topic tics at MIT and a Resist founder and Israeli-Palestinian conflict. often prepared by volunteers for ZNet. member of the Board ofAdvisors.

Vol. 10, #1 RESIST Newsletter Page 9 (3RANIS

RESIST awards grants six times a year to DRUM communities and individuals; self­ groups throughout the United States en­ Desis Rising Up and Moving determination through education and gaged in activism for social and economic c/o Brecht Forum community organizing; harmonization of justice. In this issue ofthe Newsletter we list 122 West 27th St 10th Floor diverse communities of interest; actual­ a few grant recipients from our December New York, NY 10001 ization and recognition of individual 2000 allocation cycle. For more informa­ www.drumnation.org potential; courage of conviction; and tion, contact the groups at the addresses pride in culture, community and self. below. DRUM's mission is to build a social justice movement amongst people of the The Newtown Florist Club Burma Project South Asian diaspora. Desi is a term PO Box 908403 2017 Mission Street Ste #303 used to designate people of South Asian Gainesville, GA 30501 San Francisco, CA 94110 descent. The organization's Community newtownl [email protected] Justice Education Project brings high The Burma Project was founded in the school and university students together The Newtown Florist Club (NFC) was fall of2000 in protest of the violation of to learn social justice organizing skills, founded 50 years ago by a local group of the Burmese human rights at the hands and to provide the South Asian commu­ African-American women who provided of a brutal military regime. The project's nity in Jackson Heights, Queens with support to bereaved families, and has mission is to support the Burmese de­ access to progressive organizations. developed into a community-based orga­ mocracy by coordinating corporate cam­ Resist's $2,000 grant for general nization geared toward promoting youth paigns to reduce financial support for support will help DRUM organize an development, social, economic and envi­ Burma's military regime, and creating internship program between Desi high ronmental justice in Gainesville, Georgia. political pressure on the regime to force school and university students, work NFC works with the community to expose them toward democracy. with INS detainees, and a community­ environmental racism and to foster the Resist awarded the Burma Project organizing project. development of community residents into $2,000 for the UNOCAL corporate This grant was awarded from the social justice leaders. accountability campaign, which seeks to Leslie D' Cora Holmes Memorial Fund, Resist's $2,000 grant will fund the pressure UNOCAL, a US-based oil which supports activities and organiza­ purchase of a video camera to be used by corporation, to withdraw its operations tions that embody the characteristics, the Youth Activist Summer Leadership and investments from Burma. The grant values, and principles that reflect the Development Program to document will help pay for campaign materials, office spirit-filled mission of Leslie D'Cora industrial spills and their effect on the expenses and the organizer's salary. Holmes, including: empowerment for local community.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Organizer's Collaborative Join the Resist Pledge Program PO Box 400897 We'd like you to consider Yes/ I'll become a Cambridge, MA 02140 [email protected] becoming a Resist Pledge. RESIST Pledge. Pledges account for over I'll send you my pledge of $__ The Organizer's Collaborative was estab­ every month/two months/ 30¾ of our income. lished to develop ways for progressive quarter/six months (circle one). By becoming a pledge, you help and social change organizations to use guarantee Resist a fixed and dependable [ ] Enclosed is an initial pledge computers and the Internet. The source of income on which we can build contribution of $___ . Collaborative's goal is to strengthen our grant-making communication between social change [] I can't join the pledge program program. In return, we will send you a activists and to develop online re­ now, but here's a contribution of monthly pledge letter and reminder sources, which facilitate collaboration along with your newsletter. We will $___ to support your work. and movement-building among the pro­ keep you up-to-date on the groups we Name have funded and the other work being ------gressive community. done at Resist. Address ------Resist's grant of$2,000 will assist the City/State/Zip ______So take the plunge and become a Resist Organizer's Collaborative in their efforts Pledge! We count on you, and the Phone ______• to develop an online social change groups we fund count on us. • database of over 1,000 creative social Donations to Resist are ta -deductible. • change tactics and an online directory of Resist • 259 Elm Street • Suite 201 • Somerville • MA • 02144 • social change groups in their area. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Page 10 RESIST Newsletter January 2001