Otkei

Newsletter of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace July-August 1990 No 42

P.O.B.956 Tel-Aviv, Israel 61008 Editorial Board: Uri Avnery, Matti Peled, Yaakov Phone: (03) 5565804 Amort, Haim Bar’am, Yael Lotan, Yossi Amitay Editor: Adam Keller _ /SSN 0 7 q2 -4 6 1 5 - Assistant editor: Be ate Keizer ______ESCALATION On April 11,1990, Labor Party leader Shimon Peres efforts to enforce that curfew - bringing the day’s failed to obtain a parliamentary majority for his pro­ total death toll to 13. posed government, which would have been a novelty Meanwhile, a day’s general strike was declared in all in Israeli history. It would have been Israel’s first Arab towns and villages inside Israel. The Commit­ government to rely for its majority on Arab Knesset tee of Arab Mayors, which organised the strike, Members and parties. Furthermore, it would have intended it to be peaceful; but as the daily newspa­ been the first Israeli government (since 1965, when pers - carrying on their front pages color photographs the PLO was created), whose program did not explic­ of the previous day’s carnage in Rishon le-Tzion - itly rule out the possibility of talking to these arrived in the Arab towns, the Intifada seemed for a “terrorists”. moment to have crossed the Green Line: in town Exactly two months after Peres’ failure, Likud after town youths burst out in stone-throwing and leader Yitzhak Shamir did obtain a (narrow) violent clashes with the police. The largest confronta­ parliamentary majority for what could be described tion took place in Nazareth, a town which has the as the mirror image of Peres’ failed government: double distinction of being the largest Arab town in Shamir’s is the first Israeli government to rely for its Israel - and of having a higher unemployment rate majority on the support of outspoken racists, who than any other Israeli population center. In Nazareth’s advocate the massive “transfer” of Palestinians. main street, hundreds of masked demonstrators The period between Peres’ definite failure and battled with the police, attacked government offices Shamir’s success has seen tensions rise sharply all and set a bank on fire*. over the Middle East. A major catalist in this process Meanwhile, the Palestinian Refugee Camps in was a 20-years old Israeli named Ami Popper. Early Jordan, held since 1970 under tight control by King in the morning of May 20, Popper left the house of his Hussein’s security services, broke out in massive parents in Rishon le-Tzion, wearing the army outfit demonstrations; clashes with the Jordanian army of his brother and carrying a gun. Popper set out for left several Palestinians dead. There were also huge the place where, at that hour, Palestinian day mobilizations at the Refugee Camps in Lebanon, labourers congregate. He opened fire, killing seven still bearing recent scars of their own. In fact, the and wounding many more. His exact motives have entire Palestinian people, in all its far-flung diaspora, not yet been determined. At the time, he was widely strongly manifested its anguish, and fury. described as deranged. Not long before, Popper had • been dishonorably discharged from the army after having spent some months in its prison. The prison This turmoil came as a complete surprise to Yitzhak duty of this deranged had been .. to guard other - Shamir - at the time heading a care-taker cabinet Palestinian - prisoners (Ha’olam Hazeh 6.6.1990). and engaged in forging a definite majority out of Within hours, news of the massacre spread throughout numerous rival right-wing and Orthodox factions. Israel, reaching the Palestinian workers wherever Try as they might to dissociate themselves from the they were; without anybody organising it, they “deranged” Popper, Shamir and his ministers could immediately laid down their tools and set out on their not dissociate from the fact that hundreds of way back home. On the Tel-Aviv/Gaza highway, Palestinians were killed, over the past two years, by thousands of crowded Palestinian cars went in soldiers of the army - thus making Palestinian life convoy, with their headlights on and their passengers cheap. Nor could the Rishon le-Tzion massacre be waving inprovised black flags. As the convoy reached disconnected from Rabbi Tzvi Neriya - “spiritual Gaza, the sky over the city was full of smoke from leader” of the National Religious Party, a crucial burning tyres and thousands of demonstrators Shamir ally - who stated publicly only a week poured into the streets. The military authorities before: Anybody who finds himself threatened by reacted furiously, declaring an immediate curfew; by Arabs should shoot in all directions without hesitating. nightfall, six more Palestinians had been killed in the In the international arena, the Israeli government found itself on the defensive. Palestinian leaders, on give legal recognition to the settlers’ already-existing hunger strike in East Jerusalem, called for a U.N. vigilante squads; on the other hand, Arens also Observer Force to be stationed in the Occupied Ter­ performed some cautious good-will gestures towards ritories, in order to protect their inhabitants. This the Palestinians such as the gradual re-opening of demand gained extensive international support, and universities, or the release of several hundred pris­ at some point it seemed that the United States, too, oners (out of about 10,000). would support - or at least not veto - such a The government also invited a senior U.N. official Security Council resolution. Paradoxically, Shamir to visit the Occupied Territories, as a symbolic was bailed out, at the last moment, with help from the substitute to the vetoed observer force; and even Palestinian side. hard-liner Housing Minister Sharon participated in For two years a Palestinian commando unit, belong­ the show of moderation by announcing that Soviet ing to The Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF), has Jews “will not be directed to settle in the Occupied been secretly training in Libya, in preparation for an Territories”, whatever the value of such a pledge may eventual sea-borne raid on the Israeli shores. In the be. (There is nothing to stop new immigrants - or wake of the Rishon le-Tzion massacre, PLF leader native Israelis, for that matter - from going, without Abu-Abas decided to send his men into action on being “directed”, to settlements where housing is May 30. Some of them did manage to land south of cheaper). Tel-Aviv, but all were soon killed or captured by the Moreover, the government has started flirting with Israeli army. After a week’s interrogation, the PLF Syrian President Hafez el-Assad, until recently por­ force’s deputy commander, Muhammad Abu-Shash, trayed as Israel’s arch-enemy; by some accounts, appeared on Israeli television. According to this regular channels for direct and indirect communica­ interview, the commandos had been ordered to enter tions between Jerusalem and Damascus are, by now, the H ilton hotel in Tel-Aviv, kill everybody, including well established. But it is very doubtful if, in return women, children and old people and then proceed to for peace with Syria, the Shamir government would the American Embassy to do the same there**. be willing or able to evacuate the Syrian Golan Shamir used to the full his propaganda advantage; Heights, occupied since 1967, and formally annexed first - to obtain an American veto on the dispatch of in 1982. U.N. observers, and second - to undermine the U.S. In the absence of a real peace process, there will be dialogue with the PLO. The PLF is a component of another war. The signs of escalation are already the PLO, and its leader has a seat on the Executive clearly discernable, and the possibility of war is Committee - the PLO’s equivalent of a cabinet. openly discussed by political leaders on both sides Therefore, the Bush administration considered the (for example, the dramatic statements of Defence raid to be a violation of the conditions under which Minister Arens, on July 24). The rather crude threats the U.S. entered into dialogue with the PLO. against Israel, made by Iraqui President Sadam I Hussein, have won him an unexpected amount of Due to its very program and composition, many support among a Palestinian people grown tired of Israelis could not help feeling totally alienated from endless diplomatic initiatives which brought them Shamir’s self-styled “National Jewish Government”. nothing tangible. Indeed, it is no accident that Abu- Abroad, too, the new government received a cool Abas is long known to be Sadam Hussein’s prot6g6 welcome. In the United States - the foreign country inside the PLO. most vital to all Israeli governments - the adminis­ With no perceptible advance towards freedom, tration, Congres, public opinion and even a signif­ resentment and frustration among the Palestinians icant part of the Jewish community all manifested will continue to build up, until a new catalist sets their displeasure. In response, Shamir and his min­ them off; King Hussein of Jordan - faced with a isters made considerable efforts to improve their worsening economy and rising fundamentalism as image. The massive wave of repressive measures - well as with a large discontented Palestinian popula­ which the government’s extreme right wing intended tion - might not survive; a Jordanian civil war would for the Occupied Territories - did not (so far) draw in the Israeli army from the West, the Iraqui materialise. Defence Minister Arens did promise to army from the East, and the Syrians from the North;

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With the computerization of subscription records, receipts will from now on be sent on request only! The reporter had been briefed by the er, the police actions received Revenge army which questions to ask, and Abu- unfavorable comments in the media, Shash apparently had been instructed and it did not disperse about 250 On June 1 Amir Avramson, an what to answer. In addition, the Israeli in a wheelchair, arrived at military censorship went over the film demonstrators who gathered on the bedside of Jamal Abu-Daga, before it was broadcast. A s one o f them the following day near Shamir’s one of the Palestinians severely form ulated it: Under these circum­ residence; nor did the Rishon wounded at Rishon le-Tzion. Avr­ stances it would have been better to police interfere with the vigil amson became a cripple a year ago, tell the army to conduct the orchest­ organized by inhabitants of that when the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem bus rated interview themselves. town at the site, at six in the (Ha’aretz, 7.6.’90). on which he was traveling was mourning, twenty four hours after. forced into a ravine by a Palestinian, I This whole week was full of and 16 oth er passengers w ere nervous action. Every day brought killed. protests of different kinds; demon­ After some initial hesitations, Protests and dilemmas strations and vigils took place in they started to talk and agreed that In the morning hours of May 20, towns, in kibbutzim, at the univers­ revenge is of no avail. Abu-Daga telephones were constantly busy in ities, and - several times again - said: I worked ten years in Rishon the houses of many peace activists. on the site of the massacre itself. le-Tzion and got along fine with As soon as the horrible news from University lecturers stopped their Jews, until that Black Sunday. Rishon le-Tzion came, frantic lectures or prefaced them with Avramson was quoted on the radio consultations between the different strongly-worded statements; there as saying: Long before I boarded groups began. It was immediately was a protest meeting of writers, that fatal bus, I believed that Israel decided not to adhere to the and also a rally of Jewish and Arab should talk to the PLO and make normal procedures - asking the trade unionists, surprisingly initi­ peace. What happened only strength­ police for a permit and waiting five ated by the hide-bound, bureau­ ened me in that belief. days for its answer: within hours, cratic Histadrut Federation. Many A few weeks later, an official some hundred mostly Tel-Avivian Israeli solidarity delegations visited commemoration was organized on activists went, some with cars and the Palestinian leaders, on hunger the bus attack’s anniversary. All others by bus, to Rishon le-Tzion. strike in East Jerusalem; protesters survivors but one were invited. They gathered at the desolate picketed the halls where the “Jeru­ Amir Avrahamson did not receive place a kilom etre south of the city, salem Festival” continued to present an invitation. the “slave market”, where Israel’s a colourful pageant*, while two most rightless labor reserve, the kilometres away, in East Jerusalem, and in the ensuing Middle Eastern Palestian workers from the Ter­ Palestinian demonstrators were War, the use of chemical or nuclear ritories, have to stand in the early brutally beaten up. weapons may well be accepted as morning and offer themselves for The leaders of all parliamentary “a calculated risk”. a day’s unskilled work. At about parties, right and left, were quick Such a war is far from inevitable; six A.M. this morning, it had to condemn the Rishon le-Tzion but its prevention requires strong become the site of a cynical massa­ massacre. In the general Jewish and prompt action, both from the cre. Israeli public, however, after the U.S. administration and from the It was not a common demonstra­ first shock was over more and European community - whose tion. There were few placards; more reactions could be heard power and ability to act in world most participants held mourning like: why make so much fuss about affairs was greatly enhanced by the candles in their hands, struggling the action of one madman, or: why dramatic changes of the past year. to keep the little flames burning in weren’t you demonstrating when In normal circumstances, the cit­ the strong wind. On the side of the Arabs murdered Jews. Peace de­ izens of a sovereign state are road, some bloodstains were still monstrators were at times dismayed bound to resent outside interference visible. by certain by-passers, who actually with, and pressures on their coun­ The Rishon le-Tzion police - expressed glee at the killings. try’s government. The present who were not there when the Such sentiments were tapped by situation is far from ordinary; murders took place - appeared the notorious Rabbi Meir Kahane, under these circumstances, many and demanded the dispersal of the who sought to hold in Rishon le- Israelis are likely to welcome outside “illegal gathering”; after short Tzion a demonstration in support interference and regard it as salva­ negotiations, the mourners were of the massacre. Incredibly, the tion. allowed to stay for another half Supreme Court ruled this demon­ hour. The editor stration to be legal, though two *It should be mentioned that the police The Jerusalem police was less years before it banned Kahane had orders not to shoot and kill - as the generous; a group of protesters at from running in the Knesset elec­ army did the day before - but to regain the Prime Minister’s residence tions. In the event, Kahane and his control by using their clubs and carrying was dispersed with tear gas, and handful of supporters were out­ out massive arrests during the following numbered by Peace Now counter­ weeks. two demonstrators detained. The demonstrators, who drowned out ** Ha’aretz published some critical police then proclaimed a total ban notes by television officials about the on demonstrations in Jerusalem Kahane’s speech, shouting: Racist, procedures adopted for this interview. “until tempers cool down”. Howev­ fascist, go to prison! The biggest manifestation to follow held inviolate. Such a tendency significance: in 1948 their fathers, the massacre took place on the was clearly reflected in the Knesset Moshe Dayan and Abd-el-Kadr evening of May 26; many thousands speech of KM Shulamit Aloni of Husseini, were in command of marched through the streets of Ratz, at the debate on Shamir’s respectively the Jewish and the Tel-Aviv, under the Peace Now new cabinet. She said: This govern­ Palestinian forces in the Jerusalem banners, carrying candles. The ment calls itself a "Nationalist area.) Talking at the Jewish Fed­ march ended in a giant rally at the Government’'. In any western country eration Headquarters in Los Ang­ Municipality Square, with speeches of our day and age, a government eles, Dayan explicitly called upon by the writer Amos Oz, an im­ would be ashamed to style itself U.S. Jews to stop supporting the pressive and candid outcry of Bir thus. This government is committed Israeli government’s policies, telling Zeit lecturer Azmi Bishara (who is to “The Greater Israel" ideology. her audience: You don't support an Israeli citizen) and prominent How different is that from “The racism. How, then, could you support members of Mapam and Ratz. The Greater Germany" which the Third Shamir’s government, when you see participants were variously esti­ Reich wanted to create in Eastern who are behind it, and what is its mated at between thirty and fifty Europe at the expense of the Slavs? program? (Ha’aretz, 12.6.1990) thousand - by no means a poor When challenged to retract that • showing. Yet, many of the partici­ comparison, since it might hurt the The idea of refusing military pants were left with a feeling of feelings of holocaust survivors, service in the Occupied Territories disappointment and frustration. KM Aloni replied: Very well, I is spreading among people who Although it is comforting, after retract it. Will it make you feel better would not even think of it in the nightmarish days, to be together if, instead, I compare “Greater past. Index, the local weekly of with many thousands in a peace Israel’’ to Benito Mussolini’s “Greater Ramat Gan, appeared in the week manifestation, this demonstration Italy"? of 12 July with a main article was not as big as it could have • dealing with Ofer Gur-Aryeh, a been, as previous ones on the same One of the sources of criticism local councillor for Ratz who was spot had been. Was this demonstra­ against the Peace Now leadership imprisoned on July 3. H e was very tion an event big and decisive was its refusal to join the demand positively depicted; his act of enough to prevent the formation for a U.N. observer force in the conscience was dealt with respect­ of Shamir’s right-wing government Occupied Territories. This position fully, not at all as the sensational or stop the escalation towards of Peace Now disappointed its behavior of “another of those war? Palestinian interlocutors, such as softies”. Feisal Husseini; also disappointed Another well-publicized refuser Workers’ hotline was the Italian peace movement, was reserve Captain Dani Zamir, The Rishon le-Tzion massacre when Peace Now rejected its pro­ who chose to spend a month in drew attention to the situation of posal to organise joint Israeli- prison rather than be in command the Palestian workers in Israel, European delegations of peace of a paratrooper company at Nablus. exposed to exploitation and to activists, which would tour Euro­ Upon his release from prison, numerous humiliations in their pean capitals and lobby for greater Zamir marched from the Fallen daily life. The recently established European involvement in the Mid­ Paratroopers’ Memorial at Tel- Kav la-Ovdim (Workers Hotline) dle East. Nof (south of Tel-Aviv) to Jeru­ undertakes their defence. This The idea of U.N. observers in the salem, retracing the route which small group of dedicated Israeli Territories did get the public sup­ trainee paratroopers must cover; volunteers needs support, financial port of several other major peace in solidarity, Zamir was joined on and other. A comprehensive article organizations, such as Yesh G’vul his two-day “civil courage march” on the group’s work will be pub­ and The Twenty-First Year; another by a group of 50 supporters; soldiers lished in our next issue. of its supporters is Oman Yekutieli, of Zamir’s reserve unit and friends Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem of the from the peace movement marched C o n tact: Kav la-Ovdim, 62 Ahad Ha'am St., Tel-Aviv, phone: (03)390661 Ratz Party. Their position was side by side. denounced as “treasonable” by Zamir’s being a kibbutznik, and Likud KM Uzi landau, who was the kibbutz’s traditional devoted With Abu-Abas’ abortive raid, especially infuriated that it was loyalty to the army, made this and the subsequent banner head­ expressed during a meeting with mediagenic act of disobedience lines in the Israeli papers Terrorists the visiting Jean-Claude Aim6e, even more significant. Kibbutz Intended Mass Murder, Sham ir U.N. Secretary General’s deputy. Ayelet Hashahar - of which Zamir regained the political initiative; Shortly after the radical groups’ is a member - was subject to a hot the peace camp fell to self-searching meeting with Aim6e, Peace Now debate and a split of its members and heated discussions on ways to also took a step which involved into two camps, pro or contra break the deadlock. some “washing of dirty laundry Zamir. A similar debate is raging To many in the peace movement, outside”. Peace now activist (and in many other kibbutzim. At the the only way forward seems to be Labor Party member) Ya’el Dayan July 20 conference of the (Labor- through radicalization in both set out on a U.S. tour, jointly with affiliated) United Kibbutz Move­ word and deed, the breaking of Palestinian activist Feisal Husseini. ment, a stormy debate broke out; a taboos and restraints previously (Their combination is of special group of young delegates, including several refusers, challenged the the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Strictly speaking, such squatting kibbutz leadership’s position which after the festival held a special per­ on public lands is illegal; however, formance at the prison where soldiers advocates “obedience to the orders the homeless squatters enjoy such of a legally-elected government”. who refused to serve in the Occupied Territories are held. strong public support that no « Another festival participant, the Greek mayor dares order them evicted by W hile there is a growing tendency singer and Parliament Member Maria the police; indeed, most mayors Farandouri, discovered from Israeli in the peace movement to radical- were quick to give the shantytowns peace activists the true nature of the official recognition and provide isation, in reaction to a sharpening festival and - before giving her per­ situation, there is also a tendency formance - declared to the audience them with water and other munici­ in a different direction. One of the her sympathy with the Palestinian pal services. Nevertheless, with main tasks which the peace move­ struggle for statehood. the passage of time bringing no ment sees for itself is converting solution, the protest of the homeless those Israelis who are, as yet, • is becoming increasingly fierce, undecided. For some this means with violent demonstrations, clashes making m ore and m ore substantial In tents with the police, the burning of compromises. buses and actions such as the A macchiavellian example was The influx of Soviet Jews into occupation of the Bat-Yam Town given by a number of prominent Israel has aroused great apprehen­ Hall, on July 19. Labor doves, who chose to back sion in the Arab world; all the the hawkish Yitzchak Rabin in his Israeli government’s reassurances NO COPYRIGHT could not dispel fears of massive Articles published in The Other Israel challenge of Shimon Peres’ leader­ may be reprinted, provided that their ship. According to these doves, deportations and expulsions of content is faithful to the original, and Rabin - exactly because of his Palestinian inhabitants, to make does not change or distort it in any image of brutality acquired during place for the Jewish newcomers. way, and that the name of The Other Nor could the Palestinian fears be Israel, and Its address (P.O.B. 956, the Intifada - may attract Likud Tel-Aviv 61008, Israel) are mentioned. voters and win the elections for dismissed as totally baseless, espe­ Labor; by gaining strong positions cially considering that at least one With his characteristic bluntness, in Rabin’s vicinity, the doves hoped of the parties supporting Shamir’s the new Housing Minister, Ariel to bring him around, once in government openly advocates just Sharon, pressured the government power, to a more positive, peace- such massive expulsions. Para­ right away into giving him emer­ seeking policy... All of these calcula­ doxically, however, it is young gency powers for the confiscation tions were, however, upset by Israeli Jews - some of them fresh of lands and erection of “quick Peres’ unexpected recovery and from military service in the Occu­ housing”. These new powers arous­ his retention of the Labor Party pied Territories - who are turned ed wide opposition: from mayors leadership. out of their homes, to make place and Interior Ministry officials, Others inside the peace movement for the Soviet immigrants. This whose planning powers Sharon advocate a more positive strategy situation came about through the usurped; from environmentalists; which could result in widening the simple operation of the market from archeologists; from peace peace movement’s scope: the peace mechanism: each Soviet Jewish groups, wary of a Sharon plan to camp should not be interested in family gets from the government a drive native Israelis - instead of only one kind of (in)justice, but monthly grant of $400*, to pay its Russian Jews - into settlem ents in should become more involved in rent. Within a few months, the the Occupied Territories**; from social struggles in general. This Soviet immigrants snapped up Arab citizens, who feared that would make the motives of the practically all the available free Sharon would use his new powers struggle for peace more understand­ appartments, and caused rents in for expropriating Arab lands inside able for the poorer Jewish Israelis general to rise steeply. Even small the pre-’67 borders, and carry out - who at present are the main appartments, previously rented such projects as the “Judaisation power base of the Likud and the for $150 or $200 a month, now go of Jaffa” (see sep. article). On July religious parties. A case in point is for $400 and more. Young Israeli 17, the Supreme Court stripped the problem of the homeless, which families, many of whom have in­ Sharon of his emergency powers; has reached enormous proportions comes totalling no more than $500 it ruled that a recently passed bill, in recent weeks (see follow ing or $600 a month, have no chance of simplifying the procedures for article). paying such rents, and a growing approving construction permits, *The directors of the (government- number of them are turned out might be sufficient to solve the funded) “Jerusalem Festival” - celebrat­ onto the streets. Construction Crisis. ing “United Jerusalem” - have kept Overnight, shantytowns and “tent So far, the homeless themselves nearly all politically relevant events out cities” have sprang up in parks, have rejected all offers of housing of their program; they concentrated on empty lots and public lands in at settlements in the Territories. In “exotic'' performers imported from more than fifty sites all over Israel, different countries (especially from numerous demonstrations, they Eastern Europe, newly friendly to with new ones springing up nearly reiterated demands for cheap hous­ Israel). The only significant exception every day; overnight “the homeless” ing in their own town. Despite the was the San Fransisco Mime Troupe have become a social and political fact that many social groups and which presented a tragi-comic play on problem of paramount significance. political factions are involved in this movement, a fair amount of Tensions were already high because flowing with black-clad demonstra­ intercity coordination has emerged; of the Jaffa Muslims’ struggle with tors. a clear feature is the homeless’ the government, which does not • view of housing as a right, and their allow them to elect officials to On the following Friday, as the refusal to becom e objects of casual manage their own communal prop­ women showed up for their regular charity. erty. Furthermore, 24 homeless vigils, they found themselves faced In Jerusalem Mapam people, and young families from the Jaffa with a concerted country-wide the radical “Black Panthers” are slums, two of them Jewish, have attack; everywhere, extreme-right involved in setting up and maintain­ set up a tent shantytown. N ear it, a demonstrators appeared on the ing a shantytown near the Knesset; solidarity demonstration is due to scene, bearing numerous Israeli in Be’er Sheba, the tents for the take place on July 28. flags - whose poles, it soon turned local “tent city” were donated by Recent events are also sure to add out, could also be used as weapons. Bedouins, through the Association an extra dimension to the yearly The right-wing action was organized for the Defence of Bedouin Rights. Volunteer Work Camp which will by three factions who overcame, This is quite remarkable, since take place in Jaffa from August 3 for the purpose their mutual rivalry. past Israeli social movements were to 10. The participation of Israelis The most serious incident took often extremely suspicious towards from the peace movement, as well place at Haifa, where the rightists everything coming from “leftist as of foreigners is expected; all will assaulted women and tore their peaceniks”. work for one week, side by side placards, with the police doing *Since the huge inflation of the early with Jaffa Arabs, in community nothing. Indeed, when Khaled 1980’s, rents in Israel are reckoned in work (cleaning streets, gardening Furani - a young Haifa Arab - U.S. Dollars, rather than in Israeli etc.). currencey. attem pted to help his sister against Contact: The League for the Arabs of her assailants, he was severely * 'Such suspicions were voiced, for Jaffa, 73 Yefet St. POB 41087, Jaffa; example, by KM Yossi Sarid (Ha’aretz ph: (03)812290. beaten by the policemen, who 8.7. ’90) detained him for 24 hours “on I suspicion of violent and unruly Jaffa behavior”. At noon on July 18, a group of Women in Black A few days later, members of the demonstrators picketed the en­ racist Kach Party broke into the trance to the Tel-Aviv City Hall. under attack Kol Haneshama Synagogue in Strictly speaking, the city whose The first week of June - marking Jerusalem, during a (non-public) administration is located in that twenty-three years of Israeli Military meeting of the Women in Black. building is known as Tel-Aviv- rule in the Occupied Territories - Yelling racist and sexist insults, Jaffa, two cities united into one in was the occasion of a series of the intruders began to smash the 1948; however, the demonstrators protest actions undertaken by Synagogue fixtures (belonging to - organised by the League of Jaffa different peace groups. There the Jewish Reform movement, the Arabs - disputed Mayor Shlomo were rallies by students and lec­ Synagogue is regarded by the ultra­ Lahat’s right to call himself “Mayor turers on the campuses, and the orthodox Kach as a den of iniquity). of Jaffa”, after he announced plans initiative of many Israeli and Pal­ In this case, too, the police, when it for the fJudaisation” of Jaffa. The estinian artists - painters, sculptors, arrived on the scene, did nothing Arabs have already become a photographers, poets and dancers to intervene, and let the women minority of 30% in Jaffa, whereas - who presented their respective evict the intruders on their own - in the whole of metropolitan Tel- creations at Kibbutz Giv’at Haviva, which they did after half an hour’s Aviv, 18,000 Arabs constitute a in a two-day event entitled “A struggle. small enclave among a million frontier of Peace”. After an intervention by the Associ­ Jews. Most of them live in slum Some 150 Yesh Gvul activists ation for Civil Rights’ lawyers, the conditions which are among the marked the “Green Line” (pre-’67 police announced its willingness to worst in Israel. In 1982, a parliamen­ border), with long green nylon defend the vigils. However, in tary commission recommended sheets; the site chosen was the so- return the police demanded that the construction of 750 housing called “Trans-Samaria Highway”, the women change the locations of units for young Arabs; of these, serving a number of settlements. their vigils and choose “safer” only 80 were actually built, 28 of Out of everybody, the Women in sites. In most towns, the women which are now “frozen”, with the Black achieved the greatest impact. decided to eschew this dubious apparent intention of reserving On Friday, June 8, they invited protection, and to defend them­ them for Soviet Jews. the members of other groups - selves. In this they were quite Under a storm of protests Mayor men as well as women - to join in successful, with many new partici­ Lahat had to backtrack: he had their regular visits. Motorists could pants joining in the endangered been “quoted out of context”; he see the vigils at no less than thirty vigils. The right-wingers still main­ would certainly like to see Soviet junctions, all over Israel; for those tain counter-vigils at a distance immigrants come to Jaffa, but “by who missed seeing them in the from the women, but have been no means at the Arabs’ expense”. flesh, the television evening news dissuaded from new provocations. It remains to be seen what the prominently featured the sights of C ontact: Women in Black, c/o Dita municipality’s true intentions are. France Square in Jerusalem, over­ Bitterman, 209 Dizengoff St, Tel-Aviv Dialogue update The court was recessed until mous Abu-Abbas raid took place. October. At that time, the police As can be expected, such attacks Abie Nathan, who-fresh from prosecution will present its case. cause doubts and misgivings among prison-met again with Yasser The prosecution is headed by an some in the peace movement. A rafat (see TOI-41, p.4) was inter­ officer at the rank of “S’gan- Thus, on June 11, columnist Yaron rogated by the police on May 18, a Nitzav” (Deputy-Commissioner) - a London-while in favor of dialogue day after he came back. For an far higher rank than in normal with the PLO - expressed in Yediot hour and a half Nathan provided Magistrate’s Court trials. The Aharonot, his doubts as to whether his interrogators with full details prosecution witnesses will include this dialogue could go on “with the of his meeting, asking them to pass Yigal Karmon, the Prime Minister’s continuous shedding of Jewish to the government the message Adviser on Terrorism. It seems blood”. that Arafat is willing to help in the that the authorities chose to make Despite such feelings, however, release of Israeli prisoners held in an example of Ish-Shalom, singled the dialogue goes on. In the first Lebanon. A video-cassette showing out of the many others who partici­ half of June, Ratz KM Mordechai the meeting, which Nathan gave to pated in the same meetings. Wirshuvsky appeared in several the television, was in the last Solidarity letters to: joint press conferences with Arafat minute prevented from being broad­ David Ish-Shalom, Moshav Beit-Zait, advisor, Basam Abu-Sharif, in cast by order of The Israeli Broad­ House 22, Israel 90815. Canada. In the beginning of July, a casting A uthority’s director. In the more extensive dialogue took place meantime, the Attorney-General Settler dialogue at Uppsala University in Sweden. presented charges against Nathan. Since the beginning of 1990, a Among the Israeli participants If found guilty, the authorities will were former Foreign Ministry not be able to avoid having this group of settlers from Efrat, on the West Bank, established a regular Director-General Avraham Tamir popular national hero in prison for (Labor Party) and Ratz KM Dedi another period. dialogue with Palestinians. So far, seven meetings took place. Among Zucker. The PLO was represented C ontact: Abie Nathan, c/o The Voice by Nabil Shaath of the Palestine o f Peace Radio Station, P.O.B. 4399, the Palestinian participants were a Tel-Aviv 61043. university lecturer, the head of an National Council and PLO repre­ sentative in Holland, Afif Safieh; I Islamic Association, and inhabitants there were also prominent Pales­ As the Hungary Eight and the of nearby Refugee Camps. On the settlers’ side were a rabbi and an tinians from the Occupied Ter­ Romania Four are still waiting for investigator of Nazi war crimes. ritories. Sweden’s Foreign Minister the conclusion of their respective Stan Anderson participated, as did trials, so far no news (or it should One of the Palestinians told H a’aretz well-known Swedish academics; be that Latif Dori was invited by (22.6.1990): It is not enough for us to meet Kibbutzniks or members of Peace the latters’ presence gave the the Cuban Peace Committee - and Now; we have to talk to those Israelis, gathering the status of “an academic brought back from Havana the who d on’t accept our people’s rights. conference”, in whose framework message of his hosts’ commitment A settler participant stated: We proved to Israelis are not prohibited from to Israel’s existence and security, our Palestinian interlocutors that not being present in the same hall with as well as to the Palestinians’ all settlers are armed fanatics. PLO representatives. national aspirations and the need The Palestinians stated that they The discussions turned towards to speedily end the occupation). would have no objection to the the Abu-Abbas affair and its conse­ I settlers’ staying on, where they quences; the Palestinian partici­ In David Ish-Shalom’s trial (see now live, after a Palestinian state pants stated that the PLO is willing TOI-41, p.4) his lawyer, Yosef is created. to punish Abu-Abbas - but only if, Bard of Tel-Aviv, invited as expert One of the settlers, Sheldon in return, the U.S. will upgrade the witnesses General (Res.) Dr. Matti Segall, placed a banner on the roof level of its dialogue with the PLO; Peled and the orientalist Yossi of his house reading:Forpeace, we the PLO representatives did not Amitay (both ICIPP members) to must negotiate on the future of hide their disappointment with the prove that meeting with the PLO Efrat! former low-level dialogue, which no longer constitutes “meeting He told Yediot Aharonot (28,6,1990): “in a year and half did not bring with a terorist organization”. In I came to Israel from the U.S. as a the Palestinians a single step for­ their long testimonies they gave supporter of Meir Kahane. I was in ward”. favor of throwing out all Arabs. But I On his return to Israel, KM detailed information on the process was wrong. The Intifada will go on for by which the PLO has become a many more years, and the government Zucker was asked in a radio inter­ mainly political organization, a can’t stop it. There is only one way left - view: When even the Americans sort of govemment-in-exile. Testify­ give back the Territories in return for suspend their dialogue with the ing on his own behalf, Ish-Shalom peace. We can’t go on like this. PLO, should not you, an Israeli, do stated: I have decided to dedicate the same? my life to the cause of Israeli- On May 27 a bomb, apparently Zucker replied: On the contrary! Palestinian peace, and as a symbol planted by Palestinians, exploded Especially in times o f rising tensions of this decision, 1 have changed my in the Jerusalem marketplace, and war threats, peace-seekers on family name from “De-Buton" to causing the death of a 73-year old both sides must intensify their "Ish-Shalom" (Man of Peace). Israeli. Three days later the infa­ efforts. Former “Likud dove” Moshe manslaughter, but of “criminal family residence, where it was Amirav, now in the liberal Shinuy negligence” - and sentenced to received by Kaid Salah’s young Party, represents his new party in five months. A hundred rabbis children and many of his relatives. the Municipal Council of Jerusalem, gathered a few days later, and On the rabbis’ side, the leniency with the special duty of coordinating declared Levinger to be “a hero in which Levinger had received from municipal activities in East Jeru­ the pioneering mould”. It was on the courts was condemned strongly; salem. Amirav took the step of that occasion that the influential it was emphasized that people asking the PLO’s approval for the Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Neria advocated dedicated to upholding the sanctity municipality’s plans to rehabilitate shooting in all directions, when of human life can do nothing but the Shuafat Refugee Camp. As confronted by Palestinians (see actively show their solidarity with Amirav stated in an official munici­ editorial). the victims. The visitors mentioned pality document, no plan concerning Most Israelis, however, considered that large segments of the Israeli the refugees has a chance o f success the court’s verdict to be an encour­ people - and Jews abroad as well without the PLO’s agreement. agement rather than a punishment. - felt that Levinger’s provocative (Ha’aretz, 11.7.1990). On television Levinger was shown action and the sectarian support A few weeks earlier, H a ’aretz going to prison on the shoulders of given him, especially within rabbinic (23.5.1990) published Amirav’s his cheering supporters - less circles, were a disgrace to God and comprehensive plan for dividing then a week before the Rishon le- contrary to universal religious the sovereignty in Jerusalem be­ Tzion tragedy. teachings. tween Israelis and Palestinians, I Rev. Canon Shehadeh expressed while keeping the city adminis­ the solidarity of the Palestinians On that same 14th day of May, a tratively united. Amirav wrote that within the Green Line (Israeli less conspicuous group set out in this plan was already presented to Arabs). Their dual identity, being the opposite direction. Four rabbis senior PLO members and won Palestinians as well as Israelis, and two Palestinian Christian priests their approval. demonstrates the role this com­ joined a delegation organized by munity can play in bridging between Clergy for Peace, which went to • the two peoples and building the Hebron in order to visit the Moslim understanding and trust necessary family of Levinger’s victim. The for peace. Rabbis following account was obtained An overwhelming graciousness from Rabby Jeremy Milgrom, one On May 14, Rabbi Moshe Lev- and warmth was shown by the of the participants. inger, leader of the Israeli settlers bereaved family. A rabbi summed in Hebron, set out on his way to Clergy for Peace contacted Dr. up the visit, saying: We came to Eyal prison, accompanied with Ahmed Hamzi Natshe, a prominent console, and we were comforted. Hebronite, and asked him to inquire great fanfare by hundreds of armed C ontact: Clergy for Peace, P.O.Box settlers. During his twenty-year whether the Salah family would 8343, Jerusalem 91083; tel: (02)710892. long leadership of the most fanatic meet with a group of Israeli clergy or: Friends of Clergy for Peace, 1042 wing among the settlers Levinger which wanted to convey its condole- Sierra Street, Berkeley, CA 94707, was never before sentenced to ances, as well as demonstrate U.S.A.; tel: (415)524-3144. imprisonment, although he had revulsion with Levinger’s actions % been convicted seven times of such and inciteful comments. When an offences as trespassing, assault affirmative response was received, and causing damage to property. a delegation was formed, consisting Kibbutz tribute On the eighth occasion, the rabbi of Revs. Canon Shehadeh of Kufr stood trial for killing somebody. In Yassif in the Gallilee and Suhail to Intifada September 1988 (the Intifada’s Dewani of Haifa, and of Rabbis There is a new landmark on the ninth month) Levinger drove with Eddie Feld, David Forman, Jeremy road to Gaza. On 20 June a metal his family through the center of Milgrom an'd Victor Reinstein, all sculpture was unveiled in the Hebron and encountered a group from Jerusalem. fields of Kibbutz Nahal-Oz over­ of Palestinian stone throwers. Since Firstly, the delegation was taken looking the Gaza-Be’ersheba high­ the soldiers of the nearby army by Dr. Natshe to the shop where way, just a kilometer before the checkpost did not respond to his Kaid Salah was at work until the checkpoint that marks the boundary exhortations, Levinger went back moment he was killed by Levinger’s of the Gaza Strip. The four-metre with his pistol and advanced up the indiscriminate shooting. Two of high monument bears the word street, shooting wildly in all direc­ his brothers described the events “Intifada” in Arabic, surmounted tions. Kaid Salah, a 42-year old of that day, and emphasized how by a white dove, together with an merchant who was standing with a Levinger was not in any physical inscription in Hebrew which reads: customer inside his shop, was hit danger whatsoever when he went “A dove of peace and hope awaits by several bullets and died on the on his shooting rampage, and that the day when infamy will end”. spot. Israeli soldiers were standing pas­ The monument was made by Levinger’s trial continued for a sively a few meters from the store Nahal-Oz member Geyzy Shavit, year and half. In the end he was throughout the episode. as an act of protest against the convicted, not of murder, nor of The entourage proceeded to the Israeli government’s refusal to take even the smallest step towards a P.S. Shortly afterwards, the settlers with “seditious literature”. A poem political solution to the Israeli- did make another nightly visit. considered to be especially seditious Palestinian conflict. It would be From the signs left on the scene it was entitled “An apology to the impossible to ignore my monument, seems that they worked hard - but stone”. In it the poet asks the says Shavit. Anyone travelling to or the m onum ent is still there. stones of the land to forgive him from Gaza will have to notice it. Contact: Geyzy Shavit, Kibbutz for having always treated them This Hill has played an important Nahal-Oz, Doar Na Negev 85145; with contempt. role in my life. Before 1967 we were phone (0)51-805328/805220. On June 13, police arrived at a border settlement, and there were Shafik Habib’s house, confiscating • incidents. I often stood sentry duty all of his poetry books, and taking here, as a guard against Palestinian him off to the Kishon jail. There, infiltrators from across the Gaza Ups and downs his reading glasses and medicines strip border. Then, when war broke of censorship against diabetes were taken away. out in 1967,1 went down the slopes He was provided with pen and underfire and helped dismantle the A parliamentary sub-committee, paper, not by the police but by a border landmines, to open the way chaired by Yossi Sarid of the Ratz (Jewish) cell-mate, and wrote a for the army columns moving towards Party and including two Labor and new poem. Gaza. two Likud KMs, has examined the There were people in the kibbutz practices of the Military Censorship, who criticized me and said the and unanimously recommended Born free ... monument was too radical. We are measures considerably reducing On June 3 ,19-year old Intisar El- affiliated to the Labor Party, you its scope, regarding both Hebrew Qak gave birth to her first child, know. But everybody was furious at and Arabic newspapers. The com­ while a prisoner. After her labor the settlers when they started to mittee recommends a reduction of pains began she was taken to make trouble. the number of items which are hospital with her legs and hands subject to censorship from 60 to manacled. Her legs were freed, but The monument in fact replaces a 15. Also, the committee recom­ her hands remained bound through­ previous one, built by Shavit several mends that all newspapers would out the birth and the following weeks earlier but stolen by right- be allowed to quote freely any in­ days. After her return to prison, wing extremists a few days after its formation already published else­ El-Qak was forbidden to show the installation. This earlier sculpture where; adoption of this proposal baby - a girl - to her parents, on depicted two hands, one holding a could mean the end of the censor­ the visit hour. stone and another raising two ship’s practice to forbid the Arab fingers in the “ V-for-victory” gesture The Women’s Organization For newspapers in East Jerusalem to used by Palestinian youths. Accord­ Political Prisoners (WOFPP) started publish Intifada-related articles ing to Shavit, these themes were a campaign and is gathering signa­ from the Hebrew or English- deliberately chosen in order to tures on a petition on behalf of language press. Defence Minister shock an Israeli public which has Intisar El-Qak. The authorities Arens is reportedly in favor of seem more and more annoyed with grown complacent to the horrors implementing the committee’s rec­ carried out in its name in the the activities of WOFPP. Since ommendations. Occupied Territories. April 5 Yosepha Pick, a lawyer Immediately after the theft of the • who works for WOFPP, is deprived first monument, Shavit started Shafik Habib, 49-year old, an of her right to see her clients work on its replacement. He also inhabitant of the Gallilee town without the presence of guards. lodged a police complaint against Deir-Hana and chief accountant She called upon the Israeli Bar the settler thieves who had made of a Nazareth bus company, has Association and is preparing an no effort to conceal their traces. written poetry for more than twenty appeal to the Supreme Court. One of them, Avi Farchan, had years. His poems are regularly Protest letters regarding Intisar El- even boasted to the press about his published by Israel’s Arab newspa­ Q ak to: Warden, Hasharon Prison, Israeli Prisons Authority, Israel; involvement in “getting rid of the pers, and he had them collected in volumes as well. Shafik Habib copies to: WOFPP, P.O.B. 31811, Tel- kibbutzniks’ traitorous monument”. Aviv, Israel started as a lyrical poet; gradually (WOFPP publishes a monthly newslet­ I am not able to mount a 24-hour his poetry became more political ter, available on request.) guard over the new monument, but - a tendency among Arab poets in this tim e it will be very difficult for Israel, which became manifest After a week’s detention, the Farchan and his cohorts to harm after censorship on Arab books Acre Magistrate’s Court released it,” says Shavit. “The monument was lifted in the early 1970s. In the Habib on bail, but imposed house weighs several tonnes, and it is past two years, the Intifada is a arrest on him “so that he could not firmly anchored in concrete. But main theme in his poems. A copy recite his poems inpublic”. Hewas even in case the settlers do manage of his recently published collection warned not to publish anything to uproot this monument, I will not “Back to the Future” was confis­ without submitting it to the Military give up; I have enough scrap metal cated from a Ramallah merchant, Censor. to make ten successive monuments, at a roadblock. The booklet was In the following week, Habib’s if necessary. sent to the department dealing modest house became a focus of pilgrimage for writers, political Copies to: The Committee o f Israeli Vanunu: activists, Knesset Members and and Palestinian Artists Against the journalists; several demonstrations Occupation, P.O.B. 6370, H aifa no reduction took place in front of the house, Contacts: The Association of Arab A fter months of deliberations the and Habib’s fellow Arab poets - Writers in Israel, P.O.B. 44913, Haifa Supreme Court decided, on May organized in two rival associations 31448; The Association of Palestinian Writers 28, to reject the appeal of Mordechai - united in expressing support for in Israel, P.O.B. 2396, Nazareth Vanunu. As things stand now him. The Hebrew Writers Associa­ Vanunu is going to spend 18 years tion, as such, remained conspic- • in complete isolation. He stands iously silent, but many of its prom­ guilty of treason. He revealed the inent members did participate in Michel Warshawski existence of nuclear bombs in the the growing protest activities. The Dimona pile (his former work­ On November 7, 1989, the Jeru­ Habib case received extensive place). As before, all proceedings salem District Court found peace coverage in the Hebrew press, and took place in camera. many of his poems appeared in activist Michel Warshawski, then Thus far, Vanunu failed to receive translation. the director of the Alternative the support he should have gotten Dr.Matti Peled of the ICIPP - Information Center (AIC) guilty from the peace movement. In fact, who is by profession an expert on of “giving services by negligence to many leading peace activists silently Arab poetry - exposed the falsifi­ a terrorist organization” (see TO I- agree with the “Nuclear Dove”, cations in the police translation of 39, p.5-6). The main evidence was Prof. Shai Feldman of Tel-Aviv Habib’s poetry, which was presented an Arabic manuscript captured in University, according to whom to the court. For example, the a police raid on the AIC office. Israel can afford to give up the phrase “The Martyr mocks the The AIC, which supplements its Occupied Terrirories (and make army, he mocks the guns and income by accepting printing orders, its borders more vulnerable) exactly explosives” was translated by the was going to typeset this brochure, because it has The Bomb. In police as “the Martyr mocks the which contained testimonies of practice, this cynicism amounts to army by means of guns and explo­ Palestinians who had undergone tacit compliance with the nuclear sives” and presented as a proof interrogation - and torture - by policies of governments who have that Habib is “inciting to an armed the Shabak. Its author, a West no intention of withdrawing to the insurrection”. Banker, was a member of an pre-’67 borders, and who are en­ On July 2, the Haifa District organization declared by the gov­ gaged in an ever-accelerating Mid­ Court released Shafik Habib from ernment to be “terrorist”. War­ dle East arms race. his house arrest. Thus he was able, shawski did not know that, when An Israeli anti-nuclear movement a few days later, to appear in Tel- he undertook to typeset the bro­ is vitally needed. The cadre for Aviv-where he got a hero’s wel­ chure; nevertheless, the court ruled such a movement may be found in come at a public meeting attended that his “negligence” should be the - as yet small and weak - by many of Israel’s foremost Jewish punished with 20 months’ imprison­ Committee for an Open Trial to and Arab poets, writers and literary ment. His lawyers appealed to the Mordechai Vanunu (COTMV). A critics. Supreme Court. It took the Judges big COTMV advertisement, pub­ However, victory is not yet assured. until June 28 to decide that War­ lished in H a ’aretz on June 1, Habib is still required to submit all shawski “did it”, but that 8 months demanded Mordechai Vanunu’s his works to the censor, and he were enough of a punishment. release and added a list of well faces a trial on the charge of Three days later, dozens of political thought-out demands. Among these “incitement to violence” and “identi­ friends (among them Matti Peled the call for the destruction of all fication with a hostile organization”. and Adam Keller of the ICIPP) nuclear, chemical and biological Moreover, during the past few gathered in front of the Ramleh weapons in the Middle East is months, Shafik’s printer - as well prison. They came not only to bid shown by nearly every news broad­ as several other Arab printers in farewell tjp Warshawski, but also cast to be of vital importance for Israel - received orders from the to protest the Supreme Court’s all the people living in the region. military censorship to submit to it verdict. This verdict - despite the reduction of Warshawski’s term - Contact: all books they intend to publish. COTM V P.O.B. 7323, Jerusalem. Shamir’s government apparently still implies that all Israeli typists, tries, step by step, to re-apply a typesetters, and printers have to long-forgotten “Emergency Regula­ act as censors and police informers, tion” - as if to compensate for the thoroughly investigating all materi­ Druze objectors als presented to them and notifying token goodwill gestures it made For members of the Druze com­ elsewhere. the police if they suspect anything to be illegal. The negative implica­ munity, unlike other Arab citizens, Letters (calling for an end to tions for freedom of the press are military service is compulsory in judicial proceedings against Shafik self-evident. Israel. In recent years, this policy H abib) to: is encountering growing resistance Letters of solidarity to: of the young Druze, hundreds of Attorney-General Yosef Harish, Michel Warshawski, P.O.B. 13, Camp Ministry of Justice, Salah-A-Din M a’asiyahu, Ramleh Prison Complex. whom fill the Israeli military prisons. St., East Jerusalem; Contact: AIC, P.O.B. 24278, Jerusalem. The Druze are likely to receive exceptionally harsh prison terms tions provides an opening through was claiming the Labor Party for refusal to serve in the Occupied which human beings can be shot leadership, relying on his alleged Territories, for wholesale refusal and killed. What is going on in the popularity with the Israeli public. to serve in the IDF, or for desertion. Occupied Territories, day after day, At the beginning of July, The In the Jewish public - including is nothing less than legalised murder. Twenty-First Year started an adver­ the peace movement - there is Contact: tisement campaign, calling for the little awareness of all this. B'Tselem, 18 Keren Hayesod St., prosecution of Rabin. This demand The case of 17-year old Adi N afa’a Jerusalem 92149; ph: (02)667271/4 was taken up by KMs Yossi Sarid did receive considerable press • and Dedi Zucker of Ratz. It also attention. After he was detained, In only a few cases were soldiers got the support of Likud KM because of his refusal to appear for prosecuted for their misconduct in Michael Eytan, who asked: When the army’s medical examinations, the Occupied Territories. Usually, soldiers who acted under Rabin‘s the police found out about his this happens when photographs orders are prosecuted, should Rabin being the son of (Communist) KM showing clearly the soldier’s face himself go scot-free? Muhammad Nafa’a. The following can be produced, or when a particu­ In the following Knesset debate a day he was released! lar case gets special attention from majority of Labor and Likud KMs Subsequently, newspapers pub­ Knesset Members and/or prom­ voted down all proposals to investi­ lished interviews with KM Nafa’a inent foreigners. gate Rabin’s conduct as a Minister - who, in his youth, was alo a The government seeks to portray of Defence, fearing a major shake- refuser - and with members of the these cases as “excesses”, an ex­ up of the entire military and Druze Initiative Committee, which ception to the army’s otherwise political establishment. defends the imprisoned soldiers impeccable behaviour. However, Meanwhile, Pandora’s box is not and calls for an end to Druze such court-martials are liable to yet hermetically closed. The court- conscription. turn into Pandora boxes, with the martials go on, with further unpleas­ At present, contacts are underway prosecuted soldiers and officers ant revelations being a distinct to establish closer cooperation implicating higher echelons. possibility. between the Druze Initiative Com­ The most sensational trial to date mittee and Yesh Gvul. is that of Colonel Yehuda Me’ir, a Contact: Governor of the Nablus District in Just married Druze Initiative Committee, c/o early 1988. At that time, he organ­ Women for Coexistence (W FO) Jamal Muadi, Yarka village 24967 ized nightly raids on the villages of opened a campaign on behalf of Beita and Hawara; dozens of “sub­ 25-year old In’am Zakut of Shati • versives” were taken out of their Refugee Camp in Gaza. beds, and had their arms and legs Zakut’s husband was deported to Pandora’s box systematically broken by club- Lebanon in August 1988 - one wielding soldiers. month after their marriage. On the evening of May 15, a This gruesome affair was first Since then, the military government hundred people gathered at a Tel- exposed by KM Yossi Sarid. The turned down all Zakut’s requests Aviv hall, where the B’tselem Army’s High Command hoped to for a permit to leave the country in human rights organization released close the case by having Col. M e’ir order to visit him. its latest report, dealing with the reprimanded, discharged and given Letters of protest to: army’s controversial “regulations a position in the Shabak (where his Minister of Defence Moshe Arens, on the opening of fire by soldiers”. particular talents might prove Hakirya, Tel-Aviv; (In nearly all cases when Palestinians useful?). However, the Supreme Copies to: WFO, c/o Thea Zigelman, were shot to death, the military Court accepted an appeal lodged 18 Zecharia St., Tel-Aviv 62592. investigators concluded that “the by The Association for Civil Rights soldiers had acted according to on behalf of the Hawara residents, regulations”.) and ordered the army to court- I Adam K eller’s widely published For two hours, B’tselem researcher martial Col. Me’ir. As his superiors report on the conditions in Athlit Ronni Talmor and the organiza­ had feared, Me’ir - once in the Military Prison forced the army to tion’s lawyers pointed out the dock - claimed that he had acted take some steps: the warden was contradictions and ambiguities in under orders, that similar actions reprimanded, the officer in charge these regulations. For example, had been taken by many officers in of the isolation ward was sacked, soldiers are only allowed to shoot other places, and that it was all and several guards are to be pro­ at an escaping man if they have part of (then) Defence Minister secuted. The army also promised reasonable grounds to suspect him Rabin’s “break their bones!” policy. to install toilets in the cells. of having committed “a serious Simultaneously, testimonies im­ However, The Association for crime”; but “serious crime” is plicating Rabin personally were Civil Rights was not allowed to defined in such a way as to allow heard in another court-martial, inspect the prison conditions inde­ the shooting of any Palestinian where soldiers stood trial for beating pendently, and testimonies of re- who covers his face. an inhabitant of Gaza to death. cently-released prisoners (H a’ir; Adv. Avigdor Feldman summed Ironically, at the time when these 20.7) indicate that the abuses still up: Every loophole in these regula­ revelations came to light, Rabin go on. to Yasser Arafat and to President Mubarak, who did U.S. punishes the dialogue his utmost to bring about the Cairo talks and to by Israel Loeff prevent the suspension of the American-PLO talks. ______The decision is also bound to strengthen the extrem- The American-PLO dialogue which opened at ist trends among the Palestinian people, especially Tunis in December 1988, while positive in itself, the Islamic fundamentalists who - in their dream of never took off to real heights. It was maintained at a Pan-Islamic state - oppose not only the existence the lowest diplomatic level. The U.S. government of Israel but even the creation of a secular Pales- continued to oppose any higher level meetings; in tinian state. contradiction to its obligations towards the U.N., it To sum up: the suspension of the dialogue will even refused to allow Arafat to attend the U.N. increase the very terrorism it purports to combat; General Assembly at New York, forcing the repre­ more than that, it may well bring closer a new Israeli- sentatives of more than 150 nations to a Geneva A rab war. roundabout. On the most significant issue - the composition of the Palestinian delegation to pro­ Judaisation of East Jerusalem spective talks with Israel in Cairo - the U.S. negotiated with the PLO only indirectly, through Egypt’s mediation. This situation could not go on for ever. The United States had in fact only one choice: either to raise the level of American-PLO dialogue, or to suspend it. The aborted landing of Abu-Abas’ commandos on the shores of Israel gave it a perfect pretext to do the last. In contrast with the European approach, the Ameri­ cans - in their policies towards the Palestinians - have always put the emphasis on the issue of terror­ ism. There can be no doubt that indiscriminate terrorism against civilians is to be condemned from a moral point of view and that it is counterproductive as well. This applies to all kinds of terrorism, regardless of whether they originate from liberation movements or from governments fighting them. However, there has always been some form of terrorism in the struggles of movements that are weak and unable to conduct conventional battles against a regular army. One still remembers that in Algeria, approximately one million people had to die before it was understood that only a political settle­ ment and the fulfillment of national aspirations could put an end to the spiral of violence. In fact, even if some acts of violence do continue, this should but strengthen the efforts to achieve a political settlement. Until the achievement of such a settlement, the gradual implementation of political rights (the right to political association, the right to demonstrate, etc.) could, to some extent, already lower violence and thus cool down the Intifada. Instead of furthering such concrete steps, the U.S. policy-makers let themselves become involved in a muddled and contradictory diplomacy. The adminis­ tration placed nearly the whole responsibility for the failure of the projected Cairo negotiations on the Shamir government; but it is the PLO with whom the Americans cut off their dialogue, while Shamir’s The map ("Ha’aretz, 11.7.90J shows the number of ministers continue to receive ceremonial welcomes housing units planned in various parts of Jerusalem, in Washington. for homeless Israelis and Soviet immigrants: nearly all The suspension of this dialogue can not be consid­ are projected for the Arab part o f Jerusalem, annexed ered anything but a reward for Shamir’s extremism. in 1967 (grey in the map). Sharon’spromise to refrain Moreover, the administration’s decision is a blow to from directing new immigrants to the Occupied Ter­ the more moderate trends in the Arab world, notably ritories, clearly did not apply to East Jerusalem.

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