The Oslo Agreement, The Road Map and the Geneva Agreement
2), to only mention these documents, all try to put back
the hands of the clock to zero and to forget the past. It
is easy for those that did not lose anything. However, any
solution imposed by outsiders that does not take account
of the losers, only reinforces their will to foil it. Therefore,
we need to start speaking about these losers, as many Jews
refusing injustice already do.
I. From the Land of Canaan to the Land of the Jews
The land in conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is
called "Canaan" in the Bible. It is the name that
God used to designate this land when he spoke to Abraham
(mythic or real, carnal or spiritual father of the Jews,
Christians and Muslims):
I will give to you, and to your offspring after you,
the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan,
for a perpetual holding (Genesis 17:8).
Never through history has this land belonged to only one
religious group. All groups who have been living there knew
persecution and expulsion: Canaanites, Jews, Palestinians,
Christians and Muslims.
Based on religious considerations, and invoking their history
of persecution, the Jews have attempted over the past century
to recover Palestine to turn it into a national homeland.
They have been helped in their endeavour by their Western
persecutors who wanted themselves to get rid of the Jews
and seek forgiveness, and presumably to maintain tension
in the region, enabling their intervention as well as the
sale of weapons.
Ben-Gurion, one of the founding fathers of the State of
Israel and its first Prime Minister, said in 1937 that Palestine
did not belong to its current inhabitants and that this
country will not have to solve the problems of two peoples
but of one, the Jews of everywhere 3).
This statement by Ben-Gurion continues in a straight line
the programme of the Zionist Movement founded in 1897 by
Theodor Herzl, which aimed to transform Palestine into a
homeland for the Jews only. Israeli terrorist groups such
as Stern and Irgun carried out this idea. They succeeded
in chasing out of the country three quarters of the non-Jewish
inhabitants 4) who according to the U.N. Partition Plan
of 1947 had to be considered citizens of the Jewish state
5). Shimon Peres in Le Monde of September 23, 1988 sums
up what happened in the past in Palestine unequivocally:
"For one hundred years the Zionist movement has been
dedicated to realize a Jewish majority in one single country,
the land of the Jewish people. The Jewish State means a
State in which Jews form a distinct majority".
II. Expulsion and destruction at the time of the creation
of Israel
The expulsion of the Palestinians was accompanied by a policy
of massive destruction of their localities. Israel Shahak,
Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the
first Israeli author to have unveiled the destruction of
the Palestinian villages after 1948 and the expulsion of
their inhabitants. He writes in this connection:
The truth about Arab settlements, which used to exist
in the area of the State of Israel before 1948, is one of
the most guarded secrets of Israeli life. No publication,
book or pamphlet, gives either their number or their location.
This of course, is done on purpose in order that the accepted
official myth of "an empty country" can be taught
and accepted in the Israeli Schools and told to visitors.
I believe that falsifying facts in this manner is a most
grave offence in itself, and also one of the most important
causes for prevention of any meaningful peace (not one based
on force and oppression). This falsification is especially
grave in my opinion, as it is accepted almost universally
outside the Middle East, and because the villages were -
in almost all cases - destroyed completely, with their houses,
garden-walls, and even cemeteries and tomb-stones, so that
literally a stone does not remain standing, and visitors
are passing and being told that "it was all desert".
I believe, therefore, that the first duty of any honest
man in Israel and outside it is to try to learn the truth
as much as he can 6).
The list established by Israel Shahak and verified by Christophe
Uehlinger, from the University of Fribourg, based on Israeli
maps mentioning the destruction 7), comprises 383 Palestinian
localities. We give here the number of those destroyed classified
by districts:
District of Safed:76
District of Ramleh: 54
District of Haifa: 45
District of Gaza: 45
District of Jerusalem: 37
District of Acre: 25
District of Tiberias: 24
District of Bisan: 22
District of Jaffa: 19
District of Hebron: 15
District of Tulkarem: 10
District of Jenin: 6
District of Nazareth: 4
District of Beersheba: 1
This represents about 81% of all Palestinian localities
that existed behind the frontiers before 1967. To these
villages should be added a large number of tribes expelled
or killed, a list of which is given by Prof. Shahak. In
addition, almost the entire non-Jewish population of the
cities of Tiberias, Safed, Majdal (Ashkelon), Isdud (Ashdod)
and Beersheba, was expelled, as was the large majority of
non-Jews from Lydda, Ramleh, Jaffa, Haifa and Acre. Those
who stayed were deported into ghettos 8).
The aim of the massive expulsion of non-Jews was to empty
the country. After expelling the non-Jews, the State of
Israel forged a panoply of legal devices to replace them
by Jews called in from abroad, to secure their majority
in the country and to deprive the Palestinians of their
own lands. Among these laws, it is necessary to mention
the Law of Return of 1950, which enables each Jew to immigrate
to Israel 9). An amendment of 1970 adds the following: "For
the purposes of this law, Jew means a person who was born
of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and
who is not a member of another religion" 10).
A law of 1952 confers automatically Israeli citizenship
to any Jew who had been living in Palestine before the creation
of the State of Israel and to any Jew who would come thereafter
11). An amendment of 1971 even allows conferring Israeli
citizenship to people without expecting them to move to
the country 12). Claude Klein writes in 1977: "Since
the adoption of this amendment, it seems that hundreds of
people have acquired citizenship by this very special way"
13).
The easiness with which a Jew can acquire the Israeli citizenship
contrasts with the difficulty a non-Jew will encounter to
acquire this citizenship even if he was born in Palestine.
This difficulty is reinforced by the forbidding to return
to their own country, imposed to the Palestinian refugees.
On May 11, 1949, the State of Israel was admitted as a member
to the United Nations Organization. In the preamble to Resolution
273 (III) concerning Israel's admission, reference is made
to Resolution 194 of December 11, 1948, which states that
"the refugees wishing to return to their homes and
live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted
to do so at the earliest practical date, and that compensation
should be paid for the property of those choosing not to
return and for loss of or damage to property which, under
principles of international law or in equity, should be
made good by the Governments or authorities responsible".
This right of return has been reiterated several times by
the United Nations 14) but was always rejected by Israel.
Some refugees have tried to reenter their country by clandestinely
crossing the border. Israel however chased them out of the
country. As the number of these infiltrators increased,
the Israeli army received orders to shoot without warning
at any person who attempted to return to their home 15).
In 1954, a law was introduced that provided heavy sanctions
against the infiltrators, and their reexpulsion. This law
was and is only applied against non-Jews who come back to
their own country 16).
The destruction of Palestinian villages by Israel is still
not finished. There are 122 Palestinian villages, inside
1967 Israeli borders, which are not recognised by Israel.
These villages are left without supplies of water, electricity
and medical services, by order of the Jewish authorities.
They are threatened with demolition and evacuation by Israel
in order to replace them by new houses for Jewish immigrants
17). The Palestinian inhabitants of these villages come
from destroyed localities from which they have been expelled.
They are also requesting the right to return to their lands.
Their number is estimated at 250,000 people, according to
a statement published November 19, 1999 18).
III. Expulsion and destruction after 1967
The expulsion of Palestinians by Israel has been going on
after the 1967 occupation. During the 1967 war, Israeli
bombers flying at low altitude above three camps near Jericho
made some 70,000 refugees flee to the other side of the
river Jordan. After the war (1967), they were not allowed
to return.
It is necessary to add to these figures 140,000 Palestinians
who left the occupied territories. Reasons of their departure
are multiple. Some went to join members of their families
who were living on the other side of the Jordan and from
whom they feared separation. Others were forced to leave.
One of the numerous measures aiming to rid the country of
its non-Jewish inhabitants is the deportation of women without
Israeli military identity cards and who are married to Palestinian
husbands from the occupied territories.
After the 1967 war, Israel again proceeded to destroy villages
of non-Jews, however on a smaller scale than immediately
after the creation of the Jewish State.
In the area of Latrun, the inhabitants of Beit-Nuba, Yalu
and Emmaus, were ordered to leave their villages before
the bulldozers pulled all houses to the ground. Land and
agricultural equipment were requisitioned and handed over
to the adjoining kibbutzim. On the site of these villages,
Israel planted a park called Canada Park for weekend outings,
financed by the generosity of the Canadian Jewish community.
According to a brochure distributed to visitors, the park
had cost 15,000,000 US dollars. As for the inhabitants,
they were not even allowed to bury their deads near their
ancestors. Some of them went to Jordan and others were put
in refugee camps 19). It is necessary to add to these destructions
of villages, thousand of houses demolished and thousands
of fruit trees uprooted by Israel to push Palestinians to
exile. Sharon's wall is part of this vast program of eradication
of the Palestinian people by the Jews.
Some Palestinian refugees managed to start a new life, but
others are still living in about sixty camps for refugees
ruled by the UNRWA, an organization created by the UN to
cover the crime that it committed against the Palestinians.
These camps are in Lebanon, in Syria, in Jordan, in West
Bank (20 camps) and in Gaza Strip (8 camps). This means
that the refugees are some kilometres away from their lands
and houses, forbidden to return there for the only crime
of being non-Jews, whereas Israel gives the right to all
Jews, including converts, to come and settle on the refugees'
lands and houses.
IV. Plans of transfer
Today many people in Israel are calling for the expulsion
of all Palestinians from the territories occupied by Israel
in 1967.
This project was already discussed in an article written
by Josef Weitz and published in the Israeli daily Davar
of September 29, 1967. Weitz was Deputy-Chairman of the
Board of Deputies of the Jewish National Fund from 1951
to 1973. For him the State of Israel, including the West
Bank, the Gaza strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan
heights, should remain a Jewish state with a small non-Jewish
minority not exceeding 15%. In the article, he reiterates
ideas he had written in his diary in 1940:
Among ourselves, it must be clear that there is no place
in this country for two people to live together... With
the Arabs, we shall not achieve our aim of being independent
people in this country. The only solution is Eretz Israel,
at least the West part of Eretz Israel, without Arabs...
and there is no other way but to transfer the Arabs from
here to the neighbouring countries, transfer all of them,
not one village or tribe should remain, and the transfer
must aim at Iraq, Syria and even Transjordan. For this purpose,
money will be found, much money; and only with this transfer
could the country absorb millions of our brothers. There
is no alternative... One should investigate now in the neighbouring
countries in order to determine their capacity to absorb
the Arabs of Eretz Israel 20).
Joseph Weitz showed method in his madness. Already in September
1948, he declared the need to continually harass the Palestinian
refugees to make them move as far as possible from their
former lands 21).
The Israeli General Zeevi, called Gandhi, proposed in a
Tel Aviv meeting in February 1988 to solve the demographic
problem of the occupied territories by transferring the
Palestinian inhabitants to neighbouring Arab countries.
He claimed, "There is no other solution that is more
humane and just than this one" 22). He reiterated his
proposal on Israeli radio on June 28, 1988 23). This General
did not say how he intends to proceed in the case of Palestinians
refusing to leave their homeland. Neither did he say what
crime these Palestinians had committed to be deported from
their own country nor what would be done with their lands
and possessions. In 2001, a few months before his assassination
by a FPLP commando, he compared the Palestinians to "snakes"
24). He was then the Minister of tourism.
The transfer should not be limited to Palestinians of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip, but extended to Palestinians who
live in Israel (called: Israeli Arabs), according to declarations
of the Israeli Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the Israeli
radio 25). An article appeared in Haaretz February 18, 2001
is even proposing the castration of Arabs and the payment
of an amount to any Arab who would accept to be castrated
26).
The Israeli Party Moledet has made a point of stipulating
in its political programme that all Palestinians living
in the West Bank or Gaza Strip should be transferred to
Arab countries 27).
If such a project would be achieved, it would not necessarily
put an end to the Zionist appetite whose final goal would
be the realization of the Greater Israel extending from
the Euphrates to the Nile, as delimited by the Bible (Genesis
15:18). Certainly, Israel has the military capacity to achieve
this ambitious project, especially thanks to the unconditional
American help and to fundamentalist Christians. But what
would be the price? Israel is already viewed by the majority
of Europeans as the biggest threat to world peace, before
North Korea, Iran and Afghanistan 28). The expulsion of
the Palestinians by Israel from the occupied territory and
an attempt to spread its borders beyond the Jordan River
will prove them right. This could lead to a general conflict
in the Middle East with unforeseeable consequences. Although
one should not exclude such an eventuality, we hope that
the lunacy of the Zionists and Christian fundamentalists
will never get to this point of no-return. Let us now look
at other proposed solutions.
V. Creation of two States
The International Community views the two-States solution
as the only possible one to the conflict between the Palestinians
and the Israelis, one state dominated by a Jewish majority,
and the other by a Muslim majority. All the propositions
have in common the exclusion of the refugees' right to return
inside the 1967 borders of Israel, although the Palestinians
continually reaffirm this right. Some propositions permit
the integration of a few thousands of refugees as a gesture
of goodwill on behalf of Israel. Other propositions forbid
even the Palestinian state to open its doors to the Palestinian
refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, whereas Israel
will keep the right to allow all Jews, including converts,
to come and settle in the Palestinian refugees' lands and
houses. The Palestinian state in question would not be a
State benefiting from all prerogatives of sovereignty. Thus,
its outside borders and airspace, as well as its water resources
will remain under the control of the Israelis. It will not
be allowed to get weapons or to have military alliances
that would threaten Israel. In short, it is nothing else
than a vassal State to Israel. The main goal of this solution
is to bury forever the Palestinian refugees' right to return
home and to legitimize the injustice committed by Israel
against them.
It is said that Hitler wanted to send a maritime fleet to
the Dead Sea. Someone pointed to him that it is a closed
sea without any passage. Those that propose the two-States
solution should first look at the geographical map before
telling us where they would like to put the two States in
a small piece of land like a pocketsized handkerchief. However,
suppose that this solution is feasible, what will be its
consequences?
1) The State of Israel will remain dominated by the Jews,
practicing discrimination against women and the non-Jewish
that live there, notably by continuing its policy of destruction
of the still existing localities of Palestinians, and of
dispossession of their lands, while relegating them to second
zone citizens, and continually threatening them with deprivation
of Israeli nationality and political rights. It will be
a State that violates human rights on a large scale and
getting more and more fanatic, under an increasing weight
of the religious parties. Religious liberty will be banished.
Ethnic cleansing will continue. The present racial laws
will be accentuated, and one cannot exclude the re-emergence
of the draft of law proposed by Rabbi Kahane to the Knesset
in September 1984, of which we mention here some paragraphs:
- No non-Jew shall live within the area of the City
of Jerusalem.
- Non-Jews will have no national rights, nor will they be
permitted to take part in the political life of the State
of Israel. No non-Jew can be appointed to a position of
authority. No non-Jew may play a part in the elections to
the Knesset or any other state or public institution.
- It is forbidden for Jewish male and female citizens and
residents of the State to marry non-Jews either in Israel
or abroad. The law will not recognize such mixed marriages.
- There will be a complete separation of Jewish and non-Jewish
educational institutions.
- It is forbidden for Jewish male and female citizens of
the State to have sexual relations, complete or partial,
of any kind with non-Jews, and this includes extra-marital
relations. Violations of this section of the law will be
sentenced to two years in prison.
- A non-Jew who has sexual relations with a Jewish prostitute
or with a Jewish male will be sentenced to five years in
prison.
- A Jewish prostitute or a Jewish male who has relations
with a non-Jewish male is subject to imprisonment for five
years.
- Summer camps and all Jewish-Arab institutions are to be
abolished. Programs for visits between Jewish and Arab students
in their respective villages and homes are forbidden. Trips
and visits abroad where a Jewish child is a guest in a non-Jewish
home are forbidden, as are similar visits to Israel by non-Jews
29).
Let us specify that Rabbi Kahane has been supported by the
highest religious echelons in Israel, for instance by the
former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren. The latter opposed
the law against racism, which although more formal than
real, did not make a difference between Jews and Goys (non-Jews)
in its denunciation of racism. He, as well as the current
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, were opposed to meetings between
young Jews and non-Jews 30).
2) The supposed Palestinian State will be an Islamic State,
practicing discrimination against women and the non-Muslims
that live there. The draft of Palestinian constitution is
an indicator that does not deceive in this respect 31).
The Islamic law will have the last word, notably concerning
family and inheritance. Religious liberty will be banished.
The Palestinian refugees, principal losers, will foment
a civil war, will murder their leaders and will continue
their attacks against the state of Israel. To put an end
to these attacks, Israel will reoccupy the territory of
the Palestinian state, and we will be back to square one.
Facing the crushing strength of Israel, it is not excluded
that the Palestinian refugees will resort to non-conventional
weapons, easy to produce and to hide and capable to disarray
the enemy. The world will then watch the mutual extermination
of Palestinians and Jews. It will be Hitler's posthumous
victory. Palestine will be then an uninhabited territory
as Gruinard Island, off the coast of Scotland, used for
biologic weapon experimentation by England during the Second
World War 32). This is a real risk in the present situation,
considering the despair into which the Palestinians are
pushed 33).
VI. Creation of a democratic State
Facing the tragic consequences to which will ineluctably
drive the two-States solution and the maintenance of the
present situation, the only possible solution remains the
creation of one single State in Palestine/Israel. A State
that we can call Canaan, the biblical name of origin of
this country, unless the population choose another name.
This solution is more and more advanced by Israelis and
Palestinians 34). A sentimental argument pleads for this
solution: both Jews and Palestinians consider all Palestine/Israel
as their own homeland. To divide the country means to deprive
the Jews and the Palestinians from a part of their beloved
land. Both will feel frustrated. If we maintain the country
united, each one would be able to live and to travel wherever
he likes, without borders. He will have the feeling that
all the country is his own country.
There is also the economic argument. Israelis have always
employed Palestinian workers since 1967. When they tried
to punish the Palestinians by refusing them the right to
work in Israel, they were obliged to search for workers
from Asia and Eastern European countries. Even today, Sharon
uses Palestinian workers to build his wall. On the other
side, Palestinians have few economic possibilities in the
overcrowded West-Bank and Gaza, particularly after the destruction
of their economic infrastructure by Israel, the confiscation
of large part of their lands and uprooting of thousands
of their fruit trees. A miserable situation has always been
a fertile ground for extremism. You cannot sleep in peace
when your neighbour is crying from hunger, especially when
you are sleeping in his own land and home. An equitable
economic policy in the region is an auspicious means for
peace in the region.
Until now, no legal framework has been drawn for such a
State, if one excepts the principles established by the
association for one democratic State in Palestine/Israel
35). However, to be accepted by the two main antagonistic
parts, i.e. Jews and Muslims, and sustained by the other
minorities that live there, i.e. Christians, Druze, Samaritans
and Seculars, such a solution needs a legal framework guaranteeing
the respect of human rights, security and prosperity.
With regard to the main violation of human rights in Palestine/Israel,
i.e. the expulsion of the Palestinians from their lands
and the destruction of their localities and possessions,
the proposed state must allow the return and the concession
of nationality to all Palestinian refugees who wish it.
An equitable solution must be found for those living on
the lands and in the homes of the Palestinian refugees and
for those living in the settlements created after 1967 36).
All political prisoners and prisoners of war must be liberated.
Reconciliation commissions must be created to heal and compensate
the victims of both sides. A national fund must be created
for this purpose. Citizens of the new State are entitled
to live anywhere within its borders and to settle on their
own property. A law respecting the principle of non-discrimination
must regulate citizenship and immigration.
The Jews fear that the creation of one State will produce
a mathematical Muslim majority and the application of discriminatory
norms. The other communities share this same fear. The Muslims
and the other minorities fear also the discrimination practiced
by a State with a Jewish majority, as it is presently the
case in Israel. To dissipate this fear on all sides, it
is imperative that religion stop being criteria of discrimination
and privileges. This means that the state must be secular.
This implies the abolition of all the religious courts and
laws, particularly in the field of family law, the creation
of civil courts and the adoption of one family law respecting
the principle of non-discrimination based on religion and
gender. In such a State, the religious adherence imports
little, and people will be judged on the basis of their
competences. The secular system will allow mixed marriages
and help the progressive integration of the different communities.
The tie of blood thus created will be a guarantor for the
maintenance of the unity of the country. It would require
the creation of a civil register and the instauration of
mandatory civil marriage, with the possibility of subsequently
holding a religious ceremony.
It is important to avoid the creation of a confederation
of two political entities. Such entities would maintain
the existing discriminatory laws and courts in Israel and
in the occupied territories. It is also necessary to avoid
the Lebanese system, which does not respect the religious
freedom and provokes frictions between the different communities.
The State must have a unified, democratically elected parliament
and government. Political parties must respect the principle
of non-discrimination in their programmes and membership.
The State must have a unified army and a unified police
force. The citizens shall decide upon a unified, democratic
constitution respecting the principle of non-discrimination,
on the name of the country, on its national anthem and on
its flag.
The State must respect the right to life and physical integrity.
This implies the abolition of death penalty as well as male
and female circumcision. The State must also respect the
right to freedom of religion, including the right to change
one’s religion.
The State must provide an education system integrating all
of its citizens. This implies the creation of unified State
schools and high schools, and programmes respecting the
principle of non-discrimination, with the possibility of
establishing private schools, provided that they respect
the principle of non-discrimination. Arabic and Hebrew are
to be the official national languages. Principles for the
peaceful solution of conflicts must be applied.
The State must create a social and economic system based
on the equality of rights, integrating all of its citizens
and respecting the principle of non-discrimination.
The State must take integrating measures to encourage reconciliation
between the different communities. Such measures include
the creation of unified cemeteries where any person can
be buried, with the possibility of private religious ceremonies,
and the opening of the present religious cemeteries to any
person whatever his/her religion in conformity with the
principle of non-discrimination. The Swiss Constitution
of 1874 that aimed to reconcile Catholics and Protestant
inspires this measure.
Other neighbouring States may join the proposed State in
a federation or confederation, on the condition that they
strictly respect the above-mentioned principles. Confederations
of the "limping camels type" are to be avoided
by all means.
The one-State solution has the advantage of fully respecting
human rights, eliminating the discrimination based on religion
or gender, and reducing fanaticism in the region. It may
very well serve as model to the neighbouring countries.
The aforementioned principles aim at a profound change of
the society, meaning much more than a superficial political
solution.
VII. Conclusion
In his address given to the Knesset upon receiving Israel's
highest honour for his accomplishments as a musician, May
5, 1991, violinist Sir Yehudi Menuhin said:
Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword and
terror and fear provoke terror and fear. Hatred and contempt
are fatally infectious … One fact is surely abundantly
clear, namely this wasteful governing by fear, by contempt
for the basic dignities of life, this steady asphyxiation
of a dependent people should be the very last means to be
adopted by those who themselves know too well the awful
significance, the unforgettable suffering of such an existence
... It is unworthy of my great people, the Jews 37).
In an interview, Father Elias Chacour, original of Biram,
one of villages destroyed by Israel, said:
We are second-class citizens, yes, if there are such
classes. I believe though that in Israel there is only one
class, the class of Jewish citizenship. There is thereafter
the area of a non-class, a margin where non-Jews are tolerated,
because they cannot be put away, but are not accepted. Happily
there are Jews, though very few - but they do exist - who
protest against this segregation. I am afraid that there
is little time left. I am afraid that if Israel does not
change fundamentally its policies and political direction,
I think there will remain only one alternative to survive
here, that is the military alternative. This cannot take
roots here, because Palestine, since before Abraham, since
Melchizedek, has never accepted conquerors that did not
try to get roots here. They are not attempting to plant
roots. They are now planting hatred in the hearts of Palestinians.
This must change if they wish to live and survive with a
certain quality of human life in the Middle East 38).
The authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
dated December 10, 1948, state in the preamble:
...it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to
have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny
and oppression, that human rights should be protected by
the rule of law.
The aforementioned statement is nothing but a confirmation
of the words of Prophet-Poet Isaiah, who 2.700 years ago,
said: "Peace will be the fruit of justice" (Isaiah
32:17).
If Israel really looks for peace in the Middle East, it
must abide by this principle of justice instead of procrastinating
in its policy violating human rights. For this, it must
allow the Palestinian refugees to come back home and treat
Palestinians as it treats Jews.
Why the fact of being a Christian or a Muslim does makes
a Palestinian a candidate for a refugee camp, torture, deportation
or death? Why?
The day when Christians, Muslims and Jews will be considered
and treated by Israel and its allies as equal human beings,
this day will be the first day of peace in the Middle East.
It is time to stop building walls and start building bridges
towards a just peace in the spirit of Isaiah.
Sami Aldeeb
----------------------------------------------------------
1) Christian Arab of Palestinian origin and Swiss citizenship,
holding a doctorate in law from the University of Fribourg.
Graduate in political sciences from the Graduate Institute
of International Studies of Geneva. Responsible for Arab
and Islamic law in the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law
in Lausanne (http://isdc.ch). He has written many books
and articles on Arab and Islamic law besides more general
works on the Middle East (see the list and some articles
in: http://go.to/samipage). He is the chairman of the Association
for one democratic state in Palestine/Israel http://www.one-democratic-state.org
2) See this agreement in: http://www.mideastweb.org/geneva1.htm
3) Ben-Gurion: Zionistische Aussenpolitik, Berlin, 1937,
p. 28, quoted by V. Waltz & J. Zschiesche: Die Erde
habt Ihr uns genommen, Berlin, 1986, p. 30.
4) The Transfer committee recommended that if Israel were
compelled to take back refugees, she must categorically
refuse to return them to their villages - only to the towns,
where they should not exceed 15% of the Jewish population
(Tom Segev: 1949, the first Israelis, The Free Press, Macmillan,
New York & London, 1986, p. 30).
5) Concerning the Palestinian exodus, see the article by
Amnon Kapeliouk: Nouvelles précisions sur l'exode
des Palestiniens à la lumière des archives
officielles de l'Etat juif, in Le Monde Diplomatique, December
1986, p. 18-19.
6) Israel Shahak: Israeli League for human and civil rights,
The Shahak papers, published by Palestine research centre,
Beirut, 1973, p. 95-96.
7) Christophe Uehlinger: Palestinian localities destroyed
after 1948, a documentary list, 1989, 2nd edition, Association
for the Reconstruction of Emmaus, CH-1025 St-Sulpice. See
the list in: http://w1.858.telia.com/~u85819409/altinfo/list%20localities.htm
8) Uri Davis: Israel an apartheid State, Zed books, London
& New Jersey, 1987, p. 17-18. Tom Segev tells how the
Arab inhabitants of Haifa have been forced to withdraw to
a ghetto neighbourhood and leave their houses and lots to
Jews (Tom Segev, op. cit., p. 52-56).
9) Law of return, Laws of the State of Israel, vol. 4, p.
28-29.
10) Law of return (amendment nr. 2), Laws of the State of
Israel, vol. 24, p. 28.
11) Nationality law, Laws of the State of Israel, vol.6,
p. 50-52.
12) Nationality law (amendment nr. 3), Laws of the State
of Israel, vol. 25, p. 117.
13) Claude Klein: Le caractère juif de l'Etat d'Israël,
Edition Cujas, Paris 1977, p. 97.
14) United Nations: The right of return of the Palestinian
people, St/SG/SER.F/2, New York, 1978.
15) Tom Segev, op. cit., p. 61-63.
16) Prevention of infiltration (Offences and jurisdiction)
law, Laws of the State of Israel, vol. 8, p. 133-137.
17) CICP (Geneva), Information nr 39, 27 January 1992, p.
8.
18) See http://www.abnaa-elbalad.org/muhajareen.htm
19) The Association for the reconstruction of Emmaus was
founded in Switzerland in 1986. A pamphlet concerning this
village entitled Reconstruct Emmaus, Symbol of Peace and
Justice has been published in French, English and German
and can be obtained at the address of the Association (Ochettaz
17, CH-1025 St-Sulpice). See the photos of the destruction
of Emmaus in: http://www.lpj.org/Nonviolence/Sami/Album.html
20) Davar, Sept. 29, 1967, quoted by Uri Davis, op. cit.,
p. 5.
21) Tom Segev, op. cit., p. 30.
22) Journal de Genève and Le Monde of Febr. 25, 1988.
23) Jerusalem (Tunis), nr. 38, June 1988, p. 32.
24) http://www.palestinemonitor.org/focus/focus12.htm
25) Yedioot Ahronot, 24 January 2002 and 5 April 2002.
26) See pages 48-50 of the report http://www.sikkuy.org.il/report/Sikkuy%20Report%202002.doc
27) Return (London), nr 2, March 1990, p. 33. See also http://www.moledet.org.il/english/transfer.html
.
28) International Herald Tribune, 31 October 2003: http://www.iht.com/ihtsearch.php?id=115858&owner=(IHT)&date=20031031121947
29) La Liberté (Fribourg), 31 Oct./1st Nov. 1985;
MEI, 22 Nov. 1985, p. 15. See a comparison of Kahane's draft
and Hitler's racial laws in: http://www.davidmargolis.com/article.php?id=14
30) Jerusalem Post, 24 March 1986, p. 3.
31) See my commentary in: http://www.lpj.org/Nonviolence/Sami/articles/eng-articles/PalConst.htm.
Article 5 of this draft says: "Islam is the official
Palestinian religion". Article 6 adds: "The principles
of Islamic Shari’a are a major source for legislation".
32) See about this Island: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1457035.stm
33) There are informations about the risk of using biological
weapons by the Palestinians. See: http://216.26.163.62/2002/me_palestinians_04_09.html;
http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=376;
http://www.freedomdomain.com/Templemount/8_14a.html; http://mailman.io.com/pipermail/freemanlist/2003-February/000115.html.
Let it be mentioned that Israel has already chemical, biological
and atomic weapons. See: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/pgsd/people/staffpubs/Avner-CBWart.pdf;
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e1_israel_bwabstracts.html;
http://www.strategypage.com/messageboards/messages/22-13.asp;
http://www.ceip.org/files/nonprolif/templates/article.asp?NewsID=2669;
http://www.indexonline.org/news/20030301_103_sammonds.shtml;
http://communication.ucsd.edu/911/massdestruction.html
34) See the articles in: http://www.one-democratic-state.org/articles/index.html
and http://www.one-state.org/articles/
35) See the bylaws of the association in different languages
in: http://www.one-democratic-state.org/Bylaws/index.html
36) Let it be mentioned that a great part of the Palestinian
lands are still unoccupied, often covered by forests to
hide the traces of the destroyed villages. This is the case
of the three villages in the region of Latrun as well as
Ikrit and Biram in the North of Israel. The return of the
Palestinian refugees in these lands should not create major
problems.
37) The Israeli media have totally ignored this address.
Only one Palestinian newspaper, Al-Fajr, has dared transgressing
the occult rule of silence, by publishing it on May 20,
1991. See the English version in: Washington Report on Middle
East affairs, July 1991: Address given by violinist Sir
Yehudi Menuhin to the Knesset upon receiving Israel's highest
honor for his accomplishments as a musician, May 5, 1991:
http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0791/9107039a.htm
38) Interview given to the International Catholic Press
Agency in May 1988.
