Maale Adumim OK
ISRAEL RADIO 9/14/99: "Prime Minister Ehud Baraq said that
Ma'ale Adumim will remain part of the State of Israel in any
permanent arrangement, and that the government will continue to
develop it and increase the size of its inhabitants. The prime
minister spoke during a visit to Ma'ale Adumim. Our correspondent
Dani Zaqen reports that the prime minister reiterated his
commitments to leave Lebanon within a year and to create 300,000
jobs."
No PA state for 1 year
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE 9/14/99: "The Palestinians will not declare
an independent state for at least one year, the time set out for
the completion of final status negotiations with Israel,
Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Tuesday.
"We will not declare a state unless we have resolved all
outstanding questions with Israel, including those of Jerusalem,
refugees, settlements, borders and the distribution of water,"
he told AFP in an interview. Abed Rabbo said the Palestinians
would wait the one year spelled out in the Sharm el-Sheikh
agreement to finalise a peace deal with the Israelis before
declaring an independent state, which he said was ultimately "not
a subject for negotiations or bargaining."
Asked if the
Palestinians would declare a state if the final status talks
fail, Abed Rabbo said he "would not answer questions beginning
with if." He also warned that Israel's settlement policy will
"kill" the negotiations and said the Palestinians were planning
a referendum, to include Palestinians in the diaspora, to
approve any final deal with the Israelis..."
Arab League decisions
Cairo's MIDDLE EAST NEWS AGENCY 9/13/99: "The Arab League Council
has expressed its deep concern over the US intention to continue
its annual military aid to Israel, to increase this aid by one
third during the coming decade to reach $2.4 billion, and to
provide Israel with state-of-the-art weapons and planes.
The Council, which concluded its work today on the level of
foreign Ministers, explained that such a decision would help
Israel cling to its inflexible stances on the peace process and
push the Arab parties to consolidate their defense capabilities
to face Israel's military superiority, which would spread
atmospheres of tension and instability in the region.
The
Council called on the Arab Foreign Ministers to act jointly and
collectively with the international parties concerned,
particularly the United States and the United Nations, to face
the ramifications of this situation on the peace process in the
region.
In its decisions and recommendations, the Council
affirmed support for the peace process on the basis of the
International Legitimacy's resolutions, rejected the Israeli
stances, which are trying to anticipate the outcome of the
final-status negotiations with the Palestinians, and supported
the Palestinian stance with all means in the face of the Israeli
Government's maneuvers.
The Council welcomed the US support for
the Palestinian people's right to determine their future on
their land and called on the US administration to put pressure
on Israel to establish a comprehensive and just peace in the
region.
The Council praised the EU's clear and frank stance
contained the Berlin Summit statement, which reaffirmed the
Palestinian's permanent and unconditional right to
self-determination, including the option of a state.
The Council
expressed full support for the Syrian stance calling for the
resumption of the talks where they left off three years ago and
for the need for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights
to the 4 June 1967 borders and from southern Lebanon and western
al-Biqa'.
The Council decided to support the Palestinian
people's struggle in all its forms until they regain their
legitimate rights and establish their independent state on their
national soil with Jerusalem as its capital. The Council sent a
greeting of appreciation and pride to the steadfastness of this
people on their land.
On the issue of Jerusalem, the Council decided to continue the
efforts to consolidate the steadfastness of the Palestinian
people in Jerusalem, intensify the contacts with the Vatican,
and strengthen the cooperation with the Eastern churches to
preserve the Arab rights in Jerusalem, lift the unfair blockade
on it, and put pressure on Israel to stop all illegal practices
and measures against the holy city.
On the refugee issue, the Council decided to work to ensure the
continuation of the international stance in support of the
Palestinian refugees' rights and their return to their lands.
The Council affirmed support for the reconstruction and
development projects in Palestine and decided to rally
international and Arab support for the Palestinian millennium
celebrations in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ.
The Council rejected the Israeli settlement projects in the
Palestinian territories, considered the settlements in them
illegal, and called for the dismantling of existing settlements.
The Council condemned Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon and
western al-Biqa', called for adherence to international
legitimacy and to withdrawal from these areas, and affirmed
Lebanon's right to compensation for the human and material
losses its suffers as a result of the continuing Israeli
attacks.
The Council also condemned Israel's continuing occupation of the
Syrian Golan Heights, called for the need for ending this
occupation, and to decided to work with all means to achieve
this.
In its resolutions and recommendations, the Arab League Council
condemned Israel's policy aimed at changing the natural and
demographic character of the Golan Heights by building more
settlements and bringing in more settlers. It denounced the
Israeli Government's policy aimed at destroying the peace
process and continually escalating tension in the region.
It
also denounced Israel's attempts at perpetuating its occupation
of the Syrian Golan Heights. The Council regarded these attempts
as a defiance of the will of the international community and the
International Legitimacy's resolutions, especially Security
Council Resolution 497 for the year 1981, which considered the
Israeli measures in the Golan null and void...
The Council denounced Iran's perpetuation of its occupation of
the three islands and its continued violation of the sovereignty
of the UAE in a way that shakes security and stability in the
region and threatens world security and peace. The Council
underlined its previous decisions in this regard.
On reports that Israel is establishing a pavilion under the title
"Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel" in the fair that US company
Walt Disney will organize in Florida, the Arab League Council
decided to set up a committee to visit the fair before its
opening. The committee will comprise the chief of the Arab
League mission in Washington, a representative of the Arab and
Islamic organizations in the United States, and a representative
of the state of Palestine.
The Council decided that the committee
will hold the necessary contacts with Walt Disney to ensure that
Israel will not take advantage of the fair, which the company
plans to hold under the headline "the Millennium Village", for
political purposes and to make sure that the Israeli film on
Jerusalem does not harm the legal and historical Palestinian,
Arab, Islamic, and Christian rights in the holy city..."
Jordanian journalists questined over Israel visit
Amman's JORDAN TIMES 9/13/99: "The Jordan Press Association on
Sunday sent letters to three journalists demanding an
explanation for their recent visit to Israel. The three
journalists returned last Thursday from a week-long visit to
Israel during which they had a firsthand look at the situation of
the Arab people in Israel. The journalists are: Jordan Times
Chief Editor 'Abdallah Hasanat, Al Ra'y columnist Sultan Hattab,
and Al-Dustur's Jihad al-Mumuni and also Issa Shu'aybi, another
writer for Al-Dustur, but not a member of the association.
In
its letter, the JPA referred to a news item in Al-'Arab Al-Yawm
daily on Sept. 5, alleging the four were invited by the Israeli
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and were scheduled to meet with
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The JPA letter referred to a
complaint filed by head of its public freedoms committee, Nayif
Mahasnah, over the journalists' visit.
The association's bylaws
allow the association to question members if a complaint is
filed against them, and that if these members are "found guilty"
of the complaint, they should be referred to a disciplinary
council...The three journalists said they were invited by Haifa
University Centre for Arab-Jewish Studies to learn about the
situation of Palestinian Arabs in Israel. They said they will
respond to the JPA's letter..."
Arafat@Arab League
Cairo's MIDDLE EAST NEWS AGENCY 9/12/99: "Following is the text
of President 'Arafat's speech to the 112th session of the Arab
League Council [ZINC has excerpted it for space]: "...It gives me
pleasure to address all my thanks and appreciation from the
podium of our Arab League to the brothers, the leaders of the
fraternal Arab countries, for their support and assistance to
the Palestinian people in their just and unrelenting struggle to
restore their occupied territory, attain liberty and
independence, and embody the declaration of independence by
establishing an independent state that has Jerusalem as its
capital.
The Arab nation--its individual peoples, countries, and
league--has made sacrifices and remained steadfast to prevent
the eternal loss of Palestine and the holy city of Jerusalem.
Since its establishment, the Arab League has been the faithful
guardian of the Palestinian cause, embodying the firm Arab
belief that the Palestinian issue is the Arabs' primary cause.
I feel it is necessary for me here to affirm that Arab
solidarity, our Palestinian people's steadfastness and struggle,
and the resolutions passed by the Arab summits have been the
basic instrument in this global movement, both within and
outside the United Nations, toward recognizing our people's
existence and their inalienable national rights, notably their
right to return to their homeland, exercise self-determination,
and establish a state...
Our Palestinian people, who continue to suffer from the Israeli
occupation, persecution, and dispersal, look with hope, as they
have always done, to their brothers in the glorious Arab nation
for the sake of continuing our march of struggle on both the
pan-Arab and national levels to attain our dream and legitimate
aspirations in regaining the territory of our homeland and
exercising our inalienable rights, notably our people's right to
return, exercise self-determination, and establish an
independent state like all other nations...
We cling to the need to implement, faithfully and accurately, UN
Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, and 425 on all fronts
because the Arab nation will never abandon its lands and rights
as spelled out by the UN resolutions nor will it ever accept
less than what is provided for in the text of the binding UN
resolutions.
Let me emphasize here in front of you, dear
brothers, that we are determined to cling obstinately to the
provisions of the UN resolutions and the necessity to implement
them, and to the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from
Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese territories to the 4 June 1967
borders. I call on the venerable Arab League Council to reaffirm
this united Arab stance, as it did in the past, to put things in
the proper perspective before all the parties concerned with the
peace process.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen.
The essence of the Palestinian cause is the issue of a usurped
land and the Palestinian refugees, who were unrightfully driven
from their land by the unjust Israeli aggression, which occurred
and continues to occur on our land and against our people. As a
result, millions of Palestinians were left without land, homes,
and country. In our struggle to regain the land, we have never
forgotten and will never forget our kinfolk and sons who are
dispersed in various parts of the world without a homeland,
future, or identity.
Sinful and vicious attempts are now being made to cast despair
and frustration in the hearts of the Palestinian refugees, to
undermine their splendid patriotic steadfastness, which has
protected the Palestinian cause from being wasted and forgotten.
This is the outcome of a tremendous colonialist conspiracy
against our people. Some tendentious voices are speaking about
resettlement in one Arab country or another, or the dispersing
of the Palestinians in far-flung lands.
In the name of the Palestinian people and on behalf of the PLO
and the Palestinian Authority, let me declare it loud and clear:
There can be no homeland for the Palestinian people except their
homeland, Palestine, the homeland of their fathers and
grandfathers, and of their children and grandchildren.
It is the
homeland of the past, the present, and the future, no matter how
much time is needed to achieve this and regardless of the
magnitude of the conspiracies against these people and the Arab
nation. Our belief in the refugees' right to return to their
homeland is unshakeable.
Our resolve in this matter is
relentless. As much as faith, the clinging to the land, and
steadfastness have served this cause, the UN resolutions have
also preserved the Palestinian right and the right of the
Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.
UN Resolution
194, which spells out the full rights of the refugees, is the
one to which we cling to protect the rights of the Palestinian
refugees. There can be no solution to the problem of the
Palestinian refugees other than the implementation of Resolution
194. For this reason, I call on our nation, its countries and
people, to cling to this resolution and defend it at
international conferences and forums as well as in the current
negotiations.
Our people, who made many, many sacrifices in the
homeland and the camps to regain their land and establish a
state, will not accept resettlement and dispersion, but will
continue their just and legitimate struggle until the sons of
the Palestinian homeland return to the country, Palestine..."
Zionism & revisionism
HA'ARETZ 9/16/99--Commentary by Dan Margalit: "We are now in the
period of the High Holy Days, a time for soul-searching. It is
interesting that, during this very period, a stormy debate has
become even stormier: the dispute between Zionists and
post-Zionists concerning the interpretation of modern Jewish
history and the transmission of that interpretation to the
younger generation.
In this debate the post-Zionists seem to have
the upper hand, because they have managed to depict the defenders
of the mythological presentation of Zionist history as persons
who are distorting the facts of history, while the post-Zionists
are being perceived as the champions of objective, levelheaded
truth. When the two sides are presented in such a fashion, who
would not prefer the truth to the myth?
The dilemma presented by the post-Zionists has nothing to do with
historical events, however. What they are doing, in effect, is
systematically downscaling the entire Zionist enterprise in any
area connected with the Arab-Jewish conflict. The latest example
of this is the post-Zionist attempt to undermine the argument
that the Israeli War of Independence was a war of the few against
the many.
Apparently, they are trying to restore to the Arab
armies their lost sense of honor. How are they doing so? By
giving prominence to the claim that the number of warriors on
either side was equal. Let us, for the moment, assume that this
claim is correct. So what? The ratio in artillery pieces was 154
to 52 in favor of the Arabs, while the ration in warplanes was 54
to 2 in their favor.
At the time of the war, by the way, the
civilian population in the Jewish home front numbered 660,000, as
opposed to 50 million Arabs. If this is not a case of the few
against the many, then I don't know what is.
The distortion is particularly glaring when it comes to the issue
of the Arab refugees, which the post-Zionists are trying to
depict as victims of a giant, planned population transfer. (Had
there been no attack by the Arab armies on the nascent Jewish
state, the refugees would have remained in their homes.)
It must
be admitted that a portion of the refugees were, in fact,
banished, but it was official Israeli policy to call upon the
Arabs to stay where they were (the poster in Haifa, for example).
Most of the Arab refugees chose to leave because they believed
their leaders, who said that they would return within a short
while to loot the homes of their Jewish neighbors, or because
they thought the Jews would act the same way they would if
victorious.
In other words, according to the second line of
reasoning, the Arabs knew that, in the event of their emerging
the victors, they would massacre the Jews and, thus, the refugees
were afraid that, in the event of a Jewish victory, the Jews
would massacre them; for that reason, the Arabs fled.
Even today, more than half a century after the War of
Independence, the post-Zionists are still trying to bring in the
descendants of the 1948 refugees into Israel, believing that this
is the magic wand that will solve all our problems.
These
post-Zionists are not content to be historians interested in
enriching human knowledge. They are pragmatically oriented. The
presentation of the Jews as bearing responsibility for the plight
of the Arab refugees will increase world pressure to allow these
refugees to reenter Israel and destroy our demographic shield.
We are not taking about a dispute over a certain limited issue in
history, but rather about a plan to tarnish the image of Zionism.
The entire world knows that the Zionists liberated this land from
British rule, despite resistance from both the Arabs and Britain.
In his book, "The Days of the Red Berets," Tom Segev writes that
the British left Palestine in 1948 because of the Arab revolt in
the 1930s. The end of British rule here was brought about not by
Hanita or the Jewish underground fighter Dov Gruner, who was
executed by the British, or the "illegal" immigrant ship Exodus,
but rather by the gangs led by Az a-Din al-Kassam in the 1930s.
The offensive against the truths of Zionism is being launched
along the entire war front of history. The legend of Yosef
Trumpeldor is drawn from reality - not because he was killed but
because, as he was dying, he told the physician summoned from
Metulla that, if he had to die anyway, he might as well do it for
the Land of Israel.
The post-Zionists refuse to accept the idea
of Jewish heroism and therefore cast doubt on a statement made in
real time. Menachem Begin was a noble freedom fighter who forbade
the Irgun, the underground force under his command, to be lured
into personal terrorist activity. But that does not stop a
post-Zionist from presenting him as a "terrorist."
Hannah Senesh
personified the Zionist ideal - the common fate of the Jewish
people in the Land of Israel and the Diaspora - yet she is
absurdly depicted as someone who betrayed her colleagues. If
Senesh's name is not besmirched, however, how can one support the
disgusting argument that David Ben-Gurion cared nothing about the
fate of the Jews in the Holocaust?
The post-Zionist offensive is intended to present the Jewish
state to the members of the younger generation as a product of
infamy and sin. This offensive should be repelled not in order to
allow the Zionist enterprise to defend a false mythology, but
rather to enable Zionism to enjoy its right to an objective
depiction in the history books of the world."
Settlers
campaign against PA land transfer
THE JERUSALEM POST 9/16/99: "Settlers from Kedumim, Karnei
Shomron, and Shavei Shomron have begun a campaign to prevent
state-owned land between Kedumim and Karnei Shomron from falling
into Palestinian hands in the withdrawals stipulated in the Sharm
e-Sheikh Memorandum. On Tuesday night, settlers from the three
northern Samaria communities began implementing plans to maintain
a physical presence in the 5,000-dunam (1,250-acre) area,
including building hilltop encampments and patrolling the roads.
"We are talking about protecting 3000 dunams of state land and
2000 dunams of private land that has already been purchased and
paid for," said Kedumim Local Council head Daniella Weiss.
The
Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza said it
did not support these actions. Spokeswoman Yehudit Tayar said:
"We have a policy not to shake the consensus; the steps were not
coordinated with us." Beit El Local Council head Uri Ariel said
that such actions should be carried out in the framework of
council activities..."
Epcot entreaty
THE JERUSALEM POST 9/16/99: "Likud leader Ariel Sharon yesterday
called on US President Bill Clinton to help thwart a possible
Arab boycott of Walt Disney Co. because of the depiction of
Jerusalem as Israel's capital at the Israeli stall at Disney's
Florida theme park. The Foreign Ministry said director-general
Eytan Bentsur sent a letter this week to Disney chairman Michael
Eisner stating Israel's confidence the exhibit at the EPCOT
Center's "millennium village" would be presented in its entirety.
"The threat of an Arab boycott today shows that animosity and
hatred toward Israel has not dissipated after all these years,
despite the peace process," Sharon wrote..."
Consumer Price Index up a bit
THE JERUSALEM POST 9/16/99: "The consumer price index rose last
month by 0.5 percent - the low end of analysts' expectations -
the Central Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday.The figure
means that inflation has risen 0.4% so far this year, the lowest
figure for the first eight months of any year since 1967. It is
also the first time in 1999 that the inflation total is above
zero.
The index has risen 6.3% for the 12 months ended in August.
The inflation number is unlikely to prompt the Bank of Israel to
reduce interest rates at the end of the month, because the
central bank is concerned about a weakening of the shekel,
analysts said..."
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