Adonis Diaries

Archive for May 17th, 2012

Commemoration of Palestine Nakba (Catastrophe/Desolation): A few Facts You may not know about this Tragedy…

Posted by: on: May 17, 2012

The Palestinian Al Nakba (Catastrophe/Desolation) commemoration: A few Facts You Didn’t Know about…
 
May 15 is the commemoration of the Palestinian of the Nakba (Catastrophe/Desolation). On that date 64 years ago, Israel dismissed the UN partition resolution of Palestine and attacked the Palestinian towns and villages, committing genocide and terrorizing the civilians. The Palestinians were forced to seek refuge in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Gaza (in the hands of Egypt at the time). The UN had partitioned Palestine and gave the State of Israel 53% of the territory, even though the Jews were less than 40%.
 
Israel made sure since 1948 to erase the names of Palestinian towns and villages, settle them, and even taking them out of the map. Ali Abunimah posted in Electronic Intifada an Interactive map of Palestine villages destroyed in Nakba.
 
Yesterday, massive Palestinian demonstrations and marches covered the West Bank, Gaza, and within Israel. Israel responded savagely on the check points of Kalendia and the military camp of Awfar, and severely injured 80 Palestinians with rubber bullets
 
First, Yousef posted a few facts on the Nakba:
 
1.       Nakba is the Arabic word for catastrophe. It is used to describe the Palestinian loss of land and property during the depopulation of Palestine from 1947-1949. It does not refer simply to the declaration of a State of Israel.
 
2.       Over 212 localities were depopulated and at least half of the refugees were transferred prior to May 15th, prior to the entry of armies of other Arab states. The terrorist Zionist organizations of Irgun and Hagana (of Menaheim Begin) stormed targetted strategic towns and exterminated the inhabitants.
 
The largest Palestinian cities of Yaffa and Haifa were emptied of the vast majority of their inhabitants before May 15th, 1948. The idea that the refugee condition was established only after the mobilization of “Arab armies” is patently false.
 
3.       At every stage of the war, the Yishuv/Israeli forces were superior in training, equipment and numbers to the combined Arab armies.
 
 
All That Remains of a Village Near Beisan
 
4.       The Zionists prepared extensive data collection efforts to map out intelligence relating to the Palestinian villages for a decade prior to the war, during the British mandate over Palestine. Detailed information about each village was kept including information on the number of inhabitants, the village’s resources, the potential activists that resided within it and what its political affiliations were.
 
5.       Of the over 500 Palestinian villages depopulated during the Nakba, 303 were chased out of their homes as a result of either direct expulsion  carried out by Yishuv/Israeli forces or as a result of attack by Yishuv/Israel forces.
 
6.       Of the depopulated villages, 81 have been completely obliterated and no traceable sign of their existence remains. Rubble was identified at the site of another 140 villages. A few standing walls were apparent at another 60 villages, while 74 more had few houses intact. Other villages had houses intact and occupied by Israelis.
 
7.       Golda Meir struck a secret agreement with the King of Jordan (Abdullah I) before the 1948 war. Even though Jordan’s Arab Legion was the most formidable of the Arab armies, and even though the massacre at Deir Yassin tested this agreement, the Jordanian forces didn’t cross into territory that was designated for the Jewish State under the UN partition plan.
 
 
Palestinians Expelled During Operation Dani Recalled by Rabin
 
8.       After the depopulation of towns and villages, rampant looting of personal property took place. Israeli civilians and soldiers took part in stealing from vacated Palestinian homes and shops. Israeli historian Tom Segev notes that 1,800 trucks were taken from the town of Lydda alone.
 
9.       While 700-800,000 Palestinians took refuge in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Gaza, they were not permitted to return by the State of Israel. About 150,000 Palestinians did remain inside Israel and many became internally displaced persons who still lost their property and were subjected to martial law until 1966 and various discriminatory laws since then. The Palestinians with Israeli passports currently count 1.5 million
 
10.   Yitzhak Rabin, an officer during the 1948 war, included a description of orders to forcibly expel tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in his memoirs. The State of Israel prevented this description from being printed when his memoirs were published and continues to prevent it today. Yitzhak Rabin was later elected Prime Minister, as most veteran military officers, and was assassinated by a radical Zionist Jew personal guard in 1994
 

Interactive map of Palestine villages destroyed in Nakba

Ali Abunimah posted on May 15, 2012 the following Interactive
 
The Electronic Intifada has produced this interactive map that allows you to see information about any of the more than 400 Palestinian cities, towns and villages depopulated and destroyed during the Nakba – the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist and later Israeli forces from late 1947 into 1948.
 
The data and images come from the website Palestine Remembered, which used much of the basic research from Walid Khalidi’s seminal reference All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948.
 
Many individuals have also contributed their own narratives, images and personal discoveries on Palestine Remembered.The Electronic Intifada acknowledges this work and is pleased to present and increase access to this important data in a new form.

How to use the map:

  • Clicking on a dot opens up a pop-up bubble which shows information about that location in Palestine;
  • Zoom in to an area by holding the “Shift” key and drawing a box with your mouse or trackpad, or use the buttons on the left edge of the map;
  • Click on the “+” sign in the blue tab on the upper right corner of the map to access more layers of data such as places built up by Israel, West Bank villages, Gaza places, and communities of Palestinians still living in what is now Israel;
  • View the map in its own browser window: Interactive map of Palestine villages destroyed in Nakba.

Note: The Palestinians engaged so far in three major Intifada (civil disobedience movements): In 1935-38 (The British dispatched 100,000 soldiers to quell it), another intifada was in 1987, and the latest in 2000 (as Ariel Sharon stormed the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem). The inevitable fourth Intifada coming as fast as a bullet train.

The Palestinian prisoners in Israel launched several hunger strikes since the creation of Israel. The latest hunger strike involved 3,000 prisoners who fasted over 30 days. Israel agreed to satisfy all the demands of the Palestinian prisoners.

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Part 2. War “unity government” in Israel: What the Palestinian Authority formed in a year?

Posted by: on: May 17, 2012

Part 2. Israel formed a war “unity government”: The Palestinian Authority formed what?

You might be interested to start with part 1: https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/israel-formed-a-war-unity-government-the-palestinian-authority-formed-what/

Israel Netanyahu PM changed his mind: Instead of his promise for an early election, he formed a “unity government” with Kadima and its leader Shawul Mofaz. Why?

Israel “unity government” is indeed a war cabinet: Israel is getting ready to confront two urgent problems to tackle:

First problem: The inevitable Fourth Palestinian Intifada (civil disobedience) has already started silently two months ago, and all indicate a full-fledge development:

1. Israel was forced to agree on all the demands of the Palestinian prisoners who waged a month-long hunger strike. More than two months ago, the two prisoners Bilal Diyab (27) and Thaer Halahela (34) crossed the dangerous hunger strike of 75 days. A month ago, 3,000 Palestinian prisoners, out of 4,500 started their hunger strike.

Egypt intervened in the negotiation and Israel agreed yesterday on all the demands of the prisoners. Mainly:

1. Releasing all prisoners in isolation cells: scores have been in isolation for over 10 years.

2. Dropping the antic British mandate apartheid administrative detention laws: 310 prisoners were jailed administratively and were not sent to trial. Under this emergency/curfew law, Israel authority could detain any Palestinian (exclusively Palestinians) for 6 months, renewable at will.

Actually, 60% of Palestinian youth entered this revolving door, just to keeping them out of circulation.

3. Allowing the families in Gaza to visit their members in jails. Prisoners from Gaza suffered undue harshness and complete isolation.

4. Permitting prisoners to continue their education…

5. Israel will return the dead bodies of 100 Palestinian martyrs, many of them died in prisons…

Mind you that in several occasions in the past 50 years, Palestinian prisoners engaged in hunger strikes and Israel would agree on deals, and then renege on them shortly after, and the prisoners had to suffer from the same humiliating tactics in prisons…

2. Israel is preparing to execute a new apartheid plan that Kadima approves, and was submitted to many institutions and military officers. Henry Sigman (see note) uncovered the secret apartheid program to be executed in the West Bank in Zones C.

Neftal Bennett, former cabinet secretary to Netanyahu and former director of the settlers council in Yehuda and Samaria, discussed and disseminated his apartheid new program in the occupied West Bank. What is this plan?

1. Israel and unilaterally (as usual), will grab the lands in zone C (as agreed upon in the Oslo deal) and annex all the town and villages to the State of Israel. Palestinians in zone C are about 150,000, and the program envisions to give Israeli passports to only 50,000 of these Palestinians. Where the other 100,000 Palestinians will be “transferred” to?

2. All of Jerusalem will be under total Israel security authority.

3. Israel will deploy its security umbrella to all of the West Bank

4. Gaza will be split from the West Bank and attached to Egypt

5. Deny all Palestinian refugees outside of Israel from returning to even zone A under the Palestinian Authority. Mind you that the UN guaranteed their right to return in 1948.

Apparently this new apartheid plan received good responses from the government coalition political parties and many veteran military officers.

Israel unity government has the task of executing this apartheid new plan, and very soon. The Palestinian Intifada is going to be protracted.

Netanyahu didn’t want to be singled out as the scapegoat during the many troubles ahead of the massive Palestinian civil disobedience movement, and wanted falsely demonstrate that all of Israel is behind this apartheid program.

While Israel is forming a unity government, what this Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas was doing for an entire year?

Last May 4, 2011, Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas (in Gaza) agreed to form a unity government, hold an election, and strengthen the institutions…in this May 4, 2012. The date had come and gone, and nothing was accomplished.

It appears that the new Palestinian middle class (nouveaux riches) in the West Bank and many academics are squeaky of a deal with Hamas (read link in note 2). Why?

This class of Palestinians think that any deal with Hamas will send the strong signal or message that an Intifada is on a hot burner.  And they don’t want any upheaval at this junction, and Israel is facilitating the illusion of prosperity and fairer behaviors with this middle Palestinian class.

The Lebanese correspondent Jihad el Zein to the daily al Nahar covered the conference in Cyprus in April 27 under the banner “Arab and Israel struggle in the light of the current changes”.  He said: “Each time I meet with a Palestinian coming from the West Bank  I ask him: “how long it took you to reach destination?” In general, it is an hour trip from Ramallah to the Jordanian border, but Palestinians spend 10 hours on the various checkpoints and lengthy investigation…This time, the academic Palestinians from the West Bank admitted it took them only about an hour and 30 minutes…”

Nabil Kassis, from the West Bank said: “In the past, when a faction split from the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the faction lost all credibility. This time around, it is the main organization that is suspected of deviation and lose credibility…”

The Hamas delegate Ghazi Hamad was the only member of the Palestinian delegation and he said: “I read all the papers and notes of the negotiation between Fateh and Hamas, and could not find a single word related to the religious issues…”

Sound very promising on civic mentality ground, though religious difficulties should be discussed head on, since there is no way to circumvent it being confronted to the rising tide of the Moslem Brotherhood movements… The Palestinians are the most educated and applied civil laws, and the people who experienced struggle in all its shape and forms.  The Palestinians are set be the prime catalyst to show the way to the “Arab States” citizens for a civic life-style and democratic systems

The middle class Palestinians and academics in the West Bank must have realized that it was Hamas that reaped the victory and the benefits from the hunger strike.  They have to decide: Shit or get off the seat. The Intifada is coming with the speed of a bullet train and you have got to take side and demonstrate steadfastness for the long haul.

Note 1: Henry Sigman uncovered the secret apartheid program to be executed in the West Bank in Zones C. Sigman is the former director of the Jewish American council.

Note 2: https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/palestinian-scholar-change-of-mind-two-state-alternative-failed/

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