CHAPTER FOURTY-ONE Part 2 of 4

In 1920 there were in Palestine 56,574 Jews, and 606,619 indigenous Christian and Muslim Palestinians. When news of the Balfour Declaration and its incorporation in the Mandate was published disturbances took place in Palestine between Jews and Palestinian Christians and Muslim. As a result, the British Government issued the White Paper of June, 1922, known as the Churchill Memorandum, for Winston Churchill was at that time Secretary of State for the Colonies. This White Paper stated inter alia, the following:

Unauthorized statements have heen made to the effect that the purpose in view is to create a wholly Jewish Palestine. Phrases have been used such as that Palestine is to become "as Jewish and England is English". His Majesty's Government regard any such expectation as impracticable and have no such aim in view. Nor have they at any time contemplated, as appears to be feared by the Arab delegation, the disappearance or the subordination of the Arabic population, language or culture in Palestine. They would draw attention to the fact that the terms of the declwation referred to do not contemplate that Palestine as a whole should be convested into a Jewish national home. but that such a homeland should be founded in Palestine. (18)

As the disturbances between Arabs and Jews continued, the British Government sent a Royal commission to investigate the Problem of Palestine. It submitted its report on June 22, 1937. (19)

This report recommended the partition of Palestine between Arabs and Jews. The British Government issued a Statement of Policy regarding the Royal Commission report of 1937 on the 7th day of July 1937 which stated inter uliu the following:

The Report of the Royal Commission (date June 22) was published. Its main recommendations were the termination of the Mandate, the partition of the country between Arabs and Jews, save only for enclaves under Mandate covering Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth and ensuring access to these Holy Place for all the world, and the setting up of two independent states in treaty relations with Great Britain. (20)

The British Govemment sent another Commission, called the Woodhead Commission, to study the details of this partition plan and it submitted a detailed plan for partition. (21)

On the 9th of November 1938 the British government issued a Statement of Policy in which it stated that the conclusion of the British Government was that the examination of the Commission had

shown that the political, administrative and financial difficulties involved in the proposal to create independent Arab and Jewish States inside Palestine are so great that this solution of the problem is impracticable. (22)

THE WHITE PAPER OF 1939

In 1939 the British Government called for a London Conference and invited the representatives of the Arabs of Palestine and representatives of certain Arab countries and the Jewish Agency to discuss a solution for the Palestine Problem. At the end of the Conference the British Government issued the MacDonald White Paper on May 17, 1939, containing the new British Government proposals which envisaged the creation within ten years an independent Palestine State with Treaty relations with the United Kingdom. The White Paper inter alia declared the following:

10. In the light of these considerations His Majesty's Government make the following declaration of their intentions regarding the future government of Palestine:

(1) The objective of His Majesty's Govemment is the establishment within ten years of an independent Palestine State in such treaty relations with the United Kingdom as will provide satisfactoflly for the commercial and strategic requirements of both countries in the future. This proposal for the establishment of the independent State would involve consultation with the Council of the League of Nations with a view to the ternination of the Mandate.

(2) The independent State should be one in which Arabs and Jews share in government in such a way as to ensure that the essential interest of each community are safeguaded.

(3) The establishment of the independent State will be preceded by a transitional period throughout which His Majesty8's Government will retain responsibility for the government of the country. During the transitional period the people of Palestine will be given an increasing part in the government of their country. Both sections of the population will have an opportunity to participate in the machinery of government, and the process will be camed on whether or not they both avail themselves of it. (23)

The beginning of the Second World war in 1939 postponed the implementation of the White Paper of 1939. The British Government, pre-occupied by the war, could not take any effective measures to implement the declared policy of granting independence to Palestine, The Jewish Agency, the Irgun Z'vai Leumi, and the Stem gang carried out a campaign of terrorism in Palestine against the British authorities as a revolt against the White Paper of 1939.

BRITAIN SUBMITS THE PALESTINE PROBLEM TO THE UNITED NATIONS

In April 1947 the British Government submitted the Palestine Problem to the United Nations, requesting the General Assembly to take steps to determine the future government of Palestine. The General Assembly constituted a Special Committee to investigate all questions and issues relevant to the problem of Palestine, and to prepare proposals for the solution of the problem.

The Jewish Agency for Palestine submitted a Memorandum in July 1947 to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. It reviewed several alternative solutions and opted for partition. It stated the following:

The idea of a solution on padition lines has been mooted in recent years. As previously recorded, at a meeting of the Executive of the Jewish Agency held in Paris in July, 1946, a resolution was passed to the effect that it was ready "to discuss a scheme for the establishment of a viable Jewish state in an adequate area of Palestine." Subsequently, in rejecting the Bevin Scheme, the Executive reiterated its readiness to consider such a compromise, on the understanding that the Jewish State so established "should have complete control over immigration and development and be represented in the United Nations." (24)

The Special Committee submitted a majority plan for the partition of Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state and a corpus separutum under a special international regime for the City of Jerusalem. The minority report recommended the establishment of a federal state with Jewish and Arab autonomy in specified districts.

During the Second Session of the General Assembly the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestine Question considered an Agenda of three items:

1. Question of Palestine: item proposed by the United Kingdom.

2. Report of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine.

3. Termination of the Mandate over Palestine and recognition of its independence as one State: Item proposed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestine Question considered these items from the 25th of September to the 25th of November 1947. After a general debate, it appointed Subcommittee No. 1 and Sub-committee No. 2 to draw up a detailed plan for the future government of Palestine.

Sub-Committee No. 1 discussed the future government of Palestine. The representative of the United Kingdom and the representative of the Jewish Agency for Palestine were invited to sit with the members of the Sub-Committee in order to furnish them with such information and assistance as might be required. These representatives attended all the meetings. A working group was appointed to consider the boundaries of the proposed Jewish State and the Arab State. The working group on boundaries accepted the boundaries proposed by the Special Committee in principle, but examined them in considerable detail with a view to reducing the size of the Arab population in the Jewish State which was at that time, a majority. A number of boundary rectifications were recommended. Sub-committee No. 1 recommended the plan of the partition of Palestine into an Arab State, a Jewish State and an International Regime for the City of Jerusalem.

Sub-Committee No. 2 submitted a plan recommending that Palestine would be a unitary and sovereign state with a democratic constitution and an elected legislature. The constitution shall provide guarantees for the sanctity of the Holy Places and guarantee respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, and freedom of religious belief. The constitution shall recognize the right of Jews to employ Hebrew as a second official language in areas in which they are amajority. The constitution shall ensure adequate representation in the legislature for all important sections of the citizenry in proportion to their numerical strength, and shall have guarantees concerning the rights and safeguards for the minorities.

Sub-Committee No. 2 contended that the United Nations had no jurisdiction to partition Palestine. It requested that the question be refemed to the International Court of Justice to determine whether the United Nations has jurisdiction to partition Palestine. Sub-Committee No. 2 objected to the pmition also on the grounds that the proposed Jewish State would comprise 5,893 square miles, or 56.47% of the area of Palestine, and the Arab State would comprise 4,476 square miles, or 42.88% of the area of Palestine. It also contended that the proposed Jewish State would contain a population of 1,008,800 consisting of 509,780 Arabs and 499,020 Jews. In other words, at the outset the Arabs would be a majority in the proposed Jewish State.

The Ad HOC Committee on the Palestine Question discussed the two plans submitted by Sub-Committee No. 1 and Sub-Committee No. 2. The question of referring the matter to the Intemationa! Court of Justice was defeated by 21 votes against 20. The Ad HOC Committee recommended to the General Assembly a draft resolution recommending the partition of Palestine into an Arab State, a Jewish State and an International Regime for Jerusalem. The General Assembly on the 29th of November 1947 adopted Resolution 181(11) recommending the partition of Palestine into an Arab State, a Jewish State and an International Regime for Jerusalem, by 33 votes in favor, 13 opposed and 10 abstentions.

THE BOUNDARIES OF THE JEWISH STATE ACCEPTED BY JEWS AND RECOGNIZED BY THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE UNITED STATES

Representatives of the Jewish Agency took part in the discussions of Sub-committee No. 1 of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestine Question which determined the boundaries between the Jewish State, the Arab State and the International Regime of Jerusalem.

Dr. Chaim Weizmann, representative of the Jewish Agency, stated:

That only one solution remained, namely, the partition of Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish State as was proposed in the majority plan. (25)

Dr. Weizmann thought that the proposed economic union was a progressive idea and was bound to be triumphant. (26)

Moshe Shertock, representing the Jewish Agency, made a statement before the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestine Question, in which he said:

The Jewish Agency considered that the area proposed in the majority plan for the Jewish State, with certain modifications, constituted the indispensable minimum; the Executive of the Agency would not k prepared to recommend anything less for acceptance. (27)

Mr. Shertock

appealed to the Committee to consider the common people of Palestine, both Arabs and Jews, and the common people throughout the Middle East. Underlying the strife and hatred, there was an upsurging of common human feeling and a fundamental interest in peaceful development. The Jews wanted nothing but peace and equality in Palestine. (28)

UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL SESSION TO CONSIDER FURTHER THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF PALESTINE

When the implementation of the Partition Plan appeared to be impossible without the use of force, and after consultations between the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the said Council on the 1st day of April, 1948, in its 277th Meeting, adopted a Resolution in which it requested the Secretary Genera1 in accordance with Article 20 of the United Nations Charter to convoke a special session of the General Assembly "to consider further the question of the future government of Palestine." On April 17, 1948, the Security Council in its 283rd Meeting adopted a resoiution requesting a cease to all military activities leading to increased tension and called upon all persons and organizations in Palestine, and especially upon the Arab Higher Committee and the Jewish Agency, to take immediately, without prejudice to their rights, claims, or positions, and as a contribution to the well-being and permanent interests of Palestine, the following measures:

(d) Refrain pending further consideration of the future government of Palestine by the General Assembly, from any political activity which might prejudice the rights, claims, or psitions of either community.

The Second Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly convened at Lake Success on April 16, 1948, to consider further "the future govemment of Palestine." The United States Delegation submitted a "working paper on Trusteeship for Palestine." In inwducing the plan for Trusteeship, Senator Warren Austin, Chief of the United States Delegation, stated:

The U.S.A. believed that the General Assembly should consider the establishment of a temporary trusteeship which would provide a government and essential public services in Palestine pending further negotiations. The Trusteeship proposal was intended to ensure order and government and thereby make possible the working out of a peaceful settlement and constmctive development in Palestine.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF SO-CALLED ISRAEL

While the United Nations General Assembly was meeting in a Special Session in May, 1948, to discuss a just solution for the Palestine problem, discussing a trusteeship proposal for Palestine submitted by the United States, Zionist leaders, on May 14, 1948, illegally proclaimed their so-called independence and established the Provisional Govemment for the so-called "State of Israel".

The so-called "Declaration of Independence*' made in Tel Aviv on May 14,1948, relied on the Resolution of the General Assembly of November 29, 1947. It states:

On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a Resolution requiring the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine.

It states further:

The State of Israel will be ready to cooperate with the organs and representatives of the United Nations in the implementation of the resolution of the Assembly of November 29, 1947.

The Declaration stated further:

The State of Israel will ensure complete equlity of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the charter of the United Nations. (29)

When the representative of the Provisional Govemment of Israel requested the recognition of the United States, he stated:

The State of Israel has been proclaimed as an independent republic within the frontiers upproved by the General Assembly of the United Nutions in its resolution of November 29, 1947 (30)

The question of the boundaries of the Partition Plan was discussed again in the First Committee of the United Nations in I948 after Count Folke Bemadotte submitted his proposals and suggested certain variations in the boundaries of the Jewish and Arab States. Mr. Shertock addressed the First Committee on behalf of the Provisional Govemment of Israel and it is recorded in the official records of the First Committee, stating the following:

The Mediator's proposal concerning the Negeb was in itself sufficient reason why the Govemment of Israel could not consider the report even as a basis for discussion. The 29 November resolution was the only valid basis for a territorial settlement, although a number of territorial improvements had been rendered imperative as a result of Arab aggression. (31)

In connexion with all questions of territorial adjustments, Israel would prefer to see the establishment of a separate independent Arab State corresponding as far as practicable, to the provisions of the 29 November resolution, and would be ready to negotiate with it on mutual adjustments of boundaries, if such a State declared itself ready to enter into close alliance with Israel. But, if the Mediator's proposal to join the Arab part of Palestine to the Kingdom of Transjordan were carried through, the ratio between the area of Israel and that of its Arab neighbour would be 1 to 20, that would change the whole basis of the territorial distribution of the 29 November resolution. (32)

The United States supported the position of the Jewish Agency. Its representative in the United Nations, Professor Philip Jessup, addressed the United Nations First Committee and stated inter alia the following:

The United States approved the claims of the State of Israel to the boundaries set forth in the 29 November resolution and considered that modifications thereof should be made only if fully acceptable to the State of Israel. Reductions in such territory should be agreed upon by Israel and if Israel desired additions, it would have to offer appropriate exchange through negotiations. (33)

The United Nations established a Conciliation Commission to bring about conciliation and settlement between Jews and Arabs in Palestine. On May 12, 1949 the Conciliation Commission for Palestine prepared the Lausanne Protocol, which was signed by the representatives of Israel and the Arab States, and by members of the United Nations Conciliation Commission. The Lausanne Protocol states:

the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, anxious to achieve as quickly as possible the objective of the General Assembly's resolution of December 1 1,1948 regarding refugees, the respect for their rights and the preservation of their property, as well as territorial and other questions, has proposed to the Delegation of Israel and the Delegations of the ArabStates that the "Working documents attached thereto be taken as basis for discussion with the Commission." (The "Working Documents" are the Palestine Partition Scheme, outlined in resolution 18 l(II), of November 29, 1947.)

ADMISSION OF ISRAEL TO THE UNITED NATIONS

When Israel's application for membership in the United Nations was submitted, it was referred to the Ad Hoc Political Committee for discussion. During the debate in the said committee, various members put several questions to the representative of Israel. All the questions were directed to the fact whether Israel would comply with the United Nations Resolutions on Palestine, namely regarding the Partition Resolution and the repatriation of the Palestine refugees. The representative of Israel assured members of the Committee that Israel would comply with these resolutions, and would cooperate in their implementation. When the General Assembly adopted its Resolution 273 (111) of 11 May 1949 admitting Israel to membership in the United Nations, it recalled

its resolutions of 29 November 1947 and 11 December 1948 and taking note of the declarations and explanations made by the representative of the Government of Israel before the Ad Hoc Political Committee in respect of the implementation of the said resolutions

Resolution 181 (II) specified a declaration to be made by the Jewish and Arab States regarding Holy Places and religious and minority rights, which contained inter alia the following provisions:

2. No discrimination of any kind shall be made between the inhabitants on the ground of race, religion, language or sex.

3. All persons within the jurisdiction of the State shall be entitled to equal protection of the laws ...

8. No expropriation of land owned by an Arab in the Jewish State (By a Jew in the Arab State) shall be allowed except for public purposes. In all cases of expropriation full compensation as fixed by the Supreme Court shall be paid previous to dispossession.

THE POSITION IN PALESTINE IN 1948

In 1948 there were in Palestine 1,440,000 Christian and Muslim Arabs who were the indigenous citizens of Palestine. There were also 253,700 Jews who were indigenous citizens of Palestine, 247,000 Jews who were naturalized Palestinian citizens, and 216,000 Jews who were aliens and illegal immigrants. (34) The Palestinian Arab citizens were 74% and the Jewish citizens were 26%.

There were in Palestine four mixed cities where Jews and Arabs lived together, namely, Jerusalem, Haifa, Safad, and Tiberias. There were 29 Arab towns, 830 Arab villages. six Jewish towns, 21 Jewish urban settlements and 266 Jewish rural settlements. (35)

The Palestinian Arabs owned 24,670,455 dunums of land and Jews owned 1,5 14,247 dunums. (36)

The Palestinian Arabs and Jews were well developed politically. There were 309 Arabs and 174 Jews serving as high officials in the central Government of Palestine. There were also 30,178 Arabs and 9,276 Jews serving as lower officials in the Government of Palestine. (37)

Palestine had a local government. There were 24 Municipal Councils of which four were mixed, 18 were Arab and two were Jewish. There were 38 local councils, one was mixed. 26 were Jewish and 11 were Arab. There were forty Village Councils, all Arab. (38) The Arabs had five political parties and the Jews had eleven. (39)

The Palestinian Arabs owned 52% of the total acreage of citrus groves in Palestine; the Jews owned 48%. The Palestinian Arabs produced 73% of all fruits, 90% of grains and legumes, 77% of vegetables, 99% of olives and olive oil, 5 1 % of dairy products, 62% of eggs and poultry, 89% of cattle and 94% of sheep slaughtered in Palestine. In 1948 the Palestinian Arabs had 1,558 industrial establishments; the Jews had 1,907. These facts were stated in the Survey of Palestine for the Information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, Vol. 11, pp. 946-950, p. 566, p. 37 and Vol. I. p. 320.

REVOLT BY THE JEWISH MINORITY

The Jewish minority was well-armed and militarily better trained than the Palestinians, and was aided and abetted by the forces of great Britain. The Soviet Union sent large quantities of weapons and ammunition to the Jews through Czechoslovakia. The Jewish minority was able to occupy 80% of the territory of Palestine and committed against the Palestinian Arab majority the following War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide;

1. They violated the territorial integrity of Palestine and occupied 80% thereof.

2. They expelled from Palestine more than 800,000 Palestinian Arabs by violence and massacre.

3. They prevented the Palestinian refugees from returning to their homes.

4. They committed many massacres against the Palestinians.

5. They erased from the map of Palestine 492 Arab small towns and villages and usurped all of the houses, lands and properties of Palestinian Arabs in these towns and villages.

6. They usurped about 95% of the houses, apartments and commercial buildings of Palestinian Arabs in 12 cities, namely, Safad, Tiberias, Acre, Beisan, Haifa, Jaffa, Lydda, Ramleh, New Jerusalem, Majdal, Beersheba and Ainkarem.

7. They looted, pillaged and plundered all of the furniture, machinery, equipment, merchandise and all worldly possessions of the Palestinian Arabs in 80% of Palestine.

8. They destroyed and desecrated Christian holy places.

9. They destroyed and desecrated Muslim holy places.

10. They violated the right of self-determination of the Palestinian Arabs, their sovereignty over their wealth and natural resources, and their political, civil, proprietary and religious rights and made the Palestinians a refugee nation, thereby committing the Crime of Genocide against the Palestinians.

OCCUPATION OF THE WEST BANK AND GAZA IN 1967

In the early hours of the 5th day of June, 1967, Israel launched a war of aggression against Egypt, Jordan and Syria and occupied the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and Gaza. This occupation was the result of a well-planned, calculated aggression. According to the admission of senior members of the Israeli Government, the political and military leaders planned and carried out the War of 1967 in order to expand their occupation of Arab territories and not, as they falsely claimed, that it was a pre-emptive strike to avoid annihilation.

THE CRIMES COMMITTED FROM 1967 TO 1987

1. In 1967 the Zionist War Criminals waged a War of Aggression against Egypt, Jordan and Syria and occupied the remaining twenty percent of Palestine.

2. They expelled more than three hundred thousand Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza.

3. They murdered more than twenty thousand Palestinians, Jordanians and Egyptians.

4. They used napalm bombs and cluster bombs.

They have ruled the West Bank and Gaza under military law and made this area similar to a Nazi concentration camp.

6. They have committed and are still committing against the Palestinians in the west Bank and Gaza the following War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide:

(1) Inhuman treatment and abasements of Arabs;

(2) Brutality of Zionist soldiers and police against the Palestinian civilian population;

(3) Attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza;

(4) Illegal detention of thousands of Palestinians under the most inhuman conditions and their torture;

(5) Usurpation of Palestinian lands in the West Bank and Gaza and depriving hundreds of thousands of people of their livelihood;

(6) Demolition of thousands of homes of Palestinians as illegal collective punishment;

(7) The economic destruction of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza;

(8) The cultural destruction and persecution of Palestinians:

(9) Destruction and desecration of Christian and Muslim Holy Places;

(10) Armed attacks, closing and disruption of studies in Palestinian schools and universities;

(11) Harassment of Palestinian newspapers by strict censorship, suspension and closing down of newspapers and detention and deportation of Palestinian journalists;

(12) Expulsion of Palestinian leaders such as mayors, civil leaders, religious leaders, journalists, doctors and lawyers, thereby destroying their family life and punishing their families;

(13) Confiscatory taxation of properties and income;

(14) Prevention of family re-unification and separating wives and children from their families.

CRIMES AGAINST THE INTIFADA

Since the beginning of the Intifada in December 1987, more than 950 Palestinian men, women and children were killed. About 400 pregnant Palestinian women aborted due to Israeli physical attacks or use of tear and other types of gas. More than 60,000 Palestinians were seriously injured. There are today more than 15,000 Palestinians in concentration camps being tortured by the most inhuman methods. The Israelis uprooted more than 140,000 olive and fruit trees as collective punishment. They demolished or sealed more than 850 Palestinian homes, making more than 9,000 Palestinians homeless. Neither infants nor the aged have been spared. Men and women and boys and girls alike have been killed or injured by the brutality of the Israeli occupiers. Among the measures adopted by the Israeli Army in its attempts to suppress the Palestinians are the following:

1. Murder and massacre of Palestinians;

2. Systematic terrorism;

2. Torture of civilians;

4. Deliberate starvation of civilians;

5. Rape;

6. Deportation of civilians;

7. Internment of civilians under inhuman conditions;

8. Usurpation of sovereignty during military occupation;

9. Confiscation of property;

10. Exaction of illegitimate and exorbitant contributions and requisitions;

11. Issue of spurious currency;

12. Imposition of collective penalties;

13. Wanton devastation and destruction of property;

14. Deliberate bombardment of undefended places;

15. Wanton destruction of religious, charitable, educational and historic buildings;

16. Breach of rules relating to the Red Cross, including attacks on hospitals and interference with medical personnel;

17. Use of deleterious and asphyxiating gases;

18. Use of explosive or expanding bullets and other inhuman appliances;

19. Ill treatment of wounded and prisoners;

20. Intentional withholding of medical supplies from civilians.

All of the above acts are war crimes specified as such in the dicta of the International Military Tribunal which tried major Nazi war criminals after World War II. (40)

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HAS BEEN AN OBSTACLE TO PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The United States of America has been the main obstacle to peace in the Middle East because of its irresponsible, illegal, immoral and unAmerican policy of aiding and abetting Israel in committing the abovementioned war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Palestinians. The United States has given Israel all the sophisticated weapons to guarantee Israel's military superiority. It passively allowed Israel to steal enriched uranium from United States nuclear facilities. It knowingly permitted United States Jewish scientists to assist Israel in reaching its nuclear capability. It gave Israel the heavy water. It gave Israel technology and chemicals to produce chemical and biological weapons. It has been using its veto in the United Nations Security Council to protect and encourage Israel's aggression. For the last fifteen years the U.S. has been voting alone with Israel in the United Nations General Assembly against the right of Palestinians to self-determination. It has recently abandoned Security Council Resolution 242 although it always claimed that it is the basis for the solution of the Middle East problem. Lord Caradon of the United Kingdom, who introduced the Resolution in agreement with the United States Ambassador Arthur J. Goldberg, expressed the consensus of the Council in stating:

Britain does not accept war as a means of settling disputes, nor that a State should be allowed to extend its borders as a result of war. This means Israel must withdraw. (41)

Lord Caradon stated further:

In our Resolution we stated the principle of "the withdrawal of Israel Armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict," and in the preamble we emphasized the inadmissibility of the acquisition by war. (42)

Security Council Resolution 242 was adopted on November 22, 1967 by unanimous vote. Israel defied this Resolution and all other Resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly. It refused, and still refuses to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza. As a prelude to their annexation, it established 173 Jewish settlements and settled in them 86,000 Israelis, many of whom were fanatic American Jews and recent Soviet Jewish immigrants.

The United States forced the Palestine Liberation Organization to accept Resolution 242, yet the Bush Administration has been treating Israel in a cowardly manner and has adopted Yitzhak Shamir's ridiculous proposal, which Shamir himself called "an idle fancy," (43) to hold elections in the West Bank and Gaza under Israeli occupation, to elect Palestinian representatives to negotiate with Israel about selfrule. This is a colonial, Russian concept which Menachem Begin injected into the Camp David agreements, the object of which is to keep Palestinians under Israeli occupation and colonialism.

The United States knows that Israel is not interested in peace and has no intention of withdrawing from the West Bank and Gaza in accordance with Resolution 242. How could the United States be serious about working for peace when it has been helping Israel intransigence? It considers Israel its strategic ally. It stored hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons and ammunition in Israel to be used in case of an emergency. In addition to all the sophisticated weapons it gave Israel, the United States is now giving Israel more F-15 and F-16 offensive weapons. It is giving Israel sophisticated technology to produce offensive missiles. It is now closing adeal to give Israel the Patriot Missile along with intelligence assistance by United States satellites which will give Israel minute by minute information about any movement of Arab weapons and troops. The United States has made itself an ally of Israel in any adventurous and aggressive war it will launch against any Arab country. In March 1990, the United States Senate adopted a Resolution recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted the same Resolution in April. These measures adopted by the United States Administration and Congress will only strengthen Israeli intransigence and unwillingness to make peace.

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