[GushShalom] against the odds: a protest, an ad, an article, a survey
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Thu Jul 25 00:45:00 IDT 2002
GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 -http://www.gush-shalom.org/
1) Report on the Gush Shalom protest
2) Questions to the pilots of the F-16, by refusniks
3) 'Tanzim intended to stop terrorism' - Alex Fishman in Yediot Aharonot
4) Peace Now settler survey (urls for Hebrew and English)
1) Report on the Gush Shalom protest
Once again, the drab parking opposite the Defence Ministry in Tel-Aviv,
just across the fortified gate and the bored sentries guarding the entrance
to the nerve center of the strongest army in the Middle East.
Since the last time we were here, a fence had been erected at the edge
of the sidewalk on our side of the road. The authorities apparently erected it
following an eventful night in April when several hundred activists spontaneously
surged onto the road and blocked it to protest the invasion of Ramallah (two
invasions before the current one).
Today, we were brought here by the bombing in Gaza which ended the lives
of a senior Hamas leader as well as fifteen civilians, ten of them children - and
which apparently nipped in the bud what was the best chance for a cease fire in
quite a long while - the military operation which the often over-cautious Meretz
Leader Yossi Sarid termed "state terrorism" on prime-time TV last night.
A clump of activists are already there before the appointed hour. By 6.00
more and more are arriving, members of Gush Shalom which called the action
reinforced by smaller contingents from other groups - altogether about 150 at
the peak. Banners are unfurled and hand-made signs held aloft: "Killing follows
killing, assassination causes terror"; "The killing of Palestinian children is
terror, too"; "A targeted killing of peace"; "There is no military solution";
"Enough with war crimes"; "The economy is collapsoing under the burden of the
occupation". A big, black-bordered banner read "We mourn the Israeli and
Palestinian children". At its side were the combined flags of Israel and
Palestine and the Gush Shalom motto: "Two peoples, two states, one future".
There were no special incidents, except the usual fussing of the Defence
Ministry security men, who were worried lest the TV crews present take footage
of military restricted areas. While they were arguing with the Danish and
German camera crews, the youngsters at the front burst out chanting:
"Fuad, Fuad [nickname of the Minister of Defence] - how many kids did you kill
today?" and "all the ministers are war criminals."
The group of radical gays and lesbians known as "Kvisa Shroa" (alternatively
translated as "Dirty Laundry" or "Black Sheep") raised some laughter on a rather
somber occasion by shouting "We will not sleep with soldiers".
While dispersing, more than one of us contemplated the likely future occasions
when we would have to come here again in the coming months - the suicide
bombings which are the likely result of the Gaza bombings, and the new acts of
repression to which these bombings will provide a pretext, and the new
Palestinian retaliations and... Then we passed the tall building at the
corner of Ibn Gvirol St. where the South African Emabassy was located in the
1980's, and the pavement where "Israelis Against Apartheid" had held their
vigils. That, too, had often seemed futile and interminable. [Adam Keller]
Digital photos of the protest to be obtained from
Rachel Avnery: +972-(0)50-306440 or email: avnery at gush-shalom.org
2) Questions to the pilots of the F-16, by refusniks
[Translated from the ad in today's Ha'aretz]
A FEW QUESTIONS TO THE PILOTS OF THE F-16
those who took part in the liquidation
of Salah Shehadeh and 14 other human beings,
among them 6 children, and 2 babies
(and150 wounded).
Do you know the concept "manifestly illegal order"?
Is the order which you followed one of them?
Is there a limit to what you would be willing to do?
When you were briefed about your mission - did
you to try to check that there wouldn't be innocent
civilians in the house you were going to bombard?
If you knew there were, didn't you hesitate, at least
for a short moment, before you pulled the trigger?
Do you justify the death of children, babies because
of the sins of their father?
Arent' you the elite of the soldiers? Aren't pilots
considered the spearpoint of the armed forces as
well as the Israeli society - also for their moral
standards?
Do you remember that there were times that we
would have canceled an action when the susipicion
rose that innocents may be hit? - because such
were the values according to which we were brought
up, and because these were the norms of the armed
forces which we joined?
And these were the norms we were proud of.
Nearly unnoticed the State of Israel has turned into
a state which doesn't scruple using whatever means
in order to achieve its political aims.
We hide the face of the soldiers for fear of the
International Court of War Crimes, just like criminals
hide their face for fear of the police.
Combattants' letter
Courage to Refuse
www.seruv.org.il
(Ha'aretz, July 24)
[ See also the speech of Reserve Colonel Yigal Shochat in which he
called upon Air Force pilots to refuse to bomb Palestinian cities,
delivered at the January 9 Gush Shalom War Crime Panel
- http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum_eng.html ]
3) 'Tanzim intended to stop terrorism' - Alex Fishman in Yediot Aharonot
Once again Yediot Aharonot's Alex Fishman publishes
important information and commentary, apparently reflecting
the views of dissident elements within the army. The
following articles take up two full pages in today's issue of
Yediot, Israel's largest mass-circulation paper.
Tanzim intended to stop terrorism
An hour and half after the heads of Tanzim agreed on
publishing a declaration of a unilateral cease-fire, Israel
liquidated Salim Shehade in Gaza. Thus was cut off a
two-month old move aimed at achieving a cease-fire.
Day before yesterday, at 22:30, the heads of Tanzim,
convened at Jenin, approved the text of a communique
calling unilaterally for an end to fighting by Tanzim, Hamas
and Islamic Jihad. A few hours before, Muhammad Dahlan
[influntial former head of Palestinian Security in the Gaza
Strip] met with [Hamas Leader] Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in
which meeting Yassin accepted the principles of the
cease-fire communique.
In fact, already starting on the past weekend, Sheik Yassin
and [senior Hamas member] Abd-El-Aziz Rantisi started
making statements aimed at creating a public atmosphere
among the public conducive to accepting the cease-fire
communique.
The Israeli military system ands the country's high political
echelons were briefed officially on Monday by the European
Union. In fact, that briefing was not needed, since Israel is
already for weeks following the deliberations inside Tanzim
on the idea of declaring a unilateral cease-fire without making
any immediate demands upon Israel. The Tanzim initiative -
backed by the European Community, Saudi Arabia and Egypt
- is an ongoing move already deliberated for the past two months.
Moreover, the organization's leader Marwan Barghouti, held in an
Israeli prison, was informed of the initiative, and Palestinian
sources say he was expected to give it his endorsement.
One and a half hour after the Tanzim leadership approved the
document at its Jenin gathering, Israel carried out the
assassination of Salah Shehadeh, in the course of which dozens
of civilians were killed and wounded as well. In this way, Israel
apparently destroyed the chance to test the viability of a cease-fire.
The initiative did not originate from the Palestinian Authority, but
from the grassroots level. Arafat was aware of the initiative, but
neither led nor impeded it.
But for the Shehade liquidation, the Tanzim communique - calling
for an end to suicide bombings, to the shooting of mortar shells
and missiles and to any other activity against Israeli civilians - was
due to be published already yesterday. Today, it was to be
published as an article in the Washington Post and
simultaneously in the Palestinian and Israeli press. The US
Administration was also briefed on this initiative, though in essence
it was internationally sponsored by the EU.
In the course of their two months' dialogue with the Tanzim, the
Europeans were initially sceptical of the Tanzim choosing for a
unilateral move, and even more sceptical about the Hamas and
Islamic Jihad joining it, but to their surprise it came to fruition at the
beginning of this week.
During their talks, the Europeans asked the Tanzim leader for their
demands upon Israel. The text of the communique spoke of a unilateral
cease-fire (see box). However, the Tanzim leaders told the Europeans
that they were asking for an end to "targeted killings" by Israel, and to
the demolition of houses, and for Israel to avoid deportations and
withdraw its forces from the Palestinian cities.
The Tanzim people were asked for their envisioned timeline of Israeli
withdrawal from the cities. Their answer, transmitted also to the Israeli
military, was that they would like to get to January 2003, when
Palestinian Authority elections are due to take place, with the cities free
of Israeli mitary presence. Israeli military elements who were aware of
the Tanzim move being formulated took it seriously. They made, however,
the reservation that the Tanzim was in fact seeking to delay by about a
year the decision in the conflict with Israel. They said that the Tanzim
communuqe made no reference to essential issues such as the Right
of Return, and that it continues to back Arafat.
In the defence establishment it was yesterday emphasized that they give
no weight whatsoever to the Tanzim's projected communique, and that
Hamas was not going to be a party to it.
The Tanzim Communique - full text
According to West European sources, the following is the text of the
Tanzim communique which was due to be published today in the
territories:
We, representatives of the Tanzim and Fatah, in the name of our
comrades and organizations in all the towns and villages of the West
Bank and Gaza, declare that from this moment on we are stopping any
and all attacks on innocent, non-combatant men, women and children.
We call upon all Palestinian political organizations and movements to
put an immediate end to such attacks, and to do so withoutt any
hesitations or preconditions.
For our part, we will halt all such attacks and work with other
Palesatinian political organizations in order to achieve their support. We
will monitor the activities of organizations in order to ensure that no such
actions are being planned or carried out, and we will take part in a
national dialogue aimed at convincing our people that this is the right
course to take. We undertake a permanent committment to this policy,
and our efforts in promoting it will be determined and tireless.
Our revolution is stating out under a new principle. We will continue our
struggle and defend our people. We will oppose any aggression aimed at
our cities and our familes, against the confiscation of our land and the
deportation of our people, against the slow, deliberate, pitiless destruction
of our society and our aspirations, against the ongoing occupation of the
West Bank by the Israeli army. All these we will go on opposing and
rebelling against.
[second article - published alongside the first one]
A justified target, a strange timing
By Alex Fishman
Is it possible that somebody in Israel's high political and military echeleons
wanted to deliberately sabotage the chances for a cease-fire? God forbid.
Such a thing is unthinkable in our country. But then, how to explain that
exactly an hour and half after the Tanzim heads agreed upon the text of their
call for a unilateral ceasefire, Israel liquidated in such a clumsy way the head
of the Hamas military wing in the Gaza Strip, thereby also liquidating a chance
- faint as it may have been - to calm down the region? Is it just coincidence? Or
are we locked upon the concept that any Palestinian move is always a lie or
conspiracy?
The target was more than justified: Shehadeh was an arch-terrorist who should
have been liquidated years ago. But the timing of the liquidation is very strange,
and the clumsy implemetation very untypical of Military Intelligence and the Air
Force. As if somebody was in a very big hurry to carry it out right this moment,
no matter what.
Shehadeh was a target whose "targeted killing" was aproved many months ago.
The collection of intelligence about him involved an enormous effort. Just two
weeks ago it was found out that he had moved to a new house, the same where
he was yesterday liquidated. Already last Friday the missile sights were turned
upon him, but the attack was called off when it turmned out that a female relative
of his was nearby. As far as the armed forces were concerned, there was no
doubt - this was a legitimate target approved by the political echelon.
But what would have happened had the political echelon decided to postpone the
liqudation and wait to see what would come of the Tanzim/European initiative?
Military Intelligence has no confidence in the Tanzim cease-fire initiative,
still less in Tanzim's ability to get Hamas involved in that initiative. But
Military Intelligence makes no more than recommendations. It was for the
political echelon to consider and decide upon the importance of that
declaration. After all, Tanzim declaring a unilateral cease-fire would amount
to declaring the failure of the Intifada. It could have amounted to a victory
of Ariel Sharon's policies. But somebody's finger seemed to itching on the
trigger.
It is reasonable to assume that a pinpoint liquidation of the man alone would
not have aroused the would agner against us in such a way. But a plane with
a bomb can go wrong. In this case, the pilot made no mistake - he landed the
bomb exactly where he was instructed to land it. The mistake was in another
place, in the basic considerations - and not only those of the armed forces.
For almost two years, the Air Force is carrying out attacks in the Territories.
Pilots involved in targeted killing speak proudly - and present action footage
to prove their point - of enormous effort invested and the many safety
precautions taken before the trigger is pressed, in order to avoid harming
innocent civilians. So far, the Air Force and the IDF kept this ethical code in
a most respectful way. And suddenly, exactly yesterday, Intelligence gave
wrong information which led to wrong action. This is no small "intelligece
discrepency". It is a very big hole in the intelligence-gathering process.
Mistakes always happen, but the liquidation of Shehade was no tactical
move of liquidating yet another local terrorist. It was a strategic move.
Where was the Minister of Defence, who is supposed to be a balancing
factor between the policial and miltary echelons and weigh carefully all the
considerations before taking such a significant military move?
So, instead of trying to measure the seriousness of the Tanzim's intentions
to declare a cease-fire, we are prepaping ourselves to absorb a new wave of
suicide bombings, which will require of us more painfiul and justified
reactions. Did we already talk of the conquest of Gaza?
4) Settler Attitudes towards Withdrawal from the Territories
Peace Now found that over two-thirds of Israeli settlers in the occupied
territories would obey a democratic decision to withdraw from their
communities, while an absolute majority would see financial compensation
as the preferred solution to the question of their evacuation. Only a tiny
minority of settlers would resist evacuation by all means, while a small
minority would refuse any solution involving evacuation. Further, the new
Peace Now study found that the vast majority of settlers chose to live in
the occupied territories for 'quality of life' issues, not ideological or
religious reasons.
Summary results
[English] http://www.peacenow.org.il/English.asp
[Hebrew] http://www.peacenow.org.il/
----
Full transcript of the war crimes panel available on the Gush site
For Hebrew http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum.html
For English http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum_eng.html
French available at request
Also on the site:
photo's - of action or otherwise informative
the weekly Gush Shalom ad - in Hebrew and English
the columns of Uri Avnery - in Hebrew, Arab and English
(and a lot more)
http://www.gush-shalom.org
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Palestinian life under occupation, reports and letters
at: http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html
Why are the volunteer international observers important?
Because the United Nations didn't send its protection force.
Information about the International Solidarity Movement
- and how to support it in different ways -
at http://www.palsolidarity.org/
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