ARAB PALESTINIAN

RESISTANCE

.1973

MonthlyMagazine

P A L E S T I N E L I B E R A T I O N A R M Y - P E O P L E ' S - L I B E R A T I O N F O R C E S

Arab PalestinianR E S I S T A MCE

Volume V No. 6 June 1973

CONTENTS

From the record 3

Editorial 4

Political scene By: M. T. Bujairami 6

The Palestinian People: Victims of Violence 14By Joseph L. Ryan

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35

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• Israel and the Imperialist Camp

• Israel: The settler state

• Special study: The question of humanrights to nationality.

By: Anis F. Kassim

• A book review: The Palestinian experience. 65Reviewed by George S. Hishmeh

• Documents : The political program of the 73Palestine Liberation Organization.

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E d i t o r : NT K H U H J

FROM THE RiCORO

With the approach of the 25th anniversary ofthe establishment of the state of Israel and the dis-possession of the Palestinian people, we, as Jews,condemn Zionist racialism which has caused, amongother violations of Human Rights, the expulsion ofthe majority of the Palestinian people from theircountry and the expropriation of their lands, homesand possessions.

We also condemn the Zionist persecution ofthose Palestinians who remained in their homeland;we totally reject the so-called «Law of Return»which enables Jews everywhere to settle in Pales-tine but denies this right to Palestinians who wereborn, like generations of their ancestors beforethem, in Palestine.

• Rabbi Dr. Elmer Berberand 34 other non-Zionist

Jewish leaders.

Early in the Spring of 1973 there were rumours thatthe United States government, prompted by the incipientfuel crisis, might adjust its Middle East policy to a more«even-handed» attitude towards the Arabs and Israel. Therumours had been circulated by Americans with officialstanding claiming to be «friendly» to the Arabs.

Progressive Arabs, however, fully aware of thetrue nature of the U.S.-Israel alliance and of the«watchdog» role assigned to Israel by world im-perialism in the Middle East region, never tookthose rumours seriously, but assessing them as theyshould be, regarded them as a maneuver, a ruseand a subterfuge intended to influence the Arabmasses and make them less violently hostile toAmerican policies and interests.

Recent developments have borne out the accu-racy of this assessment. In a series of statementsand declarations, Secretary of State William Rogersand his assistant Joseph Sisco have both repeatedlystressed the point that no change has taken place,or is likely to take place, in the American stand inthe Middle East as a result of the constantly-

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expanding world fuel crisis, and that U.S. backingfor Israel will continue - a point that was empha-tically repeated in statements made by Rogers atthe recent meeting of CENTO members at Teheran.

Moreover, the American representative at theU.N. Security Council, in the course of the debateon the Middle East question which was temporarilyinterrupted by the Nixon-Breznev summit meeting,made it clear that the U.S. which does not acceptthe Israeli-inspired American claim that negotia-tions - direct or indirect - is the only way out of theMiddle East crisis, notwithstanding Israel's obstruc-tionist attitude of rejecting the principle of the in-admissibility of the acquisition of land by force, andits refusal to withdraw from the occupied Arab ter-ritories so acquired.

It is high time those gullible Arabs, who stilldream of some measure of American justice oreven-handedness, woke up to the inhumanity andhard realities of U.S. imperialism so conclusivelydemonstrated in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos andPalestine.

M. T. Bujairami

Isn't There Another Ellsberg in the Pentagon ?

On the sixth «anniversary» of the Israeli aggressionagainst the Arab countries, the Middle East crisis wasback in the U.N. Security Council, still in a state of hyber-nation, from which it had been aroused whenever Israellaunched fresh attacks across the new cease-fire lines,which Israel wants to freeze as her new, normal and«defensible» borders - at least till the new stage of furtherexpansion deeper and deeper into Arab territories.

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On the rare occasions when America did notuse her «veto» or the threat of resorting to it, asan umbrella to shelter Israel from the decisions of

Security Council, those decisions, without ex-6 ion have remained ink on paper. Any obser-

°lr interested in getting some information aboutwhat Israel has been up to in the occupied terri-tories need not even visit them. All he has to dowould be to take a quick glance at what the Coun-cil has been telling Israel NOT to do; because thatis exactly what is still going on, despite the indig-nation of the international community, and indefiance of all the Council's decisions—whichconsist mainly of prohibitions, warnings and ap-peals to Israel to desist from these policies. Thesepolicies include house demolitions, unwarranteddetentions, brutal torture, collective punishments,expropriation, deportation, vandalism, concentra-tion camps, massive air-raids on refugee camps, de-mographic, geographical, ethnological, legal and en-vironmental changes in the status and the verynature of the occupied lands. All such crimes, inIsrael's geopolitical dictionary continue to fall underthe terms of «security», «defence» and similar items.Facts and figures verifying this can be easily ob-tained from the records of the United Nations Or-ganization and its affiliated agencies.

Israel wants the Arabs and the whole interna-tional community to believe that «peace» and«security» in this part of the world can only beachieved through submitting to the Israeli demandsm full. These demands, it is interesting to observe,

: no longer confined to perpetuating the status. They now include other Israeli stipulations

such as getting rid of the Palestinian people at.anycost, by any means and as soon as possible! Theyalso include a «carte blanche» from the Arabs, offi-cially authorising Israel to dispose of the occupiedareas as she considers fit, to keep whatever posi-tions she wants and to return whatever lands shedeems unworthy of retaining. Any such lands, ifever returned, should be permanently demilitarized,while the lands Israel chooses to keep, would bede-Arabized! The Israeli demands also include the«necessity» to keep Israel in such a position of mi-litary might as to be able to strike at any Arabtarget within the range of a thousand miles, andat any time from now to eternity! Only in such anIsraeli «Reich» can the Israeli generals feel «safe!»They even imply that such a «Eeich» would bebetter for the Arabs' safety as well !

In the very rare cases when the Israeli leadersbother to concede the existence of the Palestinianpeople, they call on the Arab states to «absorb» thispeople; to have it economically and socially assi-milated, while its land, Palestine, is being «absor-bed» and «assimilated» into the body of the Israeli«Reich», whose map includes the Euphrates and theNile! As for the Jews of the world, Israel wants tosee to it that none of them is ever assimilated orabsorbed in any country. No, sir! They should allcome to Eretz Israel in order to fill the demogra-phic vacuum that Israel has created to accomo-date them at the expense of the displaced Arabsin and around Palestine. Any 3ews who let them-

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selves be assimilated in, say, Russia, would be con-sidered as traitors or at least, brain-washed fools.Such qualities would also apply, according to suchIsraeli criteria, to any Palestinians who prefer tolet themselves be assimilated anywhere outsidetheir country Palestine.

This ambivalent policy has become a systema-tic phenomenon. Israel publicly declares that itwants what it calls «peace.?ui co-existences withthe Arabs( while in the field of practical implemen-tation she works for a «peaceful» existence AT THEEXPENSE of the Arabs in implementation of awell-prepared plan to tighten her grip on the largestpossible area of land with the least possible numberof Arabs living on this land. The best illustrationof this was the recent statement by Yigal Allon,who said that the Arabs and the Israelis wouldeventually come to terms and live side by side likethe Germans and the French despite the previouswars. The best reply to this came from a Europeanpolitician who said that although the Germans oc-cupied the whole of France during the SecondWorld War, they did not throw the French out toestablish German colonies on French soil!

Another example is the case of King Hussein,who has expressly said that he would never parti-cipate in any war in the future. He also keeps openbridges with Israel all the time. He has also offeredto conclude peace at the Israeli terms. So far, hisoffer has had no response at all, despite all the con-

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cessions which amount to a «sell out» of the justcau~-e of the Palestinian people.

Why, one may ask, should Israel refuse to talkto the king; and at the same time express its wil-lingness to talk to the Tunisian president Bour-guiba? It is not difficult to answer this question.According to Israel Bourguiba is far away from thefield of the direct dispute; and thus talking to himwould not saddle Israel with any commitments orobligations whatsoever. Yet, when the Tunisianpresident stipulated that Israel should recognizethe existence of the uprooted Palestinians and theirrights, Israel immediately dropped the idea of anytalks. Israel's refusal to conclude peace with theJordanian regime indicates, among other things,that it has her designs, not only in relation to Jeru-salem and the West Bank of the Jordan, but alsoin relation to the East Bank as well.

It is not only the Arab world that rejects andcondemns these arrogant Israeli attitudes andschemes. Israel now stands condemned by verylarge sectors of the world community at large. Themost recent expression of this was embodied in thedecisions and recommendations of the African Sum-mit Conference that was held in Addis Ababa.

Israel has few friends left in the black conti-nent. There are positive signs of growing dissatisfac-tion with Israel's attitudes in several West Euro-pean countries, such as France, Italy, Austria, and

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to a lesser degree, England and even West Ger-many. The recen Conference of European Youthheld in Tripoli reflected these tendencies.

Meanwhile, the Israeli-occupied areas are farfrom being pacified, as Israel's propaganda machinewants the world to believe. Deep turmoil is stillboiling despite all the Israeli measures of terrori-zing and intimidation. The general strike on June5th was unanimous in both Gaza and the West Bankof Jordan. Again Israel resorted to detention andconfiscation of shops.

Who blocks the way towards peace in the MiddleEast? It is Israel, who has everything to lose in anykind of settlement which is not in accordance withthe Israeli terms and conditions; because theseterms and conditions exclude Gaza, Jerusalem,Sharm el-Sheikh and the Golan Heights as territorynot negotiable under any circumstances; Israelwants to stay in the areas «forever and ever andever», to use Moshe Dayan's own words in a recentinterview with a correspondent of the British TV.Yet, America's Secretary of State, William Rogers,who has swallowed his own initiative several timesstill insists that there should be Arab-Israeli nego-tiations, direct or indirect. This shows the extentof America's commitment to, and collusion with,Israel's arrogant attitude and its full contempt forthe U.N. Security Council, which stands for theinadmissibility of the acquisition of territories byforce.

II

The Palestinians have not been annihilated inLebanon, despite the recent bloodbath; and thismeans that Israel may yet launch another seriesof treacherous attacks to finish them.

Israel's leaders, from Eban to Dayan, have beenexpressing anxiety over the possibility of Arabpurchases of American weapons, although theseweapons, if ever delivered to Kuwait and SaudiArabia, will not reach the Middle East before 1973.Dayan already talks about «oil and sympathy» bet-ween America and these two Arab countries. Not-withstanding that Israel continues to boast of hermilitary superiority, Israeli leaders pretend to beafraid of a few fighter planes that «may» be trans-ferred to Egypt in the late seventies! This, of course,would serve as another pretext for demanding evenmore weapons from the arsenal of Uncle Sam,whose «generosity» keeps this arsenal always openfor Israel's little Hitlers to pick and choose.

As for Arab oil. to which America will soon behooked, due to the current fuel crisis, it seems thatUncle Sam is searching for ways and means to gua-rantee the continuous flow of this strategically im-portant commodity. These «ways and means» in-clude every trick in the book, even the possibilityof another Vietnam in this part of the world. Thereis every reason to believe that the same tricks andpretexts that were used to «justify» the Americaninvolvement in Indo-China will be used for a si-milar bloody adventure in the Middle East.

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There is already talk about ((Soviet influence))and ((communist subversion)) in the Arab GulfZone. The stage is being prepared for Americanintervention. Already, Senator William Fulbright,chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee inthe Congress, has warned against such an imminentpossibility.

Fulbright must have smelt something whichprompted him to speak up. The scandalous crimeswhich are being revealed by the Watergate affairshow how deceptive and secretive Nixon can be inmanipulative double-dealings. Besides, Nixon is abeleaguered man now. This is all the more reasonfor him to create another major crisis outside Ame-rica to divert the attention away from the Water-gate headlines. Conditions are ripe in the MiddleEast in particular, to provide the type of outletfrom such a tight corner.

In this projected adventure, however, Americawill not be alone; she has allies who are even moreefficient than the Saigon regime; allies like Israel,Iran, Ethiopia, the Jordan regime and other pro-West forces of reaction in the Middle East. But ofcourse America will continue to preach peace asusual. However, Watergate tells us that (daw andorder» was breached by none other than those whoprofessed to uphold law and order. Isn't there, some-where in the American administration, anotherhonest Ellsberg to leak out the Pentagon papersabout the Middle East ? •

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IB by Joseph L. Ryan

THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE:VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE

Two thousand four hundred people of all nationalitiesand faiths joined in a service of dedication and prayer atthe 13th century Crusader Castle in Sidon (Lebanon) onEaster morning April 22, 1973 following a two day, 28mile walk from Beirut and an enthusiastic welcome by8,000 people of the ancient city of Sidon. In support of theright of Palestinians to return to their homes a group ofAmericans in Beirut, Lebanon organized the Easter weekendwalk to make the international community and politicalleaders aware; of the fundamental human issue obstructingpeace in the Middle East.

Below are excerpts from an address by Rev. JosephL. Ryan, S. J. given at the religious service on EasterSunday morning', at the Castle in Sidon at the conclusionof the Beirut-to-S'don Peace March. The ecumenical serviceand the Peace March were organized by Americans onbehalf of the rights of the Palestinian people. Father Ryanis a professor at St. Joseph University in Beirut.

1. Palestinians? Victims of Violence

Today many in the West tend to think of Pales-tinians - - and of Arabs generally - - as a people ofof violence. The image is unjust, for the reality isexactly the opposite. The Palestinian people havebeen overwhelmingly the victims of violence, notagents of it. Against the instances of armed struggleby Palestinians which the West is intimately awareof recently, we must contrast the enormous accu-mulation of suffering inflicted unjustly on them,suffering borne silently over more than 25 years,suffering of which most of the world has little or

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no comprehension. If we were to concede, for thesake of argument, that not one single act of vio-lence by Palestinians since the rise of the Resis-tance can be justified in a way, even then therewould be no comparison whatever between the in-jury suffered and the harm inflicted.

Why does the hijacking of a plane by a des-perate group cause greater moral indignation thanthe plundering and degradation, carried out offi-cially by a government, of a whole people? Whydoes the world, which responds with horror atwords, the so-called threats of «driving a peopleinto the sea», remain indifferent at deeds, the actualdriving of a people out of their homes and countryinto the desert?

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians havebeen dispossessed of their native land and are re-fugees outside its borders unable to return, whileof those who have remained within, some are«refugees» on their own soil, and all are inferiorcitizens in law and in fact. These are no rash claimsbut sober conclusions documented for Arabs withinIsrael by (among others) Sabri Jiryis in hiswritings(1), and, for the occupied territories, bynumerous other studies. Furthermore, the assaultis not only against Palestinians involved in militaryresistance but against millions of civilians, and notagainst them as individuals merely, but preciselyas a people.2. Spoliation by the State

If the first point is clear, namely that Pales-

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tinians are victims of violence, the second is evenmore important, namely that this violence has beendeliberately directed against them by a system, astate, an ideology.

The ravaging of the Palestinians has been accom-plished continuously, of set purpose, with stead-fast will, in some cases carried out with such asophistication of procedure or apparent reasona-bleness of explanation that the injustice has re-mained unrecognized even to Jewish neighbors,while in other cases the action has been brazen, inopen defiance of world opinion and with incessant,urbane but specious justifications.

Moreover, these violations of the human rightsof the Palestinians have been effected at manylevels, by a variety of agencies in the state, parti-cularly through legislation and by the DefenceDepartment, and with all the power at a state'scommand. More than that, with all the power atthe command of international auxiliary organiza-tions, to say nothing of the assistance of great world

powers.The spoliation of Palestinians may rightly, then,

be called dnstitutionalized violences, an expressionthat has been employed by the Catholic bishops ofLatin America to describe the misery and exploi-tation in their own continent. Institutionalized vio-lence violates fundamental human rights so pa-tently, these bishops state, that «We should not besurprised... that the temptation to violence is sur-facing in Latin America. One should not abuse the

tience of a people that has borne a situation thatuld not be acceptable to any one with any degree

f awareness of human rights.»(2) A comparison ofthe oppressed in Latin America with that of thePalestinians, despite the obvious differences in thetwo situations, is not without value. Those in theWest who lend a sympathetic ear to the cries ofthe oppressed in Latin America ( and the able de-fence of them by outstanding bishops and theo-logians) but are deaf to the appeals of the Pales-tinians, may recognize their own inconsistency.

Thus for more than a quarter of a century thePalestinian people have been systematically plun-dered of their land, their homes, their rights, theirdignity. Up until recently, this process has beenlargely ignored in the West and in Israel as well.And what of today? Today a new awareness hasdawned.

Eecent InstancesThis fact of institutionalized violence cunningly

carried out by the system has been called to theattention of the general public in Israel last year- - and in the whole world - - by several shocking-acts of pillage, especially one in Gaza and NorthernSinai, where 100,000 dunams of land (or 25,000acres) were fenced off displacing more than 5,000Bedouins; their huts and tents were destroyed, theirwater sources in some cases sealed up.(3)" Anotherincident took place in Akraba on the West Bankwhere the army of occupation sprayed destructivechemicals on over 200 hectares of wheat (or 500

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acres) because the Palestinians had persisted inrefusing to sell their lands. (4)

But the most striking example is the renewalof the longstanding affair of Kafr Bir'im and Ikritin northern Galilee on the Israeli-Lebanese bor-der. (5) In 1948 the inhabitants of these two villageswere asked for security reasons to move out for afew weeks with the assurance that they would beback soon. The «Uprooted» - - as they have beencalled - - whose history is one of mildness and coo-peration, have been struggling since that time toreturn. The story of Bir'im and Ikrit is an accountof 25 years of institutionalized violence, a kind of,pase study of the official discrimination documentedin Sabri Jiryis' book Arabs in Israel. While thereare many other claims as just as that of thesevillagers, there are few cases as notoriously clear.Who can read Mr. Jiryis's book together with theaccount of Bir'im and Ikrit and not be appalled?

3. A Cruel IdeologyToday, as never .before, the long record of in-

stitutionalized violence against the Palestinians isclear in its extent and in its depth. But more im-portant, in its motivation. For now the ideology, thejustification for the rapine, the consistent patternof thinking behind it, are publicly exposed -- andfrankly defended.(6)

Grave doubts about Zionist ideology were can-didly raised in public in Israel last year over thecase of Bir'im and Ikrit, among others, and, thisyear, over the spy trials involving Israeli Jews.

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According to a recent survey by an Israeli journa-• t in facing the question as to whether Zionism in-olves the spoliation of the Arabs, Israeli Jewsxpress a variety of opinions. Some indignantly

^eny the charge. Others answer frankly and boldly:«Yes. of course.» As one of them put it: «The instal-lation of Jews in the country takes place by theexpulsion of Arabs from their lands.»(7) Others,especially among the young, are shocked, hauntedby the implications of the answer they know theymust give.

An instance of this moral unease among someyoung Israeli Jews is given in an Israeli newspaperby an Israeli Jewish journalist; he had given a talkto a group of young people and reports the mainpoints raised in the discussion afterwards. The ac-count is a kind of anthology of questions aboutZionism.

Not by might aloneThe key question was asked by a young girl:

«What right did we have to take this country fromits Arab owners?»

The journalist asked her what prompted thequestion.

She replied: «until recently I took it for grantedthat we had a right to the country and I was un-aM^are of any problems in that respect. But when1 read about Pithat Rafiah (the driving out ofBedouins from North Sinai and Gaza), Bir'im and

(the two villages of the «Uprooted»), and(where wheat fields were destroyed by

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spraying), I was certain no longer. Those are i^.stances of eviction and theft. Was everything li]je

that?»A young man in the audience admonished her

not to be so noble. He assured her that this wasthe path of Zionism.

She retorted angrily: «If that was the nature Ofthe entire history of Zionism, then it was a crimefrom the outset and you and I are criminals.))

Some one asked : «What about the holocaust(the destruction of Jews under Hitler)? And whatabout the right to some corner of our own?»

She replied: «Of course, but not at the expenseof the unfortunate fellahin. Settlement does notneed to be expulsion and dispossession. There is adifferent path. It was not the Arabs here who per-secuted us. Had we expelled the Cossacks (inRussia) or the Germans who murdered and robbedus, and had we then settled on their land, thatwould have been just. But what crime did theseunfortunate (Palestinian) people commit? Did theycome to us? We came to them.»

Some one in the audience countered: «But thiswas our country two thousand years ago.»

The girl answered: «The situation two thousandyears ago does not interest any one. According tothat logic, the Arabs will return to Spain and theIndians will return to New York tomorrow. Weare concerned with a people living on its land.»

A young man in a skull cap argued: «But thisis the land that God promised us.» She retorted:

In order to justify our disgraceful deeds andoothe my conscience, I am not ready to commence

believing in something in which I do not believe.To be religious for such reasons is hypocrisy.))

The journalist then asked: «Was all this soulsearching caused by the affairs of Bir'im and Ikrit,of Akraba and Pithat Rafiah?»

She answered: «Yes. They were the last strawfor me. I stopped believing all the talk about secu-rity, persecution and the justice and morality ofour cause. Something snapped inside of me.»

The journalist concluded this account by ob-serving: «Many of our best youth, youth who havemore highly developed concepts of justice thanothers, are beginning to doubt our right (to behere) because they are unwilling to live here byvirtue of might alone.»(8)

The cry from the heart of this young IsraeliJewish girl, her courageous admission of the deli-berate injustice of an oppressive system of whichone is a part, issues forth as an echo of the reli-gious faith of the Hebrew prophets and of the deephumanity of the Good Samaritan. It is a cry sharedby a small but significant number in Israel, espe-cially among young people and intellectuals. Theirmoral sensitivity, unfortunately, has little or noeffect on the oppressive system. It is a cry thatshould both humble us and challenge us.

4. WHAT OF US TODAY?If the Palestinian people are the victims of

massive violence, and of institutionalized violence,

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and if their oppression flows from the very conceptof a Zionist state whose injustice is being clearlyrevealed today, then what are we to do who witnessthis oppression today. We ask ourselves and theworld: Will we pass by, or respond?

The Palestine problem implies obligations formany groups of persons. It is a problem for Jews,for Jews in Israel and for Jews all over the world.It is a problem for Arabs, for Palestinians, particu-larly, and for the whole Arab world.

But it is also a problem for us, who are neitherJews nor Arabs, for us as citizens and for ourgovernments, and especially for those groups inour countries of political, religious and intellectualleaders. It is a responsibility also for ^ordinarycitizens)), since public opinion can have an effecton national and international decisions affectingworld justice and peace.

In a letter addressed to the Catholic Bishopsof the United States in January, 1972, the CatholicBishops of the Holy Land applied to the Palestinequestion the theme of Pope Paul's Day of Peace:«If you wish peace, work for justice.)) Today wemake this theme our own. We appeal to whoeverhears our voices, especially in the West. We issuea call to understand, to judge justly, to speak outand to act.

TO UNDERSTANDA call to understand the oppression of the

people of Palestine and of people everywhere.To deplore violence by the oppressed only

f t e r we have seven times tried to understand anddeplore the human wretchedness which may haveprovoked it.

To recognize the crushing oppression which«respectable» structures and persons may be cau-sing little people everywhere.

To recognize our common human weakness, ourproneness to selfishness that destroys brotherhood.

TO JUDGE JUSTLYA call to judge justly.Not to pass over with a blind eye, discrimina-

tion abroad, and in this case concerning the Pales-tinians, that we would never tolerate at home.

To give all men the due respect for their humanrights and personal dignity. In other words, to de-mand equal human rights. To avoid the doublestandard.(9) To raise questions frankly. I ask mycountrymen: can a nation that gives massive sup-port to an oppressor be free of guilt of that oppres-sion?

A spokesman of the Israeli government triesto make Lebanon appear responsible for the vio-lence in the Middle East. (10) This «righteous» in-dignation comes from that same government whoseofficial policies and practices of oppression are thevery forces which are causing the reaction. Whichis worse, the provocation or the response, the attackor the returned fire, the thrust or the parry?

Even if there were not one Palestinian left inLebanon, the situation would be basically the same.Oppression is bound to provoke reaction. The con-

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tini;ed affliction by a strong power against theweak inevitably incites violence. Even if a settle-ment in the Middle East is imposed by Israelimight, if that settlement fails to give justice to thePalestinians, we will have no peace, only pacifica-tion. And pacification will not last. As the LatinAmerican bishops pointed out with regard to theirown situation, peace «is not the simple absence ofviolence and bloodshed. Oppression by the powergroups may give the impression of maintainingpeace and order, but in truth it is nothing but thecontinuous and inevitable seed of rebellion andwar»(ll)

TO SPEAK OUTA call to speak out.To express one's concern.To air one's doubts.To challenge one's prejudices.To unmask propaganda.Many people in my country, especially in some

religious, intellectual and journalistic circles, whootherwise would be eloquent about questions ofpeace and justice, fall silent when the issue con-cerns the Palestinians. Some one put it well: «Nosubject so chills the meetings of a peace group asthe Middle East.»(12)

How can one speak out ? Would that mycountry and groups in it would make a publicacknowledgement of the existence and rights ofthe Palestinian people, an admission of the grev-ious .oppression this people have sustained (and in

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which we have a share), and a resolve to rightthese wrongs as far as we can possibly do so.

How to speak out? Among those who are in-vited to join in 'the twenty-fifth celebrations nextmonth, all over the world, and to drink a toast tothat brave effort that «made the desert bloom».will some have the courage of the Israeli girl I citedearlier and, instead, raise some simple human ques-tions?

What marvellous gestures these would be! Forthe Palestinian people, it is terrible enough to fallamong robbers, to be beaten and stripped and lefthalf dead. But it is anguish a hundred times morepainful to be told by one's attackers and their«friends» and admirers that no damage was everdone.

TO TAKE ACTIONAnd finally a call to action.Let each one consider, in his own situation,

those things which he can do here and now. Whatone person can do, another cannot. What a personcan do today, he may not have been able to doyesterday. Having listed what is possible today, letus select only those that are most important. Thenlet us try to do these things of higher priority. Letus do them, in collaboration with others, with joyand perseverance.

If we wish peace, let us work for justice.

(1) Sabri Jiryis, The Arabs in Israel, 1969, Beirut: Ins-titute for Palestine Studies, and Democratic Freedoms

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in Israel, 1972, Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies.(2) The Church in the Present-Day Transformation of

Latin America in the light of the Council (MedellinDocuments), Vol. II, «Peace», 16, p. 78.

(3) See Simha Plapan, «The Storm Over Gaza», NewOutlook, March-April, 1972, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 19-22,26. Plapam reports 60,000 dunams fenced off in PithatKafiah (North Sinai) and some 40,000 in the GazaStrip, (p. 20). Peter Grose reported 5,000 acres fencedoff «at the southern edge of the Strip»; New York

Times, April 25, 1972.

(4) Le Nouvel Observateur, July 3, 1972.

(5) See Know (11 Fales St., Hartford, Conn, 06105) anewsletter devoted to English translations of articles

from the Israeli Jewish press. The entire issue ofAugust 17, 1972, Vol. 1, No. 5 is devoted to Bir'imand Ikrit. Also Amos Elon, «Two Arab towns thatplumb Israel's conscience)), New York Times Magazine,

Oct. 22, 1972, pp. 44 ff.

(6) Amos Elon's book, the Israelis: Founders and Sons,explains the psychological differences in attitude to-ward the treatment of Palestinians on the part ofthe pioneer generation of Israelis and their children.

('*) Eliezer Livine, Haaretz, April 6, 1972, as cited by

Kapeliouk, Ibid.

(8) Boaz Evron, «The Evil Spirit)), YesJiot Aharonot, Aug.10, 1972, as translated in New Outlook, September,

1972, pp. 51-52.(9) As I have pointed out elsewhere, «According to the

Universal Declaration of Human Bights, «Every onehas the right to leave any country, including his own,

and to return to his country» (Art. 13.12). It is ironicthat an overwhelming chorus of ecumenical protesthas been orchestrated in support of one part of thatDeclaration, regarding the right of Jews to leave theSoviet Union, while an almost total silence prevailsregarding the other part, as it affects the rights ofthe Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland- - and this despite the fact that the condition of therefugees is more than two decades old and their rightshave been clearly upheld in U.N. documents. Howwill history judge this silence? If the concern of

those who speak out is with human rights themselves,one wonders why the double standard.» Alan R.Taylor and John P. Richardson (eds.), The JerusalemDebate, 1972, Washington, Middle East Affairs Conn-cil, p. 19-20.

(10) Yosef Tekoah, Israeli ambassador to the UN spokeof Beirut as the terrorist capital. Al-Safa, April 14,1973, p. 3.

(11) MedeUin Documents, Op. cit., «Peace», 14, p. 76. Theirquotation is from Paul VI's Message of January 1,1968.

(12) Committee on New Alternatives in the Middle East,N. Y. •

30

SRAELAND THE IMPERIALIST CAMP

That Israel and Zionist are members of the imperialistcamp and that the Palestinian struggle against Zionism isan integral part of the world liberation movement, andof the struggle of the peoples of the world against themonster of fascism, is a fact that is being proved by Israeliacts and policies as well as by Israeli reports and declara-tions.

On the 15th of last December (1972) the Israelinewspaper Mja'ariv published a report that Israeliadvisers were expected to move into South Viet-nam to replace the American advisers following thewithdrawal of American forces from Vietnam.Ma'ariv wrote:

31.

«A government source in Saigon stressed thatSouth Vietnam's military situation—now, and evenmore in the future— will require help in the formof military advice, if the country is to withstandrevolutionary pressure. Saigon will need advice onnon-conventional methods in the defence field.»

The report w'hich was written by Ma'ariv's cor-

respondent in Saigon, Gil Kesari, added:((According to the Saigon source, the question

of Israeli advice will now be an urgent need, espe-cially since the Americans are planning to disen-gage work of the cease-fire agreement. Yet theUnited States is not planning to disengage its troopsfrom the whole of Vietnam and to leave South Viet-nam complete^. The idea of having American in-fluence continue in the form of Israeli help andadvice is not only known to Washington but it wasinspired by it. The first step in the new arrange-ment has been the announcement that diplomaticrelations between Israel and South Vietnam wouldbe established.»

Other indications of Israeli involvement in thestruggle between world imperialism and revolu-tionary forces in South-East Asia have included thereport that Cambodia planned to establish an em-bassy in Israel, a move which would be rejected byall progressive countries because of the disputedstatus of the present Cambodian regime. Commen-ting on this move, the official spokesman of theVietnamese Revolutionary Government in ParisLy Van Sau told the Paris correspondent of the Is-

32

in accordance with these constitutional provisions.It provides (Sec. 66) that Liberian citizenship beacquired by «A11 persons of Negro descent born»in the Republic whether the parents are Liberiancitizens or aliens. It also permits (Sec. 69) the ((na-turalization only of Negroes, or persons of Negrodescent.» In order to avoid any possible misunder-standing, the same article provides that «The natu-ralization of all persons not Negroes nor of Negrodescent,... is unauthorized and void,...».

The question arises as to the definition of«Negro.» No legislation exists to this effect. Onemay assume that phrases like ((African nativity»or ((children of A.frica» would mean the inclusionof all Africans whether inside or outside the con-tinent. However, the Liberian administrative or-gans refused to grant citizenship to some NorthAfricans including Moroccan Jews. (22) The amend-ment of 1907 was enacted for this purpose. Hence,the criterion of racio-color is established. (23) TheLiberian Attorney General stated subsequentlythat the 1907 Act was intended «to facilitate theobtaining of certificates of citizenship by personsof our race the world over.»(24) He also said that thelaw «is to encourage immigration of Negroes andto facilitate -their naturalization.»(25) In a rela-tively recent judgement, the Supreme Court ofLiberia held that «only persons of Negro descentcan be citizens»(26) of Liberia.

The right to nationality in Israel should, onthe same plane, be conceived within the framework

49

of the Zionist-Israel public law objectives. Thecentral issue is an alleged Zionist constituencycalled the «Jewish people» which the State of Israelclaims full responsibility to protect and repre-sent. (27) Israel has set up two laws purporting todngather the exiled» «Jewish people.» The Law ofReturn provides that «Every Jew has the right tocome to this country as an oleh.»(28) The second isthe Nationality Law which states, in part, that«Every oleh under the Law of Return,... shall be-come an Israeli national.)) (29) An Israeli lawyer ac-curately indicated the relationship between theselaws, as, while the «Law of Return gives a Jew theautomatic right to immigrate to Israel,)) the Natio-nality Law dmmediately bestows citizenship uponsuch [a] person.)) (30)

The acquisition of Israeli citizenship by «return»is officially described as «without parallel in thelegislation of any other country;»(31) A person whoimmigrated or who was born in Israel, before orafter its establishment, is an Israeli citizen, providedthat he is a «Jew.» He does not need to apply forIsraeli citizenship as it is given automatically andimmediately, rather he must declare, if so desired,that he does not wish to become an Israeli citizen.He is not required to take an oath of allegiance, toremain in Israel for a certain period of time, or torenounce his original nationality. Being a «Jew»,with very few exceptions, is the only requirementfor citizenship under the doctrine of «return.»

As in Liberia, the issue that plagued the Israeli50

judiciary was, who is a Jew? According to theJewish religious law and to the Israeli-Zionist juris-prudence the problem is not who is a Jew in thepositive sense, for both largely concur on the defi-nition that a «Jew» is a person who is born to aJewish mother or a convert to Judaism. The realissue is, who is not a Jew. While the religious lawmaintains that a Jew who converts to another faithcontinues to be Jewish, the Zionist public law holdsthat such a person ceases to be so. This positionand the policy reasoning that underlies it are wellarticulated in the Daniel case and in the reversalof the judgement in the Shalit case.

The issue in the Daniel case (32) was whethera Jew, who voluntarily became a Catholic, couldbe considered a Jew by nationality and, accordingly,benefit from the Law of Return. The verdict of theCourt was no.

Justice Silberg, presiding, wrote the majorityopinion. He stated that if the word «Jew» as itoccurs in the Law of Return has the same meaningas in the Jewish religious law, the applicationwould be granted. But the Law of Return is a secu-lar legislation and the word «Jew» has to be inter-preted in reference to the «normal meaning)) ofthe word «as we Jews understand it,...» Hence,Silberg held that «a Jew who becomes a Christiancannot be called a Jew. » «For experience teachesus that the apostate's end is to be cut off root and

51

branch from the [Jewish] people,...)). Justice Beren-son concurred with Silberg and said that «a Jewwho has embraced another religion has excludedhimself not only from the Jewish religion but alsofrom the Jewish people, and he has no place in thecommunity of Israel.))

Justice Landau, of the majority, in answeringthe issue, adequately put the law in its proper con-text. He phrased the question as, «whom did ourlegislature have in mind when it used the word«Jew» in the Law of Return?» He elaborated that

Israelwas established by Zionists on the basis of Zionism,and the Law of Return itself gives expression to oneof the fundamental tenets of Zionism. It would there-fore be right that for purposes of interpreting: it, weshould look not only to the average Jew for an an-swer,... but that we should also examine the philosophy

of the founders of Zionism.Landau, in conclusion, held that the applicant

«has dissociated himself from the common fate ofthe Jewish nation» and that therefore, the Ministryof Interior was right in drawing «the line dividingJew from non-Jew, within the meaning of the Lawof Return, at the point of change of religion.))

In the Shalit case, (33) the issue before theSupreme Court was whether the children of aJewish father and a Gentile mother can be regis-tered as having Jewish nationality but of no reli-gion. The Court, after a heated deliberation, an-swered positively. The decision created an uphea-

52

val within Israel and in the Jewish and Zionistcommunities abroad. The Cabinet, upon the initia-tive of Prime Minister Golda Meir, took a decisionto reverse the judgement, and the Knesset imme-diately passed an amendment to the Law of Return.The Amendment defines, for the first time, a Jewas «a person born of a Jewish mother, or havingconverted to Judaism, not being a person affiliatedto some other religion.)) The definition is preciselyin conformity with the Daniel case ruling.

The ascertainment of the legal definition of a«Jew» in Zionist jurisprudence requires a closereading of the judgement in the Daniel case. Thejudges emphasized the connection between a «Jew»and the ((Jewish people)) more than that of a «Jew»with the Jewish religion as such. They considerthe desertion of a Jew from Judaism to anotherfaith the cutting off point of his membership inthe ((nationhood)) of the «Jews.» Such a convertingJew is still a Jew, however, in the religious sense.Hence, it is obvious that a Jew is defined as relatedto the Zionist ethnic group called the ((Jewishpeople.))

IVThe doctrines of international nationality law

are intended to safeguard both the individual hu-man right to a nationality, and the interests ofnation-states in world public order. An individualcannot arbitrarily choose his nationality in a givenstate, neither can a state clothe or deprive an in-dividual of his nationality without complying withcertain limitations well-established in public law.

53

The juridical competence of a state to regulateits nationality on discriminatory bases, be they re-ligion, race, color or sex, has been curtailed byinternational law. The authoritative Harvard Re-search aptly stated that «if State A should attemptto naturalize all persons in the world holding aparticular political or religious faith or belongingto a particular race,» it would appear that such astate had gone beyond the limits set by interna-tional law. (34) International and regional conven-tions and declarations concerning human rightsprovide, with no exception, that racial discrimina-tion is prohibited. Among the fundamental rightsto be protected against any type of discriminationis the right of nationality. (35) Member states of theUnited Nations, according to Article (56), «pledge»themselves to that end. The inescapable conclusionis that a state is no longer free to regulate its na-tionality entity and the membership therein onany ground other than the human merits of theindividual.

The right to nationality in the Republic ofLiberia is officially based on racio-color criteria.Only a Negro or a person of Negro descent canbecome a Liberian citizen. This statute is consistentwith the basic premise of Liberia : that it is a«home» for «Negroes.» In an equal setting, the rightof nationality in the State of Israel, as based onthe right of «return», is exclusively based on aracio-religious affiliation. Only a «Jew,» who mustbe a «national» of the «Jewish people,)) can become

54

an Israeli citizen under the Law of Return. Thisright is in conformity with the official qualifica-tion of Israel as the «Jewish State.»

In a society based on one single criterion ofrace, religion or color, discrimination becomes in-dispensible, however well-intended the d>ecision-makers of that community purport to be. Liberia,as a state based on an exclusive value of racio-color, necessarily differentiates between «Negroes»and «non Negroes.» Its nationality law is a «legal»expression of this attitude. Likewise, Israel, as aJewish State, draws a set of rights and privilegesaccorded its «Jewish people» distinct from thoseof non «Jewish people.)) As a result of the applica-tion of its nationality law, the non-Jewish nativesof Palestine were «legally» stripped of their origi-nal nationality. The Israeli courts, including theSupreme Court, held accordingly. (36)

An obvious «de jure» discrimination existsunder the Liberian and Israeli nationality law. Ajuridical application of the international nationalitylaw criteria will render these laws invalid. Theyare clearly inconsistent with the legal limitationimposed by public law that regulation of citizen-ship on any criterion other than the individual'smerits is a violation of his human rights. It is noteven a juridically accepted defense on the part ofLiberia or Israel to claim that their respective lawsare domestic legislations and are therefore beyondthe sphere of international law. The InternationalCourt of Justice held in the Nottebohm case(37)

55

that a state is not bound to honor domestic lawsenacted by another unless such laws are in confor-mity with international law.

Beyond the inter «de jure» bigotry, there is astriking intra «de facto» discrimination. The Liber-ian colonizers, known as the «Americo-Liberians,»exercise systematic discrimination against the na-tives who are also Negroes. (38) When the Liberianconstitution and nationality law were first enacted,the settlers did not incorporate the aborigines intotheir entity. Only in 1904, and then only to proveto other European colonial powers the ((effectiveoccupation)) of Liberians of their territory, was ci-tizenship extended to these natives. In practice,however, the Americo-Liberians, have not allowedthe indigenous population to participate in theshaping and sharing of social values. The rightsand privileges remain exclusively those of theAmerico-Liberian elite. The (relationship betweenthe settlers and the natives was labeled by the latePresident of Liberia himself as ((colonial in charac-ter.)) The society of Liberia is divided, as has beenaccurately described, between the «black Yankeeupper crust» and their ((deluded brethren.»(39) Eachsocial stratum has its respective set of values. Anexample may be found in the predominant govern-mental religious institution, Christianity, whichthe settlers profess. The Liberian church is con-nected with the political life, and a «younger poli-tical leader, attempting to establish an independentbase for movement upward on the political scale,

56

may attempt to become the person of influence inone of the smaller churches in Monrovia.)) The cur-rent President of Liberia, Mr. William Tolbert, hasbeen at the head of the Baptist World Alliance. (40)

The Americo-Liberians are known for their reli-gious prejudices against the natives whose majorityadheres to Islam. The natives resisted the impo-sition of another religion and this feud became amajor cause of continuous hostility. The case ofthe Black Hebrews who immigrated to Liberia maybe placed within this framework of reference. Theyclaimed that they found it difficult to settle inLiberia because of their Jewish faith. Hence, theirallegation can be substantiated as a case of reli-gious intolerance.

The «legal» dichotomy in Israel exists betweenJews and others. In practice, however, a trichotomyin the Israeli society is distinctly conspicuous. TheEuropean Jews occupy the elitist positions in sixmajor social aspects, a situation which adverselyaffects the status of the Oriental Jews. From theranks of the European Jews come the Israelidecision-makers who determine the quality andquantity of value distribution in the social pro-cesses. More favorable treatment is accorded bythese authorities to their fellow European Jewsthan to their co-religionist Orientals. Inevitably,they will offer black Jews considerably less pre-ference. Black Hebrews were offered visitors visasbut not automatic citizenship, as the law dictates.Zionist rabbis and government officials engaged in

57

a discussion as to whether black persons can beJews. In simple contrast, there has been no suchissue involving European Jews.

The rejection of these immigrants has not beenconsistenlty explained. Israeli officials have justi-fied their action on the grounds that «these peopleare not Jews and thus are not entitled to immi-grant rights.»(41) On another occasion, these offi-cials, imbued with the «security» pretext, suspectedthat some «elements hostile to the State» mighthave financed this facade. (42) It is semi-officiallyasserted, however, that «we (Israelis) cannot givea haven here to a group that desires to fight...against the white world.» It is added that «We aregenerally in sympathy)) with that world. (43) Thusit is understandable that the Oriental Jews callIsrael the «Police State,»(44) and the Black Heb-rews refer to the Israeli elite policies as dntellec-tual racism.»(45)

Both settlements were intended to normalizethe position of the Blacks and Jews as well to bringpeace and order to the evacuated countries. Ineffect, their creation has produced very abnormalsituations for the natives of the colonized territoriesas well as for the colonizers. Furthermore, thedeserted countries are not now more peaceful;Black Americans are still struggling for genuineequality, and Diaspora Jews are often accused ofdual loyalty. Professor Morris R. Cohn, realizedthe frustrated expectations of the Liberian enter-prise. He contemplated, in 1947, that

58

The supposition that the Jews of Palestine will neces-sarily be on a higher spiritual plane and serve as aninspiration to Jews throughout the Diaspora is likethe argument that an independent Liberia will elevatethe position of Negroes elsewhere. (46)

Twenty-two years after Israel was established,Dr. Nahum Goldmann wrote: «I am beginning tohave doubts as to whether the establishment ofthe State of Israel as it today,..., was the fullestaccomplishment of the Zionist idea...»(47)

Responsible decision-makers who advocatedand helped to create a «Negro home» or a «Jewishhome» did not intellectually anticipate the impactof their decisions on value processes. Their policyexpectation was inextricable from the exclusiveinterest of their respective elites. Yet, a meaning-ful study of previous decisions should be a usefulguide to future verdicts. Some authorities, forexample, have recently advanced a solution to theArab-Israeli conflict. They argue that the creationof a ((Palestinian State,)) whether in the West Bankor on the Arabian Gulf, might normalize the situa-tion of the Palestinians and bring peace to Israeland to the Arab countries. The lessons learned fromthe establishment of Liberia and Israel do not, how-ever, substantiate their arguments. They are, inthe last analysis, calling for a ((Palestine ghetto»with all the complexities of the uneven distribu-tion of values, not the least of which is the valueof participation, by determining «who is a Pales-tinian?» Experience subsumes the premise that

59

>

ghetto-states have an inherent tendency to self-segregation, and that the purported havens havebecome «Orwellian farms» where all peoples areequal, but some more than others.

• FOOTNOTES •

* S.J.D. candidate, National Law Center, George Washing-ton University.

1. Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom, pp. 214-24;! (3rded. 1969)! Quarles, The Negro in the Making of Ame-rica, pp. 33-61; 83-108.

3. I Huberich, The Political and Legislative History ofLiberia, 29 (1947).

3. See «Official Documents)) relating to Liberia and theUnited States in 4 Am. J. Int' l.L. Supp. 188 at 191(1910).

4. Franklin, 240.

5. The continuous native opposition to the settlers is docu-mented in Staudenraus, The African ColonizationMovement 1816-1865, (1961), 156, 171, 240.

6. Franklin, 240. (Emphasis is in the original).

7. Quarles, 96.

60

8. Id., 114.

9. This does not exclude another important factor; thatis, the Zionist-Imperial powers alliance, which has beenprofitable. Liberia, on the other hand, was thoughtof as an extension of the «American Empires butunder the Monroe doctrine, the United States was re-luctant to identify Liberia as its colony. See, Stau-denraus, Ch. XIII on «Vision of Empires at 150 andpassim.

10. Herzl, First (Zionist) Congress Adress (1897), in Hertz-berg (ed.), The Zionist Idea (1969) at 229.

11. The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl, (Patai ed.I960), vol. 1, 152.

12. Bein, Theodor Herzl-A Biography, 449, (1941).

13. Stein, The Balfour Declaration, 143, 154 (1961). Seealso other examples at 163-165.

14. Hertzberg, 49, 51.

15. Yediot Aharonot, Feb. 9, 1969, quoted from Matzpen'sArie Bober Letter to Commentary, Oct. 1970, at p. 5.

16. Montagu's memorandum entitled The Anti-Semitism ofthe Present Government. United Kingdom PublicRecord Office, Cab. No. 24/24 (Aug. 23, 1917).

17. Jastrow, Zionism and the Future of Palestine, 133(1919). See also p. 149, 151-159; Taylor, «Zionism andJewish History,» Journal of Palestine Studies (Beirut),I, 2 (1972) 35 at 40-45.

61

18. Weizmann, Trial and Error, 244 (1966).

19. Mallison, «The Balfour Declaration: An Appraisal in

International Law,» in Abu-Lughod (ed.) The Trans-

formation of Palestine, 61 (1971).

20. The term «colonization» was used by the Zionists from

the very early days of their writings and organiza.

tions. To cite random examples: The Jewish Colonial

Trust, Ltd.; The Colonization Department, The Keren

Hayesod, a fund for ((immigration and colonization.))

Weizmann uses this term quite often, see, p. 191, re-

ferring to ((Jewish colonizing activities)) in Palestine.

21. The citizenship status of the settlers was affected by

the U.S. nationality laws. Before the passage of the

XIV Amendment, blacks were not considered citizens.

See Scott v. Sanford 19 How. 393 (1856). For the text

of the Liberian Nationality Act, see, Laws Concerning

Nationality, UN Leg. Ser. 288, (1954).

22. 2 Huberich, 1018.

23. Id., 1018, 1020.

24. Reports and Opinions of the Attorney General of the

Republic of Liberia, vol. I, 63 ( 1947 ). (emphasis

added).

26. «Koffa v. Republic of Liberia)), 13 Lib. L. Rep. 232

(1958). (emphasis added).

27. For a careful analysis of the ((Jewish people* claims,

see Mallison, «The Zionist-Israel Juridical Claims to

Constitute «The Jewish Peoples Nationality Entity and

to Confer Membership in it: Appraisal in Public Inter-

62

national Law», 32 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 983, 1050-1060.

(1964).

28.4 LSI, 114 (1950). Oleh is a Hebrew word which means

((going up» to Zion. As a legal term it means a Jewish

immigrant to Israel.

29.6 LSI, 50 (1952).

30. Savir, «The Definition of a Jew under Israel's Law of

Return,)) 17 Sw. L. J. 123, 126 (1963).

31. How to Become an Israeli Citizen? (Information Service

of the State of Israel, Jerusalem), p. 3 (June, 1952).

32. The Oswald Rufeisen (Brother Daniel) Case. (The

judgement is summarized and translated into English

by Mr. S. Rosenne in reprint from Midstream, March,

1963. Emphasis in the text is in the original).

33. The facts and the judgement were summarized by

Lankin, High Court Ruling in «Who is a Jew?» Case.

A reprint from the Jerusalem Post, Jan. 25, 1970.

34. The Harvard Research in International Law, 23 Am.

J. Int' L L. Supp., Draft Convention on Nationality

26 (1929): (emphasis added). It should be emphasized

that there are other juridical limitations on the func-

tional conditions that are essential to determine a na-

tionality entity and the procedures that regulate mem-bership in it.

35. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 15;

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial

Discrimination, Art. 5 (d) (iii); The American Con-vention on Human Rights, Art. 20.

36.1.C.J. Rep. 1, (1955).

37. «Oseri v. Oseri», Int. L. Rep. 17 (1950i) 117; «Husseinv. Governor of Acre Prison,» id.

38. See Liebenow, Liberia - The Evolution of Privilege(1969).

39. Such descriptions were given by Newsweek, Aug. 2,1971, p. 33 and by The Times (of London), A SpecialReport on Liberia, Mar. 19, 1970, p. 2, respectively.

40. Liebenow, 96 and passim.

41. Newsweek, Oct. 18, 1971, p. 61.

42. Jerusalem Post (weekly) Oct. 13, 1971, p. 4, cols. 4-5.

43. The Jerusalem Post (weekly) Dec. 28, 1971, Editorial,p. 16, cols. 1-2; Rabbi Kahane was even less reserved.

He called upon the Government of Israel «to expel theblacks and not let others in...» for they are «racistsand anti-Semites who came here to bury Israel.)) The

Evening Star, (Washington, D.C.) Oct. 14, 1971, p. C-2.

44. Newsweek, May 31, 1971, p. 33.

45. Newsweek, Oct. 18, 1971, p. 61.

46. Cohen, The Faith of a Liberal, 330-31 (1946).

47. Goldmann, «The Future of Israel,)) Foreign Affairs,(April, 1970) 443. •

A IT

The Palestinian Experience

Fawaz Turki. The Disinherited, Journal of a Pales-tinian Exile. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972. 156

pp. dollars 5.95.u Reviewed by George S. Hishmeh

For a start, it might have been better for the editorto give this book to a non-Palestinian to review. FawazTurki warns in his opening- paragraphs that this book isnot «an objective %vork,» And, for that matter, neither isthis review.

As it turns out, both the author and the reviewer sharemany of the experiences and incidents mentioned in thebook. Hence the reviewer's elation with the narrative and,regrettably, disappointment with some of the «pronuncia-mentos.»

The Disinherited is arresting from the momentits pulsating lines begin to unfold. Fawaz Turkipaints a powerful, moving picture of the tormented,alienated Palestinian living in exile, be it in Beirut,Tallourza or Timbuktu.

From the outset, he sets his theme:«Mine is an existential problem having to do

with the yearning for my homeland, with being partof a culture, with winning the battle to remainmyself, as a Palestinian belonging to a people witha distinctly Palestinian consciousness.))

He goes on, asserting:

«If I was not a Palestinian when I left Haifa asa child, I am now.»

But this boast has its price. As was the casewith Turki, the Palestinian is still considered «anoutsider, an alien, a refugee and a burdens ( andmore recently a «terrorist»). Which means, as hefound out, that the Palestinian has had «to look in-ward, to draw closer, to be part of a minority thathad its own way of doing and seeing and feelingand reacting.))

Many a Palestinian would echo this characte-rization:

The defeated [Palestinians], like myself, took oftto go away from the intolerable pressures of the Arabworld to India and Europe and Australia [and America,as with this reviewer] where they wrestled with theproblem and hoped to understand. The reduced, likemy parents, waited helplessly in a refugee camp forthe world, for a miracle or for some deity to come

66

to their aid. The distorted, like Sirhan, turned intoassassins. The alienated, like Leila Khaled, hijackedcivilian aircraft.

Fawaz Turki was born in Balad al-Sheikh, ashanty town outside Haifa, eight years before themass exodus of the Palestinians in 1948 stimulatedby the Zionist terrorism of the time. With hisfamily he settled in a refugee camp outside Beirut,where he acquired a «street educations beforegoing, four years later, to a missionary-run school.A scholarship paved the way for higher educationin England. His return to the Middle East in the earlysixties was tormenting yet uneventful, except for aposition with Aramco in Dhahran where he got firedafter one week for protesting against the segrega-tion of latrines between Americans and Arabs. Helives in Paris teaching English, and lecturing on thePalestine cause. Simultaneously, he is working ona new book on the 1936-39 Palestinian uprising.

Turki's is an uneven book. His first 100 pagesare brilliant and remarkable in articulating the hu-man dimension of the Palestinian grievance. Hemanages, like no other writer before him, to weavethe Palestinian consciousness with skill. Interes-tingly, his book, written in the no-holds-barred styleof Cleaver's Soul on Ice, has not been translatedinto Arabic (except for a small chapter which ap-peared in the radical Lebanese magazine, Mawaqif).It ought to be mandatory reading for anyone in-terested in seeing the Palestinian Question in a newperspective. In this respect, the publishers are to

67

be congratulated for bringing Turki to the reader,who has by and large been the victim of an anti-Palestinian informational siege.

The nit-picker will have a field day in thissmall memoir. Turki unnecessarily mixes his factsand figures. For example, the demonstrations thatstarted at the American University of Beirut(AUB), in which this reviewer took part, never pro-ceeded to the «Foreign Ministry)) but to the GrandSerail or Government House; the school in HaifaTurki attended was St. Luke's (where this reviewerstudied) and not St. Lux; George Habash, the foun-der of the Popular Front for the Liberation of.Palestine, was not arrested in Syria in 1968 becauseof the PFLP hijacking of the TWA plane to Damas-cus (which took place in August 1969); Habash didnot acquire his Marxist-Leninist views at AUB buta good number of years later; and the Palestinianguerrilla leader who was assassinated in Jordan wasAbu Ali lyad and not Abu lyad, who is to the bestof my knowledge still alive and well.

All these errata may be inconsequential inTurki's exhilarating contribution to the literatureon Palestine. But Turki should not be excused forsome of his more irresponsible «pronunciamentos»despite his disclaimer that he is writing from ((re-collections and that he is «neither concerned norqualified in the game of quote and counter-quote.))He has uncritically and unwittingly accepted themuch-quoted phrase which has given much ammu-nition to Zionist propaganda, namely, that the Arabs

68

,have aimed at ((driving the Jews into the sea.»This reviewer recalls a recent remark by George

Bush, the former American Ambassador to theUnited Nations, who said during the course of arecent debate at the Security Council that he hadasked his staff to find out the origins of this allegedstatement but with no success.

Turki attributes the phrase to Nasser, thoughthe usual theory is that the author may have beenthe now discredited Ahmad Shuqairy. (Those whopropound this theory do not point out, as studentsof the Arabic language would attest, that it should,be taken in its metaphoric rather than its literalsense.)

On this note, it might well be pointed out thatTurki's anti-Nasserism because of the late leader's((verbal pyrotechnics)) may be rooted in Turki'spolitical upbringing in the ranks of the PPS, thegroup that talked of a Syrian as opposed to an Arabnation, thus discarding Egypt and the Maghrebamong others from its scheme of things. Moreover,Turki's distaste for Nasser—«Mine had become notjust a dispassionate))—• was atypically Palestinian.Nasser lost face with Palestinian activists only afterhis acceptance of the Rogers Plan shortly beforehis death.

At times, Turki's hate knows no boundaries. Asmuch as his anathema to the Zionist and the Wes-tern imperialist was obvious, so was his hate of the((bourgeois Arab» and his value structure.

The irony of my plight was that as I grew up,

69

my bogeyman was not the Jew (despite the inces-sant propaganda that Radio Cairo subjected us to),nor was he the imperialist or the Western suppor-ters and protectors of the State of Israel, but hewas the Arab. The Arab in the street who asked ifyou'd ever heard the one about the Palestinianwho... The Arab at the Aliens Section who wantedyou to to wait obsequiously for your work permit,the Arab at the police station who felt he possesseda carte blanche to mistreat you, the Arab who re-jected you and, most crucially, took away from youyour sense of hope and sense of direction. He wasthe bogeyman you saw every morning and everynight and every new year of every decade tormen-ting you, reducing you, dehumanizing you, and con-firming your servitude. To the Palestinian, theyoung Palestinian, living and growing up in Arabsociety, the Israeli was the enemy in the mathema-tical matrix; we never saw him, lived under hisyoke, or, for many of us, remembered him. Livingin a refugee camp and going hungry, we felt thecauses of our problem were abstract, the causes ofits perpetuation were real.

Is Turki here really talking of the Arab man inthe street as he seems to be doing or of the relicfrom the ancien regime? More likely the latter whoknew no better than to emulate the French orBritish colonial in carrying on with the haplessPalestinian and even his fellow citizen.

The cultural nationalist in Turin's angry out-pouring crystallizes: «Our Palestinian consciousness,

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instead of dissipating, was enhanced and acquireda subtle nuance and a new dimension. It was buoyedby two concepts: the preservation of our memory ofPalestine and our acquisition of education.))

Turki's views on the Palestine issue, he admits,«are not necessarily always in accord with theseheld by the representatives of my people.» He seesthe problem more as an «existential rather than apolitico-economic one.»

The significance of his masterful contributionand abundant, overpowering humanity should notbe belittled by his advocacy of accepting «half aPalestinian cake,» which is recognizably anathemato present-day Palestinian thinking. Compassionwith his yearning is, however, in order.

As a Palestinian, the prospect of an end to my iso-lation [by accepting a West Bank Palestinian state]from the mainstream of other men's ordered activitiesand purposes exercises an intensely strange fascina-tion on my mind. I am lured by the agony of wanting,now, in my own lifetime, the chance to know what Itfeels like, how the experience would sense in mybrain, to be, for the first time since I was a child, thecitizen of a country, a native of a land that is my own,all my own, with hills and mountains, and childrenin brick houses, where I could sit with my people, nolonger menaced, no longer destitute.

How much more can Palestinians pay, he asks?If you live a comfortable existence where the

problems of life are examined within the matrix ofideology and rationality, your world is a habitable

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one. If you give twenty years of your life in a refu-gee camp, the price becomes intolerable. If you areasked to make your yet unborn child take on yourburden, you are committing an injustice.

Turki is not a defeatist. For this same «tired»man felt «exhilarated» by the Palestinian «reawake-ning» after the Six Day War. He is confident thatthe outcome of the Palestinian struggle is foretold.

Then it came about that we could not wait tobe freed, and we broke out... That we had brothersand sisters fighting in Vietnam, in Africa, in SouthAmerica, in the United States and elsewhere. Thatwe were together, we were in the same battle.Against the same enemy. For the same cause. Thebattle, the enemy, and the cause are the same whenI fight against an Arab for the Kurdish people'srights; when the Kurd fights against a Zionist forthe Palestinian people's rights.

He continues:

I returned from my retreat in the East andwent up on the rooftops to shout to the world thatI was a Palestinian. I was no longer alone, hiding,shamefaced, embittered. I belonged to a people whoshared their travail and their accomplishments witha commonwealth of men and women across theworld who like them struggled to remove the leafcovering the nakedness of imperialist oppression.I was a Palestinian and the name had a cadence toit. I was not the bewildered, wretched native of theland; I was the native son. •

PALESTNE RESEARCH CENTER

(Established 1965)

D First research center on the Palestine question

in the Middle East.

D Collects and classifies all available information

on the Palestine question for use by researchers.

O Publishes monographs, chronologies, essays and

books by well-known authors.

Q Over 200 titles in three languages:

English — French.

D For list of publications , apply to: P.O.B. 1691 -

Beirut, Lebanon.

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P U . O

The political program of the PalestineLiberation Organization

In its meeting last January (1973), the Palestine Na-tional Council approved the following political programfor the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Pales-tine Revolution. The «Prologue» to the program outlinesdevelopments of the Palestinian resistance movement fromits inception to the present critical phase through which

the Palestine Revolution is passing.

a Prologue

Throughout its struggle for liberation, democ-racy and unity, our Arab people has been persis-tently subject to conspiracies from the colonialistand imperialist forces and their lackey local reac-tionaries. These colonialist and imperialist forcessee in our Arab homeland ample opportunity forimperialist plunder of its unlimited natural re-sources. They regard it, also, as an important stra-

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tegic take-off point, owing to its unique centralposition amidst the three continents of Asia, Africaand Europe, and to its control over vital air andsea routes, especially the Mediterranean Sea, theSuez Canal, the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf and theIndian Ocean. They also view it as a center ofgravity for whoever dominates it in internationalpolitics.

In their invasion of our Arab homeland, thecolonialist and imperialist powers feared that therising patriotic and national struggle would standin the way of their schemes. Neither were theyconfident of the ability of their local reactionarymainstays to hold out against the rising nationaltide. Hence, using the world Zionist movement,they plotted the usurpation of Palestine, intendingto create therein a colonialist racist entity whichwould constitute both an outpost for the protec-tion of colonialist and Zionist domination over ourArab homeland and a heavy club to be raised byworld imperialism in the face of the ever-growingArab struggle for liberation.

In collusion with the reactionary forces whichruled the whole area—except Syria where a na-tionalist regime existed—the colonialist and im-perialist forces succeeded in planting the colonialistZionist entity in Palestine arbitrarily and forcibly.They also succeeded in uprooting the Palestiniansfrom their land. The Palestinian Arab people, how-ever, did not submit. On the basis of its right todefend its homeland and its existence, and in view

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of the responsibility it bears as a forward defenseline against the imperialist-Zionist assault on theArab nation, the Palestinian Arab people, for thirtyyears, put up a heroic and relentless struggle. Ineach of its revolutionary uprisings, which culmi-nated in the 1936 and 1947 revolts, the reactionaryand lackey forces played a role in undermining thePalestinian struggle and bolstering the position ofits enemies and the enemies of the Arab nation.

This was the situation on January 1, 1965, whenthe vanguard of our Palestinian people initiatedthe contemporary armed national revolution againstthe Zionist entity, which exists on Palestinian soilthrough aggression and the force of arms, andwhich has never desisted from using violence toexpel our people and to finalize the realization ofits schemes for the usurpation of the whole of ourland. In this revolution, which erupted on thatglorious first day of 1965, the vanguard of ourpeople embodied the noble revolutionary traditionsof our people and of our Arab nation. They alsoraised anew the flag of the struggle for liberationagainst imperialism and Zionism, the flag in whosedefense tens of thousands of martyrs have falleneverywhere in the Arab homeland.

This vanguard (with it the Palestinian people,the Arab masses and the free of the world) believedthat armed struggle is the correct, the inevitableand the main method of liberating Palestine. Forsuch an antagonistic contradiction with the Zionistenemy cannot be resolved except through revolu-tionary violence.

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When the Palestinian revolutionary vanguardresorted to armed struggle, it aroused the Pales-tinian and Arab masses, filling them with the willto fight. This led to a violent transformation ofArab realities in the direction of insistence uponrejecting the defeat and determination to take theoffensive against the Zionist enemy and to defeatthe American imperialist plots. Consequently,Jordan became a base for armed struggle and atake-off point for both the escalation of armedstruggle and its protection on Palestinian soil. Inaddition, extended battle fronts were openedagainst the enemy which included the Suez Canaland the whole of the Palestinian frontier withTransjordan, Lebanon and Syria. Armed popularresistance was escalated in the West Bank and inthe Palestinian territory occupied prior to June1967. The Gaza Strip witnessed heroic deeds ofarmed struggle to the point where semi-liberatedneighbourhoods in Gaza itself were created.

Th'? Palestinian revolution moved from onevictory to another and grew quickly, in spite of allthe imperialist and Zionist plots and notwithstan-diuff all difficulties. It was able to emerge victo-ries from all the battles in which it confrontedimperialist conspiracies and counter-revolutionaryforces in Jordan and Lebanon from November 1968up to June 1970. The Zionist enemy, too, failed inthe extermination campaigns which it conductedagainst the bases of the revolution. The revolutionwas able to turn these campaigns of the enemy into

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victories, as witnessed at Al-Karameh and Al-Arkoub.

However, the revolution began to face an ex-tremely difficult situation due to the Americaninitiatives and the plans they spawned (such asthe Rogers Plan). These initiatives were accompa-nied by large scale encirclement of the revolutionand the spread of the spirit of defeatism. This situa-tion provided the counter-revolutionary forces inJordan with a valuable opportunity to exploit someof the negative features that characterized thecourse of the revolution in order to implement theAmerican-Zionist-Hashemite schemes. These sche-mes aimed at administering a harsh blow to thePalestinian revolution as a preliminary step to-wards its elimination and towards the liquidationof the Palestine problem. The Palestinian revolu-tion and the Palestinian-Jordanian masses foughtgloriously in Jordan in September 1970, in defenseof the principle of armed struggle and for the Pales-tinian and Arab cause. Their battle shall foreverremain an epic of incredible heroism and historicresistance under the harshest of conditions. But inJuly 1971, the lackey Jordanian regime eliminatedthe public presence of the Palestinian revolution inJordan and began to follow policies which carriedthe threat of (a) an official capitulation to theenemy concerning the West Bank and Jerusalem,(b) the liquidation of the unity of the Palestinianpresence, (c) the encouragement of dissensionamong the ranks of the Palestinian people and of

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divisions between Palestinian and Jordanian, bet-ween soldier and fidai, (d) the conversion of theEast Bank into a buffer favoring the Zionist entityand into a military, political and economic sphereof influence for Israel, which means transformingit into an American, West German and Britishbackyard where imperialist influence dominates, (e)the repression, pillage and impoverishment of theJordanian masses, the suppression of their demo-cratic freedoms, in addition to the wrecking of thenational economy. It is no secret that the Americanschemes aim at rebuilding the Jordanian army soit can be directed against Syria and Iraq also.These circumstances presented the Zionist enemywith the golden opportunity for making its occupa-tion more secure by concentrating its efforts ontrying to wipe out the armed resistance in the GazaStrip and pacify the situation in the occupied ter-ritories. Thus the Gaza Strip was subjected to theharshest forms of repression and population expul-sions; while in the West Bank local municipal elec-tions were imposed to create favorable conditionsfor the occupation, divide the Palestinian peopleand attempt at promoting phony political leadersto substitute for the Palestinian revolutionaryleadership. This went simultaneously with KingHussein's plan for the establishment of a so-calledUnited Arab Kingdom with goals identical to thoseof the Zionist plot.

On the other hand, American imperialism in-tensified its assault according to a broad plan to

TOIO

securely contain and liquidate both the Palestinianrevolution and the Arab liberation movement. Forthis purpose, American imperialism resorted tonumerous manoeuvres and plots under such sign-boards as the so-called American initiatives, peaceproposals, interim settlements and United NationsSecurity Council resolutions. In this they wereabetted by active defeatist forces, bound by strongeconomic and political ties to the imperialists.

The blow that was administered to the Pales-tinian revolution in Amman in mid-1971, the inten-sification of the American and Zionist imperialistassault against the Palestinian revolution and thePalestinian masses in the occupied territories andoutside, and finally the growing deterioration in theofficial Arab situation in favor of capitulation, haveall continued to generate a crisis for the Palestinianrevolution and the Palestinian and Arab masses.This general crisis has, on the one hand, captivatedthe whole Arab nation throughout the greater Arabhomeland and, on the other, produced a series ofconspiratorial schemes aiming at the liquidation ofthe Palestinian revolution, of the Palestinianpeople's unified national existence and of its patrio-tic cause. These conspiracies have taken such formsas the Allon Plan, the proposed Palestinian stateon the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, annexation,judaization, as well as the absorption and assimila-tion of the Palestinians in the societies where theylive in the diaspora.

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In this atmosphere of crisis, we find our Pales-tinian Arab people moving with firmness and deter-mination to defend its armed revolution, its unifiednational existence and its right to liberate its entirehomeland. Our people will allow neither the liqui-dation of its just cause, nor of its revolution, bothof which constitute a central point from whichmilitancy and revolution radiate onto an area overwhich the imperialists and the Zionists want to ex-tend their full domination.

We also find the constituency of the revolution,its fighters and its mass organizations pushing force-fully and decisively in the direction of nationalunity, the intensification of armed struggle againstthe Zionist enemy, the liberation of Jordan, theconstruction of an Arab front to participate in thestruggle with Palestinian revolution and the esta-blishment of close ties with the world liberationmovement and the progressive anti-imperialistforces in the world.

The strong orientation towards national unityamong the ranks of the Palestinian revolution doesnot in itself mean success in overcoming the crisis,but it means creating the necessary conditions forsuch a step.

Escalating the armed struggle against the Zio-nist enemy, mobilizing the masses and organizingthem, stimulating the various forms of armed andnon-armed mass struggle (military, political, eco-nomic and cultural) all lead to recapturing theinitiative and assuming the offensive, in readinessfor overcoming the crisis.

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For the Palestinian revolution and for the causeof the liberation of Palestine, Jordan stands out assomething special in comparison to any other Arabcountry. The Palestinians form a majority inJordan; this majority has national rights there inaddition to its other general rights. It constitutes aprincipal segment of the Palestinian people with-out which it is pointless to discuss armed struggleagainst the enemy. In addition, its struggle has beenlinked to that of the Transjordanian people andorganically linked with contemporary history, espe-cially during the past 25 years. Furthermore theTransjordanian borders with the Zionist enemy arethe longest and the closest to its transportation net-work and to its military, economic and demogra-phic strategic points. From here arise the dangersof the collusion of King Hussein's regime with im-perialism and Zionism. This collusion has producedthe massacres perpetrated against the Palestinianrevolution, the prohibition of its presence in Jordan,the opposition of any activity against either theZionist enemy or imperialism, and finally the trans-formation of Jordan into a protective military buf-fer for the Zionist entity and a route via whichZionist policies and influence in all fields could pe-netrate. These facts have made the liberation ofJordan (toppling the lackey regime) a decisive fac-tor in overcoming the crisis and a strategic neces-sity in the process of liberating Palestine.

The creation of an Arab front to participate inthe struggle with the Palestinian revolution rests

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^basically upon the belief that no success for ourcause is possible except within the framework ofa general victory for the national, patriotic andliberating struggle of our Arab nation. This beliefwill contribute to the protection of the Palestinianrevolution, will ensure the continuation and esca-lation of the armed struggle, will help also in thestruggle to topple the lackey regime in Jordan andwill generally aid in overcoming the crisis in ques-

tion.Strengthening the ties of solidarity and com-

mon struggle between the Palestinian revolutionand the Arab militant forces on the one hand, andthe world liberation movement and the progressiveanti-imperialist forces throughout the world on theother, will contribute to the support of our revolu-tionary struggle and its intensification, as well asto the common struggle of all peoples against im-perialism, Zionism, racism and reaction. This streng-thening of ties is based on the belief that the Pales-tinian revolution and the Arab struggle constitutea part of the world struggle for liberation.

In these new and critical circumstances and inthe face of the responsibilities which the Palestinianrevolution bears, the Palestine Liberation Organi-zation, with all its groups and forces, has agreed toan interim political program based on four princi-pal strategic axes:

1. The continuation of the mobilization andorganization of all our people's potentials, bothwithin and without the homeland, for a protracted

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people's war in pursuit of total liberation, and thecreation of a democratic state in accordance withthe aspirations of the Arab nation for comprehen-sive unity and national liberation.

2. The tight linking of our people's strugglewith that of our brothers the Jordanian people ina Jordanian-Palestinian liberation front to be en-trusted (in addition to its tasks in Palestine) withthe conduct of the struggle for the liberation ofJordan from the lackey reactionary royalist regime,which acts both to mask actual Zionist dominationover the East Bank and to guard fiercely the saidZionist occupation of Palestine.

3. The linking of the Palestinian struggle withthe overall Arab struggle via a front of all the na-tional and progressive forces hostile to imperialism,Zionism and neo-colonialism.

4. Solidarity with the world struggle againstimperialism, Zionism and reaction, and for nationalliberation.

The Palestine Liberation Organization definesits tasks as follows:

• First : On the Palestine Scene1. To continue the struggle, particularly armed

struggle, for the liberation of the entire Palestinenational territory and of the establishment of aPalestinian democratic society which guaranteesthe right to work and to a decent life for all citizensso they can live in equality, justice and fraternity,a democratic society opposed to all forms of pre-judice due to race, color or creed.

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This society will guarantee the freedoms ofthought, expression and assembly, freedom to de-monstrate, strike and form national political andlabor organizations, freedom of worship for allcreeds; such that this democratic Palestinian societywill constitute a part of the entire united Arabdemocratic society.

2. To militate against the compromising men-tality and the plans it spawns which are eithercontrary to our people's cause of national libera-tion, or aim to liquidate this cause through «pro-posed Palestinian entities)) or through a Palestinianstate on part of the Palestinian national soil. Alsoto oppose these plans through armed struggle andpolitical struggle of the masses connected to it.

3. To reinforce the bonds of national unity andjoint struggle between our compatriots in the ter-ritory occupied in 1948 and those in the West Bank,the Gaza Strip and beyond the occupied homeland.

4. To oppose the policy of clearing the occupiedterritory of its Arab inhabitants. To confront withviolence the erection of colonies and the judaiza-tion of parts of the occupied homeland.

5. To mobilize the masses in the West Bank,the Gaza Strip and the entire occupied Palestinianland; also to arm them for the purpose of continu-ing the struggle and raising their militancy againstZionist settler-colonialism.

6. To direct attention to the organization of ourmasses in the occupied territory and help mass or-ganizations oppose the Histadrut efforts at drawing

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Arab workers into its membership. To reinforce andsupport the Palestinian and Jordanian labor unions'endeavors in realizing the above aim. To opposethe attempts of Zionist political parties at establi-shing Arab branches in the occupied territory.

7. To support the peasant masses and developthe national economic and cultural institutions inthe occupied homeland, in order to strengthen theattachment of citizens there to the land and put anend to the process of emigration. In addition, tooppose the Zionist economic and cultural invasion.

8. To direct attention to the conditions of ourcitizens in the territory occupied in 1948. To supporttheir struggle for the retention of their Arab na-tional identity. To adopt their problems and helpthem participate in the struggle for liberation.

9. To direct attention to the welfare of theworking masses of our people in the various partsof the Arab homeland by obtaining for them eco-nomic and legal rights equal to those of the citizensof Arab societies, considering that their productivepotentials are invested in the service of these so-cieties. Particular attention is to be paid to matterspertaining to their right to work, remunerationsand compensations, to freedom of political and cul-tural Palestinian action, and freedom of travel andmovement, all this within a framework preserva-tive of the Palestinian identity.

10. To promote and develop the role of thePalestinian woman, socially, culturally and ecqno-

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mically, in the national struggle and to seek herparticipation in all aspects of the struggle.

11. To direct attention to the conditions of ourcitizens in the camps; to seek to raise their leveleconomically, socially and culturally; to train themin the administration of their own affairs.

12. To encourage workers on Arab farmlandand in Arab concerns to remain steadfast in theirpositions; to undertake to guard them from thelures of employment in enemy projects; to encou-rage and develop local productivity so as to absorbworkers employed by the enemy; to oppose enemyattempts at taking over national productive enter-

prises and ruining them.13. To consider every collaborator, or person

negligent of the historic natural right of the Pales-tinian people in their homeland, a target of the re-volution, be it in his person or his possessions. So,too, every conspirator against any of our people'srights, primarily its right to oppose the occupationand its right to national independence.

14. To direct attention to our emigrant massesin foreign countries and to act to link them to theircause and to the Palestinian revolution.

15. The Palestine Liberation Organization shalluse its official Arab relations for the protection ofthe Palestinian citizens' interests in the Arab home-land and for the expression of the Palestinianpeople's political will. (The Palestinian revolutionshall continue to represent the legitimate politicalleadership of the Palestinian people and to be its

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sole spokesman in all fateful matters.) Hence theorgans of leadership of the Palestine LiberationOrganization shall be formed from all the organi-zations of the armed Palestinian revolution, the or-ganizations of the Palestinian masses (trade-unionand cultural organizations) and from patrioticgroups and personalities who uphold armed struggleas a principal and fundamental means for the libe-ration of Palestine and are committed to the Pales-tinian National Charter.

• Second: On the Jordanian-Palestinian SceneThe Jordanian-Palestinian national front is

called upon to direct the struggle of the two peoplestowards the following strategic aims:

(A) The establishment of a national democraticregime in Jordan which shall:

Create the appropriate atmosphere for the con-tinuation of the struggle for the liberation of thewhole of Palestine;

Guarantee the national sovereignty of both Jor-danian and Palestinian peoples;

Guarantee the renewal of the union of the twobanks on the correct basis of the complete nationalequality between the two peoples, so that the fullhistorical national rights of the Palestinian peopleand the present national rights of the two peoplesare safeguarded;

Ensure common national development econo-mically, socially and culturally;

Strengthen the ties of brotherhood and equalitybetween the two peoples by means of equal legal,

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constitutional, cultural and economic rights and bymeans of placing the human and economic resourcesof each people in the service of their common deve-lopment.

(B) The consolidation of the struggles of boththe Palestinian and Jordanian peoples with that ofthe Arab nation so as to:

Complete national liberation;

Oppose imperialist plans aiming at imposingsolutions and conditions in the Arab homeland thatmean surrender to the enemy;

Eradicate all forms of Zionist and imperialistpresence (economic, military and cultural), as wellas all the forces connected with them which act asmediators for neo-colonialism and its policies.

In order for this Jordanian-Palestinian nationalfront to actually emerge on the Jordanian scene,and to grow and gain strength, all forms of day today mass struggle must be immediately activated,so that the agitation of the masses for both theirdaily and general demands leads to the rise of anorganized leadership and organizations expressiveof the interests of the various segments of the mas-ses, i.e. the kind of leadership and organizationsthat have been absent from the day-to-day fightsof the masses over the past years.

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The realization of the general goals of the Pales-tinian-Jordanian national front requires a long andhard struggle. Through day-to-day struggle andpartial battles, the masses surmount all social ob-stacles of a parochial nature and fuse in commonstruggle showing their militant national featuresand exposing the lackey royalist regime. The roya-list regime depends fundamentally upon the ex-ploitation of tribal relations and upon the provoca-tion of parochial fanaticism in order to hide itscollaboration with Zionism and imperialism (alsoto divert the attention of the masses from theircontradiction with the regime.) The Palestine Libe-ration Organization presents the program of actionfor Jordan to engage the militant organizations inJordan in a serious fraternal debate with the pur-pose of building the Palestinian-Jordanian nationalfront. This front must apply itself to the followingtasks:

1. Mobilizing and organizing the masses for theestablishment of a national democratic regime inJordan which believes in the Palestinian revolu-tion, supports it and provides the climate necessaryfor all modes of mass struggle.

Z. Bringing the Jordanians to participate inthe armed struggle against the Zionist enemy inas-much as this is a patriotic and national goal as wellas a necessity for the protection of the East Bankof Jordan.

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3. Struggling:

to establish the Palestinian revolution's freedomof action in and from Jordan and the formation ofbases on its soil,

to expose the conspiracies of the lackey regimeand its falsehoods in this respect,

to ensure mass protection of the fighters movingoff westward beyond the river.

4. Acting to consolidate the national and anti-imperialist forces throughout the Arab homelandin one militant front and to deepen militant ties bet-ween the Palestinian-Jordanian national struggleand the world revolutionary forces.

• Third: Relations with the Arab RevolutionaryForces

The Arab revolution is now passing throughthe phase of implementing the democratic nationalrevolution which militates:

(A) To realize complete political and economicindependence and eradicate all forms of divisionand dependence upon colonialism and imperialism.

(B) To liquidate all forms of imperialist pre-sence such as political influence, military bases, eco-

90

nomic investments, cultural institutions, and thedefeat of all the local forces connected with it.

(C) To liberate Palestine from the Zionist-imperialist entity which not only usurped the Pales-tinian land and expelled its indigenous population,but has also proved to be, throughout its existence,a main imperialist tool for undermining the Arabrevolution and protecting the imperialist presencein the area. The liberation of Palestine is not onlya Palestinian patriotic duty. It is also a national.necessity. The struggle for the realization of theArab national democratic revolution will be neitherunified nor deepened, nor will it broaden and suc-ceed in achieving its purposes, except by liquida-ting the Zionist imperialist base which aims at itsvery foundations.

(D) To safeguard the freedom of the Arabmasses so they can exercise their role in politicallife and constitute a solid basis for a firmly esta-blished democratic Arab unity.

(E) To place the material and human resourcesof the Arab nation at the service of economic, socialand cultural development with the purpose of rein-forcing political and economic independence, reali-zing Arab economic and cultural integration anderadicating all forms of backwardness and division.

The unity of the Palestinian revolution and thePalestinian-Jordanian national struggle constitutes

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an integral part of the Arab democratic nationalrevolution and one of its main axes.

Hence, the task of the Palestinian revolution,and its leadership, and that of the Jordanian na-tional front is:

To seek to join with all the militant Arab na-tional democratic organizations wherever they exist;

To prepare, through struggle, a militant at-mosphere conducive to the rise of such forces;

To open its ranks to Arab militants, for thestruggle in the Palestinian arena against the im-perialist Zionist enemy is a main strategic struggleof the entire Arab revolution.

The Arab progressive national forces mustcombine in an Arab national front with the follow-ing demands:

1. To reinforce the positive support of the Pales-tinian national revolution and of the Jordanian-Palestinian national democratic struggle.

2. To struggle against all liquidationist plansor interim settlements, not only because they con-secrate Zionist usurpation and lead to the elimi-nation of the Palestinian national cause, but alsobecause they have proved to be preparations forimperialist and allied reactionary manoeuvres andconspiracies for tearing assunder the unity of the

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Arab national forces, for eradicating the Arab na-tional revolution and for imposing complete im-perialist domination over the area.

3. To struggle for the elimination of the presentforms of imperialist presence in the Arab home-land (political influence, military bases, investmentsand cultural institutions and activities). To struggleagainst the domination of an imperialist economyover the Arab national economy. To struggleagainst the reactionary forces which propagandizefor this domination and stimulate it. The continua-tion of American interests in the Arab homelandand their organic relations requires the confronta-tion and liquidation of these American-imperialistinterests.

4. To encourage and support all institutions andactivities which (a) seek to revive or protect theArab national heritage;(b) diffuse national and re-volutionary values and virtues; (c) undertake thetask of opposing the Zionist-imperialist cultural in-vasion and the decadent and base values it propa-gates.

5. Solidarity with Arab patriotic and progres-sive militants against any persecution whichtouches their means of livelihood or touches themeither physically, politically or intellectually.

• Fourth: Relation with the Forces of Liberationin the World

The Palestinian national struggle and the Arab

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national democratic struggle are an integral partof the militant movement against imperialism andracism and for national liberation throughout theworld. Mutual solidarity and support between theArab national and the world revolutionary struggleare a necessity and an objective condition for thesuccess of our Arab struggle.

The Arab national and progressive forces basethe ties of world solidarity on the following prin-ciples:

1. The Arab Palestinian national struggle isdecisively and firmly on the side of the unity of allworld revolutionary forces.

2. The contribution of the Arab national struggletowards resolving any disagreements within theworld revolutionary movement consists in its effec-tive and successful treatment of its own problemsand the challenges which it faces.

3. The goals and methods of the Arab struggle,(which take account of the general rules of revo-lution which, in turn, are the gist of the experien-ces of the world national liberation movements)concern the Arab national and progressive forces.This does not mean neglect or disregard of the ob-servations and advice of friends. •

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