ARAB PALESTINIAN

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MONTHLY MAGAZINE

VOLUME II - 12c DECEMBER 1970

12 c

PALESTINE LIBERATION ARMY -, PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FORCES

iiVO/M i ^i,i',fi A R A B A L . E S T I N I A N

R E S I S T A N C E

Vol. II - No. 12c December 15, 1970

C O N T E N T S

Editorial 4

Political Scene M. T. Bujairami 6

The Unholy Alliance: Israel and South Africaby: Dr. George Tomeh 14

Review of Events 28

• On the Origins of the Zionist Movementby: Research Center, P.L.O. 35

• The Man Who Never Died. . . . (short story) by: Abdul-Samad Hasan 44

• Resistance Operations 49

• Palestinian Resistance and the Arab StatesIbrahim Al-Abid 53

• Palestine Question in World Press 58

• Israel's Role in Africaby: Africa Research Group 69

• Documents 75

• Book Reviews gg

Correspondence:The Editor,Resistance,P.O.B. 3577Damascus, Syria

Price per copy

Syrian piasters 1004/-

S 0.50

The liberation of Palestine from an

international viewpoint is a defensive act

necessitated by the demands of self-defense.

That is why the people of Palestine, who

desire to befriend all peoples, look forward

to the support of all nations who love

freedom, justice and peace, to restore the

legitimate situation in Palestine, establish

peace and security in its territory and

enable Palestinians to exercise national

sovereignty and freedom.

Palestine National CovenantArticle 18 of the

Editor: M. KHUBI

Editrioal

Editorial

«Time» magazine reported in its issue of De-cember 21 that Golda Meir told an Israeli LabourParty rally held in Tel-Aviv early this month(December, 1970) that US Ambassador WalworthHarbour had once said to her: «Look here, Mrs.Meir, we've established that Israel is not a satelliteof the United States. Now I think we ought to makeit clear that the U.S. is not a satellite of Israel.»

The story reported by «Time» magazine isinteresting and significant. It reflects the closealliance between world imperialism represented bythe United States and world Zionism represented byIsrael, the spearhead of imperialist aggression inthe Middle East. The story was given circulation inorder to persuade world public opinion that theUnited States has a Middle East policy independentof commitments to Israel and aiming to promote theestablishment of a just peace in the region.

Such maneuvers, however, will deceive noone. Indeed, if the United States were serious aboutestablishing peace in the Middle East, she wouldinsist on Israel complying with U.N. resolutions

requiring Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arabterritories and calling for the repatriation of Pales-tinian refugees. Instead of doing this, Washingtonencourages Israel's defiance of the world communityby endorsing Israel's policies of aggression andsupplying Israel with the weapons she needs tocarry out these policies.

But notwithstanding U.S.-Israeli maneuversand schemes of aggression, and despite the genuinedesire of the Palestinian people for a just peace thatwould end their tragedy and give them back theirrights, they categorically refuse and shall continueto oppose in every possible way any infringementof their right to liberation and repatriation.

In this attitude they have the full support ofthe Arab people. For their cause is the cause of theentire Arab nation and of all the peoples of theworld because it is the cause of freedom, self-deter-mination and a homeland. The Palestinian Arabpeoole shall continue their struggle to liberate theirhomeland and are confident of final victory and ofthe backing of all peoples of the world, who lovepeace, progress and justice. •

Political Scene

POLITICALSCENE

by: M. T. Bujairami

The present lull in the usually turbulent situ-ation of the Middle East is like the tranpuillity inthe eye of the cyclone. This eye is currently embo-died by the cease-fire, which will expire early nextyear. All the parties concerned are moving swiftlyto prepare for the coming stage which, it seems,may be decisive in determining the destiny of thispart of the world for many years, or even genera-tions.

Despite all the blind, unconditional support byAmerica and her allies for Israel, the latter is some-how resless and deeply worried, although this un-comfortable feeling of nervous uneasiness is cleverlyconcealed behind a thick mask of pretended indif-ference and self-confidence.

America is unable, or unwilling, to convinceher protege to re-establish contacts with Dr. Jarring,who is to submit his report to the UN Secretary-general on January 5th, on results of his mission.The international envoy cannot but hold Israel res-ponsible for the failure of the said mission.

Meanwhile, various organs of the United Na-tions, including the General Assembly in its 25thsession, have adopted reports and resolutions recog-nizing the Palestinian people's right to self-determi-nation and calling on Israel to desist from imposingcollective punishment on the people of the occupiedterritories and to stop subjecting Arab prisoners totorture. Other resolutions call for the repatriationof the Palestinians expelled after the aggression of1967, and demand that Israel stop establishing newcolonies in the occupied territories. Thus althoughthe Arab military fronts have been inactive in re-cent weeks, the Arab cause has been gaining groundin international circles. More than ever before,world public opinion is becoming aware of Israeli

Resistance

intentions and sympathetic with the justice of theArab cause.

It is this isolated position and the increasingcondemnation by the international community thatlies behind Israel's feeling of frustration and disap-pointment. Hence the frantic Israeli pressure formore American support. This pressure, to whichAmerica has proved to be so susceptible, is makingWashington feel uneasy. The American weeklynewsmagazine «Time» asserts that the Americanambassador to Israel tried to tell Golda Meir thathe wanted to ((establish the fact that USA is not anIsraeli satellite.)) Meanwhile, Melvin Laird, theAmerican Secretary of Defense was bewilderedwhen he saw Dayan's list of weapons demandedfrom the Pentagon. «These guys want stuff I'venever even heard of,» he said. The American-Israeli efforts at co-ordination have not been confi-ned to Dayan's recent visit and the exchange ofletters between Meir and Nixon. General AharonYarev, chief of the Israeli military intelligence haspaid a secret visit to Washington.

Other people have also been playing a role inthe game of recent overt and secret contacts. KingHussein, for example, has been conducting a seriesof meetings and direct talks with senior Israeliofficials. Even the Israeli press could not fail to

Political Scene

refer to these contacts. A correspondent of «Time,»the American weekly, gave a detailed account ofthe last of these meetings, held between the Kingand Yigal Allon in an air-conditioned car in theNegev Desert north of Eilat sometime last month.Their major point of agreement, according to pressreports, 'was the necessity to continue the physicalliquidation of the Palestinians because «they repre-sent a troublesome element, a nuisance to bothIsrael and the King, and thus should be neutralized.))The king received «nrm» Israeli promises of assis-tance to carry out this task of «common interest.))It is in line with this agreement that Jordan's pre-sent government continues to persistently provokePalestinian freedom fighters and commit, as well asprepare for, new massacres with complete disregardof successive pacts and agreements signed with therepresentatives of the Palestinian resistance move-ment. Instead of acting from common A.rab motivesand taking the necessary measures to consolidatethe Eastern Front in order to apply more militarypressure on Israel, Hussein's government seems tobe more intent on seeing Palestinian freedomfighters placed between the Jordanian anvil and theIsraeli hammer. Thus, the behaviour of the Jordan-ian authorities indicates that a new exterminationcampaign may be launched against the Palestinianssoon and definitely before the expiration of thepresent cease-fire with Israel on February 5th, 1971.

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It is strictly for this criminal purpose that Americais giving Hussein a thirty-million dollar shipmentof weapons, to be delivered before the said date,while a chorus of coordinated American-Jordanian-Israeli statements speak, explicitly and implicitly,of a so-called «Palestinian states and of Palestinianparticipation in the formulation of any potentialsettlement in the Middle East. This new move isintended to create confusion among the Arabs byfragmentizing the unity of their attitude to theirfirst cause.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to conduct politi-cal moves and maneuvers on the international level.Even Israel's little Hitler, Dayan, is talking aboutpeace and the possibility of resuming contacts withJarring, while Abba Eban holds top-secret meetingswith Israel's ambassadors to Western Europe. Itseems that Israel now realizes that the world willnot tolerate another large-scale Israeli aggressionagainst the Arab countries. It is, therefore, easy toexplain the lines along which the Israeli aggressorsare moving at the present stage. They exert furtherpressure on America to continue its financial, poli-tical and military support, which would include:

a) the simplification of procedural mattersand routine measures in order to facilitate and

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Political Scene

accelerate the delivery of arms shipments when de-manded by Israel without any questions or hesita-tion on the part of the United States.

b) prompt American intervention in case ofany successful Arab attempt to recapture the occu-pied Arab territories. In this connection, it shouldbe noted that Vice-President Agneo has recentlydeclared that America will not stand idle «if Israelis invaded.» And of course, according to Agneo, anEgyptian attack to recover Sinai, will be considered«an invasion of Israel,)) while Israel's occupation ofSinai for well over three years is merely a mere((defensives matter and a justifiable move.

c) Israel also wants America to use her U.N.«veto» to foil any attempt by the UN Security Coun-cil to condemn Israel or possibly impose sanctionsagainst her for not abiding by successive UN resolu-tions, the last of which were adopted during Novem-ber and December, 1970.

d) Israel also wants America to abandon Ro-gers apeace initiative)) under the pretext that theEgyptians have ((violated)) the terms of the cease-fire; Israel even demands that the Egyptians imme-diately sign an official cease-fire agreement for anunlimited period of time, without Israel beingrequired to do anything. In other words, both Israel

IT

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and the United States want the subject of the Jar-ring talks to be «what more concessions have theArabs to make in order to be spared another large-scale attack?» Meanwhile America continues plot-ting to promote subversive, counter-revolutionaryactivities in every Arab country in order to weakenthe Arab capacity for protracted struggle and resis-tance. An inter-Arab war of attrition may beattempted.

As for Israel's «peaceful intentions,)) they arewell reflected in the fact that its military industrieshave increased their production by 400% since theJune war. Israel's military budget for 1971-1972 is£750 million. The Jewish agency, Israel's extensionabroad will have a budget exceeding $601 million,as compared to last year's $356 million. Further-more, Israel plans to produce supersonic Super-Mirage fighters with engines to be supplied byGeneral Motors next year. Yet, Israel continues topose before the world as a poor small country andthe «victim of Arab bellegirency!»

The Arabs, realising the threat of these impe-rialist-Zionist-reactionary plots against the veryexistence of the Arab Nation, are beginning to takesteps to mobilize capacities and co-ordinate effortsin the current struggle for survival. Moves in thedirection of unity are beginning to emerge as the

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Political Scene

only means to face the big challenge. Unity, on thelocal and national levels would be the right answer;and the first steps in this direction have been takenas a basis of determined resistance that wouldeventually lead to victory. •

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Unholy Alliance

THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE:ISRAEL AND SOUTH AFRICA

by: Dr. George Tomeh

The following article is largely based ona research project undertaken by Dr. GeorgeJ. Tomeh, Permanent Representative of theSyrian Arab Republic to the United Nations.It is hoped that the elaborate research project,aimed at recording the relationships betweenthe two racist governments of Israel and SouthAfrica, will be published more fully at a futuredate.

Dr. Tomeh was Chairman of the U.N.Security Council in November, 1970:

In its quest for solutions to global problemsand consequently, in its desire for world peace, theSecurity Council should have a comprehensive view

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of all the factors that comprise a problem. Thus,while discussing the problem of Namibia and theobduracy of the racist regime of South Africa, amongthe issues which are of the utmost importance inview of their far-reaching consequences is the flowof arms into South Africa as well as the local manu-facturing of war arsenal. Of equal importance is theflow of capital into South Africa, which has led tothe increasing arrogance of the racist regime. It isequally imperative at this stage to expose the realfriends and allies of the most censured regime inthe world today. It may also be appropriate here tostate that South Africa has proved a zealous suppor-ter of Israel at the United Nations.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency of January 20,1970, reported from London that,

«The South African Government has begun toorganize the export of tanks to Israel marking «anew stage of their co-operation.)) The South Africantank is a sixty-five-ton giant «armed with a heavygun and designed according to the model of theBritish new tank.» This is an apparent reference toBritain's new Chieftain tank which Israel has beentrying to buy from Great Britain.))

This relationship between the two racist statesis both old and new. In the Tricontinental Bulletinof June 1968 we read the following;

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«The first news of a projected plan to enableIsrael to intervene in South Africa against theoppressed and exploited African people has nowcome to light. We have on several occasions madespecific reference to the aggressive imperialist-inspired actions of Israel. Now, although SouthAfrica is already producing jet fighter-bombers atthe Atlas Aircraft Corporation plant near Johannes-burg, Israel has entered the field as a prospectivesupplier of aircraft to be used against (African)militants. It is reported in the South African pressthat the deputy director general and the chief engi-neer of Israeli Aircraft Industries, the biggest air-craft production organization in the Middle East,were among a group of sixty prominent Israelis whovisited South Africa recently as guests of E1-A1, theIsraeli airline.))

The acts of the Israelis and the Zionists provebeyond any doubt that military, commercial, cultu-ral, and financial relations do exist at the presenttime with South Africa, in utter contempt of allUnited Nations resolutions. Such relations haveeven existed prior to 1947 and the establishment ofthe State of Israel, when Zionist terrorism was atits height.

On the diplomatic level, it was as early as 1950that the first Israeli Premier, Moshe Sharett, paid

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Unholy Alliance

cvw17

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an official extended visit to the Jewish communityof South Africa. Barnet Litvinoff, in his recentlypublished book, «A Peculiar People,» remarked thatas a result of this visit, «The Transvaal NationalistParty in 1951 opened its ranks to Jewish member-ship for the first time.» In describing the escalationof diplomatic relations between the two countries,Litvinoff also mentions as significant Prime MinisterMalan's own visit to Israel, in June 1953. Litvinoffwrites, «This is the only occasion on which the headof a «European» government has visited Israel whilestill in office.*

The «Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Daily NewsBulletin,)) May 6, 1969, reported that a leading pro-government Afrikaans daily has urged closer rela-tions between South Africa and Israel and declaredthat «Israel's survival in the Middle East is a funda-mental part of our own security.))

«Die Vaderland» continued to laud Israel as asmall country which controls «to an important de-gree, the passage of Russian Communism to the eastof our continent of Africa and to our strategicoceans.)) The editorial argued that, as a result ofIsrael's control of the east bank of the Suez Canal,South Africa has gained «a large material as well asstrategic advantage.))

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Nathan Weinstock in his book, «Le sionismecontre Israel)) (Zionism against Israel), states thatPretoria is one of Tel Aviv's main trading partners,but that their relations do not end there. Weinstockwrites:

«We have seen that the Franco-Israeli nuclearprojects presupposed South African collaboration.The two countries clearly have a common intereston the African continent—to bar the way of colonialrevolution—just as in their relations with the West:Pretoria and Jerusalem both fear the loss of thesupport of the imperialist powers. That is preciselythe reason for their desire to build an independentnuclear shield. This sameness of views, based on thesimilarity of their colonial structure, was alreadyrecognized during the first few years of the Jewishstate. But that is not all. The preposterous SouthAfrican Jewish community, which is accounted forby the fascinating ways of Zionism—a fact which isaccounted for by the political context is one of themain financial backers of the Zionist movement. Itfollows that Israel, eager to make use of these con-tributions of capital, must win the favour of thePretoria authorities for fear that they may obstructthe transfer of Zionist funds.»

In citing further evidence of this collaboration,Weinstock writes:

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«Thus, in June 1967, South Africa authorizedthe transfer of Zionist funds, proceeds of collectionsfor Israel: $18 million. In exchange, Tel Aviv agreedto invest part of that sum in South African govern-ment stock. It was only natural that this rapproch-ement should take concrete form in January 1968through the establishment of an Israeli-South Afri-can friendship society headed by the extremeright-wing Minister Begin, who once presided overan organization of the same type in France whichwas promoted by Soustelle. Was this by chance? Aweek or so after hostilities began, it was learnedthat an Israeli aircraft had succeeded in shorteningthe flight from Tel Aviv to Johannesburg by twelvehours by flying over the Sinai Peninsula instead ofgoing by way of Teheran. Among the factors whichprecipitated the Sinai campaign, Moshe Dayan citesthe strengthening of the Egyptian blockade of theRed Sea in 1955, which had led to the suspension ofair links with South Africa.

It was the Tricontinental Bulletin issued inHavana, Cuba, that revealed in June 1968 the newsof a projected plan to enable Israel to intervene inSouth Africa against the oppressed African people.Having in the past on several occasions made speci-fic reference to the aggressive, imperialist-inspiredactions of Israel, the Bulletin was set to reveal thecooperation between Israel and South Africa in the

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Unhtoly Alliance

field of armaments, especially aircraft, to be usedagainst African revolutionaries.

Of equal importance are the so-called «cultural»visits of Israelis to South Africa, some of which arewidely publicized. The lecture tour of South Africaby Israeli archaeologist Yigal Yadin during whichhe was acclaimed as a popular hero, received animpressive coverage. The Jewish Chronicle of April12, 1968, reported:

«He (Yadin) went with the intention of givingthree lectures on his Massada excavations and theBar-Kochba caves in the Judean Hills; he was pres-sed to give five, but gave seven altogether—three inJohannesburg, two in Cape Town, where there wasa «b!ack market)) in tickets, and one each in Durbanand Port Elizabeth.

Professor Yadin, who was accompanied byMrs. Yadin,... received the degree of Doctor ofScience from Witwatersrand University. The cita-tion recorded the «University's esteem for theHebrew University, the Land of the Bible and itspeoples

This «esteem» had, in the past, positively con-tributed to the establishment of the State of Israel.In fact an Israel veteran, Colonel Benjamin Kagan,

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in his book, «The Secret Battle for Israel,)) gives anaccount of the development of the Israeli Air Force,with the help of «friendly» governments. ColonelKagan, introduced as a man who played an impor-tant role in scavengering the world to collect theaircraft and parts that went to make up the earlyIsraeli Air Force, is uniquely qualified to tell hisstory.

From this book, it is evident that the Zionists'relations with South Africa were always cordial andfriendly. Haganah's representative there recruited«volunteers» freely and without any obstacles fromthe government. The Haganah in 1947-1948 had nomore than a handful of pilots in its own forces, and«South African pilots constituted the second largestgroup after the Americans.»

In late 1947, Boris Senior, son of a wealthyfamily and an ex-lieutenant in the South AfricanAir Force, along with Cyril Katz, attempted andfailed to ship to Israel twenty fighter planes by sea.Later, they flew two Bonanza commercial planes.After some reverses, Senior reached a Jewish settle-ment in the Negev. One South African pilot was shotdown by Egyptian artillery in June 1948; anotherwas lost, together with his plane, the followingmonth.

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Unholy Alliance

Armaments, as well as volunteers, arrived fromSouth Africa with the blessing and authorization ofthe officials of that country. During the 1948 war,planes were openly purchased by the Zionists fromSouth Africa.

Besides the United States—which has, in itsrecognition of a statement by the Under-Secretaryof State Joseph Sisco, not denied the facts with re-gard to its military volunteers—South Africa maybe the only other country to give permission toSouth African pilots of the Jewish faith to join theIsraeli Air Force whenever the need arises.

Leslie Rubin, professor of government at Ho-ward University and former member of the SouthAfrican Senate, wrote in an article entitled «Dialog:South African Jews and Apartheids:

«But as a community, the Jews of South Africapresent a different picture. The South AfricanJewish Board of Deputies, which speaks for them,has adopted a policy which it is pleased to call oneof non-intervention, or neutrality; individual Jewsare free to express whatever view they please, butthe Board refrains from comment on governmentpolicy. What this policy has meant in practice du-ring recent years is that when new government

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apartheid measures bring untold suffering to mil-lions of non-whites, the Jewish community remainssilent while Catholic and Episcopalian archbishopsor other Christian leaders protest.

When the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 unlea-shed a flood of outraged protest throughout theworld, the Board of Deputies had nothing to say.

In fact, it is an open secret in South Africa thatthe Board does all it can to discourage individualJews from opposing government policies. I was toldmore than once while in Paliament that my promi-nence as a critic of apartheid and a spokesman forthe African people was an embarrassment to theBoard of Deputies. Other Jews in public life expe-rienced similar attempts to persuade them to tonedown their opposition to the government.))

This conspiracy of silence practiced by theSouth African Jewish community over its govern-ment's policy of apartheid, is yet more deplorablewhen we hear the chief rabbis of the South AfricanJewish Community delivering their eulogies at themass for Dr. Verwoerd. Rabbi Professor Abrahamsis reported to have described Verwoerd as «a manof sincerity and of deet> integrity... a moral consci-ence underlay his policies: he was the first man togive apartheid a moral ground.)) The Senior Rabbi

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Unholy Alliance

of the Progressive Jewish Congregation, RabbiArthur Super, eulogized Dr. Verwoerd as,

«One of the greatest, if not the greatest primeminister South Africa has ever produced.

«Here was a man who, like Moses of old, hasled his people through the promised land after sixtyyears of wondering. He had the courage and thestrength to establish the Republic of South Africaand so dissolve in one act the old heritage of hatred,communal jealousies, blurred loyalties, old grudgesand past grievances which were preventing SouthAfrica from becoming one nation.))

The future seems to hold stronger ties ofcooperation between the two countries. Let us notforget that South Africa contributed a number offigures to Israel's public service: notably M. ComayIsraeli representative to the United Nations, AbbaEban, the foreign minister, Ambassador Lourie andmany others. Economists predict that the value ofIsraeli exports to South Africa will reach $15 millionin 1970, as compared to $9.1 million in 1939. Thesesame economists state that Israeli imports fromSouth Africa in 1969 amounted to $9 million, andexplain the increase in export to South Africa as theresult of the Economic Conference held in Jerusalem

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Resistance Unholy Alliance

in 1968 when exports of $5.7 million value in 1967rose to $9.1 million in 1968.

With the distortion of the Israeli image abroad,the Zionist leaders are only too happy to receive theSouth African Government's blessings. In fact aslate as April, 1970, Judge Maisels, outgoing chair-man of the South African Zionist Federation, in anaddress to the 31st South African Zionist Conferencein Johannesburg praised the government for its«sympathy and understanding)) for Israel. But hewarned against «signs of hostility towards Israeland Jews» by a break-away political faction andurged, «Let us not treat these signs lightly, and asZionists let us not overlook our duty to create astrong cohesive Jewish community in this country.))«We are fortunate,)) Judge Maisels said, «that theoverwhelming mass of the peoples in this countryhave shown a sympathy and understanding for Is-rael and its problems.)) That has also «been wellevidenced by the Government of this country)) in its«fair and reasonable attitude and, more particularlyin relation to the transfer of funds collected forhumanitarian purposes in Israel.))

As long as the Zionist leaders in Israel and theJewish community in South Africa continue topursue their policy, there is little fear that they willlose their South African friends. Previously, the

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Afrikaners could not forgive the Jews who suppor-ted an apartheid policy at home and opposed itabroad. As Litvinoff explains it in «A Peculiar Peo-ple,» this schizophrenia incensed the Afrikaners.

«Had not the Jews practiced race-purity fromOld Testament times, and was this doctrine notvindicated in the perpetuation of the Jewish strainover the centuries and the latter-day return to theancestral land? The place allocated in Israel to theArabs was in Afrikaner eyes no different from theseparate development being advocated for the racesof South Africa.»

This competition in the practice of racism isemerging to the open. Neither the Afrikaners northe Israelis consider that they owe the world anexplanation or an apology. •

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Review of Events

REVIEW

OFEVENTS

(November, 1970)

U. Thant Reveals a Secret of the June, 1967Aggression

Since the 5th of June 1967, Zionist propagandaand news media have been depicting Israeli aggres-sion against the Arab countries committed on thatdate as a measure which Israel had to take becauseof an Arab threat to its existence. The Arabs havestrongly denied these false Zionist allegations eversince, and have given many proofs refuting theseallegations and establishing Israeli aggressivenessand Zionist ambitions in the Arab Homeland.

In a recent speech U.N. Secretary-General U.

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Thant brought to light significant facts revealing therole played by Israel in the interval preceding theJune, 1967 aggression and showing how the Tel Avivauthorities had prepared for the aggression beforeit took place.

In his speech U. Thant said, «Israel refused toco-operate with the United Nations before the warand rejected, during the critical moments precedingher aggression against the Arabs, the proposal ofappointing an international mediators

U. Thant also made it clear that Israel has con-tinued to refuse to co-operate with the U.N. and hasstrongly opposed stationing U.N. forces on herterritory.

U.S. Alignment with Zionism

In the last week of November, Robert Maclosky,U.S. State Department spokesman, asserted hiscountry's complete alignment with Israel and stres-sed its unconditional support for the continuation ofZionist aggression against the Arab people.

In an official statement, he reiterated theAmerican view that a settlement of the Middle Eastcrisis should include adjustments in the Israeli fron-tiers of 1967.

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Resistance Review of Events

The statement was made in commenting on themeeting held between the American Secretary ofState, William Rogers, and the Israeli ForeignMinister, Abba Eban.

After the meeting, Abba Eban stated that thesubject which worried Israel at the time was secu-ring complete American support for what he called«secure frontiers)) for Israel.

Meanwhile, U.S. arms continue to be shippedto Israel under pretext of preserving the balance ofpower between Israel and the Arab countries. TheUnited States is giving Israel a $500 million creditto pay for these arms shipments. Galili, Israeliminister without portfolio, declared that the saidcredit was of considerable importance to Israel, notonly militarily but also politically.

Syria Joins Arab Federation

The Arab 4-member Federation, comprizingthe UAR, the Sudan Syria and Libya is rightlyregarded a significant achievement in the struggleof the Arab people for unity.

All Arabs, and particularly the Palestinianpeople, approve of this step because they are fullyconvinced that Arab strength lies in Arab unity and

that the liberation of the occupied territories requi-res the mobilization of the potentialities of all theArab countries.

The Arab masses throughout the Arab worldhave welcomed the Cairo Declaration and Syria'sbecoming the fourth member of the federationestablished by it.

U.S. Spying for Israel

The United Arab Rebublic has revealed thatthe U.S. has been spying for Israel by sending U-2reconnaissance planes over Egyptian territory. Suchreconnaissance sorties are considered by the U.A.R,a hostile act committed for the purpose of servingenemy objectives, and a definite violation of theU.K. Charter and of U.N. resolutions.

This was announced in an interview betweenU.A.R. Ambassador, Salah Jawhar and Donal Ber-guess, Head of the Commission in charge of Ameri-can interests in the Spanish Embassay in Cairo. Mr.Jawhar handed Berguess a memorandum containingthe following points:

1. At no time did the U.A.R. agree to Ameri-can reconnaissance flights over Sinai.

2. The cease-fire arrangements do not include

Resistance Review of Events

reconnaissance flights to supervise enforcement ofthe cease fire. The U.A.R. has not asked the U.S. toundertake such reconnaissance flights over Sinai orthe Canal zone at any time.

3. America has bestowed upon herself theright of sending U-2 planes over Egyptian positions.American officials have revealed that Americanreconnaissance planes have taken several photos ofEgyptian positions.

4. International law does not permit U.S.reconnaissance flights over U.A.R. military positionsand the consequent transmission of information tothe enemy who still occupies Arab territories.

On November 10, Burguess informed the U.A.R.that the U.S. had stopped reconnaissance flights overSinai and that, for the time being, she had no plansto resume these flights.

Dayan's Visit to Washington

Within the framework of American aggressivemoves in the Middle East, the Zionist Minister ofDefense, Moshe Dayan, is visiting Washington fortalks with President Nixon, senior American Offi-cials, and with U.S. Defense Secretary, MelvinLaird. Dayan will continue Israel's dialogue with

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«Loans» for a ((civilized and peaceful)) musician

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the Nixon Administration regarding Israel's partici-pation in Mi.E. peace talks and the discussion ofmilitary and political issues pertaining to the region,News Agencies have indicated that Dayan will dis-cuss conditions under which Israel will return to thetalks under the auspices of U.N. special envoy, Dr.Gunnar Jarring.

Observers note that Dayan's visit follows uponU.S. statements on the necessity of a settlement ofthe Middle East crisis. The U.S. has lately beentalking about Israel resuming participation in thepeace talks under the auspices of Dr. Jarring.

The Soviet paper «Pravda» has expressed sur-prise at Washington talking about a settlement ata time when President Nixon has emphasized hisdetermination to maintain Israel's military superio-rity by giving Israel large quantities of arms andweapons and by reinforcing U.S. Sixth Fleet in theMediterranean.

Pravda explained U,S. moves as aimed toenable Israel to resume the peace talks from a«position of strength.))

Simultaneouly with these moves, Abba Ebanhas declared in Tel Aviv that the prospects of peacein the (Middle East have diminished because of thebasic difference between the Arab and the Israelipoints of view. •

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ON THE ORIGINSOF

1 ME ZIONISTMOVEMENT

Prepared by:Research CenterPalestine Liberation Organization

We may summarize the central thesis of allprevalent explanations of the Zionist movement,which are more often than not, derived from Zionistsources, in the following manner: Zionism is themodern and contemporary manifestation of the his-torical phenomenon of the preservation of theJewish people over the ages through the agency oftheir national, spiritual and religious hond.

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Resistance Origins of Zionist Movement

The historical validity of this thesis rests on anumber of assumptions:

a) That before the destruction of Jerusalemin Roman times the «Jewish Nation» was in no waydifferent from other normally constituted nations.However, as a result of the wars with the Romansthe Jewish «Nation» was dispersed to the four cor-ners of the earth.

b) In the diaspora, the Jews as a wholeabsolutely refused, century after century, any kindof assimilation into the life of the communitiesamongst which they happended to live.

," i ' •+ 1 ' - ' , - • • •

c) As a result, the Jews formed, throughoutthe history of the diaspora, a homogeneous andtightly-knit mass of people bound together by devo-tion to their religion and «Nationality». In moreflowery but typically Zionist language, the Jewsheld together by attachment to their «nationalidea,» and to the «sacred trust of their faith.» Thiscondition is supposed to have led to their isolation,suffering and persecution.

d) Consequently, the Jews as a «race» or«people» or «nationality» are supposed to have acertain set of essential and distinguishing character-

36

istics which separate them from other people andgive them their alleged «uniqueness.»

e) That the history of the Jews is nothing butthe continuous life of a single people or «Nation,»in the modern sense of the term.

The following remarks are intended to showthe historical inaccurateness and falsity of theassumptions on which rest the prevalent explana-tions of the origins of the Zionist movement.

The assumption that the Jews were dispersedall over the ancient world after the destruction ofthe Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans is strictlyfatee. For instance Leonard Stein argues in his bookon Zionism that the Jews settled in various areasoutside Palestine long before the fall of Judea. Heestimates the number of Jews in Palestine prior tothe advent of Christianity at about 700,000 coniDaredto 4 million distributed all over the RomanEmpire. (1) Again Abraham Leon argues, in hisclassic book on the Jewish Question, that the disper-sal of the Jews does not at all date from the fall ofJerusalem. (2) He points to the evidence provided byArthur Ruppin(3) to the effect that well before thefall of Jerusalem more than three-fourths of theJews no longer lived in Palestine.

37

Resistance Origins of Zionist Movement

Leon continues his argument by showing that,to the masses of the Jews dispersed in the Greekand later, in the Roman Empires, the Jewish king-dom of Palestine was of completely secondary im-portance. The tie with the «mother country» wasmanifested solely in religious pilgrimages to Jeru-salem, which played a role similar to that of Mecca,for the Indian Muslims in our times. Leon mentionsin support of his argument that shortly before thefall of Jerusalem, King Agrippa said to the Jews«There is no people upon the habitable earth whichhave not some portion of you among them.»(4)

In other words, contrary to accepted assump-tions in explaining the origins of the Zionist move-ment, the diaspora was historically neither theproduct of a cataclysmic , act of violence nor theresult of a sudden and unexpected accident. Leongives us the serious explanation for the Jewish dis-persal all over the ancient world in the following

paragraph:

«The Diaspora was consequently not at all anaccidental th'ti?, a product of acts of violence.The fundamental reason for Jewish emigrationmust he sought in the geographic conditions ofPalestine. The Jews in Palestine were the pos-sessors of a mountainous country which at acertain time no longer sufficed for assuring its

inhahitants as tolerable an existence as thatamong their neighbors. Such a people is drivento choose between brigandage and emigration.The Scots, for example, alternately engaged ineach of these pursuits. The Jews, after nume-rous struggles with their neighbors, also tookthe second road... Peoples living under suchconditions do not go to foreign countries asagriculturists. They go there rather in the roleof mercenaries, like the Arcadians of Antiquity,the Swiss in the Middle Ages, the Albanians inour day; or in the role of merchants, like theJews, the Scots and the Armenians. We seehere that a similar environment tends to pro-duce similar characteristics among peoples ofdifferent races.»(5)

The idea that the Jews from the beginning oftheir history have formed a «nation» in the modernsense of the term is simply absurd from the point ofview of historical accuracy. It completely disregardsthe fact that nations, in this sense, are the productof the living forces of history and no people may beconsidered to possess the oroperties of «nationhond»permanentlv. always and from the very beginningof historv. The emergence of nations is part of theprocess of our modern historical epoch. Accordinglyit is auite absurd to speak about the «Jewish nation»(except metaphorically) at a stage of history where

38 39

Resistance

the Jews lived a tribal, nomadic life, or lived withinthe framework of a feudal social order.

We should note also that the idea that the Jewshave always formed a nation in the modern senseof the term is really not the product of serious his-torical research. It is rather the result of the re-writing of Jewish history by Jewish nationalists andZionists in the 19th century in order to serve certainpresent and immediate political objectives and in-terests, Zionism as a bourgeois nationalist move-ment has a powerful stake in the re-writing of his-tory so as to prove that its origins go back deep intothe ever present, but dormant Jewish «nationalism.»In other words Zionism benefits from viewing itselfnot as something novel produced by modern histori-cal forces but as the revival of something that hadbeen lying in the Jewish people all through andfrom the very beginning of their history.

As for the widely accepted claim that the Jewsmaintained themselves by rejecting all forms ofassimilation into the human environment they foundthemselves in, it also can not withstand critical his-torical examination. In fact the history of the Jewsis both the history of the preservation of Judaismand the history of the assimilation of large sectionsof Jews into the social order within which theylived. For example Arthur Ruppin mentions that«in'Northern Africa, in pre-Islamic times, great

40

Origins of Zionist Movement

numbers of Jews were engaged in agriculture, butof these, too, the vast majority had been absorbedby the local population.)) (6)

All in all, the Jews in Medieval times werefully integrated into the general social order con-trary to the usual Zionist claims about the «tragicisolation)) of the Jews from their surroundings. Thisexplains why Hebrew disappeared quite early as aliving language. The Jews everywhere adopted thelanguages of the peoples among whom they livedand into whose social order they were well integra-

ted.

The hatred to which the Jews were subiect invarious degrees, at different times and in differentsocieties (ancient and medieval anti-Semitism) cannot be seriously explained by talking about the«tragedy of Jewish isolation,)) their «separateness»and devotion to «the trust of their faith.» Suchpurely idealistic explanations tend to obscure theissue instead of shedding light on it.

The origins of this sort of negative sentimentagainst the Jews in ancient and medieval times isto be found in the traditional antagonism towardsthe merchant in societies based on a natural eco-nomy concerned primarily with the production ofuse-values. And it is well known that certain strata

41

Resistance

of the Jewish population were the traders andmerchants of the societies within which they settledand integrated themselves. However, the hostility ofsocieties and classes that live from the land towardstrade does not mean that they can dispense altoge-ther with that activity. The land owner, forexample, might hate and despise the merchant buthe can not manage without him.

Before finishing with the topic, here is onemore observation about the «tragic isolation)) of theJews. Contemporary human societies are organizedalong the lines of the modern nation-state. However,we should always remember that before the rise ofthis form of social organization, empires and statesused to be internally constituted out of a welter ofdistinct human communities and groups each livingin relative isolation from the others. In the plasticsociety of the decentralized feudal states, forexample, each group of men lived according to itsown customs and under its own special jurisdiction.The specific organizational form of the Jews wasthe Kehillah. Each cluster of Jews was organizedinto a community (Kehillah) which lived its ownsocial life and had its own -juridical organization,i.e. it enjoyed a large measure of autonomy.

In other words, the «isolation,» autonomy andin-group tightness which characterized the tradi-

42

Origins of Zionist Movement

tional life of Jewish communities was nothing uni-que or particular to the Jews themselves, devised by«wicked» forces in order to make them suffer. Thiswas simply the characteristic condition of the life ofall such communities which happened to fall withinthe bounds of a decentralized feudal state. Theghetto in its reprehensible sense is a later productof middle class-dominated European society.

To be continued next month

•¥-

References

1) L. Stein, Zionism, London, 1925, p. 13.2) The Jewish Qestion, Editiones Pioneras, Mexico, 1950,

Ch. one.3) The Jews in the Modern World, London, 1934, p. 22.4) Flavius Josephus, Works, London, 1844, p. 693.5) «The Jewish Questions, pp. 30-31.6) The Jews in the Modern World, p. 271.

43

^

The Man

Who Never Died

(short story)

by: Abdul-Samad Hasan

A true-to-life description of anexciting episode in the life of aPalestinian freedom fighter.

A cloud of dust was racing the bus southwards,and seemed to overtake it every time the bus stop-ped to take another passenger or to let out one.Finally it stopped at the entrance of a little dirt roadand he had to step slowly down the high steps. He

44

The Man Who Never Died

started to walk on the dirt road whose course waswinding and narrow like a dead brown snake. It wasa clear day, but the horizon was veiled with a layerof grey darkness mixed with humid thick air. Andthe lamps on both sides of the road sent only spotsof light on the side at every interval of the trip. Hewalked a few meters, and then stopped and got hishand out of the pocket of his uniform. His hand wasclutched over an old rpack of cigarettes, hut was ,loosened long enough for him to get put pne cigarette,and .then fill his lungs with a deep breach, of smoke!

r -, n r - - ; - [ ,•*>,-_- ; y r - - I ;- , r , ) ff^O'l'1 Ifi p I ~ 'V ->n~ ,i ~:}1

r <•'' '• o~ '" '~ or!?. < ' r ' ; r ; t jf-Ti fyr'<\s sT»Then he went on through a° tragic silence of t.aSfnv alttTfifffSli

the road and of his loneliness. He walked past twothick rows of palm trees and then stopped automa-T - r . - - - - -. , . - - , - . ,r-,^- r 2y"fs--rT)j s'TToyrn t»'eaTra <;,?/) • '•>tically at a door rnaderrQf thin cracked wood. The,t rr-7 ;Mr! uo *T>o3 <??! viynmso vtsy pn/H vs>-'<'\" n idp.or itself. ,was fixed in. an. opening of,a low, mud,?r r- ~lt; f . jc j no yr-j-iJ?: sT-onlp^B gnrwrfna ,nr:a v;f , twall, whose top , was, armed with the thick green1 • -'-,'r* -r : b gTiib oifw 5cv;ovr,-> pnirnw q-v-.TiH; hr-v;branches of, ivy. Once more he pulled .his, .hand from-vrT) rr,-.- 1 ;; ..nV In J / - H nwojcTHrn no irftH jru ru •• --i-rSjij^his pocket and gave .the. door .a, few, loud fast knocks,.f"-f--- , | --.7;:;, 'fVr f - . t S f i t i i r . j fa r ! ion Ivvu-rvrrir . - . ' ' • <'."'>The door, was opened iust enough to show the face,ITf, !-•;! !'.':;: rn'iR n^iinwu •iiTf r.'»TT'.>run 9tu2 rrrrrt ;r,t t iof a, young woman surrounded by a damp darkness .

B..WJI. . r,P[-;niH r:j-:[M 'J-jfT t ( l Wwtilj • -11" ! !' , - !^ Ifi 'V- Io^the.kpid^ha^.pne.^eels only.^in ancient, mpnumen-! ,tal sights.. He went in pronouncing her name,i;.'"' I T;nir,';'f r.Tfv.-r hnrrf;- ;- . ;fi\;iT To iiKiiPur rrr,:,-;,; '>(|1«Mariam,» while she 'held to, bis arm with a surprisedr,--- 5 - H nv ' f -n io Fniin '-.in in jft-vfqR fsvUTF^ioBr?!

(, F,,vh(tI,,yrU)a ;r

. .zed taken into the operation roorn . and .the yardr ; - , f - rT; l i ^r.-irnns r.^rr; , tvw n n R jeTftrw rtr hln-.> J nnr"

Resistance

through which they walked seemed to be consciousof the morning that was to dispel its darkness. Theyentered through a little door made of cracked woodinto a room that had the feeling of warmth and aslight air of ingratitude for the dim light that camefrom a lantern fixed on the wall. They both did notcare a bit what happened to the darkness outsidebut lost themselves in the intimacy of their long-lost whispers. He walked in the direction of theslight beams to the lantern and turned it up a bit toget more light from the slowly-burning little wick.

«Is something the matter?» she asked in atrembling voice.

«Yes,» he said quietly, «I have a serious woundin my arm.» And very carefully he took off his mili-tary shirt showing a bloody streak on his arm. Itwas a deep wound covered with dark dry bloodsticking to the hair on his brown skin. «It's two daysold,» he murmured, not listening to her offer to washit for him. She touched the swollen arm and felt allthe masculine power of her man staring at herthrough the bloody wound. He sat next to her andthe small beams of light coming from behind themmade them appear, in the light of dawn, like twoangelic shapes surrounded by a thin cloud.

«The room is cold,» he said. She said: «It's themud; cold in winter and warm in summer. It's been

46

The Man Who Never Died

awful without you here. We haven't heard from youfar a long time. Huda was here this morning. Howis her father, and why didn't he come with you?»

He answered: «He did not want to come. Hewanted to stay there and guard the land of thefathers, Jaffa, Haifa, and Jerusalem. Jerusalem,which is still in mourning for that death in June.»

«How were you hit?» She interrupped. «It hap-pened during an air raid. They're very frequent onthat front. The night turns into burning fire, and thedead cannot be distinguished from one another; theyall turn into black shapes. But the soldiers staywith it. They fight back as though death were anaim in itself.))

For a while there was silence in the room, andthe middle-aged woman worked patiently on thewound, cleaning it with pieces of cloth as gently asshe could. She looked at him, only to find out thathe was waking up from a short disturbing sleep.

«Were you dreaming?» she asked.

«I was there, Mariam, in the midst of the fire,fighting, fighting. And then suddenly I was runningin an open space full of black bodies, and the firewas raging all around me. But I did not run back. I

47

Resistance

kept going forward, righting, in spite of the bombsandc the black dead bodies!))w,;n .£• . , . ; ' >:. . . ? . - , »•„; . . . - . . • _ - . " ' . _ • " •

' Ma'riam put'Her hand'on-his lips,''asking'himgently Jo stop,t and fearing that his condition mightget worse. Then she asked'him'to tell her honestlyrse.what' 'happened' 'to Hula's 'father. He said: «He swore

n . '>l r^T. \ . ^ ' i r,' i; . cv/ri " "~ ' j ; -r -a , - • „ * • • •mat Ti ^woUjldn't | come ' back_untll he performs the

prayers at 'Xl-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem.He asked rme to say .hellp to her.» Mariam asked.« Will he ever 'come back5» .'ro Jn^'Jp^ii •{i:;v ,1 •'•'<• •. >' " " -, •:

' 'TlieV'man shivered as. if a bad chill overtookhirn', 'rffye_lasjL time.,1 saw him .he. was, nursing awound^ on .jiis, face. Ifis bipod .seemed precious andclear. But' he's not' dead. rTone of us is dea_d, and weshall continue the fight.))

,, Mariam_.pressed,.his shaking body to hers. Hewas. extremely, vtire<L so. he. gave himself up to a long

1 - 6 November 1970

In November 1970, the Palestine LiberationForces (P.L.F.) launched a number of attacks andcarried out several military operations against theZionist enemy, including the following:

On November 1, P.L.F. fighters launched anattack, with heavy rockets against Nahal MaholaSettlement, in the Jordan Valley. The enemy, admit-ted the attack but did not mention the losses sus-tained as a result of it.

On November 2, P.L.F. commandos planted

49

Resistance Operations

mines on the unasphalted road leading to JdaideVillage in Upper Galilee. The mines exploded underan enemy patrol vehicle, destroying it, and killingor wounding seven of its occupants. Enemy ambu-lances were rushed to the scene to evacuate casual-ties.

On Nov. 2, P.L.F. freedom fighters shelled, withmortars and machine-guns, Afikim Settlement inUpper Galilee. A Zionist military spokesman, admit-ted the attack. Later on, news agencies reported thatfive Israeli soldiers were wounded as a result of anattack launched by the Palestinian commandosagainst an enemy patrol in the region.

On Nov. 2, Palestinian commandos foiled enemyattempts to proceed into the Al-Aitaroun Al-Aridaregion, inside Lebanon, in the direction of our posi-tions in the central sector. In this operation, enemymechanized units and tanks, moved under cover ofa heavy barrage of artillery and mortar fire. Never-theless, the commandos repulsed the enemy attackwith a heavy barrage of fire from various weapons,including anti-tank guns and mortars. The enemywas forced to retreat to the heights surroundingAitaroun. At 12 o'clock, the enemy resumed theattack, throwing into the battle considerable reserveforces, but was again repulsed and forced to retreat

once more, leaving behind a large amount of armsand ammunition.

The enemy was seen evacuating casualties bymeans of military ambulances and two helicopters.As a result of the attack, the enemy sustained morethan 30 casualties. Our casualties were three woun-ded men, one of whom died from his wounds.

On Nov. 3, an enemy transport vehicle was des-troyed and all its occupants were killed or wounded,when a mine, planted on the road to the south ofQuasima, east of Sinai, exploded under it.

On Nov. 3, a P.L.F. fighter threw a hand gre-nade at an enemy military vehicle, in the city ofGaza, putting it out of action and inflicting injurieson its occupants.

On Nov. 6, P.L.F. units launched a surpriseattack, with heavy mortars and machine-guns,against an enemy position at Al Shuwa'ir Camp.The shelling lasted for 90 minutes, scoring directhits and setting the camp ablaze. Enemy ambulan-ces, were rushed to the scene to evacuate the casual-ties. Enemy installation at the camp and a wirelessstation were destroyed.

On Nov. 6, two bomb blasts ripped through Tel

51

Resistance

Aviv's central bus station, during the Sabbath everush hour on Friday, killing at least one person andinjuring 34 others, five of them seriously. Panicbroke out as the explosives rocked the ramblingstation and people rushed in every direction. Theblasts shook the station when it was crowded withthousands of people.

The explosives, placed by Palestinian comman-dos, exploded in a series, the first blast coming forma charge placed in a wall. Twenty minutes later, asecond charge, placed in a plastic dustbin, went offnear a crowded snack-bar at the end of the busplatform. Military ambulances and taxis were rushedto the scene to evacuate the casualties. Enemy policerounded up several Arabs for questioning and angryby-standers turned on Arabs who happened to bethere and who had nothing to do with the explosionsand began manhandling them. Several of them hadto be given first aid. •

52

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE

AND THE A R A B STATES

by: Ibrahim Al-Abid

The following «Questions andAnswers,)) designed to throw lighton the Palestine issue and the Pa-lestinian resistance movement, arebased on material included in Mr.Al-Abid's book «A Handbook to thePalestine Question,)) published bythe P.L.O. Research Center, Beirut,Lebanon:

DO THE ARAB STATES CONTRAVENE THEmINTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS BY SUPPOR-TING THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE MOVE-MENT?

53

Resistance Resistance and Arab States

The Arab states and the other friendly nationssupport the activities of the Fidayeen on the basisof the following principles:

1) The illegality of the creation of Israel.

2) The right of the Palestinians to self-determination.

On the basis of these two principles, the ArabStates — foreign countries as well — have the rightto interfere for the sake of redressing the legal chaoswhich has resulted from the Israeli attitudes andmeasures. For, in international law, interference inthe affairs of a state in order to subject it to accep-ted international law is permissible. (1)

Furthermore,

«Just as the right to self-defense is uncontestedin private relations, so it is in international rela-tions... The U..N. Charter considers it the only accep-table deviation from the principle of the prohibitionof war and the use of force.»

54

«The participation of the Arabs in the resis-tance movement, therefore, is principally a preven-tive measure meant to stop Israel from realizing itsplans, plans which have become known and whichaim at destroying the regional integrity of a numberof Arab States.»(2)

IS THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE MOVEMENTSUBJECT TO DIRECTIONS FROM THE ARABSTATES?

The Palestinian resistance movement has pro-duced leaders and political and military cadresfrom among the ranks of the Palestinian people.From its inception, the movement has strivensuccessfully to realize and safeguard the indepen-dence of the Palestinian commando activity fromthe viewpoint of orientation, finance, armament andaction.

However when the Palestinian resistance mo-vement denies all quarters the right or pri-vilege to patronize it, it is not motivated by pro-vincial bigotism. On the contrary, the movementbelieves that «the battle for Palestine will shape thefate of the whole Arab nation. If labelling it «The

55

Resistance

Battle for Palestine)) has created a delusion that itis limited to the Palestinian soil only,... the obvioustruth, which the enemy admits, is that the battle isagainst the Zionist invasion of large areas of theArab homeland involving several Arab states... TheArabs of Palestine are determined to remain in thevanguard of the armed struggle which will inevi-tably develop into a war of liberation, then into atotal revolution...» (Resolutions of the PoliticalCommittee of the Fourth Palestinian Congress).

Furthermore, «The Arab people of Palestinebelieve in Arab Unity. But to play its role in brin-ging it about, the Palestinian people must, at thisstage of its patriotic struggle, preserve its Pales-tinian character and constituents, deepen awarenessof its existence, and oppose any projects aiming atdiluting it.»(3)

The participation of the Arab masses in thearmed Palestinian struggle is a national and revolu-tionary duty. Under no circumstances can thebacking of these masses be criticized, just as thebacking which American, British, and French pro-gressives give to the Vietnamese can in no way beconsidered as belittling the pioneering Vietnameserevolution, or, as placing it under tutelage. The

Resistance and Arab States

cause of liberation is the duty of all revolutionaries.How much more should this be incumbent upon theArab masses, themselves subject to the Zionistexpansionist danger?

References

(1) L. Oppenheim, International Law, Vol. I, p. 30g.

(2) Elias Hanna, The Legal Status of Arab Resistance in

the Occupied Territories, pp. 111-116.

(3) The Palestinian National Charter (1968), Article 13.

57

In World Press

PALESTINE QUESTIONIN

WORLD PRESS

Two world press extracts dealing: with the Palestinequestion and current Middle East developments are givenbelow: (1) a discussion of «The Lessons of the Drama inJordan» by Yugoslav writer Alexander PRLJA (YugoslavReview of International Affairs, November 5, 1970). Thediscussion ends with the conclusion that «even after every-thing that happened in Amman and Jordanian towns, thePalestinians and their commando organizations remainpotentially and practically an extremely significant elementin the entire Middle East situations (2) a commentaryentitled «MiddIe East: Another Chance» by Soviet politicalcommentator D. Volsky (New Times, November 18, 1970).The commentary condemns the obstacles «raised by Israeland its patrons to obstruct the achievement of a just peacein the Middle East.»

(1) The Lesson of the Drama in Jordan

The first week of November was regarded bymany observes as in a sense crucial from the stand-point of the further development of events in theMiddle East. The three-month ceasefire announcedon August 7 was running out and many were won-dering whether the guns on the Suez Canal and theJordan River would speak up again. Most observerspredicted that the ceasefire would be extended. Theyhave proved to be correct. The TJ.A.R. governmenthas decided to extend the ceasefire for another 90days, and the Jordanian government has announcedthat it will observe the truce, provided the enemydoes not attack. Tel Aviv, for its part, has promisedto refrain from military action.

58

The Arab states have agreed to the continuationof the ceasefire despite the fact that the past threemonths brought no resumption of the Jarring mis-sion. Under various farfetched pretexts Israel hasbeen rejecting contacts with the U.N. special repre-sentative while engaging in activities in the Canalzone which even the Western press has described asinfringement of the ceasefire. Israeli Vice-PremierYigal Allon has frankly declared that Tel Aviv «hasnot been resting on its laurels during these lastthree months* but has used them to strengthen itsarmed forces.

59

Resistance

As is known, it has been receiving fresh sup,plies of U.S. offensive weapons: Phantom jets andnow also tanks of the latest makes. It has also beenurgently reinforcing the «Bar-Lev Line» of defencesbuilt after the six-day war on the eastern bank ofthe Suez Canal.

Nonetheless the U.A.R. and Jordan agreed tocontinue the ceasefire. They did so in the hope thatit would make possible a resumption of the Jarringcontacts and an effective search for ways towards ajust Middle East settlement. The Arab leaders alsoundoubtedly took into account the general processesat work in the Arab world and in Israel.

Highly indicative in this respect was the dis-cussion of the Middle East problem at the 25th TT.N.General Assembly. Despite the intrigues of the Is-raeli and TJ.S. diplomats, the Assembly adopted thedraft resolution of the Afro-Asian and non-alignedstates which qualifies as inadmissible, the acquisitionof territory through war and demands the withdra-wal of the Israeli from the occupied territories andthe restoration of the inalienable rights of the Pales-tinian people. The Assembly called for the earliestpossible implementation of the November 22, 1967,Security Council resolution and for the resumptionof the Jarring mission.

60

In World Press

Neither the blackmail of Israel, which threa-tened completely to block the ways leading to asettlement, nor the backstage activity of the U.S.delegation, which sought to counterpose to the non-aligned resolution, variants more in keeping withIsrael's nor yet the attempts to set the sponsoringAfro-Asian countries at loggerheads—none of thesemaneuvers were able to prevent the resolution frombeing approved by the General Assembly. It wasadopted by the votes of 57 states, 16 voted againstand 39 abstained. It is symptomatic that of the Wes-tern Great Powers, only the United States joinedIsrael in opposing the resolution. France, as expec-ted, voted for it and Britain abstained.

The voting showed that Israel is finding itselfincreasingly isolated even in the Western camp.Tel Aviv is getting jittery. Whereas in the initialperiod after the six-day war it considered its inter-national positions fairly stable, it is not so confidentnow. It is no accident that the Israeli governmentand press, reacted so violently to the October 31Middle East statement of Britain's Foreign SecretaryDouglas-Home. Although it contained virtually no-thing new as compared with the November 1967resolution of the Security Council, Tel Aviv took itas an indication that its foreign policy stocks hadfallen. The Israeli press accused Britain of «betra-yal,» and some extremist leaders went so far as to

61

Besistance

all but demand that sanctions should be takenagainst it. Even the soothing assurances given byLondon to Golda Meir, who had rushed there post-haste, failed to calm the Tel Aviv hawks.

Obviously, they are worried not so much byBritain's stand in itself as by the fear that theiroutright sabotage of a Middle East political settle-ment might dampen pro-Israeli sympathies evenamong the Western ruling circles.

Israel is in a state of mounting ferment. Theeconomic situation has sharply deteriorated. Therapid growth of military expenses—they are nowseveral times bigger than before the six-day war—has brought higher taxes and a drop in real ear-nings. Taxes are indeed exorbitant, amounting tonearly half of people's wages. The papers speak ofa decline in business activity and of strikes whichhave become a regular feature of Israel's economiclife. Prices, above all of foodstuffs and other neces-sities, are soaring. The «guns before butter» policyof the Golda Meir Cabinet is leading to an increa-singly obvious overstraining of the economy, whicheven the U.S. dollar injections are unable to over-come.

Despite all the obstacles raised by Israel andits patrons, the present situation is favourable for

62

In World Press

stepping up the effort to achieve a just peace in the

Middle East.

(2) Middle East: Another Chance

Against the background of the Jordaniandrama, it is not hard to see why it took place and isin effect still in progress. The turning point was theappearance of the so-called «Rogers Plan for Peacein the Middle East.» As is known, President Nasseraccepted the plan after his visit to the USSR onJuly 23. It was then accepted also by the Sudan andLibya. The plan was, of course, also acceptable tothe Amman Court of King Hussein. But Rogers'plan for peace in the Middle East said not a wordabout the position and fate of the Palestinians andtheir armed organizations. Consequently, it was easyto surmise that the Palestinians could not agree tothe plan and also that President Nasser and theother Arab governments—with the exception ofHussein's—found it difficult, if not well-nigh impos-sible to concur with a plan that seemed, apart fromother things, to «abandon the Palestinians altoge-ther» and leave them to their own devices. WhenPresident Nasser did nonetheless agree, while put-ting forward his own interpretation of the Rogers

63

w$

ResistanceIn World Press

Plan as it related to the commandoes and Palestin-ians, it was clear to the commandoes that their posi-tion was far more complex than it had ever beenbefore.

They are simply not responsible to anyone, asan independent military factor, not to any of thebiggest powers (as they do not depend on any ofthem), nor to Israel (as a long-term challenge alongthese lines is disagreeable, not to say highly dange-rous for Israel), nor to the Arab governments whofind a political solution indispensable because of thesituation they found themselves in after the Junewar and because of the increasingly powerful influ-ence on the political life of those countries, wieldedby the big powers that help them in the militaryeffort of the present semi-belligerent situation alongthe front with Israel).

To put it otherwise, on the eve of the Septem-ber conflict, the King and his Bedouins, many ofwhom are far readier to risk a civil and fratricidalwar than King Hussein himself, got what they hadwaited for—the green light for their settling ofaccounts with the commandoes. This time, overtlyor covertly, the green light came from all quarters,which had never been the case before. But all thesequarters had made an erroneous assessment of theratio of military forces and the position in Jordan.

64

All of them, more or less, calculated that the King'sarmy would be able to end the whole business in aday or two, following which the commandoes wouldremain simply a political factor and an ace of spadesfor the Arab world in later bargaining with Israeland the big powers in the effort to find a lastingpolitical solution to the entire Middle East crisis.

It would therefore be interesting to considerwhy the recent dramatic events in Jordan were ins-tructive and in what way.

It should be stated at the outset that no onedoubts today that the King's military commanders,traditionally anti-Palestinian and pro-Western (theoutstanding role being played by Generals Zeid BenShaker and Habes Madjhali, products of militarytraining by British General Glub Pasha) were deadset on finishing off the com.mandoes. The dimensionsof the operations, the number of casualties, and thehorrible devastation in Amman (which was, how-ever, magnified in the initial reports) confirm thatthey had been so resolved.

What hardly anyone expected, however, wasthe military readiness of the Palestinian comman-does to put up resistance. They were not only not«finished off» in a day or two but stood firm a fulltwo weeks. Only when it became obvious that the

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bloodshed should not be permitted to continue onthat scale did Arab intermediaries and Cairo appearon the scene. In Amman, the commandoes suffereda serious «physical» blow, but their military poweris far from broken. On the other hand, in the nor-thern towns of Irbid, Ramta and Djerash, no inroadswere even made on the military strength of thecommandoes and the centres of the towns remainedunder their control until the signing of the Cairoprotocol.

These are the unexpected lessons of the recentdrama in Jordan. When all the Arab capitals graspedthat the commondo movement was too strong for itsmilitary power to be smashed in a few hours ordays, the late President Nasser took vigorous andultimately succesful measures to mediate. Accordingto the agreement signed in Cairo, King Hussein hadto accept certain limitations on his sovereignty byconcurring with the establishment of a commissionfor arbitration consisting of six Arab countries un-der the leadership of the Premier of Tunisia, BahiLadgam. This commission was invested with theright of making decisions on each individual case ofviolation of the Cairo agreement on the armedpeace. It does not suit Hussein but, practicallyspeaking, he cannot expel it from his country.According to the agreement which he himself sig-ned, this Arab commission is responsible exclusively

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In World Press

to the Arab League and, theoretically and legally,both Hussein and the commandoes must bow to itsdecisions. This is, in itself, sufficient illustration ofthe accuracy of the assessment that there can be noquestion of a victory by the regular army althoughthe commandoes are the ones who, speaking strictlyin a military sense, suffered more serious blows,largely from the King's tank units.

Neither do the other provisions of the Cairoand the later Amman agreements between Husseinand Arafat do anything to refute the thesis that,after all is said and done, there were no victors andno vanquished in Amman. The commando centreswill remain in the towns and the Chief HQ andCentral Committee of the Palestinian Revolutionwill even have the right to military protection fromtheir commandoes. On the other hand, the Palestin-ian People's Militia will no longer patrol the centresof Jordanian towns with weapons, as had hithertobeen the case, but without them under normalconditions, (the weapons will be stacked in a specialdepot supervised by the Palestinian leaders andrepresentatives of the regular army). But the actualcommando bases will be located in the vicinity ofthe towns, where guerrillas will continue to betrained. The army has undertaken an obligationnot to obstruct this training in any way. In talkswith representatives of either of the parties engaged

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in strife until yesterday, the impression is gainedthat representatives of Palestinian organizationsfeel that the recent Cairo compromise was not un-favourable for them. Moreover, today they are theprincipal exponents of the thesis that the agreementmust be implemented consistently. Quietly and dis-creetly but vigorously for all that, the King's com-manders voice their dissatisfaction with the upshotof their ((squaring of accounts)) action.

Where there is no victor there is of course novanquished. Consequently, one can only go alongwith the assessment, gaining ground, that even aftereverything that happened in Amman and other Jor-danian towns, the Palestinians and their commandoorganizations remain potentially and practically anextremely significant element in the entire MiddleEast situation. This is the main lesson to be drawnfrom the recent tragic events in Jordan. •

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ISRAEL'S ROLEIN AFRICA

by Africa Research Group

In the following article, the Africa ResearchGroup examine Israel's role in the neo-colonialistrepenetration of Africa by world Imperialism _, arole which has been vigorously and repeatedlycondemned by Africa's progressive leaders, no-tably in the recent Afro-Asian Peoples SolidarityConference held at Tripoli (Libya), 9 - 1 1November, 1970.

Israel will soon unveil its own version of theU.S. Peace Corps in an attempt to defuse mountingcriticism in Africa of its pro-Western developmentprojects.

Resistance

Plans for the Israeli volunteer force, disclosedin a confidential newsletter published in London,are intended to give the Israeli diplomatic effort inAfrica a more idealistic image in the face of increa-singly frequent attacks by progressive Africanleaders. This peace corps maneuver will be comple-mented by an expanded program of jointly sponso-red development efforts.

The projects, staffed by Israelis, will have thecapital supplied by Western powers which includethe United States, West Germany, Canada and theScandinavian countries.

By giving its development efforts more of aninternational look and less of an overt political tone,Israel hopes to blunt growing African displeasurewith the Zionist state's aggressive posture in theMiddle East, and to undermine any revolutionaryAfrican-Arab solidarity.

A recent organization of African Unity (OAU)ministerial council passed a resolution in support ofthe United Arab Republic in the Middle East. Whileat the U.N. all, but the most conservative AfricanStates, have, voted against Israel, «many left-of-centre African officials,)) reports Philipe Decreanein Le Monde (June 3), «regard Israel merely as acounter-revolutionary tcol which the United States

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Israel's Role in Africa

is using to strengthen American influence in Africa.))Decreane cited the Africa Research Group's exposeof Israeli-American links in Africa which appearedin the Havana-based journal Tricontinental andthe U.S. magazine Leviathan as echoing and illustra-ting the reasons for increasing hostility towardIsrael among African leaders once receptive toIsraeli technical and military help.

The article, «David and Goliath Collaborate inAfrica» revealed that the U.S. had financed a num-ber of Israeli projects through use of the semi-covert«Third Country Technique.)) A recent study of«Israeli Technical Assistance to African Countries))for the Geneva-African Institute offered even moredetails of Israel's work on behalf of U.S. Imperia-lism. It cites a number of instances of U.S.-Israeli«cooperation» including the setting up of a technicalinstruction school in Guinea «at the request of theU.S. governments

Many of Africa's militant leaders have con-demned Israeli intervention in their countries.

In Chad, the liberation movement now fightinga French expeditionary force has attacked Israel fortraining and advising a special para-commandosecurity force for Chad's repressive regime. Thiscounter-insurgency force was trained, interestingly,

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in Congo-Kinshasa, a pro-Western state whose ownpara-commandos (led by General Mobutu, the coun-try's president) were also Israeli-trained.

The Sudan's revolutionary Government hasannounced seizing «staggering quantities)) of Israeli-supplied arms from the breakaway rebels in thecountry's south.

Earlier, Nigerians condemned Israel for givingmilitary aid to the abortive Biafran secession.

South Africa's liberation movement, the Afri-can National Congress, joined the attack by publish-ing a blistering condemnation of the little known«Israeli-South Africa axis» in its magazine Sechaba(April 1970). Charging that «Israel and SouthAfrica both serve imperialism in the Afro-Asianworld,)) author Brian Bunting documents the ex-panding links between Israel and the racist SouthAfrican government.

According to Bunting, South African officials,including its pro-Nazi prime minister, have spokenwarmly of Israel and praised its military maneuversas well as its occupation and control of Arab lands.During a currency crisis when all extensive transfersof money out of South Africa were prohibited, theapartheid regime permitted large transfers of private

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Israel's Role in Africa

funds, with contributions also from the ruling Na-tionalist Party, to Israel, after the June 1967 six-day

| war.

In September of that year General MordechiHod, Commander of the Israel Air Force paid anofficial visit to South Africa and addressed a selectedgroup of white officers at the Air Force College. Helectured on Israeli surprise attack methods. Hisvisit came at a time when South Africa was threa-tening Zambia with air strikes for harboring free-

dom fighters.

Other Zionist leaders, including David BenGurion, have subsequently visited South Africa andmet with government officials. As additional evi-dence of the growing bonds between the two states.Bunting cites a Johannesburg Star report of January3, 1969; «Israel will try in the future to maintaincloser and fuller links with South Africa.)) The cor-respondent said that for years Israel had playeddown her relationship with South Africa «becausethe assumption was that closer links with SouthAfrica would be detrimental to Israel's friendlyrelationship.. There has now been a complete reap-praisal of the situation.. The pro-South Africanfaction has, so it seems, won the day.»

As relations between Black Africa and Israel

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cool for a number of reasons — the Middle Eastcrisis, new attempts at Arab-African Unity, thespread of Islam in Africa —, the Zionist state maymove closer to the Apartheid Republic. Israel'simportant diamond finishing industry has for yearsserviced South African diamonds while SouthAfrica's influential Jewish community has longagitated for closer bonds between the two countries.

Israel's politically inspired Africa programsare reaching a crossroad. Le Monde says ((Israel'shoneymoon in Africa is over.» As the images ofIsraeli beneficence melt away, Israel's links toracism and imperialism become more apparent. •

74

Last month, November 1970, a numberof important documents relating to the Palestinequestion ewere 'either adopted by, or submitted to,international bodies and organizations. We presentbelow the text of (1) UN General Assembly Resolu-tion No. 2628 adopted on November calling, amongother things, for «withdrawal of Israeli armed forcesfrom territories occupied in the recent conflict.( 2 ) Recommendations of the Report of the three-member Special Committee which was submitted tothe U.N. Secretary-General on November 2, 1970and which found that «Israel is pursuing policiesand practices which are in violation of the humanrights of the population of the Occupied Territories.( 3 ) Resolution on the «Imperialist-Israeli aggres-sion on the Arab countries and the Arab Palestinianpeople» adopted by the IXth Council Session of theAfro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization held inTripoli (Libya), 9-11 November, 1970.

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I. Resolution 2628 of November 4, 1970

The General Assembly,

Seriously concerned that the continuation ofthe present grave and deteriorating situation in theMiddle East constitutes a serious threat to interna-tional peace and security;

Reaffirming that no territorial acquisitionresulting from the use or threat of force shall berecognized;

Deploring the continued occupation of the Arabterritories since 5 June 1967;

Seriously concerned that Security Council Re-solution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, which wasunanimously adopted and which provides for apeaceful settlement of the situation in the MiddleEast has not yet been implemented;

Having considered the item entitled The situ-ation in the Middle East,

1. Reaffirms that the acquisition of territoriesby force is inadmissible and that, consequently,territories thus occupied must be restored;

2. Reaffirms that the establishment of a justand lasting peace in the Middle East should includethe application of both the following principles:

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Documents

(a) withdrawal of Israeli armed forces fromterritories occupied in the recent conflict;

(b) termination of all claims, or states ofbelligerency, and respect for and acknowledgementof the sovereignty, territorial integrity and politicalindependence of every state in the area and theirright to live in peace within secure and recognizedboundaries free from threats or acts of force;

3. Recognizes that respect for the rights ofthe Palestinians is an indispensable element in theestablishment of a just and lasting peace in the

Middle East;4. Urges the speedy implementation of Secu-

rity Council Resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November .1967, which provides for the peaceful settlement ofthe Middle East, in all its parts;

5. Calls upon the parties directly concernedto instruct their representatives to resume contactwith the special representative of the Secretary-General in order to enable him to carry out, at theearliest possible date, his mandate for the imple-mentation of the Security Council Resolution in all

its parts;6. Recommends to the parties that they extend

the cease-fire for a period of three months in orderthat they may enter into talks under the auspices ofthe special representative of the Secretary-General

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with a view to giving effect to Security Council Re_solution 242 (1967);

7. Requests the Secretary-General to reportto the Security Council within a period of twomonths, and to the General Assembly as appropri-ate, on the efforts of the Special Representative andon the implementation of Security Council Resolu-tion 242 (1967);

8. Requests iSecurity Council to consider, ifnecessary, making arrangements, under the relevantarticles of the Charter, to ensure the implementa-tion of its Resolution.

II. Recommendations of the Special Committee onHuman Rights in Israel-Occupied Territories

A Special Committee set up by the GeneralAssembly has reported that Israel is pursuing, inthe occupied territories in the Middle East, «policiesand practices which are in violation of the humanrights of the population of those territories.))

The Special Committee's report to the Secre-tary-General (A/8089), issued on 2 November, fol-lows an investigation earlier this year by the three-member group, officially called the «Special Com-mittee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting theHuman Rights of the Population of the OccupiedTerritories.))

Documents

In its report, the Special Committee proposes«as a temporary practical measure)) that the Assem-bly recommend to the States whose territory is

[occupied by Israel that they appoint immediatelyeither a neutral State or States whose territory isoccupied by Israel, or an impartial internationalorganization to safeguard the human rights of thepopulation. A neutral state or organization nomina-ted by Israel would be associated in this arrange-ment.

The State or States or international organiza-tion thus nominated, says the Special Committee,

i might be authorized to:

— Secure the scrupulous implementation of thehuman rights provision of the 1949 Geneva Con-ventions relative to the Treatment of Prisonersof War and the Protection of Civilian Rights inTime of War, and investigate alleged violationsof those and other applicable internationalinstruments;

Ensure that the population of the territories aretreated in accordance with the applicable law;

and

Report to the States concerned and to the Gene-ral Assembly.

The Special Committee also recommended that

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the General Assembly call on Israel, among othermeasures, to:

— Cease immediately and prevent all policies andpractices of collective punishment;

— Cease immediately and prevent the torture ofprisoners of war and of imprisoned or detainedpersons, and apply to them the provisions of the1949 Geneva Conventions and the United Na-tions Minimum Rules for the Treatment ofPrisoners;

— End the indefinite prolonged detention withouttrial of all prisoners by releasing them or affor-ding them a fair trial.

— Discontinue the policy of establishing Israelisettlements in the occupied territories and with-draw all Israeli settlers from settlementsalready established;

— Repeal all measures to alter the status of occu-pied Jerusalem and restore it to the statussubsisting before the outbreak of hostilities;and

—• Restore the judicial system in the occupiedterritories to the status it enjoyed before theoccupation.The Assembly established the Special Commit-

tee in resolution 2443 (xxiii) of 19 December 1968.

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Documents

However, as a result of the delay in the appointmentof members—Ceylon, Somalia, Yugoslavia—thegroup did not carry its investigations until this year.It heard witnesses in London, Beirut, Damascus,Amman, Cairo and Geneva between 1 April and 2May and a witness in New York on 12 June.

In a letter transmitting the report, the Chair-man of the Special Committee, H.S. Amerasingh(Ceylon), noted that «a major obstacle)) facing theCommittee at the outset was «the refusal of theGovernment of Israel to cooperate with it,» and thatthe Committee was ((therefore not in a position to

.visit the occupied territories for more thoroughverification of the allegations made before it.»

in. Resolution of the IXth Council Session of theAfro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity OrganizationThe Imperialist-Israeli Aggression On The Arab

Countries And The Arab Palestinian People

The increasingly tense situation arising fromthe continued aggression on three Arab countriesand the Arab Palestinian people poses a threat toworld peace and security and to the national libe-ration movement.

The Council of Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarityin its Ninth Session in Tripoli, November 9-11, 1970,regards with growing concern the continuation by

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American imperialism and other imperialist coun-tries of supply of all types of up-to-date armaments,including tanks, aircraft and electronic weapons, toIsrael, in addition to its stand in internationalgatherings in support of the aggression and protec-tion of the aggressor and, furthermore, its permis-sion to American nationals to join the Israeli armywhile still maintaining their American citizenship.

The Council draws the attention of Afro-Asianpeoples to the fact that the imperialist plan in thisregion aims to strike against the movement of Arabresistance to the aggression and to weaken the Arabliberation movement and to undermine the inter-national liberation movement.

The events of last September in Jordan andthe appalling massacres which were waged againstthe Palestinian and Jordanian peoples, and whichwere the outcome of an American—imperialist—Zionist—reactionary plot, are aimed at the liquida-tion of the Arab Palestinian resistance and the petri-fication of the Arab national liberation movement.They are also meant to bring about the collapse ofone of the main elements of the battle, which is thePalestinian resistance, and to weaken the front ofArab countries in confrontation with the aggression.The Council, notwithstanding the failure of thisplot, also draws attention to the dangers besetting

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Documents

the Palestinian resistance and calls for its protectionand vindication.

The Council considers that the struggle of theArab people against the Israeli-imperialist aggressionand for the liberation of the occupied Arab terri-tories is a just and legitimate struggle.

The Council supports all efforts and measurestaken by the Arab countries for the consolidation oftheir defence potentialities to liberate their land.Hence the Council supports the endeavours of theUnited Arab Republic to use all means to defend itsterritories. It condemns the Imperialist-Zionistcampaign of fallacies against the right of the UnitedArab Republic to use missiles on any part of itsterritories, this being a national act to defend itsterritories and to serve the cause of peace.

The Council calls upon African and Asiancountries to undertake prompt and effective actionfor the removal of the traces of the 1967-Aggressionwhich was meant to destroy Arab progressive regi-mes. The liberation of Arab territories, the ensu-rance of the rights of the Arab Palestinian peopleand the vindication of the progressive regimes inthe Arab world are all basic conditions for theestablishment of a just peace in the Middle East.

The AAPSO Council had, at earlier meetings,recommended the support of the Arab Palestinian

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people's struggle for their return to their homelandand to restore all their legitimate rights and theirright to self-determination on their land. Eventshave proved the truth of the resolutions adopted bythe AAPSO, considering that the introduction of theZionist regime in the heart of Palestine and theexpulsion of the Palestinian people from their landconstituted an act of aggression carried out by im-perialism and colonialism against the Arab peopleat large and against the peoples of Africa and Asia.The role played by Israel in the service of imperia-lism and neo-colonialism to deal blows to the Arabliberation movement as embodied in repeated actsof aggression, notably the 1967-Aggression, affirmsthat it is incumbent upon the Afro-Asian peoplesand all peoples of the world to stand with all theirmight by the side of, and to fully mobilise theirefforts to support, the Arab liberation movement ingeneral and the Palestinian in particular. The latterundertakes a heroic role in the struggle against theworst type of settler colonialism and racial discrimi-nation and terrorist Nazi methods of the Twentieth

Century.The struggle of the Arab Palestinian people,

who are part and parcel of the international libera-tion movement, is worthy of the support of all the

honest forces of the world.The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organiza-

Documents

tion affirms that the struggle of the Arab Palestin-ian people, represented by their armed revolution,constitutes a support of the struggle of Arab, Afri-can, and Asian peoples as well as a support of thestruggle of the peoples of the world. Thus, armedstruggle is a legitimate right that has been exercisedby the oppressed peoples throughout history and thepeoples seeking freedom and sovereignty on theirlands and the right of self-determination.

The rallying of Arab efforts and the mobilisa-tion of their potentialities in all countries and onthe non-Arab plane is an essential need to confrontdefeat and eliminate the Zionist aggression and theimperialist schemes.

The Council, supporting the mobilisation ofArab potentialities for the battle, and calling uponthe world peace-lovine countries which work for theremoval of the traces of the Israeli a egression onthe basis of the United Nations General Assemblyresolutions and the resolution of the Security Coun-cil of November 1967, also supports all effortsdirected to the attainment of a just and honourablepolitical solution on the basis of:

a) Complete withdrawal from all occupiedArab territories; and

b) Guaranteeing the national and legitimaterights of the Arab Palestinian people.

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The Council calls upon all friendly organisa-tions to apply joint action for securing world publicopinion support for the struggle of the Arab count-ries and of the Arab Palestinian people, for theexposure of the role of Israel and American im-perialism to enable world public opinion to exertpressure on governments which support aggressionand protect the aggressor. The Council warns thepeoples of Africa and Asia against the dangers ofthe Israeli infiltration into both continents.

The Council hails all friendly peoples, organi-sations and countries which stood by to support theArab people in their just struggle, and especiallythe Soviet Union, who stood, from the very begin-ning, by the side of the Arab peoples and suppliedthem with all types of assistance and aid, whichenabled these countries to stand firm in the con-frontation with all imperialist and Israeli schemes.The Council also hails Asian and African countrieswhich took the side of the Arab right and faced theAmerican imperialist challenge at the United Na-tions General Assembly.

The Council hails the victory of the Arab peo-ple in Sudan and Libya and their revolutionaryupsurge in May and September 1969, which cameabout to support the front of the Arab peoplesagainst the imperialist-Israeli aggression. The Coun-cil also hails the persistence of the Arab masses and

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the forces of the Palestinian resistance whichsucceeded in foiling the objectives of the Israeli-imperialist aggression.

The Council is confident that the struggle ofthe Arab peoples for the liberation of their territo-ries from aggression is dependent, in the first place,on the consolidation of their own forces, and,secondly, on the support of friendly countries. Per-manent peace will never be achieved in the MiddleEast except through the restoration of Arab terri-tories and the restitution of the full rights of theArab Palestinian people in their land, and the liqui-dation of the roots of racism and Zionism from theland of Palestine. And victory will be the lot of theArab countries in this battle. •

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(1)

88

BOOK REVIEWS

In this issue of RESISTANCE, we intro-duce two important recent publications of thePalestine Liberation Organization ResearchCenter: «Greater Israel,» by Dr. Ass'ad Razzoukand «Wither Israel?» by Khalid Kishtainy. Theflrst is a comprehensive study of Zionist expan-sionist thought and the second of actual Zionist-Israeli expansion. (1)

Books published by the P.L.O. Research Center areobtainable from; P.L.O. Research Center, ColombaniSt. off Sadat St., Beirut, Lebanon.

Book Reviews

Greater Israel - A Study in Zionist Expansion-

ist Thought - by: Dr. Ass'ad Razzauk. Published by

P.L.O. Research Center, Beirut, Lebanon, Palestine

Bocks Series No. 13-326 pages. L.L. 10.

This book is a translation in a condensed form

of Dr. Razzouk's more comprehensive study of Zio-

nist expansionist thought, originally published in

Arabic.

Much effort had gone to produce .that study. In

a foreword to the book, Dr. Anis Sayegh, Director

General of the Research Center explains: «The Re-

search Center entrusted Dr. Ass'ad Razzouk with

the task of carrying out this long study. To do this

he had to go over the hundreds of sources and docu-

ments related to the subject, from books to articles

and files published by dozens of Zionist associations

and prominent personalities in the Zionist move-

ment over the last hundred years. The Center made

available to the author the means at its disposal, all

its written records and sources, to provide him with

all the data directly relevant to the subject.»

In the words of the author, the book is «an

attempt at carrying out a historical survey of the

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concept of Greater Israel.» It tries to examine itsdevelopment and the changes made in it from itslirst appearance in written texts until the «SmallerIsraeli State,» established in 1948, undertook theoccupation of the whole of Palestine and of areas ofthree Arab countries after June 1967 Israeli aggres-sion against the Arab countries.

The study is centred on Zionism as an idea, acall and an expansionist movement. It endeavours topoint out the data and the factors that contributedto the inception of the idea of ((Greater Israel)) andtraces the development which led it, in stages, tothe level of implementation.

Among the features of this comprehensivestudy are the use of the original texts, religious ornon-religious, Jewish or non-Jewish; continuousreference to scientifically accepted historical factsand truths with a view to taking them as a basis ofthe study; the utilization of general geographicalfacts and the persistent reference to the politicalmap; the exposition of the role of foreign influenceand colonialist interests in developing the Zionist

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Book Reviews

expansionist concept; the evaluation of the move-ment of «Gentile» Zionism and the delineation of itscontribution, direct or indirect, to the shaping of theconcept; following up the development of the ideaof ((Greater Israel)) during the period of fifty yearswhich separated the issuance of the Balfour Decla-ration (1917) from the extension of Zionist aggres-sion through the Zionist-imperialist aggression ofJune 1967; a careful analysis of the statements madeby Israeli leaders and in the Israeli press since thataggression, reflecting changes in the Israeli expan-sionist mentality; and finally a conclusion of thestudy in the form of a utilization of the historicaldata and events to throw light on the fate of the

idea of the ((Greater Israel.))

The book is a comprehensive study of Zionistexpansionist thought. It proves that the idea of Zio-nist expansion and of ((Greater Israel)) is as old asZionism. It shows how the concept has become nowan openly proclaimed slogan raised by variousorganizations and movements in Israel. It stressesthe danger to Arab existence constituted by the im-plementation of this concept.

Whither Israel? - A Study of Zionist Expan-

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sionism - by Khalid Kishtainy. Published by P.L.O.

Research Center, Beirut, Lebanon. Palestine BooksSeries No. 29-220 pages, L.L. 8.

This book is a study of the actual implementa-

tion of the Zionist expansionist concept with special

emphasis on the influence which this implementa-

tion had had on the tragedy of the Palestinian peo-

ple. «This book,» the author tells us «must be read

throughout against the silhouette of the refugee be-hind the barbed wire.»

A special feature of «Whither Israel?» is a

series of twenty maps illustrating various features

and stages of the Zionist expansionist conception,

including maps of: the Kingdom of Solomon and

David (mentioned by Herzl as the envisaged Jewish

State), Palestine under Turkish administration,

Palestine in the Sykes-Picot agreement, British mili-

tary administration (1918), Israel as demanded by

the Zionist organization (1919), the Jewish state as

proposed by the Jewish Agency in 1946, Partitionautonomy plan proposed by the British Government

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Book Reviews

in July 1946, UNSCOP partition plan and the Arab

and Zionist military response to it, and territories

seized by Israel beyond the area of that plan as a

result of a series of Zionist aggressions culminating

in the June 1967 war.

Kishtainy's study stresses the effect of Zionist

expansionist aggressions on the emergence of an

Arab resistance movement with a far-reaching

philosophy of action and a clear image of a just and

democratic solution for the Palestine question and

on the Zionist-imperialist alliance and its aims.

«Like the 1948 war,» the author states, «the 1967

Six-day War afforded the Arabs an opportunity to

re-examine their weaknesses. A far-reaching philo-

sophy of action emerged among the guerrilla flighters.

To them, the fight is not against the Jews or the

people of Israel, but against Zionism... The war

confirmed more than ever that the Zionist govern-

ment, in alliance with the world of Western imperia-

lism, is bent on undermining the revolutionary pro-

gress of the Arab countries. Unlike the 1956 war, the

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Six-day War revealed Israel as a full partner of that

world and not simply as a hireling or an agent.»

The book is well-written. It is not a translation

from Arabic. It goes beyond the examination of facts

and data and penetrates to the very essence of the

issue. •

94

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