Jeremy J. Brigham, Ph.D.
With the war in Iraq now entering its sixth year, and the war in
Afghanistan in its seventh year now spilling over into Pakistan,
the American public's attention is turned away from the
situation involving Israel and the Palestinians.
However, this spring is the 60th anniversary of the founding of
Israel and what the Palestinians call their "nakba" or "disaster,"
when about 750,000 Palestinians fled their homes never to return.
By 1951 about 650,000 Jews immigrated into Israel, half from
Europe, half from other places. The largest groups were from Iraq –
125,000, and Yemen – 45,000 (Smith, 229). [1]
In 1967, additional thousands of Palestinians became refugees
after the June war, often called the 6-day war, when Israel occupied
the West Bank (of the Jordan River), Gaza Strip (along the
Mediterranean Coast), the Golan Heights at the southwest tip of
Syria, as well as the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. The United Nations
passed Resolution 242 called for Israel to return "territory" occupied
following the war. The key word omitted was the word "the" as in
"the territory." So the question has been debated – which territory?
And nothing has been resolved.
Israel and the Palestinians have been in the news constantly before and
since that time. The recent news focuses on the situation in Gaza, a
tiny piece of land of about 100 square miles, 4 miles by 25 miles, on
which a million and a half people live, average income $625/year.
Recently, Gazans blew a hole in the wall bordering Egypt, with tens
of thousands rushing to purchase food and other goods for a few
weeks earlier this year. We hear that the Palestinian majority party
Hamas rules Gaza after a violent takeover last June in which Fatah,
the party of President Abbas, was driven out and is now centered in
the West Bank.
It all seems very much "over there" – sad and unfortunate, but separate
from our lives here. However, this is illusory. It does touch our lives
here. Many people in Iowa are deeply concerned with issues of safety,
security and peace there, and giving good chunks of their lives and
fortunes to address the issues.
Many, if not the majority or even most, Americans are aware that the
United States has been very supportive of Israel, to the extent of vetoing
measures in the Security Council that seek to hold Israel to account of
international law, and to the extent of making very favorable grants and
loans to Israel over a long period of time.
The United States has essentially made it possible for Israel to
continue its occupation of the West Bank and to build settlements
there for Jewish families.
Donald Neff has compiled a list of Vetoes cast by the United States
to Shield Israel from Criticism by the UN Security Council. The first
such veto came on September 10, 1972, during the Nixon
Administration in the US and Golda Meir's in Israel. The resolution
condemned Israel's attacks against southern Lebanon and Syria,
13-1, with one abstention.
Just to review the Security Council briefly – there are fifteen members
on the Security Council. Five have veto power, but the nature of these
five has changed since World War II. They are the US, the UK,
France, Russia and China. These countries have changed since World
War II, but they remain the five with veto power. The other ten
represent each of the continents, but serve only two year terms.
One of the great debates about the UN is whether other countries
with large populations or strong economies, should also wield veto
power or be permanent members of the Security Council, but that
is another issue.
Why did Israel attack Lebanon and Syria on September 10, 1972?
You may recall the attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics
just five days before that. Two athletes were killed, nine taken hostage.
When they were flown to Cairo, German Border Police opened fire.
The terrorists killed the nine, and five of them were killed, along with a
German policeman (Morris, 380).
The Israeli Defense Force, or IDF, attack bombed PLO –
Palestine Liberation Organization – bases in Lebanon and Syria.
These bases were inside refugee camps where about two hundred
refugees were killed or wounded. This is what the Security
Council sought to condemn, and which the USA vetoed. The
bombing can be seen as a disproportionate, punitive response,
in which many people who had nothing to do with the attacks in
Munich were killed or injured.
At the same time that the IDF had attacked the camps, Prime
Minister Golda Meir had authorized Mossad, Israel's secret
service, to kill Black September and PFLP officers wherever they
could be found (Morris, 381). Black September was the name of
the PLO group that tried to take over Jordan from the Hashemite
King Hussein. They had been driven out of Jordan into Syria and
then into Lebanon, and were committed to acts of terrorism.
PFLP is the acronym for the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine, a group implacably opposed to the existence of Israel
(Bickerton, 165), and which sought support from Iraq (Smith, 313).
Over the next several months, the Mossad eliminated several leaders
of these groups – the first was the official PLO representative in Italy
– in October. There were then letter bomb attacks on PLO
representatives in Algeria and Libya, on Red Crescent (the Arab
equivalent of Red Cross) in Stockholm, Palestinian student activists
in Bonn and Copenhagen. The PLO's representative in Paris was
assassinated in December. By March four more operatives of groups
opposed to Israel were killed in Cyprus, Greece, and Paris. In April,
the Mossad working with other Israeli defense agencies, killed the
head of Fatah's intelligence arm, the head of PLO's arm in Israel
and territories, and the PLO spokesman, in an attack in Beirut.
There was also an attack in Beirut on the headquarters of the PDFLP,
a splinter group of the PFLP, in which a couple of dozen people died.
In June they killed the head of Black September's operations in Euorpe,
and finally a Moroccan waiter in Norway, mistakenly identified, on July
21st. Black September had its own targets during this time, but killed
only two people (Morris, 381-382).
The second veto came a few days later on July 26, 1973, affirming
the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, statehood
and equal protection. The vote was 13 to 1, with China (the People's
Republic of China) abstaining. The main purpose of this resolution was
to express frustration that nothing had been accomplished since
Resolution 242 had been passed back in 1967. This was the first
of many resolutions, all vetoed by the US alone, that called for
Palestinian rights.
I will not go into so much detail with all of the resolutions.But let's
consider other factors affecting US policy decisions in the 1970s.
The Cold War was hot. The USA and USSR did not trust one
another. They almost came to blows over the 1973 Arab-Israeli
War, and the "blows" might have been nuclear.
The communist Peoples Republic of China had replaced the
capitalist Republic of China in 1971, so the permanent members
of the Security Council were nearly divided between Western
capitalist countries and Communist countries. The US, much
larger than either France or the United Kingdom and much
wealthier, felt it should make its own decisions and not operate
as a bloc.
On top of this in the Middle East, Israel was considered a
reliable ally, over against Syria and Egypt, Soviet client states
until just before the 1973 war. Saudi Arabia and Iran were
our oil allies during this time.
Before going on to other resolutions, we need to be aware of a
divisive General Assembly resolution– the resolution calling
Zionism a form of racism- passed on November 10, 1975.
The sponsoring nations were mainly Islamic, and those supporting
it were mostly Islamic, new African nations, or Communist powers.
Those opposing it were mostly European or from the Americas.
So now let's look at the third resolution – December 8, 1975 –
condemning Israel's air strikes in southern Lebanon. (13-1, with
Costa Rica abstaining). This is during Gerald Ford's presidency
while Yitzhak Rabin was Prime Minister of Israel. This is the
second resolution that refers to Lebanon.
(Everything2.com, globalpolicy.org,
jewishvirtuallibrary.org,
Washington-report.org).
Number 4. January 1976 – calling for the Self-Determination of
the Palestinian people (second time) (9-1 with three abstentions-
Italy, Sweden and the UK)
Number 5. March 25, 1976 –
protecting the international status of Jerusalem (14-1)
Number 6. June 29, 1976 – affirming the inalienable rights
of the Palestinian people (10-1, with four abstentions – France,
Italy, Swden, and the UK)
Carter Presidency begins in January 1977. Menachem Begin is
Prime Minister of Israel. Begin was a leader in the Irgun, a
right-wing militant group responsible for the killing of British
officials in 1947 in the attack on Hotel King David in Jerusalem.
Begin had been a follower of Jabotinsky, a Revisionist who
wanted to claim the whole of the kingdom of David (1000 BCE)
for Israel. This would include the West Bank and parts of Jordan,
Syria and Lebanon.
The Camp David Accords led to peace between Egypt and Israel,
but also a fissure between Egypt and the other Arab countries who
did not agree to a peace with Israel. It led directly to Saddam
Hussein's grab for power to make Iraq the leading Arab country.
US begins direct cash transfer to Israel in 1979 after Camp David
Accords and the Israeli-Egyptian peace. $3 billion in aid –
(2.2 billion of which was in high interest loans. Egypt got a big
boost in aid, also, $1.5 billion (US Aid to Israel, by Mitchell
Bard, jewishvirtuallibrary.org, accessed 3/19/08).
Also, in 1979, an Islamic revolution in Iran toppled America's ally,
the Shah Mohammad Reza Khan, and the Ayatollah Khomeini took
over. This ended Iran's role as a key ally, together with Saudi
Arabia, and led to the Iranian support of Hezbollah in southern
Lebanon.
The US supported Saddam Hussein in the first years of the war,
and then supported Iran when Iraq seemed to be making headway.
The veto of resolutions over the next several years
take place in this scenario.
Number 7. April 30, 1980 – Palestinian Self-Determination
(10-1, with 4 abstentions – France, Norway, Portugal and
the UK) (third time)
January 1981 – Reagan presidency begins
Number 8. January 20, 1982 - protests the occupation of
the Golan Heights, following Israel's decision to impose Israeli
law there, effectively annexing it. (9-1, 5 abstentions – France,
Ireland, Japan, Panama and the UK). Israel sees a greater danger
from Lebanon, and wants to control the territory to its east better.
Number 9. April 1, 1982 – denounces Israel's dismissals of mayors
of the West Bank cities of Nablus and Ramallah (14-1)
Number 10. April 20, 1982 – condemned an Israeli soldier who shot
11 Muslim worshippers near the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple
Mount in old Jerusalem (14-1).
June 4, 1982 – Israel invaded Lebanon- attacking Beirut with jets
and southern Lebanon with ground fire. Number 11. June 8, 1982 –
Demands that Israel withdraw from Lebanon (14-1).
Number 12. June 26, 1982 –
Urged sanctions against Israel if it did not withdraw
from Beirut (14-1).
Number 13. August 6, 1982 – Urged cut-off of aid to Israel if it
refused to withdraw from Lebanon (11-1, with 3 abstentions
– Togo, Zaire and UK).
In Israel, Yitzhak Shamir succeeded Menachem Begin in 1983.
Shamir was active in pre-independence days – before 1948
– in Lehi, a militant group to the right of Irgun. Thus we have two
Israeli prime ministers who were terrorists in their younger years –
or were they freedom fighters? Your view of them depends on
your perspective.
Number 14. August 2, 1983 - determines that Israeli settlements in
occupied territories have no legal validity, rejects arbitrary and illegal
actions, including deportation of Palestinian citizens
(13-1, with 1 abstention - Zaire)
Shimon Peres became Prime Minister in 1985, sharing the
position with Shamir in alternate years, as their parties joined
in a coalition to run the Israeli government.
Number 15. September 6, 1984 – affirms the Fourth Geneva
Convention of 1949 in regard to territories occupied by Israel
in southern Lebanon. Israel is to allow free movement of people
and goods in southern Lebanon. (14-1) Yitzhak Shamir regained
full control of the government in 1985, serving until 1992.
Number 16. March 12, 1985 – Reaffirms the Sept.
6 resolution (11-1, with 3 abstentions = Australia,
Denmark, UK).
Number 17. Sept. 13, 1985 – Deplores repressive measures
taken against Israeli occupied territories in the West Bank and
Gaza (10-1, with 4 abstentions – Australia, Denmark, France, UK)
Number 18. January 17, 1986 – Deplores acts of violence by
Israel against civilians in southern Lebanon, in violation of the
1949 Geneva Conventions.
(11-1, with 3 abstentions – Australia, Denmark, UK)
Number 19. January 30, 1986 –
Deplores acts that violate the sanctity of the Haram al-Sharif,
the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem 13-1,
with one abstention – Thailand)
Number 20. Feb. 6, 1986 – Condemns Israel for the interception
of a Libyan aircraft (10-1, 4 abstentions – Australia, Denmark,
France, UK)
December, 1987 – First Intifadah begins. There follow nine resolutions,
all vetoed by the US in which the rest of the Security Council expressed
concern for Israeli actions in southern Lebanon and in Jerusalem.
There is a continual call for Israel to recognize the validity of the fourth
Geneva Convention of 1949 to which it was a signatory.
Number 21. Jan. 18, 1988 –
Deplored attacks on civilians in southern Lebanon
(13-1, UK abstaining)
Number 22. Jan. 29, 1988 – Requests Israel to facilitate the work
of the Red Cross and UNRWA, and to desist from violating the
human rights of the Palestinian people.14-1 )
Number 23. April 14, 1988 – Opposes deportation of
Palestinians and beating of the head of the Supreme Islamic
Council at the Haram al-Shareef in Jerusalem. 14-1.
Number 24. May 10, 1988 –
concerned for violation of human rights in southern Lebanon. 14-1.
Number 5. December 14, 1988
– Deplores attacks against Lebanon. 14-1.
George H.W. Bush inaugurated in January 1989.
Shamir still Prime Minister in Israel.
Number 26. February 17, 1989
– Deplores attacks against children, and disregard of
UNSC resolutions. 14-1.
Number 27. June 8, 1989 –
Calls on Israel to accept the applicability of the Geneva Conventions
to the occupied territories, including Jerusalem. 14-1.
Number 28. Nov. 6, 1989 – Deplores the siege of towns, especially
Beit Sahur. 14-1. Beit Sahur is a Christian Palestinian community
near Bethlehem that protested Israeli occupation passively by
withholding taxes.
Shortly after this, I took the opportunity to travel to Israel, the
occupied territories, and Jordan with a Unitarian Universalist
fact-finding group. We arrived in Jerusalem on New Year's
Eve, spent about ten days there – touring the Old City, then
traveling to Tel Aviv, to refugee camps in the West Bank and
to Gaza, to Ramallah and Hebron. We went to Bethlehem,
and spent an afternoon with people from Beit Sahur. I recall
sitting in a very chilly room in early January – probably in the
mid 50s, with people who told about how they had been harassed
physically and administratively by the Israeli authorities.
During the ten days, we interviewed or heard speeches by
Israeli, Palestinian, American, and then Jordanian officials,
including King Hussein. Two of the people we met with, Haider
Shafti, the head of the Red Crescent in Gaza and Faisal Husseini
a member of a historically significant Palestinian family and longtime
leader of Palestinians, participated in the Madrid Peace Conference
in 1991. He was the first Palestinian to have dialogue with a member
of the Likud party, and actively engaged in Palestinian – Israeli
dialogue efforts to the end of his life in 2001.
Number 29. May 30, 1990 – Establishes a 3 person
Commission of the UNSC to investigate practices of Israel in
occupied territories with a report about ways to protect
Palestinian civilians. 14-1.
The Soviet Union fell, as did the communist regimes throughout
Eastern Europe. There was no longer a Cold War in which Israel
might be an ally over against Soviet supported states.
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait occurred in August, and Desert Storm
to drive them out was in February of 1991. Yitzhak Rabin became
Prime Minister of Israel in 1992. He had also been a military leader
in the pre-Independence days, serving in the Palmach, the strike force
of the Haganah, or Yishuv, the name for the Jewish community in
Palestine, military branch. He had been defense minister during the
First Intifadah, with a policy of "break their bones but don't kill them."
While injury is short of death, a policy to break people's bones,
particularly those of children, did not play well on the international stage,
and contributed to sympathy for the Palestinian cause. However, he
was seen as more moderate than either Begin or Shamir, and more
amenable to working out a peaceful plan for the two-state solution.
Bill Clinton was inaugurated as US President in January 1993.
In the years immediately following, there was a greater hope for
peace between Israel and the Palestinians. While the Madrid
Conference produced no lasting results, the Oslo Agreements in
1993 set up a plan to follow. Yitzhak Rabin's assassination by a
Jewish ultraconservative in November 1995 at a peace rally put all
peace negotiations off the track.
Signs of increased tension can be seen, however, in the 30th
Security Council Resolution on May 17, 1995 in which the
expropriation of land in East Jerusalem was called invalid and a
violation of previous Security Council resolutions and of the
Fourth Geneva Convention. The vote was again 14-1.
After Rabin's death, Shimon Perez, a moderate leader,
became prime minister, but in elections in 1996, Benjamin
Netanyahu, a younger conservative leader born after the
independence of Israel, gained that office. He had worked with
American Defense Department officials such as Douglas Feith,
Richard Perle, and Paul Wolfowitz, who had developed a
campaign plan for him called "A Clean Break: A New Strategy
for Securing the Realm" that included replacing "land for peace"
with "peace for peace," more aggressively moving against Syria
and Lebanon, and urged removing Saddam Hussein to replace
him with the king of Jordan.
This is the change in direction or rationale for support of Israel that
emerged after the end of the Cold War and the death of Yitzhak Rabin.
On March 7, 1997, the 31st resolution was vetoed by the US.
It stated that the development of Jewish settlements in East
Jerusalem was illegal. The vote was again 14-1.
Just two weeks later, on March 21, the 32nd resolution restating the
same concern was raised, and again vetoed by the US. The vote was
13-1 with one abstention – Costa Rica.
Ariel Sharon marched on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in September 2000
with many troops, setting off the Al-Aqsa, or Second, Intifadah.
In early 2001 Ehud Barak had to step down, and new election for
prime minister were held. Ariel Sharon was elected.
The 33rd Security Council resolution vetoed by the US followed
shortly, on March 26, 2001, expressing grave concern for the
humanitarian situation as a result of the closure of occupied
Palestinian territories, and for the continued pattern of settlement.
It also called for the transfer by Israel of all revenues due to the
Palestinian Authority. This was vetoed by the US, in a 9-1 vote,
with four abstentions, among them two permanent members –
France and the UK. Also Ireland and Norway.
September 11th, 2001, was of course the day of the attack on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which sent this country into
shock, and led to an early attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan and
transformation of the government of that country.
The 34th resolution vetoed by the United States came just a few
months later, on December 15, 2001, emphasizing the essential
role of the Palestinian Authority, and the need for safety of all citizens,
Israeli and Palestinian alike. The vote was 12-1 with two abstentions
– the UK and Norway.
On December 20, 2002 the US vetoed a UN Security Council
resolution - for the 35th time - that expressed deep concern over
Israel's killing of several UN employees and destruction of a UN
World Food Program warehouse.
Vote was 12-1, with 2 abstentions.
Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old peace activist, was deliberately
crushed by a home demolition bulldozer built by Caterpillar in
Peoria, on March 16, 2003. She was trying to protect the home
of a Palestinian doctor who lived near the border of Egypt in Rafah.
Her aunt lives in Iowa City. The play telling the story of her activism
and death has been cancelled in many cities around the country,
because of the protest of Jewish opponents. A book of Rachel
Corrie's journal entries, Let Me Stand Alone, was published in
January this year.
A week later the US invaded Iraq with its Shock
and Awe attack.
Later in the year a UN Security Council resolution of September
16, 2003 that the US vetoed expressed concerns about Israeli
deportations of Palestinians, especially the possible deportation
of Yassir Arafat. The vote was 11-1 with 3 abstentions.
Number 36.
A month later, in October 2003, a resolution raised concerns
about the building of a security fence. For the 37th time the US
vetoed a resolution raising concern about israel's behavior.
The vote was 10-1 with 4 abstentions.
The next spring – March 25, 2004 - the 38th resolution vetoed
by the US condemned Israel for killing the Palestinian spiritual
leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
The vote was 11-1 with 4 abstentions.
In the fall – October 5, 2004 – the resolution condemned Israel's
military incursion in Gaza causing many deaths and damage to
property. The vote was 11 – 1 with 3 abstentions for the 39th
veto by the US to protect Israel.
In November 2004 Yassir Arafat, the leader of the Palestinians
since the 1960s, died. In October of 2005 Sabeel, a Christian
peacemaking group centered in Jerusalem, sponsored a conference
at Coe College to address many facets of the conflict between
Israel and the Palestinians. Many here were present at that
conference. I served as moderator.
In December, 2005 Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke, and
then in January another stroke that rendered him incapable
of governing. He still survives in a coma.
Ehud Olmert, the former mayor of Jerusalem, was elected
prime minister in January 2006.
On July 13, 2006 – getting close to the present – the
40th resolution vetoed by the US called for the
unconditional release of an Israeli soldier and Israel's
immediate withdrawal from Gaza and a cessation of
violence by both parties in the conflict.
Vetoed by the US (10-1 with 4 abstentions)
The war between Hezbollah and Israel, leading to widespread
destruction in Lebanon had begun just the day before,
July 12 and continued until August 14.
Finally, for the time being, the 41st resolution vetoed by
the US having to do with Israel and the Palestinians, came
on November 11, 2006. It condemned the Israeli military
operations in Gaza, the Palestinian rocket fire into Israel, and
called for immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
There were no vetoes in 2007
or yet in 2008.
Now, what do we make of all this. How is peace going to
come in the Middle East, if human rights are not the basis of
respect between peoples and countries?
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