ZIONISM AND PALESTINE: A PRE-PLANNED AND PRE-MEDITATED EFFORT FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING AND LAND THEFT 1947: THE STARTING POINT FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING AND LAND THEFT: In a speech at the Mapai center on 3 December 1947 following the UN Partition resolution # 181 of 29 November 1947, Ben-Gurion outlined that the emergent Jewish State’s main problem is its prospective population of about one million, 40% of which would be non-Jews. According to Ben-Gurion, with such a population composition, “there cannot even be complete certainty that the government will be held by a Jewish majority…there can be no stable and strong Jewish State so long as it has a Jewish majority of only 60%.” The Yishuv’s situation and fate, he went on, compelled the adoption of ‘a new approach…new habits of mind’ to ‘suit our new future…” (Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949, Cambridge, 1987, p. 28, citing David Ben-Gurion’s War Diary, pp. 22-3)
On 5 December 1947, Ben-Gurion ordered “immediate action to expand Jewish settlement in three areas assigned to the Arab state: the southwest (Negev), the southeast (Etzion bloc) and Western Galilee”. If Ben-Gurion had any intention of respecting the boundaries created by the partition resolution, he would never have sent Jewish settlers to live permanently under Arab rule. His action in ordering the expansion of Jewish settlement in the area proposed for the Palestinian State must be seen within the context of Plan Dalet. It proves that the Zionist leader wished to strengthen Jewish ‘forward bases’ in anticipation of conquering Arab territories. (Michael Palumbo, The Palestinian Catastrophe: The 1948 Expulsion of a People from their Homeland. London/Boston: 1987, pp. 40 - 41, citing Political and Diplomatic Documents of the Jewish Agency, 1947 - 1948, No. 12)
On 19 March 1948, Warren Austen, the American Ambassador to the UN, unaware of his President’s acceptance of partition, requested a special session of the General Assembly to work out a plan for trusteeship to replace partition temporarily in Palestine. Austin sought recognition in the Security Council to declare that so far as the U.S. was concerned, partition was no longer a viable option, and therefore his government favored international trusteeship over Palestine.
From Tel Aviv came the angry response of Ben-Gurion: “It is we who will decide the fate of Palestine. We cannot agree to any sort of trusteeship, permanent or temporary – the Jewish State exists because we defend it.” Four days later, the Jewish Agency formally announced that it would establish a provisional Jewish government by May 16, 1948. (Peter Grose, Israel in the Mind of America, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1983, pp. 274-275. See also UN Doc. S/PV 271 dated 19 March 1948)
To avoid trusteeship and to enhance the chances of creating their ‘Jewish State’, the Zionist leadership launched Plan Dalet in early April 1948. Arab cities and villages were attacked pushing Palestinian Arabs into flight. The British were still responsible to keep law and order in Palestine. Yet they did nothing to stop Zionist atrocities against the Palestinians. All that the British did was to offer trucks and boats to carry the Palestinians fleeing in panic especially in Tiberias, Haifa and Jaffa during April and May.
On 16 November 1948, the Security Council decided that “in order to eliminate the threat to the peace in Palestine and to facilitate the transition from the present truce to permanent peace in Palestine, an armistice shall be established in all sectors of Palestine”.
Armistice agreements were accordingly concluded between Israel and Egypt on Feb. 24; Israel and Lebanon on March 25; Israel and Jordan on April 3; and Israel and Syria on July 20, 1949.
Over 750,000 Palestinian Arabs ended up as refugees in neighbouring Arab countries and were not allowed to return to their homes and lands, which were stolen and used to accommodate Jewish immigrants coming from all corners of the globe.
EXPANSION: In a round table meeting with the French at the Sévres Conference in preparation for the Suez Canal War, Ben-Gurion proposed eliminating Nasser in Egypt and partition of Jordan, with the West Bank going to Israel and the East Bank to Iraq. In exchange, Iraq would sign a peace treaty with Israel and undertake to absorb the Palestinian refugees. Moreover, Israel would annex southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, with a Christian state established in the rest of the country.
On 29 October 1956, Israeli forces over-ran Gaza on their way to the Suez Canal. On 8 November, Ben-Gurion, under pressure from the U.S., announced that the army was going to withdraw from all territories occupied during the war and Israeli plans for expansion and rearrangement of the Middle East had to wait for a more convenient time and a more acquiescent President in the U.S.A. (Michael Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion: A Biography. New York: Delacorte Press, 1977, pp. 236-253)
The opportunity came in 1967 with President Lyndon B. Johnson.
On 1 June 1967, General Moshe Dayan was invited by Levi Eshkol to join an Israeli government of national unity as defence minister. On 5 June Israel attacked and destroyed Egyptian air force bases and advance positions in Sinai, occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, all of Sinai and the Golan Heights, as well as the Eastern parts of Jerusalem. Another 250,000 Palestinian Arabs became refugees.
WAR OF ATTRITION: Egyptian President Gamal Abd-Al-Nasser began a war of attrition in March 1969 tin order to force Israel to withdraw from the areas occupied in 1967. The sporadic military actions by Egypt escalated into full-scale fighting.
On 9 December 1969, U.S. Secretary of State, William Rogers, announced a peace plan based on the exchange of land for peace. Rogers’ efforts, however, failed as a result of Israeli rejection of the plan. (Norman G. Finkelstein, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, London/New York: Verso, 1995, pp. 153 - 154)
On 19 June 1970, Rogers made new proposals calling for a cease-fire in the war of attrition in the Suez Canal for 90 days and for a UN effort to initiate negotiations between Israel and the Arabs for a solution based on Security Council resolution # 242. The proposals came to be known as the Rogers Initiative. The Egyptian-Israeli cease-fire based on Rogers’ initiative was accepted and came into force in August 1970.
On 29 September1970, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat.
A CONCOCTED WAR: The 1973 war was concocted between Sadat and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in order to form a prelude for a Negotiated Peace. (For details see: Sadat’s secret pipeline to Kissinger, by Ze’ev Schiff, Ha’aretz, 3 November 2004)
In July, 1972, Sadat issued orders for all Soviet advisers in the Egyptian armed forces to leave within ten days, starting on 17 July; all Soviet military installations were to be placed under Egyptian control; and all Soviet military equipment was to be sold to Egypt or taken out of the country. (Jon Kimche, Palestine or Israel: The Untold Story of Why we Failed. 1917 - 1923, 1967 – 1973, London: Secker & Warburg, 1973, pp. 330 - 331) If Sadat was really serious about going to war, he would not have made such orders, which gives credibility to Ze’ev Schiff’s story.
As a result of Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy, Israel and Egypt formally signed a truce on 11 November ending the hostilities. The truce was signed in a tent at Kilometer 101 on the Cairo-Suez Road. On 17 January 1974, Egypt and Israel agreed to a disengagement accord mediated by Henry Kissinger. This agreement became to be known as Sinai I according to which Israel agreed to withdraw 9 – 12 miles (15 – 20 kilometers) to allow for a UN buffer zone with Egypt. The 2nd agreement was signed in November, according to which Israel withdrew its forces completely from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
Syria and Israel agreed on 29 May 1974 to the disengagement mediated by Henry Kissinger. The agreement was signed in 1975.
On 19 November1977, Sadat, made a surprise visit to Jerusalem marking the beginning of a new era with respect to the Zionist-Arab conflict.
A Camp David summit between Carter, Sadat, and Begin was held during the period 5-17 September 1978 and produced the ‘Camp David Accords’. That led to a Peace Treaty, which was signed between Egypt and Israel at the White House on 26 March 1979.
Nizar Sakhnini, 24 February 2009
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