Finally! We are nearing a break through. I do not promote or advocate genocide.
However, if the destruction of an entire village or camp that harbours, trains, abets and arms suicide bombers (terrorists), is required to bring sufficient attention to our resolve not to be held hostage by terrorism, then so be it.
None of us would advocate the murder of all Palestinians. The Israelis have been very adept at identifying and eliminating the Palestinian individuals who orchestrate suicide bombings, but they are immediately replaced by others and the madness goes on.
We [Who is we? Canadians? Canadian Alliance Party?] have to find a level of retaliation that makes it clear that we will not stand for terrorist attacks without engaging in all-out genocide. Scrupulously minimizing the loss of non-combatant lives has not brought about any change in terrorist tactics.
Military occupation and strict curfews are not sustainable over the long run.
George Bush's plan to form a separate Palestinian state may lead to peace in the area, but the concept is hardly new.
For a concise and reasonably accurate history of the mid-east, this site will serve well.
Mid east upheaval can probably be best traced to the Sykes-Picot agreement, a secret understanding concluded in May 1916, during World War I, between Great Britain and France, with the assent of Russia, for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.
The current mess was exacerbated by the Balfour Declaration in November 1917. The BD was flawed and made promises to both Arabs and Jews that were incompatible and could not be kept.
The Balfour Declaration was followed up by The Palestine Mandate, adopted by the League of Nations (forerunner to the United Nations) in July, 1921.
In June 1922, British Foreign Minister Churchill delivered a White Paper on the Palestinian issue expressing the current hopes for the future.
[John Feldsted conveniently skips 25 years, which included:
(1) In the 1930s, Leopold Trepper, the future head of the Red Orchestra (the famous WWII Soviet spy ring) lived for several years in Palestine.
(2) During WWII, when Polish-Ukrainian-Jewish volunteers for General Anders' "Home Army" were being transported from the Siberian Gulags via Iran and the Middle East to the Western Allies, men of Jewish origin were allowed to go AWOL and remain in Palestine.
(3) Following WWII, the Jewish Mafia in the United States smuggled guns and money to the Jewish terrorist gangs in Palestine.]
Despite American, Jewish and international pressure and the recommendations of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, the new Labour Party government of Prime Minister Clement Atlee and his foreign minister, Ernest Bevin, continued to enforce the policy articulated in the (Churchill) White Paper.
By 1947 Palestine was a major trouble spot in the British Empire, requiring some 100,000 troops and a huge maintenance budget.
On February 18, 1947, Bevin informed the House of Commons of the government's decision to present the Palestine problem to the United Nations (UN).
On May 15, 1947, a special session of the UN General Assembly established the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), consisting of eleven members. The UNSCOP reported on August 31 that a majority of its members supported a geographically complex system of partition into separate Arab and Jewish states, a special international status for Jerusalem, and an economic union linking the three members.
Backed by both the United States and the Soviet Union, the plan was adopted after two months of intense deliberations as the UN General Assembly Resolution of November 29, 1947. Although considering the plan defective in terms of their expectations from the League of Nations Mandate twenty-five years earlier, the Zionist General Council stated willingness in principle to accept partition. The League of Arab States (Arab League) Council, meeting in December 1947, said it would take whatever measures were required to prevent implementation of the resolution.
On May 14, 1948, Jewish leader Ben-Gurion and his associates proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. On the following day Britain relinquished the Mandate at 6:00 P.M. and the United States announced de facto recognition of Israel. Soviet recognition was accorded on May 18; by April 1949, fifty-three nations, including Britain, had extended recognition. In May 1949, the UN General Assembly, on recommendation of the Security Council, admitted Israel to the UN.
Meanwhile, Arab military forces began their invasion of Israel on May 15, 1948. Initially these forces consisted of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 Egyptians, 2,000 to 4,000 Iraqis, 4,000 to 5,000 Transjordanians, 3,000 to 4,000 Syrians, 1,000 to 2,000 Lebanese, and smaller numbers of Saudi Arabian and Yemeni troops, about 25,000 in all. Israeli forces composed of the Haganah, such irregular units as the Irgun and the Stern Gang, and women's auxiliaries numbered 35,000 or more.
[John Feldsted omits:
(1) the Deir Yassin Massacre on April 9, 1948 of over 100 Palestinian villagers by the Irgun and Stern Gang (see the letter of Einstein et al in the Dec. 04, 1948 issue of the New York Times);
(2) the assassination of Swedish diplomat, Folke Bernadotte, on September 17, 1948, by Yizhak Shamir's Stern Gang. As a special envoy of the United Nations, Count Bernadotte was attempting to mediate the Israeli - Palestinian dispute.
These actions by the terrorist Zionist forces compromised the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the eyes of God. The starting point for any Israeli - Palestinian negotiations must revert to before this time.]
By October 14, 1948, Arab forces deployed in the war zones had increased to about 55,000, including not more than 5,000 irregulars of Hajj Amin al Husayni's Palestine Liberation Force. The Israeli military forces had increased to approximately 100,000. Except for the British-trained Arab Legion of Transjordan, Arab units were largely ill-trained and inexperienced. Israeli forces, usually operating with interior lines of communication, included an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 European World War II veterans.
By January 1949, Jewish forces held the area that was to define Israel's territory until June 1967, an area that was significantly larger than the area designated by the UN partition plan. The part of Palestine remaining in Arab hands was limited to that held by the Arab Legion of Transjordan and the Gaza area held by Egypt at the cessation of hostilities. The area held by the Arab Legion was subsequently annexed by Jordan and is commonly referred to as the West Bank. Jerusalem was divided. The Old City, the Western Wall and the site of Solomon's Temple, upon which stands the Muslim mosque called the Dome of the Rock, remained in Jordanian hands; the New City lay on the Israeli side of the line. Although the West Bank remained under Jordanian suzerainty until 1967, only two countries - Britain and Pakistan - granted de jure recognition of the annexation.
The borders of Israel have shifted with further Arab � Israeli wars in 1956 (November), 1967 (June) and 1973 (October). You can obtain a current map here.
[It is recognized that, except for the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli Zionists were fully aware of, and even encouraged, the war preparations of the various Arab countries. They knew full well that Israel would prevail militarily.]
Whether US President Bush will succeed at a plan originally proposed by the League of Nations in 1922 remains to be seen. In the meantime, the terrorism must stop and any venture to end terrorism is welcome.
[As I have stated previously, it is the hardline Zionists, who are the main obstacles to peace. They did not want peace in 1948; they do not want peace now; and it is unlikely that they will want peace in the future.
The legitimate solution to the Israeli - Palestinian impasse is as follows:
(1) The United States will establish control of the skies over Palestine - Israel and will set a deadline by which all Israeli military equipment and personnel will be removed from the Palestinian territories into the 1948 U.N. designated borders of Israel.
(2) By this date, an international military force under the control of the United Nations will occupy Palestine until such time as a viable Palestinian State can be established.
(3) Realistic negotiations between the two parties would be carried out, under the auspices of the United Nations, to establish realistic borders and relations between the two States. Any future changes to these borders would be first approved and the guaranteed by the United Nations and the United States.]
Mozuz; 2002-07-06
