A Cover for Israel's Atrocities?
Behind the
War on Iraq
by
Michael S. Ladah
Dissident Voice
March 5, 2003
While
the world has been busy with the specter of a major war in the Middle East, the
American public has been getting very little news coverage about the
Palestinians and the continuation of the oppressive Israeli measures. As the
world comes closer to the war on Iraq which now appears imminent, many of us
are more concerned not only about the major loss in civilian lives in Iraq but
also about the potential tragedy that is expected to unfold in the West Bank
and Gaza.
Credible analysis about the
true motives behind the war and the real objectives of the Bush Administration
has confirmed that Israel has a vested interest in the looming war on Iraq and
that Israel is expected to reap major gains from the war. In his article "The US Gameplan for
Iraq" former CIA political analyst for 29 years, Bill Christison, gave
a complete analysis of the apparent and hidden objectives from the almost
certain war on Iraq. He classified and analyzed all the reasons being discussed
by the media and the public, and explained that the true reasons were the oil
and the present administration's desire for world domination, including
domination of the Middle East by Israel, the US surrogate power.
One of the obvious reasons
that has not been mentioned by most analysts, however, is the diversion from
(or cover up for) what Israel is doing in the West Bank and Gaza, and from what
it plans to do. In an article titled "As
the world focuses on Iraq, the bodies pile up in Gaza" (the
Independent, February 23, 2003) reporter Justin Huggler asks pointedly from
Gaza "Is the Israeli military taking advantage of a time when the world is
not paying attention to what is going on here, when media coverage is focusing
on Iraq, to step up its campaign in the occupied territories?" The answer
is obviously 'yes' and Huggler explains that the restraints imposed on Israeli
repression against the Palestinians have in the past come from world public
opinion only. That public opinion is now busy elsewhere.
A more important reason for
concern is what Israel might be planning for the Palestinian residents of the
West Bank and Gaza. Academic observers and analysts of the question on
Palestine, both in Israel and in the United States, have warned about a
potential major disaster if Israel makes good on threats being vocalized by
Israeli extremists regarding further ethnic cleansing; many extremists in the
government, and most settlers, have threatened to expel Palestinians from
population centers in the West Bank and Gaza across international borders into
Jordan and Egypt. These academics and observers have warned that as the world
gets more pre-occupied with the war on Iraq, the Israeli military will
manufacture excuses to conduct another in a series of ethnic cleansing steps
which started in 1948. In her article titled "Threats
of Forced Mass Expulsion" (Le Monde Diplomatique, February 19, 2003),
Amira Hass, the only Israeli reporter who lives in a West Bank city (Ramallah),
confirms that the idea of "transfer" of Palestinians forcibly or
through enticement is gaining momentum across the political spectrum of Israeli
society. Amira Hass asserts "Some 73% of those who live in the Jewish
settlements, euphemistically known as development towns, believe that Israel
should encourage its Arab population to leave. This rises to 76% among Jews
from the former Soviet Union and to 87% among religious Jews." In the same
article, Amira Hass further confirms that mini transfers have indeed already
started:
The presence of military pacifists in the occupied
territories has not prevented "mini-transfers". Faced with non-stop
harassment from their 500 Jewish neighbours and a round-the-clock military
curfew designed to protect settlers, many Palestinians have moved out of the
ancient city of Hebron. In the northern West Bank 180 Palestinian villagers in
Yanun were forced to abandon their homes and relocate after increased
harassment from the neighbouring Jewish settlement of Itamar. Other expulsions
have taken place because of the construction of Israel's infamous wall. Though
such "mini-transfers" have come to the attention of the Israeli
public and resulted in demonstrations, the loss of land and homes over the past
two years has left the Palestinians feeling dispossessed.
Considering this growing
acceptance of the "transfer" idea within Israeli society, and the
fact that the world will soon be even more pre-occupied with the war on Iraq
and the problems that the war will create, Israel could be expected to uphold
its reputation of committing further atrocities and manufacturing excuses to
justify them. It should be expected that such atrocities will include the
"transfer," at least through increased harassment by the settlers and
at most by the Israeli authorities with the backing of the occupation forces.
President Bush continues
with his efforts to try to appease the Arabs and Moslems by promising democracy
for the Iraqis when he "liberates" Iraq and a state for the
Palestinians where Israel must stop building settlements. Apparently this is
the best he can do, to stop Israel from building settlements. It is unknown how
he plans to do that or whether he plans to ask, or beg, Sharon the "man of
peace" to stop, just like he asked him in April 2002 to withdraw the
Israeli forces from the West Bank "without delay." President Bush is
making promises to people who do not believe or trust him. If he wanted to
build some trust with the Arabs and Moslems, President Bush knows how to regain
his credibility; he would ask Sharon to pull his troops out from the West Bank
immediately and end the Israeli occupation regime.
As the world gets closer by
the day to a devastating war on Iraq, the world community, including President
Bush, must be mindful of the actions of the Israeli settlers and the Israeli
military in the West Bank and Gaza. The world, especially the Middle East, does
not need and can not withstand another human tragedy in the form of a few
million refugees. The Palestinians have been victimized through frequent
transfers and ethnic cleansing since 1948. The world has the responsibility to
insure that Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza will not suffer the agony of
yet another major transfer from their ancestral homeland.
Michael S. Ladah is an Arab American who lived and worked in various parts of the Middle East. He is the author of Quicksand, Oil and Dreams: The Story of One of Five Million Dispossessed Palestinians. He may be reached at: mikeladah@hotmail.com