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The 'Good Old Days' Before Occupation

the most dangerous enclaves oppos-
targets for the Fedayen. One man was
could report to the U.N. Security
ing the struggle of our peoples."
shot
dead
and
three
more
were
Council
that
in
the
six
years
follow-
he Crown Prince of Saudi
In May 1964, the Palestine
wounded in three attacks on the
ing the armistice agreements, 101
Arabia is not the first to
Liberation
Organization was founded.
Eilat-Beersheba highway."
Israelis had been killed and 364
suggest Israeli withdrawal
In his letter to the
wounded in numerous incidents.
to the borders that exist-
Jerusalem
Post on
Most of them were incursions from
ed before the Six-Day War in 1967
March
1,
Stephen
across the Jordanian and Egyptian
as the price of peace with the Arab
Berger
sagely
inquires:
borders.
world.
Why
liberation?
There
As the violence continued to
For the past 35 years, we have
was
no
Jewish
occupa-
mount, the secretary general of the
repeatedly been told that Israel's great
tion, control or influ-
U.N., Dag Hammarskjold, stepped
sin has been its presence in territories
ence in all of the West
in, and in April 1956, arranged a
that were occupied following a defen-
Bank, Gaza, East
cease-fire between Israel
sive war ,that foiled the plans
Jerusalem,
Golan or the
and Jordan and Egypt.
of its neighbors to destroy
Sinai. It was all under
However,
this
was
followed
the country completely. All
Arab jurisdiction. What
by an acceleration of ter-
the Palestinian violence that
were
they
trying
to liberate then?
Those were in the good old days,
rorist actions. The six
has taken place during these
The
threats
continued,
accompa-
before occupation.
months that followed were
years, and that has reached
nied
by
lethal
outrages.
In
1965, the
The violence continued into the
marked by attacks by the
new heights in the past year
Fatah
began
operations,
sending
1960s,
with
deeds
of
endless
sav-
Fedayen, as the terrorists
and a half, is the result, we
bands of terrorists from Syria,
agery and murder. The spirit of the
were then known; 24
are repeatedly told, of
Lebanon and Jordan into Israel, sab-
times
is
best
recalled
by
the
Israelis were killed and 17
Israel's occupation of the
otaging railroads, blowing up homes
ALPERT
in
its
review
of
CARL
Encyclopedia
Judaica,
wounded as a result of
West Bank and parts of the
and public buildings. In October
Spe
cial
the
decade
following
the
Sinai
aggressions
from
across
the
Gaza Strip. If not for the
1965, Eban told the Security
Campaign,
and
after
Israel
withdrew
Comm
entary
Jordanian
border,
and
four
occupation, security and
Council
that in the first eight
fully from the Sinai:
killed and 20 wounded by
peace would reign for all.
months
of
that year, armed infiltra-
"Arab hatred of Israel was contin-
Fedayen who came from Egypt.
To the uninformed observer this
tors had committed 61 outrages in
ually
fanned
by
teachers,
journalists
sounds reasonable. Back to the good
Israel. A month later, three Israeli
and politicians; incessant declara-
old days before the occupation! But
soldiers were killed and six wounded.
tions
of
undying
hostility
came
Attack
After
Attack
what was the situation before the
The attacks continued.
from
leaders
of
both
'progressive'
Almost daily, in the months and years
occupation? A quick review of the
All this was before the Six-Day War,
and
'conservative'
Arab
states
...
that
followed,
the
press
reported
con-
history of those days reveals a far
and
before there was any occupation.
Nasser made no secret of his refusal
tinued attacks. Typical news, at the
from idyllic existence. We turn the
Is
this
the kind of situation we may
to acquiesce in the continued exis-
end of May 1957: 'After several
pages ...
expect
if we do, indeed, accept their
tence of Israel. In June 1962, for
The original United Nations parti- weeks of relative freedom from
proposal
for withdrawal to the lines
example,
he
spoke
of
his
people's
attacks, travelers on Israel's roads were
tion plan of 1947 offered the Arabs
and
the
times
of pre-1967? ❑
"determination
to
liquidate
one
of
again picked out last week as moving
a very generous portion of historic
Palestine. They not only rejected it,
but made clear their intentions. On
the eve of the many-pronged inva-
sion of the newborn state of Israel,
Azzam Pasha, secretary general of
Perspectives on Israel: a continuing series
the Arab League, made the threat
clear. "This will be a war of extermi-
nation," he said, "and a momentous
massacre that will be spoken of like
the Mongolian massacres and the
Christian Crusades."
Arafat's double game has again been exposed for all to
embarked on the Oslo Peace Process only
That was before what is now called
see. It is time for President Bush to add these groups to
the occupation, of course.
Israe after Yassir Arafat's 1993 written commit-
the
U.S. list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The "war of extermination" did
ment to Yitzhak Rabin that "the PLO renounces the use of
not end as Azzam Pasha had expect-
terrorism and other acts of violence." In the agreement,
For more information on this issue, visit:
Arafat stated that the PLO "will assume responsibility over
ed, but there was no peace, and a
www.aipac.orgidocuments/waxmanletter.html
period of terrorist attacks followed.
all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their -
Memorable was the March 1964
compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators."
ambush by Arabs of an Israeli bus
on the Scorpions' Pass, in the
Let President Bush know you support the congressional
Arafat's refusal to take action against Hamas and Islamic
effort to add Arafat's terrorists to the U.S. list of
Negev, in which 11 passengers were
Jihad clearly violated this commitment and his repeated
Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Call the White House
killed. In 1955, Israel's Abba Eban
promises to the United States made during negotiations.

Hai a

But what was the situation
before the occupation?
We turn the pages ...

Why Blame Arafat?

l

at 202-456-1414 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Carl Alpert is a native of the United
States and former editor of the New
Palestine. He also is former head of the
Zionist Organization of America's edu-
cation department. He made aliyah in
1952. His e-mail address is
alpert@techunix.technion.ac.il

Meanwhile, Arafat continued to run his terror operation.
Currently most suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings
of Israelis have been carried out by the military wings of
Arafat's Fatah movement — the Tanzim and Al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigade – and his "security force," Force 17. These
Arafat-led groups have stepped to the fore, killing dozens
and wounding hundreds of Israelis in recent weeks.

Jewish
Community
Councilagazat=r-

To learn more about how you can become an effective Israel advocate, visit wwwjewishcommunitvcouncil.orq