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JCRC Middle East Briefings

Following are excerpts of remarks given by Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer at a Hi-Tech Convention in Israel on October 23. When we talk about terror, which to our misfortune has been accompanying Israel since its establishment, it would be wise to begin by defining the concept terror. Terror is a kind of limited struggle in which violence is used against civilians as a mode of action in order to achieve political objectives. Terror is not only Israel's problem, it is exploited against countries worldwide, as we have recently witnessed. Even a great superpower is not protected from terror.

FEATURES OF TERRORISM

• Hitting the country's "soft spot" - striking at its citizens.

• Hitting civilians without distinction (as opposed to guerilla warfare in which there are military and establishment-related objectives).

• Terror does not take rules and international conventions into account, nor does it obey any law, including moral and international laws.

• Terror uses any possible weapon, including the use of civilian technological platforms [e.g., commercial airliners] as the basis for weaponry and ammunition.

INTERNATIONAL TERROR

• Internal terror, within the country, is used mainly in civil wars when a    group within the country wishes to achieve political results through terror(for example - Ireland).

• Inter-state terror, in which one country uses terror (and not guerilla warfare or full-scale war) against another country, usually characterizes weak countries that cannot defeat a rival country in a conventional struggle.

TERRORISM AGAINST ISRAEL

Who implements terror?

• The Palestinian Authority, which claims the right to its own country, on its own terms, within the State of Israel and uses direct or indirect terror to achieve this end through other terror organizations over which it has no control, or has no desire to control.

• Terror organizations that stand for the liberation of Palestine which are based upon radical Muslim religious movements (Hamas, Islamic Jihad).

• National liberation movements that are nationally rather than religiously based (such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, responsible for the assassination of Tourism Minister Ze'evy.)

Implementing Terror

• Suicide bombers and car bombs in densely populated centers as the number one component.

• Shooting attacks against civilians on the roads.

• Shooting at settlements (with small arms or mortars) with the objective of hitting civilians and property within the settlement.

• The objective of all forms of terror is the attack against a maximum number of civilians anywhere, with no geographical distinction or differentiation between the type of civilians.

Coping with Terror

• Having a full supply of patience and forbearance - personal and social strength, because without this component there is no way of coping with terror over time.

• Good and focused intelligence and sophisticated methods in creative implementation to seek and acquire intelligence (while using advanced technological means).

• Self-protection - seeking out terrorists everywhere and attempting to strike at them prior to the execution of a terror attack.

• Preventing the exit of terrorists from high-risk cities by imposing internaland external closures. I wish to clarify that our forces that have surrounded some Palestinian cities are only taking security measures as arresting terrorists and preventing the export of terror attacks from these cities. Our only goal is to act in self-defense; we have no wish to stay there, to occupy these territories or to destroy the Palestinian Authority. Our only intention is to prevent terror attacks and make the Palestinians begin acting against terror.

• Setting obstacles to prevent the departure of terrorists (mainly a fence, such as the fence around the Gaza Strip).

• Punishments - hitting the headquarters and other centers in order to punish those who establish terrorist policy and those who send the terrorists.

• Separating between the war against terror (hitting the terrorists and those who sent them) while creating a relief program for innocent civilians.

• Attempt to reach an understanding at the negotiating table, to put an end to terror (unfortunately, we do not see any partner for this purpose, at the moment).

Disadvantages in Handling Terror

The best way to fight terror is to use terror itself. The State of Israel, which has selected a path based on values and ethics, cannot allow itself to kill innocent civilians, women and children. We cannot pay Palestinian terror back with its own weapon. Our policy is to fight an uncompromising war against terror. We shall continue to strive to return to the negotiating table. We are committed to the Tenet and Mitchell Plans and to the quest for a political solution to the armed conflict with the Palestinians.

On November 19 at the University of Louisville, Secretary of State Colin Powell unveiled America's vision for the Middle East. The following is excerpted from a report by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, entitled: Powell's Middle East Speech: A Scorecard. The entire text can be found at http://www.jcpa.org .

[The speech] nudged U.S. policy in a positive direction in certain respects, but is unlikely to meet the expectations which preceded it. The speech will not placate the rage of the Arab street, which has already been significantly quieted as a result of the emerging American victory against the Taliban.

As long as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat refuses to make the strategic decision to halt his year-long armed offensive against Israel, the prospects for diplomatic progress are not great. The Positive Elements Importance of regional climate: ...he admitted that "the hope created at Madrid has faded" and stated that the U.S. is now trying to renew the "spirit of Madrid." The lesson left unsaid is that the positive climate of 1991 must be restored, which means defeating states that support terrorism. Those who claim that the peace process must be pursued to defang radicalism have it backwards; it is a positive regional climate, created by winning wars, that is a prerequisite to a productive peace process.

Madrid and Resolution 242 trump Oslo and Camp David: By emphasizing the Madrid conference and UN Security Council Resolution 242 and using them as his primary benchmarks, Powell clearly deemphasized the Oslo Accords, the 2000 Camp David summit, and the Taba follow-on talks.

Mitchell sequence left intact: Despite widespread reports to the contrary, Powell did not contradict Israel's demand for one terror-free week before negotiations begin. Though he did not endorse this demand, he clearly rejected the Palestinian idea that Israel should negotiate under fire.

As Powell put it: "Palestinians need to understand that however legitimate their claims, they cannot be heard, let alone addressed, through violence...terror and violence must stop and stop now." Results, not promises: "The Palestinian leadership must make a 100 percent effort to end violence and terror. There must be real results, not just words and declarations. Terrorists must be stopped before they act. The Palestinian leadership must arrest, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts...live up to the agreements they have made...[and be] held to account when they do not."

Significantly, Powell implicitly rejects European efforts to define Arafat's intifada violence as something different from terrorism. The Negative Elements Misguided conception: The overall conception of the speech, which was in the works before September 11, was to mollify demands from Europe and the Arab world that the U.S. was not sufficiently "engaged" in pressing peace on Israel and the Palestinians. The premise here is that hatred of America can be reduced and cooperation of Arab states in the war on terrorism can be increased by exhibiting a willingness to pressure Israel through a peace process. In reality, the cooperation of Arab states in the war on terrorism is a function of U.S. seriousness and resolve.

The attempt to indulge Arab demands to pressure Israel opens up a "Pandora's box" of endless diplomatic demands for the U.S. with respect to Israel. These "grievances" are a bottomless pit, for they will never be satisfied by the typical diplomatic movement that characterizes the peace process.

Evenhandedness: A related weakness of the speech was its continuation of the "arbitrary evenhandedness" that Powell pledged to end. Powell bent over backwards to at least sound equally critical of Israel and the Palestinians, and place the burden of reaching peace equally on "both sides." Such evenhandedness blurs the distinction between terrorism and self-defense, and completely ignores the fact that Israel offered to "end the occupation" at Camp David, and was not only rebuffed but met with violence and terrorism.

By ignoring the enormous "risks for peace" Israel has taken, partly at U.S. urging, Powell signals to Israelis that any concessions Israel makes will only increase, rather than decrease, the pressure from the international community. By the same token, the Palestinians would naturally understand that the way to escape pressure to compromise is to become more intransigent and violent, as happened after the 2000 Camp David summit.

Structurally, the speech equated the expansion of Israeli settlements in the disputed West Bank and Gaza territories with Palestinian terrorism, despite the fact that the former is permitted by the Oslo Accords, while the latter is a gross violation of their letter and spirit.

Essentially, Israel is asked to make new concessions that go beyond the Oslo Agreements in order to gain Palestinian compliance with PLO obligations within Oslo. What does Israel gain tangibly?: The positive elements for Israel in the Powell speech are chiefly procedural. The Palestinians, in contrast, make tangible gains in substance: a "viable" Palestinian state....Powell grants "secure and recognized borders" evenhandedly to both Israel and Palestine. In reality, it is Israel that has historically been threatened by 21 Arab states: the Palestinians are not threatened by 21 Jewish states.... Whither political reform?: It is incongruous, to say the least, that the words "freedom" and "democracy" would be completely absent from an American vision for the Arab world.

Powell praised Israel's democracy, but for the Arabs spoke coyly of the need for "the rule of law" and the "politics of participation." Unwarranted expectations: The present focus on the Palestinian issue appears to be unwarranted for another reason. The declaration of a new American peace initiative implies that Israel and the Palestinians are ripe for a diplomatic breakthrough. Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker, until recently State's leading Middle East authority, stated (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 17), "I have concluded that Arafat will not make peace because he doesn't have a vision to lead his people to peace."

Indeed, during 2001, Palestinian positions on the peace process have discernibly hardened; Palestinian National Council Chairman Salim Za'anun announced that the PLO Covenant calling for Israel's destruction remains in force. And Yasser Arafat's own spokesmen speak openly about replacing Israel with a democratic Palestinian state.

FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL (in Cleveland on 2 December)

These remarks came just over 24 hours after a series of horrific terrorist attacks killed more than 25 Israeli civilians and injured 200. Ambassador Indyk reflected on the current situation and discussed how the situation might end. Following are excerpts from his remarks:

These are the times that try Jewish souls. We went to bed last night with images of the bombing at Zion Square in downtown Jerusalem, and awoke to the bus bombing in Haifa. We are overwhelmed. We ask how this situation will end, as we curse those who carried out the attacks and Arafat for not preventing them. An end to the situation is up to three men: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, U.S. President George W. Bush, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON

To understand Sharon, we must know that there are three Sharons: Sharon the general, Sharon the politician, and Sharon the prime minister. Sharon the general believes in the efficacy of force. He sent Israeli troops into Lebanon and expelled Yasser Arafat, thus destroying his state within a state. He believed that the answer to the Palestinian problem lied in Jordan, and he was the architect of Israel's settlement policy.

Sharon the politician promised his people peace. He would stop the violence before negotiations. But he has not achieved security. He joined with Shimon Peres to gain a positive image, but he has former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the other side calling for the destruction of the Palestinian Authority. If Sharon moves toward the right, his coalition will fall apart. If he stays where he is, he will eventually lose the support of his own party, which is moving toward the right.

Sharon the prime minister has a chance to redeem himself at the most complicated time in Israel's history. He is trying not to repeat the mistakes of the past and trying to avoid sending his army into the West Bank. He knows that Israel's strength is also its weakness. Sharon also knows the value of Israel's relationship with the United States. He has proposed a Palestinian state, and he empathizes with the Palestinians. At any particular moment, any of these faces of Sharon could reveal itself.

So what will he do? He will be tempted to be the general - to send his army into the West Bank, to expel Arafat, and to try to work with local Palestinian leaders. The prime minister knows that that tactic will not stop the violence and prefers massive international pressure on Arafat, backed by the threat of force, to get Arafat to crack down on the terrorists and their infrastructure. That has not worked, because Arafat has been willing to take half-measures. Without forceful engagement from the U.S., Arafat has been able to shift the focus to Israeli force.

U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

Before September 11, Bush was able to divide the world into the good guys and the bad guys.

Sharon was a good guy as long as he did not create regional instability that would threaten U.S. strategic interests. Arafat was a bad buy. Bush was not interested in peace-making, because there was no chance with Sharon and Arafat. Therefore he was impervious to Arab entreaties to do something. September 11 changed everything.

It established a new organizing principle for the Bush administration - a war on terrorism. There are no good terrorists and bad terrorists. He made it very clear: States are either with the U.S. or with the terrorists. He is applying that tenet to the Middle East. Bush looked to Israel to try and calm things down, to help get the Israeli-Palestinian conflict off the radar screen so it would not be a point of tension in the anti-terror coalition.

Bush wanted Arafat to stop the violence and arrest the terrorists. Saudi Arabia and Egypt were worried about their populations, so they pressured Bush to get involved. As a result, Bush proposed a Palestinian state. But Bush will not meet with Arafat until Arafat does what he has promised. Bush's message is clear: This is a moment of decision. Arrest the terrorists or be treated like one. U.S. envoy General Anthony Zinni will not meet with Arafat. Instead, Bush has sent Aaron Miller to meet with him.

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CHAIRMAN YASSER ARAFAT

No one knows what Arafat wants - to destroy Israel, or to make peace, or just to survive. He is all tactics, no strategy. He told Ambassador Indyk that he is the only undefeated Arab general. He cares more about symbols than his people. He plays the victim, absolving himself of responsibility. He has purposefully created a fantasy world, inventing his own version of events, and the people around him play the game.

After the bombing of the disco in Tel Aviv on June 1, Arafat told Indyk that the bombing was a Mossad plot, evidenced by the fact that the bomber was from Jordan, allowed into Israel by the Mossad. Further evidence was that the bomber had lived in Israel for two months, during which time the Mossad recruited him. He said this, even as he had arrested those who had masterminded the attack. Arafat is, Indyk said, a "shmegegi" - a brilliant one. But he knows he must take action now.

He understands reality when he has to. He knows the intifada has been a disaster because it has cost him the United States, and it cost him the Israeli Left, who would have supported concessions. He is at risk of losing his own authority, and he has lost the deal that was on the table. He knows the events of September 11 make matters worse because he will be treated as a harborer of terrorists.

Secretary Powell gave him a way out if he stops the violence. He has the need, the explanation, and the path to act. But he is not a leader when it comes to confronting his opposition. He only makes decisions when he has to. He knows he is in that position now, evidenced by his declaration of a state of emergency.

THE END GAME

Arafat can do it. He has nine security organizations, and he can reign in those who have sided with the terrorists. He has done so before - in 1996 he cracked down on Hamas. When he tells them to stop their attacks, they do. His challenge is the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, funded and instructed by Iran, responsible for 12 of the 15 terrorist attacks in Israel since September 11.

If the U.S. will pressure him and Sharon the prime minister responds, Arafat has a way out. But it's Arafat, so we shouldn't bet on it. If he doesn't root out the violence, then he will see Sharon the general, who must defend his people. Then there will be a long war of attrition, and Arafat will be exiled. These are the two alternatives for the future. We hope for the first, but we must prepare for the second. For Israel, weakness lies in the lack of hope for an end to the nightmare.

The following collection of quotes from PLO officials was compiled by Dr. Emmanuel Navon, Founder and CEO of Navon Consulting Ltd., All of the quotes were delivered after the signing of the Oslo agreements.

PLO'S AIM CONTINUES TO BE THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL

• "[Our aim is] to eliminate the State of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian one." (Yasser Arafat, Closed session with Arab diplomats in Europe, January 30, 1996. Quoted in the Middle East Digest, March 7, 1996)

• "The struggle against the Zionist enemy is not a matter of borders but relates to the mere existence of the Zionist entity." (PLO spokesman Bassam-abu-Sharif, Kuwait News Agency, May 31, 1996)

• "The strategic goal is the liberation of Palestine from the Jordanian [sic] River to the Mediterranean Sea, even if this means that the conflict will last for another thousand years or for many generations." (Faisal Husseini, interview with Al-Arabi [Egypt], June 24, 2001)

• "After the establishment of a Palestinian State in all of the West Bank and Gaza, the struggle against Israel will continue." (Israeli Knesset member Azmi Bishara, Ha'aretz weekly supplement, May 22, 1998)

OSLO WAS SIGNED TO IMPLEMENT THE 1974 'PHASED PLAN' CALLING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MILITARIZED PALESTINIAN STATE TO LAUNCH A MILITARY ATTACK WITH THE SUPPORT OF IRAQ, EGYPT, JORDAN AND SYRIA

• "Only a Palestinian State can continue the struggle to remove the enemy from all Palestinian lands." (Yasser Arafat, reported in Jerusalem Post, November 18, 1994)

• "The Oslo II Agreement is a delayed realization of a stage in the PLO's 1974 phased plan." (A-Datsur [Jordanian Newspaper], Sept. 19, 1995

PLO NON-DENUNCIATIONOF VIOLENCE

• "If Israel rejects our demands there will be a reaction and we have a 30,000 man armed force." (Yasser Arafat, Israel Radio, June 7, 1996)

• "We decided to liberate our homeland step-by-step. Should Israel continue, no problem. If and when Israel says 'enough' we will return to violence. But this time it will be with 30,000 armed Palestinian soldiers and in a land." (Nabil Sha'ath, senior PLO official, in a speech in Nablus, January 1996)

• "The Palestinian Authority does not exclude the return to the armed struggle, and it will use its weapons." (Muhammad Dahlan, senior Gaza PLO official, Jerusalem Report, Nov. 28, 1996)

• "Everything you see and hear today is for tactical and strategic reasons. We have not given up the rifle. We still have armed gangs in the areas and if we do not get our state we will take them out of the closet and fight again." (Faisal Husseini, speech at Bir-Zeit University, November 22, 1993)

DENYING JEWISH CONNECTION TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL

• "Abraham was neither Jewish nor a Hebrew, but was simply an Iraqi. The Jews have no right to claim part of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Abraham's resting place, as a synagogue. Rather, the whole building should be a mosque." (Yasser Arafat, quoted in the Jerusalem Report, Dec. 26, 1996)

• "There is no tangible evidence of any Jewish traces/remains in the old city of Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity." (Statement issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Information, December 10, 1997)

• "All the events surrounding Kings Saul, David and Rehoboam occurred in Yemen, and no Hebrew remnants were found in Israel, for a very simple reason - because they were never there." (Arab historian Jarid al-Kidwa, on PLO education program, June 1997, quoted in Ha'aretz July 6, 1997)

• "Jerusalem is not a Jewish city, despite the Biblical myth implanted in some minds. There is no tangible evidence of Jewish existence from the so-called 'Temple Mount Era.' The location of the Temple Mount is in question. It might be in Jericho or somewhere else." (Walid Awad, Director of Foreign Publications for the PLO's Ministry of Information, interviewed by the IMRA news agency, Dec. 25, 1996)

DENIAL OF THE HOLOCAUST

• "The Nazis probably killed less than one million Jews and the Zionist movement was a partner in the slaughter." (Quote from a book written by Abu Mazen, Arafat's number 2 man and senior Oslo negotiator)

• "It is a well-known fact that every year the Jews exaggerate what the Nazis did to them. They claim there were 6 million killed, but precise scientific research demonstrates that there were no more than 400,000. (PA Television, Aug. 25, 1997)

• "[The Holocaust] is a forged claim by the Zionists regarding the alleged acts of slaughter perpetrated against the Jews." (PA newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, Sept. 3, 1997)

• "The persecution of the Jews is a deceitful myth which the Jews have labeled the Holocaust and have exploited to get sympathy." (PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda July 2, 1998)

Following are excerpts from a document prepared by Amy D. Goldstein, National Director, Israel, Zionist and International Affairs, Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America

As Israel takes steps to combat the anti-Israel terror network in the West bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinians and other adversaries of the Jewish State have begun to attack Israel in the public arena.

Claim: Israel should give the Palestinian Authority time to act against the terror groups. Israel's actions undermine the authority of the Palestinian leadership.

Fact: Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat committed to acting against anti-Israel terror groups in 1993. He has failed to do so since that time. In fact, the Palestinian Authority's immediate moves to arrest 100 members of terrorist organizations in the wake of the December 1, 2001 attacks did not include those on Israel's list of 100 most wanted terror suspects. Since the beginning of the Intifada in September 2000.

Claim: Israel began this cycle of violence and is encouraging it to continue by its actions, which will result in more anti-Israel violence.

Fact: All Israeli action since September 2000 has been in response to terrorist threats to Israeli citizens. The Palestinians began the Intifada in a cynical attempt to reject peace overtures by Israel and use terror and violence as a negotiating tool. The Intifada began on September 26, 2001 with attacks in Gaza and has continued unabated since that time. Israel has agreed to seven U.S.-brokered cease-fires since September 2000- all of which have been broken by Yasser Arafat. Israel has been forced to act against terrorist groups and threats because the Palestinian Authority has failed to do so.

Claim: Anti-Israel terror is not the same as anti-American terror. There is no parallel between the U.S. war against terror and the Israeli strikes against the Palestinians.

Fact: President Bush included Hamas, Hizbullah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on the official list of terror organizations with global reach in October 2001. The President, Attorney General and Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill froze the assets of three Hamas-linked financial organizations. This significant step indicates that President Bush and the Administration realize that there is no difference between anti-Israel terror and anti-American terror. Both seek to destroy our shared democratic way of life, and both want to undermine the freedom that Americans and Israelis enjoy.

Claim: Israeli occupation of Palestinians is to blame for the violence.

Fact: The Palestinian Authority controls 98 percent of the Palestinian population. They are not directly occupied by the Israeli government. In July 2000, Prime Minister Barak offered a sweeping proposal to achieve a real, comprehensive, and lasting peace with the Palestinians at Camp David. This proposal included a final arrangement for all the remaining disputed territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat rejected this proposal and gave orders to begin the Intifada, indicating that he is not interested in resolving the outstanding issues between Israel and the Palestinians.

Claim: Israeli demands to make arrests are anti-democratic.

Fact: One of the functions of a legitimate civil and police authority is to investigate, arrest, prosecute and incarcerate criminal perpetrators, including suspected terrorists. Palestinian leader Arafat committed to these actions in all of his agreements with Israel. He has failed to fulfill these commitments on a sustained basis. Moreover, Arafat is not a democratically elected leader and the Palestinian Authority is not a democracy. To make this claim is disingenuous and attempts to manipulate the democratic ideals of Americans and Israelis.

Claim: Israel wants to oust Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Fact: Israel is fighting those forces in the Palestinian areas engaged in terrorism or harboring terrorists, including the PA, until such time as there is a Palestinian leadership ready to seriously confront terror within those areas and maintain security cooperation with Israel. Fighting the PA doesn't necessarily mean killing Arafat or destroying the PA.

Claim: Hamas is a political and social organization.

Fact: Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, has been recognized as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department. President Bush stated on December 4, 2001 that Hamas is "one of the deadliest terrorist organizations in the world today," and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill called Hamas "a terrorist organization of global reach." As a result, the Bush Administration has frozen the funds of Hamas, its branches, and affiliated fundraising organizations in the United States such as The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, based in Richardson, TX. Hamas has taken credit for 15 major terror acts since 1993 that have killed 87 Israelis and four Americans, while wounding 647. In a country the size of Israel, these casualties would be like 3,500 American deaths and over 25,800 injured. Hamas incites anti-Israel violence and glorifies suicide bombers in its mosques and schools and recruits operatives at its medical clinics and youth camps. Hamas was born on December 15, 1987, with the goal of creating an Islamic republic in place of Israel.

Claim: Israeli actions are acts of terror.

Fact: Israel's actions are aimed at rooting out anti-Israel terror networks such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Force -17, and others that thrive in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These groups have vowed to continue their use of terror against Israeli civilians in order to destroy the State of Israel, which they call a "historic crime against humanity." All countries have the right and the responsibility to protect their people, and Israel is exercising its right to self-defense in response to a terrorist threat.

Following a U.S. veto of a Security Council resolution regarding the conflict in the Middle East, the U.N. General Assembly met December 20 in emergency special session and approved two resolutions. This tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, met "to consider illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem of all acts of violence, provocation and destruction, as well as the return to the positions and arrangements that existed prior to September 2000." The entire text of the U.N. press release can be found at http://www.un.org/news/press/docs/2001/GA10003.doc.htm.

U.N. RESOLUTION ON ISRAELI PRACTICES

The following resolution was approved by the General Assembly by a vote of 124-6. Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Tuvalu, and the United States voted against the resolution. Twenty-five nations, including Britain, Japan, Australia, Norway, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia abstained. The text of this resolution was essentially the same as the draft resolution considered by the Security Council and vetoed by the United States. It "condemned all acts of terror, in particular those targeting civilians, as well as all acts of extrajudiciary executions, excessive use of force and wide destruction of properties." In addition, the resolution "called on the two sides to start the comprehensive and immediate implementation of the recommendations made in the...(Mitchell Report)...and encouraged all concerned to establish a monitoring mechanism to help the parties implement those recommendations. It also brands Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas "as illegal and an obstacle to peace."

U.N. RESOLUTION ON THE FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION

The following resolution was approved by the General Assembly by a vote of 133-4. Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and the United States voted against the resolution. Sixteen nations, including Australia and Canada abstained. The General Assembly endorsed a declaration adopted at a gathering of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention on Dec. 5. The declaration reiterated the "applicability of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War to the occupied Palestinian territory [and] expressed full support for the declaration adopted by the Conference of High Contracting Parties...". It called "the occupying power" - Israel - to refrain from "willful killing, torture [and] unjustified restrictions of free movement."

STATEMENT BY U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.

Following is the statement made by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John D. Negroponte regarding the General Assembly resolutions passed last week:

All members of this body agree on the need to help end the violence and the suffering of the Israeli and Palestinian people now. That is what my government has dedicated itself to do, and that is what we are trying to do in the region. As President Bush said before this Assembly, we are working toward a day when two states, Israel and Palestine, live peacefully together within secure and recognized borders.

We are looking for tangible, realistic means to reverse the current dangerous trend and to pave the way toward real negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Unfortunately, these resolutions, like the resolution before the Security Council last week, fail to address the terrible dynamic at work in the region. Instead, its purpose is to isolate politically one of the parties to the conflict through an attempt to throw the weight of the General Assembly behind the other party. We will vote against these resolutions.

We oppose the first resolution because, among other things, it calls for a monitoring mechanism regardless of whether the parties agree on such a mechanism. Is this a realistic means of reaching our common goal? The resolution does not demand a cessation of terrorism. Chairman Arafat, in his constructive address to the Palestinian people earlier this week, issued such a call, and we welcomed it. Terrorists seek to brutally sabotage any potential for peace between Palestinians and Israelis, and to undermine the Palestinian Authority in the process. As Secretary General Annan has often said, terrorism cannot be justified by any cause. Direct negotiations are the only route to our shared goal, and acts of terrorism are aimed at derailing direct negotiations.

Thousands of miles away from this debate, my government is working hard - along with representatives of several fellow General Assembly members - to help bring the parties back from the precipice. Yesterday, Secretary Powell, standing alongside the Belgian Prime Minister and the EU's High Representative, recommitted the U.S. to achieving implementation of the Mitchell Committee recommendations through the establishment of a durable cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians. Our engagement is direct and practical. We look forward to sending General Zinni back to the region to pursue those goals.

As the Palestinians assume their responsibilities to confront terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Israel needs to do its part to create an environment in which Palestinians can sustain and expand their efforts. And, as Secretary Powell has also stressed, the daily plight of the Palestinian people must be eased. As the Palestinian Authority continues to move in a serious manner on security, Israel must take steps on the ground to ease restrictions on the Palestinian population and consider very carefully the consequences of the actions it takes.

The proper role of the UN is to facilitate and strengthen agreements that Israel and the Palestinians reach with each other. These one-sided resolutions do nothing to further that goal. If we instead channel the good will in this body today to encourage both parties directly on the ground toward a course of coexistence and peace, we will make such a contribution to ending this dispute and enhance the credibility of this institution.

57. SAUDI GOVERNMENT DAILY: THE JEWS ARE TAKING OVER THE WORLD (January 2, 2002 - 18 Tevet 5762)

The Saudi government daily Al-Watan published a two-part article presenting a study by the "American-European Center for Security and International Studies." Neither the center, nor the study, has been found on the internet. Written by Abdallah Aal Malhi, the first part of the article was entitled "Israel, the governess of terrorism, rewards terrorists by appointing them to top posts in the Jewish state." The "study" attacked Israel and its leaders, accusing them of racism. Part two was titled, "The Jewish organizations are implementing their strategic hellish plan to take over the world." Following are excerpts from the article provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Additional articles and information can be found at http://www.memri.org.

AL-WATAN: THE JEWISH SENSE OF SUPERIORITY IN THE WORLD

At the end of the last century, the Jewish organizations consolidated a hellish plan to take over the world by sparking revolutions or taking control of the keys to governments in various countries, first and foremost the U.S. and Russia.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the goal of the Russians, and with them the Jews and their global organizations, was to topple Russian imperialism, which they considered antisemitic. To this end, the Jewish organizations across the world sought to create a Jewish socialist system. Most of this system's leaders were Jews, and they financed the Russian Revolution, which if truth be told was more of a Jewish revolution than a Russian one. This revolution's main financier was the well-known Jewish capitalist Jacob Schiff of New York....

The Jewish sense of superiority is typified by hypocrisy and zeal... The Jews are incapable of actualizing their influence and control for a simple reason, and that is that they are a demographic minority in every society in the world. For this reason, the Jews are trying by means of their trickery to weaken the national identity [of the non-Jews] and thus take over affairs and direct them to serve their interests. This is obvious everywhere in the world where there is a large community, both in Arab societies and in American society, such as the European-American community or African-American and even among the Muslims in the Arab world, where the Jews act by means of their control of the media, politics, and the economy in order to weaken the non-Jewish groups and bring about their disintegration, in order to secure their goals.

How is this carried out? It is carried out by the principle of 'divide and rule.' The Jewish zealots fear, and fight, any racial non-Jewish coalition. In the Western countries, the Jews fight all the organizations attempting to safeguard European interests and tradition. In the non-European countries, the Jews constantly act to fracture and weaken the coalitions and the homogeneity of the main racial groups."

In America, for example, the Jews did not act merely to weaken the homogeneity and the coalition of European-Americans, but also fought other coalitions, such as the black national movement, the Nation of Islam, and other movements. All these African-American organizations wanted was to preserve the traditions that they had lost in the multicultural society - but the Jews, due to their well-known sense of superiority, did not want anyone besides themselves to preserve their traditions and collective interests. Therefore, they always try to make other societies feel guilty, even about their pride in their culture. They present this interest and sense of pride in the culture of those non-Jewish organizations as a racist tendency....

When we realize that the American media is controlled by the Jews, we are no longer surprised. Presenting this obvious fact does not suit Jewish interests, and damages the Jews' relations and interests with the American people. For this reason, it is concealed, as are the daily Jewish crimes against the Palestinians.

On the other hand, we now find books and films, most of them written and produced by zealous Jewish hands, condemning any racial movement that is not Jewish. At the same time, only a very few books have dared to write against Jewish racism. Since the big publishing houses are at the mercy of the Jews, only a few of these are published - and if they are published, their distribution is extremely small... If these Jewish zealots were credible, they should have written about the Jewish racism they know so well....

The arrogance and tyranny of the Jews, who manage to hide it from the Western public, has reached such proportions that anyone who talks about them, their hegemony, and their racism knows that he will pay a high price. In America, for example, anyone who dares to talk about this in public has his good name smeared in the media, and declares bankruptcy if he works in commerce. If he is an official, he loses his job. When anyone dares to state a fact that does not please the Jews or does not suit their interests, the Jews' methods of silencing him range from threats to physical harm, in addition to damaging his capital and transferring him to the rolls of the unemployed if he is an official or a businessman. If he is a politician, he is completely done for, and is flung aside. This task is being carried out by the Jewish media, the Jewish lobby, and the Jewish defense team, which always accuses its adversaries of intolerance towards other ethnic, religious, and racial groups....

What we say is happening [in reality] is hundreds of those who deviated from the outline laid out by the Jews, and who dared to go beyond the red lines drawn for them, find themselves behind bars. These red lines are none other than saying and exposing the truth - something in which the Jews are not interested. [In the prisons] there are hundreds of people who spoke of the Holocaust and exposed the truth about falsified Jewish propaganda.

In conclusion, the reader is likely to wonder about the extent of the Jews' control... So as to prove our words, we will not address Jewish control of the media in Western countries, primarily in the U.S.... but we will give an example of the Jews' infiltration and control of the top positions in the American administration. This control aroused astonishment in the days of the Clinton administration...: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, FBI chief George Tenet, Defense Secretary William Cohen, Clinton's national security advisor Sandy Berger - all Jews. Through this infiltration of the various American administrations, and through controlling the media and money, the Jews impose their agenda on the other peoples, and the Jewish sense of superiority, whose aim is to recruit the peoples and their resources for the good of Jewish interests and their racist state Israel, remain unchanged.

58. THE PLO WEAPONS SHIP FROM IRAN (January 9, 2002 - 25 Tevet 5762)

Last week's seizure by Israeli naval commandos in the Red Sea of the Palestinian ship Karine-A, with its cargo of over 50 tons of Iranian weapons and explosives, reveals an entirely new network of cooperation in Middle Eastern terrorism. The PLO-Iranian link will require a complete re-examination of the strategic landscape in the Middle East,particularly with respect to the intentions of the PLO's governing institution in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the regional role of Iran. The following analysis(excerpted) is provided by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, http://www.jcpa.org/.

IRAN AND THE PALESTINIANS IN THE PAST

Until the Israeli operation, it was commonly assumed that revolutionary Iran had sought to exploit international terrorism primarily through Hizbullah, in order to penetrate fellow Shi'ite Muslim populations in Arab states that maintained grievances against Sunni Muslim rulers and elites.... The PLO originally had close ties with Ayatollah Khomeini's government right after the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1978, due largely to their shared hostility to both Israel and the old Iranian leadership. But after Yasser Arafat supported Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War, the PLO-Iranian relationship weakened during the 1980s....Iranian influence among the Palestinians was maintained chiefly through the small Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization.

BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE KARINE-A SMUGGLING OPERATION: SIGNS OF A NEW RELATIONSHIP

Israel had indications of renewed operational cooperation between the PLO and Hizbullah in early 2001, when it was revealed that Lt. Colonel Masoud Iyyad, a Force-17 officer, was also building Hizbullah's infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. But the Karine-A operation indicates that this cooperation began even earlier:

• The Karine-A was purchased in Lebanon during October 2000 for $400,000 by Adel Moghrabi, who heads the Palestinian Authority weapons acquisition office. Yasser Arafat's "Al-Aqsa Intifada" had just begun at the end of September. Presumably, the search for new sources of weapons and different shipping options had been explored even beforehand, prior to the outbreak of violence.

• After taking possession of the Karine-A, the PA transferred the ship to Sudan, where it was loaded with innocent civilian cargo. Its Palestinian crew then joined the ship, which headed initially to the Yemenite port of Hodeida on the Red Sea. One Palestinian crew member had been trained by Hizbullah in Lebanon. The ship's captain was Colonel Omar Akawi, an officer in the Palestinian Authority Naval Police. From Yemen the Karine-A headed for the Persian Gulf. Free of its cargo, it anchored near Iranian islands, within Iran's territorial waters, where it was loaded with 50 tons of Iranian weaponry, brought to the ship by ferry.

• The Karine-A required repairs which it completed in Hodeida, Yemen. On December 29, the ship left Yemen, heading up the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal. The Karine-A was to cross into the Mediterranean and meet up with three smaller ships to receive its cargo. The destination of the shipment was the Gaza Strip.

• The intercepted cargo ship contained new escalatory weapons, including: 62 122mm Katyusha rockets (20 kilometer range), 700 120mm mortar shells (6 kilometer range), 686 81mm mortar shells, a ton and a half of highly potent C-4 explosives, Sagger, RPG, and LAW anti-tank weapons, and over 400,000 rounds of ammunition for automatic weapons (Ma'ariv, January 7, 2002).

IMPLICATIONS OF THE KARINE-A FOR UNDERSTANDING PALESTINIAN INTENTIONS

The fact that the decision to purchase weaponry on this scale was taken by the Palestinian Authority prior to or even at the beginning of the current intifada is revealing....The mix of weaponry is not indicative of defensive concerns alone or of a strategy of deterrence. The large amounts of C-4 explosives would dramatically increase the lethality of future car -bomb attacks or suicide bombings conducted in Israel's population centers, in comparison to the laboratory-manufactured explosives used in the West Bank. This new capability could, for example, bring down whole buildings in Tel Aviv in the future.

...Longer-range Katyusha rockets would have given the Palestinians the capability of threatening Israeli population centers from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, Herzliya, and Netanya, while their anti-tank weapons would have constrained Israeli retaliatory land operations in the West Bank. Anti-tank missiles, in large numbers, could pose a new heightened threat to Israeli civilian traffic crossing West Bank roads, beyond the automatic gunfire employed over the last year by the Tanzim and Force-17.

...by approving major weapons purchases from Iran, Arafat has indicated that he is willing to tie Palestinian fortunes to Iran's Middle Eastern agenda. Given Iran's declared commitment to the eradication of Israel, this strategic choice only reinforces the impression that Arafat views his territorial hold in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a stage for ongoing guerrilla conflict with Israel, rather than as a step in the direction of a negotiated settlement. Iran emerges from this episode as a state dedicated to regional instability in the Middle East, by its support of international terrorism. Iran's tactical interest in the defeat of the Taliban should not confuse observers in the West of Tehran's unflagging opposition to Middle East peace options and its determination to exploit every opportunity for the destabilization of Israel itself.

59. RAAD MAHMED RAAF KARMI (January 16, 2001 - 3 Shvat 5762)

Raad Mahmed Raaf Karmi, a Palestinian leader responsible for terrorist attacks against Israelis, was killed earlier this week. The following information was released by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Media Advisor.

Raad Mahmed Raaf Karmi, born in 1974, a resident of Tulkarem, married, was a Tanzim operative.

The Palestinians have been reporting, for a long time, that Raad Karmi is being held in prison by the Palestinian Authority (as they also told the Europeans). Again, we have a situation in which the Palestinian Authority claims to have imprisoned a terrorist who was in fact free.

Since the beginning of the violence in October 2000, Raad Karmi has headed a Tanzim squad responsible for many shooting attacks in the Tulkarem area, in which Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers were killed and injured.

In interviews and media reports, Karmi made it clear that he was determined to continue terrorist attacks against Israel and broaden them. On August 23, 2001, Karmi told CNN: "We train the teenagers to carry out terrorist attacks inside Israeli territory...We train 17 and 18 year olds to attack settlers and to kidnap soldiers inside Israel." In other interviews, he also claimed involvement in the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli restaurant owners in Tulkarem.

Raad Karmi acts directly on the orders and supervision of Marwan Bargouti, head of the Tanzim in the West Bank.

According to the information in [Israel's] possession, [at least 15 terrorist attacks were carried out by Karmi and his squad members, or at his direct command], resulting in the deaths of 10 Israelis.

ILLEGAL WEAPONS SMUGGLING

Following are statements by the Israeli government regarding Palestinian illegal acquisition of weapons and Israeli efforts to stop smuggling operations.

ISA UNCOVERS GOLAN WEAPONS INFILTRATION

January 9 - Several weeks ago, the ISA (Israel Security Agency), in cooperation with the Israel Police Galilee central unit, discovered an infiltration point through which weapons were smuggled from Syria to the Golan Heights. A former Majdal Shams resident, who crossed over to Syria in 1987, was responsible from the Syrian side for the infiltrations of weapons.

The smuggled weapons that were captured included five claymore roadside charges as well as 15 hand grenades. In addition, operating instructions to achieve the "best" results against people and vehicles were also found with the weapons.

The weapons were meant to be supplied to hostile elements in the territories. A number of residents of Majdal Shams were arrested in the course of the investigation. The investigation has shown that a number of those arrested acted to receive the weapons in Israel, hid them in the field and directed the hostile elements to the hiding places.

Others who were arrested are suspected of being involved in establishing the connection with the Syrian source or were aware of the existence of the connection.

Exposure of weapons infiltration of this scale is the first of its kind on the Syrian-Israeli border on the Golan Heights which is normally a closed border, protected from weapons infiltrations. This border has enjoyed a long period of quiet and tight Syrian supervision to maintain the quiet.

Lessons have been learned in light of the weapons infiltration and the warning mechanisms against infiltrations have been improved.

PRIME MINISTER SHARON ON THE IDF ACTION IN RAFAH

January 13 - (In response to a question from a journalist.) Israel has decided to make every effort to stop [the] smuggling of weapons by the Palestinians. A major effort has been made by the Palestinian Authority to smuggle weapons across all our borders: weapons that are coming from Iran - that we have seen just recently; weapons that are smuggled from Sinai into Rafah and from there to the Palestinian Authority; weapons smuggled from Iraq via Jordan, although Jordan is taking all the steps to prevent it, and then across the Dead Sea; weapons smuggled by the Hizbullah in Lebanon to the Fatah organization. That has become a very dangerous development.

In Rafah, the system is to smuggle through tunnels, and these tunnels are deep - from 12 to 18 meters. Israel has to take all the necessary steps to stop that smuggling of weapons. I can assure you that, as I said to the Cabinet this morning, there must be a real solution there. I think that we have to discuss it with the Palestinians. No doubt the narrow corridor that we have there does not allow us to stop it. Maybe there should be a more basic and serious solution there - maybe by paying for some land around there, to widen the corridor in order to stop the smuggling.

Israel decided to stop the smuggling of weapons by the Palestinian Authority, and we have to find the best way to do it. I know it's hard, it's complicated, but I think that as a result of the smuggling, not only the Israelis suffer - the Palestinians suffer. We have to find a way...to do it. maybe the complaints should be to the Palestinian Authority that allows the smuggling of weapons there. Most of those buildings were empty, and covered the tunnels which were dug inside those buildings.

This government, which is ready to make painful compromises for genuine, durable, true peace, will not make any compromise whatever - not now and not in the future - when it comes to the security of the Israeli citizens and the very existence of the State of Israel.

60. ARAB PRESS: THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS WERE PERPETRATED BY THE JEWS(January 23, 2002 - 10 Shvat 5762)

Following are just a few excerpts from a January 8th report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The entire report can be found at http://www.memri.org/sr/SR00602.html.

INTRODUCTION,

Since September 11, the Arab media have claimed that Jews perpetrated the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. Promoting this new myth are high-ranking public officials and columnists in the government and non-government press in Arab countries. In an attempt to deflect blame from the Arab-Muslim suspects in the attacks, the media have floated a number of ideas on the identities of the perpetrators...in the articles reviewed in this report, the conclusions point directly at the Jews...in one case, [the papers] hand down a sentence - annihilation "as Hitler did."

ARABS DIDN'T DO IT; ALL EVIDENCE AGAINST THEM IS FALSE

Raed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel: it was puzzling that "the manifests of the two airlines...included not a single Arab...."

Palestinian columnist Khalil Al-Sawahri, in the Palestinian Authority-sponsored daily Al-Ayyam: the letter left by the hijackers was forged. "Its disseminators are the circles of Orientalists who are making efforts to tarnish the image of the Arab Muslim....

NON-ARAB POTENTIAL SUSPECTS

Columnist Hassan M. Yussef, Syrian government daily Teshreen: "There is a possibility that this was an [act of] ancient retribution... The U.S. declared war on Japan...[The bomb] killed more than 221,983 Japanese....

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat columnist Samir 'Atallah: the attacks...were the product of a conspiracy led by President George W. Bush.... "...He won the election by a miniscule majority...[But] after September 11, George W. Bush is the first president since Roosevelt with both parties behind him...."

Dr. Abdallah Al-Sheikh, Jerusalem Arabic weekly Al-Manar: "...The operation itself is characteristic of operations by these apparatuses."

ISRAEL/THE MOSSAD/WORLD ZIONISM/THE JEWS DID IT

Syrian foreign minister Mustafa Tlass, during a meeting in Damascus with a delegation from the British Royal College of Defense Studies: the Mossad planned the ramming of two hijacked airliners into the WTC towers as part of a Jewish conspiracy. Former Egyptian ambassador to Afghanistan Ahmad Al-'Amrawi: the Zionist movement and American intelligence organizations planned the attacks. He said the aim was both to extricate Israel from its current crisis and to give the U.S. an opening to take over oil reserves in the Caspian Sea....

Columnist Rakan Al-Majali, Al-Dustour: "...Only Israel does not fear that the Jews will be discovered to be behind this operation - who inside or outside the U.S. would dare to accuse them...They, more than anyone, are capable of hiding a crime they carry out, and they can be certain that no one will ask them what they have done."

Jihad Jbara, Jordanian government daily Al-Rai: "...Why [not assume] that Zionist organizations perpetrated it, so that Israel could destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque while the world was preoccupied with what happened in America...?"

PRESENTING THE 'EVIDENCE' IN THE CASE

In an attempt to substantiate their accusations against the Jews, the writers made the following arguments:

• Jewish employees were warned not to come to work at the WTC on September 11. Syrian ambassador to Tehran Turky Muhammad Saqr at a conference at the Iranian Foreign Ministry: "Syria has documented proof of the Zionist regime's involvement in the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S.," and that "4,000 Jews employed at the WTC did not show up for work before the attack clearly attests to Zionist involvement in these attacks."

• Israeli leaders knew of the attacks ahead of time. Syrian columnist Mu'taz Al-Khatib: "Barak's presence in the BBC's head office minutes after the explosion, at a meeting set in advance, to speak for 30 minutes of the danger of terrorism and chastise the 'rogue states'..." was further proof of Israel's involvement.

• Only the Jews/Israel had the capability to carry out the attacks. Columnist Galal Al-Sayyed, Egyptian government daily Al-Akhbar: "...Why couldn't it be the Mossad that secretly planned this crime without exposing itself? [Later,] the idea crept out to bin Laden and his aides via his collaborators [in the Mossad]. I wouldn't be exaggerating by saying that perhaps the Mossad sent bin Laden-trained men and pilots to carry out the operation..."

THE JEWS WANT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD

• Saudi Prince Mamdouh bin Abd Al-Aziz, president of the Saudi Center for Strategic Studies: "Anyone who even skims through The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Pieces on the Chessboard, or the book The World is a Pawn in the Hands of Israel, and follows current events, becomes convinced that the Jews are behind the world's current 'terrorized' atmosphere..."