The information in this file was recently published in FREEDOM  -
the fortnightly anarchist journal published by FREEDOM PRESS:

FREEDOM PRESS (IN  ANGEL  ALLEY)  84B  WHITECHAPEL  HIGH  STREET,
LONDON E1 7QX GREAT BRITAIN

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MIDDLE EAST

  In  April  1948  commandos  from  Begin's  Irgoun  organisation
entered  Deir  Yassin,  a  village  near Jerusalem. The Red Cross
reported 250 men, women and children killed.
  This was prior  to  independance  on  14th  May  1948  and  the
declaration  of  war  by the arab states the following day. Begin
declared, 'Not only was the massacre of Deir Yassim justified but
without it there would have been no state of Israel.'
  More then 40 years later in the occupied territories  the  same
logic reigns between the settlers  and the Palestinians. From the
Hebron massacre to the six Palestinians killed by a special  unit
of  the  Israeli  army in the refugee camp at Jabalia in the Gaza
strip there is more to this than mere 'extremism'.
   The Israeli government, by outlawing zionist groups like  Kach
and  Khana  Hai,  have  managed  to  hide the nastier side of the
problem but haven't they themselves always colaborated  with  the
settlers? Thus in January 92, Moshe Arens, Defence Minister, gave
authorisation to civil guard units to patrol  the  perimeters  of
their  settlements in a policing role. Bt'selem, the human rights
organisation has registered from December 87 to December  93,  39
cases  of  homicidal  settlers:  three have appeared in court the
heaviest sentence being three years imprisonment. Israeli society
is shocked at the Hebron massacre and stays silent about everyday
events.
   In order to absolve itself of international condemnation,  the
state  has  recourse  to methods used elsewhere: the Governmental
Commission of Enquiry. Thus the Israeli State will be  hailed  as
having tried to confront reality but will there really be an open
debate concerning human rights in the occupied territories?
   For  Michael  Warchanski,  a  journalist  at  the  Centre  for
Alternative Information Even if the army, the security forces and
the government are condemned by  the  evidence  the  condemnation
will  be  stiffled by international recognition of its autocratic
capacity.
  Meron Benvenisti former mayor of Jerusalem states The  bias  of
the enquiry allows the government to mask the real problem. Peace
will remain an impossibility for as long as the question  of  the
settlers  remains  unresolved.  At  a time when negotiations have
started again the government is hell bent  on  acquiring  maximum
territorial   control   in  areas  outside  that  designated  for
autonomy... thus some 46m sq. metres  have  been  acquired  since
1993 by the settlers.
   For how  long  will  these  opposing  camps  co-exist  in  the
occupied  territories?  As  the  'peace  process'  continues  the
settlers accuse their government of treason. The settlers council
announced   on  5th  December  last  year  a  campaign  of  civil
disobediance and the setting up of  armed  militias.  There  have
been water supplies being sabotaged, murders... all of which came
to a climax with the Hebron massacre. The Israeli government  has
been forced by public opinion to react.... as have Hamas....
   The future will decide if the peace agreement  between  Arafat
and Rabin will really profit the Palestinians.

LML 20/4/94

 Centre for Alternative Information, PO Box 31417, Jerusalem Fax:
02.25.31.51.
































































