Mideast: IDF-Settler Violence
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Written 3:55 am
Dec 18, 1993 by a...@igc.apc.org in igc:mideast.levant */
/* ---------- "NFW: IDF-Settler Violence" ---------- */
N E W S F R O M W I T H I N
Volume IX, No. 12 4 December 1993
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IDF-Settler Violence Escalating Oppression
Tikva Honig-Parnass
With the approach of December 13, the date set for the beginning
of the implementation of the Palestinian-Israeli Agreement and the
redeployment of the IDF, both "official Israel" (the army) and
"unofficial Israel" (the settlers) are escalating the level of
their terrorist activities against the Palestinian people and
especially against active opponents of the occupation and the
Agreement. They share the common objective of further undermining
the Palestinians' weak position in the existing balance of power
with Israel in order to squeeze concessions out of them regarding
even the little authority promised them under Autonomy.
Shooting to Kill Palestinian Activists and Insurrectionists
During the last two weeks of November, the hunting down and murder
of "wanted men" - particularly those belonging to Hamas military
units, but also to those of the Popular Front and lately even
Fatah - was stepped up in anticipation of the transfer to the
autonomous Palestinian authorities of the role of suppression of
anti-occupation activism. 'Imad Aqel, revered leader of the 'Eiz
a-Din al-Qassem Units, the military wing of Hamas was shot down in
a gun battle in a Gaza City neighborhood. He had been at the top
of the list of "wanted men." His killing brought masses of Gaza
Strip Palestinians out into the streets. Hundreds participated in
daily attacks on IDF posts in the refugee camps and on Israeli
military patrols in clashes reminiscent of the first days of the
Intifada. These actions have been gaining increasing support from
all Palestinian political factions, including Fatah, which has
been cooperating with Hamas ever since the IDF began hunting down
and killing members of the Fatah Hawks (Fatah's military wing) who
chose to turn themselves in to the army (as had their comrades in
the past - who were freed after a half-hour of interrogation)
following the Agreement with the PLO - actually Fatah Tunis.
During the two days, November 29-30, after the killing of Ahmad
Abu Rish, after he had turned himself in and been released, "the
Gaza Strip was aflame," according to reports by Israeli
journalists. The IDF fired indiscriminately on demonstrates, and
each day during the last week of November and first week of
December took its toll of killed and dozens injured, even people
-including children - who were just watching the demonstrations.
In the West Bank as well, the IDF has been shooting
indiscriminately at demonstrators at road-blocks as well as at
suspects.
Calls for Escalation of the Intifada
Fatah activists in various localities (Ramallah, Khan Younis,
Gaza, Hebron) have published leaflets calling for the escalation
of the Intifada: "armed struggle against Israel until the
termination of the occupation," and a halt to the peace talks.
They severely criticize their leaders in Tunis and call for
violation of the orders to lay down their weapons and end the
resistance to the occupation.
In opposition to the activists' position stand the new
bureaucrats: Fatah representatives in the Gaza Strip - former
Intifada activists and veterans of Israeli prisons, who have been
appointed to run the new regime's offices - are attempting to
subdue the demonstrations and suppress the clashes in accordance
with the Agreement, and are demanding that the Fatah Hawks turn
themselves in to the army in order to get their names removed from
the list of "wanted men." On November 30, a delegation of Gaza
Strip Fatah leaders, headed by Mohammad al-Desouki (Abu Haroun) -
general secretary of Fatah there and the director of the PLO
offices in Khan Younis - met with General Vilnai, IDF commander of
the Gaza Strip. The IDF was appealing to them to exert their
influence to restore quiet to Gaza. The two sides agreed, "that
they must act in cooperation for the restoration of calm, and the
Fatah leaders promised to make an effort to help reduce the level
of tension of the in the strip" (Ma'ariv, 1-12-93).
This cooperation, required by the Oslo Agreement, is of course
cooperation between master and subject. This fact was reflected in
the language employed by the Fatah leaders at this meeting, where
they "requested" an end to the killing and repression, and did not
"demand" this elementary right: "If the IDF is not willing to stop
pursuing 'wanted [Fatah] men,' would they at least try to arrest
them and not kill them." In return they committed themselves to
persuade the Fatah Hawks in Khan Younis to refrain from violent
acts (Yediot Aharonot, 1-12).
Settler Terrorism
The increase in attacks on soldiers and settlers (especially by
Hamas), and the clashes with the army following the killing of
Palestinians - are also in reaction to the terrorist attacks being
carried out by the settlers against the Palestinians, destroying
property, wounding and sometimes even killing, stopping traffic at
highway junctions for hours at a time, and generally instilling
fear and terror. However the settlers cannot be regarded simply as
a bunch of crazies on the fringe of Israeli society. Even IDF
soldiers present during the rioting, themselves mostly stand on
the sidelines without intervening, and those who arrive
immediately after such incidents have carried out almost no
arrests of settlers, or at any rate, most of those they have
arrested have been released on bail until their trials. And
viewers of the October 4 television news were shocked to see
settlers from Kiryat Arba - side-by-side with soldiers -
shooting-to-kill at Palestinians who had pelted them with stones
in Hebron.
The fact that the IDF has generally refrained from halting acts of
settler terrorism is just the tip of the iceberg of support by the
Israeli establishment and a large part of the general public for
these deeds, whether direct or indirect.
The paradox is that Israel's official policy in the context of the
Agreement in general - and regarding the settlements in that
context - is the main reason for the settlers' daring to
explicitly challenge the authority of the government which signed
the Agreement - i.e., regarding the postponement of discussion of
the subject of settlements until the deliberations on the final
status of the Occupied Territories, while simultaneously
continuing construction - as a necessary condition of her
continued control (political and military) of the territories,
which in turn, allows her continued economic domination of them.
That is, Israel is granting autonomy to the Palestinians in
certain domains and a certain degree of sovereignty, but continues
to have a share of control in all of them. For example, the
clusters of settlements which will separate the Palestinian
cantons from each other, and which will be under Israeli
jurisdiction and will justify an Israeli military presence there -
are one of the ways in which Israel's shared control of the
Occupied Territories will be assured. And indeed, Rabin continues
to declare daily that no settlement will be dismantled during the
interim phase of Palestinian self-rule. Moreover, the Ministry of
Housing has gone on encouraging new Jewish immigrants to settle in
the Occupied Territories, and the general director of the
ministry, Aryeh Mizrahi, has announced that the ministry's policy
is: "to allow any Jew to buy a house anywhere in the West Bank"
(Al-Quds, 22-11, as quoted in the JMCC Weekly Palestine Report,
29-11).
The settlers and their supporters on the Right oppose the granting
of even the small measure of authority which Israel is willing to
transfer to the autonomous authorities, including the Palestinian
Police Force' responsibility for law enforcement in areas of
Palestinian population concentration. MK Rechavam Ze'evi (Gandhi)
head of the transferist, Moledet party, proclaimed that he would
shoot any Palestinian policeman who attempted to approach him when
he was staying in the areas under autonomous rule. Reserve army
officers have written in a letter to the prime minister that they
will refuse to serve in the Occupied Territories, claiming that
government policies interfere with settler activities. Two of them
are already in Army Prison #6 for refusal.
But it is not only the Right which supports the settlers, although
the others do not do so directly or blatantly, of course. For
instance, writers who are mentors of the Zionist labor movement,
like Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua "understand their hearts" and "the
terrible trauma the settlers are going through." One basis for
this emotional solidarity is the profound sense which they share,
that Israel has a right to this whole land, and the difference
between the Zionist labor movement and the settlers is only the
latter's 'courageous willingness to make painful sacrifices.'
Peace Now's silence in the face of the settler terrorism also
reflects the indirect support of "sane Zionism" for it.
Therefore it is not surprising that the settlers' daring has
increased of late. On November 30, the Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and
Gaza) Council announced a plan to symbolically mark the setting up
130 new settlements on "state land" adjacent to existing
settlements. These are slated eventually to become full-fledged
settlements themselves. The proclaimed objective is to preserve
these lands (which, along with the existing settlements, make over
60% of the land in the West Bank and 30% of the Gaza Strip) for
the purpose for which they were expropriated: "the benefit of the
State of Israel." The Council has also begun to recruit
volunteers from within the 'green line' for an armed militia which
will operate during the period of autonomy, in the settlements, on
the roads leading to them, and on the main highways of the
Occupied Territories. They have named this militia Hashomer, (the
Guard), after the organization of armed Jewish guards which was
established in Palestine in the early years of this century to
guard the Zionist settlements of that era. The announcement of the
establishment of the militia, however, brought a strong reaction
from Police Minister Shahal, against the erosion of the monopoly
on force which every "proper state" keeps to itself. However this
response was immediately followed by his announcement of a new
"fact on the ground" which will allow the settlers to retain their
secure place in the apartheid state which is in effect being set
up: He announced that work would soon begin on a road bypassing
Jericho, for the use of Jewish West Bank residents only, which
will apparently be completed in April. He is also pushing for the
building of a similar road bypassing Jerusalem and joining the
northern and southern sections of the West Bank - for the use of
Arab residents, to allow them to move around the West Bank, while
preventing their entry to Jerusalem (Ha'aretz, 1-12). However, the
police minister's initial strong reaction to the militia proposal
was quickly replaced by an "understanding of the need to arm the
settlers," and of their use of arms "within the limits of the law
and in coordination with us." (The Commissioner of Police in an
interview on the Israeli television evening news, 3-12-93).
In a society where even minimal justification for the death of
Palestinian "suspects" and demonstrators is no longer demanded,
and where, with the exception of the Peace Bloc - made up of
members of the radical peace camp - no voice has been raised
against the killing, the silence regarding the settler "pogroms"
comes as no surprise. The army's policy of looking the other way
is not due only to the government's "fear" of the settlers.
What we have before us is a division of labor between two military
arms of the Zionist occupation regime: The units of the official
army - the IDF - and the settler army. In the context of this
division of labor there are, of course, boundaries which the
government cannot permit the settlers to cross. Things must not
get entirely out of the army's control, and it must maintain its
superior authority. Deviations from the rules of the game by the
settlers, such as in the past few days in Hebron and Ramallah, has
resulted in the army and police beginning to fear total loss of
control.
The following is an example of how army and police punishment and
efforts at "prevention" operate, i.e. that they are constrained by
the abovementioned division of labor and division of
responsibilities between the two "armies:" When the IDF wanted to
confiscate the weapons at the settlement of Beit El in order to
check (and return afterwards) if they had been used in a "pogrom"
carried out by these settlers, the settlers refused to allow the
army to take the weapons from them personally. It was agreed that
the settlement secretariat would collect the weapons and that it
would turn them over to the army for inspection.
Given the silence of the Zionist Left until very recently, the
excessively weak reaction of the leaders of Fatah (both in Tunis
and here) and their acceptance of the role of silencer of the
militant resistance to the settlers and the occupation, and
especially given the kid glove treatment the Israeli government is
giving the settlers, it is difficult to imagine why the settlers
would halt their terrorist activities in the Occupied Territories,
which were designed to strengthen their position during the period
of autonomy.