First the Carrot, Then the Stick: Behind the Carnage in Palestine (2002)
coaste...@yahoo.com
First the Carrot, Then the Stick: Behind the Carnage in Palestine
By Norman G. Finkelstein
14 April 2002
During the June 1967 war, Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza,
completing the Zionist conquest of British-mandated Palestine. In the
war's aftermath, the United Nations debated the modalities for
settling the Arab-Israeli conflict. At the Fifth Emergency Session of
the General Assembly convening in the war's immediate aftermath, there
was "near unanimity" on "the withdrawal of the armed forces from the
territory of neighboring Arab states occupied during the recent war"
since "everyone agrees that there should be no territorial gains by
military conquest." (Secretary-General U Thant, summarizing the G.A.
debate) In subsequent Security Council deliberations, the same demand
for a full Israeli withdrawal in accordance with the principle of
"the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" was
inscribed in United Nations Resolution 242, alongside the right of
"every state in the region" to have its sovereignty respected. A
still-classified State Department study concludes that the US
supported the "inadmissibility" clause of 242, making allowance for
only "minor " and "mutual" border adjustments. (Nina J. Noring and
Walter B. Smith II, "The Withdrawal Clause in UN Security Council
Resolution 242 of 1967") Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan later
warned Cabinet ministers not to endorse 242 because "it means
withdrawal to the 4 June boundaries, and because we are in conflict
with the Security Council on that resolution."
Beginning in the mid-1970s a modification of UN Resolution 242 to
resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict provided for the creation of a
Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza once Israel withdrew to
its pre-June 1967 borders. Except for the United States and Israel
(and occasionally a US client state), an international consensus has
backed, for the past quarter century, the full-withdrawal/full
recognition formula or what is called the "two-state" settlement. The
United States cast the lone veto of Security Council resolutions in
1976 and 1980 calling for a two-state settlement that was endorsed by
the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and front-line Arab
states. A December 1989 General Assembly resolution along similar
lines passed 151-3 (no abstentions), the three negative votes cast by
Israel, the United States, and Dominica.
From early on, Israel consistently opposed full withdrawal from the
Occupied Territories, offering the Palestinians instead a South
African-style Bantustan. The PLO., having endorsed the international
consensus, couldn't be dismissed, however, as "rejectionist" and
pressure mounted on Israel to accept the two-state settlement.
Accordingly, in June 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon, where the PLO was
headquartered, to fend off what an Israeli strategic analyst called
the PLO's "peace offensive." (Avner Yaniv, Dilemmas of Security)
In December 1987 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza rose up in a
basically non-violent civil revolt (intifada) against the Israeli
occupation. Israel's brutal repression (extra-judicial killings, mass
detentions, house demolitions, indiscriminate torture, deportations,
and so on ) eventually crushed the uprising. Compounding the defeat
of the intifada, the PLO suffered yet a further decline in its
fortunes with the destruction of Iraq, the implosion of the Soviet
Union, and the suspension of funding from the Gulf states. The US and
Israel seized this occasion to recruit the already venal and now
desperate PLO leadership as surrogates of Israeli power. This is the
real meaning of the "peace process" inaugurated at Oslo in September
1993: to create a Palestinian Bantustan by dangling before the PLO the
perquisites of power and privilege.
"The occupation continued" after Oslo, a seasoned Israeli commentator
observed, "albeit by remote control, and with the consent of the
Palestinian people, represented by their `sole representative,' the
PLO." And again: "It goes without saying that `cooperation' based on
the current power relationship is no more than permanent Israeli
domination in disguise, and that Palestinian self-rule is merely a
euphemism for Bantustanization." (Meron Benvenisti, Intimate
Enemies)
After seven years of on-again, off-again negotiations and a succession
of new agreements that managed to rob the Palestinians of the few
crumbs thrown from the master's table at Oslo (the population of
Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories had fully doubled in the
meanwhile), the moment of truth arrived at Camp David in July 2000.
President Clinton and Prime Minister Barak delivered Arafat the
ultimatum of formally acquiescing in a Bantustan or bearing full
responsibility for the collapse of the "peace process." As it
happened, Arafat refused. Contrary to the myth spun by Barak-Clinton
as well as a compliant media, in fact "Barak offered the trappings of
Palestinian sovereignty," a special adviser at the British Foreign
Office reports, "while perpetuating the subjugation of the
Palestinians." (The Guardian, 10 April l 2002; for details and the
critical background, see Roane Carey, ed., The New Intifada)
Consider in this regard Israel's response to the recent Saudi peace
plan. An Israeli commentator writing in Haaretz observes that the
Saudi plan is "surprisingly similar to what Barak claims to have
proposed two years ago." Were Israel really intent on a full
withdrawal in exchange for normalization with the Arab world, the
Saudi plan and its unanimous endorsement by the Arab League summit
should have been met with euphoria. In fact, it elicited a deafening
silence in Israel. (Aviv Lavie, 5 April 2002) Nonetheless, Barak's -
and Clinton's - fraud that Palestinians at Camp David rejected a
maximally generous Israeli offer provided crucial moral cover for the
horrors that ensued.
Having failed in its carrot policy, Israel now reached for the big
stick. Two preconditions had to be met, however, before Israel could
bring to bear its overwhelming military superiority: a "green light"
from the U.S. and a sufficient pretext. Already in summer 2000, the
authoritative Jane's Information Group reported that Israel had
completed planning for a massive and bloody invasion of the Occupied
Territories. But the US vetoed the plan and Europe made equally plain
its opposition. After 11 September, however, the US came on board.
Indeed, Sharon's goal of crushing the Palestinians basically fit in
with the US administration's goal of exploiting the World Trade Center
atrocity to eliminate the last remnants of Arab resistance to total US
domination. Through sheer exertion of will and despite a monumentally
corrupt leadership, Palestinians have proven to be the most resilient
and recalcitrant popular force in the Arab world. Bringing them to
their knees would deal a devastating psychological blow throughout the
region.
With a green light from the US, all Israel now needed was the
pretext. Predictably it escalated the assassinations of Palestinian
leaders following each lull in Palestinian terrorist attacks. "After
the destruction of the houses in Rafah and Jerusalem, the Palestinians
continued to act with restraint," Shulamith Aloni of Israel's Meretz
party observed. "Sharon and his army minister, apparently fearing
that they would have to return to the negotiating table, decided to do
something and they liquidated Raad Karmi. They knew that there would
be a response, and that we would pay the price in the blood of our
citizens." (Yediot Aharonot, 18 January 2002) Indeed, Israel
desperately sought this sanguinary response. Once the Palestinian
terrorist attacks crossed the desired threshold, Sharon was able to
declare war and proceed to annihilate the basically defenseless
civilian Palestinian population.
Only the willfully blind can miss noticing that Israel's current
invasion of the West Bank is an exact replay of the June 1982 invasion
of Lebanon. To crush the Palestinians' goal of an independent state
alongside Israel - the PLO's "peace offensive" - Israel laid plans in
August 1981 to invade Lebanon. In order to launch the invasion,
however, it needed the green light from the Reagan administration and
a pretext. Much to its chagrin and despite multiple provocations,
Israel was unable to elicit a Palestinian attack on its northern
border. It accordingly escalated the air assaults on southern Lebanon
and after a particularly murderous attack that left two hundred
civilians dead (including 60 occupants of a Palestinian children's
hospital), the PLO finally retaliated killing one Israeli. With the
pretext in hand and a green light now forthcoming from the Reagan
administration, Israel invaded. Using the same slogan of "rooting out
Palestinian terror," Israel proceeded to massacre a defenseless
population, killing some 20,000 Palestinians and Lebanese, almost all
civilians.
The problem with the Bush administration, we are repeatedly told, is
that it has been insufficiently engaged with the Middle East, a
diplomatic void Colin Powell's mission is supposed to fill. But who
gave the green light for Israel to commit the massacres? Who supplied
the F-16s and Apache helicopters to Israel? Who vetoed the Security
Council resolutions calling for international monitors to supervise
the reduction of violence? And who just blocked the proposal of the
United Nation's top human rights official, Mary Robinson, to merely
send a fact-finding team to the Palestinian territories? (IPS, 3 April
2002)
Consider this scenario. A and B stand accused of murder. The
evidence shows that A provided B with the murder weapon, A gave B the
"all-clear" signal, and A prevented onlookers from answering the
victim's screams. Would the verdict be that A was insufficiently
engaged or that A was every bit as guilty as B of murder?
To repress Palestinian resistance, a senior Israeli officer earlier
this year urged the army to "analyze and internalize the lessons of…
how the German army fought in the Warsaw ghetto." (Haaretz, 25 January
2002, 1 February 2002) Judging by the recent Israeli carnage in the
West Bank - the targeting of Palestinian ambulances and medical
personnel, the targeting of journalists, the killing of Palestinian
children "for sport" (Chris Hedges, New York Times former Cairo bureau
chief), the rounding up, handcuffing and blindfolding of all
Palestinian males between the ages 15 and 50, and affixing of numbers
on their wrists, the indiscriminate torture of Palestinian detainees,
the denial of food, water, electricity, and medical assistance to the
Palestinian civilian population, the indiscriminate air assaults on
Palestinian neighborhoods, the use of Palestinian civilians as human
shields, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes with the occupants
huddled inside - it appears that the Israeli army is following the
officer's advice. Dismissing all criticism as motivated by anti-
Semitism, Elie Wiesel - chief spokesman for the Holocaust Industry -
lent unconditional support to Israel, stressing the "great pain and
anguish" endured by its rampaging army. (Reuters, 11 April; CNN, 14
April)
Meanwhile, the Portuguese Nobel laureate in literature, Jose Saramago,
invoked the "spirit of Auschwitz" in depicting the horrors inflicted
by Israel, while a Belgian parliamentarian avowed that Israel was
"making a concentration camp out of the West Bank." (The Observer, 7
April 2002) Israelis across the political spectrum recoil in outrage
at such comparisons. Yet, if Israelis don't want to stand accused of
being Nazis they should simply stop acting like Nazis.
Honest truth
> By Norman G. Finkelstein
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
--
嚙踝蕭Of all the extreme fanaticism which plays havoc in man嚙踝蕭s nature, there is
not one as irrational as anti-Semitism. 嚙皺 If the Jews are rich [these
fanatics] are victims of theft. If they are poor, they are victims of
ridicule. If they take sides in a war, it is because they wish to take
advantage from the spilling of non-Jewish blood. If they espouse peace, it
is because they are scared by their natures or traitors. If the Jew dwells
in a foreign land he is persecuted and expelled. If he wishes to return to
his own land, he is prevented from doing so.嚙踝蕭
Lloyd George
coaste...@yahoo.com
> On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:42:15 -0800 (PST),
>
> > By Norman G. Finkelstein
>
> Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Hahaha. Struck dumb by Dr. Finkelstein. Hiding from him. That could
have two sources. You're too stupid to understand him or too terrified
of what he represents to deal with it out in the open. Honest Truth
you aren't. You couldn't even deal with my analysis of your quote from
Lloyd George.
> --
> Of all the extreme fanaticism which plays havoc in man s nature, there is
> not one as irrational as anti-Semitism. K If the Jews are rich [these
> fanatics] are victims of theft. If they are poor, they are victims of
> ridicule. If they take sides in a war, it is because they wish to take
> advantage from the spilling of non-Jewish blood. If they espouse peace, it
> is because they are scared by their natures or traitors. If the Jew dwells
> in a foreign land he is persecuted and expelled. If he wishes to return to
> his own land, he is prevented from doing so.
>
> Lloyd George
DoD
wrote:
> On Jan 1, 4:07 am, Honest truth <Honest_tr...@Wisdom.net> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:42:15 -0800 (PST),
>
> > > By Norman G. Finkelstein
>
> > Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
>
> Hahaha. Struck dumb by Dr. Finkelstein. Hiding from him.
The more obvious answer is that nobody takes you or that other clown
seriously besides your cult following of antisemitic, holocaust
denying scrounges.
The people that brought you through life have got to be scratching
their heads at what
they did wrong. LOL...
Fish Supper
"icono...@yahoo.com" <coaste...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:6e938f97-8c4d-4a10...@m26g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
On Jan 1, 4:07 am, Honest truth <Honest_tr...@Wisdom.net> wrote:
> On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:42:15 -0800 (PST),
>
> > By Norman G. Finkelstein
>
> Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Hahaha. Struck dumb by Dr. Finkelstein. Hiding from him. That could
have two sources. You're too stupid to understand him or too terrified
of what he represents to deal with it out in the open. Honest Truth
you aren't. You couldn't even deal with my analysis of your quote from
Lloyd George.
***
although, if we think about it for any length of time, we all know, deep
down inside that only one of these possibilities is applicable here.
I think HT is on a one-man crusade to steadily reduce the number of words
required in any given post to qualify as moronic. Merely 'stupid' he
achieved long since.
someone-who-knows
Fish Supper <li...@sea.com> wrote:
[...]
Hamas used hospitals as detention and torture centers
-----------------------------------------------------
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&Do=&ID=35588
PA Health Ministry: Hamas using hospitals as detention centers
Ramallah . Ma'an . The Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry on
Saturday accused the Hamas-run de facto government's security
services of turning medical centers into virtual prisons.
According to a statement from the Health Ministry, Hamas has used
hospitals and clinics in Gaza as interrogation and detention centers,
where medical staffers have been expelled.
Amnesty accuses Hamas of eliminating opponents
----------------------------------------------
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gvarkJqJ947GlMC9eDHBYHHwxPBA
Amnesty accuses Hamas of eliminating opponents
GENEVA (AFP) . Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Hamas
of waging a campaign to kill or maim scores of Palestinian
opponents in the Gaza Strip since the end of December.
The human rights group said in a report that at least two
dozen men have been shot dead by gunmen from the Palestinian
militia that governs the Gaza Strip since December 27.
"Scores of others have been shot in the legs, knee-capped or
inflicted with other injuries intended to cause severe disability,
subjected to severe beatings ... or otherwise tortured or ill-
treated," it added.
coaste...@yahoo.com
> "iconocl...@yahoo.com" <coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
I truly wish that the lobby would delegate some competent people to
the scj beat.
coaste...@yahoo.com
wrote:
> In article <iImdne3XUfy9MKPWnZ2dnUVZ8u6dn...@bt.com>,
>
> Fish Supper <l...@sea.com> wrote:
>
> [...]
>
> Hamas used hospitals as detention and torture centers
>
> PA Health Ministry: Hamas using hospitals as detention centers
>
> Ramallah . Ma'an . The Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry on
> Saturday accused the Hamas-run de facto government's security
> services of turning medical centers into virtual prisons.
>
> According to a statement from the Health Ministry, Hamas has used
> hospitals and clinics in Gaza as interrogation and detention centers,
> where medical staffers have been expelled.
>
> Amnesty accuses Hamas of eliminating opponents
>
> Amnesty accuses Hamas of eliminating opponents
>
> GENEVA (AFP) . Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Hamas
> of waging a campaign to kill or maim scores of Palestinian
> opponents in the Gaza Strip since the end of December.
>
> The human rights group said in a report that at least two
> dozen men have been shot dead by gunmen from the Palestinian
> militia that governs the Gaza Strip since December 27.
>
> "Scores of others have been shot in the legs, knee-capped or
> inflicted with other injuries intended to cause severe disability,
> subjected to severe beatings ... or otherwise tortured or ill-
> treated," it added.
Yes, you Zionists have created a monumental mess over there. Shame,
shame.
DoD
wrote:
LOL.... You have got to be an embarrassment on your college.. So why
would you say something
so foolish..?
G-d you are a retard.
coaste...@yahoo.com
Look at you, mock-piously serious about spelling the word God in the
fashion of an orthodox Jew. You have no pride, no independent
identity. They don't need or want this. You're embarrassing. You
humiliate yourself by this constant groveling, by this endless effort
to ingratiate yourself to American Jewry. Simple respect for them and
their accomplishments is not enough for the Jewish people's
unsolicited and self-appointed "Department of Defense". No, he must
show signs of submission constantly. He must devote his life to the
absurdity of "defending" the world's most successful and powerful
ethnic group. You want soooo badly for them to think they need you
when in fact you are despised and it's obvious they wish they could
hide you away somewhere or convince you to go quietly. They never
interact with you. In you they find themselves victimized by their own
carefully cultivated status as the only World Class Victims .
Do you actually think of yourself as competent to deal with the
critics of Israeli policy here, David? If so, just what do you base
that on? Surely neither on education nor experience. You're a
primitive, a weakling. In all these years you've not generated any
analysis of any of the foreign policy problems associated with Israel
and her domestic Zionist lobbies. Not even in *defense* of Zionist
practices. Not once have you said anything about the dangers, even
global dangers, that Israel's Zionist right wing poses for the rest of
us. You are here first to toady and debase yourself and only then to
malign Israel's critics. The latter is almost an afterthought to your
primary obsession, being liked by people who actually wish you would
disappear but can't say it out loud.
DoD
Hmmm.... You don't pay attention much to what I write otherwise you
would
know that what you just wrote puts *yet another* egg on your face.
Jeez you are one moronic
piece of dogshit that can't pay attention to the slightest detail.
> They don't need or want this. You're embarrassing. You
> humiliate yourself by this constant groveling, by this endless effort
> to ingratiate yourself to American Jewry. Simple respect for them and
> their accomplishments is not enough for the Jewish people's
> unsolicited and self-appointed "Department of Defense". No, he must
> show signs of submission constantly.
<sigh>
You obviously don't have a clue, so I will let your ramblings show how
much
of a moronic dung beatle you really are... By all means fool, keep
rambling.
This is really funny, considering who is writing this is supposed to
be educated, but
in fact has the logic skills of a 5 year old. Nothing snipped so real
educated folk
will have a laugh at this imbecile, and his attempt at logic.
> He must devote his life to the
> absurdity of "defending" the world's most successful and powerful
> ethnic group. You want soooo badly for them to think they need you
> when in fact you are despised and it's obvious they wish they could
> hide you away somewhere or convince you to go quietly. They never
> interact with you. In you they find themselves victimized by their own
> carefully cultivated status as the only World Class Victims .
>
> Do you actually think of yourself as competent to deal with the
> critics of Israeli policy here, David? If so, just what do you base
> that on? Surely neither on education nor experience. You're a
> primitive, a weakling. In all these years you've not generated any
> analysis of any of the foreign policy problems associated with Israel
> and her domestic Zionist lobbies. Not even in *defense* of Zionist
> practices. Not once have you said anything about the dangers, even
> global dangers, that Israel's Zionist right wing poses for the rest of
> us. You are here first to toady and debase yourself and only then to
> malign Israel's critics. The latter is almost an afterthought to your
> primary obsession, being liked by people who actually wish you would
> disappear but can't say it out loud.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Bolt Upright
Hear! Hear!
Jason P
You're a cockroach Doodoo!
dsharavi
<coaster132...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> First the Carrot, Then the Stick: Behind the Carnage in Palestine
> By Norman G. Finkelstein
> 14 April 2002
> During the June 1967 war, Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza,
> completing the Zionist conquest of British-mandated Palestine.
Funkenstein evidently forget that what was once the majority of
"British-mandated Palestine" is now the kingdom of Jordan,which has
never occupied.
Deborah
drahcir
wrote:
<snip>
> Once the Palestinian
> terrorist attacks crossed the desired threshold, Sharon was able to
> declare war and proceed to annihilate the basically defenseless
> civilian Palestinian population.
From Dictionary.com:
annihilate 1.to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence; destroy utterly
Someone should inform the amazingly shallow fink that words really do
have meanings. All one needs to do is understand them, then his
propaganda is so incredibly easy to see through.
> this year urged ...
>
> read more »
coaste...@yahoo.com
Utter ruin fits quite well. Thanks for supporting Dr. Finkelstein.
drahcir
Thanks for reaffirming your cluelessness.
cornholio
> On Wed, 6 Jan 2010 01:12:31 -0800 (PST), "iconocl...@yahoo.com"
There's very little thought behind iconoarse's words.