Open Features: Understanding The Middle East - Part Five
Bill Sykes, who, as a young British soldier, served in Palestine 50 years ago, wrote this article in May, 2004, about yet another crisis in Middle East affairs. It is as relevant now as it was then,
This is the fifth and final article in this series. To read the earlier articles page down, or type Bill's name in the search box on this page.
NOTE: Bill wants readers to know that he is not anti-Semitic/Pro-Arab/Anti-Muslim, or whatever, and he does not have any particular racial or religious prejudice and above and beyond that he does not have any political axe to grind. He has always tried to present the news items as accurately as possible without fear or favor and also without prejudice or malice aforethought"
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Perhaps my first task in this article should be to give you an interpretation of how I viewed the situation that I knew as the Palestine policing problem, and how I, (as a young British soldier, who spent nearly two years there during the 1946/1948 time frame), saw what I perceived to be the future of the proposed Israeli and Palestinian States.
From the time that I arrived in Palestine I gained the opinion that the Israeli “takeaway” program had started long before the British Government were finally coerced by American and British Jewish influence to pull British troops out of Palestine in order for the Jewish people to broaden the “lebensraum” of the planned new state of Israel by future virtual land grabs.
I was certain, even at that time, that plans were afoot for the eventual takeover by the Jewish people of the whole of Palestine, stretching from the northern cities of Haifa/Safed to the southern city of Gaza that borders on the Sinai desert.
The first “major” takeaway was the annexing of the Golan Heights, (which was captured from Syria), and most of the West Bank (which was captured from Jordan), during the1967 Middle East war.
This was followed by a takeover of most of the coastal strip and the adjacent fertile valleys.
The post 1967 era building of settlements upon Arab land in the West Bank area was the most audacious move made yet by Israel to expand the new Jewish State.
Since that time, some 50 years ago, American money and weaponry has poured into the State of Israel on the pretext of establishing a Jewish State which would act as a buffer between the potential warring factions of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, with the idea one would assume of protecting American oil interests in the Middle East.
Now we come to the present day. President Bush recently met with Aerial Sharon at the White House---can one assume that dollars were traded for a promise that Israel would provide a sop to world opinion by reducing some of the settlements built on Arab land in Gaza and the West Bank. Did I hear objections from the American Administration that the reduction in number of settlements was far too miniscule and did not meet even a small fraction of the proposed return to pre-1967 Palestinian borders.
No,very much to the contrary, President Bush praised Sharon for the action he was about to take, which included the unilateral Israeli decision to change the West Bank borders in order to retain the Israeli real estate which had been built upon Arab land.
President Bush expressed support for the Israeli plan to retain six major settlement blocs, (small cities), in the West Bank.
Did I hear of a plan to stop the encroachment upon Arab land by extending the West Bank “Segregation Wall”.
The answer is no to all these questions. What I did hear, was that Sharon proposed keeping six major settlements in the West Bank area by changing the West Bank borders to the advantage of Israel.
The European Union reacted angrily to the proposal and questioned the legality of the unilateral border changes being introduced by Sharon, as it was a contravention of International law that would set dangerous precedents.
President Bush apparently agreed that a Palestinian State was a political necessity, but ruled out allowing Palestinian refugees to return to Israel after the creation of such a State. !!!
A few days after Sharon returned to Israel, on Saturday the seventeenth of April 2004 an Israel Helicopter Gunship fired rockets at a car killing the Hamas Leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon congratulated the Israeli army on the killing of the Hamas leader. The United States---(Israel’s staunchest Ally)---refrained from condemning the violent attack. Condoleezza Rice stated that the United States had no advanced warning, or knowledge, of Israeli operations aimed at killing Mr. Rantissi.
Today the eighteen of April 2004, tens of thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza condemning the attack and vowing revenge.
My comment: It is inevitable that the Palestinians will extract revenge on the Israeli people for the recent killing of the Hamas leader. Surely the time has come for both sides to act with restraint, and in the name of humanity stop the constant reprisal killings.
Disclaimer:
Some of the information gathered for this news letter is gleaned from American and International media sources, (including the Internet), and as such is quoted as accurately as possible. I try to obtain confirmation on each subject from several outlets so the text is a mixture of composite news items and personal comments and therefore the reader must make his/her own judgement as to the reliability and degree of accuracy of the subjects discussed.
Note: To view the complete May 2004 edition of “View from America” go to the www.huddersfield1.co.uk
bill25ca@hotmail.com
June/July. 2006.
