The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war on terror

This page will be added to more frequently beginning the week of April 8

The US Administration has repeatedly said that it will target all political groups that use terrorist methods.  This page will contain links to articles analyzing this policy in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the US' long-standing support for Israel.  

Alternative Sources and Voices

TA'AYUSH -- Arab-Jewish Partnership Group of Arabs and Jews opposed to Israel's Palestine policies. Tenaciously maintaining solidarity with Palestinians, they engage in a broad range of activities from blood donations to trying to physically block the demolition of Palestinian homes.
Jewish Voices against the Occupation
Courage to Refuse - Combatant's Letter Text of letter signed by Israeli Army reserve members refusing to fight to maintain Israel's occupation
Jewish Voice for Peace  
Electronic Intifada  Daily reports sent to EI by residents of the West Bank and Gaza
Jerusalem Indymedia Current reports from variety of sources
An American journalist sizes up press coverage, and bias, regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict 4/2

Reports
Richard Falk on 'Ending the Death Dance': Includes a useful summary of events leading to the current violence, with emphasis on the inevitable failure of the Oslo accords.
New York Times Chart of US aid to Israel, 1949-2002
April 3. Indications of shifts among opinion leaders regarding Israel - Palestine.  Thomas Friedman calls for Nato intervention to set up a Palestinian state. Michael Lind of Newsweek argues Israel is not a "great ally" of the US. William Buckley, dean of American Right Wing, criticizes Sharon's policies (4/13).

Israeli army faces unprecedented internal protest against Palestine policies February 1 "The issue erupted when a group of reservists, led by two young lieutenants, published an indictment of Israel's 35-year occupation in the newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, saying that it was "corrupting the entire Israeli society". Some of the signatories are officers and others are from frontline units – the paratroops, infantry and armoured and artillery corps.The petition said soldiers had been issued commands while serving in the occupied territories that "had nothing to do with the security of our country", and had "the sole purpose of perpetuating our control" over the Palestinians. "We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people," it stated."
Israeli human rights group criticizes Israeli army shootings January 11 "An Israeli human rights group is charging in a new report that its country's army is behaving with "blatant disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians" and a "complete lack of military accountability" as tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appear to be heightening.The report, by the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, or B'Tselem, covers the fatal shootings of 15 Palestinians, at least nine of whom were unarmed, by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) after the army's incursion into the Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem region last October 19-25.B'Tselem's investigation found that "in all the cases described in the report, no shots were fired toward IDF soldiers from the immediate vicinity of the civilians who were killed."
State department assessment of Israeli human rights record, Feburary 2001: An excerpt from the link's analysis: The State Department's "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2000: Occupied Territories" (February 2001) states unequivocally that "Israel's overall human rights record in the occupied territories [is] poor." It goes on to report that:

Israeli security forces committed numerous serious human rights abuses during the year.... Since the violence began, [September 2000] Israeli security units often used excessive force against Palestinian demonstrators. Israeli security forces sometimes exceeded their rules of engagement, which provide that live fire is only to be used when the lives of soldiers, police, or civilians are in imminent danger. ...Israeli security forces abused Palestinians in detention suspected of security offenses. ... There were numerous credible allegations that police beat persons in detention. Three Palestinian prisoners died in Israeli custody under ambiguous circumstances during the year. Prison conditions are poor. Prolonged detention, limits on due process, and infringements on privacy rights remained problems. Israeli security forces sometimes impeded the provision of medical assistance to Palestinian civilians. Israeli security forces destroyed Palestinian-owned agricultural land. Israeli authorities censored Palestinian publications, placed limits on freedom of assembly, and restricted freedom of movement for Palestinians.

Often lauded as the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel nevertheless appears to have difficulty applying its high human rights standards to non-Jews. One might plausibly argue that these standards are, out of necessity, suspended in areas under military occupation were it not for the fact that the Jewish settler population in the territories benefits from the same rights and privileges accorded their counterparts within Israel's internationally recognized borders.

One might also argue that Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are equal participants in the country's democratic social institutions were it not for certain serious problems such as the fact that nearly 70,000 Arab Israelis live in legal limbo: the more than 100 villages they live in within Israel are unrecognized by the government. As a result these residents pay taxes to the government but are "not eligible for government services...."

"Consequently, such villages have none of the infrastructure, such as electricity, water, and sewers, provided to recognized communities. The lack of basic services has caused difficulties for the villagers in regard to their education, health care, and employment opportunities. New building in the unrecognized villages is considered illegal and subject to demolition."

"There were credible reports that settlers injured a number of Palestinians during the 'al-Aqsa Intifada,' usually by stoning their vehicles, which at times caused fatal accidents, shooting them, or hitting them with moving vehicles. Human rights groups received several dozen reports during the year that Israeli settlers in the West Bank beat Palestinians and destroyed the property of Palestinians living or farming near Israeli settlements. For example, according to Palestinian eyewitnesses, a group of Israeli settlers beat a 75-year-old Palestinian woman in April (i.e., 5 months before the uprising began). ...Settlers also attacked and damaged crops, olive trees, greenhouses, and agricultural equipment, causing extensive economic damage to Palestinian-owned agricultural land. The settlers did not act under government orders in the attacks; however, the Israeli Government did not prosecute the settlers for their acts of violence. In general settlers rarely serve prison sentences if convicted of a crime against a Palestinian. According to human rights organizations, settlers sometimes attacked Palestinian ambulances and impeded the provision of medical services to injured Palestinians."

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2000 [CRHP 2000]: Israel, US State Department, February 2001.

Hezbollah's many roles have established a solid base of support December 17 "Seen across the Arab world as the hero of Israel's first modern battlefield defeat, Hezbollah has a formidable fighting machine. It also has largely replaced the state in providing essential services to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, especially Shiites, the country's largest and poorest religious sect."
An Israeli paper raises questions concerning the recent suicide bombings in Israel An Israeli analyst writing in a popular center-right paper believes Israel's assassination policy has undercut efforts to maintain ceasefires; he believes it may reflect the intention held by some Israeli leaders to destroy Arafat's Palestine Authority.