From: ww%nyxfer%igc.apc.org@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu (Workers World Service)
Subject: Palestinians Set Up Fight Over Expulsions
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: NY Transfer News Collective
Resent-From: "Rich Winkel" <MATHRICH@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 23:10:00 GMT


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit


Palestinians step up fight over expulsions

By Lyn Neeley

Israel's unprecedented expulsion of 418 Palestinians has enraged
people living in the occupied territories, triggered mass
resistance by Arabs living in Israel and generated world
condemnation of Israeli aggression.

Since the expulsions, Israeli forces have killed 13 Palestinians
and wounded hundreds. On Jan. 3, an 18-year-old youth, was shot
to death and nine other Palestinians were injured.

A protracted 24-hour curfew imposed on most of the occupied
territory has caused food shortages, severe health risks and a
loss of millions of dollars to Palestinians unable to travel to
their jobs inside Israel.

Washington's rhetorical condemnation of the expulsions is
eclipsed by the $10.1 million it sends Israel daily. Israel, the
number-one recipient of U.S. aid, could not have carried out the
expulsions and disregarded world condemnation without the consent
of its sponsor in Washington.

The United Nations called the expulsions a violation of the
Fourth Geneva Convention. But the UN has no plans to take action
against Israel.

Dr. Edward Said, a leading spokesperson for Palestinians in the
U.S., said on "Interview," the British television show: "American
public opinion, according to a poll which was done as recently as
two weeks ago, is I would say massively, solidly in support of
Palestinian self-determination, even for a Palestinian state."

TERRIBLE CONDITIONS FOR PALESTINIANS

On Dec. 16, after arresting 1,600 Palestinians, Israeli soldiers
handcuffed, blindfolded and abruptly expelled 418 Arab men,
dumping them on the Lebanese border in Israel's so-called
"security zone." Families of those expelled were notified days
later.

The expellees are living in tents in below-freezing weather. The
lack of drinking water has made many of them sick. "We are
thirsty, cold and hungry," said Dr. Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi,
spokesperson for the expelled.

On Jan. 3, Israel fired a barrage of shells toward the camp to
discourage nearby villagers from smuggling supplies to the
Palestinians.

According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, many of the
expelled Palestinians--labeled "terrorists" by Israel--are
professionals, include 10 medical doctors, 18 engineers, 43
professors and 108 Muslim religious teachers. Egypt has condemned
Israel for the expulsions.

Hashem Mahameed, Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament,
gave a speech in Gaza. He said: "As long as the occupation
continues, so will our struggle, and not by stones alone. The
Palestinian people must fight occupation by any means."

Another Arab legislator, Tawfik Ziyad, was suspended for five
sessions after he angrily spoke out against the expulsions.

Arab leaders in Israel plan both a day of fasting in solidarity
with the expelled Palestinians, and a hunger strike near Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's office. Angry mass protests in
front of Rabin's office have taken place almost daily since the
expulsions.

The Dec. 22 one-day general strike in the occupied territories
was the strongest action in the five-year history of the Intifada
(uprising).

Arab students and workers living in Israel--who are central to
Israel's economy--are outraged at that country's double standard
about "terrorist" activities. "If the government wants to expel
those involved in terrorism then why don't they send the
foreign-born members of Jewish extremist groups back to their
countries of origin?" asked a Palestinian professor. "Jewish
terrorists who plant bombs and shoot Arabs are tolerated, and
Arab terrorists are not."

Rana Othman, a 17-year-old high school student in Israel, said:
"If today they expel 400 people, tomorrow it will be 500 and the
next day 600. It will be the beginning of the transfer of all the
Palestinians out of the country."

Moledet, a right-wing Israeli group with three seats in
parliament, is calling for the immediate expulsion of all Arabs
from Israel and the occupied territories.

Arab leaders met with James Jonah of the UN demanding that Israel
permit the shipment of food, fuel and drinking water to the
Palestinian camp. Leaders representing a large political
spectrum--from those who support the peace process to those who
oppose it--have condemned the expulsions and demanded the
international community take strict measures against Israel.

Sari Nusseibeh, head of a Palestinian technical team that met
with European and American diplomats, called the expulsions "an
act of revenge" not related to any security threats to the state
of Israel.

ISRAEL SCARED

Worldwide condemnation of the expulsions and fear that the
Intifada will spread inside Israeli borders have made Israeli
officials nervous. Israel's Haaretz newspaper wrote: "If the
unrest spreads, it could cause serious damage to the delicate
relations between Israeli Jewish and Arab citizens. It is in our
interest to calm the atmosphere."

In its first admission that mistakes were made, the Israeli Army
announced on Dec. 28 that 10 Palestinians were expelled "without
legal decision to deport them."  But the army said the others
would be tried and given long jail terms if they return.

Prime Minister Rabin has been forced to say the rest of the
expelled Palestinians could return to Israel after nine months if
the Intifada, "violence and terror" stop. Palestinians flatly
rejected Rabin, saying he could not impose conditions for the
return of those expelled.

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