From: arens@ISI.EDU (Yigal Arens)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.mideast
Subject: Re: Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian boy
Date: 17 Dec 92 03:05:51 GMT
	<1992Dec15.182856.23705@colorado.edu> <23061@venera.isi.edu>
	<1992Dec16.045957.15659@colorado.edu>
Organization: USC/Information Sciences Institute
In-reply-to: perlman@qso.Colorado.EDU's message of 16 Dec 92 04:59:57 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.045957.15659@colorado.edu> perlman@qso.Colorado.EDU (Eric S. Perlman) writes:
>
> In article <23061@venera.isi.edu> arens@ISI.EDU (Yigal Arens) writes:
> >In article <1992Dec15.182856.23705@colorado.edu> perlman@qso.Colorado.EDU (Eric S. Perlman) writes:
> >>
> >> ...  I do know that numerous
> >> PLO-affiliated activists who've stated even slightly non-standard
> >> opinions have been forced to seek protection from Israeli authorities
> >> not for being collaborators - which they're not - but just for speaking
> >> something that some party or other doesn't approve of.
> >
> >This often repeated claim is absolute nonsense, completely untrue. .
> >. .  Can you provide us ONE (1) example of a PLO-affiliated activist
> >who did no more than state a slightly non-standard opinion, and as a
> >consequence was forced to seek protection from Israeli authorities?
>
> OK, Dr. Arens, here we go.  Go ahead and eat your words:

Mr. Perlman responds to my posting that requested just one example of
the kind he promised.  That's fine, although it is worth remembering
that in a subsequent response to me he said he had seen TWO examples in
the New Republic.  Never mind.

> From the New Republic, November 23, 1992, p.28 (Article "The Palestinian
> Meltdown" by Steven Emerson): "The first Palestinian to openly criticize
> the internal killings was Adnan Damiri, a Fatah activist who had served
> in an Israeli jail for training in a Palestinian terrorist camp in
> Lebanon.  In a June 1991 article in Al-Fajr, the second-largest
> Palestinian newspaper, Damiri wrote that 'the revolution has started to
> swallow its children.'  He criticized the roving groups of teenage
> executioners.  'One cannot tolerate such punishment by people who were
> not elected ... many of those who were killed were innocent of
> collaboration ... the dream of the intifada has turned out to be a
> nightmare ... if this continues, we're going to leave the country like
> Rechavam Ze'evi [the ultra-right-wing Israeli Knesset member who
> advocates "transfer" of the Palestinians to Jordan].  Almost immediately
> after he published his article, Damiri was threatened by the death
> squads and forced to seek protection from Israeli security forces on the
> West Bank."

Let's compare what was promised with what we got.

Mr. Perlman said:             We got:
---------------------------   ----------------------------------------
"I know of numerous ..."      One (1) case.  Of course, I only
                              challenged him to produce one.  But for
                              his own peace of mind and self-image, I
                              hope he can quote a few more.

"slightly non-standard        Mr. Damiri characterized killing of
opinion"                      collaborators as "nightmare", comparing
                              activists engaged in such to ultra-right-
                              wing Israeli Knesset Member who advocates
                              "transfer" of Palestinians.

"forced to seek protection    Steven Emerson's word that this is what
from Israeli authorities"     happened. 


Before I continue, let me make it perfectly clear that I object to any
threats against Mr. Damiri for what he wrote in Al-Fajr.  I think this
is completely unjustified and inexcusable.

Having said that, though, even in this single case, I doubt that one can
fairly  characterize the opinion expressed by Mr. Damiri as "slightly
non-standard".  Think what you want of the killing of collaborators,
this is something that is quite widely supported in the Palestinian
community in the occupied territories.  Witness the massive support
shown to members of one of the hit squads when they were temporarily
trapped in a West Bank university a couple of months ago.  Hundreds of
community members came to their support and eventually the Israelis had
to let them go.  So comparing the effects of the actions of such people
to a fullfillment of the desires of an ultra-right-wing Israeli MK is
certainly not run-of-the-mill.

Again, I still firmly believe that Mr. Damiri is entitled to his opinion
and should have the right to express it freely -- but it is not just
"slightly non-standard".

As for "seek[ing] protection from israeli authorities", I would like to
check that out.  There have been many disagreements among intifada
activists, I've even witnessed this one occasion.  It stretches
credulity to think that anyone involved (except for a true collaborator
working for the Israelis) would consider going to them for "protection".
Mr. Damiri has spent time in Israeli jails -- he knows exactly what the
Israelis are up to.  Steven Emerson provides no detail.  I'll see if I
can find out anything.  In the meantime, let everyone feel free to
believe the New Republic on this.

But this still leaves us with the broader point made by Mr. Perlman.
His claim was that many people who merely stray slightly from the
"official" line on Palestinian issues are threatened/attacked/killed as
supposed collaborators.  This is simply not true.  There is great
diversity of opinion within the Palestinian community, which is
expressed freely.  Currently, people in the occupied territories are in
the throes of a great debate between "nationalists" (supporters of the
PLO) and "religionists" (supporters of Hamas).  These two groups hold
pretty divergent views on Israel (PLO accepts, some in Hamas do not),
negotiations (PLO for, Hamas opposed), an Islamic state (PLO against,
Hamas for).  Expressing any groups position is far more than a slight
deviation from the other's position, and yet these people are not
engaged in a civil war.

As for Mr. Perlman himself, I can only end by reminding our readers that
while he has responded to my challenge (to find ONE example -- which
although not perfect, I'm willing to accept for now), he has done
absolutely NOTHING to defend his original claim, which I reproduce
below, in case he's forgotten it:

> >> ...  I do know that numerous
> >> PLO-affiliated activists who've stated even slightly non-standard
> >> opinions have been forced to seek protection from Israeli authorities

--
Yigal Arens
USC/ISI                                                TV made me do it!
arens@isi.edu