THE PALESTINE QUESTION Works by Henry Cattan Jerusalem, Saqi Books, London, 2000 The Garden of Joys: An Anthology of Oriental Anecdotes, Fables and Proverbs,Saqi Books, London, 2000 The Evolution of Oil Concessions in the Middle East and North Africa, Oceana Publications for Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law, New York, 1967 The Law of Oil Concessions in the Middle East and North Africa, Oceana Publications, New York, 1967 ?, 7b Whom Does Palestine Belong Bouheiry Brothers, Beirut, 1967 Palestine, the Arabs and Israel, Longman, London, 1969 and 1970 Palestine, the Road to Peace,Longman, London, 1970 Palestine and International Law,Longman, London, 1973,1974 and 1976 The Question of Jerusalem, Third World Centre for Research and Publishing, London, 1980 The Solution of the Palestine Refugee Problem, International Progress Organization, Vienna, 1982 Le jardin des joies, Gaston Lachurie, Paris, 1985 Henry Cattan The Palestine Question Saqi Books British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN o 86356 932 3 © Louis Cattan, 2000 First published by Croom Helm, 1988 This edition first published 2000 The right of Henry Cattan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of1988 Saqi Books 26 Westbourne Grove London W2 5RH Contents Preface vii Part I: Background to die Palestine Question 1. Palestine until 1917 3 2. The Balfour Declaration 10 3. Zionist Claim to Palestine 17 4. Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations 22 5. The British Mandate 1922-1948 25 6. UN Resolution for the Partition of Palestine 32 7. Termination of the Mandate in Chaos and Turmoil 42 Part II: The 1948 Upheaval and its Sequels 8. The Emergence of Israel 49 9. The War of 1948 54 10. Exodus of the Palestine Refugees 60 11. Territorial Consequences of the War of 1948 69 12. Plunder and Confiscation of Arab Property 71 13. Palestine Independence Thwarted 77 14. UN Measures for Redress 80 15. Admission of Israel to the UN 86 16. The Suez War 90 17. The War of 1967 100 18. Security Council Resolution 242 111 19. The Palestine Liberation Organization 115 20. Jordan and the Palestinians 132 21. The War of 1973 135 22. The Camp David Accords (1978) and the Egyptian- Israeli Peace Treaty (1979) 143 23. The War of 1982 150 24. The Massacre of Sabra and Chatila 169 25. Colonization and Land Usurpation in the West Bank and Gaza 200 26. Israel’s Policies and Practices 208 27. US Patronage of Israel 224 v CONTENTS Part Hi: The Problem of Jerusalem 28. Jerusalem Before die Emergence of Israel 247 29. Israel’s Illicit Actions in Jerusalem since 1948 231 30. Perils to Jerusalem and its Holy Places 260 Part IV: The Road to Peace 31. The Dimensions of the Palestine Question 271 32. Abortive Initiatives for a Solution 278 33. The Mechanics of Peace 312 34. Requisites of a Just and Equitable Solution 324 33. The Future 333 Appendices l. Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 369 n. Resolution 181 (II) Adopted by the General Assembly on 29 November 1947 Concerning the Future Government of Palestine 371 m. UN Partition Plan — 1947 and UN Armistice Lines - 1949 388 IV. Land Ownership of Arabs and Jews in 1948 389 V. Areas Seized by Israel in Excess of the Partition Plan 390 VI. Territories Occupied During Israeli Aggression of 1967 391 VII. Chronology of Jerusalem 392 Index 394 Preface The history of Palestine has been marked by many dramatic events that have left a lasting impact not only on the region, hut also on the world at large. Closely linked with history, with three world religions, with Palestine and Zionist Jewish nationalism, as well as with the strategic interests of the two superpowers, the Palestine Question has been the cause of several wars in the Middle East. It constitutes one of the most explosive, intractable and unresolved issues of modern times that threatens not only die stability of the region, but also the peace of the world. Yet, despite its crucial importance, and the mass of literature written about the subject, ignorance about the Palestine Question is fairly widespread. What are its basic issues? Which of its protagon­ ists is right or wrong? Who are the aggressors and who are the victims? Very few are in a position to give the correct answers. Much confusion exists with regard to these questions. The average person has a vague idea that die Palestine Question concerns an area located somewhere in the Middle East over which Jews and Arabs have been quarrelling and going to war for years. Others who are influenced by Zionist and Israeli propaganda claim that the Palestine Question concerns the heroic struggle of the Jews to defend ‘their’ country against Palestinian ‘terrorista’ who want to wrest it from them. The same ignorance explains the failure, sometimes the inanity, of the so-called solutions tttathave been proposed for the settlement of the Palestine Question. There exist two main reasons for ignorance about the true nature and dimensions of the Palestine Question. The first is the systematic, well-planned and expertly organized misinformation and distortion which are spread in the Western media by Zionist and Israeli propa­ ganda concerning the question generally. This process of misinform­ ation and distortion is coupled with a deliberate concealment of the history of Palestine which for 1800 years, and until recent times, was an exclusively Arab country. The Israelis are anxious to bury that part of the past during which the Jews did not live or exist in Palestine. For this reason the history of Palestine for that period is ignored, distorted or is not even taught in Israeli schools. The purpose of Israel’s suppression of the historical Arab character of Palestine is to give the false impression of continuity of Jewish presence in the country and hence of a non-existent historical v•u• PREFACE connection between the two Jewish monarchies of biblical times and the State of Israel that was established 25 centuries later. The second reason is that each new wrong committed against die Palestine people blots out the preceding one. Bertrand Russell observed that for over 20 years Israel had expanded by force of arms and, after every stage in this expansion, it had appealed to ‘reason’ and suggested ‘negotiations*. 'Every new conquest*, he said, ‘became the new basis of the proposed negotiation from strength, which ignores the injustice of the previous aggression. ” The ignorance that exists with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict surprised General Odd Bull, Chief of Staff of the UN Truce Super­ vision Organization from 1963 to 1970. Although he spoke about Norway, his comment is valid for Europe and America. General Odd Bull wrote with reference to the Arab-Israeli conflict: Few people in the outside world appreciated the true situation. When I went to Norway for Christmas, six months after die war, not one in a hundred of those I talked to had any understanding of the facts. An uncritical acceptance of the Israeli point of view in all its aspects was the rule . . . Gradually, it is true, the Norwegian press shed some of its bias, but for a variety of reasons public opinion in Norway has remained consistently favourable to Israel and unfavourable to the Arabs. In the first place most Norwegians are profoundly ignorant about the politics and problems of the Middle East. Then the Bible naturally disposes them to favour God's chosen people, and their sympathies were profoundly stirred by die appalling flue that befell the Jews in Europe at die hands of the Nazis. Norwe­ gians, like most other Europeans and almost all Americans, found it in no way inappropriate that the Arabs should pay for crimes committed by Hider.2 A proper understanding of the Palestine Question is not simply a matter of curiosity or of historical interest. Just as a disease cannot be treated without knowledge of its cause, so also the Palestine Question cannot be resolved unless there exists a full and proper knowledge of its dimensions. The solution of the Palestine Question is a necessity as well as an international obligation. Every citizen of the world has an interest in world peace and security. Arab-Israeli wars have threatened world peace on more than one occasion, whether in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 or 1982. Former US President Richard Nixon who had vui PREFACE declared *a nuclear alert* during die Arab-Israeli War of 1973 recently disclosed that he took such action because the two super­ powers came close to a nuclear confrontation on account of the Arab-Israeli conflict.3 Lastly, the Palestine Question should weigh heavily on the con­ science of the many nations who bear the responsibility for having created the unjust situation that exists today in Palestine. The failure to appreciate the real facts and responsibilities that underlie the Palestine Question has prevented its equitable solution. It is, therefore, necessary to set forth the essentials of the Palestine Question concisely and objectively in broad outline, without bias, partiality or partisanship, its evolution from the concept of a Jewish national home to a Jewish state expanding territorially by war decade after decade. This would present a clear picture of the Palestine drama which has been obscured by deceptive propaganda and mis­ information. This, in essence, is the basic objective of this book. Part I of this book gives the background to the Palestine Question and includes a discussion of the Balfour Declaration, the British mandate over Palestine and the UN resolution for the partition of the country into Arab and Jewish States. Part U is devoted to a review of the main events which have taken place in Palestine since 1948. The emergence that year of the State of Israel in the historic land of Palestine caused a tremendous political upheaval, ignited the war of 1948 and led to the expulsion or exodus of most of the Palestinians from their homeland. It also led to die usurpation by the new state of most of the territory of Palestine and the confiscation of Arab land and started a chain of wrongs, injustices and wars, which have convulsed and still convulse the Middle East to the present day. Part HI deals with the all-important problem of Jerusalem which lies at the heart of the Palestine Question. Finally, Part IV examines past initiatives for securing a settlement and discusses the principles for achieving a fair and equitable solution of the Palestine Question. These principles deviate from current so-called peace initiatives and suggest a peaceful and political solution which is squarely based on right and justice. Henry Cattan PREFACE NOTES 1. Middle East International, 21 January 1983, p. 19. 2. General Odd Bull, War and Peace in the Middle East, (Leo Cooper, London, 1973), pp. 126-7. 3. Time, 21 July 1983. x