00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page i IN DEFENCE OF JUSTICE ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS: THE IDENTIFICATION OF TRUTH
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00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page iii In Defence of Justice ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS: THE IDENTIFICATION OF TRUTH By Malcolm Sinclair BA (Law); LLB (Hons); Barrister-at-Law Mac Universal Co. Ltd London
00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page iv Copyright 2013 by Malcolm Sinclair First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Mac Universal Co. Ltd, Holborn Gate, London WC1V 7QT www.macuniversal.com The right of Malcolm Sinclair to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN-13: 978-0-9575197-0-1 ISBN-10: 0-9575197-0-2 All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the above-mentioned address. Appropriate acknowledgements have been given to the author and publishers of the quotations printed in this volume, all of which come within the meaning of the term fair dealing as defined by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or facts within this volume, historical or otherwise, are within the public domain. Holders of rights in works quoted herein who consider this interpretation to be incorrect should get in touch with this company. Distributed in United Kingdom by Mac Universal Co. Ltd Holborn Gate, London WC1V 7QT Produced in Great Britain
00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page v CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE PREFACE........................... vii I SEPARATION OF RELIGION FROM LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY........................ 1 II THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PERSECUTION..... 9 III WAR AND MORE WARS................. 27 IV MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD HAMAS FATAH PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANISATION HEZBOLLAH........................ 65 V THE LEBANON WARS................... 85 VI OPERATION CAST LEAD THE BOMBARDMENT OF GAZA........................... 97 VII THE GOLDSTONE REPORT.............. 117 VIII MEDIA, PREJUDICE AND BIGOTRY......... 149 IX SETTLEMENTS AND THE RIGHT OF RETURN.. 163 X CONCLUSIONS AND REMEDY............ 183 ADDENDUM........................ 197 BIBLIOGRAPHY FURTHER READING FURTHER NOTES..................... 201 INDEX............................ 205 v
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00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page vii PREFACE At a point of longitude some 34 degrees 45 east and latitude 31 degrees 30 north lies a small piece of land approximately two hundred and sixty-three miles between its northern boundary and its southernmost tip, bordered in the north by Lebanon, in the north-east by Syria, in the east by Jordan and in the south-west by Egypt. Yet, notwithstanding its comparatively modest size, no other single piece of land has, throughout the history of mankind, been the subject of so many wars by so many different peoples, resulting in a multiplicity of different occupiers. Throughout the centuries, the blood of these various peoples has seeped into this land in a never-ending fashion. This land presently houses the State of Israel and two further enclaves referred to as the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The West Bank takes up a substantial proportion of the total area of this land. The majority of the peoples who occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip are known as Palestinians. Many of these people lay claim to this land as being their land along with the land which houses the State of Israel. Equally, many of the people who live in the State of Israel consider that most, if not all, of the land occupied by the Palestinians is their land and forms part of the State of Israel. And so it is that, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, a continuing state of animosity rages between the peoples, culminating in wars with the consequent loss of life and untold human suffering in its various forms. For more than sixty years, many of the world s great powers, through their various organizations, have tried to resolve the conflict and have tried to find a way for these two peoples to peacefully coexist. They have failed. The reasons for this failure are unclear. It is most unhelpful for one side to simply blame the other. In addition, for the supporters of one side to blame the other achieves little. When such support is vii
00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page viii viii In Defence of Justice based upon propaganda, from the press or media in general, without adequate reference to the true factual situation, then it is perhaps hardly surprising that deep mistrust and animosity exists. It beggars belief that in a supposedly civilized twenty-first century those in positions of power, not just in government but including those in the media, should indulge in using propaganda to achieve their own particular objectives. The betrayal of trust owed to the public at large by such methods is not something that appears to unduly concern those responsible for such betrayal. This book has five principal aims: first, to provide an overview of the situation generally; second, to critically analyze the problems; third, that such analysis takes place within the context of objective justice. (The word justice is one of the most important words in any language. True justice is objective justice, for there is no such thing as subjective justice. Subjective justice is where one person claims that they have been wronged and automatically assumes, often in error, that another party has been responsible for it and seeks to achieve justice by taking something from that other party. If it is taken, then injustice can easily be caused to that other party. Objective justice is something which many right-minded people can readily ascertain when faced with the facts, providing always that such facts are relevant and are accurately portrayed); fourth, and perhaps most importantly, to try and make this book as readable to as many ordinary people as possible; and fifth, to ascertain whether there exists a proper remedy for the existing situation. There are numerous books, treatises and papers which have been written about the Israel/Palestine conflict; some highly intellectual works; others less so. Some have a reasonable degree of objectivity; others clearly attempt to mould the facts to support the writer s personal subjective view. The extent of the multiplicity of these various works is such that the mere acknowledgement of them all would fill a book by itself. Each in its own right can form a basis for sensible academic or even religious discussion. None appear to point the way to solving the deep-rooted problems. Neither do they appear to adequately analyze the real cause of the problem. The academic would quite properly argue that each of the multitude of facts inherent in a book of this nature should be supported by a footnote identifying its source. At its conclusion the work may then meet the sort of standards required by the higher echelons of academia but it would do little for the understanding of the situation by the ordinary person. Indeed, the bibliography alone is yet another example which could easily justify
00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page ix Preface ix a volume in itself. That is hardly likely to make the book readable to such an individual, whose real interest lies in a reasonable understanding of the overall situation. Accordingly, footnotes have been dispensed with and a short bibliography with the appropriate acknowledgements appears in this book. This, in the main, is subdivided to deal with the various chapters where necessary. The reader who wishes either more detail or proof of a particular fact is referred to various works for further reading, which will either provide the details he or she requires or point them in the right direction to obtaining such detail. It will be apparent from the above that this book is not intended to be an academic treatise. It is not intended to contain every single possible fact which some may say should be brought into the equation, although it ought to contain those relevant facts permitting a proper analysis to be made and a judgement to be formed. Nearly every chapter in this book could properly run to several volumes if each and every relevant event was given the appropriate space which it, arguably, rightly deserves. It is not written by an individual who belongs to any particular political party or pressure group or who has been sponsored by others. It is not aimed at the individual who has a very good grasp of the history of the area. It is aimed at the ordinary individual who is genuinely interested in understanding what the problems really are and why so much blood has been shed and continues to be shed. That having been stated, the difficulties in dealing with the topic in such a way are real. It is impossible for any ordinary individual to get a basic feel for the problems without, for example, some knowledge of the essential history of the land and its peoples. It will be immediately apparent that such history is traceable back thousands of years. To deal with the events in what many would properly argue is the correct way, that single topic alone, the history of the land, would run into countless volumes. Another simple example would be the boundaries of Arabia, relevant in considering who can be correctly identified as being an Arab. A treatise contained within volumes of books has been written on that single topic, which many may have thought ought to be simple to identify. Such is the genuine complexity of so many issues which rear their heads when dealing with the subject matter of this book. In an attempt for the book to be comprehensible to as many people as possible, the facts, particularly the historical facts, are often stripped to the bare bone. This enables only those essential facts that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be particularly relevant in order for a proper analysis to be undertaken and for the
00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page x x In Defence of Justice reader to obtain a reasonable insight into the theatre of the Middle East. The approach regularly adopted throughout this book, as will be apparent, is an analytical one. Common sense is used and is intended to take the place of some form of philosophical argument. The reader will often find repetition of a particular point. The reason for this is because it is regularly the same point which succinctly meets a number of arguments put in various ways by different individuals and organizations. Often, the arguments put by those who could be properly classified as pro-palestinian, irrespective of the merits of a particular issue, are little more than an attempt to put what is essentially the same argument, which had already been previously answered, in a different way. Such argument has to be dealt with, which often leads to repetition in the answer, as the answer is often the same. Without such repetition, however regrettable, the reader to whom this book is aimed may well be left floundering in the dark for an answer or may be misled into somehow thinking a new point has been raised which has not been answered. Much of this book contains a critical analysis of those who regularly criticize. In so doing, it allows the reader to form their own conclusions as to where the truth lies. It tries to separate fact from fiction; reality from fantasy. It demonstrates not simply that certain material is propaganda but, most importantly, how such propaganda has been created. The methodology used in such creation. The book is divided into ten chapters. The later ones deal in some detail with the approach of those concerned with human rights, a report of a Commission on behalf of the United Nations and the way the media generally have dealt with the situation known as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. At the end of the book is a short chapter highlighting the conclusions which can properly be drawn from all the relevant events which have occurred relating to the conflict. That conclusion also points in the direction of what many may hopefully think is a sensible remedy. The theme of the book is often to focus not simply on issues in isolation but as part of a much fuller picture. In order to obtain such a picture, it is necessary to look at events and issues in the context of objective justice, not simply of the justice to one of the parties. Those who take the view that what is occurring in the Middle East does not concern them because it is not happening on their own doorstep should pause for thought. The real dangers arise not
00_Prelims(Hardback) 7/1/13 1:49 pm Page xi Preface xi from the fact of the conflict or the multiplicity of the tragic humanitarian consequences which regularly occur every time the conflict flares up; it is the root cause of the trouble, which poses a threat to humanity in general. It is no exaggeration to state that unless that cause is identified and addressed in a proper manner consistent with objective justice then the comparative peace presently enjoyed by much of the human population may no longer be sustainable. Like a simmering volcano it will not continue in that state forever. Malcolm D. Sinclair, BA (Law); LLB (Hons); Barrister-at-Law January 2013, London
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