The donor nations to the Palestinian Authority educational system had egg on their face last summer, when our investigative research showed that the consuls of Italy, Holland, Belgium, Finland and Ireland, had financed new school books for the Palestinian Authority for the past school year that were supposed to promote peace yet instead promoted a war curriculum.

These school books and that curriculum of the PA can be perused at the website of the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace located at www.edume.org, an organization now affiliated with the Truman Center for the Advancement for Peace at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

This year, foreign governments waited for feedback from the Israeli government before they decided whether or not to finance the Palestinian school system.

In late June, We asked the Israeli Foreign Ministry, as to whether or not it would recommend that foreign governments continue to fund the Palestinian school system. Their response: “We ask that the donor nations support the Palestinian school system, but not the school books, and implore the PA not to use their school system to incite hatred against Israel”.

We asked the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education whether it would consider changes in its curriculum this year, or the removal of any school books which continue to teach the idea of Jihad to conquer the whole land of Palestine. The answer, from all levels of the PA Ministry, was a curt “no”.

Our follow-up question to the Israel Foreign Ministry: Since the PA ignores the requests to change its curriculum, what is your recommendation as to whether the donor nations should continue to fund the PA school system? It took the ministry of Israel Foreign Affairs a full month to answer that question. The answer that I got at the end of July was the same as a month before: Finance the PA school system, not the PA school books, and implore the PA not to use its schools to incite against Israel.

We posed the same question to deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Rabbi Michael Melchior. His spokesman wrote back that Rabbi Melchior had indeed raised the issue of incitement with the foreign consuls.

That was not the question, we pointed out. The question that we had asked Rabbi Melchior, (who is also the head of Meimad, a liberal Orthodox movement that promotes peace education) was whether or not he supports the continued funding of the PA educational system. Rabbi Melchior personally answered this question after addressing a forum of diplomats and journalists on July 25th. Rabbi Melchior said that he had been assured that all donor nations had implored the PA to cease its anti-Israel curriculum in the PA schools. Yet he would not answer the question as to what to recommend to the foreign consuls in Jerusalem, now that the PA is ignoring all requests to change their curriculum.

The bottom line: Israel indeed recommends to the donor nations of the PA that they renew funding for the PA school system, despite the fact that the PA runs the first curriculum since Nazi Germany to promote a war against the Jews.

On Tuesday, a few hours after Yuri Gushtzin was murdered and his body dumped near the slaughterhouse in Ramallah, the “el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades,” the military arm of Fatah, took responsibility for the murder.

The announcement was no different from dozens of press releases published in recent months with the signature of the organization, taking responsibility for shooting attacks, bombs, mortar fire and other murderous actions. Since the beginning of the Intifada the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades have played a vital role in leading the armed struggle against Israel. On the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip and inside the Green Line, some 6,000 terror attacks were carried out in this period, the decisive majority of them by the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

The name of the commander of the organization, which has established itself as the central military wing of the Fatah movement, is Haj Abu Ahmad. Israel’s intelligence arms have no picture of Haj Abu Ahmad, nor do they have any other identifying details. There are those who say that he is hiding in Nablus, while others say that he is abroad, pulling the strings of terror from there. Hussam Khadr, one of the leaders of the Tanzim in the Balata refugee camp, says that Abu Ahmad is nothing more than an invention of Israeli Intelligence.

The mystery that surrounds the identity of the commander Abu Ahmad, reveals much about the organization’s operational methods. Maximum secrecy, compartmentalization of underground cells, operations in small groups, cruel acts of terror, and the most significant point: unconditional and unquestioning loyalty to Yasser Arafat. For them, he is the source of authority for carrying out acts of terror.

For Arafat, the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades are a central tool in controlling the height of the flames of the Intifada. They don’t need to receive an explicit directive from him in order to decrease or escalate the level of terror attacks. They know how to translate the Rais’s body language, his expressions, his tone and the meaning of his words, into the rhythm of bursts of Kalachnikov fire.

Dahlan and Tirawi Sign Up

A few days after the outbreak of the Intifada, when developments already pointed at long-term fighting, Arafat needed an extra-governmental military wing not identified with the Palestinian Authority institution, which would be loyal to his policies, obey his orders, receive wide support on the Palestinian street and, most importantly, would be strong enough to fight against the settlers and IDF soldiers. The goal of the establishment of this organization was to consolidate all of the Fatah fighters under the new framework in order to improve the fighting capability of the Palestinians in the armed struggle against Israel.

The military core group of Fatah, the movement headed by Arafat, answered all of these criteria. The process of building the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades took several months. In an attempt to give the new body a measure of operational momentum, and thus also turn up the level of the Intifada a few notches, Arafat allowed his security organizations — Mohammed Dahlan, commander of the Palestinian GSS in Gaza, and Tawfiq Tirawi, commander of General Intelligence in the West Bank — to join the fighting under the umbrella of the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

The organization was established in stages, not in one fell swoop. The first shot was fired in Nablus, on October 12, 2000, during a military parade attended by several hundred Fatah members armed with a wide range of weapons: pistols, rifles, sub-machine guns, and hand grenades. In a ceremony held at the end of the parade, the establishment of the “armed militias” was announced. Three or four days later, announcements were already being released, signed by the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades. After Nablus came Ramallah, Gaza, Khan Yunis, Hebron, Bethlehem and other cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Fighting cells were also established in towns under Israeli security control. The process of establishing a firm base for the organization took several months. Today, the organization already includes most of Fatah’s fighting activists.

The Language of the Rifle

In September of 1993, after the historic handshake between Arafat and Rabin on the White House lawn in Washington, Fatah announced a halt to its armed actions against Israel. Contrary to Israeli expectations, Arafat did not turn Fatah into a political party, instead building the movement as a popular organization with military characteristics in order to provide him with a lever to bring out the masses for confrontations with Israel, and also to use in armed struggle when the time came. So it was, for example, during the Tunnel Riots of September 1996, the Nakba Day riots of May 2000 and, of course, in the el-Aksa Intifada.

In contradiction to the agreements, which required Arafat to confiscate illegal weapons, he did not disarm Fatah. On the contrary, he provided it with weapons and ammunition from PA warehouses, and PA officers trained cadres of fighters from among Fatah youth.

Military power was kept decentralized, in separate groups on a local level, mainly in the refugee camps. Arafat did not fight against them, and forgave them when they attacked the PA or when they acted like street hoodlums.

Immediately after the establishment of the PA, many groups of veteran Fatah fighters were posted to the intelligence organizations commanded by Rajoub, Dahlan, or Tirawi, but their loyalty was and still is to the mother movement, Fatah.

When the Intifada broke out, it was easy to establish the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades on this base. And since the outbreak of fighting, Fatah has renewed, widened and broadened the base of its military wing. The call was easily answered: these are fighters who wanted to show their abilities and military power, fighters who are loyal to Fatah ideology, and who believe that the peace process has failed. [… ]

A week ago the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades released a pamphlet detailing the ideology that guides them: “The ten hungry years of the peace process proved that the Zionist occupation that disturbs the heart of the Palestinian homeland understands nothing but the language of rifles and fire and the language of revolution and the bullets of the revolutionary fighters. Jerusalem is Arab and Muslim land and not one grain of its soil can be given up. The return of the refugees to their homes is the heart of the problem and its foundation, and any concession on their rights is considered treachery. Unity is the main gate to the liberation of Palestine.” [… ]

According to Israeli assessments, the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades include several hundred active fighters; of those only a few dozen are in the operational cells which are carrying out the shooting attacks and planting bombs. The upkeep of such units requires a large amount of money for salaries, vehicles, the purchase of weapons and ammunition, and operational costs such as apartment rentals. The organization is believed to be funded by the Palestinian Authority in the framework of the budget allocated to Fatah.

The military wing of Fatah is at the height of a process of growth and stabilization. This is an organized system that coordinates actions between various sectors and transfers weapons from place to place. Thus, for example, on July 2nd, terrorists of the el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades carried out five attacks in various parts of the West Bank at almost the same time, and the organization’s headquarters took responsibility for the attacks in one press release. The attacks were as follows: the murder of Yair Har-Sinai at the settlement of Susya in the southern Hebron Hills, the murder of Rabbi Aharon Abidayan in Baka el-Sharkiya, shooting at an IDF position at the settlement of Beit El, the wounding of a settler at the settlement of Bracha near Nablus, and the ambush of an IDF force in the southern part of the village of Hawra near Nablus.

The el-Aksa Martyrs Brigades are also the base of a political force which is growing in importance and developing its own agenda. The Brigades receive wide support in the Palestinian public, almost a consensus. They represent those who led the Oslo process and now oppose it, like the vast majority of the Palestinian population. Whoever is crowned commander of the organization will have a strong power base for future political action.

This article ran in Yediot Aharonot, July 27th, 2001

40 Palestinian Authority Organizations condemn “B’Tselem biased position towards Settlements & Settlers in the Occupied Territories”: July 3rd, 2001

On 21.6.01 B’Tselem issued a press release entitled ‘B’Tselem condemns Palestinian statements supporting attacks against settlers’. As Palestinian organizations, we believe that the timing of this release, which coincides with an intense and misleading media campaign in support of illegal settlement by the Israeli Occupation Authorities, is inopportune and only serves to give the impression that settlers are “civilians” on par with the indigenous Palestinian population. Moreover, the release came as a response to the settlers’ appeals for Israeli human rights organizations to take a position against the killing of “innocent” and “civilian” settlers, and to issue a statement condemning the positions and statements of the PNA officials regarding attacks on settlers.

Instead of rushing behind the security establishment and responding to the settlers’ pressure, we believe that B’Tselem should focus its attention on the ongoing gross human rights violations that are occurring in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and should remain independent by maintaining an honest and unbiased position based on international humanitarian law and human rights principles.

A clear major problem with this release is the way in which it divides the issues of the illegality of settlements, settler violence, and settlers illegal status from the issue of violence against settlers, and how its wording plays with the legal provisions of international law. The press release effectively places the blame for current violence on Palestinians who are the victims of the settlements and settlers’ acts. The release does say that settlements are illegal, but qualifies this by stating that, “the settlers have no right to settle there permanently”. This in effect legitimized the settlers “temporary” presence in the Occupied Territories and does not pay attention to the relevant legal provisions. B’Tselem should explicitly declare that international law bans the occupied country from transferring its citizens to the occupied territory, and must state that the presence of settlers in the occupied territories is illegal, even for an interim period. Consequently, B’Tselem should take responsibility towards Israeli society by addressing it in brave and clear language that reveals the illegality of settlements and the agony they cause to the Palestinian people. Contrary to all legal conventions the press release also says that, “the demand to evacuate the settlements in the context of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement is legitimate.” No qualifications should be placed upon the right to demand the removal of settlements. They are blatantly illegal under international law and B’Tselem should demand that the Israeli Occupation Authorities dismantle the settlements and return the settlers to Israel even without an agreement. Until this is done, all settlers should be held liable for their crimes, which include the act of settlement, committed in the occupied territories, and must bear the consequences of their actions, which include Palestinian acts taken in self defense against their illegal aggression.

If B’Tselem had lain down the various “legal” and “human rights” it would be clear that the relationship between the law and its provisions and the issue of settlers and settlements can not be divided. By leave all legal provisions out of the content its release and dividing the illegality of settlers’ actions from the consequences of these actions, B’Tselem indicates two things. First, they indicate either a failure to understand or a disregard for the legal provisions that relate to settlement, and second, they seem to be attempting to turn around the relevant provisions by stripping them of their content disregarding their objectives. In this case, B’Tselem’s release in effect, “legalizes” the “illegal” settlements, and justifies the Interim presence of settlers in the Occupied Territories, in effect giving settlers an open door to continue to commit crimes and undertake illegal acts against Palestinians.

In our attempt to further explain our dismay over this release, and the political implications of the language used in the release, we will primarily depend on humanitarian law and international human rights standards to indicate the potential risks that are inherent in the B’Tselem release. The rules and the provisions of humanitarian international law are set forth through the following legal standards:

First Article 49 (6) of the 4th Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in time of War states that “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”. Under this explicitly clear provision all steps that have been taken by the Israeli Occupation Authorities in relation to the transfer and settlement of its citizens to the Palestinian Occupied Territories are illegal. Actions taken in contravention of this Article have resulted in severe violations of the rights of the Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories. These violations include, but are not limited to the confiscation of Palestinian natural resources, including land and water, for use by settlers. These actions are also in violation of International Law and the provisions of international humanitarian law, which prohibit the confiscation of property and resources for reasons other than security. Consequently, the presence of settlers in the occupied territories, and all forms of settlement are illegal.

Second: The Israeli Occupation Authorities have used all means within their power to illegally take possession of Palestinian owned lands, to build settlements, and to transfer settlers to these locations. The land acquired by Israel for the building of settlements was often confiscated after being declared “government property”, “absentee property”, or after being sealed for use as closed military zones. In most cases the Israeli government then built military posts on these lands, as with the so called “MAHAZ”, “MAHOLA B” and “Warrior Youth Pioneer”. These posts often later evolved into settlements. An example of this is the expropriation of the lands surrounding “Beit El” military post, following the Supreme Court decision in case No. 606/78. These lands were later turned into a large civil settlement, which swallowed much of the surrounding Palestinian territory. Additionally, settlements are considered an integral part of the “territorial defense” system, the Hagana Merhavat, in Hebrew, and often serve both military and civilian functions. Settlements, and therefore settlers cannot be viewed as truly “civilian”.

In view of the above, we the undersigned Palestinian organizations, condemn B’Tselem’s position that ignores the fact that all forms of settlement are illegal and qualify as war crimes. We also reiterate the Palestinians People’s right to resist the occupation and its consequences by all available legal means guaranteed by international customs and conventions.

Statement signed by:

1. The Palestinian Hydrology Group
2. The Union of Agricultural Work Committees
3. The Loving Care Patient Society
4. Rawat Al Zuhur Society
5. Center for Citizen’s Rights
6. Defence for Children International “DCI”/Palestine
7. First Ramallah Group
8. Popular Art Center
9. Science and Cultural Center
10. Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA)
11. The Educational Network
12. Teacher Creativity Center (TCC)
13. Tamar Institute for Community Education
14. Dur Al-Salam Hospital
15. Union Of Health Work Committee
16. Ad Dammar Association for Human Rights
17. The Palestinian Center for Peace and Democracy
18. Al-Manhal Cultural Center
19. Arab Thought Forum
20. The Citizens Rights Center
21. Besan Center for Research and Development
22. The Development Center: “Ma’an”
23. Muwaita: The Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy
24. The General Committee for the Defence of the Land
25. The Palestinian Counseling Center
26. Democracy and Worker’s Rights Center
27. The Palestinian Society for the Study of International Affairs
28. The Palestinian Society for Consumer Protection
29. The Palestinian Women’s Society for Development
30. Women’s Affairs Center
31. Al Huda Women’s Association
32. Almajd Women’s Assn.
33. Al Magazzi Cultural Center
34. Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center
35. Women’s Studie Centre
36. Al-Hannan Association for Mother and Child
37. The Arab Center for Agricultural Development
38. The National Society for Rehabilitation
39. The Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
40. The Palestinian Center for Microsprojects Development.