Sorry, but I am sending another long one - please forgive me. As a balance to what Laurent just sent, this text may help to put Middle Eastern terrorism in its proper political/historical context. + + + + + + + 1914 With the outbreak of World War I, Britain promised the independence of Arab lands under Ottoman rule, including Palestine, in return for Arab support against Turkey which had entered the war on the side of Germany. 1917 Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary sent a letter to the Zionist leader Lord Rothschild which later became known as "The Balfour declaration". He stated that Britain would use its best endeavors to facilitate the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. At that time the population of Palestine was 700,000 of which 574,000 were Muslims, 74,000 were Christian, and 56,000 were Jews. 1919 The Palestinians convened their first National Conference and expressed their opposition to the Balfour Declaration. 1920 The San Remo Conference granted Britain a mandate over Palestine and two years later Palestine was effectively under British administration, and Sir Herbert Samuel, a declared Zionist, was sent as Britain's first High Commissioner to Palestine. 1922 The Council of the League of Nations issued a Mandate for Palestine. The Mandate was in favor of the establishment for the Jewish people a homeland in Palestine. 1936 The Palestinians held a six-month General Strike to protest against the confiscation of land and Jewish immigration. 1939 The British government published a new White Paper restricting Jewish immigration and offering independence for Palestine within ten years. This was rejected by the Zionists, who then organized terrorist groups and launched a bloody campaign against the British and the Palestinians. The aim was to drive them both out of Palestine and to pave the way for the establishment of the Zionist state. 1947 The United Nations approved the partition under which the Palestinian Arabs, who accounted for 70% of the population and owned 92% of the land, were allocated 47% of the country. (UN resolution 181) Approximate population of Palestine: 1,650,000 Palestinians and 750,000 Jews. April-May 1948 Massacres of Palestinians by Zionist groups such as the Stern Gang and and Irgun throughout Palestine. (This was Menechem Begin, who pioneered truck bombs in hotel basements and crowded streets) Prior to the establishment of Israel, two major terrorist groups moved to the forefront of performing violent acts against civilians. Headed by future Prime Minister Menachem Begin, the National Military Organization, also known as Etzel or Irgun, preached a philosophy promoting the killing and maiming of Arabs in order to drive them out of the land divinely promised for a Jewish state. The other was the so-called Stern Gang, the "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel," also known as Lehi (Neff, 1998). The two groups together were the most active in performing violent acts targeted at Arabs and their supporters. 1948 British forces withdrew from Palestine in May and the Zionists proclaimed the state of Israel without defining its borders. Arab armies moved to defend the Palestinians. 1949 A cease fire was finally agreed. The Zionists controlled 77% of Palestinian land and over 1 million Palestinians were forced to leave their country. The West Bank was put under Jordanian control and the Gaza Strip under Egyptian control. Article 49 (6) of the Geneva Convention IV states: the occupying power (Israel) shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, it also rejects and forbids the settlement of Jews in the West Bank area. The Israeli government allows only a very few Palestinians to return after the war is over. By 1950, over one million Palestinians live in UN-supported refugee camps in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, and Jordan. 1967 Approximate population of Israel and Occupied Territories: 1,660,000 Palestinians and 2,384,000 Jews. The 1967 War begins June 5th with Israel occupying the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem. UN issues Resolution 242 demanding Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Approximately 250,000 more Palestinian refugees flee, or are forced into Jordan. After the 1967 Six Day War, Yassar Arafat is announced the leader of the PLO. So since the UN butchery of Palestine in 1949, the Zionists have taken over the rest, including Jerusalem, the historical Palestinian capital. The violent events of September and October, 2000 mark the end of the Oslo accords. The 1993 Oslo Accord, whereby Israel recognized the PLO and gave them limited autonomy in return for peace and an end to Palestinian claims on Israeli territory, had already been largely criticized as a one-sided accord, that benefits only Israel, not the Palestinian people. Ariel Sharon was a military general who oversaw the massacre of thousands of Palestinians in refugee camps in Lebabnon in the early 1980s. Accompanied by 1000 soldiers, he visited the Temple Mount (AKA Haram al Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) by the Muslims) and proclaimed it as eternal Israeli territory.
