A Demilitarized Palestine, Yes. A Demilitarized Israel, Why Not!

Sami Jamil Jadallah

Last week, when Bibi Netanyahu, the pathetic snake charmer of Israel demanded the demilitarization of a future state of Palestine among many of his preconditions, prerequisites, and demands. For agreeing to consider let alone agree to such a state, no one within the Ramallah leadership or among world leaders took Bibi and his Chutzpah demanding the same of a garrison Sparta Israel to disarm. It seems that both the Palestinians leadership is as coward lacking the backbone as those of the leadership of the West when it comes to mighty Israel. Hardly any one of significance even raised the issue of a demilitarized Israel as well.

I am one of those people (Palestinian-American) who believes that the future state of Palestine, whenever it comes, perhaps in 1000 years, should be a demilitarized state with no regular standing PLO Liberation Army, no Palestine Defense Forces, no Palestinian Preventive Security, certainly no Dayton’s Palestinian Security Forces. I believe it is in the best interest of Palestinians to disarm and disband and disarm all existing militias in both Gaza and the West Bank. I am taking this position not out of love for Bibi Netanyahu and his very powerful and criminal “Jewish State” but for the love of Palestine and the people of Palestine.

A close look at the history of the PLO Liberation Army and Palestinians Authority’s Palestinian Security Forces should convince all Palestinians and all friends of Palestine that a disarmed demilitarized Palestine is the best thing that can happen to the country and people.

Without going into the detailed of Arafat failed PLO Liberation Army and its performance and action in Jordan, Lebanon or Tunis. I based my conclusion on the behavior and performance of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces during the last 15 years of Oslo and based my conclusion on the behavior and performance of Hamas own militia. One can only imagine if Palestine and Palestinians, God forbid, have a standing army with tanks, jet fighters, and helicopters.

Palestinians Security Forces, that racketeering, thuggish and criminal militia of Arafat and the Palestinian Authority was and is and will remain the most single threat to Palestinian civil liberties and security of course after the Israeli Occupation Army. Every one knows even those guys in Ramallah that the Palestinian Authority and its militia is an integral part of Arafat’s Israeli Occupation Civil Authority and his Oslo Team.

When Arafat and his Oslo Team of Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qurai decided to circumvent the hard and deliberate work of the Late Dr. Haider Abdul-Shafi, they were so worried for their future role and self interest, they dispatched their trusted aid Dr. Nabil Sha’ath to “keep an eye” on Dr. Haider as he faced a viscous Israeli delegations in Washington DC, making sure nothing undermine Arafat power and authority. What later emerged as his (Arafat) plans to kill the Intifada, undermine a strongly emerging Hamas by give full recognition to the State of Israel without ever defining its borders in exchange for Israel recognizing Arafat and his PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people, and help Rabin by having Arafat militia provide security for the Israeli army and armed settlers, thus the idea of a Palestinian Security Forces was born.

Under Oslo, Arafat and his PLO/Fatah became the trusted managers and enforcers of the Jewish Occupation committed to the protection of the Israeli Defense Forces and armed Jewish settlers as they went on their daily routine of killing, murdering, confiscating land, house demolitions, destruction of farms and arresting Palestinians. More than 700,000 Palestinians served in Israeli jails from 67 to 2008, most if not all without trial.

Arafat decision to go to Oslo was two fold. The first was to preserve his leadership and his corrupt, bankrupt and failed PLO through Israel’s recognition of the PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. And the second is to deal with and put an end to the Intifada thus giving Israel a reprieve from having to deal with its ugly image of shooting and killing young unarmed protesters throwing stones and rocks (not bullets) at the Israeli Occupation Army and more importantly with the stroke of a pen, he relieved Israel of all its legal and financial obligations as an occupying power, under the Geneva Convention and under all UN resolutions including 194, 242 and 338. In exchange for all of this Israel and the US allowed Arafat and his PLO to go out, seek the funding it needs to manage the Jewish Occupation and of course allowing the leadership to fleece the public treasury, with billions disappearing from the public treasury and appearing into the private accounts of senior leaders. It is interesting to note that Israel used to transfer the tax money it collects from Palestinian importers directly to Arafat private bank account and did not transfer the collected money to the Palestinian Authority treasury.

However lost in all of this is Arafat hidden agenda of putting Hamas out of business and undermine its legitimacy in the eyes of Palestinians and more importantly putting an end to any competing claims of Palestinians representations, hence Israel’s recognitions to the PLO as that legal body it will deal with. Of course Israel under Oslo never gave any recognition to the Palestinians, to their rights in the land of Palestine and never even admitted it is an occupying power and refereeing the areas of 67 as Judea and Samaria, a reference that Israel continue to use while Mahmoud Abbas, Ahmed Qurai and Saeb Eurekat continued to negotiate with Israel for the last 15 years.

As part of the deal under Oslo and with Arafat and his Palestinian Authority being responsible for the safety and security for Israel, its army and settlers in the Occupied Territories, Israel allowed Arafat to regroup his failed liberation army and form his own private militia made up some 50,000 divided into 13 different security organizations with weapons and training coming from a number of friendly countries such as Jordan, Egypt, the US and Israel.

Arafat the ever manipulator and fraud he was, made sure through cash payments to officers and soldiers, he kept the loyalty of all these different organizations and the Arab he was, he proceeded with the help of Israel and the CIA to organized two secret police (mokhabarat) naming them Preventive Security under the leadership of two Palestinians who “served” in Israeli jails and who were dispatched to Tunis to become Arafat trusted aid. Jibril Rajoub ran the Preventive Security in the West Bank while Mohamed Dahlan ran the Preventive Security in Gaza. Both men of course did not have any formal military or intelligence training other than having been ‘guests’ of Israel and of course trusted aids to Arafat. They ran these two organizations with such ruthlessness that more Palestinians died in the jails of Arafat’s Preventive Security than those who died in Israeli jails. Both organizations ran as efficient and professional protection rackets.

Israel and its partner the United States wanted to make sure that Arafat keeps his commitment of providing safety and security for Israel under the Oslo demanding he makes life hell for Hamas and its leadership. His Preventive Security went on this task with vengeance, jailing its leaders, putting the late Sheik Ahmed Yassin under house arrest, closing many of Hamas social enterprises even the force shaving of the beards and mustaches of Hamas members as an insult added to injury. Thousands were rounded up and put in the Preventive Security jails without trial, with some dying trapped in the jails of Preventive Security while its leaders ran away with the keys as Sharon decided to settles old scores with Arafat.

The West Bank fared little better under Jibril Rajoub but not much. Mohamed Dahlan ran an organization that at best can be described at a racketeering protection organization made up of thugs and criminal elements serving Israel and Arafat political mission of undermining Hamas and putting it out of business while racking millions in the process.

The events leading to the take over of Hamas in Gaza saw so much killings, so much knee capping, so much burning of social organizations, kidnapping and assault of individual and public properties that Gaza became a war zone, run by war lords never seen before in Gaza, with family clans and Fatah militias running Gaza as their own turf, not so much different from the drug war lord of Mexico and Columbia.

In the weeks preceding Hamas take over, Mohamed Dahlan can count on some 55,000 well armed militias with tens of thousands of modern rifles, grenade launchers and millions of rounds of ammunition coming across the borders from Egypt and Jordan. Of course the rest is history.

The last 15 years of Fatah rule of both the West Bank and Gaza and the last 3 years of Hamas rule ofGaza convinced me and me hope can convince many Palestinians to support the idea of demilitarized Palestinian State. With only Preventive Security and Palestinians Security Forces, the Palestinians people have to put up with daily killings, murders, tortures, human rights violations, and destruction of properties, one can imagine what life will be like if there is a standing army. If all of this can take place under occupation, one can only imagine what would happen to Palestinians if there is a free state of Palestine with criminal thugs and bandits running a state with an army at their disposal.

As for Israel, I am sure every Palestinian, every Arab, certainly America and the West know that Israel is a criminal terrorist state with the largest and best equipped standing terrorist organization in the world. Of course no one should be surprised by Bibi Netanyahu calls for a demilitarized Palestinian state next to a powerful Jewish army that owns a state.

Israel has a standing army of over 400,000 and can add some 500,000 within 72 hours, thus having an army of one million. Always keeping in mind that it was Jews who brought terrorism to Palestine and who engaged in all kinds of terrorism as part of their way to ethnically cleanse Palestine of its Arabs, with terrorist acts such as King David Hotel, Dier Yassen, Qibya, Sabra and Shatilla, Qana 1 and Qana II, Jenin, and recently Gaza not to mention the war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006. To give the readers some idea of what Israel has in arms and armament, please consider the followings:

Israel has 1030 high quality main battle tanks with an expected delivery of 300 more, 1980 medium quality main battle tanks, armored personal carriers and other similar equipment 7070 with 250 more on the way, 1245 self-propelled artillery with 50 more on the way, 874 top of the line combat air-crafts such as F-16s and F-15s with capabilities to carry nuclear weapons, 66 transport planes, 171 training planes, 286 top of the line helicopters, 25 heavy SAM batteries, 13 war ships, 3 submarines with nuclear capabilities ( gift from the German people) and of course 150 nuclear war heads, yet Bibi Netanyahu expect and wants a disarmed and demilitarized Palestinian state to provide security for Israel. I know the Jews, especially the Israelis are well known for their Chutzpah which no one else have, but to demand with serious face that the future Palestinian state gives and provide security for this heavy armed Jewish state must be a joke.. Of course we need to keep in mind that Israel at one time or the other, bombed or invaded Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon andTunis. It engaged in terrorist activities in Spain, Norway, France, Sweden, Cyprus, Greece, Egypt,Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and did engage in covert operations in the US and France. This is the kind of state Bibi Netanyahu wants a small disarmed state to provide protection to. Keeping in mind that a Jewish soldier with the rank of private just off the boat can put the life of some 4 million Palestinians to a stand still, including the 3,000 VIPs of Ramallah.