Back to PLO Bulletin 15-31 January 1982

THE GOLAN ANNEXATION

Israel's declaration to officially annex the Golan Heights was not a surprise to the international community. The Golan area has been under Israeli occupation since June 1967, and Israel has always refused to abandon this territory. Israel claims, as usual, that the Golan is vital for the so-called security of the state of Israel.

Before that, Israel had announced the official annexation of East Jerusalem, and declared the Holy City as the "unified capital of the state of Israel". As a justification for this step, the Israelis declared that the Holy City is important, not only for security reasons, but also for "spiritual and moral" reasons. More arguments were given by Israeli propaganda on this particular issue. They also claimed that "Jerusalem shall never be divided as Berlin." Other emotional arguments were used from the Old Testament for the current situation about the importance of the Holy City to Israel.

Israeli logic is a peculiar one; they justify their deeds in their own way. Israel is the only state which has "security" needs in the Middle East. The security of the other states is not important, never mind the Palestinians. For the Israelis, the Palestinians do not have anything to say. Golda Meir said of the Palestinians in 1969: "They do not exist."

Let us assume that the U.S., the main backer of Israel, was not happy about this Israeli annexationist step. But the veto used at the Security Council is a blatant encouragement to Israeli arrogance. Nobody could imagine that Israel could take such action without tacit U.S. encouragement. Nobody could imagine that the U.S. superpower could be blackmailed by the small, arrogant state of Israel.

Another scandal in U.S. history is the extradition of the young Palestinian student, who was studying in the U.S.A., to Israel. A Palestinian student of Jordanian citizenship accused by the Israeli occupation authorities to have thrown a bomb at an Israeli patrol. What a crime! ! The resistance against foreign occupation is seen as a crime by the U.S.A.! What a scandal! ! A superpower, the U.S.A., bows to Israeli-Zionist blackmail! !

Well, the history of U.S.-Israeli alliance and connivance is not new. The U.S.A. can tell its friends in the Arab World many stories, but nobody will believe them. The U.S.A. can always try to calm down the anger of the Arab World over using its vetoes in support of Israel's arrogance, but this will not work for ever. Even if some Arab regimes accept it, the Arab peoples and the Palestinians will not.

Everybody knows the old saying, that "the friend of my enemy is my enemy." In this case, the U.S.A. is not only the friend of Israel; it is the only backer and supporter of Israeli aggression. Israel's wars and aggression have been launched using U.S. weapons and equipment.

For all Israel's aggression, for the continuous occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights, as well as other Arab territories, we have to put the blame on the U.S.A.. The U.S.A. also bears the responsibility for the coming Israeli aggression. The Israeli build-up in the south of Lebanon and in the north of occupied Palestine is composed entirely of U.S. tanks, vehicles and equipment.