Democratic Palestine : 30 (ص 8)

غرض

عنوان

Democratic Palestine : 30 (ص 8)

المحتوى

The Uprising
Dual Power in Occupied Palestine
In the last few months, the uprising has not only established itself as a permanent phenomenon, but im-
posed a state of dual power in occupied Palestine. The resilience of popular action and organizing, even
after the Israeli ban on the popular committees, stands as the latest evidence of the unity of the people and:
their determination to continue the struggle until achieving freedom and independence.
Deir Ammar village: «PLO — Israel No!»
The Uprising is here to stay, as
even the Israelis admit.
It took months of sustained mass
struggle, but it finally happened. Israeli
officials, significantly enough military
officers first and foremost, began to
publicly acknowledge that the uprising
could not easily be squashed. The first
such statement came from the army
commander in the occupied West Bank,
Maj. Gen. Amran Mitzna; on June
18th, he stated that the occupied ter-
ritories would never return to the
previous relative calm, but that the
uprising would probably continue a
long time. In the same period, Chief of
Staff Dan Shomron and Defense
Minister Yitzhak Rabin both noted the
increased use of molotov cocktails and
8
firebombs against their troops. Israeli
government sources estimated that
about 800 firebombs had been thrown
at their forces since the uprising began,
almost half of them in the preceding
few weeks.
By mid-July, Shomron had become
more explicit. While in Beit Sahour, he
stated, «The Israeli army cannot con-
trol the will of the Palestinians. The
uprising may continue for years... the
real question is: To what level of
violence will this conflict continue...
Our real aim is to decrease the level of
violence» - a tacit admission that it
cannot be stopped. Earlier, Maj. Gen.
Amnon Shahak, head of the Israeli
military intelligence, had stated that
«the Palestinians still accept the PLO as
the ultimate leadership of the uprising
in the occupied lands even though a new
local leadership has emerged...»
(Associated Press, July Ist). As
reported by the Guardian, July 9th,
70-80% of the Israeli army’s present
general staff see the need for territorial
concessions.
It is no accident that it was first in the
military that the futility of beating
down the uprising was acknowledged.
It is the army that is faced with that
very task and thus the first to see the
reality. Moreover, the tangible effects
of the uprising on the military have
become more marked over time. As
reported by Israel and Palestine, May
1988, «...each Jewish male must now
serve in the army at least 65 days a year
(in addition to his 3-year-long draft
period, plus longer reserve duty for of-

هو جزء من

Democratic Palestine : 30

تاريخ

سبتمبر ١٩٨٨

المنشئ

الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين

مجموعات العناصر

Generated Pages Set

Democratic Palestine

PLO Research Center: Facts and Figures