Think-Israel

THINK-ISRAEL

ARMING THE ARAB MUSLIM PALESTINIANS IN GAZA

by Emanuel A. Winston

Israeli IDF commander of the Southern Gaza Brigade warned June 9th on Israel Radio that a very large quantity of arms, including anti-aircraft missiles, Katyusha rockets and anti-tank missiles destined for the Gaza Strip are now being held in the Egyptian Sinai Desert. (1)

Keep in mind that President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt has a sizable army as well as intelligence force and such weapons storage would not be hidden from his eyes but, would be received only with his approval.

Even the hundreds of smuggling tunnels from the Egyptian side of the town of Rafah in Gaza could not be dug without Mubarak's knowledge and approval.

When the Ukrainian ship, destined for Egypt, was caught recently in the port of Istanbul, Turkey loaded with weapons, Mubarak claimed they were his.

Then it was revealed that he had lied, apparently in collaboration with Sharon and the U.S. State Department. The shipment was to unload in the Egyptian port of Alexandria and delivery taken by the Arab Muslim Palestinians. This cargo of munitions would have joined other previously shipped cargos of weapons now stored in the dry desert of Sinai.

Perhaps no one will ever know how many other ships of munitions made it through - with Mubarak's approval - making the supposedly de-militarized Sinai a huge weapons depot for the Arab Muslim Palestinians.

Clearly, Mubarak anticipated that the weapons he allowed to be smuggled into Gaza would be used to start a military front against Israel in the South. Once the "Terrorist War" elevated to conventional warfare by using longer-range missiles, the Egyptian Army would re-occupy the Sinai - on the pretext of 'merely' protecting their security.

Now at the virtual invitation of Sharon, Israel would be faced with Egypt's massive army, paid for by American tax-dollars ($60 Billion so far - and growing). This is a direct extension of "Operation Bright Star", joint Egyptian-American military "war games" held annually. During one such "Operation Bright Star" the Egyptian General standing next to William Cohen, then Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton) said: "We are preparing a war with Israel." According the reports, Cohen said nothing in response - since the goal of the exercise was to either attack Israel or take back territory Egypt may have lost to Israel when Egypt mounted the 1967 aggressive war

On January 3, 2002 the Karin-A ship was caught by Israel (one of the few caught) with its 50 tons of munitions from Iran and headed for Alexandria to be shipped to the Arab Muslim Palestinian Authority, by Yassir Arafat's orders - with the full knowledge of Hosni Mubarak.

This time an easier and more direct route was chosen.. So far, the Turks have not talked about who paid for the armaments on the Ukrainian-registered vessel. I will presume that the U.S. State Department has pressured the Turks to keep this quiet - since Mubarak was involved.

As I stated in a prior article, it would appear that Israel's Prime Minister Ariel (Arik) Sharon knew that this shipment was headed for the Arab Muslim Palestinians in Gaza and he kept that information secret from his Cabinet in order to push through a vote, based on this withheld vital data. Sharon manipulated and actually betrayed his own Cabinet.

Sharon lied and what is surprising is that his Cabinet has not called for a re-vote after this information was revealed. That Mubarak lied is no surprise, because Muslims are permitted to lie to secure their military advantage against their adversaries - especially if they are infidels (non-Muslims).

As for President Bush knowing about these illegal shipments of dangerous munitions and remaining silent, well, he is part of the Bush Oil Dynasty and his foreign policy is manipulated by the Arabist U.S. State Department and CIA (true of every American President). He would not be moved to tell the American people (if he knew) that his push to evacuate the Gaza of Jews would require him to keep secret the shipments of weapons to the Arab Muslim Palestinians.

PM Sharon has discarded all pretense of being a Prime Minister subject to the will of his people or the restraint of Israel's Knesset (Parliament). Sharon, like any other dictator of the Middle East, said he would simply fire those of his Cabinet who voiced disagreement with his ethnic cleansing re-partition plan and plunge ahead. He did fire two of his Cabinet Ministers to create an artificial majority. The Leftist Supreme Court chose not to interfere.

It was always thought that Sharon was a man driven by ego and this is why he came to be called the human bulldozer or tank. Clearly, Sharon believes himself to be the reincarnation of past Jewish Kings - many of whom betrayed their office and their people.

Presently, Sharon is conducting negotiations with Mubarak of Egypt, using only Dov Weisglass, Sylvan Shalom and Ehud Olmert. He has virtually overthrown his own government and Cabinet in an dictatorial "coup d'etat" - just like his Arab Muslim neighbors.

Clearly, Sharon has lost any vestiges of restraint or sanity in his plunge toward self-rule. He has literally told all the IDF (Israel Defense Force) highest commanders that may not testify or offer military and intelligence facts against his unilateral decision.

If this sounds like Caesar, Herod, Stalin, Saddam....., it is because that's exactly what they would have done. It is plainly past time to remove this acting dictator who was elected as head of his Likud Party and became Prime Minister because his Party won the most votes by a landslide on the platform that "Arik (King of Israel) would bring security and, therefore, peace." As Prime Minister he is merely the temporary custodian of the Land of Israel, the people of Israel and their security as well as the sovereignty of the Jewish State of Israel. The word: "Temporary" is the operative adjective. While Sharon, in his state of raging dictatorial power, may think he rules by Divine Right or simply the right of assumed power as in a "coup d'etat", he has no such power according to law.

It is time to kick him and his lackeys out of office if Israel and the Jewish people are to survive. In the Tanach (Bible) it speaks of the Enemy Within. Obviously, Sharon seems to be moving against Israel's sanctity as a State - in lock-step with Egypt, the U.S. State Department, the U.N. and the E.U. (dominated by the huge Arab and Muslim block of nations) - as well a other interests yet to surface.

We have watched a string of Prime Ministers who absolutely knew best and heeded no overview or advisors who did not agree with their flashes of brilliance. Thus we had Ehud Barak play the foolish dictator who endangered the entire North of Israel by stupidly retreating from the Lebanese Security Zone (and abandoning our Lebanese Christian Allies as well as huge stores of weapons). The Iranian and Syrian backed Hezb'Allah Terrorist organization has moved into that vacuum. Barak also offered Arafat at least 97% of YESHA and to divide Jerusalem with the Arab Muslim Palestinians. Presently, Iran and Syria are tasking Hezb'Allah in the Lebanon to continue attacking Israel's northern border - all thanks to Ehud Barak.

We had Rabin, Peres and Beilin work with the Europeans to give Israel the failed Oslo Accords that brought Yassir Arafat back from oblivion in Tunis to reorganize the Arab Muslim Terrorist attacks, which (since Olso was signed Sept. 13, 1993) have killed at least 1500 Israelis (including some 45 Americans), wounded tens of thousands more, many maimed for life. We lost the Jericho synagogue, the Tomb of Joseph, endangered the Tomb of Rachel and abandoned many other Jewish historical and religious holy sites. These holy sites are valued by observant Jews but they are to be abandoned by the non-believing Leftist Jews as demonstrated when Moshe Dayan handed the keys of Solomon's Temple on the Temple Mount to the Arab Waqf.

We had Bibi Netanyahu divest Israel of 80% of Hebron, putting at risk the Machpeleh, Cave of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs.

Now Sharon, the Bulldozer, is ready to re-partition Israel against the good judgement of his Military, Intelligence Services, his Cabinet, his own Likud Party (by a 60% to 40% vote May 2nd).

After Sharon is ejected from office, there is desperate need to have laws of 'checks and balances' which prohibits Prime Ministers from aggregating to themselves the role of Dictatorial King.

From: The American Declaration of Independence of 1776, written by Thomas Jefferson:

1. Dr. Aaron Lerner, "Soft on Egypt for all the wrong reasons," IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis), on Israel Radio, June 8, 2004. Email from Freeman Center http://www.freeman.org, Freeman Center Broadcast, June 11, 2004.

Israel is soft on Egypt's failure to honor its treaty obligations to effectively fight the smugglers for all the wrong reasons.

First some facts: As IDF Southern Gaza Brigade commander Colonel Pinkie Suarez warned just yesterday on Israel Radio, a very large quantity of arms, including anti-aircraft missiles, Katyusha rockets and anti-tank missiles destined for the Gaza Strip are being held now in the Egyptian Sinai Desert.

If these weapons are introduced into the Gaza Strip they will dramatically enhance the ability of the Palestinians to terrorize the Jewish State by putting many strategic targets within range, threatening Israeli aviation and making IDF operations considerably more dangerous and complicated.

As Amira Oron, an Israel Foreign Ministry spokesperson, confirmed to me recently, the March 26, 1979 Peace Treaty Between Israel and Egypt sets no limit on the number of Egyptian police armed with assault rifles that Egypt can deploy in the border area adjacent to the Gaza Strip and no limits were introduced after the Treaty was signed.

Subparagraph 1.c.2. of Article II of Annex I, Protocol Concerning Israeli Withdrawal and Security Agreements, states that "Egyptian civil police will be stationed in Zone C" (the area adjacent to the border) without setting any limit on the size of the force.

Again: There is absolutely nothing preventing Egypt from flooding its border area today with a police force armed with assault rifles to seize the weapons.

And don't think for a minute that Egypt doesn't know - or cannot find out - where these weapons are. It would be an insult to Egyptian intelligence to even entertain the notion that they are not able to track down smuggling operations in their own sovereign backyard. Operations that pass weapons across great distances on a limited number of routes to reach a small border area.

Egypt has consistently taken the lead in efforts to keep the various Palestinian terror forces armed and intact and today the situation is no different. At most Egypt offers to help broker a temporary cease-fire during which the terrorists can acquire even more weapons.

Cynics say that Egyptian participation is a critical card in the retreat "house of cards". Concede that it is, at best, wishful thinking to expect Egypt to play a truly positive role in the Gaza Strip and you are only a step away from admitting that retreat itself is a half-baked idea.

Others explain that if Egypt takes significant action against the smuggling of weapons to the Palestinian "freedom fighters" that this would undermine its standing in the Arab world and pit the Egyptian "street" against the ruling regime.

Force Egypt to act against the smugglers, the argument goes, and we may end up finding ourselves next door to a considerably more dangerous Egyptian regime that is still armed with the best and most advanced Western weapons systems American aid can buy.

If Egypt, out of pan-Arab and internal considerations, declines to make a serious effort against dangerous weapons on sovereign Egyptian soil, it will be even less inclined to be associated with security measures against Palestinian "freedom fighters" beyond their borders in Gaza.

The financial rewards for smuggling rockets, missiles and other weapons into Gaza are great - many fold the lifetime salaries of the Egyptians expected to be sent to Gaza. Add to this the very real possibility that Israel, in the spirit of its consistent policy of avoiding criticizing or embarrassing Egypt, will studiously avoid carrying out anything but the most cursory examination of material crossing into Gaza associated with the official Egyptian Gaza team and we have a formula for disaster.

It would be bad enough for Egyptian "advisors" in Gaza to discourage serious action against the terror infrastructure and provide human shields for the terrorists via their presence in the field. Add to this the very real danger that the Egyptian operation in Gaza could easily become the most dangerous weapons conduit to t he terrorists and the Egyptian role in Gaza goes from a mediocre idea to a dangerous one.

Can Ariel Sharon and his team face up to reality about Egypt and still find a way to retreat from Gaza? I don't know.

But if they can't come up with a retreat plan that doesn't rely on Egypt it is best that they face reality now, when the choice is between bearing the political consequences of dropping bad policy and implementing deadly bad policy

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis) (Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava) Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730 INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il Website: http://www.imra.org.il

2. (Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Advisor - from the Israel Government Press office gpo@pmo.gov.il) May 31, 2004 3:12 PM Israel Daylight Time

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received a telephone call this afternoon (Monday, May 31st) from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ; the two discussed bilateral cooperation. Egyptian President Mubarak reiterated his support for the disengagement plan and stressed his willingness to assist in advancing it. The two men agreed to establish a joint committee to deal with various bilateral issues and that FM Silvan Shalom would go to Egypt Thursday, June 3rd to meet with President Mubarak, in order to move forward on this subject.

Emanuel A. Winston is a Middle East analyst and commentator. His essays appear frequently on Gamla (http://www.gamla.org.il/english), the Freeman Center for Strategic Studies (http://www.freeman.org) and Think-Israel.