Damned If You Do, Condemned If You Don't - Zionism and Palestine

PALESTINE'S
PRISONERS

* 10,180 Palestinian security inmates

* 7,000 serving sentences

* 2,650 awaiting trial

* 530 'administrative detainees'

* 1,500+ with 'blood on hands'

Freed Revolutionary running for city council

Arab-Israeli woman jailed over Jerusalem market bombing to compete in Sakhnin, Galilee elections. A militant Palestinian woman who resisted and agitated for Palestinian liberation wants to become a politician: Tagrid Saadi, a 28-year-old Arab-Israeli woman convicted of failing to prevent an attack in Jerusalem, is vying for a city council spot in the northern town of Sakhnin.

Left: Andaleeb Taqataqah

The principal proponent of the affair was Andaleeb Taqataqah, a 17-year-old female who exploded her munition in proximity to a bus in the Mahaneh Yehuda market in Jerusalem on April 12, 2002. Andaleeb Taqataqah was a Tanzim member from Bethlehem. The incursion was prepared by Muataz Hymoni from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Hebron who was later arrested in the Defensive Shield Operation--he was subsequently hunted and executed by Isreali security forces.

The explosive device used in the operation was made of three plastic pipes and a battery and was concealed in a female purse. On the day of the event, Andaleeb was transported to Abu Dis and from there traveled by taxi to Jerusalem and arrived at the Mahaneh Yehuda market. There she exploded the ordinance near an Egged bus. A number of days before implementation of the mission Andaleeb was photographed by a video camera dressed in black with a Qu'ran in her hand.

Left: Aftermath of Jerusalem market attack

Tagrid Saadi was detained immediately after the detonation on April 12, 2002. She helped the martyred female get to Haifa. The human bomber then traveled to Jerusalem, where she attacked the Mahaneh Yehuda market, The bombing killed six, four Israelis as well as two Chinese workers and wounded 70. Saadi was in contact with the cell commander, via the Internet, and was informed about the date of the attack. The cell leader also asked her for information about crowded locations that would be suitable for attacks. The same market suffered a dual bombing in 1997, involving two martyrdom bombs that saw 15 dead and 157 wounded.

Left: Mahaneh Yehuda Market, Every day from 9:00-20:00. Friday - until one hour before Shabbat.

Magrid Saadi was sentenced to six years in prison, where she affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. In November 1998 two Israelis died by a powerful car bomb at the same central Jerusalem Mahaneh Yehuda market, a frequent target of attacks. Islamic Jihad said it carried out the bombing. Again in November 2000, an Islamic Jihad car bomb exploded near the Mahaneh Yehuda market where 2 people died and 10 were injured.

Analysts say she has a good chance of being elected. She was released from jail in January of this year and greeted by festivities in her hometown--and has now decided to enter politics.

She fought against occupation

In a conversation with Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Magrid Saadi did not express any regret for her actions. "I do not look back – I only look forward," she said.

Magrid Saadi, who is running on the Hadash party slate, said she is sure party officials looked into the legal issues associated with her political quest.

"Like any person released from prison, I'm allowed to vote and be elected," she said. A Hadash official told Yedioth Ahornoth that the party is proud of Saadi, because "she fought against the occupation and continues to fight against the occupation."

"There is no party that objects to the killing of innocents, regardless of whether they are Israeli or Palestinian, more than Hadash," he said. "Besides, we have no faith in the court that sentenced her, as it is part of the Israeli establishment, and this court allows radical Jews to protest in Umm al-Fahm. She acted against occupation."

The History of the Mahane Yehuda Market

This Jerusalem market is a must see site! If you say 'Mahaneh Yehuda,' you have expressed, in two words, the essence of the authentic Jerusalem experience. Mahaneh Yehuda is synonymous with market-place. This is the aroma of Jerusalem, the humus of the Rachmo restaurant, and the Jerusalem Beitar soccer team. The marketplace, with its enticing smells and packed with crowds of shoppers (mainly towards the end of the week), is a celebration for all the senses: its colors, its picturesque characters, and the cries of the vendors that envelop us as we walk past the stands and examine the abundance of foods they offer.

Mahaneh Yehuda is not the original name of the marketplace, but rather of the neighborhood opposite it that was established in 1887 with 162 houses. It was founded by three partners: Johannes Frutiger, Joseph Navon, and Shalom Konstrum, and was named after Jodah (Yehuda) Navon, Joseph's brother. Over the course of time the name came to include the marketplace as well.

The marketplace was originally called the ''Bet Yaakov marketplace'', after their produce. In the Ottoman period the marketplace expanded with no order or plan. Sanitary conditions deteriorated so severely that in the late 1920's the British ordered the merchants to vacate the area, and thus put an end to this health hazard.

The construction was completed in 1931, and a sign bearing the marketplace's official name was installed, The marketplace has recently undergone renovations, including a roof over the open areas.

EARLY ZIONIST TERRORIST GANGS

Soon after the end of World War II, there were three basic para-military insurgent Zionist organizations in Palestine, working against the Palestinian people, with the specific purpose of driving them out of Palestine. These were the Haganah, the Irgun Zvai Leumi and the Stern Gang.

Above: Map of network of Israeli prisons and detention centers.

1. Telmond Prison - contains a section for minors ranging from 14 to 18 years of age, some of whom face sentences of 25 years. The prison holds 70 minors. 93% of Palestinian women prisoners are held at this penal facility.
2. Megiddo Military Prison (military administration)
3. Salem Center of Detention (military administration)Kishon
4. Center of Interrogation Al Jalame) (military administration)
5. Kadumin Centre of detention (military administration)
6. Detention Center of Interrogation Huwwara
7. Interrogation Center of Petah Tikva (military administration)
8. Neve Tertze Prizon (Ramle) (Penitentiary authority)
9. Detention & Interrogation Center of Beit El (military)
10. Military Camp of Ofer (military administration)
11. Interrogation Center of Muscobiyeh (Russian Compound) (military administration)
12. Police Post of the colony Ma’ale adumim
13. Interrogation Center of Askelan (military administration)
14. Detention Center of Brez (military administration)
15. Police Post of Kiryat Arba
16. Detention Center Addoriym (Al Majnouneh) (military administration)
17. Military Camp of Ketziot (Ansar III) (military administration)

Before the British Mandate, the Jewish settlers had formed a group of mounted armed watchmen called "Hashomar" and with the advent of the British Mandate, it became the Haganah (Defense). With a membership of 60,000 Zionist Jews, the Haganah had a field army of 16,000 trained men and a unit called the Palmach, which was a full-time force, numbering about 6000.

The Irgun Zvai Leumi included between 3000 and 5000 armed terrorists, and grew out of the Haganah and its Palmach branch in 1933. The Irgun was not ready to obey the Jewish Agency, which sought to dilute the terror of the Haganah in order not to lose its respectability.

In 1939, one of Irgun's commanding officers, Abraham Stern, left the parent organization and formed the Stern Gang, numbering some 200 to 300 dangerous fanatics later to be known as revisionist Zionists.

Right: Ketziot prison in the Negev desert

SOME EARLY EXAMPLES OF JEWISH-ZIONIST TERROR

August 20, 1937 - June 29, 1939. During this period, the Zionists carried out a series of attacks against Palestinian buses, resulting in the death of 24 persons and wounding 25 others.

November 25, 1940. S.S.Patria was blown up by Jewish terrorists in Haifa harbour, killing 268 illegal Jewish immigrants.

November 6, 1944. Zionist terrorists of the Stern Gang assassinated the British Minister Resident in the Middle East, Lord Moyne, in Cairo.

July 22, 1946. Zionist terrorists blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which housed the central offices of the civilian administration of the government of Palestine, killing or injuring more than 200 persons. The Irgun officially claimed responsibility for the incident, but subsequent evidence indicated that both the Haganah and the Jewish Agency were involved.

October 1, 1946. The British Embassy in Rome was badly damaged by bomb explosions, for which Irgun claimed responsibility.

June 1947. Letters sent to British Cabinet Ministers were found to contain bombs.

September 3, 1947. A postal bomb addressed to the British War Office exploded in the post office sorting room in London, injuring 2 persons. It was attributed to Irgun or Stern Gangs.

December 11, 1947. Six Palestinians were killed and 30 wounded when bombs were thrown from Jewish trucks at Palestinian buses in Haifa; 12 Palestinians were killed and others injured in an attack by armed Zionists on an Palestinian coastal village near Haifa.

December 13,1947. Zionist terrorists, believed to be members of Irgun Zvai Leumi, killed 18 Palestinians and wounded nearly 60 in Jerusalem, Jaffa and Lydda areas. In Jerusalem, bombs were thrown in a Palestinian market-place near the Damascus Gate; in Jaffa, bombs were thrown into a Palestinian cafe; in the Palestinian village of Al Abbasya, near Lydda, 12 Palestinian were killed in an attack with mortars and automatic weapons.

December 19, 1947. Haganah terrorists attacked a Palestinian village near Safad, blowing up two houses, in the ruins of which were found the bodies of 10 Palestinians, including 5 children. Haganah admitted responsibility for the attack.

December 29, 1947. Two British constables and 11 Palestinians were killed and 32 injured, at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem when Irgun members threw a bomb from a taxi.

December 30,1947. A mixed force of the Zionist Palmach and the "Carmel Brigade" attacked the village of Balad al Sheikh, killing more than 60 Palestinians.

1947 -- 1948. Over 700,000 Palestinians were uprooted from their homes and land, and forced to live in refugee camps on Israel's borders. They have been denied the right to return to their homes. They have been refused compensation for their homes, orchards, farms and other property stolen from them by the Israeli government. After their expulsion, the "Israeli Forces" totally obliterated (usually by bulldozing) 385 Palestinian villages and towns, out of a total of 475. Commonly, Israeli villages were built on the remaining rubble.

January 1, 1948. Haganah terrorists attacked a village on the slopes of Mount Carmel; 17 Palestinians were killed and 33 wounded.

January 4, 1948. Haganah terrorists wearing British Army uniforms penetrated into the center of Jaffa and blew up the Serai (the old Turkish Government House) which was used as a headquarters of the Palestinian National Committee, killing more than 40 persons and wounding 98 others.

January 5, 1948. The Palestinian-owned Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem was blown up, killing 20 persons, among them Viscount de Tapia, the Spanish Consul. Haganah admitted responsibility for this crime.

January 7, 1948. Seventeen Palestinians were killed by a bomb at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, 3 of them while trying to escape. Further casualties, including the murder of a British officer near Hebron, were reported from different parts of the country.

January 16, 1948. Zionists blew up three Palestinian buildings. In the first, 8 children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years, died.

December 13, 1947 -- February 10, 1948. Seven incidents of bomb-tossing at innocent Palestinian civilians in cafes and markets, killing 138 and wounding 271 others, During this period, there were 9 attacks on Palestinian buses. Zionists mined passenger trains on at least 4 occasions, killing 93 persons and wounding 161 others.

February 15, 1948. Haganah terrorists attacked a Palestinian village near Safad, blew up several houses, killing 11, including 4 children.Over 10,000 Palestinian women have been imprisoned by Israel for their resistance to the occupation.

March 3, 1948. Heavy damage was done to the Palestinian-owned Salam building in Haifa (a 7 story block of apartments and shops) by Zionists who drove an army lorry (truck) up to the building and escaped before the detonation of 400 lbs. of explosives; casualties numbered 11 Palestinians and 3 Armenians killed and 23 injured. The Stern Gang claimed responsibility for the incident.

March 22, 1948. A housing block in Iraq Street in Haifa was blown up killing 17 and injuring 100 others. Four members of the Stern Gang drove two truck-loads of explosives into the street and abandoned the vehicles before the explosion.

March 31, 1948. The Cairo-Haifa Express was mined, for the second time in a month, by an electronically-detonated land mine near Benyamina, killing 40 persons and wounding 60 others.

April 9, 1948. A combined force of Irgun Zvai Leumi and the Stern Gang, supported by the Palmach forces, captured the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin and killed more than 200 unarmed civilians, including countless women and children. Older men and young women were captured and paraded in chains in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem; 20 of the hostages were then shot in the quarry of Gevaat Shaul.

April 16, 1948. Zionists attacked the former British army camp at Tel Litvinsky, killing 90 Palestinians there.

April 19, 1948. Fourteen Palestinians were killed in a house in Tiberias, which was blown up by Zionist terrorists.

May 3, 1948. A book bomb addressed to a British Army officer, who had been stationed in Palestine exploded, killing his brother, Rex Farran.

May11, 1948. A letter bomb addressed to Sir Evelyn Barker, former Commanding Officer in Palestine, was detected in the nick of time by his wife.

April 25, 1948 -- May 13, 1948. Wholesale looting of Jaffa was carried out following armed attacks by Irgun and Haganah terrorists. They stripped and carried away everything they could, destroying what they could not take with them.

The first act of air piracy in the history of civil aviation was carried out by Israel, in Dec. 1954, when a civilian Syrian airliner was forced down in Tel Aviv and its passengers and crew held for days, despite international condemnation.

In 1968, Israeli commandos blew up 13 civilian airliners at Beirut airport in Lebanon.

The first deliberate shooting down a civilian airliner was carried out by Israel, when a Libyan airliner was shot down by Israeli jet fighters over Sinai, in Feb. 1973, on the direct orders of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, killing all 107 of its passengers and the entire French crew.

After Israel declared independece and won international recognition, these terror groups became the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), whose Hebrew name is Zvah Haganah Le Yisrael and commonly abbreviated as Zahal.

Zionist Terrorists in Isreali Government

The Revisionist Party, in which Menachem Begin played a major role, contended that the British must permit unlimited Jewish immigration into Palestine and demanded that the Jewish Legion be reestablished and that Jewish youths be trained for defense.

The Revisionist Party also attacked the Histadrut, whose Labor Zionist leadership under Ben-Gurion was synonymous with the leadership of the politically dominant Mapai. Ben-Gurion accused the revisionists of being "fascists"; the latter countercharged that the policies being pursued by Ben-Gurion and his Labor Zionist allies, including Chaim Weizmann, were so conciliatory toward the British authorities and Palestinian people and so gradual in terms of state-building as to be self-defeating. Begin became prime minister and was reminded of his Zionist terrorism past by Yasser Arafat at the UN, when Begin called Yasser a terrorist during a speech. Yasser Arafat had a wanted poster of Begin and showed it to the assembly as he made his remarks.

Left: There are over 10,000 Palestinian prisoners in Isreali prisons including women and children. Many are held without charge and are political prisoners or are convicted on the dubious and arbitrary attestations of Zionists both, civilian and military.

Some other high profile Zionist terrorists in Israeli govenment include prime minister Shamir; minister Moshe Arens; deputy prime minister and minister of housing David Levi, the chief Sephardic political figure; prime minister, defense minister and minister of commerce and Industry Ariel Sharon; and prime minister as well as minister of foreign affairs Benjamin Netanyahu; president Moshe Katsav; Chaim Herzog the sixth president of Israel. This list of Israeli heroes of terror also includes: Yigael Yadin, Yitzhak Rabin, Yitzhak Shamir, Moshe Sharett, Chaim Weizman, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, David Teddy Kollek, Shimon Peres, Abba Eban, Levi Eshkol, Ezer Weizman, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Golda Meir became prime minister was fund raiser and spokesperson for the terrorists. Any observer of Israel's history knows that these terrorist leaders, these generals and commanders of death adorned the halls of the Israeli political establishment.

So many of these generals and commanders of the terrorist groups during and after the British Mandate have been political leaders or mayors of Israel's cities. Although, aged and dying there remains hundreds of these terrorists alive and well in Israel today.

Tagrib Saadi therefore, has the same rights as these Israeli terrorist-heroes to hold office in the land of her forebears. The six year incarceration she faced was an antecedent to their usurpation of her homeland -- and she was convicted for a negative crime or non action, i.e., not acting to stop the bombing or inform her oppressors. That attack was carried out by a teenage girl with such a love for life that she died so others could live with a little more dignity. Many Israelis fail to appreciate that Palestinians react exactly in the same way that they do to pressure and to killing--Palestinians are humans too. They want to fight back when attacked. And for desperate teenagers - like the girl who blew herself up at Mahaneh Yehuda - turning herself into a human bomb is a legitimate form of resistance. It is a choice.

Left: Tagrib Saadi, soon to be Councilwoman

This occupied Palestinian people and most fair minded people view using a helicopter gunship, a warplane, a tank or a machine gun to kill people every bit as horrific--if not more insidious in the sense that Israeli murders involve a measure of cowardice since professional armed forces facing a mostly unarmed population are shielded by advance weaponry and don't have to sacrifice their lives in the process.

Over 10,000 Palestinian women have been imprisoned by Israel for their resistance to the occupation. Palestinians have been subjected to the highest rate of incarceration in the world since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of the "Territories" in 1967. It is estimated that over 700,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel--some 26 percent of the populace in the colonies. Nevertheless, Israelis are always quick to cry terror, terror, while they are some of the fiercest progenitors and inventors of the genre. Yet still, one would think that the Zionists would welcome Palestinians who put down their bullets and instead opt for the ballot however, the latest commotion raised by the candidacy of Tagrib Saadi indicates that Palestinians are not afforded any measures in the scheme of Zionism to represent their interests in Israel. They are damned if they do and they are condemned if they don't.