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FEATURE

One small step in struggle
to save stolen Arab lands

Several thousand Israeli Arabs, expelled
from their land more than 40 years ago, have
recently had part of their former properties in
the Galilee returned to them by ministerial
decision of the Israeli government. For 38
years their land — under the name ‘‘Zone 9’’
—has been used as a military training range.
This article, by Nazir Majali, abridged from
the Israeli communist weekly, Zo
Haderech, Aug. 20, outlines the long

struggle of Zone 9’s people to regain their -

homes.

There is no doubt that the decision of
the special ministerial committee headed
by Shimon Peres to remove the military
blockade from the lands knownas ‘‘Zone
9°’ is a good and important decision. The
local people have received it with plea-
sure, and the chairperson of the muni-
cipal council, Muhammed Ra’anim,
even says that it’s “like having an extra
holiday’’ in the year. The reason the
people are happy is that the long struggle
— which cost some lives — has finally
been victorious. Now the farmers can

reach their lands without facing military :

roadblocks.

However, it’s still not final. It seems
that no one can find much happiness in
Israel today. With respect to the ‘Zone
9” decision, right-wing circles are agitat-
ing hard to have it reversed and, it must
be noted that the decision itself still lacks
important elements. But before we con-

tinue, we should go back over the history
of “‘Zone 9° over the past couple of
decades.

Since the British

The romance between the land and the
army started during the Second World
War when the British army took over
62.5 thousand dunams of Arab lands in
the central Galilee. This area is very
large. Most of this was very fertile farm-
land. A big portion of it belonged to indi-
vidual Arab peasants who had legal title
to it. The rest belonged to local Arab
municipalities.

In 1948, when the state of Israel was
created, thousands of Arabs were
expelled from their villages by the vic-
torious Israeli Army (IDF). Twenty Arab
villages in the area were bulldozed.

This land was taken over by the IDF,

declared a military zone, and titled Zone

9. The Army used it as a training area,
often firing-off live ammunition.

During these years, ‘‘more than 50

‘people died because of Army training,

many others were wounded, and some
became invalid for life,’ says Moham-
med Ibri Nasser, the chairperson of
Arabeh municipality. ‘‘The IDF not only

didn’t warn farmers, not only didn’t pay

compensation, but tried to prevent farm-
ers from using the land at all.”

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Despite bitter battles, including the Day of the Land campaign and small victories like at
Zone 9, illegal Jewish settlement of Arab land remains active government policy. Photo:
Stringing barbed wire around new settlements.

After the war of 1967, with the occupa-
tion of more Arab lands, there was no
problem for the IDF to obtain land for
training purposes, nevertheless the
Army maintained its occupation of Zone
9. While Arab inhabitants were prevent-
ed from returning to their homes, the
land was given-over in many places for
the construction of Jewish settlements.

The Judaization of the Galilee

On Feb. 13, 1976, the Israeli govern-
ment announced the expropriation of a
further 20,000 dunams of Arab land in the
Galilee. Government policy at that time
was frankly aimed at taking Arab lands
and turning them over to Jewish settlers
in order to prevent Arabs from being a
majority in the Galilee.

The Arab population could not but see -

the danger to its existence, and started a
series of protest actions that reached
their peak with a one-day general strike
known as ‘‘the Day of the Land.’’? As a

. Fesult of large-scale police and military

repression against the protesters, -six

people were killed; including a young

woman from Sachnin who left her house
to search for her baby brother. ;

After the Day of the Land and the fai-
lure of the arbitrary expropriation policy
of Rabin and Peres, a process of nego-
tiation started between the inhabitants of
Zone 9 and the government. The
government tried to expropriate the land
through ‘‘peaceful means’’, but. the
inhabitants refused to give in.

““This land is our. source of livelihood,
and part of our motherland which we
cannot give up. We prefer to die rather
than leave it,’’ says Fahdal Nahamna, a
member of the national secretariat of the
Committee in Defence of Arab Lands in
Israel.

The Arab local peasants and the gen-
eral Arab population and the National
Committee for Defence of Arab Lands,
and the democratic forces within the
Jewish population, have never given up
the struggle against the policy of expro-
priation. Now, at long last, they have
won this battle and are free to work their
land without hindrance.

But... -
Yes, it’s impossible without ‘‘buts’’.
The IDF has ignored the request of the

inhabitants that it clear away old |
_ ammunition and land mines fof
former ‘Zone 9°. The inhabitatl®
risk injury from unexploded shellsY
they set foot on their land. The ie
ment decision also refused to inclU!
‘‘Zone 9” lands within the jurisdie
the local Arab municipalities. T
the struggle continues. It canm\”
should not stop, especially when tt
habitants have seen with their oW?
how the government continues to *
their land with Jewish people whi i
ing the Arabs.

of

Jamal Terebiyah, former cna
of the Arab township of Sachnit
the Day of the Land protest, says,
don’t see the decision of the ministee
a real solution to our problem. W°
have any land to build houses, and!
only place we could use the gové so
has given to a Jewish municipal
will remain in the ghetto. The & vot
ment says it will develop the and fo
benefit of both nations. They sa of
the time. In reality, they act in the
site way. They never try to deve of
villages, not even running > devel
homes. We were able to achiev? y
simple thing ‘only after a long S#
We cannot stop struggling until
cover our land. Only then will it
sible to develop the land for the be™
both nations”

Warren William, Lethbridge, writes:
I write to protest the crass racism
manifested in the drawing and publica-
tion of the map illustrating Fred Weir’s
article in the Sept. 3 Tribune. The three
abbreviations of the word ‘“‘Japanese”
into a three-letter racist obscenity were
apparently caught by editorial inspec-
tion. Then, however, it appears that a
crude “correction” was attempted by
the insertion of ball point periods in all
three instances as a pretence that such
an abbreviation is something reasona-
ble and acceptable.

Abbreviation used on map
‘unacceptably offensive’

There is no acceptable way to
abbreviate the word “‘Japanese”’ by use
of its first three letters. Obviously,
when the original offense was disco-
vered, the word had either to be spelled
out or the map eliminated.

The Tribune is well known and
warmly respected in Lethbridge by
scores of readers, including workers
who read this week’s (Sept. 3) issue
yesterday on the picket line. It is recog-
nized as a workers’ newspaper written
and published by dedicated workers
laboring under many difficulties

including meagre budget and short
staff. Hence, the generally high quality
of the Tribune’s content and its unique
and effective leadership for workers’
rights and peace, reduce occasional
weaknesses of a journalistic nature to
the level of insignificance. On the issue
raised by publication of .that map,
however, there is only one acceptable
standard — perfection.

* * *

Fred Weir replied Sept. 5 to Williams’
letter. The issue raised is of such a
nature, we feel Tribune readers will be
interested and concerned, and will agree
with Williams that a serious error was
made by the editorial collective. Weir’s
letter reads: Thank you kindly for your
letter of Sept. 3, and for pointing out
what is surely a thoughtless and insen-
sitive erorr on my part.

The map in question came directly

- was hasty, and it was heedless of ™

form R.S. Johnson’s book — a work |
that displays no sign of racism OF 7
other form of primitive thinking. [a Vy
qutie certain that the intent was me!’
to abbreviate. As you quite corre¢
note, however, there is simply
excuse for such ignorance.

I caught this on production day, 4%
inserted the periods, wishing by
only to emphasize that it was mea!
an abbreviation and nota pejorativ®

and 9
this
tas
vi

In any case, I am placing your !€
before the editorial collective, 27)
recommend that it be published "4
full apology. I can only thannk yoU
underlining a critically important |
son to me: Even when there is no 14°
intent, meanings can be inadvert¢
conveyed when one fails to scruti
carefully the language of others (i? ;
case an otherwise very useful map);
if one is insensitive or unwatchfu®
one’s own formulations.

106 PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 17, 1986