The Palestinian Covenant and its Implications

Once again, the Israeli press is attempting to scare us: the United Nations are about to denounce Israel for its impertinence to consider strengthening Jerusalem.

Supposedly, this time the denouncement will not be vetoed by the United States, for the Arabs have become cunning and, while demanding a denouncement, use the same phraseology the American government used in its attack on Israel when Israel declared to pass the resolution to strengthen Jerusalem. God forbid.

Another issue on the agenda is the request of the “Palestinian Terrorist Organization” that the UN will recognize it as “almost-a-state”. A request, which even according to the lawyer Singer –who formulated the Oslo Accord-, is a severe violation of the accord.

Dear readers, the Palestinians violate the Oslo Accord openly and provocatively, while the Israeli Government and its leader still intend to carry out its demands, notwithstanding Palestinian breach.

In this article, I would like to deal with the Palestinian Covenant and its implications.

The covenant was formulated for the first time in ’64 in Jerusalem, at the time of the establishing of the “Palestinian Liberation Organization”, presided by Ahmed Shukieri. In ’68 in Cairo, the Palestinian Council, headed by Yaser Arafat modified the charter.

Take note of its official name: Covenant instead of Charter, to emphasize the holiness of its national aims.

It was the late Rabin who insisted the charter should be changed. Murderer in Chief Arafat promised to do so: he never kept his promise.

The charter is often mentioned, upon various occasions. In this article, I would like to bring to your attention its essential clauses (out of 33) verbally. In due course, the entire charter will be dealt with.

Article 6: The Jews who had normally resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion [1917-ed.] will be considered Palestinians.

Article 9: Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. Thus it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase. The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for the liberation of their country and their return to it. The also assert their right to normal life in Palestine and to exercice their right to self-determination and sovereignty over it.

Article 15: The liberation of Palestine, from an Arab viewpoint, is a national (qawmi) duty and it attempts to repel the Zionist and imperialist aggression against the Arab homeland, and aims at the elimination of Zionism in Palestine. Absolute responsibility for this falls upon the Arab nation - peoples and governments - with the Arab people of Palestine in the vanguard.

Accordingly the Arab nation must mobilize all its military, human, and moral and spiritual capabilities to participate actively with the Palestinian people in the liberation of Palestine. It must, particularly in the phase of the armed Palestinian revolution , offer and furnish the Palestinian people with all possible help, and material and human support, and make available to them the means and opportunities that will enable them to continue to carry out their leading role in the armed revolution, until they liberate their homeland.

Article 19: The position of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the State of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time becaue they were contrary to the will of the Palestinian people and to their natural right in their homeland, and inconsistent with the priciples embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the right to self-determination.

Article 20: The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void. Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.

Article 21: The Arab Palestinian people, expressing themselves by the armed Palestinian revolution, reject all solutions which are substitutes for the total liberation of Palestine and reject all proposals aiming at the liquidation of the Palestinian problem, or its internationalization.

Article 22: Zionism is a political movement organically associated with international imperialism and antagonistic to all action for liberation and to progressive movements in the world. It is racist and fanatic in its nature, aggressive, expansionist and colonial in its aims, and fascist in its methods. Israel is the instrument of the Zionist movement, and a geographical base for world imperialism placed strategically in the midst of the Arab homeland to combat the hopes of the Arab nation for liberation, unity and progress. Israel is a constant source of threat vis-a-vis peace in the Middle East and the whole world. Since the liberation of Palestine will destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence and will contribute to the establishment of peace in the Middle East, the Palestinian people look for the support of all the progressive and peaceful forces and urge them all, irrespective of their affiliations and beliefs, to offer the Palestinian people all aid and support in their just struggle for the liberation of their homeland.

Article 23: The demands of security and peace, as well as the demands of right and justice, require all states to consider Zionism an illegitimate movement, to outlaw its existence, and to ban its operations, in order that friendly relations among people may be preserved, and the loyalty of their citizens to their respective homeland safeguarded.

• They disclaim our existence as a people and our rights to our own state (clause 20).

• Their deep and uncompromising hatred of the Jews, Zionism and the State of Israel finds its expression, frightful in its unequivocality, in clauses 15 and 22.

• The charter in its entirety is a straightforward declaration of a total war of annihilation aimed at “cleansing the whole of Palestine of the Zionist existence”.

Obviously, the consistent evasion of the Palestinian Authority to change or erase the charter shows their persistence in continuing their war against Israel, in cooperation with the Arab states, until the complete annihilation of the Zionist State.

Please, answer for yourself the following questions:

a. Is it possible at all to state that the Palestinians are headed for peace with us?

b. Does it make sense to negotiate with them unless they change/erase their murderous charter?

c. Is not giving up parts of our homeland collaboration with the enemy at a time of war?

We should never allow to give up even the smallest particle of the Land of Israel.

The full Palestinian Covenant