Between 1948 and 1966, over 150,000 Arabs living within Israel’s post-independence borders were governed by military rule, faced curfews, travel restrictions, and the threat of arbitrary arrest and expulsion.
The draconian circumstances faced by Arab-Israelis during the period of military rule were not instituted on the basis of security considerations or any real fear of an Arab uprising but were part of a concerted plan to drive the minority from the land and to clear the way for Jewish settlement, a declassified secret supplementary to a government report has revealed.
The document, excerpts of which have been published by Haaretz, was part of a report by the Ratner Committee, a government committee established in late 1955 to examine the possibility of abolishing martial law in the Arab-majority territories of Israel.
Entitled “Security Settlement and the Land Question,” the codicil discusses the provisions governing the estimated 156,000 Arabs who stayed behind in the territories which became part of Israel after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (another 800,000 Arabs fled Israel during this period).
The secret supplementary, which characterized martial law as a tool in the struggle against Arab “trespassers”, argued that in the long term, and only Jewish settlement, dubbed “security settlement” in the document, could ensure the security of the nation’s borders. Therefore, the document said, it was necessary to ensure the systematic Jewish settlement of the three Arab-majority zones in which military government was applied – the north, center (‘Triangle’) and Negev areas.
Realizing that the settlement process would take time and that Israel could not legally prevent Arab-Israelis from returning to their homes, the Ratner Committee argued that only the maintenance of martial law over these areas could ensure the continued “laxness” of the return of Arab citizens to their former homes.
Ultimately, the secret codicil recommended that “until the stabilization of security settlement in the few reserve areas that can still be settled, it is essential to maintain the military government in these places and to strengthen its apparatus…so that the military government can ensure, directly and indirectly, that the lands are not lost to the state.”
The conclusions of the Ratner report would serve as government policy for years, and the formal abolition of military government over Arab-majority areas would not take place until 1966 when martial law was lifted and the government of Levi Eshkol began the process of equalizing the rights of Arab-Israelis with those of Jewish citizens.
Less than one year later, Israel defeated an Arab coalition in the 1967 Six-Day War and took control of new territories including the Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights, which would spark new territorial conflicts, some of which continue to rage to this day.
THE OCCUPATION: A song written by Palestinian in the Diaspora Johnny Punish. In this song, Punish goes politically deep exploring the Occupation of Palestine.
This is more than just a song, it is a political grief-written treatise on the inhumanity of colonialism. Punish indicts humanity in THE OCCUPATION; an alternative indie rock classic! Listen at your own risk! THINKERS ONLY!
Free Download song on Soundcloud.com
Your trail of tears
Mark through your years
Making enemies of men
Your blood runs red
You find your children dead
It’s hell on earth to fight in the street
They build a wall
It’s 2000 feet tall
As if Berlin had never been
Where’s is the law
Deals made at the casbah
Your brother is selling you out
The occupation
Just a segregation
Humiliation
Is this the nation
That you cry for
A confiscation
Your exploitation
Obliteration
No-Self-Determination
Rachel Corrie
Hero death or glory
Do you even know her name?
She sacrificed
then gave up her life
In the battle of the home bulldozers
If God had mercy
Then what the heck’s the hurry
Can’t they see she’s just a young kid
Are they insane
Now we know their name
It’s Mister I Hate Humanity
The occupation
Just a segregation
Humiliation
Is this the nation
That you cry for
A confiscation
Your exploitation
Obliteration
No-Self-Determination
Self-determination is the free choice of men
With the power to decide how you want to live again
It’s the right of the people of a nation to be governed
As they please without the influence of another
They stole your land
Now you understand
How the art of war has been played
But it’s too late
60 years of hate
Has left with you a rock in your hand
But they got bombs
And the soccer moms
You know they got a gun to your head
What can you do
This coke is for you
And no one will ever be free
The occupation
Just a segregation
Humiliation
Is this the nation
That you cry for
A confiscation
Your exploitation
Obliteration
Who will fight for
The liberation
what’s the explanation
Capitulation
Cause you know that
Our generation
An Obama-nation
With a fixation
On the world of
Globalization
A complication
For self-determination
la la la la la la
———————–
Written and Produced by Johnny Punish
Special Guest Vocals by MarcyElle
Headquartered in Moscow Russia, Sputnik is a news agency with offices around the world. Sputnik covers global political and economic news for an international audience. Launched in November 2014 by the Russian media group Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik works in more than 30 languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Chinese, and more.
*All posts on behalf of Sputnik News are made by Gordon Duff and Jim W. Dean
ATTENTION READERS
We See The World From All Sides and Want YOU To Be Fully InformedIn fact, intentional disinformation is a disgraceful scourge in media today. So to assuage any possible errant incorrect information posted herein, we strongly encourage you to seek corroboration from other non-VT sources before forming an educated opinion.
About VT - Policies & Disclosures - Comment Policy