The Palestine Chronology

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Th deficit in the balance of goods and services between the occupied territories and Israel increased by 49% in 1985 to total $219 million; the West Bank's trade deficit declined to $425 million in 1985, compared to $428 million the previous year, while the West Bank's surplus in services fell to $206 million in 1985, compared to $281 million in 1984, due to the erosion of Israeli salaries and the cutback in construction work [JP 4/29]. Israeli police announce arrest of members of a "terrorist ring" suspected of 2 killings and 2 attempted killings in Jerusalem in last 6 weeks; Jerusalem court declares news blackout on the case [NYT, PI, MG 4/30]. Later reports indicate 20 Palestinians are arrested [JP 5/6]. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin has instructed the security authorities to bring to trial the West Bank settlers who blocked a road north of Halhul a fortnight ago to prevent people from reaching a Peace Now symposium in nearby Hebron [JP 4/29].

Arab World: The Jordanian minister for the occupied territories, Tahir Kan'an, was dismissed over the weekend [LT 4/29]. New departments are dedicated for hospital in S. Lebanese Christian town of Marja'uyun; SLA commander Gen. Antoine Lahd thanks Israel for its help in training workers and doctors for the hospital; some $2 million was donated for the hospital, coming from Israel, Middle East Television, and the SLA command [JP 4/29].

Military Action

Arab World: Guerrillas clash on slopes of Mt. Hermon with Israeli army troops; 2 guerrillas are killed, 3 Israeli soldiers wounded [JP, JTA 5/2]. 

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: P.M. Peres tells 21-member Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, that Israel is willing for Gaza Strip residentso be given Jordanian passports, states that the "only framework" that holds promise for peace between Israel and its neighbors and for solving the Palestinian problem is "direct negotiations between a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation and an Israeli delegation" [JP 4/23]. Israeli army sources state there have been 67 incidents of shooting, planting explosive devices, and throwing hand grenades and gasoline bombsince January of this year, compared with 104 during the period between August to December of 1985 [JP 4/23].

Arab World: PLO officials inAmman state Jordan has deported 7 Fateh officers from the Karameh force who sided with Yasir Arafat in conflict with 'Atallah 'Atallah (Abu Za'im) [BG 4/23; JP 4/24]. Reports from Amman indicate that 40 to 100 more Palestinians may be facing deportation as well [FJ 4/25]. Jordan has increased its restrictions on the entry of prominent pro-Fateh Palestinians from the West Bank and is turning them back at the bridges; Jordanian authorities have begun bureaucratic harassment, confiscation of passports at the border, and lengthy questioning of Fateh supporters [JP 4/23].

Other Countries: Seventeen people, including a retired Israeli general, are indicted in New York on federal charges of conspiring to sell Iran more than $2 billion worth of American weapons, in violation of U.S. arms embargo; Israeli embassy denies Israeli govt. involvement in the matter [WP, WSJ 4/23].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Israeli bus driver Shlomo Hatuka, injured in 4/12 attack on his bus near Ramallah, dies of gunshot wounds suffered in the incident [WP, JP 4/23].

Arab World: Two members of PLO are wounded during shoot-out at PLO office in Amman; reports say 'Atallah 'Atallah (Abu Za'im) tried to shoot his way into his office after finding it locked [WP, MG 4/23]. 

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Israeli govt. commission of inquiry appointed to investigate October 1983 collapse of banking shares, headed by Moshe Beijsky, a High Court judge, issues recommendations that call for resignation of governor of Israel's state bank and the top executives of the country's 4 leading commercial banking chains within 30 days [FT, NYT, WSJ 4/21]. P.M. Peres states Jordan is determined not to lose its stake in the Gaza Strip and that an autonomy plan for Gaza could be combined with plans for autonomy on the West Bank; Perestates Egypt has a "lack of political interest" in establishing an interim Israeli-Egyptian "condominium" in Gaza [JP 4/21].

Arab World: Yasir Arafat reportedly met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in East Berlin on 4/18; sources also say Arafat met secretly with Gorbachev in Moscow last February [JP 4/20].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: King Hussein has frozen all West Bank funds in Jordanian banks and has suspended all aid to public institutions in the territories, according to a report in 'Al Hamishmar [JP 4/18]. Inspectors of income tax and VAT departments, assisted by a strong force of police, raid Palestinian villages of Kafr Qasim, Jaljuliyyah, and Kafr Bara to collect debts; they impound TV sets, furniture, and 2 motor vehicles [JP 4/21].

Arab World: Radio Monte Carlo broadcasts that Yasir Arafat has notified Jordan that Amman-based Fateh military officer Abu Za'im has been relieved of his duties and that Jordan should suspend all contact with him [JP 4/18].

Other Countries: A U.S. federal judge rules that PLO Permanent Observer to the UN Zuhdi Tarzi may travel from New York to Cambridge, Mass. for a debate with Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, despite State Department travel ban [PI 4/20]. UN Security Council votes to extend UNIFIL mandate in S. Lebanon an additional 3 months; Soviet Union concurs in vote for first time since UNIFIL's creation, states it will begin contributions to UNIFIL budget [NYT 4/19; WP 4/20].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Israel has quietly moved hundreds of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants to the West Bank, despite U.S. opposition [PI 4/16]. Israeli military authorities order Hebron Polytechnic closed for 2 weeks following riots at the campus on 4/14 [FJ 4/18]. Foreign Minister Shamir states P.M. Peres spoke as the leader of the Labor party, and not as the leader of the country, when he last week called for recognition of the Palestinian nation [JP 4/17]. Students at al-Najah U. protest U.S. attack on Libya; Palestinian students at Ben-Gurion U. in Beersheba and Hebrew U. in Jerusalem also protest the attack [JP 4/17; FJ 4/18].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: In al-Birah, an Israeli soldier kills a Palestinian running away from a bus at which he is said to have thrown something [JP 4/17]. West German tourist isshot and injured by unidentified gunman in Jerusalem's Old City [JP 4/17].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Tehiya convention unanimously calls for government aid to West Bank and Gaza Strip Palestinians willing to emigrate; for the expulsion of anyone found guilty of subversive activities; and for the annexation of the occupied territories [JP 4/16]. Over 250 Palestinian political prisoners in Hebron prison begin hunger strike [FJ 4/25].

Other Countries: U.S. State Department has protested to Israel the alleged torture, in Israeli-supervised detention center in S. Lebanon, of Ghazi Dabaja, an Arab-American; Israel states the charges are "completely baseless" [WP 4/15; NYT 4/16].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: A Jerusalem court convicts Israeli army Capt. Shlomo Leviatan and Maj. Ronnie Gila of complicity in bombings carried out by anti-Arab Jewish underground group [JP, WP 4/15]. U.S. Asst. Sec. of State Murphy meets with Bethlehem Mayor Iliyas Furayj at reception at American consulate in East Jerusalem; reports circulate that they discussed the "Gaza first" proposals being floated by some circles in Jerusalem; Murphy confirms he attempted to ease tensions between Israel and Syria during recent meetings with Syrian Pres. Hafiz al-Asad [JP 4/15]. Students at Hebron Polytechnic demonstrate in protest of Tehiya convention; 70 students are arrested [JP 4/15; FJ 4/18].

Arab World: West Bank Palestinians travelling to Jordan are experiencing increased bureaucratic harassment, including passport confiscation and interrogation by Jordanian authorities; moves seem to be targetting Fateh supporters [JP 4/14].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Israeli cabinet resolves 8-day coalition government crisis by agreeing that Justice Minister Moshe Nissim and Finance Minister Yitzhak Modai change jobs, to satisfy P.M. Peres' demands that Modai be ousted from his post for insulting Peres [NYT, WP 4/14]. Tehiya party convention opens in Jerusalem, to be followed by working sessions at Kiryat Arba; party leader Yuval Ne'eman calls for transfer of 500,000 Palestinian refugees from occupied territories to Arab countries as precondition for peace negotiations [JTA 4/16]. Several hundred Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip demonstrate near Rafah, protestingovernment plans to resettle some 7,000 Palestinian refugees from the Egyptian side of the town [JP 4/14].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Three Israelis are wounded, one seriously, when their bus is attacked by gunfire in the West Bank; roadblocks are erected on road to Ramallah for several days [CSM 4/14; FJ 4/18].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: During negotiations to heal rift in Herut party following convention, Ariel Sharon proposed that party posts be split three ways between Yitzhak Shamir, David Levy, and Sharon; Shamir and Levy reject the proposal. (Sharon currently controls only 15% of the party) [NWK 3/31].

Other Countries: P. M. Peres arrives in U.S. for 4-day visit [CSM, LT 4/1]. Peres is seeking support for his "Marshall Plan," whereby the 7 main industrialized nations would put together an aid package to help the pro-Western Arab states overcome the potentially disastrous effects of the drop in oil prices [DT, LT 4/1].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Israeli troops kill 1 Palestinian youth in al-Burayj refugee camp, injure 3 others while quelling several Palestinian nationalist demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to an army spokesman [NYT, LT, MG, WP 4/1; JP 4/2].

Arab World: Fighting continues between Palestinian and Shi'ite fighters around Sabra and Shatila refugee camps [WP 4/1]. Sixteen have been killed, 62 wounded [DT 4/1].