The Palestine Chronology

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Ha'Aretz reports Israeli and Jordanian officials have been meeting secretly for over 2 months in negotiations [TS 11/2]. MK Geula Cohen states P. M. Shimon Peres has told her of a plan to return Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for Soviet permission to let 20,000 Soviet Jews emigrate [DT 11/2]. Al-Fajr reports formal charges of "incitement" have been filed against Ziad Abu 'Ain, who has been detained for 3 months under administrative detention order [FJ 11/1]. Kach movement sent threat letters to several Palestinian restaurant owners in Tel Aviv last week; Progressive List for Peace received similar threats by phone at their Tel Aviv office last week [FJ 11/1]. Israel's balance of payments deficit this year is expected to reach $5 billion, the same as last year [FT 11/7]. Eilat opens new duty-free port in efforto revive town's economy [LT 11/2].

Arab World: Jewish Week reports Israeli factory has marketed almost $12 million worth of agricultural machinery to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Iraq, and the oil-producing emirates of the Persian Gulf; according to the reporthe Arab govts. are aware of the transactions but choose not to take official notice [JW 11/1]. Jewish Week reports Sudan's former first Vice President Maj. Gen. 'Umar al-Tayyib went on trial last week, accused of conspiring with Israel and the U.S. to fly 10,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in Operation Moses; if found guilty, al-Tayyib could be hanged. Former Pres. Ja'far Numayri is named as coconspirator in the case [JW 11/1].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Grenade is thrown at Israeli patrol in Gaza Strip; 2 soldiers lightly wounded [JTA 11/4].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: P.M. Peres tells reporters in France he is ready for direct negotiations with Syria, reiterates refusal to meet with PLO [FT 10/26]. Jewish Press reports 2 convicted Jewish underground defendants refuse to testify against 2 Israeli army officers on trial for their part in the attack on the heads of the National Guidance Committee in 1980 [JWP 10/25].

Other Countries: Israel and U.S. cast only votes against UN Gen. Assemb. resolution proposing strengthening ties between UN and Arab League UP 10/27]. P. M. Shimon Peres states France has offered to help Jews emigate from the Soviet Union by flying them directly to Israel if the Soviets were to permit expanded emigration [NYT 10/26]. Italian police arrest another Palestinian in connection with the Achille Lauro hijacking; 2 of the 4 hijackers are said to be cooperating with the police [NYT 10/26]. Two Arabs and 1 Briton are charged in Cyprus with murder of 3 Israelis last month [MG 10/26].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Israeli troops reportedly find guns and ammunition in Yatta village, south of Hebron; 2 houses are destroyed, curfew is imposed, house-tohouse searches are conducted. Houses belonged to 2 Palestinians arrested several weeks ago [JP 10/28].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Ariel Sharon accuses P.M. Shimon Peres of "withholding information about important diplomatic talks from the govemment" [BG 10/18]. Knesset votes 39-22 to limit partially MK Muhammad Mi'ari's parliamentary immunity following speech he made in E. Jerusalem in which he expressed solidarity with Fahd Qawasmeh and Yasir Arafat [JP 11/7]. Nazareth district court finds Golan Heights Druze man Rafik Kalani, 20, guilty of giving information on Israeli army strength to Syria; Kalani allegedly confessed to the charges UP 10/16]. Galilee Palestinians demonstrate outside P.M. Shimon Peres' office while members of the Regional Committee of Arab Local Council Heads meet with Interior Ministry officials over $8 million in budget deficits plaguing the Arab councils inside the green line; Umm al-Fahm town has not been able to pay municipal employees for 5 months [FJ 11/18].

Arab World: King Hussein states there is "no truth at all" to PLO claims that last minute changes had been introduced toa statement Britain said 2 PLO delegates had agreed to sign; Hussein acknowledges that PLO rep. Muhammad Milham "was not aware, apparently, ofthe details" in the statement, negotiated by Jordan on behalf of the PLO, until it was shown to him in London [WP 10/16]. About 1,000 Sudanese demonstrators march on the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, buming the U.S. flag, after speech there by Yasir Arafat [NYT 10/16].

Other Countries: Pres. Reagan states he will "never" apologize to Pres. Mubarak for the interception of the Egyptian plane [NYT, WP 10/16]. British cabinet ministers have categorically denied the U.S. exerted any pressure to have the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation meeting cancelled [CSM 10/16]. Italian Defense Ministry spokesman states U.S. evidence allegedly implicating Muhammad 'Abbas in the Achille Lauro affair arrived in Italy 30 minutes after 'Abbas had already been allowed to leave and it originally came from Israeli intelligence sources [WP 10/16]. Italy announces arrest and charging of 2 additional Palestinians for alleged involvement in the Achille Lauro hijacking [CT 10/16]. U.S. federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. begins hearings on Achille Lauro hijacking [LAT 10/17]. Friends and family of Leon Klinghoffer announce formation of memorial fund in his name to "fight international terrorism" [LAT 10/18].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Gasoline bomb thrown at Israeli bus causes no injuries [JP 10/16].

Arab World: 2 Palestinians killed in clash with Israeli troops in security zone; no Israeli casualties reported [JP 10/16]. 2 Arabs on flight from Iraq are arrested in Rome airport carrying suitcase bombs; they carry false Moroccan passports [CT 10/16].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Prime Minister Peres announces last stage of IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon will be completed by 6 June; but unspecified number of soldiers will remain in "security zone" [NYT 6/3]. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Samuel Lewis ends 8-year tour of duty [JTA 6/3]. Council of Jewish Settlements in West Bank calls for official action to deport Palestinians released 20 May [JTA 6/3]. Council Chair Yisrael Har'el says harassment tactics used againsthem by settlers igenerating sympathy for Palestinians among some Israelis. Wives of Jewish underground defendants end 13-day hunger strike after receiving order from rabbi to desist and assurances Knesset bill will be introduced to grant defendants clemency. Defendants tell court attempted Temple Mount sabotage was intended only "to frighten," not kill. Summer visiting season for relatives to West Bank residents begins. 2,500 visitors will be allowed to cross Allenby Bridge per day, up from 1,250; 1,100 over Damiya Bridge, up from 800 [JP 6/3]. Israeli settlers in West Bank and Gaza meet at Pesagot near Ramallah to discuss how to torpedo the envisaged peace talks with Jordan and how to force out of the country Arabs freed May 20 [JP 6/3]. Rejecting Hussein Plan and U.S. overtures, Shamir and Likud want direct talks with non-PLO/PNC-Jordanian or Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. Peres and Labor party take "wait and see" position on delegation that includes PNC members.

Arab Countries: Red Cross evacuates 29 from Burj al-Barajinah [FT 6/3]. 93 Palestinians taken to hospitals in Druze-held mountain town of Shuwayfat. Shi'a militiamen take 5 Palestinians from ambulances, later let them be evacuated.

Other Countries: Sec. of State Shultz sends message to P. M. Peres seeking Israeli backing for projected American talks with Jordanian-Palestinian delegation as step toward direct talks with Israel [NYT 6/3]. U.S. accepts PNC representation idelegation. Shultz says he is glad PLO has accepted UN resolutions 242 and 338 but says U.S. needs public statement before considering talking to PLO [JTA 6/3]. He opposes Hussein's proposal of Soviet participation in peace talks. 

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Peres and Shamir agree on plan to alternate PMship for 25 mos. each. In response to Umm al-Fahm confrontation (8/29), MK Kahane vows to bar Arab workers from entering Israeli towns and settlements.

Other Countries: MK Kahane arrives in US for political and fundraising tour.

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Nat'l. Religious Party leader Burg agrees to join unity gov't. under Peres, but opposes freeze on settlements.

Arab World: From Tunis, Fateh Central Com. calls urgently for Arab summit meeting. Lebanese PM Karami meets Soviet envoy to discuss USSR's peace conference proposal.

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Municipal bulldozers demolish home inhabited since 1931 by Salman Arab in al-Salib near Jerusalem; authorities claim he doesn't own the house.

Arab World: 3 IDF soldiers wounded by remote-control bomb at roadside near Ansariya, S. Lebanon.

Military Action:

Lebanese customs agents confiscate nearly $1m. worth of commercial and agricultural products, mainly smuggled from Israel, during first day of crackdown on illegal imports.

Casualties:

Lebanon carries out first state execution since 1972 by public hanging of man convicted of 1979 murder in Beirut; government gives UNRWA authorization to restore refugee camps to pre-June 1982 condition.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Jerusalem magistrate turns down police request to remand 8 yeshiva students arrested during fight yesterday with Arab residents of Muslim quarter, releases them on bail; Jewish-American immigrant who shot and killed guard while attempting to enter the Dome of the Rock on April 11, 1982, sentenced to life imprisonment, shouts "liquidate the Arabs" as he is led from courtroom.

US and Other Countries: ICRC recommends full inquiry into West Bank illnesses; Washington Post reveals that former Secretary of State Kissinger met secretly last November with member of PLO Executive Committee in Morocco; American Jewish Committee says UN Resolution 242, as applied to West Bank and Gaza, ought to lead to territorial compromise through negotiations; Socialist International congress begins in Portugal, Israeli Labor Party delegation headed by Shimon Peres lobbies to deny official recognition to PLO delegation headed by Issam Sartawi

Military Action:

Clash between IDF and Syrian troops near Syrian border; Syria releases 9 Phalangists, including top military man, in conciliatory gesture; Lebanese Army makes no major searches in West Beirut for first time in 8 days.

Casualties:

IDF announces 368 killed, 2,383 wounded in Lebanon war from June 6 to October 10.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: American nurse and 6 medical colleagues from Gaza Hospital in Sabra camp offer to testify before Israeli Commission of Inquiry; 3 Kiryat Arba settlers arrested for storing explosives; Peres calls for peace settlement through a Jordanian-Palestinian framework with Jewish settlements remaining in demilitarized territory and IDF along Jordan River (says Labor Party does not renounce Israel's historic right to the territory); Sharon asks United Jewish Appeal delegation in Israel for support for Israeli withdrawal stance; Israel plans to request a $160 m. loan from IMF.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Gemayel and Wazzan meet with justice officials and department overseeing Palestinian affairs; Camille Chamoun tells US officials he believes "Christian militias" should be retained until all Israeli and Syrian troops have left, states peace treaty would cut off Lebanon from Arab world; Arafat claims US and Israel broke agreement allowing PLO to leave Beirut; PLO weekly Falastin al-Thawra resumes publication in Cyprus; Arafat meets French Foreign Minister Cheysson then travels to Jordan.

Arab Governments: Egypt, in letter to Shultz, welcomes Reagan proposals but expresses some reservations; British Foreign Minister Pym, visiting Egypt to discuss Reagan initiative, says Cairo, Damascus approaches to plan are same.

US and Other Countries: US Assistant Defense Secretary Carlucci arrives in Beirut to visit Marines; Draper returns to help prepare for upcoming high-level meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders.

Military Action:

Israelis move troops experienced in street fighting into hills around West Beirut; IDF artillery repeatedly shells Syrian positions near Hammana.

Casualties:

Hundreds live in Beirut parks, lacking food, water, medicine and basic hygiene; garbage piles up in West Beirut streets (most trucks are in East Beirut); more shops close throughout city as fear of IDF attack grows; Baalbek now has 35,000 refugees; Palestinian refugees reportedly receive less aid than Lebanese; Israeli unsubsidized prices for sales to Lebanon about 3 times Lebanese prices.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Former head of Israeli military intelligence, in US, says casualty figures inflated; Israeli Knesset debate ends with Likud/Labor parties agreeing not to vote against each other's resolutions, only to vote for their own; Begin offers to let PLO leave with personal weapons (claims Reagan said USSR might intervene if there were a war with Syria); Sharon says he informed Haig, Weinberger that IDF invasion of Lebanon was virtually inevitable 2 weeks before actual invasion; Sharon announces 271 Israelis killed, 1470 wounded, 13 missing; government charges UN schools used by PLO for training, as arsenals; reports that IDF used new anti-tank weapon similar to US Sadarm; Sharon speaks at Knesset on scope/aims of war (Peres strongly opposes any entry into Beirut); government officials accuse Habib of false optimism; Israeli Cabinet ratifies June 27 ultimatum, but softens departure possibilities (by land or sea); 4 reservists call on Sharon to resign, call on other released soldiers to join their vigil; 600 demonstrate in favor of war; 30 protest effect of war on the poor in Israel; petition with signatures of 40 who fought in Lebanon printed opposing war; Supreme Islamic Council of Jerusalem states support for PLO, denounces silence of Arab regimes.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Habib meets with Wazzan, Butros; Lebanese disagree on whether PLO leaders can return to Lebanon to visit; Lebanese papers attack USSR, accusing it of complicity with US; Druze leader Jumblatt expects attack on Beirut within 24- 36 hours, predicts coexistence of Muslims, Christians in Lebanon is finished; Bashir Gemayel predicts Israel and Syria will have full-scale war; reports of de facto strike in Sidon area following Israeli mistreatment; Phalangists reject plan to incorporate PLO units into Lebanese Army, Phalangist troops enter Aley, threaten to kill 12 Druze (Druze leader is killed by Phalange members, allegedly mistakenly); PLO stiffens demands as talks deadlocked over timing and method of PLO withdrawal (PLO seeks own police in refugee camps, PLO units attached to Lebanese Army); Arafat addresses PLO rally; Fateh Central Committee reportedly says no more concessions.

Arab Governments: Saudi Arabia reportedly explores flying PLO out of Lebanon; Egypt sends Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ghali to Paris for talks.

US and Other Countries: US expressed satisfaction with cease-fire; former US envoy to Lebanon, Dean Brown, says US blessed IDF invasion, that Reagan does not know much about the Mideast and "probably does not want to know"; EEC calls for PLO to be involved in peace negotiations, asks immediate IDF withdrawal (arms sales informally suspended to Israel); Austrian Jewish group presents open letter to Israeli Ambassador decrying invasion, asking for peace negotiations with Palestinians; International Socialist delegation, headed by former Portuguese prime minister Soares, visits mayor of Bethlehem; EEC refuses to sign £22 million financial protocol with Israel (does not agree on trade sanctions); Habib requests formal guidance from Washington for negotiations, Haig drafts 9-point proposal in response.

Military Action:

Israelis, PLO exchange fire at airport, destroying 2 jets; Israeli gunboats shell airport, Palestinian camp (large fires reported); Israeli jeeps moving freely in southeastern Beirut; IDF claims 100 PLO tanks destroyed, huge weapons stockpiles captured; 250 PLO members holed up in 2 Sidon mosques; US call for 48-hour cease-fire fails; at IDF-called meeting, a group of Lebanese Christians de-clares loyalty to Haddad.

Casualties:

Arafat, in letter to UN, says 80,000 killed, 10,000 missing, 800,000 homeless; in Damour, no apartment blocks still stand; first UN/ICRC shipments reach Tyre, Sidon and the Bekaa valley, but IDF continues to ban relief shipment to Beirut; ICRC estimates 100,000-300,000 affected by fighting in Lebanon; IDF announces 214 Israelis killed, 1,114 wounded, 12 missing since outbreak of hostilities.

Political Responses:

Israel/Occupied Territories: Many unhappy with war as unnecessary, trying to impose solution on Lebanon; Israeli Cabinet votes for IDF not to enter Beirut; Israeli Pioneer Women start program to host Lebanese women, children for one-month stays; Shimon Peres meets Jumblatt in Lebanon in response to Socialist International request for report on Jumblatt's situation.

Palestinians/Lebanese: PLO asks that 250,000 Palestinian refugees be granted permanent residency, for retention of PLO administrative structure in Lebanon, and that PLO units keep their weapons, subject to negotiations with the Lebanese government, as the conditions for evacuation of PLO military units from Beirut; Habib meets with Sarkis (US reportedly wants Lebanese Army deployed in Beirut); Jumblatt meets with Habib to detail objections to Council's composition; Phalangists seen in Israeli uniforms, with US-made weapons; PLO official slain by car bomb in Rome.

Arab Governments: Libya reportedly considers military intervention in Lebanon, asks Arab oil-exporters to consider using oil weapon against Israel and its allies; Egyptian Foreign Minister says PLO willing to lay down arms; Egyptian government allows opposi-tion coalition to deliver petition to Mubarak representative but bans protest march; For-eign Minister Ghali bans sending Egyptian volunteers to fight with PLO, rejects demand for break in relations with Israel.

US and Other Countries: Pentagon reportedly makes unprecedented "formal dissent" to Haig's policy on Israel; France, Austria call for all troops to leave Lebanon.