The United States Should be More Involved in Follow-up to Israeli Withdrawal from Gaza

Ross: The United States Should be More Involved in Follow-up to Israeli Withdrawal from Gaza
Interviewer: Bernard Gwertzman
Interviewee: Dennis B. Ross



August 16, 2005

With the Israelis beginning their pullout from Gaza, Dennis Ross, the top U.S. diplomat in Israeli-Palestinian affairs in the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations and currently Ziegler distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says it is time for the United States to become deeply involved again to ensure the withdrawal does not take place in a vacuum.

“[Israeli Prime Minister] Sharon has an answer to the critics who say you’ve bet our future and you don’t know what’s next,” Ross says. “[Palestinian President] Abu Mazen can say this proves that it’s going to be Gaza first and it won’t be Gaza last. And it allows you to take account of the realities while you’re doing something that’s both practical and meaningful.”

Ross was interviewed by Bernard Gwertzman, consulting editor for cfr.org, on August 16, 2005.


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You were recently in Israel and the Palestinian territories. With the Gaza withdrawal now beginning, what is your view of what’s happening? Is the glass half full or half empty?

It’s half full and half empty. I say that because on the one hand, this is a historic step—there’s no escaping it—Israel’s leaving [the settlements] after thirty-eight years. It’s taking down, not only the settlements, but also the military infrastructure in Gaza.

And Palestinians [in Gaza], for the first time, will really have a chance to be free of Israeli control. So here is an opportunity for the Palestinians to demonstrate what they can do being free of Israeli control. Can they govern themselves? Can they fulfill their obligations, including those on security? If they can, they make a very strong case for saying, “Look, if this model works for Gaza, why not the West Bank?” If they can’t, then they’re in a very difficult position. So, it’s clearly an opening, but the question depends on what’s going to happen next in terms of what the Palestinians do with [Gaza], and then how you can build on it if they do in fact fulfill their responsibilities and show they can engage in good governance.

In Israel, is this going to really split the country wide open or will it die out like it did when Israel abandoned the settlements in the Sinai in 1981 as part of the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt?

You know, it very much depends on what comes in the aftermath. Sharon has bet his political future on the disengagement working. And by that I mean, not only that Palestinians handle things for themselves, but that there’s calm afterwards.

I don’t think it’s a surprise you heard Sharon last night saying [in a televised statement] there would be a very, very tough response to any Palestinian violence. He said if there’s a hand of peace from the Palestinians, we will outstretch an olive branch, and if there’s terror, then we will give a very, very tough response to it. And I think this reflects a kind of understanding that if there’s terror against Israel in the aftermath of leaving Gaza, the Israeli center will move right. And if there’s calm in the aftermath, then I think a major part of the Israeli right will move toward the center. So I think we really have to see whether or not we are going to have a scenario over the next, say, six months where calm prevails. If it does, it strengthens the hand of Sharon and what he’s done; if it doesn’t, he’s terribly weakened.

Go through a bit of the timetable. The settlers are supposed to be out by the end of the month, I guess.

That’s right. The plan is for them to be out in a couple of weeks.

And, of course, there are many other protesters there, mostly youth from what I read, who are opposed to the whole operation.

Right, I believe the major problem is going to be less [the] settlers and more the people who’ve infiltrated [the settlements]. At least half the settlers will leave on their own without resistance. Some also will leave without resistance, but will want to stay until the last minute, mainly to make a statement. There is, in my judgment, 40 percent—I’ve seen estimates of 50 percent that will passively, not actively resist. They want to make it as difficult emotionally for those who are removing them, and also they want the images within Israel to raise the cost emotionally so that Gaza doesn’t become a precedent for the West Bank.

There are also an increasing number of young people demonstrating around the country. Most come from the settlements in the West Bank—not all, but most. And they are religious. They believe this is a betrayal of God’s will, and I think they will resist. But, I’m not sure, even in the end, that it will turn that violent.

Talk a bit about the historic link of Gaza to Jews because in the Middle East back in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, you heard a lot about Judea and Samaria on the West Bank, but nothing about Gaza. Is Gaza actually a biblical heritage?

There is some [linkage] as you go back to the Bible. There’re some references there, but it is certainly not the Jewish heartland from a religious standpoint. That’s Hebron. Rachel’s tomb is in Bethlehem. Hebron is where Abraham is buried. These are places that really have much deeper roots in the Bible. Gaza has much less. But there are some references, and it’s because of that—that’s what leads to the religious nationalists viewing this as something that’s unacceptable. Although I still feel that what drives them more than anything else is fear about this being a precedent for what they consider to be much dearer.

The West Bank?

Yes.

Let’s talk about the Palestinians. This is very confusing because it’s not clear who’s really in charge. How much is [President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)] Mahmoud Abbas [also referred to as Abu Mazen] in charge of his government and his people?

You know, there is no question there is a great deal of fractionalization, even within his dominant faction, Fatah. Then there is the issue of the challenge from Hamas. Then there is the [West Bank militia] Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. To put this in perspective, Abbas inherited from [former President of the PNA Yasir] Arafat a system that was corrupt, because Arafat needed corruption to make officials dependent on him. He was inept because Arafat didn’t want to allow anyone else to be able to deliver anything. He wanted to be the one, like a Chicago ward boss, to always deliver the goods. [The Palestinian leadership] was highly factionalized with great rivalry between the factions because he never wanted anybody to become a focal point of opposition to him.

So this is what Abu Mazen has inherited, and it could have been a very daunting problem in the best of circumstances to overcome that legacy. I think we’re at a point where he knows he has to build his authority. What would have helped build his authority is his being able to show that his way works, that he’s able to show Palestinians that life is getting better.

If you look at the most recent polls, among Palestinians you find there’s an increasing sense [Mazen] has no economic program, life isn’t getting better. If, in the aftermath of Gaza, they can actually see the [international] assistance begin to materialize in labor-intensive projects like housing or infrastructure development, and if Abu Mazen is presiding over that, he would build his authority and make it increasingly difficult for others to resist him, including Hamas. So far, the approach of the international community has been very good in terms of making pledges. It’s been very bad in terms of delivering.

Well, now [International Quartet Committee Representative] James Wolfensohn has led this effort to get private money, from the United States primarily to pay for the greenhouses—

Right, it’s for the greenhouses and a dairy. A lot of the agriculture there is done in a greenhouse as a way of using advanced techniques of irrigation because of water shortages. And they used greenhouses to produce not just flowers, but actually cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and the like.

I see. So the Palestinians will take control, and they’ve actually worked out the contracts?

Yes. The Israelis said they will respect all existing contracts for markets outside Israel, and the Palestinian Authority will take ownership and they will probably lease it to those who make bids. There will be technical assistance to ensure the standards are maintained, not only within the greenhouses, but [also] the dairy farm [that] had 500 cows. These were on the brink of being sent back to Israel. And the production is about 10 percent of all the consumption of milk in Gaza, most of which is provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the form of powdered milk. So here’s a dairy farm that was basically selling in Israel. Well, now it can be available for Palestinians.

And these are all jobs, too.

They’re all jobs. There were already 3,500 Palestinians who were permitted to work there. But most of the rest of the workers were Thais from Asia.

Oh, I see. And will the Thai workers stay on?

My guess is there will probably be a transition period, but the Palestinians will want to have Palestinians come in and take those jobs because, after all, the greatest single problem in Gaza today is lack of employment. Unemployment in Gaza is probably 60 percent.

And the private housing left behind by Israeli settlers will be destroyed?

Yes.

And then apartment houses will be put up?

That’s the plan, and also, I think they want to develop tourist sites because there’s beach front here as well. Palestinians were the backbone of the Israeli construction industry before the intifada.

If you want to put Palestinians back to work, there’s no better project than housing. They know how to do it. They have designs, they have blueprints. All they need is the investment; all they need is the money. There’s actually a place called the Sheikh Ziad township [whose construction was financed by] the late Sheikh Ziad. And the Palestinians built 736 apartment units with an integrated infrastructure, a mosque, a school, and a recreation area. This was done by Palestinians entirely from scratch in thirty months in an area of Gaza that I used to pass all the time when it was a garbage dump before. They did the designs. They did the contracting. They did the construction.

So what about the U.S. role now? In your report for the Washington Institute, you seem to be saying the United States really should be doing a lot more.

I would like to see the U.S. role fall into three categories. Category No. 1 is to spearhead [international] assistance so that it actually materializes—that it’s not just in the form of words. Related to this category is also helping the European Union and others develop the Palestinian administration. Abu Mazen has begun to put good people in a number of places, but they need to be empowered, and they need some assistance to get things done.

Category two is having access between Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank after the Israelis are out. This means there has to be security arrangements that give Israelis confidence that they don’t have to be squeezing the access. And if they’re concerned about what can be smuggled into Gaza or from Gaza through Israel into the West Bank, they’re going to keep a very tight hold on access. There isn’t a single issue—passages, crossing points, technical links between the West Bank and Gaza, or movement in the West Bank—that’s not related to commerce in Gaza. And there is no basic security agreement in Gaza now. And I can tell you, every one of these is going to be complicated.

And complicated arrangements always break down. Now if they break down after the settlers are out, then the Israelis will squeeze the access, and that’s going to create a problem. So it’s better to try to get these done in advance. Right now I’m not optimistic, I think much more emphasis should have been put on this much earlier.

The third category is building a bridge toward peace because you have very different expectations on the two sides. For Sharon, it is going to be difficult as the Israelis actually have to forcibly evict people. And even for people in Israel who have never been fans of the settler movement or the settlers, it’s not easy to watch the images of people being forced out of their homes. So there will be emotional trauma in Israel. Sharon is going to say, “Look, we need a pause to absorb it, to see what the Palestinians are going to do because we’re going to have an election in Israel.” Sharon’s going to want a pause [on further movement] until next spring.

Abu Mazen is going to want to say, “Look, to preserve the calm, I need to be able to show this was Gaza first, not Gaza last, so we need a political process under way that’s visible with additional things happening.”

I think we’re going to have a stalemate even after the Israelis take this historic step unless we act immediately after the disengagement to say, “All right, we’re going to create that bridge.” And for me, the bridge potentially already exists, and that’s the roadmap. There isn’t a single obligation in the roadmap that is understood the same way by the two sides. That’s because it wasn’t negotiated with them. It was negotiated with the European Union, the Russians, and the United Nations. They don’t have to carry it out—the Israelis and the Palestinians do.

Now the Bush administration was very careful not to find a replacement for Middle East envoy. Do you think that’s what’s needed, or should [Secretary of State] Condoleezza Rice take it on herself?

I think she’s clearly demonstrated a greater level of involvement. Look, she’s already been to the region and dealt with Israeli and Palestinian leaders more times in her brief tenure as secretary than Secretary [Colin] Powell did in four years. So I think that indicates she’s more willing to take it on. She’s got a lot of things going on around the world, and to do what is necessary for what I’m talking about, with regard to these three categories of activities, I think you need to have one person in charge. Do they have to be called an envoy? No. But they have to be in charge. Could it be Jim Wolfensohn? Yes, if he’s given a broader mandate. His mandate was only the economic side of disengagement, and inevitably he’s getting into the security because he can’t do the economics without the security. He doesn’t have a political mandate, and he doesn’t have any mandate to deal with the roadmap the way I’ve just described it. So, you’re going to have to have somebody who’s in charge, someone who’s on the scene, someone who’s energetic, who understands the intensity of the effort that’s required.

Any recommendations?

I like Jim Wolfensohn. If he wants to stay and do it, I’d say let him do it, but empower him. Give him the mandate. He doesn’t have it today.

02 25 05 Suicide bombing at Tel Aviv Stage Club

Surprise party ends in horror



Eyewitnesses give accounts of Friday night’s suicide terror attack in Tel Aviv;


TEL AVIV - “The surprise party organized by Revital Gravesky of Jerusalem for her husband Yaron’s 30th birthday at Tel Aviv’s Stage nightclub ended in horror, as dozens of their friends were waiting for them when the suicide bomber blew himself up at the club’s entrance.


Stage club suicide bombing wreckage (Photo: Ofer Amram)



The couple arrived at the scene a few minutes after the blast.




“I feel very bad,” Yaron Gravesky said upon his arrival at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv in search of his friends. “Eight of our friends are still unaccounted for; I don’t know what happened to them.”



Eran Zorano, 23, a security at the nearby Alenby 2 club, said that when he arrived at the Stage club to pick something up, he saw a white Subaru car making its way in his direction.



“Four or five people were sitting inside (the car). Then they shouted at their friend ‘come here, come here’ (in Arabic). The terrorist got out of the car. He looked at me and blew up. He stood a meter-and-a-half (5 feet) away from me. Suddenly everything was destroyed and it became black,” he said.



Storm after the calm



Meirav Ayash, a 20-year-old soldier who was the first to report the attack to the Magen David Adom medical units, said she and her boyfriend Tzahi drove to the beachfront for fruit shakes.




“Suddenly we heard an enormous blast, followed by the sound of car alarms and a lot of smoke,” she said. “I saw 15, maybe 17 people lying on the ground bleeding.”



/........../

(02.26.05, 09:21)



Five people were killed and about 50 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Stage club on the Tel Aviv promenade at around 11:20 P.M. on Friday evening. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

The suicide attack was the first since the Sharm el-Sheikh summit on February 8, at which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced a cease-fire.

On Friday evening, friends arrived from all over the country - from Mishmar Hayarden, Tiberias, Shlomi, Jerusalem and Kfar Sava - for a surprise birthday party of their friend Yaron Grayevsky at the Stage Club in Tel Aviv. As young men in their 20s and 30s from the Golani, Givati and Nahal Brigades, they met eight years ago in an IDF reserves battalion and became fast friends. Just after 11 P.M., when Yaron was still waiting at a nearby hotel, the suicide bomber detonated himself at the entrance to the club.

All five of those killed in the attack were attending the birthday party: Itzik from Mishmar Hayarden, whose wife Linda was severely injured, Ronen, who organized the battalion's reunions, Arik, who was the joker in the group, and Yael Orbach from Kfar Sava, who came to celebrate with her boyfriend, Ofir Gonen, and Odelia, who together with her friend Revital Grayevsky, organized the surprise party for Yaron. Fifty people were wounded.

The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. IDF sources said the cell that dispatched the suicide bomber, Abdallah Badran, 21, a student from the village of Deir al Ghusun near Tul Karm, received its instructions directly from Damascus.






Is Hizbullah behind attack?



Security officials estimate Lebanese terror group involved in Tel Aviv attack, an assessment shared by Palestinian Authority officials
By Hanan Greenberg and Ali Waked



TEL AVIV - Hizbullah terrorists may have been involved in carrying out the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv Friday, Israeli and Palestinian officials say.
A Hizbullah source in Beirut, however, denied his group was connected to the attack, which claimed the lives of at least four people.
Security officials estimate that several terror groups may have been involved in perpetrating the attack. Earlier, both the Islamic Jihad and the Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Meanwhile, Fatah and Islamic Jihad members fired shots in the air in celebration following the attack.
Officials say they are convinced the terrorist came from the northern West Bank and estimated the bomber came from the town of Tul Karem. The investigation, however, is in early stages and details are still scant.
Recently, security officials warned of the growing Hizbullah involvement in attempts to carry out attacks in Israel. The group reportedly offered large sums of money to terrorists willing to target Israel.
The attack took place as Israel was in the process of lifting restrictions on the Palestinians and allowing freer passage through the West Bank. Security officials will be checking whether the relaxed security procedures helped terrorists carry out the attack.


'Foreign hands were involved'


The Palestinian Authority was quick to condemn the bombing and said the Palestinian government should not be held responsible.
There is no room for sanctions against the Authority or freezing contacts between the two sides, spokesman Saeb Erekat said.
Palestinian sources said the Islamic Jihad or any other Palestinian group have no interest in carrying out such an attack at this time.


"Foreign hands were involved in the attack," a PA source told Ynet.
Other senior Palestinian officials told Ynet they tend to agree with Israeli estimates regarding Hizbullah involvement in the bombing.
Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian security official told Ynet that an investigation into the attack has already been launched.
"The security apparatuses…would act to detain any Palestinian element involved in the attack, if it turns out Palestinians were indeed behind it," he said.

December 1947 1947

Cópiade119733.WMV


Arab reaction to partition plan approved by the United Nations , November 29 1947

August 19 Palestinian Clerics Association Deputy Director on al manar tv

Palestinian Clerics Association Deputy Director on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV: "We Will Enter Palestine as Conquerors, Not Through Negotiations But Through Jihad"; According to Prophetic Tradition, All Palestine Will Be Liberated and The Zionist Entity Wiped Out

On August 19, Palestinian Clerics Association Deputy Director Sheikh Muhammad Ali was interviewed by Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV. In the interview, he discussed Jihad as the duty of all Muslims, and the coming conquest of all of Palestine through Jihad, not negotiation. He went on to explain in detail the prophetic tradition of "the stone and the tree" (Wa'd al-hajar wa-'l-shajar), [1] saying, "The Jews acknowledge this because they find it in their forged Torah." He also stated that this tradition called for "the wiping out of the Zionist enemy." (To view this clip, visit: http://memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=820.)




Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "Any land, any piece of land, over which flies the banner of 'There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger,' and which at a certain point belonged to the Muslims – as far as we are concerned, plundering and occupying such land is forbidden, and it is the duty of all Muslims to do what they can to liberate this land, wherever it may be. True, many precious Muslim lands are under occupation today. They have been forgotten, and Andalusia is one example. Nevertheless, it is the duty of the Muslims to liberate them. But since we are discussing Palestine, Gaza, and so on, let us focus on this precious piece of Muslim land, especially since Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque belong to all Muslims, and have become a part of the Muslim faith.

[...]

"When a piece of Muslim land is occupied, the duty of liberating it falls, first of all, upon the local residents, as decreed by the religious rulers. It is, first of all, the duty of the local residents."


Moderator: "In the past they were called the people of the frontier."


Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "True. Very good."


Moderator: "The people of a certain frontier fulfill their duty."

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "They are the spearhead of the liberation effort. But when they are too few, or they cannot – it is the duty of the next in line to liberate this land."

Moderator: "When you say next, you mean those closest geographically?"

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "Yes. That's what I mean. But if they are unable to do it either, it becomes the duty of all Muslims to do what they can to liberate it. According to the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, not only when an entire homeland is occupied, but when 'even an inch of Muslim land is occupied, Jihad is a personal duty, a religious obligation incumbent upon everyone. A wife must go, even without her husband's permission, and a slave must go – if there are slaves – without his master's permission.' They must liberate this land – and this is when only an inch is occupied, let alone when it is Palestine, Jerusalem, and Al-Aqsa that are occupied."

[...]

Moderator: "Honorable sheikh, there is a peculiar paradox: The Zionists are afraid of the weapons of the resistance, which are simple weapons, but they are not afraid of the weapons of the Arab regimes. Why is this?"

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "You know why? Because the weapons of the resistance are free."

Moderator: "The decision..."

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "The decision-making is free."

Moderator: "So, they fear the decision-making..."

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "... and not any particular type of weapon."

Moderator: "They are afraid of the Qassam missiles, which are very simple and basic, while neighboring countries have missiles, planes, and tanks."

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "In many countries the missiles and tanks have become rusty."

Moderator: "How come [the Zionists] don't demand their disarmament?"

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "These weapons do not scare them because they know that there is a decision [not to use them]. On the other hand, the the weapons of the resistance are the martyrdom seekers – whether men, women, or boys."

Moderator: "They are not subject to any political decision."

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "None whatsoever."

[...]

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "The Prophet Muhammad foretold in a hadith that 'Judgment Day would come only when the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims would kill the Jews, and the stone and tree would say: 'Oh, Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew' – of course he was referring to the occupying Zionist Jew – 'there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him', except for the Gharqad tree.'"

[...]

"Allah willing, we will enter [Palestine] as conquerors and liberators, not through negotiations, but through Jihad and resistance, because the hadith goes: 'And the Muslims would kill the Jews' – there is killing involved."

Moderator: "This divine prophecy, which appears in the hadith and in Koranic verses, denies the legitimacy of normalization or any agreement, because it is only a matter of time, and the Muslims will eventually liberate Jerusalem and regain Palestine."

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "How peculiar it is that the Zionists believe this, while many leaders, regimes and Arabs do not believe this. This is very sad, strange, and puzzling. Of course, I mean the Muslims and Arabs that are misinformed. The Jews acknowledge this because they find it in their forged Torah, in their Talmud."

[...]

"Today, the Jews plant this tree in large numbers in Palestine, because they acknowledge this."

Moderator: "The Ghardaq tree?"

Sheikh Muhammad Ali: "Not Ghardaq, Gharqad. [...]

"Since they believe that the Zionist entity will disappear... They are only trying to stall. They are not trying to establish themselves but to delay the fulfillment of the divine prophecy of the liberation of all of Palestine and the wiping out of the Zionist entity. If the Jews and the Zionists were to leave Palestine now, the war would be over, and the Middle East and the entire world could sigh in relief. But the Jews, these Zionists, are against humanity, not just against Muslims."

August 23 STATUS: Disengagement - Day Nine Diary

Last update - 20:23 23/08/2005


STATUS: Disengagement - Day Nine Diary


Disengagement timeline

ALL WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS EVACUATED BY 6 P.M. TUESDAY 23 AUG.

Sa-Nur and Homesh evacuated Tuesday.

Sa-Nur - Evacuated, Tuesday 23 Aug 6 P.M.
Tuesday 23 Aug


3:08 P.M.: Activists pray silently surrounded by police. No physical contact between the two groups.

3:05 P.M.: Police spray tear gas at activists and storm roof.

2:55 P.M.: One container is taken back to the ground. Activists prevent the other container from landing on the roof with long polls.

2:50 P.M.: Police hoist two containers with anti-riot police to citadel's roof.

2:45 P.M.: Settlers deny they reached any agreement with the army to evacuate citadel's roof.

2:00 P.M.: Police prepare to be lifted onto citadel's roof.

11:40 A.M.: Troops remove activists from citadel.

11:10 A.M.: Troops prepare to evacuate citadel in settlement.

10:50 A.M.: Security forces negotiate with activists barricaded on roof of citadel in settlement.

10:30 A.M.: Three buses leave with evacuated settlers.

10:10 A.M.: Troops storm syngagogue, remove youths.

10:00 A.M: Security forces complete evacuation of tent city in settlement.

9:50 A.M.: Settlers board buses set to leave settlement.

9:10 A.M.: Police negotiation team deliberates with barricaded activists.

8:20 A.M.: Families with children begin leaving settlement.

7:35 A.M.: Activist pray their morning service behind barbed wire.

7:20 A.M.: Bulldozer tears down settlement gate.

7:10 A.M.: Security forces deploy around settlement in anti-riot gear.
Sunday

Late afternoon: Settlers firebomb IDF bulldozer south of Sa-Nur.

Homesh - Evacuated, Tuesday 23 Aug 6 P.M.
Tuesday 23 Aug

2:30 P.M.: Disengagement foes throw paint at troops coming to evacuate a settlement home.

2:00 P.M.: Troops begin to remove activists from Torah hall.

1:45 P.M.: Troops enter Torah study hall, remove obstacles from its door.

1:30 P.M.: Troops cut through welded obstacles on windows of Torah study hall.

Activist attempts to stab a soldier, arrested.

11:40 A.M.: Police strom roof of synagogue where youths barricaded themselves in.

11:30 A.M.: Soldier lightly wounded by rock during evacuation of a settlement home.

10:30 A.M.: First bus with evacuated settlers leaves settlement.

8:20 A.M.: Several activists climb an antenna, use loudspeaker to call on forces to leave.

7:20 A.M.: Bulldozer tears down settlement gate.

Security forces deploy around settlement.

Ganim

All residents have left voluntarily.

Kadim

All residents have left voluntarily.


ALL GAZA STRIP SETTLEMENTS EVACUATED BY 7 P.M. MONDAY 22 AUG.

Atzmona - Evacuated, Sunday 21 Aug 7 P.M.
Friday

Morning: Family reveals a cardboard 'Cemetery of Oppressors' with one blank headstone.
Wednesday

After lengthy negotiations, Atzmona residents agree to evacuate by Sunday.

Bedolah - Evacuated, Wednesday 17 Aug 3 P.M.
Wednesday

3 P.M.: Synagogue cleared out.

Before 2 P.M.: Troops manage to enter Bedolah synagogue.

Morning: Residents attempt to block forces from entering.

Late morning: Forces successfully enter settlement to begin forced evacuation while most residents remain barricaded in the synagogue.

Residents set tires and at least two homes on fire.

Morning: Residents attempt to block forces from entering.

Dugit - Evacuated, Sunday, 21 Aug 10 A.M.
Sunday

Afternoon hours: Bulldozers begin demolishing homes.

Elei Sinai - Evacuated, Sunday 21 Aug 9:15 P.M.
Sunday

Yad Mordechai junction closed as settlers march northward.

9:15 P.M.:Settlers leave Elei Sinai, march toward border crossing.

1:35 P.M.: Security forces prepare to remove some 200 illegal infiltrators from settlement.

1:15 P.M.: Troops enter settlement to carry out its evacuation.

Some 30 families bolstered by dozens of recently arrived protesters, many of them from the Golan Heights.

Gadid - Evacuated, Friday 19 Aug 2 P.M.
Friday

1:20 P.M.: Forces complete evacuation of western neighborhood.

11:50 A.M.: Female protester falls off roof, probably slipped on oil poured by protesters.

11:30 A.M.: Protesters pour oil, throw rocks and rooftiles from rooftops on troops.

11:15 A.M.: Troops begin removal of protesters from home rooftops.

10:10 A.M: Forces enter synagogue to evacuate protesters refusing to leave settlement.

9:15 A.M.: First families leave settlement.

8:15 A.M.: Soldiers break through barricade at entrance to settlement, say evacuation will be complete by sundown.
Wednesday

2 P.M. : Last residents, protesters evacuated.

10:30 A.M.: Evacuation begins.

Gan Or Evacuated, Thursday 18 Aug 9 P.M.
Thursday

7:15 P.M.: Synagogue completely evacuated, protesters led to buses.

5:30 P.M.: Security forces complete evacuation of homes, break into synagogue where 150 pullout foes and some settlers are barricaded.

3 P.M.: Hundreds of infiltrators, two resident families remain in Gan Or.

Early afternoon: Four houses set on fire.

Late morning: Evacuation begins.

Ganei Tal -- Evacuated, Wednesday 17 Aug 10:30 P.M.
Wednesday

9 P.M.: Two families remain.

1 P.M: 45 families remain, promise to evacuate after afternoon prayers.

By noon: 58 families voluntarily evacuate.

Settlers agree to evacuate voluntarily between 1 P.M.and 3 P.M.

Late morning: About 1,000 troops enter settlement to begin forced evacuation.

Katif -- Evacuated, Sunday, 21 Aug 6 P.M.
Sunday

4:00 P.M.: Remaining residents board buses and private cars to leave

3:50 P.M.: Torah scrolls are removed from the synagogue as farewell ceremony ends

2:15 P.M.: Evacuating forces join settlers for farewell prayer service.

12:05 P.M.: Residents agree to leave settlement following a final prayer service.

11:45 A.M.: Troops begin evacuating settlers from their homes.

10:15 A.M.: Settlers torch a second barricade deeper in the settlement.

10:05 A.M.: Firefighters extinguish flames, bulldozers clear entrance of barricades.

9:50 A.M.: Settlers torch bales of hay at the entrance to the settlement, flames almost reach overhead electricity line.

9:40 A.M.: Security forces set to enter settlement.

Troops reach settlement before dawn, find gates locked. Residents plan to set fire to tires, rubbish at entrance.

Kerem Atzmona - Evacuated, Wednesday 17 Aug 3:15 P.M.
Friday

10:45 A.M.: Demolition of settlement begins.
Wednesday

Just after 2 P.M.: Troops begin evacuations by force.

Residents begin negotiations with troops, say they might leave after Saturday.

Early afternoon: Young residents begin throwing spikes and fire bombs at troops.

Late morning: Residents ask for cardboard packing boxes, which they set on fire.

Morning: Settlers promise to leave in the afternoon volunarily.

Kfar Darom - Evacuated, Thursday 18 Aug 9 P.M.
Thursday

7:45 P.M.: Forces begin clear rooftop, lowering protesters in cages.

7:15 P.M.: Officer injured scaling rooftop when acid is thrown at him.

6:30 P.M.: Troops reach synagogue rooftop, attempt to cut through encircling barbed wire; protesters throw paint, sand and oil on troop, attempt to push shipping containers away with long sticks.

Protesters on rooftop begin negotiations with troops.

5:20 P.M.: First protesters removed from Kfar Darom synagogue.

5 P.M.: Troops break into synagoge, lift cages to rooftop to remove barricaded protesters.

Troops respond by firing water cannon at protesters.

4:45 P.M.: Protesters on rooftop throw paint, milk, eggs, and watermelons on surrounding troops.

Just before 2 P.M.: Troops complete evacuation of 80 percent of Kfar Darom houses.

Before 11 A.M.: Soldier at synagogue begins praying, refuses orders. Troops begin evacuating homes.

As refusenik is being evacuated by force, another soldier refuses orders.

Troops remove barricaded pullout opponents from Kfar Darom kindergarten.

Associated Press: Woman chases off soldier in Kfar Darom with a syringe she says is infected with AIDS.

10:15 A.M.: 72 pullout foes evacuated from factory.

Just before 10 A.M.: Troops begin evacuating 100 protesters from religious school for girls; protesters offer passive resistance.

Late morning: Settlers set fire to a bus, police extinguish blaze.

Police say those occupying the synagogue are all illegal infiltrators.

Early morning: Large IDF and police force enters settlement, surrounds synagogue with protesters barricaded inside and on the roof, where settlers use mirrors to try to blind soldiers.

Evacuation set to begin early afternoon.

Wednesday

65 families and 2,000 protesters barricade themselves with barbed wire.

Just after noon: Residents say that there is a possibility they will evacuate by Thursday.

Residents sabotage IDF D-9 bulldozers, cutting cables, piercing tires, and putting sugar in gas tanks.

Kfar Yam - Evacuated, Thursday 18 Aug 7 P.M.
Thursday

7 P.M.: Right-wing extremist leader Aryeh Yitzhaki evacuates barricaded house with his son and an Israeli flag. He says, "I could have launched the second Masada in Shirat Hayam, but I decided to negotiate, so as to avoid loss of life."

6:30 P.M.: Forces begins dragging pullout foes from Yitzhaki's house, rooftop.

6:15 P.M.: Yitzhaki surrenders M-16 file and 2 handguns, forces break into his barricaded house.

4 P.M.: 10 youths march into sea, stand 20 meters from beach line and evacuating forces.

3 P.M.: Army backs away from mass barricade, Yitzhaki announces he will only shoot if troops fire first.

1 P.M.: Yitzhaki, holed up with 40 others, waves rifle, warns he will shoot approaching troops.

Late morning: Navy patrol boat positioned outside settlement in preparation for evacuation.

Evacuation set to begin early afternoon.

Morag - Evacuated, Wednesday 17 Aug 4 P.M.
Wednesday

2:30P.M.: 4 families remain.

By 1 P.M.: Five buses leave Morag.

Late morning: Residents agree to leave synagogue, army begins escorting settlers from barricade to evacuating buses, carrying many who refuse to walk willfully on their own.

Female soldier stabbed by protesting infiltrator with infusion needle, is lightly injured.

Mid-morning: Army enters settlement, forces its way into homes, arresting numerous protesters.

About 100 residents barricade themselves in synagogue for over an hour.

Netzarim - Evacuated, Monday 22 Aug 7 P.M.
Monday

4:40 P.M. Netzarim settlers begin boarding buses which will transport them to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

4:38 P.M. Scuffle breaks out between settlers, police.

3:40 P.M.: Netzarim settlers end prayers, march in procession towards buses.

3:15 P.M.: Congregants remove Torah scrolls from synagogue in final prayer at Netzarim.

11:40 A.M.: IDF Chief of Staff Halutz arrives on the scene to track progression of the evacuation.

9:55 A.M.: Security forces enter settlement, expect peaceful evacuation.

Afternoon: Settlers and soldiers pray together in synagogue, prepare to evacuate last Gaza settlement.
Wednesday

Settlers announce they will leave without struggle on Monday.

Netzer Hazani - Evacuated, Thursday 18 Aug 3 P.M.
Thursday

3 P.M.: Residents begin departing ceremony, after which they said they would leave the settlement.

12:30 P.M.: Residents setting fire to homes, gather in synagogue.

11:30 A.M.: Residents set fire to hothouses, throw stones, paint cans at forces.

11:20 A.M.: Residents burn tires.

11 A.M.: Residents barricade gate to prevent buses from leaving.

10:30 A.M.: Troops arrive at gates, dozens of buses await evacuees.

Mid-morning: Residents blocking the gate to the settlement.

Neveh Dekalim - Evacuated, Sunday 21 Aug 8:30 P.M.
Friday

12:15 P.M: Chief Rabbi of Gush Katif leaves settlement. Some 15 families remain.
Thursday

6:45 P.M.: Men evacuated from synagogue, Torah scrolls removed.

6:15 P.M.: 150-200 women, 50 men still holed up in Kfar Darom synagogue compound.

6 P.M.: Six protesters slightly injured in Sephardic synagogue evacuation.

5 P.M: Troops break into Ashkenazic synagogue.

3 P.M.: Troops break into Neveh Dekalim Sephardic synagogue, protesters resist, throw plastic bottles, sit on floor with arms linked.

Soldier injured during evacuation of synagogue from mass congestion, shoving.

Four IDF troops carry Yesha Settlement council member from synagogue.

4:30 P.M.: Troops prepare to storm Ashkenazic synagogue, continue evacuation of Sephardic synagogue.

3:20 P.M. Pullout foes barricaded in synagogue given 10 minute ultimatum to evacuate.

2:30 P.M.: IDF extends deadline for pullout foes to leave synagogue.

Just before 1 P.M.: Police, Yesha chiefs agree to evacuate Neveh Dekalim synagogue.

IDF gives protesters barricaded in synagogue until early afternoon to leave or be forcible evacuated.

Several remaining residents set their houses on fire.

Protesters spill oil in entrance to synagogue to block evacuating forces.

11:45 A.M.: Shas chairman Eli Yishai chants with Yesha leaders.

Before 11 A.M.: Evacuation of synagogue, where 1,000-2,000 youths are holed up, begins.

Mid-morning: IDF attempts to evacuate remaining families.

IDF tells those barricaded in synagogue they can leave voluntarily after prayers at 10:30, after which troops will force their way in.

Wednesday

Throughout day: Hundreds of youths barricade themselves in synagogues.

8:00 P.M.: evacuation operations end for the night; 60 families (out of 460) remain along with many infiltrators.

1 P.M.: Troops have evacuated 158 homes.

IDF and settlement leaders strike a deal to postpone the evacuation of the synagogue until Thursday.

Protesters throw eggs and plastic bottles at troops.

Late morning: Settlers say they will leave at 4 P.M. when they conclude afternoon prayers.

Mid-morning: Three buses carrying arrestees, mostly non-residents, leave settlement.
Tuesday

Midnight: Nearly half of residents had left their homes.

Nissanit - Evacuated, Sunday 21 Aug 11 A.M.
Sunday

Afternoon hours: Bulldozers begin demolishing settlement homes.

Pe'at Sadeh - Evacuated, Sunday 21 Aug 10 A.M.
Sunday

Afternoon hours: Bulldozers begin demolishing settlement homes.

Rafiah Yam - Evacuated, Tuesday 16 Aug 4 p.m.

Shirat Hayam - Evacuated, Thursday 18 Aug 7:30 P.M.
Thursday

7:30 P.M.: Forces complete evacuation of third rooftop.

7:15 P.M.: Synagogue completely evacuated.

6:30 P.M.: Protesters evacuate nursery school without resistance.

6 P.M.: Troops complete evacuation of second rooftop.

Forces remove 10 women and girls barricaded on second rooftop.

5 P.M.: Troops clear out one barricaded rooftop, prepare for second.

IDF forces attempt to take over settlement public address system.

Troops march toward synagogue to break barricade.

A group of youths leave Shirat Hayam by raft, pursued by Navy boats.

Troops forcibly remove another ten pullout foes barricaded in house.

3 P.M.: First bus carrying residents and pullout foes leaves settlement.

2:30 P.M.: Buses enter Shirat Hayam, troops forcibly remove residents and pullout foes, dragging some to buses.

One extremist arrested for attempting to attack a soldier.

1:30 P.M.: Troops begin forced evacuation of settlement.

1:15 P.M.: IDF penatraters entrance gate, begins to head inside.

12:30 P.M.: Bulldozers removing barricades at entrance.

11:45 A.M.: Settlers go to Muasi neighborhood, throw rocks at Palestinians.

11:45 A.M.: Settlers torch barriade at entrance to settlement.

Protesters barricade entrance.

Evacuation set to begin early afternoon.

Slav - Evacuated, Sunday 21 Aug 1 P.M.

Tel Katifa - Evacuated, Wednesday 17 Aug 2:30 P.M.
Wednesday

Just after noon: Residents begin to voluntarily evacuate, many insist to be carried to buses by troops to demonstrate their opposition to leaving.

Late morning: Residents and army reach agreement on implementing evacuation without force.

Settlers organizing departing ceremony, preparing for orderly evacuation.

August 18 Give jobs to the palestinians- He said

Mubarak: I understand evacuees' pain

In an exclusive interview to Yedioth Aharonot, Egyptian president sympathizes with settlers, but warns against turning Gaza into a 'huge prison'
By Sima Kadmon


In an exclusive interview to newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he empathized with Gaza Strip settlers’ pain, but warned Israel against turning Gaza into what he called a "large prison."



Meeting with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the presidential palace in Cairo on Tuesday, Mubarak said, “Sometimes you need to move out of your home even when you would rather stay. I completely understand how difficult it is to pack up and move away from home.”



He added, “I also know no one enjoys spending money on a new house. Sometimes, circumstances make it a necessity.”




Warning to Israel



Despite his sympathy, Mubarak advised Israel to make sure Palestinians in Gaza have jobs after the pullout.



“Don’t make the mistake of stifling Gaza. Beware of turning Gaza into a huge prison; give jobs to the Palestinians," he said.




But Barak rejected the notion that Gazans would continue to work in Israel after disengagement.



“If we open Gaza it will turn into a crossing point for terrorists and weapons," he said. "Gaza must be closely monitored."



The Egyptian President complimented PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and called Israel to do “much more” to assist Abbas."



“Abbas’ control of the situation is tighter than I expected,” Mubarak said, “yet he needs Israel’s support. Improving the economic conditions of Gaza’s poor will help Abbas."

Saudi Government-Controlled Daily Praises Passover and Jerusalem Supermarket Suicide Bombers

Special Dispatch Series - No. 367
April 12, 2002
No.367
Saudi Government-Controlled Daily Praises Passover and Jerusalem Supermarket Suicide Bombers
In a recent article for the Saudi government-controlled daily Al-Jazirah, columnist Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Al-Sa'adat applauded the actions of 'Abd Al-Baset 'Oudeh, the Palestinian who detonated himself at a Passover 'Seder' in a Netanya hotel, and Ayat Al-Akhras, who carried out a suicide attack in a Jerusalem supermarket. Following are excerpts from the article:[1]
Praising the Passover Bomber"May Allah have mercy upon you, oh 'Abd Al-Baset 'Oudeh, mujaheed and martyr, the quiet hero who infiltrated so elegantly and spoke so gaily. You defended your religion, your homeland, and your people. You attached no importance to [any] Arab summit; you did not wait for international agreements; you did not follow television interviews; you did not pause because of dead Arab and international reactions that neither help nor hinder."
"Courageously, full of willingness to [wage] Jihad, and with faith filling your heart, you executed your assignment and sacrificed your pure soul for your religion and your homeland. The Israeli tanks did not strike you with dread; the Israeli military, armed to the teeth with all types of modern weaponry, did not move a hair on your head; the prime minister of this aggressive state that occupies your land and your homeland did not frighten you; Israeli intelligence, experts in terrorist espionage and treacherous collaboration, did not expose you."
"You could not stand the killing, the destruction, and the exile carried out by the Zionist army… You knew that the Zionists do not honor treaties, promises, and agreements, and understand only the language of resistance and Jihad."
"You rose up like the rest of your mujahideen brothers, took matters into your own hands, and did not wait for Arab or international help that might never arrive, and if it did would be no more than words of condemnation and demand."
"May Allah have mercy on you, oh beloved of the Arab nation, oh 'Abd Al-Baset. You evoked hope that had begun to dissipate; you restored life that had begun to expire; you revived the Arab pride, valor, chivalry, and sacrifice that had begun to die, and you caused pain to [the people] who had begun to celebrate and sing atop the bodies of the children, youths, and mothers of your people."
"You entered silently, with the faith and confidence with which Allah inspired you. Despite all the obstacles, fortifications, and security measures, you reached [the appointed place], sat down at one of the tables, talked, told a few jokes, and laughed with them, and then Allah decreed for you a martyr's death. What heroism, courage, and strength – almost unmatched on the face of the earth!"
Praising the Supermarket Bomber"May Allah have mercy on you, oh Ayat Al-Akhras. You left your home for the path of martyrdom and Paradise. Your family knew not where you were headed, and knew not that you had chosen the way of martyrdom. There was nothing to stop you… You proceeded with a determination, will, and strength rarely found, even impossible to find, in a 16-year-old girl…"
"You sought not the counsel of the American, French, or Russian governments; you sought not a green or red light from them; rather, you knew that the hand of Allah is supreme, that soul-sacrifice is the highest form of Jihad, and that he who sacrifices reaches the highest level of Paradise. You were not tempted by and did not rejoice in the life of this world, oh beloved of the Arab nations of 16 springs [i.e. 16 years]. Marriage was before you; you were a girl engaged and looking forward to finishing your studies in order to wed – except you chose Allah, Paradise, and martyrdom. You taught the Arab nation a lesson almost never taught in the schools and universities, and you breathed your last [breath] and evoked [in us] sensations that had begun to disappear…"
"You raised our heads high and told the oppressing world, biased towards Zionism, that a young girl had infiltrated [into] Israeli society despite the tight security closure, and had profoundly shaken it without tank, missile, or rifle – [merely] with her small, pure soul. You say to us, 'Despair not; it is simpler than you think. Be filled with faith in Allah, with a quest for Jihad and martyrdom.'"
"May Allah have mercy on you, oh 'Abd Al-Baset, Ayat, and all the male and female mujahideen. We ask Allah that the angels welcome you as righteous martyrs, and beseech Allah to give you the highest level of Paradise."

Al Manar

This item is available on the Middle East Forum website, at http://www.meforum.org/article/583
Al-Manar: Hizbullah TV, 24/7
by Avi JorischMiddle East QuarterlyWinter 2004
Al-Manar (the beacon) is the official television station of the Lebanon-based Hizbullah, the Iranian-supported Shi‘ite movement that appears on every U.S. terrorism list. Many political movements and organizations in the Arab world publish in print, and some even have clandestine radio stations. Terrorist groups such as al-Qa‘ida have been especially adept at manipulating television through the release of videos. But Hizbullah is unique in its operation of a full-fledged television station, offering a rich menu of news, commentary, and entertainment.
Al-Manar beamed its first signal on June 3, 1991. Since then, Hizbullah has exploited its privileged position in Lebanon—a position fortified by its successful guerrilla war to end the Israeli occupation—to create a mass media outlet with global reach. With access to continuous funding from Iran, the station has grown by leaps and bounds from a clandestine, ramshackle operation to a comprehensive satellite station.
The significance of the station goes far beyond Lebanon. Calling itself the "station of resistance" (qanat al-muqawama), al-Manar has become an integral part of Hizbullah's plan to reach the entire Arab and Muslim worlds. As a disseminator of radicalism throughout the region, al-Manar has an impact second only to al-Jazeera. It has become a potent instrument in what Hizbullah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy,"[1] keeping the Arab world focused on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the station has been using the same methods to undermine the U.S. occupation.
In the debate over al-Jazeera, there are arguments on both sides as to whether its content informs or propagandizes the Arab viewing public. (It does both.) In the case of al-Manar, there is no space for debate. Al-Manar is propaganda in its most undiluted form. Every aspect of al-Manar's content, from news to filler, is fine-tuned to present a single point of view: that of a militantly Islamist sponsor, consistently urging the recourse to violent "resistance" as the only legitimate response to Israel's existence and the U.S. presence in the Middle East.
Al-Manar thus represents the darker side of the media revolution in the Arab world. It is one more example of how new technologies, born of the West, may be exploited to promote profoundly anti-Western agendas. At the same time, it is the product of unique circumstances. This article examines the particular genesis of al-Manar, the nature of its message, and what the United States should do to mitigate its effects.
Who Decides?
Al-Manar is located in the poor, Shi‘ite-populated neighborhood of Harat Hurayk in Beirut's southern suburbs. Unlike West Beirut, where clubs, alcohol, and Western culture abound, this neighborhood is conservative and strongly affiliated with Hizbullah.
Al-Manar, housed in a six-story building, appears to the casual eye to be a conventional station with reporters, newsrooms, studios, state-of-the-art editing suites, and television screens with feeds from the world's leading media, including CNN, BBC, al-Jazeera, and Israeli channels. However, upon closer examination, it is clear this station is unlike any other. Armed Hizbullah security guards stand watch outside the station, checking visitors' papers and belongings. In a marble-floored lobby, two pictures of station cameramen killed in Israeli military operations in July 1993 are displayed.
Al-Manar also houses an extensive video library– containing thousands of carefully labeled al-Manar videotapes – below ground in one of the basement floors for fear of Israeli or American attacks.[2] Indeed, according to Bilal Zarur, al-Manar's programming director, al-Manar has "another base in case the station is bombed."[3] While male employees are dressed in suits, every woman wears the traditional Islamic head-covering.
Precautions are taken because al-Manar is an arm of Hizbullah. This is a fact that the station's managers are at pains to emphasize. According to Nayef Krayem, al-Manar's previous general manager and chairman of its board, "al-Manar gets its political support for the continuation of the channel from Hizbullah. It gets money from the shareholders who are leaders in Hizbullah."[4] Describing the relationship between Hizbullah and al-Manar, Krayem explains, "They breathe life into one another. Each provides the other with inspiration. Hizbullah uses al-Manar to express its stands and its views, etc. Al-Manar in turn receives political support for its continuation."[5] Despite al-Manar's registration under the name of the "Lebanese Media Group Company" in 1997, Muhammad ‘Afif Ahmad, the station's second general manager, asserts that al-Manar has belonged to Hizbullah "culturally and politically" from its very establishment.[6]
In point of fact, the station is run by Hizbullah members, reports to Hizbullah officials, and takes its direction from the personal office of Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, Hizbullah's secretary general.
Who Permits?
Al-Manar emerged at a moment in the history of Lebanon when political movements and militias ran television stations without licenses. In the years of civil war, the Lebanese state exercised no effective authority over broadcasting. In the 1980s, Hizbullah operated its own clandestine radio station, and the move into television was the sequel to its earlier ventures in media.
In its first few years, al-Manar operated outside any legal or regulatory framework. But in the mid-1990s, the Lebanese government moved to reassert its control over broadcasting. In November 1994, the Lebanese government passed a law subjecting all stations to government licensing.
In September 1996, the Lebanese government granted licenses to only five television stations. These tended to be commercial stations, and they did not include al-Manar. All other stations, around fifty in number, were ordered closed. The government argued that the reduction was necessary for "technical" reasons and voiced its "determination to put an end to years of media anarchy and partisan propaganda which emerged during the war."[7]
The decision to license only five stations provoked widespread criticism. Many in Lebanon believed that the decision was based on political and sectarian considerations rather than professional standards. A number of the stations that failed to receive a license, including al-Manar, refused to stop broadcasting. [8] The government threatened them, and in some cases, even used force in order to enforce the law. Several stations then elected to appeal the government's decision.
How did al-Manar pursue its appeal? Nayef Krayem maintains al-Manar put "pressure on parliament and utilized outside sources, which also put pressure on the government."[9] In fact, Hizbullah sent a delegation to Damascus in order to lobby the then-president of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, for permission to broadcast. The strategy worked: on September 18, 1996, at the request of the Lebanese president, the cabinet reconsidered its decision and decided to grant al-Manar an operating license. In a sense, the decision extended to al-Manar the same exemption enjoyed by Hizbullah. Since Israel continued to occupy Lebanese and Syrian land, Hizbullah continued to enjoy an exemption from the general disarmament of militias. For the same reason, al-Manar was given an exemption from the general dismantlement of ideological television stations.
It is al-Manar's message, especially against Israel, that assures its continued freedom to broadcast. What would happen were it to turn against Syria? There is a precedent: on September 4, 2002, Lebanese authorities closed down Murr Television (MTV) for "violating an election law prohibiting propaganda."[10] In reality, however, the station was closed because of its outspoken opposition to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In late October, the Lebanese appeals court turned down an appeal by MTV.[11] This episode demonstrated that the Syrian and Lebanese authorities do not hesitate to practice censorship when they deem it necessary. The fact that al-Manar continues to operate freely is proof that the station's message enjoys the approval of the governments in Damascus and Beirut.
Who Pays?
Al-Manar is an expensive operation for a simple reason: it is Lebanon's leader in producing in-house programming. By 1994, the station was producing 50 percent of its own material, and by 2003 that figure approached around 70 percent. This reflected Hizbullah's desire to preserve "the integrity of Islamic and cultural programming."[12]
As of July 2002, station officials report al-Manar was unprofitable and losing money every year. "Annual financial losses are huge," Krayem maintains, and covered by unnamed investors whose interests he described as "political rather than financial."[13] If the station loses money, how has al-Manar been able to buy a new building, purchase first-rate equipment from Sony, run four bureaus, and pay the salaries of reporters around the world? Answer: Iranian largesse.
At the time of al-Manar's founding, the station reportedly received seed money from Iran and had an operating budget of $1 million.[14] According to station officials, al-Manar's annual budget currently stands at approximately $15 million.[15] (This is about half of al-Jazeera's annual budget.) Many reports maintain that al-Manar receives a significant portion of this sum from Iran.[16] But al-Manar officials vociferously deny this. Krayem maintains that the station does not receive money from any government. Al-Manar, he claims, is in full compliance with Lebanese law, which prohibits stations from receiving foreign government funding.[17]
Technically, Krayem may be speaking the truth. Over the years, many reports have placed Iranian subsidies to Hizbullah at somewhere between $100 and $200 million a year. Some of that money—by this time, it is "Lebanese"—goes to al-Manar. Both station officials and researchers corroborate this. Sheikh Nasir al-Akhdar, al-Manar's former program director, asserts in the Jordanian daily ar-Ra'y that al-Manar receives a good portion of its budget as "subsidies offered by the party [i.e. Hizbullah]."[18] Radwan al-Hamrouni and Adel al-Sahbani, Tunisian students who wrote a short study on al-Manar, maintain that al-Manar depends on "monthly assistance from Hizbullah."[19] In other words, al-Manar uses a loophole to get around the law prohibiting foreign subsidies of Lebanese television stations. It receives its subsidies from Hizbullah—which gets its stipend from its patron, Iran.
Other sources of income include donations from overseas Shi‘ite communities and other Arabs and Muslims who support both Hizbullah and al-Manar. Reportedly, large donations have been received from Muslim communities in Europe, the United States, and Canada.[20] Al-Manar makes appeals for donors during commercial breaks, urging viewers to make deposits directly into accounts in four Lebanese banks: Beirut Riyad Bank, the Banque Libanaise pour le Commerce SAL, the Byblos Bank SAL, and the Fransa Bank. These banks also receive funds solicited for Hizbullah itself (e.g., "The Organization for the Support of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon," "The Intifada in Occupied Palestine Fund," "The Palestine Uprising," and "The Resistance Information Donation Fund"). There are also two funds under the name of Krayem, for "Support the Resistance Media al-Manar Television."
It has also been reported that al-Manar receives small amounts from Hizbullah's own business ventures and cooperatives in Beirut, south Lebanon, and the Bekaa valley.[21] These business ventures and cooperatives operate in the shadows. However, it has been reported that they include building companies, heavy machinery manufacturers, and drug trafficking. Researchers Hamrouni and Sahbani also maintain that al-Manar receives income from "renting out some of its operational equipment to Arab or foreign stations covering events in Lebanon."[22]
Who Advertises?
Of secondary importance is the income al-Manar receives from corporate advertisers. Since al-Manar's founding in 1991 to the present day, the station has had many commercial advertising requests, both from Lebanese and Western companies. It has been reported that since its establishment, the station has consistently turned down approximately 90 percent of potential clients for religious reasons (e.g., the use in advertising of "women as a temptation").[23]
In order to manage the station's commercial advertising, al-Manar has set up its own advertising company, Media-Publi Management.[24] It has been reported that the company has worked with over thirty-five advertising firms, including Britain's Saatchi and Saatchi. As of 2003, commercial advertisements were broadcast terrestrially only, and not on al-Manar's satellite station. This suggests that companies perhaps want to keep their commercial links to al-Manar away from the prying eyes of U.S.-based viewers.
Al-Manar officials reported that as of July 2002, their biggest American commercial advertisers included Pepsi, Coke, Proctor and Gamble, and Western Union.[25] Other corporate sponsors include the German chocolate Milka, the American washing powder Ariel, Nestle's Nido milk, German Maggie Cubes, Finnish Smeds cheese and butter, French Picon cheese, Austrian Red Bull, the French cigarette company Gauloises, and the German Henkel's Der general detergent.[26] Following an op-ed that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Pepsi, Coke, Proctor and Gamble, and Western Union ceased advertising on al-Manar, but the other European companies continue to do so.[27]
Who Reports?
The station employs about 300 employees of Lebanese, Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian, Moroccan, and American nationality.[28] While employees are not required to be Hizbullah members, "we prefer it all the same," says Muhammad ‘Afif Ahmad.[29] It has been reported that most of the male reporters were guerrilla fighters before joining al-Manar.[30]
According to Zarur, most of the station's employees are in their twenties and thirties and learn their trade on the job. Zarur reports that station officials have attended special training courses at colleges and institutes and sometimes even take courses via the Internet in cooperation with international companies.[31] In 1997 the Lebanese press reported that al-Manar officials attended lectures and seminars on the workings of the Israeli foreign ministry and other Israeli agencies, in order to conduct more effective propaganda. Other courses attended included world weather and sports news.[32] Additionally, station journalists and technicians upgrade their qualifications through training sessions with organizations such as Reuters and the Thomson Foundation.[33]
The station also has four bureaus located in Dubai, Egypt, Iran, and Jordan. According to Ibrahim al-Musawi, editor-in-chief of the English news desk, al-Manar plans to open another in Britain in the near future.[34] Al-Manar also has about a dozen individual correspondents abroad. In 2002 and 2003, these correspondents filed reports from Belgium, France, Iraq, Kosovo, Kuwait, Morocco, Russia, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, and the United States. In the Palestinian territories, al-Manar employs a number of correspondents, enabling the station to effectively cover breaking news. (Attacks and casualties are immediately flashed in ticker tape across the bottom of the television screen). The station also uses freelancers when necessary but prefers to employ its own staff.[35]
The station also sends correspondents to cover breaking news. Days after the September 11, 2001 attacks on America, the station dispatched its Tehran correspondent (also employed by Iranian television) and a crew to southwestern Afghanistan as well as to Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. Al-Manar's Afghan presence reportedly cost $2,500 for each five-minute report, with the total bill running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.[36] During Operation Iraqi Freedom, al-Manar employed two correspondents, one in Baghdad and one on the Iranian border.
But al-Manar became most famous for its coverage of Hizbullah's guerrilla war against occupying Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. Al-Manar broadcast dramatic news footage from camera crews wearing flak jackets and running alongside Hizbullah guerrillas during actual attacks. Cameramen were often in place in advance of guerrilla operations, demonstrating foreknowledge of the attacks and a high degree of coordination with Hizbullah's guerrilla units. Al-Manar's cameramen also coordinated with Hizbullah's "military media service" in order to assure the safety of cameramen and the best position to film the attack. It was reported that live footage and timely audiovisual material were sent from southern Lebanon to Beirut via a microwave dish.[37]
Who Watches?
While there are no formal statistics regarding viewership in the Middle East, it is clear that al-Manar's share has grown dramatically since its founding. The initial broadcast signal, using primitive equipment that cost as little as "a few million dollars," barely extended to Beirut's southern suburbs.[38] At first, the station only broadcast five hours a day. In 1993, al-Manar began to broadcast seven hours daily and extended its signal to the southern part of the Bekaa valley.
In preparation for the 1996 parliamentary elections, Hizbullah erected additional antennas in northern Lebanon and throughout the Mount Lebanon range. By the elections, al-Manar could be viewed throughout Lebanon, western Syria, and northern Israel. Broadcasting was increased to 12 hours daily in 1998 and to 18 hours in 2000. In early 2001, al-Manar went to 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week broadcasting. Lebanese television officials assert that al-Manar now ranks third in popularity within Lebanon (but number one when events heat up in southern Lebanon or the Palestinian territories).[39]
Al-Manar began to reach an entirely new audience when it followed the precedent of several other Lebanese television stations and began to broadcast via satellite. Al-Manar publicly announced its intention to launch a satellite station in March 2000. Muhammad Ra‘d, a Hizbullah member of parliament and al-Manar's largest shareholder, officially submitted Hizbullah's request to the Lebanese government, [40] which swiftly approved it.[41]
Initially, the management of Arabsat, the satellite package company, was apprehensive about granting al-Manar a slot in its satellite package, fearing that the station might promote a Shi‘ite sectarian agenda. Al-Manar explained that it had no interest in promoting such an agenda; as one of its programming directors explained, the station was "not thinking in terms of being a spokesman for the Shi‘ite sect."[42] In fact, al-Manar is now vying for a much broader target audience: the (overwhelmingly Sunni) Arab-Muslim world. For this reason, al-Manar's terrestrial and satellite programming is not identical; sectarian programming of Shi‘ite interest is broadcast terrestrially for local viewers in Lebanon, whereas more ecumenical content is broadcast on the satellite network.
While the satellite debut was originally set for July 2000, Hizbullah decided to move up the date to coincide with the Israeli redeployment from southern Lebanon, which was completed on May 24, 2000.[43] The timing was not lost on al-Manar's viewers and Middle East analysts: al-Manar's satellite station came to epitomize freedom from Israeli occupation.
Al-Manar officials now believe that the station ranks among the top five most-watched stations throughout the Arab world and estimate that the station draws approximately 10 million viewers daily around the world.[44] None of these figures can be verified, but anecdotal evidence suggests that al-Manar is indeed one of the most popular stations in the Arab world. In tribute to this success, al-Manar won two gold and two silver awards in July 2001 at the eighth Cairo Television and Radio Festival.[45]
Al-Manar's second target audience is Palestinians and Israelis. Palestinians have ready access to al-Manar, and both Israeli and Lebanese sources report that al-Manar and al-Jazeera are the two most popular stations in the West Bank and Gaza.[46]
To reach most Israelis, al-Manar has had to bridge the language gap. In 1996, al-Manar began broadcasting Hebrew propaganda video packages addressed to the Israeli public, warning Israel of the dangers of remaining in Lebanon.[47] Al-Manar reportedly "employs Palestinians, who speak Hebrew and who were brought up in the occupied territories, but who left them or were expelled by Israel, to prepare and present Hebrew programs."[48] These same Palestinians are said to "have been managing the monitoring unit of Hizbullah, which listens to the Zionist occupation army's communications."[49] Other media sources report that many of al-Manar's Hebrew speakers are veteran Hizbullah operatives who served time in Israeli or Southern Lebanese Army jails where they picked up the language.[50]
By featuring "live video coverage of every operation carried out," al-Manar hoped Israelis would watch the death of its soldiers in real-time coverage.[51] Hizbullah officials stated that al-Manar "seeks to undermine the morale of the Israel Defense Forces [IDF]" and claimed that its own media coverage caused IDF soldiers to desert their posts.[52] Hizbullah also claimed that al-Manar programming led to an increase in the number of suicide attempts and drug abuse by Israeli soldiers.[53] Hizbullah's leaders maintain that al-Manar's programming, especially Hebrew videos, played a "very sensitive and important role" in causing Israel to eventually withdraw from Lebanon.[54]
In fact, the direct impact of al-Manar on Israelis has been more limited than these claims suggest. Al-Manar reaches a very small number of Israelis directly on a regular basis. Most Israelis subscribe either to Kavei Zahav (the Israeli equivalent of cable) or the satellite provider Yes, neither of which carries al-Manar. The only Jewish Israelis who have direct access to al-Manar are those who subscribe to Arabsat and those residents of northern Israel who live close enough to the Lebanese border to receive al-Manar directly via antenna.[55]
However, Israel's political and military analysts do watch al-Manar, and they in turn show footage and influence the Israeli public at large. Al-Manar knows that these analysts "watch our programming and comment on it, publish it in their papers, and show the coverage on their channels."[56]
Al-Manar officials have stated repeatedly over the last five years—especially after launching the satellite station—that the channel will begin broadcasting news and other programming in Hebrew. Hebrew news bulletins were slated to begin January 2001 but to date have been delayed for unspecified reasons.[57]
The Message
From 1991 to 2000, al-Manar's programming principally focused on events inside Lebanon, and especially the Islamic "resistance" to the Israeli occupation of the south. The station highlighted inspirational speeches and sermons by religious figures and clerics associated with Hizbullah. Al-Manar regularly aired stories filed by its correspondents in southern Lebanon and docudramas and programs dedicated to guerrillas "martyred" while fighting against Israel. Between programs, the station aired music videos devoted to the "resistance."
After the Israeli withdrawal from the south in May 2000, the station entered a self-congratulatory mode. It hailed Hizbullah's successful military campaign and harped at Israel's military weakness. But the Israeli withdrawal left a vacuum in the programming.
That vacuum was filled by the outbreak of the second intifada on September 29, 2000. In Krayem's words, "al-Manar Television has changed from a station of Islamic resistance to a television station of the Palestinian intifada."[58] Al-Manar had found a new cause, and thanks to the station's new satellite presence, it could take its message to a much wider audience. Al-Manar is devoted not only to the Palestinian cause but also to Palestinian "resistance" against Israel by violent means, especially by Islamist groups that openly seek the elimination of the Jewish state.
Hizbullah's secretary-general, Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, highlighted the station's support of the Palestinian cause in a November 2000 interview:
Through al-Manar, we are offering moral and communication support dedicated entirely to the Palestinian issue. Hizbullah understands how important television is to the resistance in Lebanon as it is for the intifada, and so there are broadcasts in al-Manar from the morning till midnight, all of them on the Palestinian issue."[59]
When asked what operational assistance Hizbullah provides the Palestinians, officials generally demur or answer that it takes the form of al-Manar broadcasts. For example, the deputy secretary-general of Hizbullah, Sheikh Na‘im Qasim, has declined to discuss actual military or monetary aid provided to the Palestinians, instead emphasizing that Hizbullah provides "national support to the Palestinians through al-Manar television."[60]
Beyond the news coverage, al-Manar frequently interviews leaders of Palestinian rejectionist organizations such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Al-Manar has regularly interviewed Ramadan Shallah (leader of the PIJ), Marwan Barghuti (Tanzim leader, now in Israeli prison), and Khalid Mish‘al, Musa Abu Marzouk, and ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ar-Rantisi (all leaders of Hamas). In contrast, interviews with Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are rare.
Al-Manar has not broadcast programs that actually instruct viewers on how to assemble explosives. Nevertheless, al-Manar officials maintain that one of its aims is to promote what is "called in the West suicide missions," believing its job is to "inspire them." [61] Krayem states, "We do not create these acts but we do support any resistance acts through our media. We cover and promote any act of resistance on our programming."[62]
Al-Manar has also served as the preferred outlet for Palestinian rejectionist groups claiming responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israelis. Many of the claims of responsibly are received via telephone or fax; at other times, al-Manar cites the spokesmen of these organizations in providing details of various attacks. Krayem admits to having close contact with "all Palestinian groups" through e-mails, telephone calls, and faxes. Palestinians "do whatever is necessary to send us material."[63]
Groups that have taken responsibility for attacks against Israelis on al-Manar include: the Forces of ‘Umar al-Mukhtar (a code name for the military wing of Fatah's Abu Musa faction), the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (affiliated with Fatah), the Jerusalem Brigades (affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad), the Forces of Badr (a cover name for a group closely connected to Hizbullah), the Brigades of Return (a code name for Hamas), the Brigades of Black Oslo, ‘Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas), and the Salah ad-Din Brigades.
Al-Manar itself has been involved in or possessed inside information regarding a host of Palestinian activities. A prominent example is a news bulletin from January 28, 2001, in which al-Manar reported that boxes of ammunition, including grenade launchers, were "floated" to Gaza from ships offshore and picked up by the Palestinian security services. This item was not reported by any other television station for a number of days, and when it was, PA officials vociferously denied it. But the fact that this incident actually took place was reported widely many weeks subsequent to the al-Manar report. The episode clearly demonstrated al-Manar's superior access to Palestinian officials.
Al-Manar has presented itself as a "war room" for Palestinian terror—a platform for reporting events, claiming responsibility for attacks, and discussing terror strategy. A number of al-Manar's own reporters are also involved with Palestinian groups. For example, ‘Imad I'id, al-Manar's permanent correspondent in Gaza, has close ties to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and used to write for its newspaper. Dib Hawrani, al-Manar's reporter in Jenin, is very close to sources in Fatah. ‘Issa Zawahara, who reports from the Palestinian territories, has been linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and, according to The Washington Post, has served terms in Israeli and Palestinian jails.[64] Fu'ad Hasin, al-Manar's correspondent in Amman, Jordan, identifies himself as an Islamist and is an activist in the Jordanian "committee against normalization with Israel."
Al-Manar's support for the Palestinians is not just a matter of slanted reporting. The advocacy spills over into every detail of programming. For example, programming times have been listed according to "Jerusalem Standard Time" instead of (identical) Beirut time. In December 2001, when Israel destroyed the buildings of Palestinian television, al-Manar broadcast the Palestinian television logo instead of its own for two days. Al-Manar officials stated that this step was taken within the framework of "solidarity with an Arab media organ."[65]
But the most blatant propagandizing takes place between programs in music videos that serve as filler. These video packages constitute up to 30 percent of al-Manar's satellite programming. According to officials in the art graphics department, the videos are meant to "help people on the way to committing what you in the West call a suicide mission. It is meant to be the first step on the process of a freedom fighter operation."[66]
These videos are powerful montages of incitement, combing graphic imagery and inspiring music. Al-Manar's variation on the genre features combined footage of Hizbullah attacks on Israeli military installations and Palestinian clashes with Israeli soldiers. The message: force worked for Hizbullah in expelling Israel from Lebanon, and it will work for the Palestinians, who must "Lebanonize" as well as Islamize their struggle. The effect of such programming should not be underestimated. For example, it was widely reported in April 2002 that Ayat al-Akhras, a Palestinian female suicide bomber, watched al-Manar incessantly before she committed her attack.[67]
Brent Sadler, CNN's former Beirut bureau chief, has described the impact of the news and video clips of al-Manar. They are a "drumbeat of carefully selected, dramatically composed, one-sided visual accounts of West Bank and Gaza violence beamed across Lebanon and, via satellite, to a vast regional audience, transmissions which incite the Arab world to mobilize popular support for the Palestinian cause."[68]
9/11 and Iraq
Al-Manar's coverage of the events of September 11, 2001, launched the station into a new role, as a purveyor of "resistance" against the U.S.-led war on terror. It began by manufacturing and spreading the most widespread of all calumnies about September 11.
In the Arab world, many accept it as fact that "Jews, Israel, and the Mossad" perpetrated the attacks and secretly warned Jews to avoid the World Trade Center. It was al-Manar that made the first claim of Israeli and Jewish involvement in the attacks in a report broadcast on September 17, 2001.[69] The Washington Post confirms that "the story of 4,000 Jewish survivors originated with a September 17 report by the Beirut-based al-Manar television network." The Washington Post quoted an al-Manar official saying that, "If we did not believe it, then we would not have published it."[70]
Al-Manar's report cited an obscure Jordanian newspaper al-Watan as alleging, "4,000 Israelis remained absent [on Sept. 11] based on hints from the Israeli General Security Apparatus, the Shabak."[71] In fact, no one has been able to trace such a statement in al-Watan.[72] In a December 2001 interview, Nasrallah was quoted stating that al-Manar "didn't make that story up...It just limited itself to reproducing what was being said, even if we're not totally sure that the theory is true. The point is, you have to look at all the hypotheses, because you can't rule out any option just yet and neither can you clearly point to one movement as being responsible for what happened."[73]
With the start of hostilities in Iraq, al-Manar found a new theme: "resistance" to the United States. The station was again following the lead of Hizbullah, as expressed by Nasrallah a week before the war: "The people of this region will receive you with their rifles, with blood, with martyrdom, and martyrdom operations. Today, as the region fills up with hundreds of thousands of American troops, our slogan was and will remain ‘death to America.'"[74]
Since then, talk shows and music videos have directed the message of hate against American leaders and its military campaign. In many ways, the language and images are indistinguishable from al-Manar's propaganda against Israel, or even from al-Qa‘ida's propaganda videos calling for the expulsion of the United States from the Muslim world.
One of the videos shows dead Iraqi civilians and children, juxtaposed with fighter-bombers taking off from American aircraft carriers and cruise missiles exploding in Baghdad. This is followed by a speech given by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in which he announced: "Weapons that are being used today have a degree of precision that no one ever dreamed of." The video package ends with cross hairs on a wounded child and a slogan reading: "truly considerable precision."[75] Another video package features a Bush speech in which the president says, "When the war in Iraq is won, all who have joined this cause will be able to say to the Iraqi people, we were proud to fight for your freedom." This is followed by grotesque images of death and destruction, and the segment ends with this conclusion: "This is freedom the American way."[76]
The conclusion drawn by al-Manar is that Iraqis must resist. A station broadcaster asserts,
As the aggression continues, the brave resistance will continue. The brave Iraqi people know that if they give up, they won't only be giving up Iraq, but also giving up Palestine; if the aggression continues, the brave resistance will continue. The aggression, experts agree, symbolizes the highest level of American-Zionist strategic cooperation. This is what the Zionists prove by claiming that they are the first and only beneficiaries of a war on Iraq.[77]
In an explicit call for acts of "resistance" against U.S. forces in Iraq, one video lambastes U.S. troops in Iraq with the lyrics: "With our steadfastness we threaten [America]. Throughout all time we chant: America is the mother of terrorism. Let the mother of terrorism fall. America is the army of evil: an invading, aggressive, occupying army. There is nothing left but the rifles. There is nothing left but the martyrs."[78] The video ends with footage of a suicide bomber detonating his explosive belt.
Global Reach
Al-Manar is a television station with global reach for a political movement and terrorist organization with global reach. The "station of resistance" has lately taken to labeling itself "the station of the Arabs and the Muslims" (qanat al-‘Arab wa'l-Muslimin), a sign of its growing ambition. Krayem maintains that the station aspires to give Arabs and Muslims a feeling that they "belong to something greater than themselves; something that is pan-human, pan-Muslim, and pan-Arab."[79]
Not only does it seek to achieve this for all Arabs and Muslims. It seeks to achieve this for the Shi‘ites themselves. Shi‘ites were marginal to the grand narrative of Arab awakening and nationalism for most of the twentieth century. Al-Manar is part of the attempt of Shi‘ites to enter the narrative and to redefine it. Al-Manar's preoccupation with the Palestinian cause is an act of appropriation: it is an attempt to make the preeminent Arab and Muslim cause identical with the cause of Hizbullah.
Hizbullah seeks to erase the lingering stigma that has attached to Shi‘ites and that still thrives among extreme Islamists in the school of al-Qa‘ida and nationalists who are nostalgic for Saddam Hussein—all of whom are just as vociferous as Hizbullah in their rejection of Israel. The subliminal message of al-Manar is that only Hizbullah has ever dealt the Israelis a defeat, and that Hizbullah yields to no one in its ongoing support of the Palestinian struggle. Al-Manar, as much as it is a project of solidarity with the Palestinians, is a project of Shi‘ite self-legitimation.
To make Hizbullah's claims credible, al-Manar must out-jihad all other Islamists. This has turned the station into a platform for urging, inspiring, justifying, and celebrating terrorism first against Israel and more recently against the "occupation" of another Arab, Muslim, and Shi‘ite land: Iraq. This could well place it on a collision course with the United States.
It would be a mistake to wait until that happens. This is a unique instance of a major mass media tool in the hands of a terrorist organization. The damaging effects of a station that emits powerful propaganda for violence, suicide bombing, and the killing of innocent civilians, pose a direct threat to U.S. interests and regional stability.
It is essential that the United States make al-Manar's operations far more difficult and costly, and it has several tools for doing so.
The Treasury Department should add al-Manar to the terrorism sanctions list.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control should designate Hizbullah's four Lebanese banks—and other banks with which Hizbullah does business—as institutions harboring accounts of terrorist organizations. Correspondent banks could then seize their U.S.-based assets.
The Foreign Terrorist Asset Tracking Center (FTATC), the inter-governmental task force responsible for monitoring terrorist financing, should begin monitoring al-Manar's advertised bank accounts.
Congress should pass legislation banning American companies from advertising on any of Hizbullah's mass media outlets, and prohibiting U.S. media sources from purchasing footage or programming from al-Manar.[80]
The United States should persuade states hosting al-Manar bureaus to close them. Additionally, Washington should work to persuade the governments of states that host al-Manar correspondents to ban them from reporting. House cleaning, however, should begin at home: the United States should close down al-Manar's Washington bureau and consider taking legal action against the bureau chief—identified as Muhammad Dalbah— as an American citizen who, in the words of U.S. law, "knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization."[81]
The United States should encourage American and European satellite package providers to remove al-Manar from their packages.
The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq should deport al-Manar's Iraq correspondents.
Al-Manar is not a legitimate news organization or the rough equivalent of al-Jazeera. It is the propaganda arm of a listed terrorist organization, complicit in the full range of Hizbullah's activities. Treating it as such is an important first step in rolling back the gains made by Hizbullah during years of U.S. neglect.
Avi Jorisch is a Soref Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. This article draws upon his forthcoming monograph, Beacon of Hatred: Inside al-Manar Hizbullah Television (The Washington Institute).
[1] At http://web.manartv.org/html/about.html.[2] Author interview, Bilal Zarur, Beirut, June 27, 2002 (henceforth: Zarur interview).[3] Ibid.[4] Author interview, Nayef Krayem, Beirut, June 27, 2002 (henceforth: Krayem interview). Al-Manar's board of directors, chaired by Krayem, has nine members and forty shareholders, most of whom are members of Hizbullah.[5] Ibid.[6] The Washington Post, June 19, 1995.[7] Agence France-Presse, Jan. 23, 1996.[8] Krayem interview; Associated Press, Sept. 17, 1996.[9] Krayem interview.[10] Associated Press, Sept. 4, 2002.[11] Ibid., Oct. 28, 2002.[12] As-Safir (Beirut), Dec. 29, 1994.[13] Krayem interview.[14] The Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 28, 2001.[15] Krayem interview.[16] Robert Fisk "suspects that Iran provides much of the cash" for al-Manar. The Independent (London), Dec. 2, 2000.[17] Krayem interview.[18] Ar-Ra'y (Amman), May 31, 2000.[19] Radwan al- Hamrouni and Adel al-Sahbani, "War Media and Resistance Media: Al Manar Television as Case Study," master's thesis, Institute of the Press and News Sciences, Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education, 2001-2002.[20] Ar-Ra'y, May 31, 2000.[21] The Calgary Herald (Ont.), Sept. 11, 1999.[22] Hamrouni and Sahbani, "War Media and Resistance Media."[23] An-Nahar (Beirut), Sept. 2, 1992.[24] Agence France-Presse, Feb. 5, 1995.[25] Krayem interview; Agence France-Presse, Feb. 5, 1995, Apr. 17, 1996.[26] Al-Manar television (Beirut) footage from terrestrial station, Oct. 2002.[27] Avi Jorisch, "Hezbollah Hate with a U.S. Link," Los Angeles Times, Oct. 13, 2002.[28] Krayem interview.[29] Agence France-Presse, Feb. 5, 1995.[30] The Independent, Dec. 2, 2000.[31] Zarur interview[32] As-Safir, Mar. 3, 1997.[33] Magda Abu-Fadil, "Hezbollah TV Claims Credit for Ousting Israelis," IPI (International Press Institute) Report, no. 4, 2000, at http://www.freemedia.at/IPIReport4.00/ipirep4.00_3.htm.[34] Author interview, Ibrahim al-Musawi, Beirut, June 27, 2002.[35] Krayem interview.[36] Magda Abu-Fadil, "Al-Manar TV: No Love for U.S. but No Help from Taliban," Poynter.org, Oct. 23, 2001, at http://www.poynter.org/Terrorism/magda2.htm.[37] Chicago Tribune, Apr. 13, 2000.[38] An-Nahar, Sept. 2, 1992.[39] Krayem interview; Los Angeles Times, May 11, 2000.[40] Al-Hayat (London), Mar. 9, 2000.[41] As-Safir, Apr. 6, 2000.[42] Ar-Ra'y, May 31, 2000.[43] Ibid.; Krayem interview.[44] Krayem interview.[45] Lebanonwire, July 12, 2002, at http://www.lebanonwire.com/0207/02071201DS.asp.[46] The Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 28, 2001.[47] Ibid.[48] Al-Istiqlal (Gaza), Nov. 18, 1999. (This newspaper is affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.)[49] Ibid.[50] The Independent, Dec. 2, 2000.[51] Al-Manar, Sept. 11, 1998; The Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 28, 2001.[52] Al-Istiqlal, Nov. 18, 1999.[53] Ibid.[54] Ibid.[55] Many Israeli Arabs and Palestinians residing in the West Bank and Gaza own satellite dishes that carry Arabsat.[56] Krayem interview.[57] Ibid.; The Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 28, 2001.[58] Daily Star (Beirut), Jan. 3, 2001.[59] Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, Syrian television, Nov. 17, 2000.[60] Future Television (Lebanon), Dec. 31, 2000.[61] Author's interview with a member of al-Manar art graphic department, Beirut, June 27, 2002.[62] Krayem interview.[63] Ibid.[64] The Washington Post, Dec. 4, 2001.[65] Ash-Sharq al-Awsat (London), Dec. 14, 2001.[66] Author's interview with a member of al-Manar art graphic department, Beirut, June 27, 2002.[67] Newsweek, Apr. 15, 2002.[68] Frank Sesno and Brent Sadler, "Crisis in the Middle East: Al-Manar Airs Hezbollah's High-Tech Propaganda Campaign," CNN Newsday, Oct. 26, 2000.[69] At http://www.moqawama.tv/archive/drep_2001/sep/dr_0918.htm.[70] The Washington Post, Oct. 13, 2001.[71] Jews and Israelis are used interchangeably. After this initial report, al-Manar began referring to Jews directly.[72] Bryan Curtis, "4,000 Jews, 1 Lie—Tracking an Internet Hoax," Slate.com, Oct. 5, 2001, at http://slate.msn.com/?id=116813.[73] El Mundo (Madrid), Dec. 18, 2001.[74] Al-Manar video, Mar.-Apr. 2003.[75] Ibid.[76] Ibid.[77] Al-Manar, Mar. 24, 2003.[78] Al-Manar video, Mar.-Apr. 2003.[79] Krayem interview.[80] Twenty-two members of the U.S. Congress have urged the U.S. government to prohibit U.S. companies from advertising on al-Manar; Henry Waxman letter, Dec. 10, 2002, at http://www.house.gov/waxman/news_files/pdfs/news_letters_al_manar_12_10_02.pdf.[81] United States Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113B, Sec. 2339B.
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