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<span class="post_date" title="2015-09-23">September 23, 2015</span>
<h1 class="headline" itemprop="name"><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/23/subduing-al-quds-israels-high-stake-game-in-al-aqsa-and-why-netanyahu-may-prevail/"
rel="bookmark">Subduing al-Quds: Israel’s High-stake Game in
al-Aqsa and Why Netanyahu May Prevail</a></h1>
<p class="post_meta"> <span class="post_author_intro">by</span> <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/author/ramzy-baroud/"
rel="nofollow">Ramzy Baroud</a></span> </p>
<div class="post_content" itemprop="articleBody"><b><small><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/23/subduing-al-quds-israels-high-stake-game-in-al-aqsa-and-why-netanyahu-may-prevail/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/23/subduing-al-quds-israels-high-stake-game-in-al-aqsa-and-why-netanyahu-may-prevail/</a></small></small></small></small></b><br>
<p>The State of Israel was established on the ruins of Palestine,
based on a series of objectives that were initialed by letters
from the Hebrew alphabet, the consequences of which continue to
guide Israeli strategies to this day. The current violence
against Palestinian worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied
East Jerusalem is a logical extension of the same Zionist
ambition.</p>
<p>Plan A (February, 1945), Plan B (May, 1947) and Plan C
(November, 1947) all strove to achieve the same end: the ethnic
cleansing of Palestine of its original inhabitants. It was not
until March 1948 that Plan Dalet (Hebrew for Plan D) brought
together all of the preparatory stages for final implementation.</p>
<p>Championed by the Haganah Jewish militias, ‘Plan Dalet’ saw the
destruction of hundreds of villages, the depopulation of entire
cities and the defense of the new country’s borders, ensuring
Palestinian refugees are never allowed back. For Palestinians,
that phase of their history is known as the “Nakba”, or the
“Catastrophe”.</p>
<p>‘Dalet’ was an astounding success from the Zionists’ viewpoint.
However, the borders were never truly defined – in order to
allow for territorial expansion, at the opportune time. That
moment came when Israel launched its war of 1967 (known to
Palestinians as ‘Naksa’ or the ‘Setback’), seizing East
Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, thus sealing the fate of
entire historic Palestine.</p>
<p>Occupied Jerusalem was not open for negotiations: it is
Israel’s historic, eternal and undivided capital, they claimed,
citing or misinterpreting biblical references as they saw fit.
Almost immediately, the Israeli Government annexed Jerusalem by
extending the West Jerusalem municipal borders to include newly
conquered East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>It was not until 1980 when Israel passed a law that explicitly
annexed the illegally occupied city to become part of the
so-called Israel proper. Since then, Jerusalem has been a major
point of strife, political conflict and controversy.
Understandably, the Jerusalem political discourse is conflated
with discussion about religion, but it is far more encompassing
than a conflict over access to holy sites.</p>
<p>The fate of Jerusalem and its holy sites cannot be understood
separately from the fate of Palestine. And the daily struggle of
Palestinian Muslims and Christians in that City is a
representation of the struggle of Palestinians everywhere.</p>
<p>As West Jerusalem was conquered under ‘Plan Dalet’, East
Jerusalem, like the rest of the Occupied Territories was, along
with other Palestinian regions, the target of another plan: The
‘Allon Plan’.</p>
<p>It was named after Yigal Allon, a former general and minister
in the Israeli Government, who took on the task of drawing an
Israeli vision for the newly conquered Palestinian Territories.
While the Israeli Government moved to immediately change the
status quo governing East Jerusalem, the ‘Allon Plan’ sought to
annex more than 30 percent of the West Bank and all of Gaza for
‘security purposes’.</p>
<p>It stipulated the establishment of a “security corridor” along
the River Jordan, as well outside the “Green Line”, a one-sided
Israeli demarcation of its borders with the West Bank. The plan
envisioned the incorporation of all of the Gaza Strip into
Israel, and was meant to return parts of the West Bank to Jordan
as a first step toward implementing the “Jordanian option” for
Palestinian refugees, i.e., ethnic cleansing, coupled with the
creation of an ‘alternative homeland’ for Palestinians.</p>
<p>While the plan did not fully actualize, the seizure, ethnic
cleansing and annexation of occupied land was a resounding
success. Moreover, the ‘Allon Plan’ provided an unmistakable
signal that the Labor Government, which ruled Israel at the
time, had every intention of retaining large parts of the West
Bank and all of Gaza, with no intention of honoring United
Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which challenged
Israel’s military takeover of Palestinian territories.</p>
<p>To ensure seizure of new land would be irreversible, the Labor
Government needed to move some of its citizens (in violation of
the Geneva Conventions) to the newly-occupied territories. Doing
so required reaching out to the most reactionary, religious
elements of Israeli society, the religious- ultra-nationalists
camps, who were on the margins of mainstream politics.</p>
<p>To capitalize on the Government’s alluring settlement policies
in the West Bank, a group of religious Jews rented a hotel in
the Palestinian town of al-Khalil (Hebron) to spend Passover at
the ‘Cave of the Patriarchs’, and simply refused to leave,
sparking the biblical passion of religious Orthodox Israelis
across the country, who referred to the West Bank by the
Biblical name, Judea and Samaria.</p>
<p>The move ignited the ire of Palestinians, who watched in
complete dismay as their land was conquered, renamed and, later,
settled by outsiders. In 1970, to ‘diffuse’ the situation, the
Israeli Government constructed the ‘Kiryat Arba’ Settlement on
the outskirts of the Arab city, which invited even more orthodox
Jews to al-Khalil.</p>
<p>The ‘Allon Plan’ may have been intended for strategic purposes;
but out of necessity, what began as political objectives
intermingled with what became religious and spiritual.</p>
<p>Over the years, the strategic settlement growth was
complemented by the religiously motivated expansion, championed
by a vibrant movement, exemplified in the founding of “Gush
Emunim” (Bloc of the Faithful) in 1974. Its mission was to
settle legions of fundamentalists on the West Bank.</p>
<p>Little has changed since, save the fact that the current
Israeli Government is a government of settlers, who are not
engaged in a symbiotic relationship with the Government but who
dominate a political establishment that is teeming with zealots
and fanatics, relentless on changing the status quo in
Jerusalem, starting with Haram al-Sharif, or the ‘Noble
Sanctuary’.</p>
<p>Haram al-Sharif is one of the holiest Islamic sites, but this
is not just about religion. Israeli politicians have been
‘debating’ the status of Haram al-Sharif for many months, as
right-wing, religious and ultra-nationalists elements are
advocating the complete appropriation of the al-Aqsa Mosque
(situated in Haram al-Sharif), currently under the management of
the Islamic Trust (known as ‘Waqf’.)</p>
<p>Israel’s new Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Erdan, is
repressing any Palestinian in Jerusalem who dares challenge new
Israeli rules regarding Muslim access to al-Aqsa. Scores of
Palestinians have been shot, beaten and many more arrested in
recent days as they have attempted to confront Israeli police
who escort Jewish extremists on their provocative ‘tours’ of the
Muslim holy site.</p>
<p>The current conflict suggests a repeat of what took place on
February 25, 1994, when a US-born Jewish fanatic, Baruch
Goldstein, stormed into the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Palestinian
city of al-Khalil and opened fire. Over 50 Palestinians were
killed while kneeling for prayer on that day. In the name of
‘keeping the peace’, the Israeli army took over the Mosque and
began regulating Muslim access to it, allowing Jewish
worshippers to the Palestinian holy site.</p>
<p>Goldstein and his most ardent supporters hailed from the
notorious “Kiryat Arba” illegal Jewish settlement.</p>
<p>Israeli politicians now want to see the al-Aqsa Mosque status
changed as well. The Government wants to ensure its complete
dominance over Palestinians, while the extremists wanted to
demolish the Mosque, seeking ancient Jewish temples presumably
destroyed in 586 BC and AD 70.</p>
<p>But to change the status of Haram al-Sharif, which has been an
exclusive Muslim site for the last 1,300 years, much blood would
have to be spilled. That, too, is being managed by Israel’s
Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has successfully pursued
the country’s Attorney General to permit the use of sniper fire
against protesting Palestinian youth.</p>
<p>With such right-wing and extremist politicians at his side,
Netanyahu’s designs in Jerusalem are consistent with the
political mood in Israel today, and also consistent with plans
enacted by his predecessors many years ago.</p>
<p>The fact that plans to conquer even the remaining symbols of
Palestinian nationhood and spirituality have finally reached
al-Aqsa is particularly alarming. Considering the turmoil
throughout the Middle East region and the ineffectual
Palestinian leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, Netanyahu is likely to
push forward with his plan, no matter the price or the
consequences.</p>
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<p class="author_description"> <em><strong>Dr. Ramzy Baroud</strong>
has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He
is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media
consultant, an author of several books and the founder of
PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a
Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press, London).
His website is: ramzybaroud.net</em> </p>
</div>
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