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Glossary
of occupation
by
Paul de Rooij
Language is a powerful yet deceptive thing. It can be used to convey someone’s
plight and it can also be used to hide unpalatable sordid deeds. Nowhere
are words adulterated more for political ends than in Israel and Palestine
today. It is no secret that Israel employs a legion of well-funded propagandists,
and it also relies on self-appointed members of the press – the
pro bono apologists, who serve the same purpose. Just like the lopsided
imbalance of military power, the means to command and change language
rests primarily with pro-Israeli propagandists. Their language obfuscates
and exculpates Israel’s actions against a basically defenseless
population; it perpetuates the injustices and contributes to a continuation
of Israel’s occupation and theft of more land.
To
make sense of the situation and to peer through the fog, a fraction of
the post-Oslo commonly abused terms are translated in this glossary. However,
there is a limitation to this glossary; it discusses abused terms generally
used in the Israeli-centric discourse. Now, Israelis don’t want
to talk about what they are doing to the Palestinians, and therefore there
is a tendency for there to be NO words to describe what they do. Israelis
have no interest to describe, let alone coin terms for the Palestinian
condition. Similarly, the media discourse has no words to describe the
Palestinian condition because it has adopted an Israel-centric point of
reference. For this reason, defining terms in a glossary is not satisfactory;
it only looks at the glaring problems, the instances where there is a
descriptive word.
[ Abused terms Translation
]
Administrative
detention
Imprisonment
without charges, trial, sometimes without legal
representation, for undefined terms. Imprisonment usually takes place
in prisons and even in a concentration camp in the Negev desert.
Bilateral
negotiations
Confiscation of land.
Israel confiscates/steals land, and to legalize
its claims it engages in “bilateral negotiations.” There have
been no bilateral negotiations about Palestinian claims pertaining to
land inside the Green line.
Bypass road network
Exclusive
Israeli-only roads carving up the West Bank and
Gaza -- the concrete manifestation of the policy to divide and rule. All
Palestinian property within an arbitrary range of the road is bulldozed,
all trees uprooted. Bypass refers to the fact that the roads avoid Palestinian
towns.
Caught in crossfire
Deliberate
Killing
Check points
Choke
points strangulating Palestinian economic activity
by closing roads and not letting any Palestinians pass without lengthy
and often unnecessary humiliating personal searches.
Clashes
An unequal contest.
Clashes suggest that two equal forces are slugging
it out, but the Israelis happen to have one of the most powerful armies
in the world.
Closed
military area
A demarcation
for the press and observers to stay out so that
they won’t witness the depredations of the occupation forces.
Closure
Siege
and curfew.
Curfew is implemented for weeks on end thereby creating an end to normal
life for all innocent civilians.
Cycle of violence
Disproportionate violence
“It suggests, at best, two equal sides,
never that the Palestinians are resisting violent oppression with violence.”
--John Pilger, New Statesman, July 1, 02.
“Yes, there is a cycle and the violence is disproportionate, but
what is missing is the context. Why is there violence at all? The standard
refrain, when it is rarely mentioned, is there is “hatred”
on both sides. But since Israelis are like us (fun loving and child hugging)
and we don't think of ourselves as hate-filled, then it must be the other
side, the Arabs, who are hateful. Add the history of persecution of Jews
into the mix, and what you have is a cycle of violence based on Arab hatred
of the Jews. Presto, we arrive at the Israeli propaganda line.”
--Nabeel Abraham.
Democracy
Chauvinist ethnocracy.
During the apartheid years in South Africa Whites
also claimed to have a democracy and were rightly ridiculed for this posturing.
Israel isn’t much different, and its political system cannot be
praised or labelled “democracy” due to its systematic oppression
of others.
Democracy is inclusive; the Israeli political system excludes a large
portion of the population. Israel makes a distinction between citizenship
and nationality. Thus Palestinians living in Israel have an Israeli citizenship,
and an “Arab” nationality. Democracy applies to the Jewish
nationals, not to the citizens of the state. There are Arab members of
the Knesset, but their rights are curtailed in the Jewish state. Palestinians
in the occupied territories have zero democratic rights although they
are forced to pay some taxes to Israel – a case of taxation without
representation.
Demographic
factors
“Israeli
newspeak for keeping the Arabs from outnumbering Israeli Jews.”
--Nabeel Abraham
Deportation
Expulsion or exile.
The dictionary definition of deportation: banishment
of an undesirable person to their native land. Given that Palestinians
are natives, thus legal residents, their expulsion is an imposed exile.
Furthermore, the term deportation implies that the Israelis are just pursuing
legal procedures. The dubious nature of the appeals process and the simultaneous
demolition of the victims’ homes contravene the Geneva Convention.
Disproportionate response
Israeli violence appearing in the press.
Harshest admonishment uttered by the US gov’t
in response to Israeli bombings or assassinations. By implication a “proportionate”
response – killing less people – is acceptable. The complicating
factor of the usual Israeli actions is the press coverage. However, “proportional”
responses are ignored.
Disputed territories
Occupied territories.
Curiously enough this term was coined by the
US gov’t under Clinton. Language reflects policy preference and
the nature of the US “mediators”. (see honest broker)
Facts on the ground
Settlements.
At best they are considered bargaining chips,
at worst they are considered immutable.
Final status negotiation
Chimera.
The Oslo framework stipulated negotiations dealing
with matters of substance and most important to solve the conflict. Note
these negotiations are always in the future. Current negotiations deal
mostly with issues of interest to Israel, e.g., security, confiscation
of more land.
Generous offer
Demand for surrender.
Anything that the Israelis offer is generous,
and should be accepted. The Camp David II “generous offer”
amounted to an offer of a fraction of the West Bank and Gaza, no control
over borders, limited removal of settlements, and no sovereignty, yet
this was supposed to be generous.
In good faith negotiations the parties have a right to refuse an offer
without admonishment.
Green Zones
Palestinians out.
“Zoned areas in the Israeli-occupied Arab
residential areas of the territories which are protected allegedly for
environmental reasons. A legal sleight of hand to prevent Arab development.”
--Nabeel Abraham
Hamas
Catch all opposition group.
An Islamic opposition group fostered by the Israeli
secret services during the first intifada. Its purpose was to undermine
the support for the PLO. Since then it has become an effective opposition
force opposed to Arafat’s sell out.
Anyone voicing criticism of the “peace process” is automatically
classed as a Hamas supporter. Several leading intellectuals who objected
to Arafat’s shoddy approach to negotiations earned themselves a
Hamas label by both Israelis and the Palestinian “authority”.
Held in detention
Hostages.
Practice that became common during the first
intifada whereby Israeli occupation forces imprison family members of
wanted persons.
Several Lebanese hostages have languished in prison without charge, trial,
and with no prospect for release. Shaykh Ubayd has been held for more
than 13 years. They are held even though the Israeli occupation of Southern
Lebanon has come to a partial end.
Honest
broker
The United States.
The country supplying Israel with most of its
weapons and giving no-strings-attached economic handouts – several
billion dollars every year not counting forgiven loans.
Incursion
Attack.
“The latest euphemism, ‘incursion’,
is from the vocabulary of lies coined in Vietnam. It means assaulting
human beings with tanks and planes.” John Pilger, New Statesman,
July 1, 02.
Instilling hatred
Palestinian News, Education.
Describing the consequences of occupation to
its own population. The term “instilling hatred” is used to
describe any Palestinian news or information, and forms the justification
to bomb Palestinian TV and radio stations, and even target individuals
linked to some schools. Also a justification to remove accreditation of
all Palestinian journalists.
Israelis find it galling to be called assassins, thieves, and occupiers.
Palestinians are not allowed to convey their experience to others. Palestinian
existence is criminalized, and so is their voice.
Israeli Defense Forces,
IDF Occupation Forces.
I “D” F confers some legitimacy,
but it is a misplaced respect for a fully equipped army of occupation.
Israeli-side …
the
“Israeli side” – today’s euphemism for the occupation
forces.
Azmi Bishara, July 25, 2002, Al Ahram
A curious adoption of a euphemism by both Israelis and the Palestinian
“authority”.
Leverage
Offers you can’t refuse.
“In essence, Israel holds most of the ‘cards’
and its willingness to use the population as hostages, coercing the Palestinian
leadership to accede to ever more onerous demands.” Dr. Majed Nassar
Israeli desire to determine the outcome of negotiations on the basis of
balance of power instead of a balance of justice.
Man of Peace
War Criminal.
Militants
Resistance.
Western media cannot portray the Palestinian
resistance as military because this label obviously doesn’t apply.
Instead they use “militants” also conveying the impression
of armed gangs, and therefore easier to justify Israeli assassinations.
Moderate
physical pressure
Torture.
Israel is the only country in the world where
torture is legal and used routinely.
Natural
growth
Subsidized settlement expansion.
Justification to continue expanding settlements.
Every time demands are made for Israel to stop building settlements on
occupied land, its retort is that expansion of existing settlements must
continue to accommodate “natural growth”, i.e., the subsidized
stream of immigrant colonialists.
Many of the settlements have a large percentage of empty housing, bringing
into question the need for further expansion.
Neighbor
practice
Human
shields
“The use of a local resident as a ‘human shield’ is
a war crime. That was confirmed, on live television, by a senior reserve
officer, the former president of the highest military court.
The Fourth Geneva Convention expressly forbids the use of ‘protected
persons’ (as the convention calls inhabitants of an occupied territory)
for such purpose. This practice, like the practice of compelling Palestinian
neighbors to tour buildings suspected of being booby-trapped, is similar
to the killing of hostages in retaliation for resistance actions…
It was disclosed that this is a widely-used method, which has even been
given a regular military appellation: ‘neighbor practice’.
Not long ago the army promised the Supreme Court to give up the practice
[but] had no intention at all of fulfilling the promise.”
--Ury Avnery, Palestine Chronicle, Aug. 19, 02
Neighborhood
Settlement.
Israelis and their apologists insist that Gilo is just another neighborhood
of Jerusalem. The fact is that it is built on illegally confiscated occupied
land – thus a settlement.
No
building permit
Order
for destruction.
An excuse to demolish Palestinian homes. Israeli buildings built without
a permit are issued with one retroactively and are spared. No Israeli-owned
home has ever been demolished for lacking a permit. Palestinians cannot
in general obtain building permits.
Operation
X
Another
attack.
Military operations are given names to make them more palatable –
it is a military marketing gimmick. Any journalist referring to an attack
on refugee camps by the operation’s name is in the very least not
trying to be objective.
… the Israeli pilot who bombed an apartment block in Gaza, killing
nine small children as well as well as his Hamas target, an “operation”
– that was the description, for God's sake – which Ariel Sharon
described as “a great success”.
--Robert Fisk: “Bush fights for another clean shot in his war”,
The Independent, Nov. 8, 2002
Peace
process.
Note
that Ariel Sharon’s pronunciation of this is closer to “piss
process.” He seldom refers to “peace” as an outcome.
He is always in favor of the peace process, but not peace.
Ruse
to placate world opinion.
A perpetual process not intended to reach any conclusion. A means for
Israelis to gain time and consolidate their hold on the occupied territories
by expanding the settlements. From their viewpoint, the longer the negotiations
leading to endless haggle the better.
Occasionally, if negotiations are advancing, they may need a timely disruption,
e.g., hold an election and it is time to start the negotiations all over
again!
Pending investigation
Case
closed.
Of 25 Israeli army investigations in the past 22 months, six were closed
without a result; others have yet to be completed. “The army hardly
ever opens investigations into cases of unlawful killing,” says
Lior Yavne, Btselem’s spokesman. “The army is basically conducting
a policy of impunity. Soldiers realize they can do anything they want
and they will not face problems.”
--Marie Colvin, “Cruel death of a West Bank local hero”, Sunday
Times, July 21, 02
Period
of calm
Israelis
aren’t at the receiving end, never mind the Palestinians.
“…there is a widespread tendency in the US media to simply
ignore or severely underplay violence when its victims are Palestinians,
while focusing intensely on incidents when the victims are Israeli.”
-- Michael Brown and Ali Abunimah, “Killings Of Dozens Once Again
Called Period Of Calm By US Media”, Electronic Intifada, Sept. 20,
2002
Phased
withdrawal
Grudging
Israeli pullout of occupying forces over the
area it chooses, on a timescale it determines, and only after it obtains
guarantees that the local population will be policed to its satisfaction.
No settlements are ever dismantled, only areas where the cost of occupation
has become too high.
Proof
of residency
ID
confiscation.
Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are often asked to show their ID papers
to prove their residency rights. Often police confiscate the identity
papers, and thereby these people lose their right of residency. It often
leads to the families in question being split up and losing their homes.
The victims of this bureaucratic “transfer” policy number
in the thousands.
ID papers are generally not reissued – the victims cannot prove
their residency because the papers were confiscated. Photocopies of ID
papers aren’t considered valid proof to reissue documents.
Reform
process
Satrap
selection.
Political transformation that delivers the collaborators with Israelis
and Americans. Any politician signing up to this must accept to oppress
their own population to comply with Israeli/US demands. Arafat had signed
on, but couldn’t deliver.
Refuseniks
Semi-refuseniks.
Israeli soldier refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. However,
they remain in the army to receive the discriminatory benefits given to
“those serving in the army.” A code term for Jewish Israelis.
Imagine during the Vietnam War if an American soldier stated that he would
not go to Vietnam, but would accept remaining in the army so that he would
be eligible for all sorts of benefits – this is called hypocrisy.
There is a key question for the semis. If tomorrow a group of Palestinians
of Israeli nationality were to seek to reclaim their native villages in
Israel, then where will they stand? Marching for the rights of the dispossessed
or crush their bones?
Removing
cover
Pretext
to flatten homes, clear agricultural fields,
trees, and so on. Making a lunar landscape out of the West Bank and Gaza.
Restraint
Kinder/Gentler
Aggression
“If this is the latest Israeli military spin, the reality for Palestinians
is that even ‘restraint’ by the Israeli army is enough to
make their lives miserable. The army may no longer be destroying vast
chunks of Palestinian cities, but it continues to terrify Palestinian
civilians by indiscriminate shooting.
…The army still sends tanks and troops into Palestinian towns for
forays of several days, as it did in Jenin last week, or for a single
night as it did twice in the northern part of the Gaza strip. Curfews
are slapped on or lifted without notice, making life for all Palestinians
unpredictable and humiliating.”
-- Jonathan Steele, The Guardian, August 9, 02.
Retaliation,
or Israelis never initiate violence, they always respond.
State
terror, or wholesale violence.
The actions taken as reprisals are: (1) collective punishment on targets
unrelated to the original action, and (2) totally out of proportion to
the original action. On both accounts the actions are in contravention
of the Geneva Conventions.
Several times Israel has wrecked ceasefire agreements by assassinations
or deliberate actions meant to aggravate the situation.
Right
of Return
Bringing
in your people to displace us.
“We regard it as morally wrong that this legal entitlement should
be bestowed on us while the very people who should have most right to
a genuine ‘return’, having been forced or terrorised into
fleeing, are excluded.”
--letter by British Jews renouncing their “right of return”,
The Guardian, Aug. 8, 02.
The “right of return” requires a determination to drive out
the native population – it is all in the name of creating lebensraum.
Rocks
Stones.
Palestinians throw stones at soldiers in tanks and armored vehicles –
it is a symbol of defiance and resistance.
Security
Their
security.
Demand that the occupiers not be attacked, and that the violence not spill
over into Israel proper.
Security always refers to the safety of Israelis, it never refers to Palestinian
concerns.
Settlements
The
stolen land.
Jews-only garrison villages built on violently confiscated Palestinian
land. The purpose of the settlements is to make a permanent claim to the
land, and impede the formation of a Palestinian State.
These garrison villages always appear on Israeli maps, whereas the Palestinian
villages whose land was confiscated for the same settlements disappear
from the maps.
Strongholds,
nests of terror
Refugee
camps, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians,
mostly refugees from villages conquered by Israelis.
Suspicion
Grounds
for imprisonment or assassination.
“… to say nothing of many thousands of ‘suspects’
rounded-up and still imprisoned by Israeli soldiers…”
--Edward Said, Punishment by Detail, Aug. 8, 02.
Targeted
killings
Assassination
where a military commander plays the role of
judge, jury, and executioner. It lists as a war crime under the Geneva
Conventions where the occupier has a duty towards the captive population.
“…nobody asks whether all these people killed were in fact
terrorists, or proved to be terrorists, or were about to become terrorists.”
--Edward Said, Punishment by Detail, Aug. 8, 02.
Tear
Gas
A euphemism
for poison gas. Despite the clear warnings on
the canisters that they should not be used in confined areas, this is
where much of the gas is actually thrown. The occupation forces impose
curfews and then whole neighborhoods are tear-gassed.
Medical personnel have repeatedly requested a list of the active agents
in the gases, but so far, neither the manufacturer, Federal Laboratories
of Pennsylvania, nor the Israeli authorities have replied. The only response
has been to remove from the canisters the unheeded warning and the Federal
Laboratories logo.
A new brown colored gas has also appeared on the “market”;
exposure to it induces vomiting.
“I would not hesitate to state that the spraying of CS from the
air – which is an action entirely impossible to control –
and the imposition of a curfew after its wide use, should be thought of
as a war crime.”
-- Prof. Israel Shahak, AIC, Jan. 5, 1991
Terrorism
Retail
violence, resistance.
An oppressed population has a right to resist and use violence when there
is no alternative. Its violence is labeled “terrorism”, and
judged to be illegitimate. Israeli violence is always found to have redeeming
characteristics. (see retaliation)
Town
planning
“A
euphemism for replacing Arabs by Jews, reminiscent
of some uses of ‘urban planning’ in the United States.”
Noam Chomsky in The New Intifada.
Transfer
The
obscene euphemism for ethnic cleansing (which
is itself a euphemism).
Unconfirmed reports
Accounts of Israeli forces’ depredations.
Reports are only confirmed when either Israelis say so or when “Western”
journalists report them. Palestinian accounts of events don’t count
to substantiate a report, and at best are ascribed the “alleged”
adjective.
Re:
author is an economist living in London.
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