Doc's Talk: The Mujaheed Sheikh - Dr. Nizar Rayyan: The Spiritual Mentor of Iz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades

Saturday, January 03, 2009

The Mujaheed Sheikh - Dr. Nizar Rayyan: The Spiritual Mentor of Iz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades

Jonathan Fighel

Senior Researcher, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzlyia

Sheikh Dr. Nizar Rayyan one of the most prominent leaders of Hamas in Gaza was killed in an air strike in the Gaza Strip, the first such attack in its six-day-old offensive. The air strike killed Nizar Rayyan along with nine other people, including his wife and three children, Hamas said. Another 25 people were wounded. Israeli security sources reported that the house was also used as an arms cache, a communications headquarters and concealed a tunnel's opening.[1] Israeli military sources also confirmed that Rayyan, who was considered the Hamas leadership's liaison with the group's military wing, was killed in an attack on his north Gaza home. Hamas sources confirmed his death and published on its Arabic web site a call for “mass rallies of wrath”, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to protest his killing.[2]

Prior to striking Rayyan's house the IDF warned his family about the imminent attack and urged them to evacuate the place, but they refused to do so hopping that the underground shelter (loaded with arms and ammunitions) would eventually protect them. Prior to the attack the Israeli army held deliberations regarding the legality of striking homes used as weapons storages when sufficient warning is given to the residents. It has been decided that this falls within the boundaries of international law and is therefore legitimate. Most of Hamas' leaders have gone into hiding since the Israeli operation in Gaza began, but Rayyan recently pledged not to leave his house under any circumstances. Sheikh Rayyan was an outspoken advocate of renewing suicide bombings against Israel and the legality of using Muslim women for suicide attacks. He also sent his son to carry out a suicide attack in the community of Eley Sinai in 2001 in which two Israelis was killed, and was behind the bombing in the Ashdod Port in March 2004 which left 10 Israelis dead. Two days before his killing, Rayyan delivered a sermon at a Gaza mosque and call on Muslims everywhere to pray for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "We do not need money or weapons, we only need your prayers. We can handle the enemy ourselves." Sheikh Rayyan was popular within Hamas ranks mainly within the Qassam military wing and was in the very special liaison position between the political leadership in Gaza and the military Qassam Brigades as the late Abd Al Aziz Rantissi that was killed by Israel in a similar air strike in 2003.Rayyan, as a radical Islamic scholar and activist was known as a bitter rival to the secular Fatah and the Palestinian Authority.
Sheikh Dr. Nizar Rayyan-“The Fighting Sheikh” of Hamas

Sheikh Rayyan was a senior Hamas leader in Gaza and former member of the Islamic University’s board of trustees in Gaza known as a traditional Hamas strong hold and symbole. Hamas used the Islamic university laboratories for research and development for Qassam rockets investing efforts in extending the range and lethality of the rockets acquired by Hamas in Gaza Strip. Based on these facts the laboratories were destroyed in an Israeli air raid during “Cast Lead” operation on 28 December 2008.

Hamas website published an interview conducted by the Jordanian newspaper “Al-Sabil” with the Hadith lecturer at the Islamic University, Nizar Rayyan. In the interview, he was also described as a member of Hamas’ political leadership. Within the interview Rayyan was asked to recount the details of his participation in the fighting against the IDF forces in the Jebalyah region as the military commander.[3] In August of 2005, the UAE (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) newspaper “Al-Halij” published an article regarding a press conference convened by Hamas prior to the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders and spokesmen, including Nizar Rayyan, attended the press conference.[4]

Nizar Rayyan was among the most prominent and active and members of the Hamas local leadership in Gaza. Simultaneous to his activities within the Iz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades, Riyan was a lecturer in Islamic Sharia studies at the Islamic University in Gaza, and a former senior member of the Reform Party “Al Islah ”, which is identified as a Hamas front organization, which participated in the recent elections. Rayyan studied at the Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in Saudi-Arabia and was influenced by religious scholars and teachings from the Islamic University in Al-Medina, such as Al-Qarni and others. Due to his religious and political position, Rayyan was regarded as the spiritual leader of Hamas’ military wing-Iz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades in Gaza.[5]

His position regarding suicide attacks was manifested when Rayyan justified in 23 January 2002 suicide attacks against Israeli civilians within a Fatwa (religious Islamic edict) issued by the Lebanese Islamic scholar Sheikh Faisl Mawlawi.[6] In a Hamas rally on 23 June 2003 Rayyan stated in front of a mass crowed in Gaza:” All of Palestine will be liberated by our Mujaheedin (Muslim fighters) and their guns and not through fruitless political negotiations. Our campaign with the enemy will continue and will not stop at the borders of Gaza strip even after their retreat (from Gaza). Haifa, Beit Shean and Tabaria (Israeli cities within sovereign state of Israel before 1967) are our lands and with God’s will, we will celebrate in (the Israeli city of) Ashkelon”.[7]

On 15 June 2007, a few days after the Hamas military coup taking over Gaza, Dr. Nizar Rayyan openly declared that the secular era in Gaza has ended and Islam will triumph over the Infidels. Rayyan promised to turn the headquarters of the National Security Forces (of the Palestinian Authority) in Gaza into a big mosque and to deliver a sermon at the presidential headquarters. In addition, he said: "In a few hours, the secular era in Gaza will end without leaving a trace... Today heresy ends. Today the struggle is between Islam and the infidels, and it will end with the victory of the faith.[8]

Ahmad Abd al-Rahman, one of Abu Mazen's advisors, said that there was a military coup raging in the Gaza Strip which had been planned by the Hamas leadership against Palestinian legitimacy and against the democratic process through which Hamas gained rule. “ This is a message for the Arab world, let everyone know that these kinds of [radical Islamic] organizations use democracy to gain power and become stronger, and after that they carry out a coup against it. This is a message for the Arab world, from the Pacific Ocean to the [Persian] Gulf.” He named the Hamas leaders who were responsible for the coup among them Nizar Rayyan”.[9]

On 15 June 2007 the Palestinian Al- Ayyam newspaper posted on its front page a noticeable headline "The Secular Era in Gaza Has Ended; Islam Will Triumph Over the Infidels”, reporting Sheikh Rayyan's declaration regarding the internal strife between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas in Gaza.The Hamas official Nizar Rayyan promised to turn the headquarters of the National Security Forces in Gaza into a big mosque and to deliver a sermon at the presidential headquarters. In addition, he said: "In a few hours, the secular era in Gaza will end without leaving a trace... Today heresy ends. Today the struggle is between Islam and the infidels, and it will end with the victory of the faith. [Once victorious], Hamas will open its arms to the members of the security forces, so that they will return to the faith, [for] Islam is generous with infidels [who repent]. We hold the truth and they [represent] falsehood... How can we not fight against those who desecrate the sanctity of Allah, execute clerics and sell out the Palestinian cause - those who blasphemed in houses of worship, burned mosques, Korans and [Islamic] education facilities and executed jihad fighters? We will hold dialogue with these [people] only through the barrels of our guns."[10]

Sheikh Dr. Nizar Rayyan and Sheikh Dr. Abdallah Azzam - A striking similarity

Sheikh Nizar Riyan was an ideological product of Saudi-Wahabbi influence through his studies at Islamic University in Al-Medina.[11] Sheikh Rayyan was directly influenced by a series of Saudi Whahabbi-Salafi scholars and teachings including: Sheikh Nasir Al Omar, Sheikh Safar Al Hawali, Sheikh Abdullah Al Amin Al Shanqiti, Sheikh Ahmad Hamdan Al Ghamidi, Sheikh Mussa Al Qarni, Sheikh Muhammad Al Duwaysh and many others. His exposure to the Saudi-Wahabbi Jihadi School and to the Muslim Brotherhood zealotry is striking in its similarity to identical process underwent Sheikh Dr. Abdallah Azzam, the Palestinian origin Islamic scholar who became Osama Bin Laden’s spiritual mentor.[12]

In 1982 Rayyan received his BA degree in religious principles from the Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University. In 1990, he received an MA degree with honors from the Sharia department in the Jordanian university in Amman, with a specialization in Islamic tradition. In 1994, he received a PhD degree with honors from the university of the Qur’an in Sudan, with a dissertation topic of: "future of Islam: objective analysis". Has been serving as a lecturer on Islamic tradition in the religious principles department at the Islamic University in Gaza simultaneously to his terror activities. Sheikh Rayyan also presided as chairman of Hamas’ Sharia committee that served as a source of authority in matters of Islamic law.

Rayyan gained his popularity while being active within the framework of the Da’awa social-economic educational system and infrastructure of Hamas in Gaza promoting the ideas of Jihad in Palestine. He was previously arrested several times both by the Israelis and by the Palestinian Authority, due to his major role within Hamas and an outspoken opposition to any peace with Israel. Sheikh Rayyan wrote many articles and religious edicts in several Islamic newspapers and websites, assisted many Palestinians students from Gaza to learn in Islamic universities in Jordan Sudan. The Sheikh greatly influenced the founder of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the late Salah Shihada (killed by Israel in an air strike on 22 July 2002), and was a spiritual guide to him. After Shihada was killed by Israel, his last will was published on the Qassam Brigades website in which Shihada wrote, among other things, that he wishes that his body purgation and burial will be conducted by one of the two: Sheikh Nizar Rayyan or Abd al Aziz al Kajak.[13] Another Hamas high-ranking leader inspired by Sheikh Rayyan was Dr. Abd Al Aziz Rantissi who was among the founding members of Hamas in 1987,held the same position of liaison between the leadership of Hamas in Gaza and the Qassam Brigades (the very same position Rayyan held until his was killed). After Sheikh Yassin killing by Israel, Rantissi became the De Facto leader of Hamas in Gaza until he was killed by Israel in an air strike (17 April 2004).

Sheikh Rayyan was considered one of the fierce opponents to the Islam Shia’ school and allowing any Shia’ foothold in Palestine, although Hamas is very much backed and supported by Iran. He warned the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) activists that their admiration of the Iranian revolution and their alliance with it might cause youths to convert to Shia’, while noting Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin’s statement on this subject: “The Shiite and us – a convergence of interests, not a pact”. Rayyan refused to give an interview to a reporter from the Al-Mannar channel in Gaza, stating that he is a religious cleric following the path of the ancient fathers and would not talk to a television station representing religious false forbidden innovations. Sheikh Rayyan was supportive of suicide attacks and preached vigorously in its favor encouraging Palestinians to carry out suicide operations, including an fanatic unprecedented personal example, when he agreed to send his son, Ibrahim Rayyan, age 14, to carry out a suicide operation during which he was killed by the Israeli army, after a successful penetration into an Israeli settlement and killed 2 Israelis in 2001. Similarly, the Sheikh thought of the idea to camp out on roofs of houses in Gaza that Israel threatened to bomb from the air, and as such to prevent their bombing. In 2006 it was Dr. Rayyan, who cynically initiated, to use the Palestinian civil population as a human shield to protect Hamas’ targets and homes against Israeli air strikes by forming human shields, knowing the sensitivity of the Israeli army avoid targeting intentionally the un involved civilians. Hamas used this fact in their terrorist build up of infrastructure during the resent temporary seas fire.

[1] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3648848,00.html

[2] http://www.palestine-info.info/ar/Default.aspx

[3] http://www.palestine-info.net/arabic/hamas/hewar/2004/nizar.htm

[4]http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:AqkHATK0diUJ:www.alkhaleej.ae/articles/show_article.cfm%3Fval%3D188663+%22%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%22&hl=iw&gl=il&ct=clnk&cd=36

[5] http://www.alqassam.ps/album/details.php?image_id=43

[6] FATWA, issued on January 23, 2002 on IslanOnline by Sheikh Dr. Faisal Mawlawi justifying and permitting suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. http://islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-Arabic-Ask_Scholar/FatwaA/FatwaA&cid=1122528609048

[7] http://www.palestine-info.info/arabic/palestoday/dailynews/2005/june05/24_6/details.htm#4

[8] Fears in PA: Gaza May Turn into Taliban-Style Emirate, MEMRI Special Dispatch Series No.1633, June 26,2007

[9] Al-Jazeera TV, June 15.

[10] http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP163307

[11] http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/9_04/hamas.htm, see also
http://www.palestine-info.net/arabic/hamas/hewar/2004/nizar.htm, and http://www.paldf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=140808.
[12] Jonathan Fighel, “Sheikh Abdullah Azzam: Bin Laden’s spiritual mentor”27 September 2001.ICT web site http://212.150.54.123/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=388

[13] http://www.alqassam.ps/arabic/special_files/salah_shada/wasya.htm

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk