Avraham Feld: Islamic Danger -2.

a) NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS
Liquidation is also implied in expressions that deny Israel's right to exist. Examples are: "We shall not agree that the State of Israel should remain in our midst"; "We shall not accept Zionist existence"; "we shall not agree to the fait accompli"; "there is no room for Israel in the Arab East"; "Israel will not escape her fate."
Nasser frequently employed such direct expressions. The following extract from one of his speeches, for example, contain oblique, positive and negative expressions side by side:
"We swear to God that we shall not rest until we restore Arab nationalism to Palestine and Palestine to the Arab nation. There is no room for imperialism and there is no room for Britain in our country, just as there is no room for Israel within the Arab nation." (A speech by Nasser at San'a, April 23, 1964).
"The Arab people will never allow Israel and those supporting Israel to realize their objectives in keeping Israel in existence in Palestine." (August 17, 1961).
In his speech at the UN Assembly on September 27, 1960, Nasser described the wrong that had been done to the Middle East by the establishment of Israel and added: "The only solution to Palestine is that matters should return to the condition prevailing before the error was committed-  i.e. the annulment of Israel's existence."
Hashim Jawad wrote: "Israel, being an alien body in the Arab homeland, has no right whatsoever to continue to exist in territories of the Arab East." (At the UN, October 1960, Middle East Record, p. 174a).
The expression "the denunciation of Israel's existence," belongs to this group.

b) FIGURATIVE AND METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS
Another group, not so frequently encountered, consists of expressions whose obscurity is due to the fact that the entity to be liquidated is presented in metaphorical terms, or the action to be taken against it is ambiguous and expressed in metaphorical or figurative language. (Y. Hakabi)
Such expressions are: "The liquidation of the legend of Israel,"   as if Israel's existence is not real, but only legendary; "the obliteration of Zionist existence, " here the intention is not that Israel should cease to be Zionist, but that Israel, as a manifestation of Zionism, should be liquidated; "the light of Israel shall be extinguished"; "the eradication of the root of evil from our midst"; "the eradication of the root of the disaster."

2. PHRASES COINED TO EXPRESS THE OBJECTIVE
A number of frequently-used conventional formulae have been developed in the language used by Arabs to express their objective. They are all ambiguous in respect of the direct demand for the liquidation of Israel, and their characteristic feature is that they may be given one of two meanings: moderate or extreme, minimum or maximum.
a) RESTORATION OF STOLEN RIGHTS.
"Arab unity and united action are the way to the liberation of Palestine and the restoration
of their rights." (March 8, 1965).
"The liberation of Palestine" means the establishment of an Arab State on the ruins of Israel.
Again, the destruction of Israel and restoration of rights are interconnected.
23 Arab Moslem states were created from the Ottoman Turk Empire. Israel was allotted only 1% of that newly-carved out area for a new Jewish state.

Arab expressions of return do not indicate a partial return of Israeli territory or the right of the Arab refugees to come and live in Israel. Instead, they demanded that Israel should become entirely Arab. It is not a matter of the return of the refugees to Israeli territory but the return of Israeli territory to the Arab Muslim world. Nasser said: "The people of Palestine will return to be masters in Palestine whether the war criminal Ben Gurion announces this or not." (speech in June 1960, quoted in Cremeans: The Arabs and the World, p.189).
The expression "complete restoration" (al-awda al-kamila) is frequent. The preamble to the National Covenant of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (May 28, 1964) calls for "the complete restoration of our lost homeland." Article 2 of the Charter states: "Palestine with its boundaries at the time of the British Mandate is a regional, indivisible unit" (la tatajazza). The fact is the Palestinian Kingdom of Jordan - Arabic, Muslim, Sunni, took 80% of the Palestine for a Palestinian Arab-Muslim State.
The return which is involved in the disappearance of Israel is frequently called "an honorable return" (awda sharifa).
Nasir al-Din al-Nasha-ashibi explains: "We do not want to return with the flag of Israel flying on a single square meter of our country, (Former Ottoman Turk-controlled land) and indeed, if we wish to return, this is an honorable return (sharifa musharrafa) and not a degrading (dahlia) return, not a return that will make us citizens in the State of Israel."
(al-Jumhuriyya, May 14, 1961).
These references to "liberation" and "return" have progressively become more frequent and emphatic. The term 'al-awda' return, has become a symbol, a central watchword for the activity of the organization of Palestinian refugees.
The 'return' is described as a tremendous, historic event in which Israel will be liquidated and the country will become Arab property.

b) JUST SOLUTION FOR THE PALESTINE PROBLEM,   JUST PEACE,   PEACE ON THE BASIS OF JUSTICE,   NON-ACCEPTANCE OF THE FAIT ACCOMPLI,   SETTLEMENT ACCORDING TO LEGAL RIGHTS,   SOLUTION ACCORDING TO UN PRINCIPLES 
The Arabs emphasize that they seek a "just solution" or a "just peace," which constitute the opposite of peace and justice. The just solution, according to this view, is the annulment of the wrong involved in the very existence of Israel. Arab use of the word 'justice' is a denial of Israel's existence. Nasser said: 'We talk peace but we do not accept peace, we want peace based on (Arab) justice.' (Speech at Alexandria University, July 28, 1963).
Along the same lines, Anwar Sadat in his autobiography, wrote: 'When I use the word 'peace,' I mean the peace as envisioned in Islam. We will have peace when we have total domination over the infidels. In this case, it means the destruction of the Zionist entity in stages.'

In other words, a just peace, according to this view, means that the peace that will reign after the murder of all Jews and obliteration of the State of Israel.
Joint statements after visits by distinguished personalities and resolutions passed at conferences often include a demand for 'a just solution,' 'a solution according to UN Charter,' or 'the principles of the UN,' or a 'settlement according to natural rights' or 'legal rights.' The visitor or the delegate to various UN conferences understood this to be as a 'minimal obligation' and it contains no apparent hint that the aim is the destruction of an
Israeli state.
These expressions have quite a different connotation for the Arabs who are convinced that Israel's existence is an injustice and a violation of the Koran. The National Covenant of the Palestine Liberation Organization refers in the preamble to: "the complete restoration of our lost homeland-a right that has been recognized by international covenants and common practices including the Charter of the United Nations."
Concerning non-Arab intellectuals and leaders who are pro Palestine, the Arabs regard 'a just solution' as support for their rejection of the fait accompli of Israel's existence.
Nasir al-Din al Nashashibi, the editor of al-Jumhuriyya, comments in his paper on astatement by Nikita Khruschev, in a speech at Port Said, supporting a 'just solution' of the problem: 'The people of Port Said listened to the speech of the illustrious visitor from the
Soviet Union, in which he said that Russia recognizes the necessity for a logical and just solution. The people of Port Said are well aware that a just solution means the restoration of Palestine to the Arabs. The just solution is the liquidation of imperialism represented by
Israel, which serves it as a base and bridgehead." (al- Jumhuriy ya, May 20, 1964).

To Be Continued.