India and Israel Against Islamic Terror

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victory was Jerusalem. They captured the whole of Jerusalem

and restored their national pride. Did they not offer their praters

”If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning/’

It is the right hand that steers the plow and kills.
Though we have skipped the details of this war, but a? an

ex-soldier I cannot resist the temptation to label this conflict as

the most perfect example of a swift and decisive war invoking

an ideal combination of diplomatic skill, the higher directio”1 of

war and strategy and tactics; the perfect use of the lighting

power of air to smother enemy air capability and subsequent

unleashing of armour, coupled with infantry in encircling

movements, resulting in a breath- taking velocity of operati^s.

This five-day campai gn of far-reaching military consequences is

taught in various schools of military Instructions all over the

world and I too have written some detailed accounts ar|d

references of this war in my various military writings.
The six-year interregnum between this victory and October

1973, were a period of twilight for the land of Israel whe”1 its

leaders and soldiers were basking in the glory of battles wonar|d

smugly looked to the future with confidence. But this sen? °f

complacency was soon to be shattered, and a militant gypt

under Anwar Sadat, in a surprise move, broke through_tne

Israeli defences on the Suez Canal and forced them to ’’8nt

during their holiest period of ’Yom Kippur’. A new chapter10W

opened in the Middle East history and Anwar Sadat becar16 a

hero of the Arab world.
1
Intifada and After
After October 1973 ”Yom_Kippur”(the Jewish day of atonement)

war there was a marked change in the Arab attitude towards

Israel. Even though for a short time, the Egyptian army had

prevailed against the Israeli military might, to the Arab mind it

meant that Israel was not invincible. To the 1.7 million Palestinians

in the West Bank and Gaza strip, this was heavenly elixir and

revelation. History has its ways of influencing nations and events.

This very same year, Arabs found out that Islamic nations were

sitting on 67 percent of the world’s known reserves of oil of

which 2/3rd lay in Saudi Arabia alone. This was a tremendous

earthly power granted to Islam and the Arabs intended to make

full use of it. The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, brandishing his

sword, proclaimed that henceforth the Arabs shall use their oil

power for diplomacy and war. This event caused a civilizational

catharsis among the Arabs who were now looking at the world

as future conquerors. No longer were they poor and subservient

to the West, but they could be their masters. Then followed a

sPree of direct take-overs of all oil wealth resources, refining

activities, transportation and sale of oil to the world. Foreign

°Perators and engineers working at the oil rigs were suddenly

reduced from owners and operators to hired employees. The

°’’ rich Middle Eastern Arab states, started buying everything in

ne West ranging from real estate, hotels, tourism, irfdustry, oil
178 INDIA AND ISRAEL CHART
13
companies and even those companies trading in alternate f

Their secret accounts spawned the entire western world Tk

balance of power in the Middle East shifted from Israel to th

oil rich Arabs, and the American policy yoked to its comrnerci I

interests changed course by befriending as many Arab countrie

as possible. This resource victory ..for Islam was an important

factor in the power balance between the Judeo Christian and

Islamic civilizations.
This new-found confidence of oil power amongst the Arabs

in general and Palestinians in particular, gave a boost to their

hostilities towards Israel. Palestinians living on the West Bank and

the Gaza strip somnolent so far, suddenly woke up to their

Cod-sent power and the fact of Israel’s vulnerability. There indeed

existed some disaffection amongst the Palestinians living in the

Israeli occupied territories after 1967, but it was still latent. It is

pertinent to point out here that inspite of the vast spaces in Sinai

and Jordan and even those bordering Syria, these Arab countries

did not help the Palestinians to seek new homes in these places.

Their sympathy was confined to the typical Arab rhetoric. In

stead of assimilating these displaced Palestinians, their

coreligionists, in their territories, they preferred to keep them in

Israeli occupied lands in a permanent state of anger and despair,

an easy enough instrument to destabilise Israel and ultimately

destroy the nation. Certainly, there were hardships, inequities

and disabilities that the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza

strip had to suffer under the Israeli rule. But by and large, Israeli

rule was sympathetic and fair. After all David Ben-Curion had

said that everytime it was not Israel who went out to attack the

encircling Arabs, but the Arabs who invaded the Israelis. Thus

the Israeli logic was very simple. You came to destroy us and

were defeated. We thus need to have enough safeguard ’n

strategic depth by retaining the occupied territory. We have

given you a benevolent occupation and that should be enoug •

Defeated invaders cannot ask the victors to follow their dictatesBe

that as it may, Palestinians did not accept this logic ar^

discontent kept simmering fueled further by their new f°unt

confidence and rhetoric. The surrounding Arab countries
CHA^13
INTIFADA AND AFTER 179
I gave sanctuaries to the Palestinian terrorists but actively
° yoked them to acts of violence against Israel. The pot kept
h iling f°r two decades; discontent grew, right down to the
assroots level, and a mass upsurge was about to break out
,,en without any leadership. According to the Arab view, what
Israel had refused to see thus far was now splashed on the
horizon. And on 8th December, 1987, the Arab discontent and
rase long suppressed, ignored, shelved, quashed, pushed aside
and swept under the carpet, burst out as ’Intifada’.
The perceived fears, frustrations and grievances of the

Palestinian Arabs took the form of Islamic Jihad. There was

looting, burning, attack and destruction of Israeli property and

civilians, everywhere in the occupied territories. The critical mass,

so to say, of the bomb of discontent was reached and the

explosion took place not at one ground zero but every- where

in the occupied territories. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), their

reservists and para-military organisations did their best to cope

up with the situation and succeeded to a degree. The Palestinian

predators declared that ”If military action in a well known guerrilla

war concentrated on the armed forces of the enemy, then those

who shared the belief of those whom the revolution wants to

fight, the Palestinian revolution owing to the nature of Zionist

society does not recognise the distinction between enemy’s armed

forces and people. The colonialist Zionist society is_a military

society, root and branch, and there can be no distinction between

military and civilians.” The same is happening in Kashmir today.

But the Israeli response to the Intifada has been much more

effective and salutary. The garrisoning of conquered territories of

West Bank and Gaza strip was indeed a strain on the Israeli

Defence Forces, its administrative organs, and interior civil

administration. This was not their normal task. In the initial

stages there was a confusion in the division of responsibilities

between various organs of defence of the state. But this was

soon rectified. The_situatipn was not dissimilar to that prevailing

”Xj^ashrmr. West Bank and Gaza are still aflame and there are

Periodic^ breaches of peace and ceasefire agreements between

f1e Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation
180 INDIA AND ISRAEL CHAPTER 13
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Organisation. While Ariel Sharon is in total control of his forces,

the same is not true of Yassar Arafat, the Chairman of the RL.Q’

His writ does not run down to the level of foot soldiers and

many splinter groups, are still perpetuating mayhem, terror and

suicide attacks amongst Israeli settlements in occupied territories

as also within Israel itself. As of now, there is an uneasy peace

between the Palestinians and Israelis. Though the Israelis can be

restrained to an extent by American pressure, there is no such

countervailing force against the Palestinians exerted by any Arab

country or countries.
It is a point worth noting that every single clash in the

occupied territories starts by a provocative attack from the

Palestinians which naturally invites swift and strong retribution.

The world around, and many reporters from Middle East and

the West often criticise Israel for its harsh treatment of the

Palestinians. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir similarly questioned

once lashed out with a reply typical of King Lear: ”We are not

allowed to kill; we are not allowed to expel; we are not allowed

to beat. You ask yourself, what are we allowed to do? Only to

be killed, only to be wounded, only to be defeated.” Shamir

later added, ”We have plenty of ’friends’ in the world who

would like to see us dead, wounded, trampled, and suppressed,

and then it is possible to pity the wretched jew. When jews are

killed in this country, does the United Nations discuss it? It has

never yet happened. But we do not want to be deserving pity,

we want to fight for our lives.”
Faced with the recurring and indiscriminate assault of the

Palestinians and the murder of innocent civilians, Israeli armed

forces have evolved a new doctrine; ”assassinate the assassin

and accept the collateral damage as incidental and unavoidable.

In pursuance of this new policy Israeli Defence forces recently

killed a leading Hama terrorist who was responsible for the

murder of a Cabinet minister and a large number of civilians.

On 23rd November, 2001, a helicopter gunship fired missiles on

the car in which the terrorist Mohmoud Abu Hamoud was

traveling and destroyed the car and its occupants.
CHAPTER 13
INTIFADA AND AFTER 181
The foot soldiers of the Intifada believe in the following

maxim. ’Normally wars are not won by dying for one’s country.

They are won DY mal

the holy wars are not waged under this harsh but rational precept.

The Palestinian terrorists had perfected the art of assassinating

Israeli leaders and their prominent citizens, even if it involved a

suicide attack. The word assassination has originated from a Shia

sect, the ”Hashishin” whose members carried out suicide attacks

on and raided both Christians and Sunni Muslims. They had a

hiding place in a mountain in Iran. The intoxicant ”hashish” was

also given to young killers before they set out on their missions.

Their leader in 1090 A.D, Hasan-al-Sabah lived in a hilly fortress

atAlamiet in Iran, and was called the ”old man of the mountain”.

Another word in the vocabulary of the Palestinian marauders

was ”jehad”, so commonly heard these days. The ”Jehad” in

Arabic means ’effort’, a rallying cry for the masses to advance

the world’s newest monotheistic religion under the threat of

sword, against non-believers. With the passage of time, the word

came to stand for a ”righteous war”. As per the thesis of Muslim

clerics, 70 Muslim nations put together constitute the ”Dar-ulIslam”

The remaining infidels are cursed to live in ’Dar-ul-Harab.’

”Sunna” in Arabic means tradition and those who follow the

traditional values are called ”Sunnis”, which form the majority of

the Muslim population. Those who wanted the Prophet’s first

c6usin and son-in-law Aji to succeed him to the Caliphate, and

fqllowed the Iranian tradition of divine light of kings were called

’PJLrtisans’ of Ali for which the Arabic word is ’Shia’, the

community which forms the principal segment of the Iranian

Population.
Beyond the miasma of imagined hurt, atrocities and

Oppression lies the principal impulse of Intifada, the Islamic

”urt. Islam sji^ujdj^njyjxinqiier butngyer be subjugated. Islam

ar|d Arab are indivisible. Since Islam threatens both Hinduism

^Judaism, both historically’and geographically, it is necessary

^understand the Muslim mindset. To understand Islamic and

^’ddle East politics, one has to enter into the mind of the

Primitive Arab Bedouin. In the wilderness of Arabian deserts
I
182 INDIA AND ISRAEL CHAPTER 13
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• with few sources of water and sustenance, the Arab develops

m the lone wolf mentality, more to be feared than to be loved
• : ;ij Love can be bestowed or withdrawn, but fear does not leave so

P : |f easily. As such the Arab prefers to be feared rather than loved.
i^:N This subliminal impulse makes him obedient and respect a power
% j centre Thus in Islam, monarchy, comes naturally and forms the
1S| !| focus of a nation’s power and authority going from the tribal
Jjj leader upwards and power is respected even if it is barbarous
i | J; or vicious. Thus the Muslims are not unduly attached to collective
!:: i authority or equality. Even the Koran ordains subservience to
; (’ the will of Allah, which over the ages has come to mean
,i ] unquestioning obedience to temporal authority, liberal or
|H j despotic. In consequence, the history of Islam is full of blood•
i ’,• [ shed, through the acts of tyrants. The first brutal authoritarian

*H ; 1 • in the Islamic history was the founder of the Abbasid dynasty in

pi I , Baghdad, Abul-Abbas al-Saffah who ruled from 750 to 754

II • j A.D. His name itself meant ”Abul Abbas the Bloodletter”.

jfif m | ’ : Authoritarianism sits lightly on Islam’s shoulders and the Middle

^•9 ; East kingdoms are full of such dispensations. The primordial

HI : i tribal loyalties get coalesced into submission to the authority of

H[l . • the state, governed mostly by kings, despots or dictators.
^^^K^fl
|B| We now return to the Intifada and the Palestinian jehad
^H against Israel. Most of the suicide groups or human bombs
^H ;! which have been sent to kill Israeli leaders or innocent civilians
mr i come from the ranks of Al Fatah, DFLP (Democratic Front for
| the Liberation of Palestine), its splinter group PFLP (Popular
’-- j Front for Liberation of Palestine), another small group APF
j1 (Alliance of Palestinian Forces); the Hamas and Hizbollah (Party
’ ’ of Cod), or the Islamic Jehad. Finding it impossible to directly
i’l challenge the enormous military might of Israel, the Palestinians
and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organisation), encouraged,
,^( • supported and actively assisted through propaganda, arms and
j IP even safe sanctuaries by three highly vocal Arab States including
I | jjj even Iran, have tried to pin down IDF (Israeli Defence Forces)
li | . i ;|; and their reservists in warding off terrorism. They have the tactical
I i, ;|i advantage of striking at their chosen place, time and target. Any
pi; : ’ student of elementary military tactics would realise that this is a
^VPTER 13 INTIFADA AND AFTER 183
different form of war; a low cost war of terror stretching the

enemy forces to the full and keeping them in a permanent state

of alert thus tiring them down and leading them to death through

a thousand cuts. A similar form of low cost proxy war is being

waged by Pakistan against India to achieve its aim of grabbing

Kashmir and bleed India. But the response of Israelis and Indians

to the same threat is not similar. While Israel hands out swift

retributive justice and avenges its human loss by well aimed

retaliatory attacks, India dithers and confines itself to diplomatic

whining and only in rare cases to defensive and reactive

operations. ^
Let there be no mistakes, four times since the birth of Israel

the combined forces of Arab countries have attacked it to wipe

outfits existence. Each time they failed ignominiously. Israel, has

occupied enough space on the West Bank and Gaza to secure

its borders, ensure strategic depth, and prevent further such

attempts for its dismemberment and destruction. What moral

right do the Arabs now have to claim back their lost territories?

India was foolish enough to return its war gains to Pakistan

under external pressure in two wars it fought against it in 1965

ancM971, and even its own integral territory recaptured from

Pak invaders in Kashmir in 1949. Israel is not obliged to make

the same mistakes.
It is the Arab countries fired by their own heady Islamic

rhetoric who attacked Israel and lost, thereby creating refugees

in the West Bank and Gaza. It is they who made them suffer

without fulfilling the promises they had made and the victories

they promised to the Palestinians within Israel and even in

occupied territories. These hapless souls would have continued

to live as peaceful citizens in their own homes if their ’fair

weather” Arab friends had not betrayed them. Now that the

loaded dice has fallen the wrong way and Arabs have failed, it

’s incumbent on them to grant some living space to their own

brethren, in stead of allowing them to remain as refugees in a

state of so-called squalor and deprivation. You cannot have

Your cake & eat it too. Some Arab countries want precisely that.

’sI§gLdid not come out to fight the Arabs. The Arabs did. They
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