February 1993, Page 62

Waging Peace

By Jerri Bird

Five Alternative Information Sources on Israel and Palestine

The Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre has published a stark analysis called From Shamir to Rabin. . . New Face with Old Policies? The report compares figures on prison conditions, deaths in detention, targeting children, and settlement activities, and provides an excellent and unusual reading list of Palestinian and Israeli publications. It's available from the JMCC, P.O. Box 25047, East Jerusalem, West Bank via Israel, phone 972-2-819776/7, fax 972-2-829534.

Assaf Adiv and Michal Schwartz have written an expose entitled Sharon's Star Wars: Israel Seven Star Settlement Plan. First published in Arabic in 1991 and translated into English in 1992, it offers detailed information about the settlement plan which is relentlessly destroying hope for a realistic peace with a future for the Palestinians. It is available in the U.S. from the AET Book Club, publisher of the Washington Report (list price: $5; AET: $3 for one, $5 for two), or in Israel from Hanitzotz A-Sharara Publishing House, P.O. Box 1575, Jerusalem, Israel, phone 972-2-255382 or fax 972-2-251614.

More information on the subject is available from Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories, a bimonthly publication of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, 555 13th St. NW, Ste. 800, Washington, DC 20004-1109, (202) 637-6558 or fax (202) 637-5910. In the November 1992 issue, editor Geoffrey Aronson explores Israel's "greater Jerusalem" concept. The issue also includes such revealing quotations as this one from Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on Sept. 2, 1992: “Palestinians can forget about Israel changing its policy. We are in control of the territory, and we will not move an inch."

Perspectives from the Israeli left are provided by the bimonthly Challenge (subscription $30 payable to Challenge/Etgar, P.O. Box 14338, Tel Aviv 61142, Israel). The current issue describes a booklet issued by Yesh Gvul in October 1992 reviewing the activity of members of Israel Defense Force units who dress as Arabs and operate as death squads in the occupied territories. Much of the information is compiled from recent B'tselem reports.

Up-to-date reference material on the Palestinians is contained in Facts and Figures About the Palestinians (Information Paper #1), available for $4.95 from the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, 2435 Virginia Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20037, (202) 338-1290. It contains graphs and charts well adapted to use with overhead projectors, demographic information, maps, historical information, texts of U.N. resolutions and a concise analysis of Rabin's first 60 days in office.

Jerri Bird is the national coordinator of Partners for Peace in Washington, DC.