Bill Sykes' Newsletter from America.
(April 2002)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
The Israeli Situation II.
The war goes on.
A deadly explosion wrecked the Park Hotel in the northern
Israel seaside resort of Netanya , (Approximately half way
between Haifa and Tel Aviv), killing at least 21 Israelis
and injuring over 100 people.
The bombing occurred just after sundown on Wednesday evening
the 26th of March 2002, when many Israeli's were gathered
to celebrate the week long Passover holiday.
 Considering
the circumstances I have many pleasant memories of the town
and beaches of Netanya, as I was stationed at a tented camp
a few miles north of Netanya, (Camp 21, which I understand
is still used by the Israeli army), during a two year tour
of duty in Palestine with British Armed Forces in 1946 through
1948.
Incidentally thirty five years, or so, later, my wife and
I revisited Israel and stayed at a "Park Hotel"
in Netanya, which if my memory serves me correctly was located
on the cliffs adjacent to the cliff top gardens overlooking
the Mediterranean Sea with close proximity to the high street,
and could possibly be the same hotel as the one that was
bombed today.
 The
continuing retaliatory strikes by both sides, with the constant
bloodshed, do not bode well for any immediate peace treaty.
The region is so unstable that once again I must repeat
the warning. "Don't hold your breath for any peace
treaty between the two sides in the near or maybe distant
future".
I named this chapter "The war goes on" but looking
back in retrospect, a war needs two active and somewhat
equal combatants, and as the Arabs are vastly outgunned
by the Israelis, perhaps the paragraph should have been
named "The conflict of two unequal and opposite forces
equates to a massacre" (A sort of reversal of Sir Isaac
Newton's laws).
The bottom line.
Will the Israeli reprisal against the Palestinian Arabs
be so violent and bloody that the world at large will condemn
the action and demand an end to this terrible conflict and
set in motion the segregation of the two combatants by enforced
policing of the country by United Nations Forces.
I would suspect that Arafat's compound in Ramallah will
come under heavy fire and that an attempt will be made by
the Israelis to detain Arafat.
The second scenario is more complex as it potentially involves
the question as to what will the surrounding Arab nations
do now that they appear to have a somewhat unified approach
under the Saudi peace proposal to assisting their Palestinian
Arabs in their fight to regain an independent Arab state.
The burial of Sergeant Ernie Lamberts. (Ramallah--Palestine
1947).
 Ernie
Lamberts, a Sergeant with the British Third Parachute Battalion,
was killed whilst leading a British army patrol in the area
of Peta Tiqua in 1947 when he and his men came under machine
gun fire from an Israeli terrorist group.
To the best of my recollection, Ernie, whilst sitting up
front with the driver of a three ton truck noticed a row
of land mines located on the road in front of them. He immediately
stopped the vehicle and ordered his men to evacuate the
truck. He then stepped out of the cab to reconnoiter the
obstacle or detonate the mines which were linked by a wire,
a method used by the Israelis to pull the mines across  the
road in order to either stop, or blow up British Army trucks.
In this particular case, the stationary truck became the
target of an Israeli terrorist group ambush and Ernie was
mowed down by machine gun fire.
The photographs show the burial party at the Ramallah cemetery,
as I and five other Sergeants of the Company acted as pall
bearers.
Ernie was buried with full military honors.
So the question remains --- has anything changed --- the
killing goes on.
Relevant supporting information. (Obtained from various
reliable sources).
Fatah.
 Yasser
Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization,
(PLO), is also the leader of "Fatah" the Palestinian
Liberation Movement, which was founded by Mr. Arafat in
the late 1950s and was aimed at launching commando raids
on the new State of Israel.
Mr. Arafat took over as the Chairman of the Executive Committee
of the PLO in 1969
Hamas.
 Hamas,
the main Islamic movement in the Palestinian territories
was formed after the start of the first Palestinian Intifada
in 1987. The organization opposes the 1993 Oslo peace agreement,
and it's short term aim is a complete Israeli withdrawal
from the Palestinian territories.
The political wing is involved in improving the Arab way
of life in the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
The military wing, (known as the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigade),
has carried out a series of bloody attacks against Israeli
targets over the past several years.
Hamas is viewed by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority,
(PA), as a serious rival and they insist that Hamas accepts
the PA as the only national authority in the Palestinian
territories,
The spiritual head of Hamas is the 64 year old quadriplegic,
Sheik Ahmad Yassin.
Hezbollah.
 Hezbollah,
(The party of God), emerged as a Political and Military
force in the early 1980s at the time of the second Israeli
invasion of Lebanon.
Its manifesto is the formation of "Islamic Resistance
Units", to fight for the liberation of the occupied
territories and the ejection of Israeli forces.
The guerrillas have apparently received financial assistance
in the past from Iran, and even though denounced by the
United States as a terrorist group they have not been disarmed
by the Lebanese Government which is influenced by Syria.
The Secretary General of Hezbollah is Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
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