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"New Era" Says Sharon Reacting In Character to "Gandhi" Assassination

October 17, 2001

"A New Era has begun.... What was before will never be again... Today we are facing a completely different situation, things will never be the same." Ariel Sharon Prime Minister of Israel

"Let the Arabs go back to Mecca" Rehavam Zeevi Assassinated Minister of Tourism

MID-EAST REALITIES © - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 10/17: He had called the Palestinians "lice" and "vermin" and "cancer", and he had urged their "transfer" or "extermination". Just Monday he has tendered his resignation as Minister of Tourism, insisting that Ariel Sharon was being too moderate and too compromising. Now he is the first Israeli Government Minister ever assassinated by Palestinians in a struggle that keeps spiraling monthly into one still blooodier and more revengeful.

Actually it is the Israelis who have a long history of both political assassination and terrorism, though this is not well known especially by Americans who are so badly served by their remarkably complacent and comformist mass media. It was in 1947 that the Israelis assassinated the special U.N. Representative, Count Bernadotte -- a future Israeli Prime Minister among the small group who who did. And it was the precursor of the party today headed by Israel's Prime Minister Sharon that blew up the famous King David hotel in Jerusalem the next year, killing scores of civilians.

With all of the bloodletting over the years never before today did Palestinians assassinate a major Israeli political figure. In the past year alone the Israelis have assassinated at least 60 Palestinians -- including one of the founders of the PLO on August 27, the specific killing which may have been the one avenged today by persons associated with The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Today's killing on the special VIP floor at the Hyatt Hotel in what was an Arab section of East Jerusalem was unlike anything done by the Palestinians before, but did have close similarities to an Israeli hit at a European hotel more than 10 years ago when the well known scientist Gerald Bull, then working with the Iraqis on a "supergun" in the days when Saddam Hussein was an ally of the Americans, was killed after receiving warnings from the Israeli Mossad to cease his work with the Iraqis.

Meanwhile, around the world things are beginning to spiral out of control threatening a much larger potentially world-wide conflagration:

* The Pakistani military has gone on high alert as tensions with Indian over Kashmir escalate and actual fighting along the "Line of Control" threatens to bring the two now nuclear powers to war.

* Tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are far greater than Americans have been told by their government, even threateing a potential "meltdown" in relations.

* Israel may now be mobilizing not just to further attack the Palestinians but to go after Hezbollah and the PFLP in ways that could result in a confrontation with Syria.

* Anti-U.S. demonstrations and emotions continue to grow in key Arab and Muslim countries

* There are unconfirmed reports of Chinese Muslim troop movements in the border areas with Afghanistan and Pakistan; and the overall situation with Taiwan remains another potential flashpoint.

* Militarists in key positions in the the U.S. government continue to prepare for further "phases" in the new "war against terrorism" with Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, and Palestinian territories next on their list of intended targets said to support or harbor "terrorist" groups.

PALESTINIAN MILITANTS KILL HAWKISH ISRAEL MINISTER IN REVENGE HIT

JERUSALEM, Oct 17 (AFP) - Israel's ultra-nationalist tourism minister, Rehavam Zeevi, died Wednesday after being shot in the head in his Jerusalem hotel by a hardline Palestinian group in revenge for Israel's assassination of its own leader.

Zeevi, 74, an outspoken hawk who wanted to see the Palestinians leave the West Bank and Gaza Strip, was found in a pool of blood in his room by his wife Yael just hours before his resignation in protest at Israeli peace moves was due to come into effect....

The former army general was rushed to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital where he was later pronounced dead by surgeon Shmuel Shapira. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the hospital before Zeevi died, then summoned ministers for a security meeting to discuss the impact of the assassination.

The police sealed off the Regency Hyatt hotel and were questioning staff and guests.

The hardline left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestineclaimed responsibility for the shooting.

A statement faxed to AFP's office in Jerusalem said the attack was to avenge the killing of PFLP leader Ali Abu Mustapha on August 27, when Israeli helicopter gunships blasted his Ramallah office with missiles. The PFLP had sworn that the assassination of Mustapha would not go unpunished.

"The Brigades of the Martyr Abu Ali Mustapha declare to have attacked the Zionist terrorist .... Rehavam Zeevi to avenge" the PFLP secretary-general, the statement said. "The terrorist Sharon and his criminal band must know that Palestinian blood is so precious, and the wave of attacks against Palestinian officials and militants will not go unpunished."

"From now on the political and military leaders of the Zionist entity will be the targets of our special forces," the PFLP statement added.

Since taking office following his election in February, Sharon has stepped up the controversial practice begun by his predecessor Ehud Barak of eliminating Palestinians suspected of planning attacks on Israelis.

Mustapha and Zeevi are the highest-ranking officials to be hit by either side in the year-long intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. Zeevi is also the first Israeli minister to be assassinated by a Palestinian in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the first to be killed since moderate Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot by a right-wing Israeli in Tel Aviv in November 1995.

PFLP spokesman Abu Talal, speaking in Lebanon's Ain Helweh refugee camp, told AFP, "The heroic action of our fighters is a normal response to the crimes perpetrated by Sharon against Abu Ali Mustapha and the heroes of the intifada." And a leader of the radical Islamic group Hamas said Israel was reaping what it had sown.

"I think the reasons for the shooting of Zeevi was Sharon and his policies, which included the assassination of political leaders and children," said Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, whose own group has been battered by Israel's liquidation policy.

Israel pointed the finger at Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for not jailing extremists as it had pledged to do in a ceasefire agreement three weeks ago.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who met Arafat to close the deal, said if the Palestinian leader "does not arrest Palestinian militants, all our efforts will go up in smoke."

Sharon spokesman Avi Pazner also said Arafat must shoulder some of the blame. "We hold the Palestinian Authority responsible for not having acted against terrorists," Pazner told AFP. He said the PFLP was an "official Palestinian organisation, whose new leader Ahmad Sadat is based in the West Bank town of Ramallah. "If they do not arrest them we will all be always at the mercy of groups like this one ... We will not be able to renew peace negotiations while terrorism is going on," he said.

Pazner also had a dig at Arafat's high-profile tour of Europe, where he notched up the support of Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands for a new peace initiative with Israel and the creation of a Palestinian state, a week after Washington gave its support to he idea.

"While Arafat goes around the world, around Europe, and speaks about his wish to reach an agreement with Israel, these people on the ground continue to engage in murderous terrorist activity," he said.

And he pointed out that the PFLP's main headquarters were in Syria, a country accused by Israel of harbouring a slew of terrorist organisations and whose nomination to the UN Security Council last week caused a storm of protest in the Jewish state.

Zeevi, the head of the National Unity party who had served in the Israeli army from its creation in 1948 until 1974, tendered his resignation Monday in protest at Sharon's withdrawal of tanks from a Palestinian hotspot overlooking the Jewish enclave in Hebron. His resignation, and that of fellow hawk Avigdor Lieberman, the national infrastructure minister, had been due to come into effect at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

PM SHARON'S SPEECH TO SPECIAL KNESSET SESSION IN MEMORY OF ASSASSINATED MINISTER RECHAVAM ZEEVY

Following are Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's remarks at the special Knesset session today (Wednesday), 17.11.2001, in memory of Tourism Minister Rechavam Zeevy, who was assassinated this morning:

"The full responsibility falls squarely on Arafat, as someone who has controlled, and continues to control, terrorism, and as one who has not - to this day - taken even one serious step to prevent terrorism... Minister Zeevy's legacy is holding fast to the soil of our historic homeland, and the determined, uncompromising war for the existence and security of Israel. We will wage all-out war on the terrorists, those who collaborate with them and those who send them."

Former President Ezer Weizman, Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah, Friends of Gandhi,

This morning, our fellow minister and MK Rechavam Zeevy, Gandhi, may God avenge his blood, was murdered in Jerusalem by Palestinian terrorists.

>From his youth until the day of his death, Minister Zeevy took an active part in the campaign for the establishment of Israel - and in this campaign he fell.

Rechavam, a sixth generation Jerusalemite on his mother's side, fell in the line of duty in Jerusalem, our eternal capital.

Minister Zeevy's achievements on behalf of the State of Israel were many: From his days in the Palmah that he joined in his youth; through his service in the IDF in which he served for over 25 years, reaching the rank of major-general; and through his service as an MK and a minister. The head of the 'Moledet' movement loved his homeland. His path was marked with milestones in the establishment of Israel and its struggles.

Zeevy was one of the IDF's greatest staff officers and commanders. Afterwards, he continued to contribute to Israel's security and served as the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's adviser on counter-terrorism and intelligence.

First and foremost, he was a consummate Zionist. I did not know anyone who had such a vast knowledge of the Land of Israel and its history as him. His contribution to settlement in the Land of Israel was considerable. Zeevy was an outstanding parliamentarian for 13 years and a minister in Yitzhak Shamir's government and in the current national unity government. In all of his public posts, he persistently and admirably fought for his positions and beliefs.

This is a severe loss to the people and State of Israel. For me - it is also a personal loss.

Gandhi was first and foremost a comrade: A comrade-in-arms and also a comrade to the belief in the nation of Israel's unequivocal right to its historical homeland.

Only despicable terrorists can dream of assassinating an elected official in a democratic state. Only a regime that wants to subvert the State of Israel and deeply opposes peace can give shelter and support to murderers of this kind. The full responsibility falls squarely on Arafat, as someone who has controlled, and continues to control, terrorism, and as one who has not - to this day - taken even one serious step to prevent terrorism.

He knew that not taking steps against organizations such as Islamic Jihad would lead to terrible acts of murder and the responsibility is fully his. We want peace with the Palestinian people, but there will be no compromises with terror. Never.

Minister Zeevy's legacy is holding fast to the soil of our historic homeland, and the determined, uncompromising war for the existence and security of Israel. We will wage all-out war on the terrorists, those who collaborate with them and those who send them.

His legacy we will fulfill; may God avenge his blood.

Gandhi will be sorely missed by myself, and by everyone.

I would like, on behalf of everyone, to express our condolences to Gandhi's great and special family.
Mid-East Realitieswww.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/10/471.htm