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MID-EAST REALITIES - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 25 October: The political smokescreens are lifting a bit as the pressures build to go beyond mere words, yet at the same time a purposeful distorting haze is taking over. Bottom line: the kind of "Palestinian State" Yasser Arafat has maneuvered his people toward and is being cornered into implementing is a grotesque distortion of their aspirations and of what use to be meant by the term "Palestinian State." What now lies ahead for the increasingly brutalized and multi-occupied Palestinian people -- bottom layer the "Palestinian Authority", middle layer the Israelis, top layer the USA and its Arab "client regimes" who together and in considerable coordination with Israel control the region -- is not a real "Palestinian State" at all but rather a furtherance of their occupation by even more duplicitous means.
What the Israelis have in mind, and what the Americans will be twisted into endorsing (actually they already have) is in reality little more than the fractured and convoluted "autonomy" Arafat so self-servingly agreed to in Oslo -- the latest original sin in the long and sordid modern history of Palestine and its Western annointed and sponsored "leaders". In the rebirth of Oslo, Sharon style, Arafat's regime will be kept alive -- infused with more money and control authority (i.e., more small arms plus more CIA/Mossad/Muhabarat "assistance") -- but all the crucial matters of real borders, true sovereignty, Jerusalem and most of all refugees will be left vague and hanging. It's one more grand deception in what is now a long and treacherous history of so many others going back nearly a hundred years, to the time of the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent "Paris Peace Conference" -- that "Peace to end all Peace" which succeeded so horrendously.
Undermining and delegitimizing the "intifada" -- still extraordinarily popular among Palestinians themselves even though their suffering has been tremendous -- is among the immediate goals of Israel and the U.S. This will also further fracture and divide the Palestinians, setting the stage for a further phase against "terrorism" when the U.S. now plans to go after the Palestinian opposition -- Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP -- thus helping Arafat consolidate his grip on the Palestinian people and at the same time enforcing the new "anti-terrorist" "new world order".
As for Sharon's and now Bush's "Palestinian State", there's really much more that is old here than is new. Sharon has been working toward this kind of "Palestinian State" ever since the days of Menachem Begin, Camp David 1 and his various terms as Minister of Defense and Minister of Agriculture during which he helped formulate and bring about the on-the-ground situation that exists today. Indeed Sharon has even publicly discussed his desire for this kind of castrated "Palestinian State" in the past going back some twenty years, most recently a few weeks ago just before the American President and Secretary of State publicly uttered the same terminology and concepts.
[Ha'aretz - 25 October 2001] Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is working on a plan to offer the Palestinians a state even before a final agreement - provided Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat puts a halt to the violence.
The Sharon plan includes using a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush on November 11 - when the prime minister is due in Washington for a meeting with Jewish leaders - to discuss what to do if Arafat fails to crack down on the militias operating in the territories and cannot, therefore, be considered a partner for a political deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Sharon is offering an interim agreement, which includes a Palestinian state, even before the determination of final borders or the resolution of the Jerusalem and refugee issues.
The prime minister believes that at present, there is no Israeli majority for a final agreement and that Arafat is also unable to reach an end-to-the-conflict deal. The question troubling Sharon is whether Arafat is able or wants to change his current strategy of using terror and violence to achieve his goals. Sharon conditions any political progress on an end to the violence and incitement by the Palestinians.
The Israelis believe that by the end of November, the U.S. will wind down its operation in Afghanistan, as harsh winter conditions will prevent air campaigns or the involvement of ground forces. Under such circumstances, the U.S. administration's agenda could change and Washington could be open to new ideas for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Sharon has promised the United States that he does not intend to topple the PA, nor harm Arafat personally. But it appears that the prime minister wants to reach an understanding with Bush that would allow Israel to step up the pressure on the Palestinians.
According to government sources in Jerusalem: "If Arafat is not the partner, we'll have to exact an ever-increasing price, both militarily and politically. It's important for the United States and the international community to reach this conclusion and remove his legitimate base. That way, we'll have more freedom of action - militarily, as well," the source said.
Behind closed doors, Sharon is skeptical of Foreign Minister Shimon Peres' claims that Arafat is the only partner for a political process and that if the PA leader were to fall, he would be replaced by Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Sharon believes that Arafat made a historic mistake when he refused to cease the hostilities and engage in political negotiations, knowing that Sharon could push a deal through with the support of the Israeli public.
Political sources said that the assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi had interrupted a political move that the prime minister had begun. They noted that the night before the assassination, Sharon had decided to make a speech about a Palestinian state to a gathering of Likud central committee members in Kiryat Motzkin.
The following are the main points of the Sharon plan:
+ A long-term interim agreement, with no timetable, and the postponement of the Jerusalem and refugee issues
+ The Palestinian state will be established before a solution to the other issues
+ The Palestinian state will be demilitarized, with the Israel Defense Forces controling its borders with Egypt and Jordan and the Israel Air Force having freedom of movement in the skies above it.
| Mid-East Realities | www.middleeast.org |
| Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/10/487.htm |