ISRAELI STRIKE, PALESTINIANS LEADERLESS AND WITHOUT STRATEGY

The Israelis have had a long-term strategy for a very long time; and they have pursued it regardless of what party was in power and who happened to be Prime Minister of the moment. And of course the U.S. government has been the co-conspirator in all this all along; and the Arab client regimes have actually at times helped the Israelis accomplish their goals, if not consciously then as the result of their misguided and self-seeking policies.

The result? Apartheid has taken hold since Madrid and Oslo in rampant fashion.

Jerusalem is everywhere surrounded by Israeli towns now called "suburbs" (including Gilo), and approaching a quarter of a million Israelis live in towns and settlements throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. And now the Israelis have a government more ideolgically than ever committed to Jabotinsky's brand of Revionist Zionism, with none other than Shimon Peres agreeing it appears to be the Foreign Minister!

As for the Palestinians, "There is no strategy whatsoever", a prominent Palestinian activist told The Washington Post the other day, while Arafat has been reduced to sending congratulatory messages to Sharon with rumors of his own impending demise, either at the hands of the Israelis or of his own people, gaining momentum while corruption, repression, and deception are omnipresent.

Meanwhile conditions for the Palestinian people now under the double-occupation of the "Authority" and the Israeli Army are worse than ever:

ISRAELIS ASSASSINATE LONG-TIME ARAFAT "FORCE-17" BODYGUARD

GAZA CITY (Arabia-on-Line, Agencies, 13 February): The Israeli army carried out a new assassination early Tuesday killing an officer in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's private security force.

Massud Ayyad's car was rocketed by an Israeli helicopter in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security officials said. Ayyad, a major in Arafat's Force-17 bodyguard, was killed instantly when a helicopter fired four rockets on his car as he drove in the Jabaliya area of the northern Gaza Strip, security officials said. The Israeli army claimed Ayyad to be an agent of the Lebanese Hizbollah group and had carried out a series of attacks against Israel. "Massud Ayyad headed a dangerous Palestinian organization of the Hizbollah in the Gaza Strip and carried out a long series of terrorist attacks," the army alleged in their statement.

In court documents made public Tuesday, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he considers Israel's policy of liquidating Palestinians suspected of activities opposing the Israeli occupation to be justified. He claimed in a letter to the court that Israel's policy, which has attracted widespread criticism from human rights groups, was based on "international law." It followed an appeal to the court by the widow of the Fatah chief in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, Thabet Thabet, who was assassinated by the Israeli army on December 31.

"International law allows a strike against someone identified with certainty as being prepared to commit an attack against Israeli targets," Barak alleged in the letter. "This pertains to a war situation in general and to the right of self-defense specifically," Barak said.

The Palestinian Authority says that since the beginning of November, Israel has assassinated around 20 Palestinians. They were all suspected of attacks during the Intifada (uprising) that erupted in late September against Israeli occupation. The Palestinians and many international organizations have branded the Israeli policy as state terrorism. A total of 355 Palestinians, have been killed in the violence that has raged across the region over the past four and half months.

PALESTINIAN KILLED IN ISRAELI HELICOPTER ATTACK

GAZA (Reuters - 13 Feb) - An Israeli helicopter fired three missiles at a car in the Gaza Strip Tuesday, killing a Palestinian military leader in an attack that Israel called a clear message that militants must not harm its citizens.

The Israeli army said the man, Masoud Ayad, was setting up a Palestinian branch of the Lebanese Hizbollah group in the Gaza Strip and accused him of being behind a series of shooting, bomb and mortar attacks against Jewish settlements in the strip.

"Anyone who intends to harm Israelis will not escape and the long arm of the Israel Defense Forces will know how to locate and even the score with him," Israel's caretaker prime minister, Ehud Barak, said in a statement.

The Palestinian Authority issued a statement condemning the killing as "an ugly crime" and said it was part of Israel's "assassination policy against (Palestinian) cadres and citizens."

It denied Ayad was working on behalf of Hizbollah and said he had been a loyal member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction for the past 30 years.

Palestinians in the Palestinian-ruled strip said Ayad, 60, had been recently promoted to lieutenant-colonel from major in Force 17, Arafat's elite force.

They said he was also known as an arms dealer.

Palestinian Minister Says Uprising Will Continue

Palestinian cabinet minister Hassan Asfour told Reuters Ayad's killing would not stop Palestinians from continuing their uprising and that Palestinians were capable of retaliating against Israel's "aggressions."

"The Israeli will feel no peace and no security if the Palestinian does not feel the same peace and security," he said.

Israel has been widely criticized by human rights groups for assassinating Palestinian military figures whom they suspect of attacks against Israelis.

Palestinians say at least 20 activists have been killed since a Palestinian uprising erupted almost five months ago.

Barak, defeated in an election last week by right-wing Likud party leader Ariel Sharon, praised the Israeli security forces for "its attack on a senior terrorist."

Ayad's body was trapped under the twisted metal of the car, which was destroyed by at least three missiles fired from a helicopter hovering overhead, witnesses said.

Smoke rose from the black and twisted metal of Ayad's car which was driving along a road near the Erez crossing with Israel when it was struck by the missiles.

Hundreds of Palestinians shouting "Death to Israel," arrived at the scene soon after the missile strike and one man held up a bloody kaffiyah taken from the wreckage. A damaged Kalashnikov automatic rifle was also seen in the rubble.

Witnesses said the helicopter had been hovering for around three hours before the attack.

Some 389 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed during the revolt. They include 53 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs.

PROPOSED BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY RESOLUTION ON THE ELECTION OF ARIEL SHARON

Sponsor: George Galloway, MP 2/7/01
(4 MP sponsors as of today)

That this House notes with concern the election of Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister of Israel; recalls his record of involvement in war crimes going back as far as the 1950s and in particular the crimes committed during the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, an invasion which reduced an Arab capital to ruins amidst the ashes of napalm, phosphorous and fragmentation weaponry, and which culminated in an Israeli inquiry finding Sharon 'personally indirectly responsible' for the massacres in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Beirut between 16th and 18th September 1982 in which almost 3,000 people were butchered; notes that these victims were defined by the International Commission of Inquiry as 'protected persons' within the meaning of the 4th Geneva Convention to whom Israel had a special obligation under protocol to prevent the commission of 'outrages' against them; notes further the implacable refusal by General Sharon to acknowledge the solemn and binding agreements signed by his country during the Oslo process which he has declared dead; further notes his offensive remarks against both Jordan and Egypt, the two Arab countries with whom Israel has signed a peace treaty; expresses the fear that the election of General Sharon may lead to a state of war in the Middle East; and asks Her Majesty's Government immediately to freeze all sales of military equipment to Israel and to recall Her Majesty's ambassador from Tel Aviv for consultations.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF WHAT THE ISRAELIS ARE DOING DAILY TO THE PALESTINIANS
Date: Monday - 12 February 2001

Ramallah

Atif Nabulsi, 35, was shot this morning while in his car near Rafat village in Betonia, Ramallah. An ambulance was prevented from rescuing the citizen by Israeli occupation forces who left him bleeding for an hour before carrying him to Ofra military camp, where his corpse is still held until this moment. During confrontations near Am ari refugee camp this afternoon, Sami al-Qatari was shot in the head by occupation forces.

Bethlehem

Ziad Abu Swai, 20, was shot dead this morning when Israeli occupation forces opened fire at a bus transporting 25 workers. Another worker, Muhammed Barmeel, 45, is critically injured. In Al Khader's old quarter, confrontations broke off resulting in a number of injuries. Israeli occupation forces later closed the whole area and underwent military reinforcements.

Hebron

Military reinforcements took place around Hebron and an extremely strict military closure remains in place. Arroub refugee camp was raided this morning. Dozens of young students fainted and suffered breathing problems today, when Israeli occupation forces fired tear gas bombs at a girl s school playground. Confrontations later broke out in the neighboring Takrour village.

Jerusalem

A woman, Wajdan al-Sa diya, and her son Ala were beaten by Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem s Old City today and carried to hospital. Israeli forces opened fire at those who tried to interfere when Wajdan and her son were being physically attacked.

Qalqilya

In Qalqilya, two Palestinians were injured during confrontations with occupation forces yesterday at the southern entrance of the city. Fadi Amer, 15, was shot with rubber coated metal bullet in the head. Mash hgour Taha, 16 was also shot with rubber coated metal bullet in the head. They were both carried to hospital in the city for mediation.

Gaza Strip

Israeli occupation forces closed Salah Din road, which liks the middle area with the south of Gaza Strip. Witnesses said that military reinforcements have taken place in al-Qarara area.

Nablus

The imposed military closure on Nablus and its towns and villages has been tightened even further. Entrances to Beit Forik village have completely been closed. Israeli occupation forces are still based in two homes in Salem village, placing its citizens under constant fire. Israeli occupation forces in Salem also fired light and sound bombs regularly at the citizens.

Gaza Strip - Demolition and settlement activities

Israeli army demolished a home in Gaza and enclosed 22; vast areas bulldozed.

The Israeli army has started implementing the decision to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in Gaza s Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, in order to establish a military base instead and on surrounding agricultural land. Israeli occupation forces demolished one home, of nine inhabitants, without previous warning, yesterday near Kfar Darom settlement in the Gaza trip and bulldozed a vast area of agricultural land in the area. Israeli occupation forces since early morning yesterday enclosed 22 homes in Mawasi, west of Khan Younis city after having ordered its citizens to evacuate their homes in preparation for demolition. The inhabitants refused to leave or evacuate their homes. Witnesses said that three Israeli bulldozers protected by a tank and a large number of army forces spread in the area since early morning. Israeli bulldozers yesterday began bypass road construction starting from the military road block west of the area until Tel Sultan, the only entrance to Mawasi area on the beach.

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/2/69.htm