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Having failed at both his main assigments Arafat is now dispensable
MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 7/17: It's beginning to appear that it's just a matter of time now for Arafat to finally be gone. As far as the Israelis and Americans are concerned, it no longer really matters like it use to. Arafat had two main jobs he was supposed to complete for the Israelis. That's why Oslo was signed in the first place, why Arafat was given so much money, why he was given so many forces, guns, and help.
First he was to legitimize Israel with public recognition, then he was to sign agreements "ending the conflict" and creating a kind of rump Palestinian State that the Israelis actually want.
Second, while pursuing the above he was to successfully repress and subjugate his own people on behalf of the Israelis; in close and continual backroom coordination with the key Arab client regimes of the region as well as the Americans.
With the failure of Camp David last summer, and then the outbreak of an unstoppable Intifada soon thereafter, Arafat's usefulness has been substantially diminished. His very reason for being is in fact in question, as Barak made evident before his departure and as Sharon alludes to with some frequency. Arafat is nowdispensable; and that simple reality creates the backdrop for all the intrigue, rumors, and fears now taking place.
As for the growing inner conflicts among top Palestinian personalities right next to Arafat, the reports below are likely just a small part of the overall picture. The likelihood, as reported previously by MER, is that the Israelis, quite likely with deep covert CIA assistance, have already attempted to foment coups against Arafat and that rightly or wrongly Arafat thinks Rajoub wants the job and is the CIA's man.
Rajoub slaps Arafat's Secretary
RAMALLAH - WORLD TRIBUNE - Tuesday, July 17, 2001 — Continued tension among leading advisers of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat resulted in a fight outside of Arafat's office in Ramallah last week.
Palestinian sources said that on late Thursday, Arafat's military secretary blocked Palestinian security chief Jibril Rajoub from entering the chairman's office. In the ensuing argument, Rajoub smacked Ghazi Muhana, the secretary, across the face.
Rajoub was prevented from meeting with Arafat and left the office. On Saturday, Arafat helped arrange a reconciliation between Rajoub and Muhana, Middle East Newsline reported.
The sources said Arafat has been upset with Rajoub over the last several weeks amid reports that the PA Preventive Security Apparatus chief has been critical over the continuation of the Palestinian war against Israel. Rajoub returned from a Gulf tour in which he was said to have heard Arab criticism of Arafat.
On Monday, Rajoubj told PA radio that Palestinians should end all attacks in Israel. The PA chief said that such attacks hurt Palestinian interests and erode international support.
Arafat has also boycotted his deputy, PLO Executive Committee secretary Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has not been able to meet Arafat since May, after he returned from a meeting with senior Bush administration officials. Abbas was said to have criticized Arafat's policy of continuing attacks on Israel.
The Palestinian leader plans to reshuffle his Cabinet in an effort to bolster national unity. Such ministers as Finance Minister Mohammed Zohdi Nashishibi and Social Welfare Minister Intissar Wazir are expected to be replaced — perhaps by Islamic-aligned politicians.
For his part, Arafat said his forces have arrested three Hamas squads on their way to attacks in Israel. Arafat reported this during his meeting in Cairo with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on Sunday.
On early Monday, two Palestinians were killed on their way from Bethlehem to Jerusalem in an explosion. Israeli authorities said they were carrying a bomb toward a Jerusalem stadium where the Maccabiah Games were scheduled to begin hours later. The bomb was said to have exploded prematurely on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem.
JERUSALEM - WORLD TRIBUNE - 10 July: Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is said to be facing opposition from several of his key aides.
Israeli and Palestinian sources said the policy differences — aired in talks with U.S. officials — caused Arafat to break off communications with his leading aide, PLO Executive Committee secretary Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian intelligence chief Amin Hindi and PA security chief Jibril Rajoub.
The sources said the dispute between the two Palestinian figures began in April when Abbas — in the United States for medical treatment — was invited to Washington to meet senior Bush administration officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell. Abbas was said to have criticized Arafat's handling of the Palestinian war against Israel and voiced his belief that the violence has turned counterproductive.
The discussion was leaked to both Israel as well as Arafat, Middle East Newsline reported. Arafat, the sources said, confronted Abbas on his return to Ramallah and the two men engaged in a heated argument. Since then, the sources said, Arafat has stopped talking to Abbas.
The result, the sources said, is that Arafat refuses to invite the PLO secretary to key meetings. Arafat's boycott has extended for at least two months and he has rejected Abbas's appeals for a reconciliation.
The Arafat-Abbas rift comes as Israeli sources report of Palestinian plans to resume bombing attacks in Israeli cities. On Monday, Palestinian gunners renewed mortar attacks in the Gaza Strip and a deputy company commander was killed by a Palestinian bomb.
The sources said Hindi and Rajoub share the criticism of Arafat. As a result, Arafat has voiced his concern that Washington and Israel are planning to unseat him.
Palestinian sources said Arafat is planning to reshuffle his Cabinet to bolster his support. They said up to six ministers could be replaced and some of them could be replaced by Hamas members.
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN - 17 July) -- Four Palestinians were killed -- one of them reportedly a Hamas activist -- and eight others were injured Tuesday in an Israeli helicopter attack, Palestinian security officials said.
The Israel Defense Forces said a house in Bethlehem was attacked because a cell of the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas was believed to be planning an attack that would be launched at the end of the Maccabiah games now going on in Jerusalem.
A Palestinian source said one of those killed was Osama Saada, a member of Hamas.
A few hours later, a single mortar bomb landed in the back yard of a building under construction in Gilo. No one was reported hurt.
The Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem is considered a Jerusalem suburb by Israelis and as occupied territory by Palestinians that belongs to the nearby Arab town of Beit Jallah.
The attack marked the first time since the start of the Al Aqsa Intifada last September that an Israeli target inside the West Bank had come under a mortar attack.
Previous mortar attacks have been aimed at Jewish settlements in Gaza or in Israel near the Gaza border.
The strike followed an Israel Radio report on Tuesday that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat had told Islamic Jihad and Hamas to cease their attacks on Israel or he will ban their activities.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Monday at a train station in Binyamina in northern Israel that killed two Israeli soldiers. Islamic Jihad has vowed to continue its attacks.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the Binyamina attack.
Israeli officials inspect the wreckage from a suicide bombing attack near a train station in the northern Israeli village of Binyamina on Monday
"The Palestinian leadership expresses its condemnation of the incident which led to the killing of civilians and calls for a cessation of all violent actions and incitement by all parties," the Palestinian Authority said in a statement.
In retaliation for the Binyamina bombing, Israeli tanks shelled four Palestinian military posts: one of them south of the cities of Jenin and the other three near Tulkarem in the West Bank, Israeli military sources said.
Funerals were planned Tuesday for Israeli Cpl. Hanit Arami, 19, and Staff Sgt. Avi Ben-Haroush, 20, both killed by the suicide bomber as they stood at a bus stop near the Binyamina train station.
The suicide bomber, identified by Islamic Jihad as Nidal Shadouf, 20, from the West Bank town of Jenin, also died in the blast.
Six people injured in the attack remained in hospitals, two of them in serious condition, hospital officials said.
Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestinian Preventative Security Service in the West Bank, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that the attacks should cease because they are "against Palestinian interests."
Rajoub accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of looking for an excuse to escalate the conflict.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer canceled a planned trip to the United States, his office saying he was concerned about the security situation in Israel. Ben-Eliezer told The Washington Post that Israel does not intend to try to eliminate Arafat, does not plan to reoccupy any Palestinian-controlled territory, and will not crush Arafat's security infrastructure.
The Israeli government says it continues to support a cease-fire with the Palestinians but has changed its stance, saying Israel will immediately respond to any Palestinian attack. But right-wing members of Sharon's Cabinet continue to complain that Israel's response has not been strong enough.
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| Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/7/288.htm |