Mid-East Realitieswww.middleeast.org

TWISTING ARAFAT UNTIL HE IS DEAD OR GONE

July 27, 2001

MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 7/27: The Israelis probably prefer Arafat dead at this point; but not at their own hand, at least not directly. Indeed, many of those who used the "Oslo Peace Process" to end Intifada I probably thought Arafat would have either been assassinated or died by now, leaving behind a "peace process" legacy as did Anwar Sadat when he was gunned down by his own soldiers just a few years after reluctantly signing on-the-dotted-line at Camp David 1.

But now even Shimon Peres has said in public -- in his own convoluted and disingenous way of course -- that Arafat's days are numbered. A few more suicide bombers Peres now says will lead to the "collapse of the Palestinian Authority". It seems more a prediction than a warning at this point. For as Peres is surely aware, Israeli policies are quite purposefully so provocative, so repressive, so bloody, that nothing short of massive force by Arafat against his own people -- closely coordinated with the CIA and the Israelis -- can prevent more counter-attacks at least against the Israeli settlers.

The main Israeli goal was to use Arafat to end the Palestinian Uprising which has been ongoing ever since the 1970s actually but erupted more violently in the late 1980s; then to get him to sign away various Palestinian rights enshrined in many U.N. resolutions and "end the conflict" in exchange for a rump and everywhere controlled "Palestinian State" which he and his cronies could administer and everywhere rake in the money. In exchange for giving them what they wanted -- and after all Sharon himself is repeatedly on record favoring such a contorted "Palestinian State" -- as well as for "controlling" his own people and legitimizing a financial pay-off and "resettlement elsewhere" "solution" for the millions of refugees, the Israelis were prepared to arm and empower this new "client regime" in their midst; urging the Americans, the Europeans, and the rich Arabs to cough up billions in payoff and "resettlement" money.

But now the goal is changed. Arafat wasn't strong enough in the end to sign the "agreements" they put in front of him -- that was what Camp David II was really all about last summer, turning Arafat into a discredited Sadat. And now Arafat is not strong or credible enough to force his own people to submit to brut Israeli power and machinations. Thus Arafat's reasons for being, from the Israeli point-of-view, are no more. Now they want to more severely twist Arafat until he is either dead, preferably at the hand of other Palestinians provoked beyond their long restraint; or until he is sufficiently diminished in credibility and influence so that it won't matter that much anymore where he is or what his crumbled and fractured PLO of old says or does.

ISRAELI TEEN KILLED IN SHOOTING
Peres Publicly Now Warns Arafat
by Mark Lavie

JERUSALEM (AP - 27 July ) -- Israeli tanks shelled Palestinian police posts in the West Bank early Friday, after Palestinians shot and killed an Israeli teen-ager near a Jewish settlement.

Palestinians opened fire near the entrance of the Givat Zeev settlement, north of Jerusalem, killing a 17-year-old, identified as Ronen Landau.

In response, Israeli tanks shelled two Palestinian police posts in Surda, north of the town of Ramallah, the Palestinian political and commercial center in the West Bank.

Then tanks targeted a checkpoint run by Force 17, an elite Palestinian police unit, in Beitunia, east of Ramallah, the military said. No serious injuries were reported.

An eyewitness to the Thursday attack, Dekel Cohen, told Israel television that he heard gunshots and saw an Israeli car swerve onto the sidewalk.

''People took someone out and started to treat him. Then an ambulance came,'' he said. Cohen said he heard more gunshots a few seconds later.

Cabinet minister Dan Naveh said he was driving on the same highway shortly before the shooting. ''Here we have another murderous attack,'' he told Israel television. ''This shows (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat's true face as a terrorist.''

Israel charges that Arafat has not taken steps to stop militants from attacking Israel, and that officers in Arafat's police are directly involved in some of the attacks. Several months ago Israeli security arrested members of Force 17 and said they were suspected of firing at Israeli vehicles on the road where Thursday's took place.

David Baker, a spokesman in the Israeli prime minister's office, said the attack showed that ''the Palestinians have decided to continue with this trail of terror directed at Israel.''

After the shooting attack late Thursday, Jewish settlers council called for an end to the ''imaginary and bleeding'' cease-fire, a reference to a truce negotiated last month by CIA director George Tenet. The truce never fully took hold.

A poll in the Maariv daily showed that 46 percent of Israelis favor large-scale retaliation against the Palestinians, including attacks on leaders and infrastructure, while 30 percent favor the current policy. The poll questioned 600 Israelis and quoted a 4.5 percent margin of error.

Since fighting began on Sept. 28, 533 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 133 on the Israeli side.

Earlier Thursday, three bombs exploded near Israeli vehicles in the northern part of the West Bank. No one was hurt.

One bomb went off next to a bus carrying Israeli girls home from school, settlers said. The bus had armor plating, preventing injuries. Two other bombs were set off near Israeli army vehicles, the military said. The vehicles were damaged.

Earlier, thousands of Palestinians called for revenge against Israel as they accompanied the body of a senior Hamas activist in a noisy funeral procession in the West Bank city of Nablus. The militant, Saleh Darwazeh, was killed Wednesday when Israeli forces hit his car with five anti-tank missiles.

Threatening to send suicide bombers into Israel, the crowd chanted, ''There are hundreds more, there are a million'' more bombers.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres warned that two or three more suicide bombings could trigger a response that could bring about the collapse of Arafat's Palestinian Authority, a development Peres strongly opposes.

Following bomb attacks, there are loud demands from Israelis for a full-scale military operation against the Palestinians in response. Some hard-liners call for Arafat's expulsion.

So far Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose base of political support comes from the hard-liners, has resisted the pressure, opting instead for a policy of avoiding large-scale military moves but allowing smaller operations, like targeted killing of militants.

MIDEAST RECRIMINATIONS, THREATS

Newswires, 11:58 am PST, 26 July 2001: Calls for revenge echoed through the Palestinian city of Nablus today at the funeral for a Hamas activist hunted down and killed by Israeli forces on Wednesday.

Thousands of people turned out for the funeral of Saleh Darwazeh, including ten masked and white-robed men hailed as being the next suicide bombers against Israel.

Mr. Darwazeh was the latest victim of an Israeli policy of liquidating Palestinians it says were involved in anti-Israeli attacks.

In a related development, reports from both sides say Israeli troops detained more than ten Palestinians in a series of raids in Palestinian towns and villages overnight.

Senior Palestinian and Israeli security officials met with a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency mediator last night in a weekly contact arranged under a U.S. brokered ceasefire effort. Both sides described the meeting as a failure and say it was full of recrimination.

The Palestinians say they presented a list of more than 30 extremist Jewish settlers they want Israel to arrest on suspicion of carrying out attacks against Palestinian civilians and property. Israeli officials dismissed the list as a gimmick.

Israel has been demanding the Palestinian Authority arrest dozens of Palestinians suspected in anti-Israeli attacks.

ISRAELI TANKS RETALIATE FOR WEST BANK DEATH
By Michele Gershberg

JERUSALEM (Reuters - 7/27) - Israeli tanks bombarded Palestinian security posts in the West Bank on Friday in retaliation for the shooting hours earlier of an Israeli teenager by Palestinian guerrillas.

The resumption of tit-for-tat Arab-Israeli violence further blackened prospects for a move toward eventual peace talks.

No injuries were reported after the reprisal strike, during which Israeli army tanks shelled three Force 17 positions on the line between Israeli- and Palestinian-controlled areas around the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

``In reaction to yesterday's terror attack in which a 17-year-old youth was killed, the army removed three Force 17 outposts at the entrance to Area A, two north of Ramallah and another in Beitunia, west of Ramallah,'' an army spokeswoman said.

Force 17 is one of several Palestinian security formations controlled by President Yasser Arafat.

Witnesses in Ramallah, a Palestinian political and commercial hub, said the boom of tanks shells echoed through the city until the early hours of the morning. Helicopters hovered overhead throughout the assault.

The Israeli attack was a rapid response to killing of teenager Ronen Landau on Thursday evening. Israeli police said Palestinian gunmen shot Landau in the head as he drove home with his father and brother from Jerusalem to the adjacent settlement of Givat Zeev.

The roadside shooting was the latest in a series of attacks targeting Jewish settlers on the roads of the West Bank. Palestinians leading an uprising against Israeli occupation there and in the Gaza Strip have killed close to 40 settlers, who live on Arab land Palestinians want for an independent state. International law has ruled settlements on occupied land illegal.

At least 493 Palestinians, 130 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs have been killed since the Palestinian uprising began.

Israeli cabinet minister Danny Naveh laid blame for such attacks on Arafat's Palestinian Authority, saying ``they have no interest in stopping terror.''

U.S. PRODS ARAFAT TO REIN IN MILITANTS

In Washington, U.S. Middle East envoy William Burns said before Thursday's killing that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat must do more to rein in militants.

Earlier on Thursday, thousands came to the Palestinian-ruled West Bank city of Nablus to bury a Hamas militant hunted down and killed by Israel and to praise the group's struggle, which has included suicide bombings inside the Jewish state.

Ten would-be Palestinian suicide bombers in white robes and masks took pride of place at the funeral of Salah Darwaza, identified in leaflets distributed before the funeral as a Hamas brigadier.

A day earlier, four Israeli missiles slammed into Darwaza's car, turning it into a twisted mass of charred metal. Medical workers picked through the wreckage to remove parts of his body.

The attack near Nablus was a continuation of Israel's declared policy of targeting Palestinians militants who pose threats to Israeli lives. Palestinians say Israel has assassinated more than 40 activists since their uprising began 10 months ago.

The Israeli army said Darwaza had helped plan a series of bombings in Israel and was responsible for the death of at least eight people and wounding more than 100 others.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Thursday he would carry on with the policy of responding immediately to Palestinian attacks and intercepting militants before they carry out bombings against Israelis.

``The cabinet chose a method of activity that is in our opinion the correct method and I think we already have positive signs... This process will continue for a long time,'' he said.

U.S. ENVOY CITES MODEST MONITOR FORCE

Appearing before a House of Representatives panel, U.S. envoy Burns said the Palestinian leadership needed to exert ''100 percent'' effort to bring an end to militant attacks.

``More needs to be done and we will press him (Arafat) to do that,'' Burns said, also calling on Israel to calm tensions.

A senior Israeli official in Jerusalem said the United States was developing options for a U.S.-staffed force to monitor a cease-fire mapped out by CIA chief George Tenet in mid-June that has yet to take hold.

Israel and the Palestinians were likely to receive the suggestions in the coming week, the official said. He added that the U.S. team might include both security and diplomatic officials and might not be based in ``areas of friction'' in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

``They want them to be a mobile force because they are concerned about being targeted,'' the official said. The team's mandate has yet to be determined.

Asked if the monitors would be a military peacekeeping force, Burns said ``no.'' He said it would be a ``modest'' group.

International calls for an observer force have grown as the two sides fail to move forward on a wider U.S.-led proposal to return to peace talks. The Palestinians seek such a force to protect civilians against Israel's military. Israel has rejected the idea of a large international observer force but has indicated it would accept U.S. monitoring.


Mid-East Realitieswww.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/7/307.htm