MID-EAST REALITIES © - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 10/24: The Palestinians are essentially defenseless with their backs up against the wall, the firing wall. Their "leadership" has been so corrupted and infiltrated that the Arafat regime has hardly any credibility with its own, not to mention anyone else. Their "friends" who advocated the disingenuous "peace process" and stuffed their pockets through it have badly mislead them, used them, and even now further exploit them for their own gain -- on the "Washington Scene" such names as Zogby, Sharabi, Maksoud and Ajami come quickly to mind as do such organizations as AAI, ADC, AMC, along with Middle East Institute, Jewish Peace Lobby...and the list goes on. The Arab "client regimes" in the region are themselves cowering and impotent, themselves so terribly co-opted over the years and thus, in a more complicated way, themselves complicitous in what is happening - Cairo, Amman, Riyadh at the top of that list. And the laughable Arab and Muslim "client organizations" in the USA are so collectively pathetic they can't even manage a little protest at the Israeli Embassy a few blocks away. Having gorged themselves on cheap Arab regime money and hand-outs for so long now they too lack any credibility and following except from CNN, Al-Jazeera, and the other state-sponsored corporate media (including of course PBS and NPR) which continue to so incestuously promote them.
Some people in the post-Sept 11 world are at least asking, as a result of the terrorism, "Why do they hate us so much'? And we will have much more to say about this in the days and weeks ahead.
But another "why" question also needs to be asked: Why are the Palestinians so defenseless and abandoned, how did this state of affairs come about? We'll be dealing with this even more difficult and depressing question in upcoming MER articles and commentary as well.
[BBC News Online - 24 October, 2001] Reports from the West Bank say at least eight Palestinians have been killed during an incursion into a village by Israeli forces.
The village of Beit Rima near Ramallah has been sealed off since early morning when a column of Israeli tanks rolled in, firing on a Palestinian police outpost as they entered under cover of darkness.
The incursion came as Ariel Sharon's government persisted with its partial reoccupation of Palestinian-controlled territory in six towns the West Bank, including Ramallah.
A doctor in Beit Rima told the BBC by telephone that he had seen six bodies lying in the streets in the village and had heard that many more were lying in olive groves nearby.
Villagers said troops have been going from house to house searching for suspected Palestinian militants, arresting dozens of people, and army bulldozers have demolished several houses.
Israel has rejected US demands to end the reoccupation, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the army made "very important arrests" of Palestinians belonging to "terrorist organisations" during the night.
"We have made clear that we have no intention of remaining in [Palestinian-controlled] area A and that when we are done with our mission we will leave," Mr Sharon told parliament on Wednesday.
The army has prevented anyone from entering the village, including emergency vehicles, and some of the dead and wounded have been taken to the outskirts on military vehicles. Three Apache helicopters have been flying overhead, shooting bullets, witnesses said.
In a separate incident, six Palestinians were injured near Hebron when a vehicle they were travelling in was sprayed with machine-gun fire on a by-pass road used by Jewish settlers. Earlier, Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians in Tulkarm, saying the men were about to open fire. Palestinian sources said it was an Israeli ambush.
A Palestinian was also shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in Abu Dis on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
The 25-year-old was throwing firebombs at soldiers when he was shot in the face and eye with rubber-coated steel bullets, Israel army radio reported.
Israeli defence officials quoted in the Israeli media indicated that troops might pull back in two days.
But officials continued to insist that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must hand over those responsible for the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister last week.
Some reports said the US softened its opposition to the Israeli reoccupation when President George W Bush dropped in on a meeting in Washington between America's National Security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
Mr Bush called on Israel to leave Palestinian territory "as quickly as possible".
The US State Department had earlier demanded that the Israelis leave "immediately".
Mr Bush said: "I did express our concern about troops in Palestinian territory and I would hope the Israelis would move their troops as quickly as possible."
Dozens of Palestinians have died since Thursday when Israel reoccupied parts of six towns in response to the assassination of hardline Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.
The United States fears the upsurge in Middle East violence could interfere with its coalition to defeat international terrorism by alienating moderate Arab states.
In all, more than 900 people have died in violence related to the 13-month Palestinian uprising against Israel's occupation, including more than 700 Palestinians and 175 Israelis.