_______ ____ ______ / |/ / /___/ / /_ // M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East /_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\� http://www.MiddleEast.Org News, Information, & Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups, and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know! * * * * * * * IF YOU DON'T GET MER, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! To receive MER regularly email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] THE GRAND PLOT - ARAFAT FACES HIS NEW DAY OF RECKONING MID-EAST REALITIES � - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 12/26: The grand plot, one of the most complex and convoluted in modern history, is about to reach another moment of truth. Yasser Arafat is cornered -- it may be now or never for him in so far as the disingenuous "Peace Process" that he made possible but which he fears bringing to its logical conclusion. And less expectedly Ehud Barak is also cornered, partly by his own style and designs, partly by the contradictions built in to "Madrid" and "Oslo" from the start. But its not quite the same when it comes to the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Israelis are a country of institutions and long-term policies and priorities. There is considerable strength in their national fabric, even with all of the contradictions and myths that envelop it. Barak's demise will be but the passing of one leader. Even Sharon's coming to the Prime Ministership will be assimilated by the institutions of a powerful democratic state, as shameful as it should be for the Jewish people to even consider a thug and war criminal like Sharon to symbolize the "Jewish State". Tragically however, whether Sharon becomes Prime Minister or not, it is actually Sharon's policies of "autonomy", "separation" and subjugation that are being implemented for the Palestinians, whether Arafat signs and gets grand ceremonies at the White House or whether he doesn't sign and gets "unilateral separation." What Arafat has already signed has done so much damage to the Palestinians their recovery is not likely in the near future. Moreover, the Palestinians lack the resilience and leadership alternatives provided by institutions of freedom and independence; which is precisely why the Israelis are working so hard to consolidate what Arafat has already done by bringing into existence an Arafat-State that is more to their liking than to that of the Palestinian people. Indeed, even Sharon himself in recent years has endorsed a "Palestinian State" that follows the Oslo formulations. Most importantly, anyone who thinks that the Clinton/American "bridging proposals" are anything other than another joint American/Israeli gambit to consolidate the "Oslo" gains in a major peace treaty signed by the only Palestinian able and willing to do so just doesn't understand what's been going on during the entire years of the Clinton Administration. Clinton has been Israel's man from the start -- going back to when the President of the Israeli/Jewish lobby (AIPAC) was forced to resign after it leaked out that he had told big contributions his organization had "infiltrated the Little Rock campaign headquarters and Clinton was going to be their man in the White House". And so it came to pass. No American administration has ever appointed more officials from the Israeli/Jewish lobby to top jobs at the State Department and National Security Council than did Clinton/Gore. What is happening now is little more than a continuation of this long drawn out Israeli/American plot to one way or another wiggle and cajole Arafat into signing away Palestinian rights and help enforce an updated regional Pax Americana/Pax Israelica. Yasser Arafat and company have brought the Palestinian people repression, control, and an "Apartheid Peace". The Americans and Israelis, and that includes the incoming Bush Administration which has given Clinton license to continue trying, are now desperate to salvage and consolidate all they have worked so hard to achieve. The whole duplicitous structure is best symbolized by the electrified fences the Israelis are furiously building in addition to their numerous "by-pass" roads. Whether Arafat signs or doesn't sign this Clinton-era "final" "framework" agreement at the White House in January, the fences, the control, the repression, these are all going to continue in one form or another. WEST BANK FENCE PLANS GO AHEAD [BBC News Online - 26 December] The Israeli authorities have stepped up efforts to build a fortified electronic fence along the line dividing Israel from the mainly Palestinian populated West Bank. Israel radio says Prime Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the allocation of nearly $25m for the project, which is already under way. The Israelis say the 70km (45 mile) long fence will not constitute a political border but only a security barrier - to keep out suicide bombers and to funnel all goods traffic through legal checkpoints. The alarmed fence is intended to run along the June 1967 ceasefire line between Israel and the West Bank. The permanent sealing-off of the Palestinian-controlled areas from Israel - also referred to as or "unilateral separation - is a an important part of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's approach to the peace process. Analysts say that the fact that it is being pushed ahead at a time when Israeli and Palestinian officials are considering a compromise peace plan proposed by US President Bill Clinton may be significant. "SEALING-OFF" Israeli officials have tended to deny the political significance of the line, saying that the line of the separation fence does not imply that Israel recognises what was its former border with a West Bank controlled by Jordan before 1967. Palestinians have denounced the plan as a form of apartheid. If nothing else the plan would cripple the Palestinian economy, which is heavily dependent on Israel, and put thousands of Palestinians out of work. Some Israeli security chiefs have said that the fence would not necessarily be an effective way of preventing Palestinian attacks on Israel. Analysts have said that such a "surgical break" is probably an illusion. But this has not stopped Mr Barak and his ministers from working on the details of how it might be done. It has been reported that plans could include the following: * Existing army roadblocks could be turned into international border crossings * A $1bn system of roads, tunnels and bridges could seal off the West Bank, while providing access to Jewish settlements * $250m elevated highway - with no other exit - could link Gaza and the West Bank. 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