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ISRAELIS BUILD, AMERICANS DECEIVE, ARABS WINK AND HIDE
MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 4/06:
This little game has gone on quite literally for decades now. The Israelis
twist and turn, delay and obfuscate, but all the while push forward. The Americans
say one thing and do another, and when the going gets hot they provide a little
criticism of Israel for the Arab media but reserve the important things that
really matter for ongoing and escalating cooperation with the Israelis.
The long and the short of it all is that Israel could not have built the settlements
and could not have pursued the false "Peace Process" without the ongoing help
and support of the Americans all along the way. Furthermore, it is the Palestinians
themselves, in the guise of the Arafat "Authority", which repeatedly signed agreements
with the Israelis that not only did not prevent more settlements from being created
but which in fact partially legitimized them. And then of course those despicable
Arab "client regimes" -- especially those in Cairo, Amman, and Riyadh -- they
too know what is going on, they too look the other way, they too repeatedly have
made excuses for what the Americans have done and let the Israelis get away with
outrageous policies without even putting up any serious resistance.
So, the cycle repeats itself. The Israelis built, "thicken", "natural
growth"...always
pushing forward knowing their strategy and their goal. The Americans twist and
turn in public; but always behind the scenes make Israel stronger and not only
tolerate but facilitate Israeli policies. Meanwhile, the Arab regimes become
more and more co-opted, more and more despised, more and more repressive. In
the end the Americans know the Arabs can be bought easily and cheap, the Israelis
are relentless and domestically powerful, and that Washington has a little game
to play with the media, especially the primative and controlled Arab media.
By the way, about that "shooting incident" yesterday at the top Palestinian
"security" people after they met in Tel Aviv with their Israeli counterparts
and the CIA... It's pretty suspicious what happened. With these very top PA
guys working so closely now for so long with both the Israelis and the CIA, and
with the Israelis busy assassinating and pushing under other Palestinians, especially
those who could pose a threat to the Arafat regime, it's quite possible this
was all a carefully crafted deception. The Israelis can tell their own people
they are being tough. Arafat's crowd who meet with the Israelis and the CIA
can pretend they are themselves worried and themselves being targeted. The CIA
can take credit for having orchestrated one more little deception -- in such
a lengthy list over so many years -- this one aimed to keep the increasingly
discredited PA in power. And all the while the whole gang of them -- the Israelis
the CIA and top PA persons -- combine their efforts to ride themselves of other
Palestinians who themselves want to get rid of Arafat and set up a new non-CIA-approved
Palestinian leadership. There's a lot of current circumstantial and past historical
evidence that this may in fact be the actual situation. But of course its impossible
to know for sure; such matters are most highly classified on all sides of the
barriers.
ISRAEL ANNOUNCES JEWISH SETTLEMENT EXPANSION
JERUSALEM (Reuters - 5 April) - Israel said on Thursday it would auction West
Bank land for the building of 700 more houses for Jewish settlers, an
action likely to infuriate Palestinians and further hamper peace moves.
The Construction and Housing Ministry said it had published land
tenders for building 496 homes in Maale Adumim near Jerusalem and
212 homes in Alfei Menashe near Nablus.
They were the first tenders published since the coming to power a month
ago of right-wing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, long a champion of Jewish
settlements in the West Bank and Gaza which Israel captured in the 1967
Middle East war.
In a statement, Housing Minister Natan Sharansky said events had
shown "how important it is to lend a hand to and strengthen" Jews of the
West Bank and Gaza.
Some 200,000 Jews live in 145 West Bank and Gaza settlements
scattered among more than three million Palestinians.
The announcement came hours after Sweden, which holds the rotating
European Union presidency, condemned Israeli policy, saying: "All
settlement activities are illegal and constitute a major obstacle to peace."
Mahmoud Abbas, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's
ruling Executive Committee, said on Wednesday that settlements were at
the core of a six-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli
occupation.
Palestinians say settlements strengthen Israel's 34-year-old occupation
and have divided the West Bank and Gaza into cantons.
Palestinian gunmen have targeted settlements and settlers in the
uprising. At least 368 Palestinians, 71 Israelis -- many of them settlers --
and 13 Israeli Arabs have been killed.
Last month, a committee of Israel's Jerusalem municipality announced
plans for building nearly 3,000 more Jewish homes at the Har Homa
settlement on a hill known in Arabic as Jabal Abu Ghneim. But those
plans face a long approval process.
"A PROVOCATION," LEFTISTS SAY
Reacting to Sharansky's announcement, Israel's leading peace
movement Peace Now demanded a freeze on settlement expansion.
"The timing of this publication raises the suspicion of intent to sabotage
any chance of that cease-fire being achieved," Moria Shlomot, Peace Now
director, said in a statement.
The tenders, which had been on hold for a number of years, would
respond to "natural growth," Sharansky insisted, echoing the policy of
right-wing Israeli governments over the years.
Palestinians say their uprising was triggered by a high-profile visit Sharon
made as opposition leader last September to a Jerusalem site holy to
Jews and Muslims.
In a statement on Thursday, Sharon said he had ordered Israeli security
branches to find a way to enable members of all faiths to ascend the site
revered by Jews as the ancient Temple Mount and by Muslims as
al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary.
Israel's High Court of Justice on Thursday ruled against a bid by the
ultra-nationalist Temple Mount Faithful group to ascend the site during
next week's Jewish Passover festival.
US FIRES RARE DOUBLE-BARRELED SHOT OF CRITICISM AT ISRAEL
WASHINGTON, April 5 (AFP) - The United States fired a rare double-barreled shot
of criticism at Israel on Thursday, blasting plans for new settlements in the
Palestinian territories and protesting an incident in which Israeli soldiers
opened fire on a convoy of Palestinian officials.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the shooting, which occurred
as the Palestinians were returning to Gaza after US-facilitated security talks
with Israeli officials, "a very serious incident."
On hearing of it, Secretary of State Colin Powell immediately telephoned both
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to urge
restraint, Boucher told reporters.
"We wanted to ensure that escalation would not ensue," Boucher told reporters,
adding that Washington understood Sharon and Arafat had also spoken directly
to each other after the incident.
Boucher then read the riot act to Israel, spelling out in terse and blunt detail
what the United States expected from the Jewish state, particularly after Washington
had worked hard to arrange the security talks, the first since Sharon took office
last month.
"Israel does have a responsibility to provide the safety and security of Palestinian
officials traveling to and from security meetings," he said.
"Prior to this meeting, we had been assured by Israeli officials that this would
be the case," Boucher added, using language diplomats reserve for expressing
extreme frustration.
He said that details of the incident were still unclear although a senior State
Department official said the shooting had occurred within earshot of US embassy
employees who had shuttled the Palestinians to the meeting from Gaza.
"Our guys had just dropped them off and were heading back when the shooting broke
out," the official said.
Sharon told Powell the shooting had not been deliberate and that he would be
conducting an investigation, Boucher said.
Israel has admitted firing on the convoy late Wednesday just after it entered
the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing with Israel, following a meeting of
security chiefs aimed at quelling months of deadly unrest.
However, Israeli officials say it was a response to fire from one of the escorting
vehicles on an army post.
The Palestinians are pressing the United States to take "harsh" action against
Israel for the incident which they term a premeditated ambush.
Washington had helped arrange the security meeting which was the first since
Sharon took office a month ago and follows a fierce upsurge in violence in Israel
and the Palestinian territories.
Despite the incident, Boucher said Washington would continue to assist with the
security talks.
"What we see as the useful role that we can play by our engagement is to facilitate
their direct bilateral discussions," he said.
Meanwhile, Boucher also slammed Israel's plans for the new settlements "provocative"
and running directly opposite to moves Washington believes are helpful to peace
and stability in the region.
"Continuing settlement activity by Israel does risk further inflaming an already
volatile situation in the region," he said. "This is provocative and we have
consistently encouraged both sides to refrain from provocative acts."
Earlier, the Israeli housing ministry published tenders for 708 homes for Jewish
settlers in the West Bank, drawing an immediate outcry from Palestinians and
left-wing Israelis.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the tenders were part of an Israeli
"policy of aggression."
The settlements, which are illegal under international law, have been at the
flashpoint of the six-month Palestinian intifada or uprising that has killed
almost 470 people, most of them Palestinians.
US CALLS EREZ SHOOTING INCIDENT "VERY SERIOUS"
By Janine Zacharia
WASHINGTON (April 6) - The US yesterday described the shooting at a convoy
of Palestinian security officials at the Erez crossing point into Gaza as a
"very serious incident" and urged Israel to conduct a thorough
investigation.
It also called Israel's plans to build 700 more homes in two settlements
"provocative" and asked Jerusalem to refrain from unilateral moves that
could further inflame an already tense situation.
Secretary of State Colin Powell immediately telephoned Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat upon hearing that
troops had fired early yesterday morning at the convoy transporting
Palestinian officials who had just entered into Gaza after a security
cooperation meeting with Israelis moderated by US Embassy.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell wanted to find out
what happened and to "make sure an escalation would not ensue."
Boucher said Sharon and Arafat also spoke following the incident.
"The firing at the convoy last night we see as a very serious incident,"
Boucher said. "Israel does have a responsibility to provide for the security
and safety of Palestinian officials traveling to and from the security
meetings. Prior to these meetings we had been assured by Israeli officials
that this would be the case."
He added, however, that the circumstances of the incident were murky and
that Sharon had promised Powell he would look into what happened. "We hope
there will be a thorough investigation of the incident, so that these kinds
of incidents can be prevented in the future," Boucher said.
US frustration with the incident caused the State Department to urge Israeli
officials to publicly demand restraint, presumably from soldiers on patrol.
Whereas last week President George W. Bush called specifically on Arafat to
issue a call in Arabic to his people to stop the violence, Boucher said
yesterday that "public statements from both sides should highlight the need
for utmost restraint to prevent a deterioration of the situation on the
ground."
The US hopes the three-way meeting of security officials will usher in a
resumption of bilateral Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation. The US
sees such coordination as key to ending the violence.
Boucher described the four-hour meeting as a "useful and positive exchange,"
but would not say if anything concrete had emerged.
Regarding the announcement by Israel that it would issue tenders for the
construction of a total of 700 homes Ma'aleh Adumim and Alfei Menashe,
Boucher said: "Continued settlement activity in Israel does risk further
inflaming an already volatile situation in the region. This is provocative
and we have consistently encouraged both sides to refrain from provocative
acts."
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