_______ ____ ______
/ |/ / /___/ / /_ // 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]
TWISTING ARAFAT UNTIL HE IS DEAD OR GONE
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 RealitieS - http://www.MiddleEast.Org
Phone: 202 362-5266
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fax: 815 366-0800
To subscribe email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject SUBSCRIBE
To unsubscribe email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject UNSUBSCRIBE
