Marvin Gandall claims: "it has everything to do with political exhaustion, like it or not. Anyone who has ever been on the losing side in a labour or other social struggle, where the relationship of forces is overwhemingly adverse, knows justice or militancy doesn't always or mostly triumph over raw power." More generalities from the USA. You guys need to look at the facts instead of venting postmodernist poetry.
MORE KILLING ON SATURDAY ! In the Gaza Strip, two Israeli helicopters gunship fired a missile at a white Peugeot (belonging to Palestinian militant Aziz Mahmoud al-Shami, cousin of senior Islamic Jihad leader Abdullah al-Shami), as it was travelling through a busy street in the centre of Gaza City this Saturday, while IDF F-16 fighter jets flew overhead. The car, which caught fire, carried members of the Islamic Jihad on a busy Gaza City street on Saturday. The attack came in the wake of the announcement that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel is considering relocating Jewish settlers from Gaza territory to areas of the West Bank which he wants to annex in a final peace deal. Palestinians denounced the plan as another land grab in violation of international law. The attack killed Tareq al-Sussi, a 12-year-old boy on his way to school. It critically wounded two Islamic Jihad members, including the driver, Aziz (seriously wounded in the legs; he had to have both legs amputated). It wounded 9 other people, including two children aged two and 10 respectively. Abdullah al-Shami was not actually in the car. The death of Tareq al-Sussi brings the number of people killed since the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000 to 3,739 human beings, including 2,796 Palestinians and 875 Israelis. Israeli military officials said in a statement that the air force had targeted the attack "against an important member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, responsible for murdering soldiers and implicated in preparations for attacks" against Israelis. Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei in Ramallah said "I condemn this attack which is a new Israeli attack aimed at escalating the violence". Islamic Jihad voewed to avenge the attack. AMONG THE KILLINGS THIS WEEK Israel's military routinely has routinely sent helicopters and F-16 jets to kill Palestinian militants in pinpoint missile and bombing strikes, through more than three years of fighting. In the last Israeli air strike, on December 30, a helicopter fired two missiles at a car carrying Hamas militants, wounding 11 people. On Wednesday, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said one of its fighters was killed during an attack on an Israeli convoy. The IDF had no immediate comment. On Thursday, the IDF using about 30 vehicles entered Jenin at the northern edge of the West Bank, allegedly searching for terror suspects, and exchanging heavy fire with Palestinian gunmen. One Israeli in the force was seriously wounded. No Palestinian casualties were reported. Also in the West Bank, Palestinian gunmen shot and seriously wounded an Israeli security officer during an attempt to arrest a wanted Palestinian militant in the town of Burkin, several kilometres west of Jenin. In the Gaza Strip on Friday, three Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were wounded in exchanges of fire. One of the Palestinians, a toddler, is in critical condition. An exchange of fire occurred at Gaza police headquarters, and 11 police officers were wounded when Preventive Security Service gunmen burst in. One officer, a 22-year-old died of his wounds. Police chief General Ghazi al-Jabali, who was not hurt, called it an attempt to assassinate him, but the Preventive Security Service dismissed it as a "misunderstanding." Palestinian officials said a struggle for power between Gaza police chief Ghazi Jabali and former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan led to the gun battle. Turf battles between more than a dozen different security agencies caused violence repeatedly in the past. Israel officials and the US Government would like the quarreling agencies united under a single Cabinet minister, to facilitate a campaign against groups like Hamas. Also in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian member of Hamas, Abdel Naser Abu Shuka, a local leader of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas (33 years old), was killed in an explosion in his home in the Bureij refugee camp. Hamas accused Israel of killing him and said he was a "martyr", but the IDF said it had no forces in the area and attributed it to a "work accident", the military's term for deaths caused while preparing explosives. Residents also said he may have been building a bomb that went off by accident. Hassan Shihab, 35, who owns a grocery store across the street, said the blast occurred inside the house. Israeli helicopters were in the area, but did not fire missiles. An Israeli army spokesman denied Israeli military were involved, and a security source said the army suspected he was killed in an accident while handling an explosive. In Gaza fighting near the town of Rafah, Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank missile that slammed into an army jeep, slightly wounding two soldiers. A short time later as troops came to evacuate the wounded, militants fired two more missiles toward the group, but missed. Soldiers returned fire, but did not confirm hitting any of the attackers. Three people were wounded by gunfire in the incident, including a 19-month-old boy, Mohammed Daher, who was shot in the neck and in critical condition. An umbrella group of several militant factions said it carried out the attack and would release video footage. Elsewhere in Gaza, two Palestinian militants were killed in separate incidents. Palestinian hospital sources said a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades had been shot accidentally by comrades during an attempted ambush. A member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian was killed or wounded in a gunbattle with Israeli forces in Rafah when he threw a grenade at soldiers. SHARON'S PRIVATE SCANDAL Members of the International Investigations Unit, led by commander Yohanan Danino (the chief of the international crimes division) questioned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his official Jerusalem residence for two hours and a half hours on Thursday about a bribery case that could force him out of office, as criticism grew that his surprise proposal to remove Israeli settlements in Gaza was meant to deflect attention from the scandal. "It was regarding the Greek island," police said. "There were points we had to fill in." The evidence against Sharon was considered inconclusive. Many politicians and analysts have linked the scandal to Sharon's emerging plan for unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians if peace talks fail, including removing some settlements and imposing a boundary on the Palestinians. "The depth of the inquiry equals the depth of the evacuation," said Gaza resident Zvi Hendel, a lawmaker from the pro-settlement National Union and a deputy minister in Sharon's Cabinet. "It's not only about removing settlements. It's about removing headlines," said Akiva Eldar in Haaretz. Sharon was interrogated earlier about the matter in October 2003. Police sources said Sharon did not exercise his right to silence and answered the questions. Sharon denied wrongdoing, rejected opposition calls to resign over the affair, denied he tried to divert attention from the scandal, and vowed to stay in office at least until the next election in 2007. Sharon claimed to investigators he did not know of any lucrative marketing contract his son Gilad had signed with a businessman friend while lacking experience needed for the job. Last month, real estate developer David Appel was indicted on charges of bribing Sharon with $690,000 in 1999 in a tourism development deal in Greece. Appel is accused of bribing Sharon, then foreign minister, through his son Gilad, along with deputy prime minister Ehud Olmert, then mayor of Jerusalem, in exchange for their help in securing the property deal. The bulk of the money was allegedly paid to Sharon's son, Gilad, for "marketing services". There was also a contract to give $3 million to Sharon's ranch, the indictment said. Both Sharon and Olmert were candidates for the Likud leadership and needed money for financing their respective campaigns. Prosecutors claim Appel hired his son Gilad Sharon in 1999 and paid him large sums to persuade his father, then foreign minister, to promote real estate deals including a Greek island resort that was never built. The January indictment against Appel, who has denied the charges, did not cite any evidence that Sharon knowingly accepted money to grant political favors. Appel said in a television interview Wednesday that Sharon was not involved in the failed development deal. Sharon told police he was not aware of Gilad's employment as an adviser to Appel. Appel claims Sharon was not involved in the development deal. "He (Sharon) didn't know about anything that is tied to this, not from me at least". A senior police source said earlier Sharon had cooperated fully and there were no immediate plans to question him again. The new attorney general, Meni Mazuz, is expected to decide within three months whether to indict Sharon. Under Israeli law, a person can be convicted of accepting a bribe only if criminal intent is proven. This allows for a case in which the recipient of a bribe is not indicted. Tourism Minister Benny Elon, whose far-right National Union Party threatened to quit the ruling coalition if Sharon implements his Gaza plan, said the corruption case would weaken Sharon's bid to sell his proposal to Washington. SHARON'S WITHDRAWAL IDEA FOR GAZA So far, both Israel and the Palestinians failed to implement the first phase of Abram Elliot's roadmap design from Washington, which calls for Israel to stop settlement activity which it doesn't, and for the Palestinian Authority to rein in militant Palestinian groups over which it has no control. On Wednesday, aides to Israeli Premier Sharon and Palestinian Premier Ahmed Qureia failed again to set a date for their first summit that would resume talks over the US backed "road map. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who attended initial negotiations, said he hoped a summit could be still arranged, after a meeting with US officials in the near future. But, earlier this week, Sharon proposed a withdrawal of Israelis from most of Gaza over two years, as part the "unilateral disengagement" program he is preparing if peace talks stay frozen. He had mooted the idea in December and aimed to start removals at the end of 2004. He said he welcomed a referendum on it demanded by Likud members. Top aides said he aimed to implement it in the summer. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, a Likud hawk, said he supported Sharon's stance. "The plan of disengagement from the Palestinians is good and the evacuation of the (Gaza) strip will provide greater security to the residents of Israel than they have now" he said in Yediot Ahronot. Sharon's "disengagement plan" would not be complete for another two to three months, and moving Gaza settlers to the West Bank is only one of several options being considered. In Sharon's own scheme, 17 of the 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza would be evacuated plus several of the more than 120 Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He would draw a "security line" should a US backed peace deal fail. About 7,500 Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded settlements in Gaza, among 1.3 million Palestinians. Palestinian militants have repeatedly attacked settler communities during the Intifada. Sharon's plan would leave at least three Gaza settlements in place, at least until a final peace deal. Sharon's plan is part of his interpretation of the boundary concept in the West Bank, that would leave some of the territory under Israeli control. Sharon has said his plan is not yet finalized, but he dispatched his vice premier, Ehud Olmert, to Washington to reassure U.S. officials that the proposal to dismantle settlements would not undercut US peace efforts. "We believe there is no alternative to the vision of the (U.S.) president and yet ...there is no need to wait until the Palestinians will be prepared to (engage) in a serious dialogue with us...we have to move in this direction," Olmert said. "Israel will not remain in Gaza". "They (the Americans) know that the prime minister is determined, that there is no way back," Olmert said in a Friday interview on Israel's Channel One TV following his return from Washington. Olmert went instead of Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who opposes a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, on the ground it would encourage more Palestinian attacks. THE BACKGROUND OF SHARON'S WITHDRAWAL IDEA Sharon has said he will only move ahead, if there is no progress on the US.-backed "road map" peace plan. But Likud Party lawmakers, feeling betrayed, started initiatives to block the proposal. Ten Likud members of parliament signed a letter pledging to oppose any plan to take down settlements. Two pro-settler parties are prepared to resign if he carries out his plans. A few hundred Gaza settlers demonstrated outside Sharon's Negev desert ranch, near Gaza's border, on Friday. They carried placards saying "Gush Katif is ours" -- referring to the largest enclave -- and shouted "Sharon we don't want you any more." The powerful Israeli settlement movement published advertisements in Israeli newspapers protesting against Sharon's proposal, and then Sharon's advisers tried to reassure them that evacuation in Gaza could ultimately pour more settlers into the West Bank. There may be no move ahead at all for Sharon, and his center-right coalition government probably would not survive the removal of settlements in Gaza. Sharon says however he is nevertheless determined to implement his plan, and he is prepared to call elections if necessary. Government spokesman Raanan Gissin said Sharon would welcome a referendum on Gaza evacuation though, on the basis that the issue cuts across ideological lines, and "has overwhelming support among the public". Sharon is supported by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. Polls show most Israelis favor scrapping enclaves exposed to a Palestinian uprising, both in Gaza and the West Bank, where Sharon plans to leave most settlements alone. A poll by Maariv daily newspaper, a day after Sharon's interrogation by police, showed that 39 percent of those surveyed after Sharon unveiled his evacuation proposal on Monday were satisfied with his performance as prime minister compared with a record low of 33 percent last week. "Last week, when support for Sharon hit bottom...we forecast his media advisers would come up with a juicy diplomatic initiative to get him out of the clutches of (prosecutors) and opinion poll doldrums," said Maariv. Mirroring results of other polls this week, the Maariv-Gal Hahadash poll, which surveyed 603 people and had a margin of error of four percent found that 52 percent of the Israeli public supported unilateral evacuation of all of Israel's 21 Gaza settlements, with 36 percent opposed. Some 58 percent of Israelis would back the scrapping of isolated settlements in the West Bank and 31 percent would oppose it. On Friday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked Sharon to meet with him at U.N. headquarters in New York early next month during the prime minister's upcoming visit to the United States to clarify Israel's plans. Annan said he had "a very frank and long conversation" with Sharon on Friday and he wanted to make sure that any Gaza withdrawal was just a first step to a wider Israeli pullback as part of a land-for-peace deal. The United States intends to send William Burns and Elliot Abrams to Israel in the coming weeks to discuss Sharon's disengagement plan. Sharon is due to visit Washington, to defend Israel's West Bank separation fence, the legality is to judged by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and to seek US approval to expand West Bank settlement blocs, which Israel would annex in a future "peace deal". He would justify his initiative by explaining that West Bank enclaves would have to be expanded, to accommodate some of the 7,500 settlers that would be removed from Gaza. THE PALESTINIAN POSITION ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS IN GAZA The Palestinian position, consistent with United Nations policy, is that Israel's settlement of the West Bank and Gaza violates the Fourth Geneva Convention on warfare, which prohibits a ruling power from settling its own civilians in territory it occupies. Israel however claims that the convention does not apply to territory it seized in the 1967 Yom Kippur war, because this land is "disputed", not "occupied". Their argument is similar to the US-UK defence of the occupation of Iraq with legal technicalities that would make the moral principle irrelevant to the case. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia is in favour of the idea of dismantling settlements in Gaza, but he said it's unacceptable to move Gaza settlers to the West Bank. Qureia also said all Israeli West Bank settlements must be removed. "The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are an integral part of our homeland, and we will not give up even one centimeter of our homeland," Qureia said. Yasser Arafat urged Sharon to also withdraw Israelis from the West Bank. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said that Israeli evacuation in Gaza should be followed by a similar step in the West Bank, where Israel has some 120 settlements. "We seek comprehensive withdrawal under which the Palestinian security forces will be fully responsible for implementing the rule of law," Shaath said. Palestinian Authority officials complain about what they see as Washington's disengagement from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during a U.S. election year. In Ramallah, Jibril Rajoub, a senior security adviser to Arafat, takes the view that US Government is cutting aid and scaling back involvement in Mideast diplomacy because Palestinians failed to find those responsible for an attack on a US convoy in Gaza in October. Three U.S. security guards were killed at that time in a roadside bombing. "I think this is blackmail," said Rajoub. He previously enjoyed close relations with US agencies, when he served as security chief in the West Bank. US State Department's Richard Boucher however dismissed Rajoub's argument as "ridiculous." He said Palestinians should improve their security, but he considered that the US remains engaged in "peacemaking". Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said any go-it-alone Israeli move would leave the Palestinians with less land than they want for a state in the West Bank and Gaza. "[Israeli] Settlements in the West Bank are an obstacle to peace as much as the ones in Gaza Strip. They all must go," Erekat says. "The mere suggestion of trade-off between settlements in Gaza and the West Bank should be rejected by the Americans." (from recent press reports) Jurriaan Bendien, 7 February 2004
