>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 08:49:41 -0500 (EST) > > > > > > ISRAELIS CRUSHING PALESTINIAN PEOPLE > and > THREATENING TO DO SAME TO ARAFAT REGIME > > > "Things are going from bad to worse, > and that is the way they will continue." > Palestinian in Hebron > > > MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 11/07: > The Israelis are pursuing the same macro policy they have pursued for > decades > now -- crush and subjugate the Palestinian people one way or another, > dispossessing > them of most of their lands and resources, controlling their movements and > associations. > > Regardless of what the Israelis actually say in public, permanently > subjugating > and controlling the Palestinians is what Zionist policy has really been >all > about > for a very long time. Sometimes it is pursued by the "liberals", >sometimes by > the "conservatives"...you know the routine by now. Whether General Barak, >or > General Sharon, or General Rabin for that matter...the policy twists and >turns > but the overall direction and purpose remains the same. What happened >after > the Gulf War at Madrid, and then in Oslo, was a continuation of this >overall > policy, not a change from it. Camp David II was meant to be the >culmination > of this process, permanently disenfranching the Palestinians by agreement >of > their own leadership, forever putting them onto "autonomous" reservations >in > a deceptively non-existent "Statelet" that nevertheless much of the world, >and > even many Palestinians, would accept because of Yasser Arafat's >"signature" on > an "end the conflict" agreement. > So far it hasn't worked. Arafat didn't follow through, even after >signing > so many agreements indicating he would. In the end he probaby decided his > doing > so would lead to his own demise, and that of his entourage of corrupt > businessmen > and cronies, once his own people realized what the "end game" for Arafat >really > had become. > The following two articles help explain part of the strategy the >Israelis > are now pursuing to further collectively punish and inflict pain as they > continue > to try to twist the Palestinian people into submission. > > > BARAK TRIES ECONOMIC WAR TO BEAT THE INTIFADA > > PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES FACING LONG-TERM RUIN > as Israeli blockade puts stranglehold on jobs, > foodstuffs and other vital supplies > > By Eric Silver in Jerusalem > > [The Independent - 7 November]: The Jericho casino, the Holy Land's only >legal > gaming house, closed last week. Since it opened two years ago, 2,500 >punters > have lost (and occasionally won) hundreds of thousands of dollars every >day > at its roulette wheels and fruit machines. Most were Israelis, driving >through > the bare, scarred canyons of the Judean wilderness across an unmarked >border > into the Palestinian state-in-the-making. > > A month ago, when the Palestinians launched their second intifada, an > uprising this time with guns as well as stones and petrol bombs, gamblers > played safe and stayed at home. The tables were deserted, the 184 rooms in > > the luxurious hotel next door empty. > > The Austrian company which manages the casino will not say how much it is > losing. Nor will Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, which takes 30 per > > cent of the profits in taxes. The 2,000 employees, mostly Palestinian, do >not > know whether they will keep their jobs. As the violence escalates, it >looks > as if it will be a long time before the punters return. > > The Austrians can afford to sit out the mayhem. The Palestinians, whose > economy is being held to ransom by their Israeli foes, cannot. > > The closure Ehud Barak imposed at the end of September prevents 125,000 >day > labourers getting to their jobs in Israeli building sites, farms, hotels >and > factories. It blocks the export and import of materials and produce. At >its > most severe, it prevents movement of goods and services between >Palestinian > communities. > > Salam Fayyad, an economist who represents the International Monetary Fund >in > the West Bank and Gaza, is predicting a recession, which could set the > Palestinian economy back for years. "The crisis," he said, "is having a > dramatic impact on a very small economy for which an open-trade system is > essential. The closure isplacing a stranglehold on the economy and on its > future prospects." > > The Palestinian Economy and Trade Ministry estimates that the siege cost >at > least $346m (?239m) in its first month. United Nations economists in Gaza >put > it at $250m. > > Either way, it blew a huge hole in an economy that was finally starting to > > take off. Unemployment tripled overnight to 30 per cent. Farmers and > manufacturers are losing almost $2m a day in exports, to Israel and the >Arab > world. > > Mohammed Hassan Shamlay, a chicken farmer from the West Bank village of > Haris, lost $10,000 during October. He was trapped in a double bind. He > couldn't get the feed he buys from Israel, and he couldn't send his fowl >to > market in neighbouring Arab towns. "If it goes on like this," said Mr > Shamlay, a burly man in his late forties, "I'll go out of business." > > He will not be alone. The Palestinian economy has few natural resources, > apart from its manpower, brainpower and a fragment of a land which is not > > exactly flowing with milk and honey. Most of its firms are small-scale >family > enterprises. They manufacture furniture and textiles, but not machinery. >They > process foodstuff, much of it imported. > > Bethlehem and Jericho make money from hotels and restaurants, especially > beforeChristmas, but the tourists are not coming. "All our groups have > cancelled," said Olof Jurva, manager of Bethlehem's Jacir Palace, a >five-star > InterContinental. He expected 60 per cent occupancy this autumn, but all >250 > rooms are empty. His 200 local staff are working two-weeks-on, >two-weeks-off.. > Seven bars and three of the hotel's four restaurants are closed. > > Labourers who work in Israel take home an average of $28 a day. That is > double what they would earn in the West Bank or Gaza but it still leaves >them > precious little to save for a rainy day. > > Businesses may be better off but their cushion is limited too. And the > Palestinian banks cut off credit two weeks ago,to individuals and to > compa-nies, for fear that loans might never be repaid. > > Soon, consumers will stop buying more than staple necessities. Firms will >lay > off workers. Shops will have to slash prices to tempt people back. The > recession will gather pace. "The demand effect is very likely to be > devastating," warned the IMF economist, Salam Fayyad. "It won't be long > before you'll see shops closed or working shorter hours." > > Israeli bureaucracy is not making things easier. More than 900 truckloads >for > Palestinian territories, are stuck at the Israeli ports of Haifa and >Ashdod. > So are 1,000 new and used cars. At the same time, Israel is delaying the > monthly transfer of about $30m in tax revenue paid by Palestinian workers >or > importers. Saeb Bamya, director-general of the Economy and Trade Ministry, > > accuses Israel of trying to bring the Palestinian Authority and the > Palestinian people to their knees. "They are ready to use any instrument >in > their hands," he said. "They want to put us in a very critical situation >for > political reasons." > > The Israelis do not deny wielding the economic weapon. "We are not trying >to > starve them out," said a government spokesman, "but we are using any means >to > convince the Palestinians to stop the violence. There is a struggle going >on, > Palestinians versus Israelis, and Israel is entitled to take every measure >to > defend itself." > > > > ARAFAT AGREES TO MORE TALKS AS KILLINGS GO ON > > By Alan Philps in Hebron > > [The Telegraph, UK, 6 November]: YASSER ARAFAT yesterday accepted an > invitation > from President Clinton to visit Washington on Thursday for further peace >talks, > as Israel said that the Palestinian leader was trying to halt the >fighting. > > Yasser Arafat has ordered a cessation to the Palestinian fighting. > However, the Israelis said that despite Mr Arafat's efforts it could take > more time before the firing ceased in the West Bank and Gaza. Speaking on > Israel radio Ephraim Sneh, deputy defence minister, referring to a truce > brokered on Thursday by the former prime minister, said: "After the > understandings with Shimon Peres, orders were given by him [Arafat] to >stop > the gunfire. But as things stand now this order has had only partial >effect, > not the full effect we expect." > > But the announcement of continuing talks - the Israeli Prime Minister, >Ehud > Barak, will meet Mr Clinton on Sunday - did not inspire hopes among many > Palestinians as two more people were shot dead and 42 injured in protests > against the Israeli presence. > > In the divided city of Hebron the mood was downbeat. Jaudat Jaradat, a > Palestinian caretaker in an Israeli school, sat in the Ahli hospital. Mr > Jaradat said: "Things are going from bad to worse, and that is the way >they > will continue." > > His daughter, Ghazala, 14, is in intensive care after being shot in the >back > of the head by the Israeli army on Saturday as she walked home from >school. A > doctor said: "If she survives, there will be paralysis in the upper and >lower > limbs, and mental retardation." > > Ghazala - gazelle in Arabic - is an exceptional victim of the conflict > because she is a girl. Almost without exception, the stone-throwers, and > occasionally armed militiamen, wounded or killed by the Israeli army are > male. Girls, particularly in strictly Islamic Hebron, do not throw stones. > > > At the Ahli hospital, they can recall only two females out of 220 >casualties > in Hebron so far. She was hit by a rubber-coated steel bullet but in her >case > the rubber surround barely made any difference. X-rays show that the >bullet > splintered the skull behind the ear and forced the bits into her brain. > > The bitter irony is that Ghazala and her classmates were sent home early > because of trouble brewing between youths from the nearby boys' school and > > the Israeli army. The head teacher even escorted the girls over the road. >No > one denies that the boys were throwing stones at the soldiers. > > The girls were walking home in groups of 20 to stay out of trouble, >according > to her father. He said: "This is not an accident. The soldier aimed at her > > head. If they were trying to control protesters, why didn't they at least >aim > at the legs? My daughter in any case was just walking home from school." > > The army spokesman said: "There was a clash near the school and the army >was > using rubber bullets. We don't know exactly what happened. Of course we do > > not intentionally hit girls in the head. We are still investigating." >Ghazala > comes from a family who are hardly rabble-rousers. The father is such a > valued employee that the school where he works has secured him a pass so >that > he can come to work even when the borders are sealed for security reasons. > > When the Voice of Palestine radio reported prematurely that Ghazala was >dead, > her 24-year-old cousin, Hamed, rushed to the scene to vent his anger. A > firebomb was thrown at an Israeli jeep. He was shot in the liver by a live > > round. Yesterday, he was in the bed opposite Ghazala. > > Two more Palestinians were shot dead yesterday in the Gaza Strip, >according > to Palestinian figures. This brings the death toll in five weeks of >violence > to 173. Both sides want to pull back from the brink but that does not mean > > peace is around the corner. As Mr Jaradat said, normal life will mean that >a > girl can walk home from school without running into armed soldiers. > > > > > > > MiD-EasT RealitieS - www.MiddleEast.Org > Phone: 202 362-5266 Fax: 815 366-0800 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscriibe email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject SUBSCRIBE > To unsubscribe email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject UNSUBSCRIBE > > > > > >_______________________________________________________ > >GANGBOX: CONSTRUCTION WORKERS NEWS SERVICE > >GANGBOX homepage: > >http://www.GeoCities.com/gangbox/ > >comments? email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >"UNION NOW, UNION FOREVER" >***************************************** > > > >-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> >eLerts >It's Easy. It's Fun. 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