by Adam Keller
It was recently that the American mediator Anthony Zinni tried to set
up a
48-hour cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians. A few hours
later,
Israeli helicopters killed four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. On the
morning,
this
was followed by the killing of two Palestinian boys, who the soldiers
claimed
had been throwing stones at an army outpost. The Israeli media took in
its
stride these incidents - and other ones, such as an incursion in force
into the
Palestinian town of Jenin. The funerals, with the thousands of furious
mourners, were not shown on Israeli TV at all. The Hamas ambush in the
evening, in which nine Israelis got killed and many more wounded, is
presented to the public as an unprovoked act of terrorism, killing for
the sake
of killing.
Except for a short remark by Yoram Binur on second Channel TV, there was
little notice taken of the fact that today's victims were settlers
living illegally on
the occupied West Bank and that today's attack, however cruel, shows a
change of the previous Hamas policy of aiming at random Israeli
civilians in
the
main population centres - which can be considered a direct result of the
enormous international pressures put on the Palestinians.
But as reflected in the mainstream electronic media, Israeli society
regards
today's killings as the continuation of the 26 killed by Hamas two weeks
ago in
the city centres Jerusalem and Haifa. As usual on such evenings,
interviewed
politicians shade from the extreme to the ultra-extreme. The retaliatory
bombings by Israel's Air Force already began, including on targets which
have
not the remotest connection with terrorism or armed struggle, such as
the
Palestinian Ministry of Science in Nablus; and more heavy retaliation is
predicted to come out of Sharon's conclave with his ministers, taking
part at
this moment in the Ministry of Defence. Hamas taking responsibility for
the
attack will not prevent Arafat being blamed as always and his men
bearing the
burnt of the retaliation.
Actually, before this cataclysm broke upon us we were preparing to send
you a
report of the Gush Shalom vigil, held last night in response to the
killing,
day before yesterday, of two Palestinian children in Hebron, when
Israeli
helicopters tried to perform a "targeted killing" of a young man
appearing on
Sharon's wanted list. Yesterday's modest achievement of a hasty
mobilization
getting some sixty or seventy people to stand up and be counted in the
streets
of Tel-Aviv now seems far away. Yet the decision to hold the protest on
the
pavement outside the US Embassy - rather than, as we usually do, at the
Defence Ministry or the PM's residence - seems vindicated by the events
of the
past hours. ['Be an arbiter - not an accomplice!']
The United States Government - specifically, President George W. Bush in
person - bears a major share of the responsibility for the galloping
escalation:
discarding the last vestiges of a pretence at being an honest broker and
openly
giving Sharon a free hand to undertake the most brutal measures against
the
Palestinians. The shrill demand upon Arafat to immediately crack down
upon
Hamas, while asking nothing whatsoever from Sharon, is grossly unfair to
what
is what is and remains the immeasurably weaker party to the conflict -
however
much the terrible images of terrorist attacks are being used to obscure
that
fact. Bush's endorsement of Sharon is also a highly dubious boon to
Israel -
helping to entrench in power a highly dangerous and immoral man, who can
offer no solution whatsoever to the country's problems.
In the discourse of the past days, much was made of the precedent of
1996,
when Arafat did make a severe and quite thorough crackdown on the
Hamas, under circumstances which superficially look similar to the
present -
the wake of a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv. But
that
was when Israel still had a government committed to go forward with what
started at Oslo in 1993. That was when was Arafat was able to tell his
people
that a promising
road forward is open to them through negotiations, and that Hamas
suicide
bombings are blocking that road. Specifically, Arafat was able to tell
that to
the young members of the Palestinian police and security services, who
are
required to carry out the arrests and confrontations.
At this moment, there is nothing remotely similar. On the contrary - the
present government of Israel is fully committed to continuing occupation
and
settlement construction, and has been at great pains to show that the
Palestinians have absolutely nothing to expect of negotiations. And
under
such
conditions, Arafat is being to choose between steps which may lead to a
civil
war among Palestinians, or having the full might of the Israeli armed
forces
loosed upon him with international sanction...
Gush Shalom
is a non-partisan and extra-parliamentary grass roots
movement, whose aim is to influence public opinion.
Gush Shalom
is composed of Jews and Arabs, Independents as well as
members of political parties and other organizations.
