ISRAEL ON WARPATH

 Yohannan Chemarapally

SPEAKING to media in the third week of September from his battle-scarred headquarters, Arafat said that he was not afraid to die. “I am a Palestinian soldier…. I will use my gun to defend not only myself but also defend every Palestinian child, woman and man and to defend the Palestinian existence,” Arafat said. “Is there any one in Palestine who does not dream of martyrdom.”

It had to happen some day and it’s begun. The Sharon government is on the rampage. The declaration by the Israeli government to “remove” the Palestinian Authority president, Yasser Arafat, in the second week of September, immediately after the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon reached Tel Aviv from New Delhi, has naturally met with international condemnation. Since September 12, after the Israeli government’s decision was announced, Palestinians in their thousands have been flocking around Arafat’s compound in Ramallah, to prevent the Israeli government from carrying out its threats. Arafat, as usual, remains defiant. He said no power on earth can remove him from his people.

USA’S TACIT BLESSINGS

Arafat was speaking after Israeli forces had increased the violence against the Palestinian people since the return of an apparently re-invigorated Sharon from India. Israeli helicopter gunships have been regularly targeting Palestinian leaders for assassination. The Palestinian ambassador to India, Osama Musa, himself a trained pilot, said that the sophisticated Apache helicopter gunships, supplied by the Americans to Israel, carry 16 laser guided missiles which have a 12 km range.  The anti-tank missiles cost around 50,000 dollars each. “These anti-tank missiles are used to assassinate our leaders,” said Musa. Targeted assassinations of Palestinians by Israeli security forces was a major factor for the American backed “roadmap” for peace, ushered in four months ago, ending up as a non-starter.

Immediately after the resignation of Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas on September 6, Israeli helicopter gunships targeted the houses of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, and leaders of other radical groupings. The Hamas retribution soon followed in the form of two suicide bombings on September 9, killing 15 Israelis. Israel immediately responded by targeting the house of Mahmoud Zhar, the Hamas spokesman, with another of its one ton bombs. He too escaped death, but his son and other innocent civilians were killed. Another Hamas leader, Abu Swerah, was killed on September 18, when Israeli troops raided a refugee camp in the Gaza strip.

The Israeli move to “remove” Arafat has the tacit blessing of the Bush administration. Condoleezza Rice, the US national security council adviser, told the American media recently that the international community will have to confront the question of how to deal with Arafat, who she said “stands as an obstacle to peace.” However, Rice still insists that the Bush administration is opposed to any move by Israel to send Arafat into exile or kill him. The United States was the only country which vetoed the UN security council resolution denouncing Israel’s policy of “removing” Arafat in the third week of September. A few days later, President George W Bush once again loudly reiterated his administration stance by suggesting that Arafat is a hindrance to the peace process and only a new Palestinian leadership would be capable of bringing about a negotiated settlement.

WORLD OPINION DIFFERS FROM US

The Bush administration’s views on the issue are not shared by the rest of the international community. The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, has said that any move to remove Arafat would be “unwise.” The European Union in a statement said that expelling Arafat would “escalate” Israeli-Arab tensions.  The Arab League said expelling Arafat would have “disastrous consequences across the region and further afield.” The Russian foreign ministry was of the view that expelling Arafat would “remove the possibility of peacefully resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and would lead to a uncontrollable chain of events in the worst case scenario.”  

The international community was shocked by the lone veto exercised by the American government in the UN Security Council. The UN Security Council resolution, sponsored by non-aligned nations, had demanded that Israel “desist from any act of deportation and cease any threat to the safety of the elected president of the Palestinian Authority.” Sponsored by Sudan, Pakistan and South Africa, the Security Council resolution was prompted by the statement by Israel’s security cabinet in the second week of September, denouncing Arafat as “an obstacle to peace” and saying that he should be “removed.”

The Israeli government had not specified the way in which Arafat would be “removed.” Several diplomats in the UN feared that through its ‘veto” the Bush administration may have sent a message to the Israeli government that its threat to the Palestinian leader will not be opposed. The spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, Saeb Erekat, described the American veto as “a black day” for the UN and expressed the hope that Israel would not interpret it as a “license to kill.” During the open debate in the Security Council, more than 40 governments, including India, condemned the Israeli threat to “remove” Arafat.

Many Israelis themselves think that the Sharon government’s game plan is to assassinate Arafat. Israel’s deputy prime minister Ehud Olmert had publicly stated in the second week of September that killing Arafat was “definitely one of the options open” for his government.

The noted Israeli political commentator, Uri Avnery, wrote recently that it was no longer a question of just “expelling or killing” Arafat. According to Avnery, the Sharon government has decided to “liquidate” him. According to Arab diplomats based in Delhi, there is absolutely no way in which Arafat will allow himself to be physically removed from his compound. Besides, they point out that Israel is fully aware that an Arafat in exile could be a much more dangerous proposition for them. Arafat is on a first name basis with most of the world leaders, barring a few exceptions like George W Bush. “If Arafat is forced out of Palestine, Israel will no longer have a convenient scapegoat,” said another Arab diplomat.

Avnery feels the Likud government may not carry out is threat immediately, as it would embarrass Israel’s benefactor --- the Bush administration. According to Avnery, Sharon will look for an opportune moment to physically target Arafat. With Arafat out of the way, the Likud hawks like Sharon can start dismantling the Palestinian Authority and start implementing their grandiose plan of establishing an Eretz Israel (Greater Israel) encompassing all the Palestinian territories. “Sharon wants to conclude the historic clash between Zionism and the Palestinian people with a clear-cut decision: solid Israeli control over the entire country and a situation that will compel the Palestinians to get out,” writes Avnery. According to him, Yasser Arafat is the only “total obstacle,” as defined in the recent Israeli government resolution, to the implementation of this design. Many historians believe that the Israeli invasion of the West Bank in 1967 was a strategic move specifically to secure the water resources of the West Bank.

“ISRAEL IS BASED ON OPPRESSION”

 The events of the last few weeks have once again shown that only Arafat can claim to speak for the entire Palestinian people. The new man chosen by the Palestinian parliament for the prime minister’s post is their speaker, Ahmad Qurei. Qurei has said that he would only formally assume the prime minister’s post after getting assurances from the US and EU, that they remain committed to the “roadmap” for peace.  Qurei is known to enjoy the confidence of Arafat. He has also been a critic of the “armed intifada” which started three years ago. Qurei, popularly known as Abu Ala among the Palestinians, has also urged the international community to prevail on Israel to lift the siege on Arafat. The new prime minister designate was also quick to propose a new ceasefire which would be binding on all the Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. This was quickly rejected by Sharon. The Hamas and the Islamic Jihad had scrupulously observed the last truce till it was broken by the Sharon government after it reverted to its notorious policies of targeted killings.

The Palestinian Authority is again calling for a truce with Israel. Arafat said in the late September that the Hamas and Islamic Jihad were ready for another ceasefire provided the Israelis act in good faith. The Sharon government, however, wants the Palestinian Authority to first disarm Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Palestinian officials point out that this is out of the question as it would be a sure recipe for a civil war among Palestinians. Besides, they point out that the PA security apparatus has been destroyed by more than three years of Israeli military attacks on the Palestinian police and incursions into Palestinian controlled territories. The Hamas is today the most popular organisation among Palestinians. Many of them are dependent on Hamas for the charitable and social work they have been doing in their beleaguered community.

An Amnesty International report, released on September 8, noted that the Israeli army in the last three years has killed more than 2,100 civilian, including 380 children, “in mostly excessive and indiscriminate use of force, unlawful killings and assassinations.” The report also underlined Israel’s “consistent violations of international human rights and humanitarian law” which include arbitrary expropriation of natural resources and the establishment of Israeli settlements on occupied territories. The report said that apart from arbitrary killings, Israel is increasingly resorting to punishing the Palestinian people with closures, blockades, checkpoints, curfews and a barrage of other restrictions on movement imposed by the Israeli army. “Unemployment has soared over 50 per cent, more than half the population is living under the poverty line and malnutrition and other illnesses have increased.” said the report. Avraham Burg, a senior Labour Party MP who was till recently the speaker of the Israeli Knesset, wrote recently that Israel could not claim to be the only democracy in the region while at the same time keeping the Palestinians under their boots. “The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption, and on foundations of oppression and injustice. As such, the end of the Zionist enterprise is already on our doorstep.”