GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - http://www.gush-shalom.org/
[The following analysis by Adam Keller is followed by a request to send a letter in the spirit of the article to the
American administration.]
For more than a year it has been discussed in the media and the political and military system: is what is going on
between Israel and the Palestinians a war, or is it just "fighting"? Early this morning, the question has been resolved:
it is war indeed. The government of Israel has officially and formally declared the Palestinian Authority and its
president Yasser Arafat to be enemy, and instructed the armed forces under its command to actively and agressively
pursue the war by land, and sea.
This is not a random happening. In fact, it is the logical culmination of the policies undertaken by Ariel Sharon ever
since he assumed power in February; and in fact, these are a direct continuation of Sharon's policies as Defence
Minister in the early 1980's, when he initiated a disastrous invasion of Lebanon for the purpose of destroying the PLO
and expelling Arafat.
Since becoming Prime Minister, Sharon has been edging closer and closer to this all-out war. Measures of oppression were
steadily piled on top of each other, yesterday's outrageous innovation becoming today's routine. The "strangling
closure" imposed on Ramalla at the very first week of Sharon's tenure and which aroused then many international protests
was, in fact, far less severe than the siege at present imposed on each every West Bank town and village.
And the same process of familiarization had gone on with regard to the bombing of Palestinian cities - first by
helicopter gunships (as already started by Barak), then by F-16 fighter planes; and with the more and more widespread
assassination of Palestinians suspected of terrorism; and with armed incursions into Palestinian-held areas - first for
days, later for weeks, then months.
Mediation efforts and plans there had been in plenty throughout Sharon's term. The PM hardly ever rejected any of them
openly. Rather, he used what so far seems a fullproof method: making a rigid demand for seven days of "complete and
absolute cease-fire" before any substantive negotiations can take place, and then making a gross provocation, just
before the newest cease-fire is about to go into force.
What happened a bit more than a week ago was a particularly effective use of the technique: a few days before the latest
mediator, the ex-US General Zinni, Sharon authorized the assassination by helicopter gunships of Mahmud Abu Hunud, a
Hamas leader prominent and popular enough to ensure that his death would be avenged in Hamas' brutal fashion -
particularly since the assassination took place when Palestinian public opinion was already inflamed by the death of
five Palestinian children from an explosive charge set up by Israeli army sappers (which was, apparently, an accident).
The ploy was, in fact, quite obvious. It was commented on in the media at the time; the knowledgable Alex Fishman
pointed in Yedito Aharonot (Nov. 25) that the Abu Hunud assassination broke the tacit agreement between Arafat and Hamas
not to carry out suicide bombing -- an agreement which had been in force for several months, and whose existence may
well have saved dozens of Israeli lives.
Without access to Sharon's confidential records, there is no way of conclusively proving that the PM actually desired
what followed. There is no doubt that he and his military and intelligence advisers knew full well what would result
from assassinating Abu Hunud and nevertheless ordered the deed to be done. Nor can there be a doubt that Hamas' grisly
revenge, causing the death of 26 randomly chosen Israelis, was of an inestimable profit to Sharon. It gave him the
perfect pretext for the declaration of war upon Arafat, effectively scuttling the Zinni mission and letting the Pentagon
hawks gain the upper hand over the State Depratment in the adminstartion's infighting. As a the result Sharon's
onslaught upon the Palestinians got an unprecented open backing from Washington.
With that kind of backing, Sharon could afford to adopt an openly contemptuous attitude to his Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres, whose international prestige as Nobel Peace Prize laureate and supposed peacemaker were hitherto vital to the
Sharon Government. Now, the PM could afford to ram his declaration of war through the cabinet and brush aside Peres'
objections.
Sharon has been trumpeting his new campaign as "a war on terrorism" . But how can anybody seriously claim that the cause
of "fighting terrorism" can be furthered by bombing and destroying Yasser Arafat's personal helicopters, which anyway
never could fly without the Israeli Air Force's approval? Or by sending tanks and bulldozers to wreak the runways of
Gaza International Airport - the airport which was inaugurated three years ago by President Bill Clinton in person, and
which had been closed down ever since the outbreak of the Intifada? Or by again invading Ramallah, a large portion of
which was just recently occupied by Israeli tanks without in the least diminishing the intensity of the Palestinian
rebellion? Or even less, by systematically targetting and destroying the installations of the Palestinian Police and
security services - the very apparatus with which Arafat had just begun the difficult and delicate task of confronting
Palestinian militants.
Seen in the perspective of an Israeli Prime Minster who is determined to maintain Israeli occupation of and settlement
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and to smother any emergent Palestinian statehood, Sharon's campaign of the last days
makes all too much sense. In which case Sharon seems to be getting the Bush Adminstrations' support in destroying what
Secretary Powel described, just two weeks ago, as the United States' vision for the region's future: a viable Palestine
living in peace side by side with Israel.
Adam Keller
Tel-Aviv,
Dec. 4, 2001
------------------------------------------------
There is a little something you can do, from wherever you are, to help in this very difficult and dangerous situation.
For example, sending the following message (or a text of your own) to President Bush and Secretary of State Powell by
fax and/or email.
President George W. Bush,
Fax: +1-202-456-2461
email: president@whitehouse.gov
Secretary of State Colin Powell,
Fax: +1-202-261-8577
email: secretary@state.gov
Dear Sir
In the aftermath of the suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa, the US Government has given Prime Minster Sharon a
virtually free hand in conducting what amounts to an all-out war against the Palestinian Authority.
This support is given on the assumption that Mr. Sharon is engaged in fighting terrorism, which has become a central
aim of US policy since September 11. However, the concrete military actions undertaken by Sharon raise doubts that that
is his true aim - in particular, the targeting of Palestinian police stations and security service installations,
weakening the very appartus which the Palestinian Authority needs to be able to confront Hamas. Rather, Sharon's actions
suggest that his aim is to destroy the buds of Palestinian self-government, perpetuate Israeli occupation and settlement
and prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state - which aims are in total contradiction to US policy, as
reiterated in public very recently. Therefore, we call upon you use your influnce to help restrain Sharon's escalating
attacks upon the Palestinians, before they spin out of control and set the region ablaze.
Sincerely
....
[and if you like you could add the following P.S.]
We would like to draw your attention to an Israeli public opinion poll published in the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot
on December 3. In spite of the fact that it was conducted a few hours after the Haifa bombing - a time when Israelis
were extremely shocked and angry at the outrage - no less than 32% of those asked were in favor of starting immediate
and accelerated peace talks with the Palestinians, also without waiting for a cease fire.
It would be worthwhile for the US Government, in its dealings with Israel, to take account of this substantial and often
silenced part of Israeli society.
For more about Gush Shalom you are invited to visit our renewed website: http://www.gush-shalom.org/