Apprentice lawyer killed guard, self 18 others in Haifa
San Francisco Chronicle
Saturday, October 11, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Haifa, Israel -- Among the 20 people who died last Saturday in the suicide bomb attack on a restaurant in Haifa were two Arabs, a man and a woman.
They had little in common.
Mutanis Karkaby, 32, was a poorly paid security guard at the Maxim restaurant, a popular meeting place on the beach jointly owned and patronized by Jews and Arabs, not a remarkable thing in the Israeli city where peaceful coexistence is most deeply entrenched.
Hanadi Jaradat, a 29-year-old from a well-to-do family in Jenin, was only days away from finishing her training with a local law firm.
Hanadi killed Mutanis and 18 other people when she walked into Maxim at lunchtime and blew it to pieces by detonating a harness under her clothes packed with explosives, jagged metal and bolts. Several entire families were destroyed -- grandparents, parents and young children ripped to shreds where they sat.
Hanadi was not a refugee. She didn't suffer from hunger or deprivation, and her landowning family could afford to send her to Jordan to study law. The Jaradats live in a smart-looking, detached house in Jenin noted for the large lemon tree in the front garden. They are not religious.
But Hanadi's generation, nonetheless, turned into a cell of killers. Swept up in the feelings of oppression and powerlessness shared by so many Palestinians, they steeped themselves in the blood-chilling ideology of Islamic Jihad, which calls for the destruction of Israel and the death of its Jewish residents.
Hanadi was not the first in the family to lash out through the medium of a suicide bombing. A relative, Rageb Jaradat, killed eight people and injured 22 when he blew himself up on a bus between Jenin and Haifa in April 2002.
Hanadi's brother Fadi and her cousin Saleh were Islamic Jihad terrorists. Saleh was a local commander of the group who helped plan a suicide bomb attack by another young woman in Afula in May and made several unsuccessful attempts to detonate large car bombs inside Israel. Fadi was one of his assistants.
ISRAELI HIT SQUAD
Both were gunned down in June outside the family house by an undercover Israeli hit squad as Hanadi watched in horror and begged the soldiers to spare them.
Saleh had been on the run and had not seen his wife and 12-year-old son for some time. That evening, the fugitives came into Jenin for a quick meeting.
"Saleh came to see his wife and son, and to ask about my father's health," Hanadi told the Hamas Web site after the killings. "We were sitting at the entrance to the house drinking coffee. It was dark. A car with Arab plates pulled up, and we thought it was one of Saleh's friends.
"Suddenly, the white car stopped. Two guys jumped out and immediately opened fire on Saleh. Another car quickly appeared, also with Arab plates. Saleh's wife picked up her son and rushed inside. My brother Fadi fell to the ground . . . bleeding.
"I held his hand, and I started dragging him behind the couch we were sitting on to get away from the bullets. I started shouting, 'Fadi! Saleh!'
"I heard Fadi say in a very weak voice, 'Help me, save me.' Then the armed men attacked me, knocked me on the ground, dragged Fadi away and told me, 'Go into your house, or we'll kill you.'
"I shouted back, 'Leave me alone, I want to save my brother, he is bleeding. '
"Saleh was lying motionless . . . but Fadi was still moving. But three of the soldiers, who spoke Arabic fluently, attacked me and asked me, 'Where are his weapons?' I said, 'I don't know. There are no weapons. Allahu Akbar, he's going to die.'
"Then they forced me to lie face down, and one of them said, 'You bitch, you terrorist, we'll kill you with them.' They put their rifle to my head. I shouted back, 'You are terrorists, dogs.'
"Then I saw them dragging both of them away. They dragged them a few meters and shot them again in cold blood."
VOW OF REVENGE
Hanadi swore to take revenge.
"The murderer will pay the price, and we will not cry alone," she told her Hamas interviewers. "To hell with all the world if our people cannot live in freedom and dignity and achieve the dream and goals of the martyrs."
Her father, Taisir Jaradat, said this week that he has no regrets. "I'm proud of my daughter," he said. "She did the right thing."
Her younger sister, Hydaya, described Hanadi as a "a very sociable and lovable person. . . . She became religious after my brother was martyred. She was very bitter.
"We are proud of her because she took revenge for my brother. Now we know that his blood was not spilled in vain."
While the talk in Jenin was of death and revenge, in Haifa it was of peace and reconciliation.
At the modest apartment of Mutanis' parents, relatives and friends tried to console the shattered family and vowed that Hanadi's act of retribution would not put an end to Jewish-Arab brotherhood here.
Mutanis was a Christian, one of thousands of Arabs who live side by side with Jews in the working-class Wadi Nisnas neighborhood. This week his parents' residence was packed with Jewish, Christian and Muslim neighbors paying their respects. Men sat in one of the rooms around his father, Jurias, while the women sat in the other with his mother, Layla, and young wife, Samar.
They were married two years ago.
LIFELONG HAIFA RESIDENT
Jurias has lived in Haifa all his life. His great-great grandfather came here from a nearby village. He is a plumber and also lays tiles, but there has been little work since the Israeli economy took a nosedive with the start of the intifada three years ago.
He said he wasn't surprised to see the mixed crowd flocking to his house and the funeral.
"We go to their houses of mourning as well," said Jurias. "Jews and Muslims came to the church, we all sat together. And later, they carried Mutanis' coffin on their shoulders together."
Asked the secret of Haifa's religious and ethnic harmony, he replied, "Arabs and Jews coexist together here because nobody tells anybody else what to do."
"The Palestinians and Israelis need a smart man who can see and hear," he said, miming the actions. "Then it will be finished in a day. Moses took a stick and parted the Red Sea. It was a miracle. There are many good people. Go and find them."
A photo of Mutanis, a dark-haired, good-looking young man, stared out from the sideboard.
"We were five brothers and sisters, and Mutanis was the youngest," said his brother Afif. "When you eat grapes, the last grape is the sweetest. So it was with Mutanis."
He said Mutanis had a gift for making people laugh.
"He smiled with his eyes, and he made people happy. He had worked in a few jobs, for the national lottery company, as a picture framer and a waiter."
Then he moved on to one of Israel's more hazardous occupations -- restaurant security guard.
Afif looked again at the picture.
"Life in Israel is difficult, but he wanted to build something. And he believed in God."
Saturday, 11 October 2003
Tuesday, 7 October 2003
Islamic Jihad denies Syria camp
But former terrorist says he received training there
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Serrvice
Jerusalem -- Syria claims that Ein Zaheb, the area near Damascus bombed by Israeli warplanes Sunday, is a Palestinian refugee camp in a peaceful rural area. But a former fighter in a Palestinian terrorist group told The Chronicle the bombed site was a key training facility and arsenal for Palestinian extremists based in Syria as recently as two years ago.
Israeli intelligence sources say they attacked the facility because it is "supported by Iran and is used for operational training for Palestinian terrorists."
Responding to the Israeli charges, Abu Emad el-Refaei, an Islamic Jihad spokesman in Beirut, denied that his organization had any bases in Syria.
"We do not have any training camps or bases in Syria or any other country," he told al Jazeera television Monday. "All our bases are inside the Palestinian occupied territories."
But Jamal Ali, who was an active member of a Syrian-based Palestinian extremist group until he renounced violence and left Syria nearly two years ago, said in an exclusive interview that he had received training at the camp three years ago. He said the site was uninhabited but was used for secretive one-day training sessions.
Now living under an assumed identity in Jordan, Ali said he had trained at Ein Zaheb and other facilities in Syria. He added that the Ein Zaheb base had still been in operation, and even expanding, in the summer of 2001, just before he left the country.
Ali said trainees were taken, one at a time, to nearby caves and given their weapons, accompanied by a training officer and four security guards.
"Inside the cave, we were handed the weapons and two or three grenades," he said. "We then went to a building outside known as the 'grease place,' where they kept the bullets and ammunition. Then we would spend hours stripping and rebuilding the guns until we could do it blindfolded.
"After that, we were driven up to the plateau for target practice with cardboard targets erected in the hills. Finally, we would practice throwing the grenades over the hillsides and diving for cover behind the rocks."
Footage first broadcast on Iranian television and replayed Sunday by Israel TV showed trainees at Ein Zaheb handling detonators and explosives, as well as large numbers of weapons, rockets and grenades stored in tunnels and caves.
Ali said the base was operated by the radical Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), the Palestinian splinter group led by Ahmed Jibril, but was used by most of the 10 extremist Palestinian organizations with headquarters in Damascus, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
A senior commander for the PFLP-GC told the Associated Press in Damascus on Monday that the camp was one of their deserted bases, not an Islamic Jihad camp, and had not been used in seven years. He said a civilian guard had been injured in the attack.
Ali described the camp as a sprawling underground network in "a very mountainous area riddled with caves."
"Inside the network of tunnels is one of the main weapons stores for Jibril's and the other groups," he said. "About three or four kilometers away, up on a plateau in the mountains, is a firing range used for training with guns, hand grenades and explosives."
Ein Zaheb was originally a training base used by Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, he said, until Syria turned against Arafat in 1983 and handed it over to Jibril.
"Ein Zaheb was the place where Abu Nidal, another Syrian-backed terrorist, executed 11 high-ranking officers from Fatah just after the Lebanon War in 1982," Ali said.
"It's a very rugged, very beautiful place in the mountains on the road from Damascus to Beirut," said Ali. "The terrain is so rough they train special squads in rock climbing and rappelling, but it's also full of natural springs and pools." The area is called Rabweh, he said, which means heaven.
On Monday, workers cleared rubble from what appeared to be a one-story house destroyed in the air raid. Pieces of metal and concrete shattered by the rocket attack lay on a nearby hill.
Israeli officials claim the camp is still feeding a pipeline that supplies terrorists to attack the country.
"There is a wide variety of training in the camp, including sabotage, artillery training, guerrilla warfare and even aeronautical training," said an Israeli security official. "Some of the terrorists training at the camp are operatives who come to receive advanced training and then return to Palestinian Authority territory in order to establish an operational terrorist infrastructure."
Amos Gilead, adviser on diplomatic and security affairs in the Israeli Defense Ministry, said the choice of Ein Zaheb as a target followed more than a month of tough messages warning Syrian leader Bashar Assad to stop assisting Palestinian extremists.
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Serrvice
Jerusalem -- Syria claims that Ein Zaheb, the area near Damascus bombed by Israeli warplanes Sunday, is a Palestinian refugee camp in a peaceful rural area. But a former fighter in a Palestinian terrorist group told The Chronicle the bombed site was a key training facility and arsenal for Palestinian extremists based in Syria as recently as two years ago.
Israeli intelligence sources say they attacked the facility because it is "supported by Iran and is used for operational training for Palestinian terrorists."
Responding to the Israeli charges, Abu Emad el-Refaei, an Islamic Jihad spokesman in Beirut, denied that his organization had any bases in Syria.
"We do not have any training camps or bases in Syria or any other country," he told al Jazeera television Monday. "All our bases are inside the Palestinian occupied territories."
But Jamal Ali, who was an active member of a Syrian-based Palestinian extremist group until he renounced violence and left Syria nearly two years ago, said in an exclusive interview that he had received training at the camp three years ago. He said the site was uninhabited but was used for secretive one-day training sessions.
Now living under an assumed identity in Jordan, Ali said he had trained at Ein Zaheb and other facilities in Syria. He added that the Ein Zaheb base had still been in operation, and even expanding, in the summer of 2001, just before he left the country.
Ali said trainees were taken, one at a time, to nearby caves and given their weapons, accompanied by a training officer and four security guards.
"Inside the cave, we were handed the weapons and two or three grenades," he said. "We then went to a building outside known as the 'grease place,' where they kept the bullets and ammunition. Then we would spend hours stripping and rebuilding the guns until we could do it blindfolded.
"After that, we were driven up to the plateau for target practice with cardboard targets erected in the hills. Finally, we would practice throwing the grenades over the hillsides and diving for cover behind the rocks."
Footage first broadcast on Iranian television and replayed Sunday by Israel TV showed trainees at Ein Zaheb handling detonators and explosives, as well as large numbers of weapons, rockets and grenades stored in tunnels and caves.
Ali said the base was operated by the radical Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), the Palestinian splinter group led by Ahmed Jibril, but was used by most of the 10 extremist Palestinian organizations with headquarters in Damascus, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
A senior commander for the PFLP-GC told the Associated Press in Damascus on Monday that the camp was one of their deserted bases, not an Islamic Jihad camp, and had not been used in seven years. He said a civilian guard had been injured in the attack.
Ali described the camp as a sprawling underground network in "a very mountainous area riddled with caves."
"Inside the network of tunnels is one of the main weapons stores for Jibril's and the other groups," he said. "About three or four kilometers away, up on a plateau in the mountains, is a firing range used for training with guns, hand grenades and explosives."
Ein Zaheb was originally a training base used by Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, he said, until Syria turned against Arafat in 1983 and handed it over to Jibril.
"Ein Zaheb was the place where Abu Nidal, another Syrian-backed terrorist, executed 11 high-ranking officers from Fatah just after the Lebanon War in 1982," Ali said.
"It's a very rugged, very beautiful place in the mountains on the road from Damascus to Beirut," said Ali. "The terrain is so rough they train special squads in rock climbing and rappelling, but it's also full of natural springs and pools." The area is called Rabweh, he said, which means heaven.
On Monday, workers cleared rubble from what appeared to be a one-story house destroyed in the air raid. Pieces of metal and concrete shattered by the rocket attack lay on a nearby hill.
Israeli officials claim the camp is still feeding a pipeline that supplies terrorists to attack the country.
"There is a wide variety of training in the camp, including sabotage, artillery training, guerrilla warfare and even aeronautical training," said an Israeli security official. "Some of the terrorists training at the camp are operatives who come to receive advanced training and then return to Palestinian Authority territory in order to establish an operational terrorist infrastructure."
Amos Gilead, adviser on diplomatic and security affairs in the Israeli Defense Ministry, said the choice of Ein Zaheb as a target followed more than a month of tough messages warning Syrian leader Bashar Assad to stop assisting Palestinian extremists.
Monday, 22 September 2003
Israelis lobby Bush on security fence
Threat to withhold loan guarantees leads to less aggressive plan
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Monday, September 22, 2003
Page A - 1
Abu Dis, West Bank -- Two of Israel's most senior civil servants will try to persuade the Bush administration today to drop its objections to the 225-mile, $1 billion security fence Israel is building to stop suicide bombers entering from the West Bank.
The White House has threatened to withhold part of the $9 billion in loan guarantees to Israel to protest the route of the fence, which is planned to cut deep into Palestinian territory in the West Bank in order to protect Israeli settlements.
In Washington today, Dov Weisglass, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet secretary, and Defense Minister Amos Yaron will present National security adviser Condoleezza Rice with a new plan for the barrier in an effort to deflect U.S. criticism. They will propose that instead of including the large settlements of Ariel near Nablus and Ma'aleh Adumim east of Jerusalem, the barrier will be left unbuilt in those areas.
The compromise has enraged supporters of the fence in Israel, but Sharon hopes it will avoid a head-on collision with the Bush administration.
The spat with Washington is the latest chapter in the tortured history of the project, which was first proposed by dovish Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the 2001 election campaign.
Leftist Israelis support the fence -- but only if it follows the invisible "Green Line" marking Israel's 1967 border with the West Bank, thus removing it as an obstacle to an eventual peace with the Palestinians.
RIGHTISTS FEAR DE FACTO BORDER
Rightists -- who might be expected to be in favor of the project, since it would create further "facts on the ground" -- instead fear that the fence will become a de facto final border, hastening the creation of a Palestinian state and causing the evacuation of Jewish settlements beyond the barrier's reach.
Police and security officials strongly support the project. Their arguments,
underscored by terror attacks that have killed hundreds of Israelis, persuaded Sharon and his center-right allies to begin construction.
Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, says the experience of nearby Cyprus, divided after a bitter war between Turkey and Greece, bolsters the theory behind the security fence.
"The violence subsided significantly after the Turkish authorities turned the Green Line there into a dividing wall, passing along the entire length of Cyprus," he said. "The evidence clearly demonstrates that almost 30 years of physical separation allowed tempers to cool, as the emotional amplifiers of the conflict subsided."
Critics, however, say that Sharon is moving too slowly, allowing foreign opposition to crystallize, and that the proposed course of the fence has strayed too far from the Green Line into Palestinian territory.
"They should have built the fence long ago, but it was held up because the settlers were opposed," said Haim Ramon, a prominent Labor Party politician. "The fence has been delayed for more than a year because the government is trying to route it not according to security needs but the needs of the settlers."
'APARTHEID WALL'
Palestinians vehemently oppose construction of what they dub the "Apartheid Wall," accusing Israel of grabbing large swathes of Palestinian land. They argue the barrier cuts them off from their own fields and orchards and denies them freedom of movement inside the West Bank and the chance to find work inside Israel.
"We are being put into a series of cages," said Sari Nusseibeh, the president of Al-Quds University, as he surveyed the bulldozers looming over a hill near his office last week.
The proposed route of the fence runs through the village of Abu Dis east of Jerusalem, cutting straight through the university and slicing off a playing field from the administration buildings.
Amnesty International has condemned the barrier as a form of "collective punishment" that "permanently restricts the free movement of Palestinians."
The clamor for erection of a continuous border fence grew as terrorist attacks reached a bloody peak in spring 2002.
"There is a security fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and though many have tried, not a single terrorist has been successful in entering Israel from Gaza," argues Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan, a former national security adviser to Sharon who now heads a public committee lobbying for the fence. "All of the terrorists . . . come from areas within the West Bank, as there is no fence or barrier between the West Bank and the major population centers in Israel."
Economists say the fence will pay off in ways other than basic safety.
TERROR ATTACKS HURT ECONOMY
Avi Ben-Bassat, an economics professor at the Hebrew University who is a former director-general of the Finance Ministry, said the economy had been seriously hurt by the terror attacks.
Israel's gross domestic product grew by more than 4 percent annually from 1997 to 2000 but has been falling ever since the intifada began in September 2000. The worldwide recession is largely to blame, but Ben-Bassat attributes one quarter of the decline to terrorism and its associated costs.
Ben-Bassat said the fence would enable Israel to cut military expenditures, which now account for a huge 9.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.
"The benefits are enormous," he said. "It will cost about $1 billion, or 1 percent of GDP, but it will add $6 billion to GDP over the next two years. It's very expensive to protect the border now, and they can't do it anyway."
In August 2002, bulldozers broke ground on the first section of the fence outside the northern West Bank city of Jenin, aiming to cut off a favored cross-country route used by suicide bombers into nearby Israeli cities.
The project is modeled on the international border fence with Jordan, which runs largely along the Jordan River. It comprises a barbed wire and concrete barrier delineating an exclusion zone about 10 meters wide, a ditch to stop vehicles, an electrified, 3-meter-high fence fitted with sensors, a dirt road examined daily for footprints, a patrol road fitted with further sensors and a final barbed-wire fence on the other side.
It is planned to run about 200 miles around the West Bank, encircling some Israeli settlements but excluding others. But the final route of the fence, including sensitive areas around Jerusalem, has not been decided.
Israel Harel, a leading ideologue of the settler movement, said the "panic for a fence" had changed the face of Israeli politics.
"More than presenting an insurmountable obstacle that will prevent the infiltration of terrorists, the separation fence will constitute the border," he said. "The main political powers in Israel have adopted a consensus: Since there is no possibility of reaching an agreement (with the Palestinians) in the foreseeable future, there must be a unilateral separation."
Pragmatic rightists close to Sharon also worry about drawing a line that leaves some settlements unprotected. Likud party chief whip Gideon Sa'ar said that routing of the fence along the Green Line, as proposed by Washington, would be "the biggest prize of all for Yasser Arafat."
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/09/22/MN24064.DTL
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Monday, September 22, 2003
Page A - 1
Abu Dis, West Bank -- Two of Israel's most senior civil servants will try to persuade the Bush administration today to drop its objections to the 225-mile, $1 billion security fence Israel is building to stop suicide bombers entering from the West Bank.
The White House has threatened to withhold part of the $9 billion in loan guarantees to Israel to protest the route of the fence, which is planned to cut deep into Palestinian territory in the West Bank in order to protect Israeli settlements.
In Washington today, Dov Weisglass, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet secretary, and Defense Minister Amos Yaron will present National security adviser Condoleezza Rice with a new plan for the barrier in an effort to deflect U.S. criticism. They will propose that instead of including the large settlements of Ariel near Nablus and Ma'aleh Adumim east of Jerusalem, the barrier will be left unbuilt in those areas.
The compromise has enraged supporters of the fence in Israel, but Sharon hopes it will avoid a head-on collision with the Bush administration.
The spat with Washington is the latest chapter in the tortured history of the project, which was first proposed by dovish Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the 2001 election campaign.
Leftist Israelis support the fence -- but only if it follows the invisible "Green Line" marking Israel's 1967 border with the West Bank, thus removing it as an obstacle to an eventual peace with the Palestinians.
RIGHTISTS FEAR DE FACTO BORDER
Rightists -- who might be expected to be in favor of the project, since it would create further "facts on the ground" -- instead fear that the fence will become a de facto final border, hastening the creation of a Palestinian state and causing the evacuation of Jewish settlements beyond the barrier's reach.
Police and security officials strongly support the project. Their arguments,
underscored by terror attacks that have killed hundreds of Israelis, persuaded Sharon and his center-right allies to begin construction.
Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, says the experience of nearby Cyprus, divided after a bitter war between Turkey and Greece, bolsters the theory behind the security fence.
"The violence subsided significantly after the Turkish authorities turned the Green Line there into a dividing wall, passing along the entire length of Cyprus," he said. "The evidence clearly demonstrates that almost 30 years of physical separation allowed tempers to cool, as the emotional amplifiers of the conflict subsided."
Critics, however, say that Sharon is moving too slowly, allowing foreign opposition to crystallize, and that the proposed course of the fence has strayed too far from the Green Line into Palestinian territory.
"They should have built the fence long ago, but it was held up because the settlers were opposed," said Haim Ramon, a prominent Labor Party politician. "The fence has been delayed for more than a year because the government is trying to route it not according to security needs but the needs of the settlers."
'APARTHEID WALL'
Palestinians vehemently oppose construction of what they dub the "Apartheid Wall," accusing Israel of grabbing large swathes of Palestinian land. They argue the barrier cuts them off from their own fields and orchards and denies them freedom of movement inside the West Bank and the chance to find work inside Israel.
"We are being put into a series of cages," said Sari Nusseibeh, the president of Al-Quds University, as he surveyed the bulldozers looming over a hill near his office last week.
The proposed route of the fence runs through the village of Abu Dis east of Jerusalem, cutting straight through the university and slicing off a playing field from the administration buildings.
Amnesty International has condemned the barrier as a form of "collective punishment" that "permanently restricts the free movement of Palestinians."
The clamor for erection of a continuous border fence grew as terrorist attacks reached a bloody peak in spring 2002.
"There is a security fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and though many have tried, not a single terrorist has been successful in entering Israel from Gaza," argues Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan, a former national security adviser to Sharon who now heads a public committee lobbying for the fence. "All of the terrorists . . . come from areas within the West Bank, as there is no fence or barrier between the West Bank and the major population centers in Israel."
Economists say the fence will pay off in ways other than basic safety.
TERROR ATTACKS HURT ECONOMY
Avi Ben-Bassat, an economics professor at the Hebrew University who is a former director-general of the Finance Ministry, said the economy had been seriously hurt by the terror attacks.
Israel's gross domestic product grew by more than 4 percent annually from 1997 to 2000 but has been falling ever since the intifada began in September 2000. The worldwide recession is largely to blame, but Ben-Bassat attributes one quarter of the decline to terrorism and its associated costs.
Ben-Bassat said the fence would enable Israel to cut military expenditures, which now account for a huge 9.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.
"The benefits are enormous," he said. "It will cost about $1 billion, or 1 percent of GDP, but it will add $6 billion to GDP over the next two years. It's very expensive to protect the border now, and they can't do it anyway."
In August 2002, bulldozers broke ground on the first section of the fence outside the northern West Bank city of Jenin, aiming to cut off a favored cross-country route used by suicide bombers into nearby Israeli cities.
The project is modeled on the international border fence with Jordan, which runs largely along the Jordan River. It comprises a barbed wire and concrete barrier delineating an exclusion zone about 10 meters wide, a ditch to stop vehicles, an electrified, 3-meter-high fence fitted with sensors, a dirt road examined daily for footprints, a patrol road fitted with further sensors and a final barbed-wire fence on the other side.
It is planned to run about 200 miles around the West Bank, encircling some Israeli settlements but excluding others. But the final route of the fence, including sensitive areas around Jerusalem, has not been decided.
Israel Harel, a leading ideologue of the settler movement, said the "panic for a fence" had changed the face of Israeli politics.
"More than presenting an insurmountable obstacle that will prevent the infiltration of terrorists, the separation fence will constitute the border," he said. "The main political powers in Israel have adopted a consensus: Since there is no possibility of reaching an agreement (with the Palestinians) in the foreseeable future, there must be a unilateral separation."
Pragmatic rightists close to Sharon also worry about drawing a line that leaves some settlements unprotected. Likud party chief whip Gideon Sa'ar said that routing of the fence along the Green Line, as proposed by Washington, would be "the biggest prize of all for Yasser Arafat."
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/09/22/MN24064.DTL
Friday, 12 September 2003
Israel decides to uproot Arafat
Sharon's Cabinet gives go-ahead for security services to 'remove' Palestinian chief
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Friday, September 12, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- The Israeli government threatened Thursday to "remove" Yasser Arafat, saying he was sabotaging the peace process, and gave its security services a green light to move against the Palestinian leader "in a manner, and at a time, of its choosing."
Thousands of Palestinians rushed to Arafat's compound in Ramallah to protect their leader, fearing Israel would expel or even kill him, but most analysts doubted that Israel would defy U.S. wishes and take any immediate action against Arafat.
The decision by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's security Cabinet came in the shadow of a pair of suicide bombings Tuesday in which 15 Israelis were killed and dozens wounded. The bloodshed, coming less than a month after 22 people died in a suicide bomb attack on a Jerusalem bus, has brought Israeli anger at Arafat to the boiling point.
The 13-member security body said events of recent days had "proven again that Yasser Arafat is a complete obstacle to any process of reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians" and added that "Israel will work to remove this obstacle." The statement effectively gives Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz blanket approval to move against Arafat without seeking further Cabinet approval.
A majority of the right-wing ministers attending the emergency meeting supported the expulsion of Arafat, according to Israeli television reports, and some even called for his death. But the Cabinet put off any immediate action to give Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia a last chance to clamp down on militants and to placate the United States, which opposes any move to send Arafat into exile.
"The government needed to say something about Arafat to satisfy strong domestic political pressures," said Professor Gerald Steinberg of the Begin- Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. But he cautioned that "exiling Arafat clearly has a big downside because he will be able to rally support abroad and continue directing the traffic."
"I think the government will decide to keep him here incommunicado where no one will be allowed to see him," he added, "so he will disappear as a factor, as an influence in the process."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "We think it would not be helpful to expel him because it would just give him another stage to play on." Israeli media said U.S. officials had called Sharon to underscore the point.
The pressure to do more is intense, however. At least four Cabinet ministers and one of the country's daily newspapers called for Arafat's assassination.
"He is a murderer, the leader of a murderous terrorist gang," said Education Minister Limor Livnat, comparing Arafat to a string of terrorists, including Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was targeted in an Israeli assassination bid last Saturday. "There is no difference between bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Sheikh Yassin and Arafat."
An editorial in the Jerusalem Post urged Israel to "kill as many of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders as possible, as quickly as possible, while minimizing collateral damage." The newspaper added: "And we must kill Yasser Arafat, because the world leaves us no alternative."
However, Steinberg dismissed the notion that Israel would kill the Palestinian leader, saying the political cost would be too high. Instead, he predicted that the singling out of Arafat was a signal that Israel sought to replace the Palestinian Authority government with another more to its liking.
Palestinian analyst Khaled Abu Toameh said Arafat's supporters were convinced their leader was now under physical threat.
"It's nothing but a warning, but the Palestinians clearly take it very seriously," he said. "They genuinely believe that Sharon is determined this time to get rid of their leader. Many think it could happen tonight -- that's why they came (out) in the hundreds. This will only boost Arafat's popularity in the Palestinian street."
Abu Toameh agreed that removing Arafat effectively would mean the end of the Palestinian Authority. "It's impossible to see how the Palestinian Authority can function without Arafat," he said. "He makes all the important decisions personally."
Qureia, the incoming prime minister, called on the international community to intervene. "It is an unwise decision," he said. "It will re-escalate the situation (and) put all efforts in danger. "
The wording of the Cabinet decision, like the decision by the government to declare Arafat "irrelevant" in December 2001, left observers confused about what, if anything, will happen next. Israeli politicians have a long tradition of appeasing critics by promising to take actions that are not carried out, and Sharon himself came to power three years ago on a promise to end the intifada.
However, the Cabinet gave a hint of its direction by asking the army to prepare and present plans for Arafat's "removal," leaving open the question of whether that meant exile, assassination or simply intensifying his isolation in his battered Mukataah headquarters in Ramallah, where he has been confined by Israeli sieges and threats for nearly two years.
Gaby Ashkenazi, a commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank, said the army had "several plans ready and waiting to go" with regard to Arafat. "One of them is labeled 'Arrest of Arafat and his removal from the Mukataah' ," said Ashkenazi.
The Cabinet also approved a call-up of reserves, which will take several weeks, indicating that Israel is preparing for a major military operation.
Arafat himself appeared defiant before the crowd that flocked to his compound, chanting: "With our blood, with our souls we will redeem you."
Flashing his trademark double-handed V-for-victory sign and a huge smile, Arafat addressed the crowd through a bullhorn, exhorting them to sacrifice "martyrs by the millions" on the road to Jerusalem -- the kind of language Israel considers an encouragement to launch more suicide bombings.
"They can kill me with bombs, but they can't deport me," Arafat told the crowd. "I won't leave Ramallah."
Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres called the Cabinet move "a terrible mistake," and an opinion poll on Israel Radio showed only 38 percent of Israelis favor forcing Arafat out of the country.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Friday, September 12, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- The Israeli government threatened Thursday to "remove" Yasser Arafat, saying he was sabotaging the peace process, and gave its security services a green light to move against the Palestinian leader "in a manner, and at a time, of its choosing."
Thousands of Palestinians rushed to Arafat's compound in Ramallah to protect their leader, fearing Israel would expel or even kill him, but most analysts doubted that Israel would defy U.S. wishes and take any immediate action against Arafat.
The decision by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's security Cabinet came in the shadow of a pair of suicide bombings Tuesday in which 15 Israelis were killed and dozens wounded. The bloodshed, coming less than a month after 22 people died in a suicide bomb attack on a Jerusalem bus, has brought Israeli anger at Arafat to the boiling point.
The 13-member security body said events of recent days had "proven again that Yasser Arafat is a complete obstacle to any process of reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians" and added that "Israel will work to remove this obstacle." The statement effectively gives Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz blanket approval to move against Arafat without seeking further Cabinet approval.
A majority of the right-wing ministers attending the emergency meeting supported the expulsion of Arafat, according to Israeli television reports, and some even called for his death. But the Cabinet put off any immediate action to give Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia a last chance to clamp down on militants and to placate the United States, which opposes any move to send Arafat into exile.
"The government needed to say something about Arafat to satisfy strong domestic political pressures," said Professor Gerald Steinberg of the Begin- Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. But he cautioned that "exiling Arafat clearly has a big downside because he will be able to rally support abroad and continue directing the traffic."
"I think the government will decide to keep him here incommunicado where no one will be allowed to see him," he added, "so he will disappear as a factor, as an influence in the process."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "We think it would not be helpful to expel him because it would just give him another stage to play on." Israeli media said U.S. officials had called Sharon to underscore the point.
The pressure to do more is intense, however. At least four Cabinet ministers and one of the country's daily newspapers called for Arafat's assassination.
"He is a murderer, the leader of a murderous terrorist gang," said Education Minister Limor Livnat, comparing Arafat to a string of terrorists, including Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was targeted in an Israeli assassination bid last Saturday. "There is no difference between bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Sheikh Yassin and Arafat."
An editorial in the Jerusalem Post urged Israel to "kill as many of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders as possible, as quickly as possible, while minimizing collateral damage." The newspaper added: "And we must kill Yasser Arafat, because the world leaves us no alternative."
However, Steinberg dismissed the notion that Israel would kill the Palestinian leader, saying the political cost would be too high. Instead, he predicted that the singling out of Arafat was a signal that Israel sought to replace the Palestinian Authority government with another more to its liking.
Palestinian analyst Khaled Abu Toameh said Arafat's supporters were convinced their leader was now under physical threat.
"It's nothing but a warning, but the Palestinians clearly take it very seriously," he said. "They genuinely believe that Sharon is determined this time to get rid of their leader. Many think it could happen tonight -- that's why they came (out) in the hundreds. This will only boost Arafat's popularity in the Palestinian street."
Abu Toameh agreed that removing Arafat effectively would mean the end of the Palestinian Authority. "It's impossible to see how the Palestinian Authority can function without Arafat," he said. "He makes all the important decisions personally."
Qureia, the incoming prime minister, called on the international community to intervene. "It is an unwise decision," he said. "It will re-escalate the situation (and) put all efforts in danger. "
The wording of the Cabinet decision, like the decision by the government to declare Arafat "irrelevant" in December 2001, left observers confused about what, if anything, will happen next. Israeli politicians have a long tradition of appeasing critics by promising to take actions that are not carried out, and Sharon himself came to power three years ago on a promise to end the intifada.
However, the Cabinet gave a hint of its direction by asking the army to prepare and present plans for Arafat's "removal," leaving open the question of whether that meant exile, assassination or simply intensifying his isolation in his battered Mukataah headquarters in Ramallah, where he has been confined by Israeli sieges and threats for nearly two years.
Gaby Ashkenazi, a commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank, said the army had "several plans ready and waiting to go" with regard to Arafat. "One of them is labeled 'Arrest of Arafat and his removal from the Mukataah' ," said Ashkenazi.
The Cabinet also approved a call-up of reserves, which will take several weeks, indicating that Israel is preparing for a major military operation.
Arafat himself appeared defiant before the crowd that flocked to his compound, chanting: "With our blood, with our souls we will redeem you."
Flashing his trademark double-handed V-for-victory sign and a huge smile, Arafat addressed the crowd through a bullhorn, exhorting them to sacrifice "martyrs by the millions" on the road to Jerusalem -- the kind of language Israel considers an encouragement to launch more suicide bombings.
"They can kill me with bombs, but they can't deport me," Arafat told the crowd. "I won't leave Ramallah."
Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres called the Cabinet move "a terrible mistake," and an opinion poll on Israel Radio showed only 38 percent of Israelis favor forcing Arafat out of the country.
Wednesday, 10 September 2003
FIRST PERSON: Blood, emotions spill over in bombing
Suicide attack at cafe turns tears into anger
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- 11:20 p.m. Tuesday. I had just sat down to check my e-mails before going to bed when a huge blast like a thunderclap nearly knocked me out of my chair.
Looking out the window, I could see white smoke billowing into the dark sky over the rooftops from Emek Refaim, a strip of fashionable cafes and restaurants less than 200 yards behind my house. The night was silent, broken only by a lone car alarm triggered by the shock waves.
I shot out of my apartment and ran toward the smoke, joining a two-way stream of traffic. Running with me were people pulling on medics' vests, as well as photographers and other reporters. Walking slowly in the other direction, or simply standing, visibly shaken and often sobbing quietly, were the shocked bystanders who had witnessed the attack.
A minute later, as I turned the corner into Emek Refaim -- "The Valley of the Ghosts" -- I took in a scene from hell: Smoke curled up from the street and people lay all around, groaning and crying. Ambulances and police cars raced past me, sirens wailing, and juddered to a halt next to Cafe Hillel, a popular meeting place that opened only a few months ago.
It was one of my favorite cafes -- a lively spot where young people in their 20s and 30s gathered to eat, drink coffee and talk animatedly over the loud background music. Now the cafe was silent, a pit of blackness amid the flashing lights of ambulances and police cars. As I drew nearer, I saw its windows had been blown to bits. Strewn around the street were lifeless bodies and what looked like pieces of still warm human flesh.
Dozens of police and medics descended on the scene within moments, and the night filled with sounds. Police officers screamed through bullhorns, telling the gathering crowds to stay back in case there was another bomb. Medics shouted into walkie-talkies, directing ambulances and helping to evacuate the wounded.
I saw at least a dozen injured people hurried away on stretchers, their blood spilling onto the orange blankets of the gurneys. Girls were in tears, and survivors of the attack were trying to contact friends and relatives on cell phones to tell them they were OK, but the network had crashed, leaving scores of people talking desperately into thin air.
Several youths started arguing with police who were trying to clear the scene.
"Where are you going?" the officer asked one of them.
"I want to find some Arabs to beat up," he said.
Arriving home, I found my 13-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter in tears, shaking. Another night in Jerusalem.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- 11:20 p.m. Tuesday. I had just sat down to check my e-mails before going to bed when a huge blast like a thunderclap nearly knocked me out of my chair.
Looking out the window, I could see white smoke billowing into the dark sky over the rooftops from Emek Refaim, a strip of fashionable cafes and restaurants less than 200 yards behind my house. The night was silent, broken only by a lone car alarm triggered by the shock waves.
I shot out of my apartment and ran toward the smoke, joining a two-way stream of traffic. Running with me were people pulling on medics' vests, as well as photographers and other reporters. Walking slowly in the other direction, or simply standing, visibly shaken and often sobbing quietly, were the shocked bystanders who had witnessed the attack.
A minute later, as I turned the corner into Emek Refaim -- "The Valley of the Ghosts" -- I took in a scene from hell: Smoke curled up from the street and people lay all around, groaning and crying. Ambulances and police cars raced past me, sirens wailing, and juddered to a halt next to Cafe Hillel, a popular meeting place that opened only a few months ago.
It was one of my favorite cafes -- a lively spot where young people in their 20s and 30s gathered to eat, drink coffee and talk animatedly over the loud background music. Now the cafe was silent, a pit of blackness amid the flashing lights of ambulances and police cars. As I drew nearer, I saw its windows had been blown to bits. Strewn around the street were lifeless bodies and what looked like pieces of still warm human flesh.
Dozens of police and medics descended on the scene within moments, and the night filled with sounds. Police officers screamed through bullhorns, telling the gathering crowds to stay back in case there was another bomb. Medics shouted into walkie-talkies, directing ambulances and helping to evacuate the wounded.
I saw at least a dozen injured people hurried away on stretchers, their blood spilling onto the orange blankets of the gurneys. Girls were in tears, and survivors of the attack were trying to contact friends and relatives on cell phones to tell them they were OK, but the network had crashed, leaving scores of people talking desperately into thin air.
Several youths started arguing with police who were trying to clear the scene.
"Where are you going?" the officer asked one of them.
"I want to find some Arabs to beat up," he said.
Arriving home, I found my 13-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter in tears, shaking. Another night in Jerusalem.
Israel's anti-terror policies force retaliations, critics say
NEWS ANALYSIS
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- The two rapid-fire suicide bomb attacks that rocked this nation Tuesday -- just days after Israel attempted to assassinate the top Hamas leaders as they sat down to lunch in Gaza -- have revived questions about Israel's campaign to quash Palestinian terrorism.
Critics argue that Israeli attacks such as the bombing Saturday that narrowly missed killing Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin underscore Israel's impotence in the face of Palestinian resistance and only provoke retaliatory attacks. But Israeli policymakers say the Palestinians' refusal to take responsibility for securing areas under their control has forced them to target the terrorists themselves and their masterminds.
In the past three weeks, since a suicide bomber killed 22 people in Jerusalem on Aug. 19, Israel has killed a dozen Hamas leaders. If Saturday's raid had succeeded, then it would have claimed the life of Yassin and at least 10 others, including the group's chief bombmaker, Mohammed Deif.
Afterward, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Hamas leaders that they were "marked for death," and Hamas threatened unprecedented revenge, saying Israel had "opened the gates of hell" with its attempt to assassinate Yassin.
The relentless attacks are part of a campaign to eliminate -- or at least intimidate -- the militants.
"Israel's purpose is to reconstruct deterrence on the terrorist front as well as we have managed to maintain it on the conventional (military) front for the past 30 years," said Eran Lerman, a former military intelligence colonel who is Jerusalem director of the American Jewish Committee. But Lerman cautioned that the strategy must be carried out carefully.
"Deterrence is never an isolated concept -- it's not just a matter of how much pain you can inflict on the other guy," he said. "If you do it in an illegitimate way, you lose diplomatically, and the other guy has scored on the strategic level."
DIFFERENT STRATEGIES USED
Faced with the constant threat of terror attacks, Israeli policy has gone through several distinct phases since the outbreak of the intifada three years ago.
At first, Israel used diplomatic and financial pressure to try to persuade Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to crack down on the militants.
When this failed, Israel began targeting suspects defined as "ticking bombs" -- people suspected of preparing an imminent attack on Israelis -- and assassinating them in extrajudicial killings. At the same time, it stepped up military pressure against the Palestinian Authority, bombing their buildings and isolating Arafat. But that tactic only seemed to inflame the intifada.
Now, Israel is going after the leadership of terrorist groups -- and it appears to know where to find them.
In its anti-terror campaign, Israel draws on a vast array of sophisticated and frequently top-secret devices, but insiders say the most-potent tool in the Israeli armory is the stool pigeon.
"Palestinians snitch on one another habitually, to the point that Israel will eventually know where all of these leaders are," said Dr. Michael Oren, a former Israeli army officer in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon, and author of the highly acclaimed history book "Six Days of War."
Israeli officials say their first priority is defensive -- to prevent terror attacks wherever possible.
"We have invested a lot of our capability in following the preparation of terror attacks against Israel," said Edad Shavit, a senior analyst in Israeli military intelligence.
ISRAEL UNDETERRED
As Tuesday's suicide bombings illustrate, even this aggressive campaign has failed to provide insurance against terror attacks. But Israeli authorities say they are determined to proceed and are making progress in pinpointing high- level targets within the militant groups.
Since the reoccupation of the West Bank last year, Israeli intelligence officials have been working furiously to rebuild the information networks they neglected during the years after the 1993 Oslo peace pact.
"The quality of 'humint' (a military term for human intelligence) flowing to Israel has been growing remarkably, and it's not just because of money," said Lerman. "There is a sense that Israel is serious -- and serious about protecting its sources. There are also elements in Palestinian society who are sick and tired of seeing what these people are doing and where they are dragging the rest of their own people."
In the vanguard of Israel's war on terrorists are the mistaravim, or "secret Arabs" -- Israelis who look and sound like Palestinians -- who infiltrate target areas and mingle with the local population.
Israel also taps phones and e-mails, deploys highly sensitive listening devices and launches unmanned, silent drones equipped with state-of-the-art video and photographic equipment.
Once the intelligence is in hand, Israelis can deploy an impressive array of deadly material, from laser-guided missiles to sniper rifles equipped with liquid hydrogen-operated night vision equipment able to hit a target more than a mile away in complete darkness.
"The Israel Air Force's strike techniques for carrying out 'targeted killings' appear to have been refined successfully, so that far fewer innocent bystanders are hurt," said political analyst and former Mossad agent Yossi Alpher.
Indeed, the Israeli army says that one of the reasons the attack on Yassin failed was that it used a relatively small 550-pound laser-guided bomb in order to minimize civilian casualties.
But Alpher has deep misgivings about where this campaign is leading.
"The trouble is that Prime Minister Sharon is now liable to conclude that his best option is to fully reoccupy the Gaza Strip in order to eliminate Hamas," Alpher told an online forum of American Peace Now, adding that without a viable political solution, "this is a recipe for yet further deterioration of the situation."
That view is shared by Gen. Shlomo Gazit, a former head of Israeli military intelligence.
"The Palestinians are using their weakness in the balance of power in their own favor," said Gazit. "Withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip is the only act that can save Israel from self-destruction. If the army does not change its military doctrine, we are doomed."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- The two rapid-fire suicide bomb attacks that rocked this nation Tuesday -- just days after Israel attempted to assassinate the top Hamas leaders as they sat down to lunch in Gaza -- have revived questions about Israel's campaign to quash Palestinian terrorism.
Critics argue that Israeli attacks such as the bombing Saturday that narrowly missed killing Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin underscore Israel's impotence in the face of Palestinian resistance and only provoke retaliatory attacks. But Israeli policymakers say the Palestinians' refusal to take responsibility for securing areas under their control has forced them to target the terrorists themselves and their masterminds.
In the past three weeks, since a suicide bomber killed 22 people in Jerusalem on Aug. 19, Israel has killed a dozen Hamas leaders. If Saturday's raid had succeeded, then it would have claimed the life of Yassin and at least 10 others, including the group's chief bombmaker, Mohammed Deif.
Afterward, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Hamas leaders that they were "marked for death," and Hamas threatened unprecedented revenge, saying Israel had "opened the gates of hell" with its attempt to assassinate Yassin.
The relentless attacks are part of a campaign to eliminate -- or at least intimidate -- the militants.
"Israel's purpose is to reconstruct deterrence on the terrorist front as well as we have managed to maintain it on the conventional (military) front for the past 30 years," said Eran Lerman, a former military intelligence colonel who is Jerusalem director of the American Jewish Committee. But Lerman cautioned that the strategy must be carried out carefully.
"Deterrence is never an isolated concept -- it's not just a matter of how much pain you can inflict on the other guy," he said. "If you do it in an illegitimate way, you lose diplomatically, and the other guy has scored on the strategic level."
DIFFERENT STRATEGIES USED
Faced with the constant threat of terror attacks, Israeli policy has gone through several distinct phases since the outbreak of the intifada three years ago.
At first, Israel used diplomatic and financial pressure to try to persuade Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to crack down on the militants.
When this failed, Israel began targeting suspects defined as "ticking bombs" -- people suspected of preparing an imminent attack on Israelis -- and assassinating them in extrajudicial killings. At the same time, it stepped up military pressure against the Palestinian Authority, bombing their buildings and isolating Arafat. But that tactic only seemed to inflame the intifada.
Now, Israel is going after the leadership of terrorist groups -- and it appears to know where to find them.
In its anti-terror campaign, Israel draws on a vast array of sophisticated and frequently top-secret devices, but insiders say the most-potent tool in the Israeli armory is the stool pigeon.
"Palestinians snitch on one another habitually, to the point that Israel will eventually know where all of these leaders are," said Dr. Michael Oren, a former Israeli army officer in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon, and author of the highly acclaimed history book "Six Days of War."
Israeli officials say their first priority is defensive -- to prevent terror attacks wherever possible.
"We have invested a lot of our capability in following the preparation of terror attacks against Israel," said Edad Shavit, a senior analyst in Israeli military intelligence.
ISRAEL UNDETERRED
As Tuesday's suicide bombings illustrate, even this aggressive campaign has failed to provide insurance against terror attacks. But Israeli authorities say they are determined to proceed and are making progress in pinpointing high- level targets within the militant groups.
Since the reoccupation of the West Bank last year, Israeli intelligence officials have been working furiously to rebuild the information networks they neglected during the years after the 1993 Oslo peace pact.
"The quality of 'humint' (a military term for human intelligence) flowing to Israel has been growing remarkably, and it's not just because of money," said Lerman. "There is a sense that Israel is serious -- and serious about protecting its sources. There are also elements in Palestinian society who are sick and tired of seeing what these people are doing and where they are dragging the rest of their own people."
In the vanguard of Israel's war on terrorists are the mistaravim, or "secret Arabs" -- Israelis who look and sound like Palestinians -- who infiltrate target areas and mingle with the local population.
Israel also taps phones and e-mails, deploys highly sensitive listening devices and launches unmanned, silent drones equipped with state-of-the-art video and photographic equipment.
Once the intelligence is in hand, Israelis can deploy an impressive array of deadly material, from laser-guided missiles to sniper rifles equipped with liquid hydrogen-operated night vision equipment able to hit a target more than a mile away in complete darkness.
"The Israel Air Force's strike techniques for carrying out 'targeted killings' appear to have been refined successfully, so that far fewer innocent bystanders are hurt," said political analyst and former Mossad agent Yossi Alpher.
Indeed, the Israeli army says that one of the reasons the attack on Yassin failed was that it used a relatively small 550-pound laser-guided bomb in order to minimize civilian casualties.
But Alpher has deep misgivings about where this campaign is leading.
"The trouble is that Prime Minister Sharon is now liable to conclude that his best option is to fully reoccupy the Gaza Strip in order to eliminate Hamas," Alpher told an online forum of American Peace Now, adding that without a viable political solution, "this is a recipe for yet further deterioration of the situation."
That view is shared by Gen. Shlomo Gazit, a former head of Israeli military intelligence.
"The Palestinians are using their weakness in the balance of power in their own favor," said Gazit. "Withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip is the only act that can save Israel from self-destruction. If the army does not change its military doctrine, we are doomed."
Sunday, 7 September 2003
Mideast peace plan in tatters
Israel bombs Hamas luncheon; Abbas steps down
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Sunday, September 7, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- The Israeli military bombed a Gaza City apartment on Saturday in a failed attempt to assassinate the entire Hamas leadership just hours after Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned, sending prospects for peace in the Middle East plunging to new lows.
The resignation of Abbas after just 100 days in office -- the result of a power struggle with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat -- will likely freeze the U.S. peace initiative known as the road map. Israel and the United States both refuse to deal with Arafat.
The Israeli bombing slightly wounded Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas' spiritual leader, and 14 other people. The 550-pound bomb was launched during a lunch meeting of the Hamas political and military leadership.
The group included two men who had already survived rocket assassination attempts -- Abdel Aziz Rantisi and terror mastermind Mohammed Deif. Yassin, a frail, 68-year-old, managed to flee the building as the jets approached.
A senior Israeli security official told the New York Times that the attack failed because the Israeli Air Force used a "relatively small bomb" to minimize civilian casualties.
Rantisi, who was in the building when it was hit, said his followers would "open the gates of hell" with a new suicide-bomb campaign against Israeli civilians.
Israeli security chiefs braced for more suicide bombings, ordering hundreds of extra police and soldiers onto the streets late Saturday. Security checks were stepped up at shopping malls, movie theaters and other public places.
Hamas was also stung by a decision on Saturday by European foreign ministers to outlaw its political wing as a terrorist organization. Previously, only its military wing had earned that designation.
The Palestinian political structure is struggling with a power vacuum that makes statehood -- a major tenet of the road map -- even more remote. While Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat spoke of reviving the peace plan, observers said U.S. policy was in tatters and would have to be rewritten.
"Abbas is the victim of what many Palestinians see as a botched attempt by Israel and the U.S. to sideline their elected leader," said Palestinian analyst Khaled Abu Toameh. "The writing was on the wall from the very beginning.
U.S. UNDERESTIMATED ARAFAT
"It was clear that Arafat -- who has never agreed to share power with any Palestinian -- would do his utmost to undermine Abbas and bring about his downfall. But the Americans seemed to underestimate Arafat and refused to see the clear messages emanating from the rubble of Arafat's compound in Ramallah."
"Arafat has only one choice for leader: himself," Abu Toameh said. "Arafat has won another battle, but the Palestinian people have undoubtedly lost."
The Palestinian president has two weeks in which to name a new prime minister, but there are few obvious candidates.
Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qureia is the only veteran leader still in the frame, but he says he does not want the job. Finance Minister Salam Fayad, a political ingenue, has apparently ruled himself out. Another possibility is businessman Monib al-Masri, an Arafat loyalist whose appointment was blocked by Arafat's Fatah movement earlier this year.
There was also speculation that Arafat would ask Abbas to resume his post.
While Palestinian politicians are tied up choosing their new Cabinet, they will be unable to make any progress on the security front, leaving the way open for Hamas to renew its bombing campaign in Israel's streets. Any rise in terrorism will likely trigger a draconian Israeli response, perhaps including widespread assassinations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials and a possible invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Right-wing Israeli ministers are also calling for the expulsion of Arafat, which could unleash a wave of popular Palestinian protest, leading in turn to a renewed Israeli military crackdown on the West Bank.
An Israeli government statement issued on Saturday night described the resignation of Abbas as "an internal Palestinian matter," but added, "Israel will not countenance a situation in which control of the Palestinian leadership reverts back to Yasser Arafat or someone who does his bidding."
WHITE HOUSE PRAISES ABBAS
And taking a swipe at Arafat, the White House issued a statement that Abbas' appointment as prime minister was a milestone "in the development of new institutions to serve all the people, not just a corrupt few tainted by terror."
Palestinian officials say that only strong international pressure will save them from tough Israeli measures. "We urge the international community to have the Israeli government refrain from exploiting the internal Palestinian situation," said Erekat.
Saturday's dramatic events unfolded in rapid succession, shifting from Ramallah, to Europe, back to Gaza and then to Ramallah again.
In the morning, a courier delivered Abbas' resignation letter to Arafat at his battered Mukata headquarters in Ramallah. Abbas then went to the Palestinian Legislative Council and addressed legislators for the second time in 72 hours, explaining his reasons for resigning. He blamed Israel, the Arab media and Arafat himself for the failure of his government, which he said had been brought down by "harsh and dangerous domestic incitement."
Leaflets and graffiti appearing in Ramallah since Thursday have denounced Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, and his security chief Mohammed Dahlan as "Zionist collaborators" and "CIA agents."
"The events of the past few days left a scar on Abu Mazen," said Kadoura Farres, a legislator and Fatah leader who mediated between Arafat and Abbas in recent weeks. "Abu Mazen is not built to take such a thing."
Then came news of the decision by European foreign ministers to outlaw Hamas, including a freeze on assets and a ban on any diplomatic contacts with the group. The Bush administration and Israel had been pushing strongly for such a ban, and the French surprised observers by agreeing.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Hamas leaders meeting at the apartment of Marwan Abu Ras, a university lecturer and senior Hamas official, were sitting down to lunch when they heard Israeli jet fighters overhead.
Israel has killed a dozen other Hamas leaders in the past three weeks in response to a Hamas suicide bomber who killed 22 people aboard a Jerusalem bus on Aug. 19.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Sunday, September 7, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- The Israeli military bombed a Gaza City apartment on Saturday in a failed attempt to assassinate the entire Hamas leadership just hours after Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned, sending prospects for peace in the Middle East plunging to new lows.
The resignation of Abbas after just 100 days in office -- the result of a power struggle with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat -- will likely freeze the U.S. peace initiative known as the road map. Israel and the United States both refuse to deal with Arafat.
The Israeli bombing slightly wounded Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas' spiritual leader, and 14 other people. The 550-pound bomb was launched during a lunch meeting of the Hamas political and military leadership.
The group included two men who had already survived rocket assassination attempts -- Abdel Aziz Rantisi and terror mastermind Mohammed Deif. Yassin, a frail, 68-year-old, managed to flee the building as the jets approached.
A senior Israeli security official told the New York Times that the attack failed because the Israeli Air Force used a "relatively small bomb" to minimize civilian casualties.
Rantisi, who was in the building when it was hit, said his followers would "open the gates of hell" with a new suicide-bomb campaign against Israeli civilians.
Israeli security chiefs braced for more suicide bombings, ordering hundreds of extra police and soldiers onto the streets late Saturday. Security checks were stepped up at shopping malls, movie theaters and other public places.
Hamas was also stung by a decision on Saturday by European foreign ministers to outlaw its political wing as a terrorist organization. Previously, only its military wing had earned that designation.
The Palestinian political structure is struggling with a power vacuum that makes statehood -- a major tenet of the road map -- even more remote. While Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat spoke of reviving the peace plan, observers said U.S. policy was in tatters and would have to be rewritten.
"Abbas is the victim of what many Palestinians see as a botched attempt by Israel and the U.S. to sideline their elected leader," said Palestinian analyst Khaled Abu Toameh. "The writing was on the wall from the very beginning.
U.S. UNDERESTIMATED ARAFAT
"It was clear that Arafat -- who has never agreed to share power with any Palestinian -- would do his utmost to undermine Abbas and bring about his downfall. But the Americans seemed to underestimate Arafat and refused to see the clear messages emanating from the rubble of Arafat's compound in Ramallah."
"Arafat has only one choice for leader: himself," Abu Toameh said. "Arafat has won another battle, but the Palestinian people have undoubtedly lost."
The Palestinian president has two weeks in which to name a new prime minister, but there are few obvious candidates.
Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qureia is the only veteran leader still in the frame, but he says he does not want the job. Finance Minister Salam Fayad, a political ingenue, has apparently ruled himself out. Another possibility is businessman Monib al-Masri, an Arafat loyalist whose appointment was blocked by Arafat's Fatah movement earlier this year.
There was also speculation that Arafat would ask Abbas to resume his post.
While Palestinian politicians are tied up choosing their new Cabinet, they will be unable to make any progress on the security front, leaving the way open for Hamas to renew its bombing campaign in Israel's streets. Any rise in terrorism will likely trigger a draconian Israeli response, perhaps including widespread assassinations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials and a possible invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Right-wing Israeli ministers are also calling for the expulsion of Arafat, which could unleash a wave of popular Palestinian protest, leading in turn to a renewed Israeli military crackdown on the West Bank.
An Israeli government statement issued on Saturday night described the resignation of Abbas as "an internal Palestinian matter," but added, "Israel will not countenance a situation in which control of the Palestinian leadership reverts back to Yasser Arafat or someone who does his bidding."
WHITE HOUSE PRAISES ABBAS
And taking a swipe at Arafat, the White House issued a statement that Abbas' appointment as prime minister was a milestone "in the development of new institutions to serve all the people, not just a corrupt few tainted by terror."
Palestinian officials say that only strong international pressure will save them from tough Israeli measures. "We urge the international community to have the Israeli government refrain from exploiting the internal Palestinian situation," said Erekat.
Saturday's dramatic events unfolded in rapid succession, shifting from Ramallah, to Europe, back to Gaza and then to Ramallah again.
In the morning, a courier delivered Abbas' resignation letter to Arafat at his battered Mukata headquarters in Ramallah. Abbas then went to the Palestinian Legislative Council and addressed legislators for the second time in 72 hours, explaining his reasons for resigning. He blamed Israel, the Arab media and Arafat himself for the failure of his government, which he said had been brought down by "harsh and dangerous domestic incitement."
Leaflets and graffiti appearing in Ramallah since Thursday have denounced Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, and his security chief Mohammed Dahlan as "Zionist collaborators" and "CIA agents."
"The events of the past few days left a scar on Abu Mazen," said Kadoura Farres, a legislator and Fatah leader who mediated between Arafat and Abbas in recent weeks. "Abu Mazen is not built to take such a thing."
Then came news of the decision by European foreign ministers to outlaw Hamas, including a freeze on assets and a ban on any diplomatic contacts with the group. The Bush administration and Israel had been pushing strongly for such a ban, and the French surprised observers by agreeing.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Hamas leaders meeting at the apartment of Marwan Abu Ras, a university lecturer and senior Hamas official, were sitting down to lunch when they heard Israeli jet fighters overhead.
Israel has killed a dozen other Hamas leaders in the past three weeks in response to a Hamas suicide bomber who killed 22 people aboard a Jerusalem bus on Aug. 19.
Friday, 5 September 2003
Abbas tells parliament: Back me or sack me
Palestinian prime minister talks tough to critics
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Friday, September 5, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Ramallah, West Bank -- Embattled Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, locked in a power struggle with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and facing criticism over his failure to make good on promises of peace, delivered a veiled ultimatum to his disgruntled parliament Thursday: Support me or dismiss me.
"You either provide the resources of power and support those things, or you take it back," said Abbas, who was appointed to a shaky power-sharing position with Arafat after intense pressure from Washington and the European Union.
In an address marking the end of his first 100 days as premier, Abbas faced down his critics, but his hold on power appeared fragile.
Parliament scheduled a closed-door meeting for Saturday to discuss his speech and decide whether to move to a vote of confidence. Lawmakers said privately they hoped a compromise could avert such a showdown, which would throw U.S. plans for Middle East peace into disarray.
Abbas and Arafat have clashed repeatedly over the continuation of the armed struggle against Israel, the appointment of cabinet ministers, negotiations with Israel and, most recently, control of the security forces.
Abbas wants more control over the security forces in order to curb attacks against Israelis by Palestinian militants, but Arafat appears reluctant to cede any real power to his premier.
Even as Abbas made his way Thursday to the Palestinian Legislative Council in Ramallah, black-hooded members of Arafat's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades ran amok outside, spray-painting insults against Abbas on the walls of the council building. Protesters carrying Arafat placards beat on a door to the building with a hatchet and clubs, chanting that they would defend their leader "with blood and fire." Minutes before, the demonstrators had been seen emerging from Arafat's office across town.
Abbas had hinted last week, when he called for a Legislative Council meeting, that he might resign if he did not receive more backing from parliament, and mediators from all sides worked frantically behind the scenes to avoid a public clash at Thursday's meeting.
Sensing a standoff, Israel issued a statement on Sunday saying it would "not negotiate with a new government formed under the instructions and influence of Arafat."
And Palestinian legislator Hatem Abdel Khader said several of his colleagues had received calls from U.S. and European officials advising them to support Abbas. "They told my colleagues this was advice, not an order, but we reject this outside interference in our Palestinian affairs," he said.
In his speech, Abbas only hinted at his conflict with Arafat. "Without a legitimate force in the hands of one authority . . . we will not advance one step on the political track," he said, in a reference to the U.S.-backed road map, which foresees Palestinian statehood by 2005.
But Arafat has outmaneuvered Abbas on several fronts. Earlier Thursday, Abbas' position as chief negotiator with Israel was undermined by the appointment of veteran Arafat loyalist Saeb Erekat to the cabinet with the title of minister for negotiations.
And under a plan to address the confrontation over security forces, Abbas' security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, is likely to be usurped by a Palestinian national security council that would give greater control to Arafat.
In public, Abbas remained supportive of Arafat, describing him Thursday as the "constitutional leader and historic leader" of the Palestinians. He called on Israel to lift its blockade of Arafat's headquarters, saying, "I believe that the siege of President Arafat is hurting our national dignity."
Legislators said that during his first 100 days in office, Abbas, who is known as Abu Mazen, had failed to deliver on many of his promises, but most put the blame on Israel.
"If Abu Mazen fails, he will fail because of the Israeli government," said former Palestinian cabinet minister Ziad Abu Zayyad. "He did a few positive things, but I'm worried because the Israelis did not give him enough time to do what he was planning to do and what he wanted to do."
Abbas portrayed a unilateral cease-fire, declared by the armed groups June 29, as his main achievement so far. He accused Israel of sabotaging the truce with "provocations," such as the arrests of militants, and of evading its obligations under the peace plan.
The truce was called off after an Aug. 19 suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 21 people and Israel's killing two days later of Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab.
The Bush administration and Israel have been pressing to sideline or even oust Arafat, but he remains popular -- perhaps more so since Washington has embraced Abbas.
"Everybody is still supporting Arafat, and (they) see Arafat as the first national leader of the Palestinian people," said Abu Zayyad. "Arafat will never be irrelevant, I can assure you."
Mark Heller of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said Arafat had "undermined Abbas and sabotaged him in almost every conceivable way."
"Arafat is extremely jealous about his power and is unwilling to share it with anyone unless his back is up against a wall, which is, to a large extent, what has happened in the last few months as a result of foreign pressure, especially from the United States," Heller said.
Dr. Nabil Kukali, director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, said he was confident Abbas and Arafat would patch up their differences.
"The Palestinians are tired of Israeli occupation, and they are not ready for conflict between their leaders," Kukali said. "The Palestinian leaders understand that, and they will solve their own problems."
But Professor Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University and a former Arafat-appointed PLO representative in Jerusalem, warned that the continuing rivalry between the two men could prove fatal for both.
"A continued struggle between them not only will lead to the downfall of the one," said Nusseibeh. "I believe that the downfall of the one is going to lead to the downfall of the other.
"This is a lose-lose situation for both of them. Neither of them should think that this is a struggle in which only one of them will survive, and the Palestinian people will be left with a much worse position at the end of it."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Friday, September 5, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Ramallah, West Bank -- Embattled Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, locked in a power struggle with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and facing criticism over his failure to make good on promises of peace, delivered a veiled ultimatum to his disgruntled parliament Thursday: Support me or dismiss me.
"You either provide the resources of power and support those things, or you take it back," said Abbas, who was appointed to a shaky power-sharing position with Arafat after intense pressure from Washington and the European Union.
In an address marking the end of his first 100 days as premier, Abbas faced down his critics, but his hold on power appeared fragile.
Parliament scheduled a closed-door meeting for Saturday to discuss his speech and decide whether to move to a vote of confidence. Lawmakers said privately they hoped a compromise could avert such a showdown, which would throw U.S. plans for Middle East peace into disarray.
Abbas and Arafat have clashed repeatedly over the continuation of the armed struggle against Israel, the appointment of cabinet ministers, negotiations with Israel and, most recently, control of the security forces.
Abbas wants more control over the security forces in order to curb attacks against Israelis by Palestinian militants, but Arafat appears reluctant to cede any real power to his premier.
Even as Abbas made his way Thursday to the Palestinian Legislative Council in Ramallah, black-hooded members of Arafat's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades ran amok outside, spray-painting insults against Abbas on the walls of the council building. Protesters carrying Arafat placards beat on a door to the building with a hatchet and clubs, chanting that they would defend their leader "with blood and fire." Minutes before, the demonstrators had been seen emerging from Arafat's office across town.
Abbas had hinted last week, when he called for a Legislative Council meeting, that he might resign if he did not receive more backing from parliament, and mediators from all sides worked frantically behind the scenes to avoid a public clash at Thursday's meeting.
Sensing a standoff, Israel issued a statement on Sunday saying it would "not negotiate with a new government formed under the instructions and influence of Arafat."
And Palestinian legislator Hatem Abdel Khader said several of his colleagues had received calls from U.S. and European officials advising them to support Abbas. "They told my colleagues this was advice, not an order, but we reject this outside interference in our Palestinian affairs," he said.
In his speech, Abbas only hinted at his conflict with Arafat. "Without a legitimate force in the hands of one authority . . . we will not advance one step on the political track," he said, in a reference to the U.S.-backed road map, which foresees Palestinian statehood by 2005.
But Arafat has outmaneuvered Abbas on several fronts. Earlier Thursday, Abbas' position as chief negotiator with Israel was undermined by the appointment of veteran Arafat loyalist Saeb Erekat to the cabinet with the title of minister for negotiations.
And under a plan to address the confrontation over security forces, Abbas' security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, is likely to be usurped by a Palestinian national security council that would give greater control to Arafat.
In public, Abbas remained supportive of Arafat, describing him Thursday as the "constitutional leader and historic leader" of the Palestinians. He called on Israel to lift its blockade of Arafat's headquarters, saying, "I believe that the siege of President Arafat is hurting our national dignity."
Legislators said that during his first 100 days in office, Abbas, who is known as Abu Mazen, had failed to deliver on many of his promises, but most put the blame on Israel.
"If Abu Mazen fails, he will fail because of the Israeli government," said former Palestinian cabinet minister Ziad Abu Zayyad. "He did a few positive things, but I'm worried because the Israelis did not give him enough time to do what he was planning to do and what he wanted to do."
Abbas portrayed a unilateral cease-fire, declared by the armed groups June 29, as his main achievement so far. He accused Israel of sabotaging the truce with "provocations," such as the arrests of militants, and of evading its obligations under the peace plan.
The truce was called off after an Aug. 19 suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 21 people and Israel's killing two days later of Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab.
The Bush administration and Israel have been pressing to sideline or even oust Arafat, but he remains popular -- perhaps more so since Washington has embraced Abbas.
"Everybody is still supporting Arafat, and (they) see Arafat as the first national leader of the Palestinian people," said Abu Zayyad. "Arafat will never be irrelevant, I can assure you."
Mark Heller of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said Arafat had "undermined Abbas and sabotaged him in almost every conceivable way."
"Arafat is extremely jealous about his power and is unwilling to share it with anyone unless his back is up against a wall, which is, to a large extent, what has happened in the last few months as a result of foreign pressure, especially from the United States," Heller said.
Dr. Nabil Kukali, director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, said he was confident Abbas and Arafat would patch up their differences.
"The Palestinians are tired of Israeli occupation, and they are not ready for conflict between their leaders," Kukali said. "The Palestinian leaders understand that, and they will solve their own problems."
But Professor Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University and a former Arafat-appointed PLO representative in Jerusalem, warned that the continuing rivalry between the two men could prove fatal for both.
"A continued struggle between them not only will lead to the downfall of the one," said Nusseibeh. "I believe that the downfall of the one is going to lead to the downfall of the other.
"This is a lose-lose situation for both of them. Neither of them should think that this is a struggle in which only one of them will survive, and the Palestinian people will be left with a much worse position at the end of it."
Tuesday, 29 July 2003
A voice for optimism reborn on Israeli-Palestinian radio
Cease-fire inspires restoration of broadcasts for peace
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- Ten years after the maverick Voice of Peace radio station ceased broadcasting from a floating studio "somewhere in the Mediterranean" off the Israeli coastline, a new namesake jointly run by Israelis and Palestinians is gearing up to air its first programs in November.
Much has happened in the intervening decade, during which Israelis and Palestinians soared to new heights of hope for reconciliation through the Oslo peace process only to plunge into an abyss of hatred and war. The peace camp --
particularly in Israel -- has been all but silenced by the violence of the past 33 months.
But with a brittle hudna, or cease-fire, apparently holding and signs of growing cooperation between the governments of Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas, people on both sides are daring to believe that they might just be exiting the three-year nightmare.
The resurrection of the Voice of Peace is a powerful public expression of the faith still held by the people who pioneered the Israeli-Palestinian peace process a decade ago that dialogue and mutual generosity can bring about an end to the bloodshed.
The radio station was operated from 1973 to 1993 by Israeli activist Abie Nathan on a vessel known as the Peace Ship. Saddled with a $300,000 debt due to operating costs and declining advertising revenues, Nathan closed down the station in 1993. He had hoped to attract investment to turn the ship into a floating peace museum, but when that did not work out he scuttled it. The Peace Ship lies today at the bottom of the Mediterranean.
But the Voice of Peace is back for a rerun, with an annual budget of nearly half a million dollars, 80 percent financed by the European Union. It is a joint project by Givat Haviva, an Israeli center for Jewish-Arab dialogue, and the Palestinian weekly newspaper the Jerusalem Times.
The station will mainly broadcast music, with three hours of original programming in Arabic, Hebrew and English. It will be managed and run by a joint Israeli-Palestinian staff.
Shimon Peres, the Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister who was the prime mover of the Oslo Accords, said in an interview that he is optimistic about the chances for peace.
"There is a wind for peace, and it will be very hard for the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to escape the wind," Peres said. "They turn their sails, hoping there will be a mild wind, but it will pick up in strength, and it will be very hard for both sides to stop it."
Peres said joint initiatives like the radio station could have a powerful impact in changing perceptions on both sides. The indefatigable politician's Peres Center for Peace has just reached agreement with the Israeli and Palestinian ministries of education to include 15 lectures on peace in next year's high school curriculum.
Peres said the effect of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the war in Iraq on the Middle East had boosted the chances for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
"The United States, in spite of all the criticism, has gained strength and prestige in the Middle East," he said. "Today, they are the only power in town.
"They are doing a double job -- fighting terror and eliminating the reasons for terror. They want the Palestinians to do their utmost in order to stop terror, and they want the Israelis to do what they can in order to eliminate the reasons for terror."
Hanna Siniora, the Palestinian publisher of the Jerusalem Times and a former PLO representative in Jerusalem, was one of the earliest advocates of dialogue with Israelis. Even the Palestinian extremists who firebombed his car to protest his early peace moves failed to dissuade him.
Siniora said the Voice of Peace would build confidence and hope and "reflect the silent majority in both camps who want to see peace and a political settlement."
"All the polls that have been taken both in Israel and in Palestine have shown that at least 65 percent of the population of both countries actually want peace and want a settlement based on a two-state solution," Siniora said.
"Today we have a new window of opportunity," he said. "We are in a period of a cease-fire and a peace process that up till now, despite the difficulties,
is moving forward."
Gershon Baskin, another veteran of the Middle East peace dialogue, was reached in Antalya, Turkey, where he was hosting a conference of 40 Israeli and Palestinian school principals. Two weeks ago, the co-founder of the Israeli-Palestine Center for Research and Co-operation had convened a similar gathering of 100 teachers from both sides.
Baskin said there was no alternative to dialogue.
"I'm always optimistic," he said. "I don't think that one can engage in the kind of work we're doing, bringing Israelis and Palestinians together, without having an overall optimism.
"My optimism may be seeded with a kind of apocalyptic kind of fear that if we miss the opportunity for peace we are by our own hands committing suicide as a nation. I think both peoples are."
Baskin added, "I talk to Israelis and Palestinians every day, both common folk and leaders, who are tired of the deadlock, tired of the violence, tired of living without hope. People suffered tremendously over the past 32 months and I think people honestly want to move forward."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- Ten years after the maverick Voice of Peace radio station ceased broadcasting from a floating studio "somewhere in the Mediterranean" off the Israeli coastline, a new namesake jointly run by Israelis and Palestinians is gearing up to air its first programs in November.
Much has happened in the intervening decade, during which Israelis and Palestinians soared to new heights of hope for reconciliation through the Oslo peace process only to plunge into an abyss of hatred and war. The peace camp --
particularly in Israel -- has been all but silenced by the violence of the past 33 months.
But with a brittle hudna, or cease-fire, apparently holding and signs of growing cooperation between the governments of Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas, people on both sides are daring to believe that they might just be exiting the three-year nightmare.
The resurrection of the Voice of Peace is a powerful public expression of the faith still held by the people who pioneered the Israeli-Palestinian peace process a decade ago that dialogue and mutual generosity can bring about an end to the bloodshed.
The radio station was operated from 1973 to 1993 by Israeli activist Abie Nathan on a vessel known as the Peace Ship. Saddled with a $300,000 debt due to operating costs and declining advertising revenues, Nathan closed down the station in 1993. He had hoped to attract investment to turn the ship into a floating peace museum, but when that did not work out he scuttled it. The Peace Ship lies today at the bottom of the Mediterranean.
But the Voice of Peace is back for a rerun, with an annual budget of nearly half a million dollars, 80 percent financed by the European Union. It is a joint project by Givat Haviva, an Israeli center for Jewish-Arab dialogue, and the Palestinian weekly newspaper the Jerusalem Times.
The station will mainly broadcast music, with three hours of original programming in Arabic, Hebrew and English. It will be managed and run by a joint Israeli-Palestinian staff.
Shimon Peres, the Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister who was the prime mover of the Oslo Accords, said in an interview that he is optimistic about the chances for peace.
"There is a wind for peace, and it will be very hard for the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to escape the wind," Peres said. "They turn their sails, hoping there will be a mild wind, but it will pick up in strength, and it will be very hard for both sides to stop it."
Peres said joint initiatives like the radio station could have a powerful impact in changing perceptions on both sides. The indefatigable politician's Peres Center for Peace has just reached agreement with the Israeli and Palestinian ministries of education to include 15 lectures on peace in next year's high school curriculum.
Peres said the effect of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the war in Iraq on the Middle East had boosted the chances for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
"The United States, in spite of all the criticism, has gained strength and prestige in the Middle East," he said. "Today, they are the only power in town.
"They are doing a double job -- fighting terror and eliminating the reasons for terror. They want the Palestinians to do their utmost in order to stop terror, and they want the Israelis to do what they can in order to eliminate the reasons for terror."
Hanna Siniora, the Palestinian publisher of the Jerusalem Times and a former PLO representative in Jerusalem, was one of the earliest advocates of dialogue with Israelis. Even the Palestinian extremists who firebombed his car to protest his early peace moves failed to dissuade him.
Siniora said the Voice of Peace would build confidence and hope and "reflect the silent majority in both camps who want to see peace and a political settlement."
"All the polls that have been taken both in Israel and in Palestine have shown that at least 65 percent of the population of both countries actually want peace and want a settlement based on a two-state solution," Siniora said.
"Today we have a new window of opportunity," he said. "We are in a period of a cease-fire and a peace process that up till now, despite the difficulties,
is moving forward."
Gershon Baskin, another veteran of the Middle East peace dialogue, was reached in Antalya, Turkey, where he was hosting a conference of 40 Israeli and Palestinian school principals. Two weeks ago, the co-founder of the Israeli-Palestine Center for Research and Co-operation had convened a similar gathering of 100 teachers from both sides.
Baskin said there was no alternative to dialogue.
"I'm always optimistic," he said. "I don't think that one can engage in the kind of work we're doing, bringing Israelis and Palestinians together, without having an overall optimism.
"My optimism may be seeded with a kind of apocalyptic kind of fear that if we miss the opportunity for peace we are by our own hands committing suicide as a nation. I think both peoples are."
Baskin added, "I talk to Israelis and Palestinians every day, both common folk and leaders, who are tired of the deadlock, tired of the violence, tired of living without hope. People suffered tremendously over the past 32 months and I think people honestly want to move forward."
Friday, 18 July 2003
Palestinian intellectuals feeling pressured to toe the line
Pollster's results on 'right of return' make him a target
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Friday, July 18, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Ramallah, West Bank -- The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research is usually a quiet place dedicated to academic analysis and learned discussion, but a riot broke out at the sleepy think tank this week.
A furious mob smashed glass and furniture, trashed potted plants and pelted the center's director, Khalil Shikaki, with eggs on Sunday.
His crime? Publishing the results of an opinion poll of Palestinian refugees that suggested only 10 percent of them would exercise the long-sought "right of return" to their former homes in what is now Israel if that right were granted.
Shikaki was only the latest Palestinian intellectual to learn that deviating from the Palestinian Authority's political line can be dangerous.
His findings seem to fly in the face of accepted Palestinian policy that the right of return for some 4 million refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip be a touchstone of any Middle East peace settlement.
A leaflet distributed by the protesters accused the Columbia University-educated Shikaki of "selling himself to the U.S. dollar" and "deviating from the consensus of the Palestinian people."
The leaflet also mentioned another prominent Palestinian who has dared to question the idea of the right of return -- Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al- Quds University in Jerusalem.
Years ago, Nusseibeh was beaten up at Bir Zeit University for promoting dialogue with Israelis. Last year, he was dismissed as the PLO's representative in Jerusalem after he publicly questioned whether demanding the right of return was either logical or feasible.
The leaflet distributed in Ramallah on Sunday recalled how Nusseibeh was denied entry to the campus of Al-Najah University in Nablus two months ago and prevented from discussing a new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative.
"We warn anyone who considers harming the national rights that their fate will be similar to that of Shikaki and Nusseibeh," said a statement by the group that organized the egg-throwing, the Committee for the Defense of Palestinian Refugees' Rights.
"They will be ostracized and put on popular trial," the statement continued.
"The committee salutes the masses who care about their rights and who do not allow mercenary academics to spread their poison among our people.
"The committee calls on the Palestinian prime minister not to be lenient on such people and to take a clear position opposing their activities and to put them on trial for high treason."
Palestinian police stood by as the Nablus-based group, which is believed to be affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, disrupted Shikaki's press conference. Group members then sauntered over to Arafat's headquarters, where they were received warmly.
Analysts say an atmosphere of intimidation stifles free debate about vital issues facing Palestinian society. They say the pressure comes not just from popular committees but also directly from the Palestinian Authority government.
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has not commented on the Shikaki incident.
"People are often very cautious about expressing their political views, especially with regard to the government and sensitive issues," said Khaled Abu Toameh, an ex-PLO employee who is now an independent reporter and analyst. "Some writers and journalists have been punished by the Palestinian Authority for simply expressing their views. In one case, a group of intellectuals was imprisoned or beaten up by Palestinian Authority thugs for signing a petition calling for reforms."
Abu Toameh added: "There has been a slight improvement in recent years with more people speaking out openly in favor of reforms and against corruption, but you always have the feeling that you're being watched.
"It's not as bad as Syria or Saddam's Iraq, but it can be frightening. Palestinian journalists know that you don't mess around with sacred cows."
Perhaps for this reason, there aren't many independent Palestinian analysts like Shikaki. While there is some freedom of expression in academic circles, the media practices widespread self-censorship.
Israel maintains military censorship on security-related stories, and police will often obtain a court order gagging reporting on unfolding investigations. But there is notable freedom of political, anti-government and even anti-military comment in the Israeli media.
In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, pressure from above tends to dictate the content of Palestinian media -- and even of international news agencies.
The most blatant example in recent years was on the night of Sept. 11, 2001, when thousands of joyful, cheering Palestinians took to the streets of Nablus and other West Bank towns to celebrate the attacks on New York and Washington. Footage of the embarrassing street party was suppressed by senior Palestinian Authority officials, who telephoned the local bureau chiefs of the international news agencies and threatened physical harm to their camera crews if the film was shown.
The Associated Press and the Foreign Press Association protested the intimidation, but the footage stayed on the shelf.
Several years ago, Hafez Barghouti, editor of the Palestinian Authority- owned daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, straightforwardly told a seminar of media students at Bethlehem University, "At this point in our national development, it is not always appropriate to publish everything. As editor, part of my job is to censor the material I feel does not contribute to the immediate task of building the Palestinian nation."
Abu Toameh observed, "I am often criticized, even by Palestinian journalist colleagues, for exposing embarrassing truths which they feel are best kept away from public gaze. They don't attack me for publishing stories because they are untrue, because they can't."
Shikaki, for his part, has taken Sunday's incident in stride.
"I do believe that the word of the overwhelming majority of the refugees that we have interviewed is indeed much, much stronger than the views of a small number of rioters who attacked the center," he told National Public Radio. "I really don't give those people a great deal of weight."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Friday, July 18, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Ramallah, West Bank -- The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research is usually a quiet place dedicated to academic analysis and learned discussion, but a riot broke out at the sleepy think tank this week.
A furious mob smashed glass and furniture, trashed potted plants and pelted the center's director, Khalil Shikaki, with eggs on Sunday.
His crime? Publishing the results of an opinion poll of Palestinian refugees that suggested only 10 percent of them would exercise the long-sought "right of return" to their former homes in what is now Israel if that right were granted.
Shikaki was only the latest Palestinian intellectual to learn that deviating from the Palestinian Authority's political line can be dangerous.
His findings seem to fly in the face of accepted Palestinian policy that the right of return for some 4 million refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip be a touchstone of any Middle East peace settlement.
A leaflet distributed by the protesters accused the Columbia University-educated Shikaki of "selling himself to the U.S. dollar" and "deviating from the consensus of the Palestinian people."
The leaflet also mentioned another prominent Palestinian who has dared to question the idea of the right of return -- Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al- Quds University in Jerusalem.
Years ago, Nusseibeh was beaten up at Bir Zeit University for promoting dialogue with Israelis. Last year, he was dismissed as the PLO's representative in Jerusalem after he publicly questioned whether demanding the right of return was either logical or feasible.
The leaflet distributed in Ramallah on Sunday recalled how Nusseibeh was denied entry to the campus of Al-Najah University in Nablus two months ago and prevented from discussing a new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative.
"We warn anyone who considers harming the national rights that their fate will be similar to that of Shikaki and Nusseibeh," said a statement by the group that organized the egg-throwing, the Committee for the Defense of Palestinian Refugees' Rights.
"They will be ostracized and put on popular trial," the statement continued.
"The committee salutes the masses who care about their rights and who do not allow mercenary academics to spread their poison among our people.
"The committee calls on the Palestinian prime minister not to be lenient on such people and to take a clear position opposing their activities and to put them on trial for high treason."
Palestinian police stood by as the Nablus-based group, which is believed to be affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, disrupted Shikaki's press conference. Group members then sauntered over to Arafat's headquarters, where they were received warmly.
Analysts say an atmosphere of intimidation stifles free debate about vital issues facing Palestinian society. They say the pressure comes not just from popular committees but also directly from the Palestinian Authority government.
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has not commented on the Shikaki incident.
"People are often very cautious about expressing their political views, especially with regard to the government and sensitive issues," said Khaled Abu Toameh, an ex-PLO employee who is now an independent reporter and analyst. "Some writers and journalists have been punished by the Palestinian Authority for simply expressing their views. In one case, a group of intellectuals was imprisoned or beaten up by Palestinian Authority thugs for signing a petition calling for reforms."
Abu Toameh added: "There has been a slight improvement in recent years with more people speaking out openly in favor of reforms and against corruption, but you always have the feeling that you're being watched.
"It's not as bad as Syria or Saddam's Iraq, but it can be frightening. Palestinian journalists know that you don't mess around with sacred cows."
Perhaps for this reason, there aren't many independent Palestinian analysts like Shikaki. While there is some freedom of expression in academic circles, the media practices widespread self-censorship.
Israel maintains military censorship on security-related stories, and police will often obtain a court order gagging reporting on unfolding investigations. But there is notable freedom of political, anti-government and even anti-military comment in the Israeli media.
In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, pressure from above tends to dictate the content of Palestinian media -- and even of international news agencies.
The most blatant example in recent years was on the night of Sept. 11, 2001, when thousands of joyful, cheering Palestinians took to the streets of Nablus and other West Bank towns to celebrate the attacks on New York and Washington. Footage of the embarrassing street party was suppressed by senior Palestinian Authority officials, who telephoned the local bureau chiefs of the international news agencies and threatened physical harm to their camera crews if the film was shown.
The Associated Press and the Foreign Press Association protested the intimidation, but the footage stayed on the shelf.
Several years ago, Hafez Barghouti, editor of the Palestinian Authority- owned daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, straightforwardly told a seminar of media students at Bethlehem University, "At this point in our national development, it is not always appropriate to publish everything. As editor, part of my job is to censor the material I feel does not contribute to the immediate task of building the Palestinian nation."
Abu Toameh observed, "I am often criticized, even by Palestinian journalist colleagues, for exposing embarrassing truths which they feel are best kept away from public gaze. They don't attack me for publishing stories because they are untrue, because they can't."
Shikaki, for his part, has taken Sunday's incident in stride.
"I do believe that the word of the overwhelming majority of the refugees that we have interviewed is indeed much, much stronger than the views of a small number of rioters who attacked the center," he told National Public Radio. "I really don't give those people a great deal of weight."
Tuesday, 15 July 2003
Daily decisions at Israeli border
Commander must balance needs, security
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jenin, West Bank -- Col. Fouad Halhal was enjoying a rare afternoon at home with his children last Saturday when the telephone rang. It was an urgent call from the Jalameh checkpoint, which controls the border crossing between the West Bank city of Jenin and northern Israel.
A soldier under his command said a Palestinian ambulance carrying a desperately ill 3-year-old girl with a blood clot on the brain was asking permission to rush the child to Ramban Hospital in the nearby Israeli city of Haifa, the only chance of saving her life.
"We had a problem," said Halhal. "We had a warning that a massive car bomb was being prepared in Jenin and they were trying to smuggle it into Israel. We also knew that ambulances had been used in other areas to smuggle explosives."
"But I had no hesitation whatsoever," he said. "I ordered the soldiers to allow the ambulance to pass without delay, and without any security check. Unfortunately, this incident ended in tragedy and the girl died at the hospital. But it was the right decision, despite the security risks."
Halhal faces similar decisions every day as commander of the DCO -- District Coordination Office -- at Salem, which supervises contact with the Palestinian civilian authorities in Jenin, one of the West Bank's most militant areas.
The Jalameh checkpoint and the surrounding countryside have been the entry points for scores of Palestinian suicide attackers bent on attacking Israelis in nearby towns or blowing themselves up on buses plying the highways that pass close to the West Bank border.
On May 19, a woman passed the checkpoint, hitched a ride into Afula and blew herself up at a shopping mall, killing three people and injuring 70.
Halhal and his men must deal with everything from stopping suicide bombers to facilitating the movement of Palestinian cucumbers destined for Israeli markets.
A tall Israeli Arab with a shaved head, Halhal is a member of the Druze sect, known throughout the Middle East for their loyalty to the state they serve. A proud member of the Israeli armed forces, he is nevertheless responsible for making sure Palestinian ambulances and food supplies get through while his colleagues in the security branch of the military try to stop the terrorists.
His officers take pains to distinguish themselves from Israel's fighting troops who, as the focus of Palestinian rage, often come under attack from anyone from small boys throwing stones to militants firing shoulder-fired missiles. All of Halhal's men speak fluent Arabic and drive white jeeps to set themselves apart from the troops in their tanks.
"I am an Israeli army officer, so I understand the security implications of the day-to-day activity," he said, "but my job is to protect the humanitarian and civilian needs of the 200,000 Palestinians who live in this area, which sometimes means I have to argue with my colleagues on the (security) side."
These days, Halhal is focused on matters more prosaic than terrorists. It is the height of the cucumber harvest, and he has to ensure that thousands of tons of the vegetables make their way through the checkpoint and into the markets of northern Israel.
Such assistance is no small matter for the Palestinian economy, since about 85 percent of its exports go to Israel.
Imad Zakarni, 39, who represents a group of Jenin farmers, transports more than 300 tons of vegetables into Israel each day, down from about 1,000 tons before the latest Palestinian uprising began 33 months ago.
"We rely on Israel for about 50 percent of our sales," said Zakarni. "The past two years have been very difficult. . . . Before they opened the checkpoints, we had to smuggle our produce into Israel or throw it away."
"Before the intifada, Jewish Israeli merchants would come every day," he added, "but now they are too scared, so we only deal with Israeli Arabs."
Jenin, known in Israel as the capital city of the suicide bombers, was the scene of intense fighting during last year's Operation Defensive Shield, when 53 Palestinians and 26 Israeli soldiers were killed in close combat in the booby-trapped houses of the crowded refugee camp.
Despite the danger, Halhal said he and his officers were inside Jenin every day, making sure the local hospital continued to function, escorting ambulances and ensuring supplies of electricity, food and water.
Israel has withdrawn its troops to the edges of Jenin, returning frequently to search for weapons or terror suspects, and an uneasy calm now prevails.
About 10,000 people pass through the checkpoint daily, mostly laborers with long-term permits allowing them to get to jobs on the other side of the border.
Other Palestinians can approach the Jenin side of the DCO with requests to travel into Israel for various purposes -- study, business or health. Halhal receives 200 to 300 requests for new permits every day.
A notice in Arabic at the window asks for urgent medical cases to come to the front of the line, and Halhal said there are standing orders that they be processed immediately.
He and the other members of his Civil Administration Unit, which helps to administer the occupied territories, have a complex relationship with the people of Jenin. Officially, they denounce his unit as part of the Israeli occupation, but over time, a relationship has developed between the two sides.
A huge aerial photograph of Jenin fills an entire wall of Halhal's office.
A 650-square-foot block in the middle of the refugee camp that was razed by Israeli bulldozers and Palestinian explosives can be seen clearly.
Halhal points to a factory on the outskirts of town. "This is the medical oxygen factory of Ibrahim Hadad, which provides oxygen for all 14 Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank from Jenin to Hebron," said Halhal. "If a truck is delayed even by one day, there would be no oxygen in the hospitals."
"Despite all the military operations and the dreadful events which have made Jenin the suicide capital, the factory has continued to work and the trucks have departed, with our cooperation and protection," he said, with a note of pride in his voice.
But he was quick to make his loyalties clear:
"I'm not doing this as a favor to the Palestinians. I'm doing it because my whole reason for serving in the army is to defend a democratic and humane society." To him, he said, "that's what the army is for."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jenin, West Bank -- Col. Fouad Halhal was enjoying a rare afternoon at home with his children last Saturday when the telephone rang. It was an urgent call from the Jalameh checkpoint, which controls the border crossing between the West Bank city of Jenin and northern Israel.
A soldier under his command said a Palestinian ambulance carrying a desperately ill 3-year-old girl with a blood clot on the brain was asking permission to rush the child to Ramban Hospital in the nearby Israeli city of Haifa, the only chance of saving her life.
"We had a problem," said Halhal. "We had a warning that a massive car bomb was being prepared in Jenin and they were trying to smuggle it into Israel. We also knew that ambulances had been used in other areas to smuggle explosives."
"But I had no hesitation whatsoever," he said. "I ordered the soldiers to allow the ambulance to pass without delay, and without any security check. Unfortunately, this incident ended in tragedy and the girl died at the hospital. But it was the right decision, despite the security risks."
Halhal faces similar decisions every day as commander of the DCO -- District Coordination Office -- at Salem, which supervises contact with the Palestinian civilian authorities in Jenin, one of the West Bank's most militant areas.
The Jalameh checkpoint and the surrounding countryside have been the entry points for scores of Palestinian suicide attackers bent on attacking Israelis in nearby towns or blowing themselves up on buses plying the highways that pass close to the West Bank border.
On May 19, a woman passed the checkpoint, hitched a ride into Afula and blew herself up at a shopping mall, killing three people and injuring 70.
Halhal and his men must deal with everything from stopping suicide bombers to facilitating the movement of Palestinian cucumbers destined for Israeli markets.
A tall Israeli Arab with a shaved head, Halhal is a member of the Druze sect, known throughout the Middle East for their loyalty to the state they serve. A proud member of the Israeli armed forces, he is nevertheless responsible for making sure Palestinian ambulances and food supplies get through while his colleagues in the security branch of the military try to stop the terrorists.
His officers take pains to distinguish themselves from Israel's fighting troops who, as the focus of Palestinian rage, often come under attack from anyone from small boys throwing stones to militants firing shoulder-fired missiles. All of Halhal's men speak fluent Arabic and drive white jeeps to set themselves apart from the troops in their tanks.
"I am an Israeli army officer, so I understand the security implications of the day-to-day activity," he said, "but my job is to protect the humanitarian and civilian needs of the 200,000 Palestinians who live in this area, which sometimes means I have to argue with my colleagues on the (security) side."
These days, Halhal is focused on matters more prosaic than terrorists. It is the height of the cucumber harvest, and he has to ensure that thousands of tons of the vegetables make their way through the checkpoint and into the markets of northern Israel.
Such assistance is no small matter for the Palestinian economy, since about 85 percent of its exports go to Israel.
Imad Zakarni, 39, who represents a group of Jenin farmers, transports more than 300 tons of vegetables into Israel each day, down from about 1,000 tons before the latest Palestinian uprising began 33 months ago.
"We rely on Israel for about 50 percent of our sales," said Zakarni. "The past two years have been very difficult. . . . Before they opened the checkpoints, we had to smuggle our produce into Israel or throw it away."
"Before the intifada, Jewish Israeli merchants would come every day," he added, "but now they are too scared, so we only deal with Israeli Arabs."
Jenin, known in Israel as the capital city of the suicide bombers, was the scene of intense fighting during last year's Operation Defensive Shield, when 53 Palestinians and 26 Israeli soldiers were killed in close combat in the booby-trapped houses of the crowded refugee camp.
Despite the danger, Halhal said he and his officers were inside Jenin every day, making sure the local hospital continued to function, escorting ambulances and ensuring supplies of electricity, food and water.
Israel has withdrawn its troops to the edges of Jenin, returning frequently to search for weapons or terror suspects, and an uneasy calm now prevails.
About 10,000 people pass through the checkpoint daily, mostly laborers with long-term permits allowing them to get to jobs on the other side of the border.
Other Palestinians can approach the Jenin side of the DCO with requests to travel into Israel for various purposes -- study, business or health. Halhal receives 200 to 300 requests for new permits every day.
A notice in Arabic at the window asks for urgent medical cases to come to the front of the line, and Halhal said there are standing orders that they be processed immediately.
He and the other members of his Civil Administration Unit, which helps to administer the occupied territories, have a complex relationship with the people of Jenin. Officially, they denounce his unit as part of the Israeli occupation, but over time, a relationship has developed between the two sides.
A huge aerial photograph of Jenin fills an entire wall of Halhal's office.
A 650-square-foot block in the middle of the refugee camp that was razed by Israeli bulldozers and Palestinian explosives can be seen clearly.
Halhal points to a factory on the outskirts of town. "This is the medical oxygen factory of Ibrahim Hadad, which provides oxygen for all 14 Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank from Jenin to Hebron," said Halhal. "If a truck is delayed even by one day, there would be no oxygen in the hospitals."
"Despite all the military operations and the dreadful events which have made Jenin the suicide capital, the factory has continued to work and the trucks have departed, with our cooperation and protection," he said, with a note of pride in his voice.
But he was quick to make his loyalties clear:
"I'm not doing this as a favor to the Palestinians. I'm doing it because my whole reason for serving in the army is to defend a democratic and humane society." To him, he said, "that's what the army is for."
Friday, 11 July 2003
Cease-fire holdout rules Jenin refugee camp
Zakariya Zubaideh, 27, lost his mother and brother in the Israeli assault on Jenin. Photo by Matthew Kalman, special to the ChronicleSAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
July 11, 2003
By Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jenin refugee camp, West Bank — Zakariya Zubaideh is head of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the most extreme wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, in Jenin, the most militant outpost of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.
That pedigree -- coupled with his refusal to abide by the 2-week-old cease- fire with Israel -- makes him a wanted man.
The tall, dark and slim 27-year-old speaks in a disarmingly gentle voice with a slight lisp. But even before you notice the silver Smith & Wesson pistol nestling on his hip, you see scars on his face and bloodshot clouds in his eyes, the results of a mortar bomb that blew up in his face two years ago.
"My vision is blurred during the day. I only see clearly at night," said Zubaideh.
Right now, he is seeing red.
Alone among the armed Palestinian groups, Zubaideh and his men refuse to accept the cease-fire, or hudna, hammered out by the commanders of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"This hudna doesn't concern me or any other party," Zubaideh said defiantly.
"Until now, no one has consulted with us, and we haven't received instructions to stop the fighting from the leadership. They made this agreement on their own. They didn't consult with anyone."
He pours scorn on the Palestinian leaders in their "air-conditioned rooms" on the cosmopolitan boulevards of Ramallah and says his intifada will never end without a total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza.
Here in Jenin, an isolated town surrounded by Israeli troops at the northern tip of the West Bank, Zubaideh is king and his exploits the stuff of legend.
He was 13 when he was first shot -- in the knee, while throwing stones during the first intifada. He soon graduated to Molotov cocktails, which earned him four years in an Israeli jail.
Released under the Oslo peace accords, Zubaideh was exiled to Jericho but returned to Jenin using faked identity papers. He became a building laborer inside Israel but was eventually caught and returned to Jenin. Deprived of work, he turned to stealing cars for a few years, ending up with another jail sentence, this one for 15 months. He was released just before the start of the second intifada in October 2000.
In April 2002, Zubaideh helped lead armed Palestinian opposition to the Israeli invasion of the Jenin refugee camp, the most bloody confrontation of what Israel called Operation Defensive Shield, launched in response to the killing of 30 people at a Passover Seder ceremony.
In separate battles, Israeli soldiers fatally shot in the head Zubaideh's mother, Samira, while she was looking out her window; his brother, Taha, was also killed. The family home was destroyed. Zubaideh says he survived 16 days under the rubble.
Now he is aware that his own days may be numbered. Israeli troops have been after him for months. Last week, Palestinian security forces issued an arrest warrant after his men shot and killed a Bulgarian laborer driving past the nearby West Bank village of Yabed on June 30, the day after the hudna was declared.
But it appears that Zubaideh has little to fear from the Palestinian Authority. At an interview this week, he was accompanied by Atta Bourneli, the Fatah secretary-general in the Jenin area and a man in direct contact with Arafat, who ordered Zubaideh's arrest.
A few weeks ago, a delegation of Palestinian Cabinet ministers visited the Jenin refugee camp to speak to the residents. Zubaideh told them they were not welcome and sent them packing, according to several sources. They came again, this time to the city of Jenin, and the same thing happened.
Israeli intelligence officials say they are convinced that Zubaideh's refusal to abide by the cease-fire is part of a plan that has been well coordinated with Palestinian leaders, especially Arafat.
"No one asked Zubaideh to stop fighting because they don't want him to," agreed a local Palestinian analyst who insisted on anonymity. "He is their trump card, their deniable bargaining chip in talks with the Americans and the Israelis."
Zubaideh says he doesn't need the central leadership, although he swears undying loyalty to Arafat. He says his Brigades unit receives no money or support from Ramallah or anywhere else, but Western diplomats on the ground say there is money pouring into Jenin from Iran, Syria and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
"I tell you, we do not need any help from anyone," Zubaideh said. "We have sold the jewelry of our women to buy weapons. We pay from our private money -- not to mention (what) we have taken from the Israelis.
"Here in the camps we have about 20 weapons which we captured from them. There are also members who go inside the settlements and steal weapons. I started out as a car thief. I know how to get there."
But there is another, unexpected side to Zubaideh -- his past involvement in Israeli-Palestinian peace projects.
A decade ago, an Israeli actor set up a theater studio in Zubaideh's own home, where young Palestinians rehearsed plays based on ancient legends replete with contemporary meaning.
"My house was the first to be opened for the Israelis," he said. "Israeli peace activists used to come to us, and we had a joint Palestinian-Israeli theater. Every day, 200 Jews used to come to the camp . . . to sleep, work and act. My brother also had a certificate of journalism from Givat Haviva, a peace center in Israel.
Displaying the perhaps tortured logic of someone who has felt the sting of such a close personal loss, Zubaideh said that he chose his present path "when I became convinced that the Israeli people, not the government, don't want peace."
Noting that it was a Labor Party defense minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who ordered the Israeli operation in Jenin, he said, "The Labor Party is responsible for the killing of my mother and the massacre in the camp. I accuse the Israeli peace camp of the killings and the destruction."
Now, he says, the only way to achieve peace is to fight for the complete withdrawal of Israel from the occupied lands.
Elsewhere, Palestinians have cautiously welcomed the cease-fire, evidence of their fatigue after nearly three years of fighting and thousands of casualties.
But Zubaideh says the people of Jenin are behind him.
"We have many members in the area," he said. "The entire Palestinian people are the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades."
Tuesday, 8 July 2003
Don't free prisoners, families of slain Israelis say
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Tuesday, July 8, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- Israeli families whose loved ones have died in Palestinian terror attacks have appealed to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon not to succumb to growing pressure for the release of more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
But Palestinian leaders and the prisoners' families say the step is essential to bolster a shaky, week-old truce and increase the standing of reformist Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel said on Sunday that it will release 350 prisoners, but the Palestinians are demanding more. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, said in a statement Sunday that "we are ready to carry out the most powerful and dangerous military attacks inside Israel and in the settlements" unless a full release is carried out.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom reiterated on Monday that Israel would not turn loose prisoners who have "blood on their hands" -- a reference to those who killed Israelis or aided the killers.
Late in the day, the prisoners announced a hunger strike to protest Israel's refusal to grant a general amnesty.
Opposition leader Shimon Peres of the Labor Party said the government stood at a crossroads: "One is not to release prisoners who would endanger our security; the other is to put an end to the intifada.
"I don't think we have to give (the Palestinians) everything they want, but we do have to show them support -- and allow Abu Mazen (as Abbas is known) to show them something."
Jailed members of radical groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad reportedly were instrumental in brokering the current cease-fire. Now, Abbas is under pressure to repay them by securing their release.
But on Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet ruled out a general amnesty when it approved strict legal criteria for deciding which prisoners would be freed. It specifically barred anyone who had planned or carried out attacks on Israelis, including most of the 1,000 or so jailed members of radical groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The prisoner issue strikes deep within Israeli and Palestinian society.
Tzafi Adonian-Haas, whose husband Eli was killed by a Hamas suicide bomber in a Jerusalem market in 1997, said she opposed the release of convicted terrorists.
"I think they should stay in prison," she said as she played with her two grandchildren, who she said had brought some hope back into her life.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think about Eli. I feel as though I lost half of myself. If they had carried out these attacks in the United States, they would get the electric chair or life in prison."
As for calls by some bereaved Israeli families to release the prisoners for the sake of future peace, Adonian-Haas said, "We tried releasing prisoners during the Oslo peace process, and it got us nowhere. Now we have more than 800 Israelis dead, and I don't believe in these agreements any more.
"It's a matter of trust, and I just don't trust them."
Across town in the Palestinian village of Lifta, Mohammed Odeh and his wife had just returned from visiting their son Bilal in Ashkelon Prison, where he is serving an 18-year sentence for attempted murder.
"I feel as though I have lost him," said Mohammed, sitting in the shade of the vines in his garden. "I'm just waiting for him to come back. There is hope that sooner or later the Israelis see that this is impossible."
Bilal, 26, a university graduate in social work, was the leader of a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine cell that detonated a series of car bombs packed with mortars in central Jerusalem two years ago. Several people were injured in the blasts, but no one was killed.
"He did what any other Palestinian would do under occupation, and I am proud of him," said Mohammed.
Fadel Tahboub is a former Palestinian militant who has become a peace campaigner. He was captured in the late 1960s after staging a cross-border raid into Israel from Jordan and spent the next 15 years in jail. He now helps run the People's Peace Campaign, a joint Israeli-Palestinian project based in East Jerusalem that is trying to hammer out some basic principles for mutual coexistence.
But the gray-haired veteran, who is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's parliament in exile, the Palestine National Council, said the prisoner issue could undermine any attempt to move toward peace.
"For us, these people are not terrorists but national heroes for carrying out resistance to the occupation," Tahboub said.
"The cease-fire will collapse if they do not release them," he warned. "It will weaken Abu Mazen, and he will fall."
But Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Hisham Abdel Razek, the Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs, that it would be "impractical" to consider releasing Hamas prisoners when the group's leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, had vowed to resume attacks after the truce expires.
"When Rantisi goes on television and says that after the (cease-fire) in three months they will continue the war to wipe out the Jewish state, it is not exactly smart to demand of us to release fighters to annihilate the Jewish state," he said.
"Some of the most terrible violence has taken place as a direct result of the actions of many of the Palestinians now sitting in Israeli jails," said professor Gerald Steinberg, a political science lecturer and analyst at Bar- Ilan University.
"Over the past 10 years, on many occasions Palestinians were released from Israeli jails as part of a goodwill gesture, and they came back and committed more terrorist acts. While the Palestinians are demanding a large number of prisoner releases, I think it's extremely important for the Israeli government to say no and to pursue the legal process."
Tuesday, July 8, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Jerusalem -- Israeli families whose loved ones have died in Palestinian terror attacks have appealed to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon not to succumb to growing pressure for the release of more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
But Palestinian leaders and the prisoners' families say the step is essential to bolster a shaky, week-old truce and increase the standing of reformist Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel said on Sunday that it will release 350 prisoners, but the Palestinians are demanding more. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, said in a statement Sunday that "we are ready to carry out the most powerful and dangerous military attacks inside Israel and in the settlements" unless a full release is carried out.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom reiterated on Monday that Israel would not turn loose prisoners who have "blood on their hands" -- a reference to those who killed Israelis or aided the killers.
Late in the day, the prisoners announced a hunger strike to protest Israel's refusal to grant a general amnesty.
Opposition leader Shimon Peres of the Labor Party said the government stood at a crossroads: "One is not to release prisoners who would endanger our security; the other is to put an end to the intifada.
"I don't think we have to give (the Palestinians) everything they want, but we do have to show them support -- and allow Abu Mazen (as Abbas is known) to show them something."
Jailed members of radical groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad reportedly were instrumental in brokering the current cease-fire. Now, Abbas is under pressure to repay them by securing their release.
But on Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet ruled out a general amnesty when it approved strict legal criteria for deciding which prisoners would be freed. It specifically barred anyone who had planned or carried out attacks on Israelis, including most of the 1,000 or so jailed members of radical groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The prisoner issue strikes deep within Israeli and Palestinian society.
Tzafi Adonian-Haas, whose husband Eli was killed by a Hamas suicide bomber in a Jerusalem market in 1997, said she opposed the release of convicted terrorists.
"I think they should stay in prison," she said as she played with her two grandchildren, who she said had brought some hope back into her life.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think about Eli. I feel as though I lost half of myself. If they had carried out these attacks in the United States, they would get the electric chair or life in prison."
As for calls by some bereaved Israeli families to release the prisoners for the sake of future peace, Adonian-Haas said, "We tried releasing prisoners during the Oslo peace process, and it got us nowhere. Now we have more than 800 Israelis dead, and I don't believe in these agreements any more.
"It's a matter of trust, and I just don't trust them."
Across town in the Palestinian village of Lifta, Mohammed Odeh and his wife had just returned from visiting their son Bilal in Ashkelon Prison, where he is serving an 18-year sentence for attempted murder.
"I feel as though I have lost him," said Mohammed, sitting in the shade of the vines in his garden. "I'm just waiting for him to come back. There is hope that sooner or later the Israelis see that this is impossible."
Bilal, 26, a university graduate in social work, was the leader of a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine cell that detonated a series of car bombs packed with mortars in central Jerusalem two years ago. Several people were injured in the blasts, but no one was killed.
"He did what any other Palestinian would do under occupation, and I am proud of him," said Mohammed.
Fadel Tahboub is a former Palestinian militant who has become a peace campaigner. He was captured in the late 1960s after staging a cross-border raid into Israel from Jordan and spent the next 15 years in jail. He now helps run the People's Peace Campaign, a joint Israeli-Palestinian project based in East Jerusalem that is trying to hammer out some basic principles for mutual coexistence.
But the gray-haired veteran, who is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's parliament in exile, the Palestine National Council, said the prisoner issue could undermine any attempt to move toward peace.
"For us, these people are not terrorists but national heroes for carrying out resistance to the occupation," Tahboub said.
"The cease-fire will collapse if they do not release them," he warned. "It will weaken Abu Mazen, and he will fall."
But Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Hisham Abdel Razek, the Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs, that it would be "impractical" to consider releasing Hamas prisoners when the group's leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, had vowed to resume attacks after the truce expires.
"When Rantisi goes on television and says that after the (cease-fire) in three months they will continue the war to wipe out the Jewish state, it is not exactly smart to demand of us to release fighters to annihilate the Jewish state," he said.
"Some of the most terrible violence has taken place as a direct result of the actions of many of the Palestinians now sitting in Israeli jails," said professor Gerald Steinberg, a political science lecturer and analyst at Bar- Ilan University.
"Over the past 10 years, on many occasions Palestinians were released from Israeli jails as part of a goodwill gesture, and they came back and committed more terrorist acts. While the Palestinians are demanding a large number of prisoner releases, I think it's extremely important for the Israeli government to say no and to pursue the legal process."
Sunday, 6 July 2003
Mosque destroyed, Nazareth remains divided
Muslims vow they'll try to rebuild
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Sunday, July 6, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Nazareth, Israel -- Christians here are quietly celebrating after Israeli bulldozers moved in last week to destroy the foundations of an illegal mosque being built next to the Church of the Annunciation in the boyhood town of Jesus.
But few people in Nazareth expect this will be the end of the affair, which has pitted Muslims against Christians, Arabs against Jews, and the Vatican against Israel.
Local Christian leaders were keeping a low profile, wary of a fresh outbreak of the riots that swept the city in May 1999, when the Vatican branded the planned building of the Shihab al-Din mosque "a provocation." Since then, tensions have simmered. Last May, the Brethren Church in this northern Israeli city was hit by four Molotov cocktails after rumors circulated that the congregation was evangelizing among Muslims.
"We're celebrating, but privately and behind closed doors," said a Christian spokesman on condition of anonymity.
The dispute split the city council of Nazareth, whose nearly 60,000 inhabitants are 30 percent Christian and 70 percent Muslim. Mayor Rames Jarrisi, a Christian, spent last Tuesday morning in a police helicopter over the city, supervising the demolition operation. He had campaigned for years against the mosque.
Many local Muslims -- though certainly not all -- called the decision to destroy the mosque "a provocation."
"It is being done for no reason," said Salman Abu Ahmed, a Muslim who is the city's deputy mayor. "It is the first time that a mosque has been demolished in this country. I haven't heard of any synagogue or church being demolished in this country. It goes against the consensus here."
But Atef Fahoum, son of a former mayor and trustee of the White Mosque, the oldest in Nazareth, said the demand for a new mosque on the contested site had more to do with politics than religion. "I went to that school as a child, when the British were still here, and there was never a mosque on that site," said Fahoum. "They are just doing this to make trouble. I'm very sad. We are not accustomed to such trouble in Nazareth. For hundreds of years we have lived in peace and love and harmony. We don't like troublemakers."
Natan Sharansky, an Israeli Cabinet minister who chaired the last of three separate government inquiries into the planned mosque, expressed relief that "finally justice and law are being restored to Nazareth."
"How were these mosque foundations built?" asked Sharansky. "They were built as a result of a chain of scandals, violence, blackmail and threats. There would be a sea of blood if they were not allowed to illegally build a mosque on a holy Christian site."
RUMORS OF PAPAL VISIT
The dispute began in 1997. The millennium was approaching and there were rumors that Pope John Paul II would visit the Holy Land. The Oslo peace process was in full swing, and the Israeli economy was booming.
Tourism was expanding, and the Christians of Nazareth expected millions of pilgrims to visit the spot where the Virgin Mary had been told she would have a baby. So the city fathers decided to raze an aging municipal school building next to the Church of the Annunciation to make way for a new city plaza.
The area was flattened, awaiting a final decision from the local planning committee. But there remained in one corner of the site an ancient tomb believed to belong to Shihab al-Din, nephew of the Muslim warrior Salah al-Din, who died fighting the Crusaders.
A small Muslim group moved onto the site, erected a tent and declared it "Waqf" -- inalienable Muslim holy land. They said they would build a mosque on the site and began preparing plans and finances.
The city council refused to give planning permission. The mayor said that land records showed the old school site had been owned by the local municipality since Ottoman times. A local court ruled that the land belonged not to the municipality, but to the national government. Then the politics began.
A controversial decision by the government to allow the building of a mosque on the site was greeted with dismay by Christians all the way up to the pope himself.
Some observers said it was a blatant attempt by the right-leaning government of Benjamin Netanyahu to attract Muslim votes in the 1999 election. It failed. Netanyahu lost to Ehud Barak, whose government also approved the plan.
But the Nazareth council continued to object. Christians called a "strike" and shut down the country's churches in protest just before Christmas 2001. More pressure was piled on as the pope and President Bush both referred to the dispute. Finally, in March 2002, Sharansky's committee blocked the building plan and offered the Muslims a larger site less than half a mile away.
Back in Nazareth, building work began anyway. Unhindered by Israeli authorities or municipal inspectors, pro-mosque campaigners began laying the foundations of a vast complex, completing three underground levels before they were stopped.
TO SUPREME COURT
The case went all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court, which also rejected the case for the mosque, triggering Tuesday's demolition operation.
Professor Yosef Dan of the Hebrew University said the failure of the campaigners to erect the mosque was of historic proportions, calling it "the first Christian success in the Muslim world for 60 years."
"It was only the unbridled support of three bodies -- the Vatican, the European Union and the United States -- that enabled the Israeli government to take the decision to destroy the mosque in Nazareth," said Dan. "Without this unprecedented unity in the West, Israel wouldn't dare to send bulldozers to destroy the foundations of a mosque."
But the campaigners said their struggle was far from over.
"This is a black day," conceded Nawwaf Al-Zoeby, at the Shihab al-Din mosque. "They demolished the mosque because we don't have a building license. We'll continue with the procedures to try and get a permit and build the mosque."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Sunday, July 6, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Nazareth, Israel -- Christians here are quietly celebrating after Israeli bulldozers moved in last week to destroy the foundations of an illegal mosque being built next to the Church of the Annunciation in the boyhood town of Jesus.
But few people in Nazareth expect this will be the end of the affair, which has pitted Muslims against Christians, Arabs against Jews, and the Vatican against Israel.
Local Christian leaders were keeping a low profile, wary of a fresh outbreak of the riots that swept the city in May 1999, when the Vatican branded the planned building of the Shihab al-Din mosque "a provocation." Since then, tensions have simmered. Last May, the Brethren Church in this northern Israeli city was hit by four Molotov cocktails after rumors circulated that the congregation was evangelizing among Muslims.
"We're celebrating, but privately and behind closed doors," said a Christian spokesman on condition of anonymity.
The dispute split the city council of Nazareth, whose nearly 60,000 inhabitants are 30 percent Christian and 70 percent Muslim. Mayor Rames Jarrisi, a Christian, spent last Tuesday morning in a police helicopter over the city, supervising the demolition operation. He had campaigned for years against the mosque.
Many local Muslims -- though certainly not all -- called the decision to destroy the mosque "a provocation."
"It is being done for no reason," said Salman Abu Ahmed, a Muslim who is the city's deputy mayor. "It is the first time that a mosque has been demolished in this country. I haven't heard of any synagogue or church being demolished in this country. It goes against the consensus here."
But Atef Fahoum, son of a former mayor and trustee of the White Mosque, the oldest in Nazareth, said the demand for a new mosque on the contested site had more to do with politics than religion. "I went to that school as a child, when the British were still here, and there was never a mosque on that site," said Fahoum. "They are just doing this to make trouble. I'm very sad. We are not accustomed to such trouble in Nazareth. For hundreds of years we have lived in peace and love and harmony. We don't like troublemakers."
Natan Sharansky, an Israeli Cabinet minister who chaired the last of three separate government inquiries into the planned mosque, expressed relief that "finally justice and law are being restored to Nazareth."
"How were these mosque foundations built?" asked Sharansky. "They were built as a result of a chain of scandals, violence, blackmail and threats. There would be a sea of blood if they were not allowed to illegally build a mosque on a holy Christian site."
RUMORS OF PAPAL VISIT
The dispute began in 1997. The millennium was approaching and there were rumors that Pope John Paul II would visit the Holy Land. The Oslo peace process was in full swing, and the Israeli economy was booming.
Tourism was expanding, and the Christians of Nazareth expected millions of pilgrims to visit the spot where the Virgin Mary had been told she would have a baby. So the city fathers decided to raze an aging municipal school building next to the Church of the Annunciation to make way for a new city plaza.
The area was flattened, awaiting a final decision from the local planning committee. But there remained in one corner of the site an ancient tomb believed to belong to Shihab al-Din, nephew of the Muslim warrior Salah al-Din, who died fighting the Crusaders.
A small Muslim group moved onto the site, erected a tent and declared it "Waqf" -- inalienable Muslim holy land. They said they would build a mosque on the site and began preparing plans and finances.
The city council refused to give planning permission. The mayor said that land records showed the old school site had been owned by the local municipality since Ottoman times. A local court ruled that the land belonged not to the municipality, but to the national government. Then the politics began.
A controversial decision by the government to allow the building of a mosque on the site was greeted with dismay by Christians all the way up to the pope himself.
Some observers said it was a blatant attempt by the right-leaning government of Benjamin Netanyahu to attract Muslim votes in the 1999 election. It failed. Netanyahu lost to Ehud Barak, whose government also approved the plan.
But the Nazareth council continued to object. Christians called a "strike" and shut down the country's churches in protest just before Christmas 2001. More pressure was piled on as the pope and President Bush both referred to the dispute. Finally, in March 2002, Sharansky's committee blocked the building plan and offered the Muslims a larger site less than half a mile away.
Back in Nazareth, building work began anyway. Unhindered by Israeli authorities or municipal inspectors, pro-mosque campaigners began laying the foundations of a vast complex, completing three underground levels before they were stopped.
TO SUPREME COURT
The case went all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court, which also rejected the case for the mosque, triggering Tuesday's demolition operation.
Professor Yosef Dan of the Hebrew University said the failure of the campaigners to erect the mosque was of historic proportions, calling it "the first Christian success in the Muslim world for 60 years."
"It was only the unbridled support of three bodies -- the Vatican, the European Union and the United States -- that enabled the Israeli government to take the decision to destroy the mosque in Nazareth," said Dan. "Without this unprecedented unity in the West, Israel wouldn't dare to send bulldozers to destroy the foundations of a mosque."
But the campaigners said their struggle was far from over.
"This is a black day," conceded Nawwaf Al-Zoeby, at the Shihab al-Din mosque. "They demolished the mosque because we don't have a building license. We'll continue with the procedures to try and get a permit and build the mosque."
Thursday, 3 July 2003
Israel pulls out of Bethlehem
Palestinians hopeful, but must rebuild after uprising, occupation
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Thursday, July 3, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Bethlehem, West Bank -- Uniformed Palestinian police officers returned to the streets of Bethlehem Wednesday, marching into the brilliant sunshine in Manger Square to the surreal accompaniment of chimes from the Church of the Nativity and the amplified call to prayer of the muezzin at the Omar Mosque.
The Palestinian Authority regained full security control of this West Bank city for the first time in more than a year after negotiating the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Troops had occupied Bethlehem in an effort to stop suicide bombers reaching nearby Jerusalem and to halt frequent shooting attacks on the adjacent Jerusalem suburb of Gilo.
Bethlehem's economy has been crippled by the 33-month Palestinian uprising, during which control of its streets passed to armed gangs and terrorist groups, triggering an Israeli invasion. Many official buildings were destroyed by Israeli missiles, while the invaders' rumbling tanks smashed electricity, water and transport facilities.
Mayor Hanna Nasser said he was pleased to see the Israelis go but that as long as Bethlehem remains hemmed in by army roadblocks -- cutting off residents from jobs in Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank -- it is "a ceremonial withdrawal, not a real one."
The move followed Monday's Israeli pullback in the Gaza Strip and an upbeat meeting Tuesday between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Both leaders seemed determined on Wednesday to encourage a rising mood of cautious optimism. Israel released eight Palestinian prisoners in a symbolic move designed to show continued goodwill, and Sharon announced that the Israeli Cabinet would discuss more prisoner releases early next week. For his part, Abbas vowed to imprison anyone breaking the cease-fire and urged his people to embrace peace.
The United States announced it was giving $30 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority to rebuild damaged roads and public services. President Bush declared himself "really happy with what we've seen so far."
But he warned that extremists could still destroy the fragile steps toward peace.
"There are people there who still hate," Bush said. "They hate Israel. They hate the idea of peace. They can't stand the thought of a peaceful state existing side by side with Israel, and they . . . may be willing to . . . attack."
The threat emerged again Wednesday afternoon when thousands of Israeli drivers were brought to a halt around Tel Aviv as police, acting on an intelligence warning, sealed off all main roads to search for a suspected suicide bomber believed about to strike in central Israel.
In Jericho, Palestinian security forces jailed two would-be suicide bombers authorities said were captured on their way to carry out an attack. And in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians opened fire on the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom, injuring four people.
Bethlehem Police Commander Alla Hosni, overseeing the deployment of blue- uniformed officers armed with AK-47 assault rifles, expressed determination to make the handover stick.
"We have fulfilled all our commitments to Israel," he said. "Bethlehem is our territory, and we are now responsible for security.
"No one must shoot at the Israelis, especially now they have withdrawn as agreed with us. Anyone who violates this security arrangement is betraying the interests of the Palestinian people."
Hosni said his officers would stake out Bethlehem's perimeter to prevent anyone from trying to attack Israel and triggering another invasion of the city.
"We will not allow any armed group to operate," he vowed. "The only people allowed to carry weapons are the official Palestinian police and security personnel."
Municipality Director Jamal Salman said that the local economy is in ruins with the destruction of the Christian-centered tourist industry and that unemployment is running at 65 percent. He added that at least 2,000 of the city's 24,000 people have left since the intifada began, most of them Christians.
"The situation is very difficult for me," said Jumana Murad, a 22-year-old college graduate trained to work in tourism but who has never had the chance. "I sit at home with nothing to do.
"I am engaged and I don't see my fiance because he lives in Jerusalem and I cannot go there," she added. "He manages to reach Bethlehem just once a week because of the roadblocks. I hope God will help us."
Walid Zawarha, a CIA-trained former officer in the Palestinian secret service, said he hopes peace is coming but doubts it.
"The Israelis are still near Bethlehem and the checkpoint is still there," he said. "It's like being in a big prison. I haven't been to Jerusalem for four years although it's 10 minutes away. My wife is expecting a baby this week. The day I can take him to Jerusalem, I will know peace has finally arrived."
But Zawarha and other residents expressed mixed feelings about the renewal of Palestinian control. Zawarha said he quit his job in the security forces because they were corrupt and mistreated local Christians in the period prior to the intifada.
"The problem was that everyone had guns, machine-guns," he said. "Two or three guns in each house. Now the Israelis have taken everything, and it's clean. The Israelis left only about five wanted people in Bethlehem. It's clean, quiet."
Zawarha said he is confident that the revamped Palestinian security forces will not permit a reversion to the anarchic conditions before the intifada. But some of the city's dwindling Christian population said they fear they will once more become second-class citizens to the Muslim majority.
"We hope the Palestinian Authority will now put an end to the state of lawlessness that prevailed here," said Ramzi Sahhar, a local merchant. "We want security and order. We want one authority, not many people with guns.
"We want peace. We have suffered enough. Our economy has been destroyed, and we haven't worked for three years."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Thursday, July 3, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Bethlehem, West Bank -- Uniformed Palestinian police officers returned to the streets of Bethlehem Wednesday, marching into the brilliant sunshine in Manger Square to the surreal accompaniment of chimes from the Church of the Nativity and the amplified call to prayer of the muezzin at the Omar Mosque.
The Palestinian Authority regained full security control of this West Bank city for the first time in more than a year after negotiating the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Troops had occupied Bethlehem in an effort to stop suicide bombers reaching nearby Jerusalem and to halt frequent shooting attacks on the adjacent Jerusalem suburb of Gilo.
Bethlehem's economy has been crippled by the 33-month Palestinian uprising, during which control of its streets passed to armed gangs and terrorist groups, triggering an Israeli invasion. Many official buildings were destroyed by Israeli missiles, while the invaders' rumbling tanks smashed electricity, water and transport facilities.
Mayor Hanna Nasser said he was pleased to see the Israelis go but that as long as Bethlehem remains hemmed in by army roadblocks -- cutting off residents from jobs in Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank -- it is "a ceremonial withdrawal, not a real one."
The move followed Monday's Israeli pullback in the Gaza Strip and an upbeat meeting Tuesday between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Both leaders seemed determined on Wednesday to encourage a rising mood of cautious optimism. Israel released eight Palestinian prisoners in a symbolic move designed to show continued goodwill, and Sharon announced that the Israeli Cabinet would discuss more prisoner releases early next week. For his part, Abbas vowed to imprison anyone breaking the cease-fire and urged his people to embrace peace.
The United States announced it was giving $30 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority to rebuild damaged roads and public services. President Bush declared himself "really happy with what we've seen so far."
But he warned that extremists could still destroy the fragile steps toward peace.
"There are people there who still hate," Bush said. "They hate Israel. They hate the idea of peace. They can't stand the thought of a peaceful state existing side by side with Israel, and they . . . may be willing to . . . attack."
The threat emerged again Wednesday afternoon when thousands of Israeli drivers were brought to a halt around Tel Aviv as police, acting on an intelligence warning, sealed off all main roads to search for a suspected suicide bomber believed about to strike in central Israel.
In Jericho, Palestinian security forces jailed two would-be suicide bombers authorities said were captured on their way to carry out an attack. And in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians opened fire on the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom, injuring four people.
Bethlehem Police Commander Alla Hosni, overseeing the deployment of blue- uniformed officers armed with AK-47 assault rifles, expressed determination to make the handover stick.
"We have fulfilled all our commitments to Israel," he said. "Bethlehem is our territory, and we are now responsible for security.
"No one must shoot at the Israelis, especially now they have withdrawn as agreed with us. Anyone who violates this security arrangement is betraying the interests of the Palestinian people."
Hosni said his officers would stake out Bethlehem's perimeter to prevent anyone from trying to attack Israel and triggering another invasion of the city.
"We will not allow any armed group to operate," he vowed. "The only people allowed to carry weapons are the official Palestinian police and security personnel."
Municipality Director Jamal Salman said that the local economy is in ruins with the destruction of the Christian-centered tourist industry and that unemployment is running at 65 percent. He added that at least 2,000 of the city's 24,000 people have left since the intifada began, most of them Christians.
"The situation is very difficult for me," said Jumana Murad, a 22-year-old college graduate trained to work in tourism but who has never had the chance. "I sit at home with nothing to do.
"I am engaged and I don't see my fiance because he lives in Jerusalem and I cannot go there," she added. "He manages to reach Bethlehem just once a week because of the roadblocks. I hope God will help us."
Walid Zawarha, a CIA-trained former officer in the Palestinian secret service, said he hopes peace is coming but doubts it.
"The Israelis are still near Bethlehem and the checkpoint is still there," he said. "It's like being in a big prison. I haven't been to Jerusalem for four years although it's 10 minutes away. My wife is expecting a baby this week. The day I can take him to Jerusalem, I will know peace has finally arrived."
But Zawarha and other residents expressed mixed feelings about the renewal of Palestinian control. Zawarha said he quit his job in the security forces because they were corrupt and mistreated local Christians in the period prior to the intifada.
"The problem was that everyone had guns, machine-guns," he said. "Two or three guns in each house. Now the Israelis have taken everything, and it's clean. The Israelis left only about five wanted people in Bethlehem. It's clean, quiet."
Zawarha said he is confident that the revamped Palestinian security forces will not permit a reversion to the anarchic conditions before the intifada. But some of the city's dwindling Christian population said they fear they will once more become second-class citizens to the Muslim majority.
"We hope the Palestinian Authority will now put an end to the state of lawlessness that prevailed here," said Ramzi Sahhar, a local merchant. "We want security and order. We want one authority, not many people with guns.
"We want peace. We have suffered enough. Our economy has been destroyed, and we haven't worked for three years."
Tuesday, 1 July 2003
Cease-fire challenges Fatah fighters
They distrust truce with Israel
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Tuesday, July 1, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Ramallah, West Bank -- The fashionable young men sitting in the cafe in Ramallah on Monday resembled young lawyers or business executives on their day off. As they talked and ordered another round of strong black coffee, their sports jackets fell open to reveal pistols, cellular phones and walkie-talkies hanging from their belts.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Tuesday, July 1, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Ramallah, West Bank -- The fashionable young men sitting in the cafe in Ramallah on Monday resembled young lawyers or business executives on their day off. As they talked and ordered another round of strong black coffee, their sports jackets fell open to reveal pistols, cellular phones and walkie-talkies hanging from their belts.
These are the street fighters of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the terrorist wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, which is blamed for the deaths of many Israelis in the past 33 months, either by shootings or suicide bombs.
After 1,000 days of their bloody uprising against Israel, these young men are at a crossroads.
On Sunday, the Fatah leadership announced a six-month cease-fire, on condition that Israel fulfill a long list of difficult demands. Later, the Martyrs Brigades endorsed the truce. The Fatah decision followed Sunday's unilateral declaration of a three-month hudna, or conditional truce, by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
As the Palestinian ground troops in this war absorbed orders from their leaders, some reacted with defiance, while others expressed a mood of victory or a sense that Israel could be tripped up by this diplomatic maneuver.
In Gaza, Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed al-Hindi hinted that the truce was more of a tactical maneuver than a real attempt to end the violence.
"We are sure that Israel will break this hudna, and then the whole world will have to start supporting the Palestinian people," said al-Hindi.
In the village of Yamoun nestling in the nearby hills, gunmen of the Hamas terror wing Izzadine Qassam expressed disdain for the truce.
"This cease-fire will not hold because Israel is continuing its aggression against the Palestinians," said the local Hamas commander. "We should not give Israel a breathing space, and the struggle should continue. We do not see ourselves as a party to this. We are the ones who are paying the price on the ground, and we have a duty to defend our people. There can be no peace with the Jews until they withdraw from all of Palestine."
But for the rank and file of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the truce presents a real quandary.
Some of their friends have been arrested or killed by Israeli troops. If the young men support the cease-fire, they must stifle their desire for revenge.
On the other hand, the truce has the blessing of Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, and these cadres are fiercely loyal to Arafat, referring to him familiarly by his nom de guerre, Abu Ammar, or simply as "Ra'is" -- the chief. Some are full-time salaried officers in the Palestinian mukhabarat secret intelligence force commanded by Tawfiq Tirawi, one of Arafat's closest confidants. Others subsist off cash handouts from the Ra'is.
Arafat's word carries weight among these cadres.
Nasser Katami, a young Fatah politician with close ties to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said, "The hudna relies on the extent of Israel's commitment and the existence of a political vision. A hudna means calming the situation. We will honor the agreement for as long as Israel meets all the conditions."
He admitted, however, that "there are some marginal elements who don't accept it."
Hussein al-Sheikh, a close confidant of Arafat who is believed to be the operational commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said he was still engaged in "serious consultations and contacts with all the Fatah cadres, including the wanted men who are hiding in the mountains and who are scattered throughout the West Bank."
On Monday, those consultations had not yet reached Jenin in the northern West Bank, from where Al Aqsa gunmen set out to shoot at an Israeli car passing the nearby village of Ya'bad, killing a 46-year-old Bulgarian working on a road construction project.
"We are not committed to this defeatist cease-fire," said the local leader of the brigades, dressed in military fatigues, his face hidden by a tightly wrapped red kaffiyeh headdress.
"How can there be a hudna when the entire Palestinian people are under siege and when President Arafat is under house arrest and the Israeli army is continuing with its aggression?" he asked. "The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are opposed to this agreement, and I'm not talking only abut Jenin but in many other places in the West Bank. We will continue the struggle until we achieve all our rights."
Even if the militants can be persuaded to halt their attacks, it seems unlikely that they will agree to the demand made by Israel and Washington that they give up their weapons.
A poll published Monday by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion found only 9 percent of Palestinians believe the paramilitaries should hand over their weapons, and only 25 percent support the ending of the armed intifada uprising.
Rashid Abu Shabak, a Palestinian security commander in Gaza, said the Palestinian Authority had "no intention" of disarming the armed groups.
"Those who think that the 'road map' (peace) plan means disarming Palestinian factions are mistaken," he said.
That mood was echoed in Tulkarem where the local leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs said he would abide by the cease-fire but would never give up his gun.
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