Targeted killings considered key part of defense policy
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Saturday, June 28, 2003
Ram-On, Israel -- Across a picturesque valley in northern Israel, a field of sunflowers sways in the afternoon breeze under a scorching sun. Suddenly, two figures leap across a ditch and head for a hillside. One is carrying a semiautomatic rifle.
The wail of sirens shatters the bucolic calm near the farming village of Ram-On, and two jeeps and an all-terrain vehicle race toward the suspicious men. A dog leaps out of a vehicle, pinning one of them to the ground. His companion is soon captured by three soldiers in camouflage.
It was all part of a recent training exercise for the Israeli border police along the "seam line," the invisible boundary that separates the West Bank and Israel. Despite its peaceful appearance, Ram-On, which lies southeast of the Israeli port city of Haifa and near the West Bank town of Jenin, has become a terrorist commuter route for Palestinian suicide bombers entering Israel.
"This is the reality we are dealing with every day and every night," Lt. Col. Fero Ziyad, deputy commander of the Israeli border police, said of the training exercise. This week alone, Fero said, his soldiers stopped four potential suicide bombers. His unit has also failed, he added.
On Thursday, they captured a 15-year-old Palestinian youth but only after he gunned down an Israeli telephone engineer in a nearby village. Last month, a young woman traveled six miles from Jenin to the Israeli town of Afula loaded with explosives and blew herself up at the entrance to a shopping mall, killing three people.
Aided by sophisticated camouflage and the latest technology, Fero's unit waits undetected in underground bunkers for up to 72 hours, using high- resolution Loris night vision cameras to relay pinpoint information on suspicious movements up to a mile away.
At the same time, Israel is also constructing a "separation fence" around the West Bank of concrete walls, ditches, patrol roads and electronic sensors. The 186-mile barrier, which the Palestinians bitterly oppose and say is evidence of Israel's rejection of the road map peace plan, is expected to be completed within the next 12 months.
But Israeli security chiefs say their most potent deterrent is also the most controversial -- the targeted killings of militant leaders.
Two weeks ago, Israeli helicopter missiles attacked Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi while his jeep traveled through Gaza City. Rantisi survived, but a bodyguard and two bystanders were killed, including a young women. On Wednesday, two more people died when Israeli missiles hit a car in the Gaza Strip that the Israelis said was packed with mortar shells to be fired at Israeli settlements. Palestinians said the victims were innocent bystanders.
Michael Tarazi, a Palestinian Authority legal adviser, says the Israeli attacks prevented a cease-fire pact from being reached earlier this week.
"We were very close to having an agreement. Unfortunately, there are ongoing Israeli measures that make it difficult for us to finalize that agreement," said Tarazi, referring to Wednesday's missile attack.
Israeli human rights groups have also denounced the targeted killings.
"The assassinations perpetrated by Israel in recent months are a violation of the right to life as guaranteed by Israeli law and international law and constitute extra-judicial executions," said Yael Stein of the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.
But Israeli leaders are convinced their hard-line policy is halting terrorist attacks and persuading militant leaders to accept a cease-fire, which is now expected to be formally announced on Sunday.
"The Palestinians are beginning to understand that their own interests oblige them to end terror, violence and incitement," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Thursday. "Their eyes were opened by the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and their commanders who made it absolutely clear how much the long arm of the Israeli army knows how to reach the terrorist leaders in any place at any time."
According to a senior Israeli army officer who asked not to be named, the killings have "massively reduced" the number of terror attacks from its peak in March 2002, when more than 130 Israelis were killed.
"If we hadn't hit those terrorist leaders, we would be in a much worse situation today," he said. "In June alone, we have had two attacks, but at least 17 more have been stopped."
The same source also rejected accusations that the policy exposes innocent Palestinians to unnecessary risk.
"We have invested massive sums in developing the technology and ability to launch pinpoint strikes at known terrorists with the minimum possible loss of innocent lives," he said. "We have spent huge amounts of time and money calling back helicopters armed and ready to strike, just because we discovered a target had his wife or children or an unknown civilian with him."
A top official of Israel's Shin Bet secret service added that the mass arrests and targeted killings had not only decreased the number of terrorist attacks but created a leadership vacuum.
"It takes time for them to learn the skills of bomb-making," he said. "Every time we take an expert terrorist out of the game, for the next two or three weeks we see new guys blowing themselves up. It's become a known by-product of their learning process."
Saturday, 28 June 2003
Monday, 23 June 2003
Arafat alleged to raise Libyan money
Sources say he uses funds to finance Al Aqsa Brigades
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Monday, June 23, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Ramallah, West Bank -- Sources close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat say he has raised $2. 5 million from Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy to finance continued terror attacks against Israel, undermining efforts by reformist Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to achieve a cease-fire as the first step on the U.S.-backed road map toward peace.
The sources say the Libyan money has been paid into bank accounts controlled by Arafat in Beirut and Cairo to underwrite the terror activities of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the paramilitary wing of Arafat's Fatah movement.
Members of the Brigades confirmed to this reporter last week that they were receiving funds from Arafat's office despite efforts by the new Palestinian government headed by Abbas to end attacks against Israel.
Israeli and Palestinian officials say privately that the Arafat-Khadafy link is part of a series of secret diplomatic moves by Arafat designed to undermine Abbas, who is engaged in intensive talks with Palestinian extremists on the terms of a cease-fire.
The Al Aqsa Brigades continue to embarrass Abbas, even though both he and they belong to the Fatah movement. Last Tuesday night, Al Aqsa claimed responsibility for killing a 7-year-old Israeli girl and wounding her 2-year- old sister in a shooting attack on their family's car as it drove along one of Israel's major motorways near the border with the West Bank.
Al Aqsa is also suspected of involvement in a shooting attack near Ramallah on Friday that occurred during a Jerusalem press conference held by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Tzvi Goldstein, 47, a settler originally from New York, was killed, and his 73-year-old parents were badly injured.
Late Sunday, four members of the Brigades were killed in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, apparently when a bomb they were planting detonated prematurely. Loudspeaker trucks drove through the area later, saying that the four had died while "fulfilling their national duty," a phrase used in the past to announce accidental deaths.
MINISTER IN TUNIS
Arafat remains isolated in the wreckage of his headquarters compound in Ramallah. The secret diplomatic contacts are being conducted on his behalf by Farouk Kaddoumi, the foreign minister for the Palestine Liberation Organization, who is based in Tunis and is not part of the Palestinian Authority's government.
Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian Authority's foreign minister, is strongly opposed to Kaddoumi's activities and has threatened to resign in protest, according to Palestinian officials.
Kaddoumi flew to Damascus this month on another top-secret mission on behalf of Arafat to meet with Khaled Mashal, Hamas' political and military leader, whose headquarters are in the Syrian capital. Kaddoumi carried a message from Arafat denouncing Abbas' peace diplomacy and distancing himself from Abbas' recent conciliatory speech toward Israel at the Aqaba summit.
According to Palestinian officials within Arafat's close circle and reports in the Arabic press, Arafat has spoken to Mashal several times by telephone since the Aqaba summit. Hamas sources say that Arafat is trying to set up a joint strategy between the pair to undermine Abbas.
Kaddoumi has a history of carrying out sensitive, deniable missions for Arafat. He was revealed as the go-between in secret contacts last year between Iraq and Libya aimed at providing a safe haven for Saddam Hussein. Those talks,
which were abandoned after being revealed by British intelligence, were conducted by Kaddoumi with Hussein's chief of staff, Abid Hamid Mahmud al- Tikriti, who was captured by U.S. forces in Iraq last week.
British intelligence officials said the PLO had been paid more than $1 million by Hussein for Kaddoumi's failed efforts.
POWELL MISSION
On his diplomatic mission to the area on Friday, Powell branded Hamas an "enemy of peace," and refused to condemn Israel's policy of assassinating alleged terrorists classed as "ticking bombs" -- those preparing attacks.
Less than 24 hours later, Israeli forces in Hebron gunned down Abdullah Kawasmeh, believed to be the West Bank commander of Hamas' terrorist wing. Israeli security officials said Kawasmeh was the mastermind behind the June 11 Jerusalem suicide bombing in which 17 people were killed.
Speaking to a World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan on Sunday, Powell said the killing of Kawasmeh was "cause for concern that could impede progress of the road map." But he said the blame for such incidents fell squarely on the terrorist groups.
"We can talk about what the Israelis ought to be doing, what the Palestinian Authority ought to be doing," Powell said. "But it begins with putting the blame first and foremost on organizations such as Hamas, . . . Islamic Jihad and others which continue to conduct terrorist attacks requiring response from the Israeli side and keeping the day further away when the Palestinian people can find peace and security."
SHARON TO IGNORE ROAD MAP
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, told his Cabinet that Israel can continue construction activities in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, despite a freeze required by the road map unveiled by President Bush.
"Just build, but just don't publicize it," Sharon said, according to a Cabinet official who briefed reporters after the meeting. Israel TV's Channel 1 said he had told the ministers that settlement building "isn't part of the road map, it's my personal commitment."
Under the peace plan, Israel would have to observe the building ban in the coming months, after the Palestinians begin dismantling militias and Israel removes dozens of settlement outposts. Sharon has declared many times that he will not compromise over what he regards as Israel's security, indicating that he will not carry out all the road map's requirements regarding settlements.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Monday, June 23, 2003
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Ramallah, West Bank -- Sources close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat say he has raised $2. 5 million from Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy to finance continued terror attacks against Israel, undermining efforts by reformist Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to achieve a cease-fire as the first step on the U.S.-backed road map toward peace.
The sources say the Libyan money has been paid into bank accounts controlled by Arafat in Beirut and Cairo to underwrite the terror activities of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the paramilitary wing of Arafat's Fatah movement.
Members of the Brigades confirmed to this reporter last week that they were receiving funds from Arafat's office despite efforts by the new Palestinian government headed by Abbas to end attacks against Israel.
Israeli and Palestinian officials say privately that the Arafat-Khadafy link is part of a series of secret diplomatic moves by Arafat designed to undermine Abbas, who is engaged in intensive talks with Palestinian extremists on the terms of a cease-fire.
The Al Aqsa Brigades continue to embarrass Abbas, even though both he and they belong to the Fatah movement. Last Tuesday night, Al Aqsa claimed responsibility for killing a 7-year-old Israeli girl and wounding her 2-year- old sister in a shooting attack on their family's car as it drove along one of Israel's major motorways near the border with the West Bank.
Al Aqsa is also suspected of involvement in a shooting attack near Ramallah on Friday that occurred during a Jerusalem press conference held by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Tzvi Goldstein, 47, a settler originally from New York, was killed, and his 73-year-old parents were badly injured.
Late Sunday, four members of the Brigades were killed in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, apparently when a bomb they were planting detonated prematurely. Loudspeaker trucks drove through the area later, saying that the four had died while "fulfilling their national duty," a phrase used in the past to announce accidental deaths.
MINISTER IN TUNIS
Arafat remains isolated in the wreckage of his headquarters compound in Ramallah. The secret diplomatic contacts are being conducted on his behalf by Farouk Kaddoumi, the foreign minister for the Palestine Liberation Organization, who is based in Tunis and is not part of the Palestinian Authority's government.
Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian Authority's foreign minister, is strongly opposed to Kaddoumi's activities and has threatened to resign in protest, according to Palestinian officials.
Kaddoumi flew to Damascus this month on another top-secret mission on behalf of Arafat to meet with Khaled Mashal, Hamas' political and military leader, whose headquarters are in the Syrian capital. Kaddoumi carried a message from Arafat denouncing Abbas' peace diplomacy and distancing himself from Abbas' recent conciliatory speech toward Israel at the Aqaba summit.
According to Palestinian officials within Arafat's close circle and reports in the Arabic press, Arafat has spoken to Mashal several times by telephone since the Aqaba summit. Hamas sources say that Arafat is trying to set up a joint strategy between the pair to undermine Abbas.
Kaddoumi has a history of carrying out sensitive, deniable missions for Arafat. He was revealed as the go-between in secret contacts last year between Iraq and Libya aimed at providing a safe haven for Saddam Hussein. Those talks,
which were abandoned after being revealed by British intelligence, were conducted by Kaddoumi with Hussein's chief of staff, Abid Hamid Mahmud al- Tikriti, who was captured by U.S. forces in Iraq last week.
British intelligence officials said the PLO had been paid more than $1 million by Hussein for Kaddoumi's failed efforts.
POWELL MISSION
On his diplomatic mission to the area on Friday, Powell branded Hamas an "enemy of peace," and refused to condemn Israel's policy of assassinating alleged terrorists classed as "ticking bombs" -- those preparing attacks.
Less than 24 hours later, Israeli forces in Hebron gunned down Abdullah Kawasmeh, believed to be the West Bank commander of Hamas' terrorist wing. Israeli security officials said Kawasmeh was the mastermind behind the June 11 Jerusalem suicide bombing in which 17 people were killed.
Speaking to a World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan on Sunday, Powell said the killing of Kawasmeh was "cause for concern that could impede progress of the road map." But he said the blame for such incidents fell squarely on the terrorist groups.
"We can talk about what the Israelis ought to be doing, what the Palestinian Authority ought to be doing," Powell said. "But it begins with putting the blame first and foremost on organizations such as Hamas, . . . Islamic Jihad and others which continue to conduct terrorist attacks requiring response from the Israeli side and keeping the day further away when the Palestinian people can find peace and security."
SHARON TO IGNORE ROAD MAP
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, told his Cabinet that Israel can continue construction activities in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, despite a freeze required by the road map unveiled by President Bush.
"Just build, but just don't publicize it," Sharon said, according to a Cabinet official who briefed reporters after the meeting. Israel TV's Channel 1 said he had told the ministers that settlement building "isn't part of the road map, it's my personal commitment."
Under the peace plan, Israel would have to observe the building ban in the coming months, after the Palestinians begin dismantling militias and Israel removes dozens of settlement outposts. Sharon has declared many times that he will not compromise over what he regards as Israel's security, indicating that he will not carry out all the road map's requirements regarding settlements.
Monday, 29 July 2002
Palestinian militants plan new offer to end attacks
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
29 July, 2002
JERUSALEM — Palestinian militant groups said Monday that they plan to renew their offer to end attacks against Israeli civilians despite last week's Israeli airstrike that killed an extremist leader and more than a dozen Palestinian civilians in Gaza City.
The proposed moratorium on attacks against civilians in Israel and the occupied territories was scheduled to be announced last week. But the announcement was put on hold after an Israeli F-16 warplane bombed the Gaza residence of Salah Shehadeh, leader of the military wing of the Hamas resistance movement. Also killed in the attack: a senior aide to Shehadeh and 15 civilians.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told the parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that he did not believe the efforts to achieve a moratorium on attacks against Israelis were serious. His comments came as Israeli officials floated their own confidence-building proposals. They say they want to alleviate the hardships caused by security measures, which have prompted international criticism.
Israel also granted 5,000 more work permits to Palestinians, bringing to 12,000 the number of Palestinians authorized to work in Israel. About 100,000 Palestinians have been prevented from working in Israel for more than a year, fueling anger. Palestinians confined to their homes in Nablus in the West Bank on Monday defied an Israeli curfew for a second day.
Israeli officials also said they would turn over $15 million to the Palestinian finance minister Monday, the first of three installments of tax revenue withheld by Israel during 22 months of fighting.
Hatem Abdel Kader, a leader of the Fatah Tanzim militia in Jerusalem, said he and other Palestinian officials had been prepared to call a unilateral halt to armed attacks on Israeli civilians, including Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Abdel Kader said he visited Iran three months ago to try to persuade Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join the moratorium by groups aligned with Fatah. "There were signs that they would agree," Abdel Kader said. Last week, Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, said the group had been seriously considering a cease-fire.
The call for a cease-fire was due to be published last week first in The Times of London and later in Israeli and Arab newspapers. It was canceled after the Israeli airstrike.
Abdel Kader said Hamas, angry over Shehadeh's assassination, now opposes a cease-fire. "Despite that, we are continuing with our dialogue and we will continue to put pressure on our brothers in Hamas and Islamic Jihad," he said.
Mark Perry, a Washington political activist with connections to the Palestinian leadership, said militia leaders have moral and political reasons for a cease-fire.
"On the moral side, they were beginning to understand that they were raising a generation of children whose lives would be lost in hatred. On the political side, they saw the continuing political disintegration of their society," Perry said. "Both of these taken together were intolerable."
29 July, 2002
JERUSALEM — Palestinian militant groups said Monday that they plan to renew their offer to end attacks against Israeli civilians despite last week's Israeli airstrike that killed an extremist leader and more than a dozen Palestinian civilians in Gaza City.
The proposed moratorium on attacks against civilians in Israel and the occupied territories was scheduled to be announced last week. But the announcement was put on hold after an Israeli F-16 warplane bombed the Gaza residence of Salah Shehadeh, leader of the military wing of the Hamas resistance movement. Also killed in the attack: a senior aide to Shehadeh and 15 civilians.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told the parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that he did not believe the efforts to achieve a moratorium on attacks against Israelis were serious. His comments came as Israeli officials floated their own confidence-building proposals. They say they want to alleviate the hardships caused by security measures, which have prompted international criticism.
Israel also granted 5,000 more work permits to Palestinians, bringing to 12,000 the number of Palestinians authorized to work in Israel. About 100,000 Palestinians have been prevented from working in Israel for more than a year, fueling anger. Palestinians confined to their homes in Nablus in the West Bank on Monday defied an Israeli curfew for a second day.
Israeli officials also said they would turn over $15 million to the Palestinian finance minister Monday, the first of three installments of tax revenue withheld by Israel during 22 months of fighting.
Hatem Abdel Kader, a leader of the Fatah Tanzim militia in Jerusalem, said he and other Palestinian officials had been prepared to call a unilateral halt to armed attacks on Israeli civilians, including Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Abdel Kader said he visited Iran three months ago to try to persuade Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join the moratorium by groups aligned with Fatah. "There were signs that they would agree," Abdel Kader said. Last week, Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, said the group had been seriously considering a cease-fire.
The call for a cease-fire was due to be published last week first in The Times of London and later in Israeli and Arab newspapers. It was canceled after the Israeli airstrike.
Abdel Kader said Hamas, angry over Shehadeh's assassination, now opposes a cease-fire. "Despite that, we are continuing with our dialogue and we will continue to put pressure on our brothers in Hamas and Islamic Jihad," he said.
Mark Perry, a Washington political activist with connections to the Palestinian leadership, said militia leaders have moral and political reasons for a cease-fire.
"On the moral side, they were beginning to understand that they were raising a generation of children whose lives would be lost in hatred. On the political side, they saw the continuing political disintegration of their society," Perry said. "Both of these taken together were intolerable."
Wednesday, 24 July 2002
Israelis fear retaliation for strike
USA TODAY
July 24, 2002
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — People bustled down the streets of Jerusalem in the summer sunshine Wednesday. But those familiar with the city at this time of year said that compared with a few years ago, the place looked like a ghost town.
"Everyone is scared, just waiting for the next attack," jeweler Moshe Beigel said. "After the attack in Gaza, I might as well lock up and go home. No one will be coming into town."
Israelis prepared for the worst on Wednesday as Palestinian militants vowed no Israeli was safe after an attack in Gaza City early Tuesday that killed 13 civilians, a top militant and his bodyguard. Nine of the dead were children.
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv told Americans in Israel that it is taking seriously threats from the radical Hamas group to avenge the Israeli airstrike. A missile killed Salah Shehadeh, commander of the military wing of Hamas. Israeli officials said that Shehadeh was responsible for terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of people.
Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, said Wednesday that there would be "100 new Salah Shehadehs" and "new operations which will bring about the death of hundreds" of Israelis. Izz el-Deen al-Qassam, the terrorist cell founded by Shehadeh, called its followers to turn Israel into a "sea of blood."
Even before Palestinian militants threatened to avenge those killed in the airstrike, 22 months of Israeli-Palestinian conflict had destroyed Jerusalem's restaurant and tourist industry. Half the city's hotels have closed their doors. Most of those that are still open are operating half-empty.
The Jerusalem municipality is running television and radio advertisements urging Israelis to visit Jerusalem and its famous holy shrines. Though people are steering clear of public places, it's still nearly impossible to find a parking space here; many locals use cars instead of buses for fear they will be targeted in a bomb attack.
Beneath Beigel's shop on Hillel Street, seats at the usually packed Aroma Cafe tables were empty. "We still come, but we don't sit around like we used to," said Yehudit Wilson, a bank clerk. "They have a security guard here now, but he won't be able to stop a suicide bomber. Most of the time, we just stay home." Her friend Sara Ben-David said Hamas' new threats are "very scary. They sound as though they mean it, and with all those dead children being shown again and again on TV, I think most Palestinians also want revenge."
Even away from the center of town, people in Jerusalem are jumpy. The northern neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol is near the French Hill junction where a suicide attack on June 19 — the last in the city — claimed the lives of six Israelis. "We are very afraid," said Sami Azulay, a cafe waitress. "We heard that the terrorists want to take revenge. We are keeping our eyes open."
Shoshi Hatouka, who sells jeans and other clothes at a nearby boutique, said things were going from bad to worse. "In a month, I'll have to close down," she said. "Every time we think there's going to be peace, the situation only gets worse. It's hopeless. We are afraid to walk in the street. We are afraid to go shopping. We have become prisoners."
July 24, 2002
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — People bustled down the streets of Jerusalem in the summer sunshine Wednesday. But those familiar with the city at this time of year said that compared with a few years ago, the place looked like a ghost town.
"Everyone is scared, just waiting for the next attack," jeweler Moshe Beigel said. "After the attack in Gaza, I might as well lock up and go home. No one will be coming into town."
Israelis prepared for the worst on Wednesday as Palestinian militants vowed no Israeli was safe after an attack in Gaza City early Tuesday that killed 13 civilians, a top militant and his bodyguard. Nine of the dead were children.
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv told Americans in Israel that it is taking seriously threats from the radical Hamas group to avenge the Israeli airstrike. A missile killed Salah Shehadeh, commander of the military wing of Hamas. Israeli officials said that Shehadeh was responsible for terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of people.
Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, said Wednesday that there would be "100 new Salah Shehadehs" and "new operations which will bring about the death of hundreds" of Israelis. Izz el-Deen al-Qassam, the terrorist cell founded by Shehadeh, called its followers to turn Israel into a "sea of blood."
Even before Palestinian militants threatened to avenge those killed in the airstrike, 22 months of Israeli-Palestinian conflict had destroyed Jerusalem's restaurant and tourist industry. Half the city's hotels have closed their doors. Most of those that are still open are operating half-empty.
The Jerusalem municipality is running television and radio advertisements urging Israelis to visit Jerusalem and its famous holy shrines. Though people are steering clear of public places, it's still nearly impossible to find a parking space here; many locals use cars instead of buses for fear they will be targeted in a bomb attack.
Beneath Beigel's shop on Hillel Street, seats at the usually packed Aroma Cafe tables were empty. "We still come, but we don't sit around like we used to," said Yehudit Wilson, a bank clerk. "They have a security guard here now, but he won't be able to stop a suicide bomber. Most of the time, we just stay home." Her friend Sara Ben-David said Hamas' new threats are "very scary. They sound as though they mean it, and with all those dead children being shown again and again on TV, I think most Palestinians also want revenge."
Even away from the center of town, people in Jerusalem are jumpy. The northern neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol is near the French Hill junction where a suicide attack on June 19 — the last in the city — claimed the lives of six Israelis. "We are very afraid," said Sami Azulay, a cafe waitress. "We heard that the terrorists want to take revenge. We are keeping our eyes open."
Shoshi Hatouka, who sells jeans and other clothes at a nearby boutique, said things were going from bad to worse. "In a month, I'll have to close down," she said. "Every time we think there's going to be peace, the situation only gets worse. It's hopeless. We are afraid to walk in the street. We are afraid to go shopping. We have become prisoners."
Monday, 10 June 2002
Pressured Arafat announces government reforms
10 June 2002
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority announced Sunday that it had revamped its Cabinet, an apparent response to international pressure on Yasser Arafat to institute reforms that could help stop violence in the region. The United States, the European Union and Israel have demanded that Arafat restructure the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused of corruption and failing to stop attacks that have killed 280 Israelis this year.
After meeting Saturday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Camp David, Md., President Bush said, "If the Palestinian people have a government that is transparent and open and willing to serve the people, Israel will be better off, Egypt will be better off, America will be better off, and we're more likely to achieve peace."
Mubarak said he hoped to persuade Bush to support the declaration of a Palestinian state early next year, even if its borders have not been decided.
Bush responded, "We're not ready to lay down a specific calendar."
Sunday's announcement of reforms in the Palestinian Cabinet came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived in Washington. He meets with Bush today. In an opinion piece Sunday in The New York Times, he repeated that Israel was prepared to resume negotiations if Palestinian attacks stop. He also said it could be years before the Israelis and the Palestinians reach a final peace deal.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Cabinet will be cut from 31 to 21. He also said presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in January and municipal elections this fall.
Other changes announced Sunday:
- Arafat appointed Salem Fayad minister of finance. Fayad, 50, has worked in Jerusalem for the International Monetary Fund and was regional director of the Arab Bank. He will try to persuade donors that the Palestinian Authority isn't using aid money to finance terrorism.
- The new interior minister is Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, 73, a former guerrilla commander. He has been asked to control rival security chiefs and turn their forces and militias into a streamlined anti-terror police as CIA Director George Tenet demanded last week. Yehiyeh will report to Arafat, who remains commander in chief of security forces.
Some Palestinian officials rejected the announced reforms.
"This is not a change, this is simply a Cabinet reshuffle," said Ziyad Abu Amer, a Palestinian legislator and leader of Arafat's Fatah group in Gaza. "We were looking forward to the formation of a Cabinet whose members are mostly new faces."
Hamas spokesman Abdel Azziz Rantissi also criticized the reform plan. "The Palestinian Authority leadership is corrupt and therefore has to be changed," he said.
Also Sunday:
- Palestinian police arrested Islamic Jihad leader Sheik Abdullah Shami, whose group took responsibility for a suicide attack last week in which 17 Israelis died. Shami, arrested in Gaza City, has been arrested and released by the Authority several times.
- Funerals were held for three Israelis killed Saturday in a Palestinian attack on a West Bank settlement. Seven Palestinians were killed over the weekend while carrying out or attempting to carry out attacks.
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority announced Sunday that it had revamped its Cabinet, an apparent response to international pressure on Yasser Arafat to institute reforms that could help stop violence in the region. The United States, the European Union and Israel have demanded that Arafat restructure the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused of corruption and failing to stop attacks that have killed 280 Israelis this year.
After meeting Saturday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Camp David, Md., President Bush said, "If the Palestinian people have a government that is transparent and open and willing to serve the people, Israel will be better off, Egypt will be better off, America will be better off, and we're more likely to achieve peace."
Mubarak said he hoped to persuade Bush to support the declaration of a Palestinian state early next year, even if its borders have not been decided.
Bush responded, "We're not ready to lay down a specific calendar."
Sunday's announcement of reforms in the Palestinian Cabinet came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived in Washington. He meets with Bush today. In an opinion piece Sunday in The New York Times, he repeated that Israel was prepared to resume negotiations if Palestinian attacks stop. He also said it could be years before the Israelis and the Palestinians reach a final peace deal.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Cabinet will be cut from 31 to 21. He also said presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in January and municipal elections this fall.
Other changes announced Sunday:
- Arafat appointed Salem Fayad minister of finance. Fayad, 50, has worked in Jerusalem for the International Monetary Fund and was regional director of the Arab Bank. He will try to persuade donors that the Palestinian Authority isn't using aid money to finance terrorism.
- The new interior minister is Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, 73, a former guerrilla commander. He has been asked to control rival security chiefs and turn their forces and militias into a streamlined anti-terror police as CIA Director George Tenet demanded last week. Yehiyeh will report to Arafat, who remains commander in chief of security forces.
Some Palestinian officials rejected the announced reforms.
"This is not a change, this is simply a Cabinet reshuffle," said Ziyad Abu Amer, a Palestinian legislator and leader of Arafat's Fatah group in Gaza. "We were looking forward to the formation of a Cabinet whose members are mostly new faces."
Hamas spokesman Abdel Azziz Rantissi also criticized the reform plan. "The Palestinian Authority leadership is corrupt and therefore has to be changed," he said.
Also Sunday:
- Palestinian police arrested Islamic Jihad leader Sheik Abdullah Shami, whose group took responsibility for a suicide attack last week in which 17 Israelis died. Shami, arrested in Gaza City, has been arrested and released by the Authority several times.
- Funerals were held for three Israelis killed Saturday in a Palestinian attack on a West Bank settlement. Seven Palestinians were killed over the weekend while carrying out or attempting to carry out attacks.
Wednesday, 8 May 2002
Israeli Cabinet votes to retaliate
8 May 2002
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — The Israeli Cabinet on Thursday approved military action against "terrorist targets" in response to a suicide bombing that cut short Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to the United States. The decision to strike back came amid reports of a deal to allow most of the Palestinians holed up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem for the past five weeks to leave. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, meanwhile, ordered his security services Wednesday to prevent future attacks against Israeli citizens, hours after the militant Muslim group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing in a Tel Aviv suburb that killed 15 Israelis.
"I gave my orders and directions to all the Palestinian security forces to confront and prevent all terror attacks," Arafat said in Arabic on Palestinian TV.
Sharon, who was meeting with President Bush on Tuesday in Washington at the time of the bombing, returned to Israel immediately to deal with the crisis.
The Israeli Cabinet considered a large-scale invasion of Gaza and Arafat's possible expulsion in retaliation for the bombing, according to Israel Radio.
A government statement after the meeting said Sharon and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer had been authorized to decide on what action to take.
Palestinian officials said they expected Israeli forces to target Gaza. Hamas is based in Gaza, a swath of land on the Mediterranean spared during the Israeli offensive launched March 29 in the West Bank against militants.
Arafat insisted in his speech that his security forces needed help. The United States has repeatedly demanded that the Palestinian leader show a commitment to the peace process by condemning terrorism in Arabic to his people.
There were few signs that the violence might be abated, though. In a new attack Wednesday, another Palestinian detonated explosives at a bus stop in northern Israel. The assailant was critically wounded but caused no injuries to others.
And Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the Hamas spiritual leader, told the Associated Press that his group would continue attacks against Israel. "Israel's action will not go unpunished. They have harmed civilians, and so their civilians will be harmed," Yassin said.
According to negotiators in Bethlehem, the tentative agreement on the standoff affects all but 13 of the more than 100 Palestinians inside. Most would be freed; 26 militants would be sent to Gaza. But the fate of the 13 suspected Muslim militants was still undecided. Negotiators had agreed to exile them to Italy, but the Italian government balked.
Contributing: Laurence McQuillan in Washington, wire reports.
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — The Israeli Cabinet on Thursday approved military action against "terrorist targets" in response to a suicide bombing that cut short Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to the United States. The decision to strike back came amid reports of a deal to allow most of the Palestinians holed up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem for the past five weeks to leave. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, meanwhile, ordered his security services Wednesday to prevent future attacks against Israeli citizens, hours after the militant Muslim group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing in a Tel Aviv suburb that killed 15 Israelis.
"I gave my orders and directions to all the Palestinian security forces to confront and prevent all terror attacks," Arafat said in Arabic on Palestinian TV.
Sharon, who was meeting with President Bush on Tuesday in Washington at the time of the bombing, returned to Israel immediately to deal with the crisis.
The Israeli Cabinet considered a large-scale invasion of Gaza and Arafat's possible expulsion in retaliation for the bombing, according to Israel Radio.
A government statement after the meeting said Sharon and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer had been authorized to decide on what action to take.
Palestinian officials said they expected Israeli forces to target Gaza. Hamas is based in Gaza, a swath of land on the Mediterranean spared during the Israeli offensive launched March 29 in the West Bank against militants.
Arafat insisted in his speech that his security forces needed help. The United States has repeatedly demanded that the Palestinian leader show a commitment to the peace process by condemning terrorism in Arabic to his people.
There were few signs that the violence might be abated, though. In a new attack Wednesday, another Palestinian detonated explosives at a bus stop in northern Israel. The assailant was critically wounded but caused no injuries to others.
And Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the Hamas spiritual leader, told the Associated Press that his group would continue attacks against Israel. "Israel's action will not go unpunished. They have harmed civilians, and so their civilians will be harmed," Yassin said.
According to negotiators in Bethlehem, the tentative agreement on the standoff affects all but 13 of the more than 100 Palestinians inside. Most would be freed; 26 militants would be sent to Gaza. But the fate of the 13 suspected Muslim militants was still undecided. Negotiators had agreed to exile them to Italy, but the Italian government balked.
Contributing: Laurence McQuillan in Washington, wire reports.
Tuesday, 30 April 2002
Talks continue on ending Ramallah standoff
By Matthew Kalman
USA TODAY
30 April 2002
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Bush administration was still working early Tuesday to finalize a deal to free Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from a month-long Israeli military siege at his headquarters. Meanwhile, the standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem dragged into a fifth week. Also, Israel rejected a bid from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to allow fact-finders to investigate the siege of the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin. Israeli officials want military veterans on the United Nations panel so they will understand what Jewish troops experienced.
Arafat, penned up at his offices by Israeli tanks and troops, could go free as early as Tuesday. Israeli officials on Monday said he could leave his bullet-riddled compound and travel in Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza territory immediately.
"Arafat can go where he chooses," Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said. But Arafat said he would stay at his compound until Israeli forces left Ramallah. Those forces were not expected to pull out until six men wanted by Israel were transferred from Arafat's complex to a Palestinian prison in the West Bank city of Jericho.
The six men are to be kept under observation by U.S. and British monitors, under the Bush administration plan designed to get Israel to release its stranglehold on Arafat and withdraw troops from Ramallah.
Four of the six Palestinians are wanted for carrying out the October assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. A fifth heads an extremist group believed to have plotted the murder. Another is an Arafat aide accused of smuggling arms from Iran.
Jericho is the only West Bank city to escape major destruction in Israel's month-long offensive.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said U.S. monitors in Jericho will be security officials but not military personnel. U.S. and British officials say they are still choosing wardens to oversee the prisoners. Britain will provide the bulk of the personnel, who will be drawn from a pool with policing experience in war zones such as the Balkans and Northern Ireland.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the wardens would be unarmed. "Prime responsibility is on the Palestinian Authority to ensure the physical security of the facility and the personal security of our wardens," he said.
In Ramallah, some residents were preparing to celebrate once Arafat emerged from his compound, most of which has been razed by Israeli tanks and bulldozers.
"If Arafat is free and the Israelis withdraw, that means we have won a great victory and there will be a party, a big party," shopkeeper Taher Odwan said.
In related matters:
The Bush administration tried Monday to mediate an end to the standoff between Israeli troops outside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and an estimated 200 Palestinians inside, many armed.
U.S. officials were hoping gunmen in the church would reconsider an earlier offer by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who said they could go into exile or face trial in Israeli courts.
A Palestinian official said 18 civilians in the church would be allowed to leave soon. On Monday, an Israeli sniper killed an armed militant in the church garden.
Israel made fresh incursions in the West Bank city of Hebron and in the Gaza territory in search of the Palestinians who attacked a Jewish settlement. The army said it killed four militants, including one of the men involved in the settlement attack Saturday in which a 5-year-old girl and three other Israelis were shot to death by Palestinian assailants dressed as Israeli soldiers. Palestinians said the Israeli army killed at least eight people in Hebron and that some were civilians.
In Gaza, Israeli troops blew up tunnels believed to be used by Palestinian militants smuggling arms.
Israel voiced new objections to a U.N. fact-finding mission that is to report on its military assault on the Jenin refugee camp.
The camp was the scene of the bloodiest fighting during Israel's incursion in the West Bank. Israel vehemently denies Palestinian claims that scores of camp residents were massacred by its forces. Both the U.N. envoy in the Middle East and Secretary of State Colin Powell have said they know of no evidence of a massacre.
The U.N. and Israel argued over the mission since April 19. Israel wants military officials on the team who are familiar with urban warfare, and it insists the mission be limited to finding the facts only.
Contributing: Barbara Slavin in Washington and wire reports
USA TODAY
30 April 2002
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Bush administration was still working early Tuesday to finalize a deal to free Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from a month-long Israeli military siege at his headquarters. Meanwhile, the standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem dragged into a fifth week. Also, Israel rejected a bid from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to allow fact-finders to investigate the siege of the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin. Israeli officials want military veterans on the United Nations panel so they will understand what Jewish troops experienced.
Arafat, penned up at his offices by Israeli tanks and troops, could go free as early as Tuesday. Israeli officials on Monday said he could leave his bullet-riddled compound and travel in Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza territory immediately.
"Arafat can go where he chooses," Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said. But Arafat said he would stay at his compound until Israeli forces left Ramallah. Those forces were not expected to pull out until six men wanted by Israel were transferred from Arafat's complex to a Palestinian prison in the West Bank city of Jericho.
The six men are to be kept under observation by U.S. and British monitors, under the Bush administration plan designed to get Israel to release its stranglehold on Arafat and withdraw troops from Ramallah.
Four of the six Palestinians are wanted for carrying out the October assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. A fifth heads an extremist group believed to have plotted the murder. Another is an Arafat aide accused of smuggling arms from Iran.
Jericho is the only West Bank city to escape major destruction in Israel's month-long offensive.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said U.S. monitors in Jericho will be security officials but not military personnel. U.S. and British officials say they are still choosing wardens to oversee the prisoners. Britain will provide the bulk of the personnel, who will be drawn from a pool with policing experience in war zones such as the Balkans and Northern Ireland.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the wardens would be unarmed. "Prime responsibility is on the Palestinian Authority to ensure the physical security of the facility and the personal security of our wardens," he said.
In Ramallah, some residents were preparing to celebrate once Arafat emerged from his compound, most of which has been razed by Israeli tanks and bulldozers.
"If Arafat is free and the Israelis withdraw, that means we have won a great victory and there will be a party, a big party," shopkeeper Taher Odwan said.
In related matters:
The Bush administration tried Monday to mediate an end to the standoff between Israeli troops outside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and an estimated 200 Palestinians inside, many armed.
U.S. officials were hoping gunmen in the church would reconsider an earlier offer by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who said they could go into exile or face trial in Israeli courts.
A Palestinian official said 18 civilians in the church would be allowed to leave soon. On Monday, an Israeli sniper killed an armed militant in the church garden.
Israel made fresh incursions in the West Bank city of Hebron and in the Gaza territory in search of the Palestinians who attacked a Jewish settlement. The army said it killed four militants, including one of the men involved in the settlement attack Saturday in which a 5-year-old girl and three other Israelis were shot to death by Palestinian assailants dressed as Israeli soldiers. Palestinians said the Israeli army killed at least eight people in Hebron and that some were civilians.
In Gaza, Israeli troops blew up tunnels believed to be used by Palestinian militants smuggling arms.
Israel voiced new objections to a U.N. fact-finding mission that is to report on its military assault on the Jenin refugee camp.
The camp was the scene of the bloodiest fighting during Israel's incursion in the West Bank. Israel vehemently denies Palestinian claims that scores of camp residents were massacred by its forces. Both the U.N. envoy in the Middle East and Secretary of State Colin Powell have said they know of no evidence of a massacre.
The U.N. and Israel argued over the mission since April 19. Israel wants military officials on the team who are familiar with urban warfare, and it insists the mission be limited to finding the facts only.
Contributing: Barbara Slavin in Washington and wire reports
Monday, 1 April 2002
Killings of 'collaborators' rise
April 1, 2002
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
BETHLEHEM — Palestinians turned their guns on each other Monday when 11 men suspected of collaborating with Israel were executed. The executions came as Israel intensified its crackdown on West Bank cities it called "nests of Palestinian terror." Late Sunday and Monday, Israeli troops moved into Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Bethlehem and the villages of Al Khader and Beit Jala. The killings of alleged collaborators, as Palestinians call them, have — like the suicide attacks on Israeli civilians — reached a new peak. Israel's incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas have unleashed an extraordinary wave of Palestinian anger at other Palestinians suspected of helping the enemy.
"Every time Israel attacks us, the crazy militants look for scapegoats and they are usually fellow Palestinians," said Osama Barakat, 41, a Palestinian shop owner in Bethlehem. "It doesn't make a difference if these people are guilty or not. This killing is out of control."
The corpses of eight Palestinian men were discovered early Monday in Tulkarem, a West Bank city. Witnesses said two masked gunmen entered a Palestinian intelligence building where the men were being held and summarily shot them. Their bodies were then dragged outside into the street.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the terrorist wing of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, said its gunmen had murdered them.
The bullet-riddled bodies of two men were found in a side street in Qalqilya. The discovery was made as Israeli troops seized control of the town with about 60 tanks and several hundred infantry soldiers.
Local residents said the two men had been held in a Palestinian jail for a year on suspicion of collaborating with Israeli authorities.
A man was fatally shot in Bethlehem after he was accused of sending intelligence to Israel by e-mail. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade said it also carried out that killing. The group also had claimed responsibility for the deaths of two suspected collaborators in March in Bethlehem.
The past month has seen a dramatic increase in the number of suspected Palestinian collaborators killed. In March, 10 were killed. In comparison, 24 suspected collaborators died from the beginning of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000 to March.
Analysts suggest the number of murders rose because Palestinians feared that the suspected collaborators might have been rescued when Israeli troops moved in.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat described the killings as "very, very unfortunate," but he did not condemn them.
He said the Israeli actions were undermining the ability of the Palestinian Authority to maintain law and order in the territories.
"It shows that (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon is destroying our ability, destroying the Palestinian Authority," Erekat said. "I don't want to justify such things. These things are not justifiable, honestly. That's the result of what Sharon is doing. Where is our authority today amid all these tanks and all these attacks?"
To most Palestinians, a collaborator is considered a betrayer to the cause of Palestinian independence and statehood.
"There is absolutely no greater crime against the Palestinian people," said Sana Madani, 21, a student in Nablus. "The people are worse than dogs. They deserve to die."
The crime is considered so great that some accused collaborators are tried or killed without evidence. Many Palestinian lawyers refuse to defend an alleged collaborator for fear of reprisals.
"People are convicted and killed without any of the standards of international law," said Bassem Eid, director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group in Jerusalem. "They are sometimes caught, tried, convicted and killed in the same day."
While collaborators are considered pariahs in Palestinian society, Israeli security officials see them as a necessity.
Government officials credit collaborators — "Israeli agents" — with helping them locate and assassinate dozens of suspected Muslim militants since the Palestinian uprising started. They also say collaborators give them information on the location and strengths of Palestinian militias.
"Israel would not be as successful in hunting down terrorists if we did not have the participation of (collaborators)," said an Israeli security official who goes by the name Abu Issa. "These men have become our eyes and ears in the territories."
In exchange for their information, Israel pays collaborators up to $120 a week. That's more than double the amount most Palestinians earn in a month. They also are offered loans, employment, housing, building licenses and government identification cards. All of these are nearly impossible for many Palestinians to obtain because of Israel's control over the area.
On Monday, Israeli troops remained in Ramallah, where Arafat was surrounded in his headquarters.
The chief of Arafat's Fatah faction in Lebanon threatened to launch attacks against U.S. interests if the Palestinian leader is harmed by Israel.
"If one hair on the head of Arafat is harmed," Sultan Abul-Aynayn told the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut, "the U.S. had better protect its interests around the world. I mean what I am saying."
Contributing: Jack Kelley in Washington
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
BETHLEHEM — Palestinians turned their guns on each other Monday when 11 men suspected of collaborating with Israel were executed. The executions came as Israel intensified its crackdown on West Bank cities it called "nests of Palestinian terror." Late Sunday and Monday, Israeli troops moved into Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Bethlehem and the villages of Al Khader and Beit Jala. The killings of alleged collaborators, as Palestinians call them, have — like the suicide attacks on Israeli civilians — reached a new peak. Israel's incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas have unleashed an extraordinary wave of Palestinian anger at other Palestinians suspected of helping the enemy.
"Every time Israel attacks us, the crazy militants look for scapegoats and they are usually fellow Palestinians," said Osama Barakat, 41, a Palestinian shop owner in Bethlehem. "It doesn't make a difference if these people are guilty or not. This killing is out of control."
The corpses of eight Palestinian men were discovered early Monday in Tulkarem, a West Bank city. Witnesses said two masked gunmen entered a Palestinian intelligence building where the men were being held and summarily shot them. Their bodies were then dragged outside into the street.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the terrorist wing of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, said its gunmen had murdered them.
The bullet-riddled bodies of two men were found in a side street in Qalqilya. The discovery was made as Israeli troops seized control of the town with about 60 tanks and several hundred infantry soldiers.
Local residents said the two men had been held in a Palestinian jail for a year on suspicion of collaborating with Israeli authorities.
A man was fatally shot in Bethlehem after he was accused of sending intelligence to Israel by e-mail. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade said it also carried out that killing. The group also had claimed responsibility for the deaths of two suspected collaborators in March in Bethlehem.
The past month has seen a dramatic increase in the number of suspected Palestinian collaborators killed. In March, 10 were killed. In comparison, 24 suspected collaborators died from the beginning of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000 to March.
Analysts suggest the number of murders rose because Palestinians feared that the suspected collaborators might have been rescued when Israeli troops moved in.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat described the killings as "very, very unfortunate," but he did not condemn them.
He said the Israeli actions were undermining the ability of the Palestinian Authority to maintain law and order in the territories.
"It shows that (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon is destroying our ability, destroying the Palestinian Authority," Erekat said. "I don't want to justify such things. These things are not justifiable, honestly. That's the result of what Sharon is doing. Where is our authority today amid all these tanks and all these attacks?"
To most Palestinians, a collaborator is considered a betrayer to the cause of Palestinian independence and statehood.
"There is absolutely no greater crime against the Palestinian people," said Sana Madani, 21, a student in Nablus. "The people are worse than dogs. They deserve to die."
The crime is considered so great that some accused collaborators are tried or killed without evidence. Many Palestinian lawyers refuse to defend an alleged collaborator for fear of reprisals.
"People are convicted and killed without any of the standards of international law," said Bassem Eid, director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group in Jerusalem. "They are sometimes caught, tried, convicted and killed in the same day."
While collaborators are considered pariahs in Palestinian society, Israeli security officials see them as a necessity.
Government officials credit collaborators — "Israeli agents" — with helping them locate and assassinate dozens of suspected Muslim militants since the Palestinian uprising started. They also say collaborators give them information on the location and strengths of Palestinian militias.
"Israel would not be as successful in hunting down terrorists if we did not have the participation of (collaborators)," said an Israeli security official who goes by the name Abu Issa. "These men have become our eyes and ears in the territories."
In exchange for their information, Israel pays collaborators up to $120 a week. That's more than double the amount most Palestinians earn in a month. They also are offered loans, employment, housing, building licenses and government identification cards. All of these are nearly impossible for many Palestinians to obtain because of Israel's control over the area.
On Monday, Israeli troops remained in Ramallah, where Arafat was surrounded in his headquarters.
The chief of Arafat's Fatah faction in Lebanon threatened to launch attacks against U.S. interests if the Palestinian leader is harmed by Israel.
"If one hair on the head of Arafat is harmed," Sultan Abul-Aynayn told the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut, "the U.S. had better protect its interests around the world. I mean what I am saying."
Contributing: Jack Kelley in Washington
Thursday, 14 March 2002
Terrorist says orders come from Arafat
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
March 14, 2002
TULKARM, West Bank — A leader of the largest Palestinian terrorist group spearheading suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel says he is following the orders of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "Our group is an integral part of Fatah," says Maslama Thabet, 33, a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Fatah, headed by Arafat, is the largest group in the Palestinian Authority, the government of the autonomous Palestinian territories. Thabet spoke from the Tulkarm refugee camp, where he was holed up with about 300 of his heavily armed followers as hundreds of Israeli soldiers swept through the town. Over the past two weeks, Israel has launched massive incursions into Palestinian towns and refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza in search of terrorists.
"The truth is, we are Fatah itself, but we don't operate under the name of Fatah," he said in a recent interview. "We are the armed wing of the organization. We receive our instructions from Fatah. Our commander is Yasser Arafat himself."
Spokesmen for Arafat give differing responses when asked about his ties to Thabet and the brigade. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Arafat's chief spokesman, says he has never heard of Thabet. "The president has nothing to do with these things, he has nothing to say about this issue," Rudeineh says.
But Mohammed Odwan, Arafat's foreign media spokesman, confirms that the brigade is "loyal to President Arafat."
"They are working for the interests of the Palestinian people," Odwan says. "They are fighting because they think these kind of operations — and I agree — will push forward their independence and their dream of freedom."
Israeli security officials concede Arafat is not involved in directing the on-the-ground operations of militant groups, but they say his regular calls for holy war against Israel's occupation have been taken up as a directive by the extremists.
In a televised address Saturday, as Palestinian terrorists launched suicide attacks in Netanya and Jerusalem, Arafat urged Palestinians to "sacrifice themselves as martyrs in jihad (holy war) for Palestine."
"When Arafat stands in front of a crowd and calls for millions of martyrs to march on Jerusalem and holy war against Israel, he is giving a clear directive to his followers," says Reserve Col. Eran Lerman, former head of research for Israeli Military Intelligence and now the Jerusalem director of the American Jewish Committees. "Marwan Barghouti (secretary-general of Fatah in the West Bank) and the local leaders below him take that directive and transform it into actions. ... Arafat does not personally approve individual operations, but he provides the money for Barghouti's terrorism."
Barghouti, who often is on the guest list at dinners with Arafat in the Palestinian leader's compound in Ramallah, confirmed last week that one of his lieutenants who was killed in an Israeli assassination was a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.
The link between the brigade and Arafat signals a turning point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It means the Palestinian leadership has openly allied itself with a terrorist group. Palestinian officials openly say dealing in death, not diplomacy, is the only viable way to achieve their end: an independent Palestinian state.
As the Palestinians have ramped up their attacks on Israeli targets, Israel has escalated its response. The result has been some of the worst violence the region has seen in decades. More than 200 people have died — 163 Palestinians and 59 Israelis — since the beginning of March. More than 1,500 people have been killed in the past 17 months, more than 1,000 of them Palestinians. Israel's incursions into Palestinian territory reached a new level this week: 20,000 troops were deployed, and they searched house-to-house for terrorists and weapons. It has been the biggest Israeli military operation since its invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
The emergence of a radical young branch of Arafat's Fatah faction comes as no surprise to Mahmoud Muhareb, a Palestinian professor of political science at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. "They are under siege, under blockade and almost at the edge of starvation," he says. "When you dehumanize the life of human beings, they end up feeling their life is not worthy. Five years ago, you might find one suicide bomber in an entire city. Today, it is different. There are many, because they feel there is no meaning to their lives."
Palestinian Authority officials say most members of the brigade receive salaries from Arafat's Palestinian Authority. For example, the leader of the brigade in Nablus, Nasser Awes, is a salaried officer in the Palestinian National Security Force, one of 14 armed police and security services that report to Arafat. In the past two weeks, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade has claimed responsibility for attacks including:
A suicide bombing March 2 in Jerusalem that killed 10 Israelis and injured 44.
A sniper ambush on a West Bank checkpoint on March 3 that killed 10 Israelis and wounded four.
The shooting attack on a seaside hotel late Saturday in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, that killed two Israelis and injured dozens.
An ambush in northern Israel on Tuesday in which gunmen wearing Israeli army uniforms killed six Israelis before soldiers shot two of the attackers dead.
Israeli police say they thwarted a string of other planned attacks by the group in recent weeks.
The brigade, unknown until a year ago, has become the largest armed Palestinian group operating in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Unlike two other major Palestinian militant groups, the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the brigade is secular. The group grew out of the Fatah youth movement known as the Tanzim. Under the 1993 Oslo peace accords that stated only Palestinian security services may bear arms, Tanzim is an illegal militia of about 10,000 armed young men headed by Barghouti.
As the terrorist wing of Arafat's Fatah faction, the brigade has the support of the largest political and military faction in the Palestinian Authority. Hussein A-Sheikh, a Fatah political leader in the West Bank, seems insulted when asked whether the brigade is under Arafat's control. "Of course, there is control," he snaps. "What do you think? That we are just a bunch of gangs?"
The Israeli army says Fatah, fueled by the brigade's lethal activities, has surpassed Hamas in Israeli fatalities. Hamas killed 100 Israelis in 2001 and Fatah killed 45, the army says, but since the start of 2002, Fatah has killed 57 Israelis while Hamas has killed 27. The brigade also introduced a lethal twist to its attacks: female suicide bombers. Wafa Idris killed an elderly man and wounded 50 people in a suicide attack Jan. 27 in Jerusalem. A woman blew herself up at a West Bank army checkpoint on Feb. 27, injuring two soldiers.
Thabet, who commands the brigade in Tulkarm, attained notoriety a year ago when, with his friend Raed Karmi, he kidnapped and executed two Israeli restaurateurs who had stopped in Tulkarm for lunch. Karmi, founder of the brigade in Tulkarm, died in an explosion in January in a suspected Israeli assassination. Palestinian security forces arrested Thabet last year. He was released, as were dozens of other suspected terrorists.
"Our struggle is against the Israeli occupation," Thabet said. "We are prepared to fight to the last fighter against (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon and his war machine. ... Israel must pay a heavy price for the atrocities and massacres which they are perpetrating on a daily basis against the Palestinian people."
March 14, 2002
TULKARM, West Bank — A leader of the largest Palestinian terrorist group spearheading suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel says he is following the orders of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "Our group is an integral part of Fatah," says Maslama Thabet, 33, a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Fatah, headed by Arafat, is the largest group in the Palestinian Authority, the government of the autonomous Palestinian territories. Thabet spoke from the Tulkarm refugee camp, where he was holed up with about 300 of his heavily armed followers as hundreds of Israeli soldiers swept through the town. Over the past two weeks, Israel has launched massive incursions into Palestinian towns and refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza in search of terrorists.
"The truth is, we are Fatah itself, but we don't operate under the name of Fatah," he said in a recent interview. "We are the armed wing of the organization. We receive our instructions from Fatah. Our commander is Yasser Arafat himself."
Spokesmen for Arafat give differing responses when asked about his ties to Thabet and the brigade. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Arafat's chief spokesman, says he has never heard of Thabet. "The president has nothing to do with these things, he has nothing to say about this issue," Rudeineh says.
But Mohammed Odwan, Arafat's foreign media spokesman, confirms that the brigade is "loyal to President Arafat."
"They are working for the interests of the Palestinian people," Odwan says. "They are fighting because they think these kind of operations — and I agree — will push forward their independence and their dream of freedom."
Israeli security officials concede Arafat is not involved in directing the on-the-ground operations of militant groups, but they say his regular calls for holy war against Israel's occupation have been taken up as a directive by the extremists.
In a televised address Saturday, as Palestinian terrorists launched suicide attacks in Netanya and Jerusalem, Arafat urged Palestinians to "sacrifice themselves as martyrs in jihad (holy war) for Palestine."
"When Arafat stands in front of a crowd and calls for millions of martyrs to march on Jerusalem and holy war against Israel, he is giving a clear directive to his followers," says Reserve Col. Eran Lerman, former head of research for Israeli Military Intelligence and now the Jerusalem director of the American Jewish Committees. "Marwan Barghouti (secretary-general of Fatah in the West Bank) and the local leaders below him take that directive and transform it into actions. ... Arafat does not personally approve individual operations, but he provides the money for Barghouti's terrorism."
Barghouti, who often is on the guest list at dinners with Arafat in the Palestinian leader's compound in Ramallah, confirmed last week that one of his lieutenants who was killed in an Israeli assassination was a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.
The link between the brigade and Arafat signals a turning point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It means the Palestinian leadership has openly allied itself with a terrorist group. Palestinian officials openly say dealing in death, not diplomacy, is the only viable way to achieve their end: an independent Palestinian state.
As the Palestinians have ramped up their attacks on Israeli targets, Israel has escalated its response. The result has been some of the worst violence the region has seen in decades. More than 200 people have died — 163 Palestinians and 59 Israelis — since the beginning of March. More than 1,500 people have been killed in the past 17 months, more than 1,000 of them Palestinians. Israel's incursions into Palestinian territory reached a new level this week: 20,000 troops were deployed, and they searched house-to-house for terrorists and weapons. It has been the biggest Israeli military operation since its invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
The emergence of a radical young branch of Arafat's Fatah faction comes as no surprise to Mahmoud Muhareb, a Palestinian professor of political science at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. "They are under siege, under blockade and almost at the edge of starvation," he says. "When you dehumanize the life of human beings, they end up feeling their life is not worthy. Five years ago, you might find one suicide bomber in an entire city. Today, it is different. There are many, because they feel there is no meaning to their lives."
Palestinian Authority officials say most members of the brigade receive salaries from Arafat's Palestinian Authority. For example, the leader of the brigade in Nablus, Nasser Awes, is a salaried officer in the Palestinian National Security Force, one of 14 armed police and security services that report to Arafat. In the past two weeks, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade has claimed responsibility for attacks including:
A suicide bombing March 2 in Jerusalem that killed 10 Israelis and injured 44.
A sniper ambush on a West Bank checkpoint on March 3 that killed 10 Israelis and wounded four.
The shooting attack on a seaside hotel late Saturday in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, that killed two Israelis and injured dozens.
An ambush in northern Israel on Tuesday in which gunmen wearing Israeli army uniforms killed six Israelis before soldiers shot two of the attackers dead.
Israeli police say they thwarted a string of other planned attacks by the group in recent weeks.
The brigade, unknown until a year ago, has become the largest armed Palestinian group operating in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel. Unlike two other major Palestinian militant groups, the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the brigade is secular. The group grew out of the Fatah youth movement known as the Tanzim. Under the 1993 Oslo peace accords that stated only Palestinian security services may bear arms, Tanzim is an illegal militia of about 10,000 armed young men headed by Barghouti.
As the terrorist wing of Arafat's Fatah faction, the brigade has the support of the largest political and military faction in the Palestinian Authority. Hussein A-Sheikh, a Fatah political leader in the West Bank, seems insulted when asked whether the brigade is under Arafat's control. "Of course, there is control," he snaps. "What do you think? That we are just a bunch of gangs?"
The Israeli army says Fatah, fueled by the brigade's lethal activities, has surpassed Hamas in Israeli fatalities. Hamas killed 100 Israelis in 2001 and Fatah killed 45, the army says, but since the start of 2002, Fatah has killed 57 Israelis while Hamas has killed 27. The brigade also introduced a lethal twist to its attacks: female suicide bombers. Wafa Idris killed an elderly man and wounded 50 people in a suicide attack Jan. 27 in Jerusalem. A woman blew herself up at a West Bank army checkpoint on Feb. 27, injuring two soldiers.
Thabet, who commands the brigade in Tulkarm, attained notoriety a year ago when, with his friend Raed Karmi, he kidnapped and executed two Israeli restaurateurs who had stopped in Tulkarm for lunch. Karmi, founder of the brigade in Tulkarm, died in an explosion in January in a suspected Israeli assassination. Palestinian security forces arrested Thabet last year. He was released, as were dozens of other suspected terrorists.
"Our struggle is against the Israeli occupation," Thabet said. "We are prepared to fight to the last fighter against (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon and his war machine. ... Israel must pay a heavy price for the atrocities and massacres which they are perpetrating on a daily basis against the Palestinian people."
Monday, 4 March 2002
Israeli air strike
Hamas: Israel to pay 'heavy price'
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
03/04/2002 - Updated 10:26 PM ET
JERUSALEM — The Hamas terrorist group vowed revenge Monday for the deaths of the wife and three children of one of its leaders. They were among at least 17 Palestinians killed in Israeli military strikes in the West Bank and Gaza.
The Israeli attacks were ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is stepping up pressure on the Palestinians after weekend attacks killed 22 Israelis. The 22nd victim died Monday in an Israeli hospital.
The strikes on Palestinian targets continued into the night Monday. Israeli helicopters fired missiles at Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The missiles hit a building a few dozen yards from Arafat's office, witnesses said. Palestinian security officials said Israeli F-16s dropped bombs on Arafat's Bethlehem headquarters. Four Palestinians were wounded in Bethlehem.
Earlier, the wife and three children of Hussein Abu Kweik, a Hamas leader in Ramallah, were killed when an Israeli tank shelled their pickup. Bushra Abu Kweik, 38, had just picked up her children — Aziza, 14, Barra, 13, and Mohammed, 10 — from school in Ramallah. Arafat Ibrahim al-Masri, 16, and Haima al-Masri, 7, who were in a nearby car, also died. Israeli military officials apologized later and said the civilians were killed by mistake.
Abu Kweik said his wife, two daughters and son were martyrs to the Palestinian cause. "Despite the catastrophe, I say to Sharon and to his filthy gang that our determination will not be weakened, and we will keep steadfast in our land," he said.
Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin vowed revenge for the incident. "It is a Zionist crime. Israel shoulders the responsibility and will pay a heavy price," Yassin said.
Palestinian officials said the Israelis were trying to assassinate Abu Kweik. Hamas has claimed responsibility for a number of recent suicide bombings against Israelis.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer expressed "regret over the loss of civilian Palestinian lives as a result of Israeli tank fire." He said Israeli forces were aiming at a vehicle carrying armed men.
In the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, six Palestinians were killed and 20 wounded, eight of them seriously, by Israeli fire, hospital officials said.
A Palestinian physician also was killed when Israeli troops at a roadblock opened fire on the ambulance in which he was riding. Saliman Halil, the director of the Red Crescent in Jenin, was traveling to the refugee camp to treat gunshot victims. The Israeli army said the soldiers fired when the ambulance tried to run them over.
Mustafa Barghouti, head of Palestinian medical relief, called the killing "another in a long catalogue of Israeli war crimes." Israel says Palestinian ambulances have been used to carry weapons and suicide bombers and must be searched at roadblocks.
Israeli troops also exchanged fire with men in the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. Two armed Palestinians and a civilian were killed, doctors said. And, near the West Bank town of Nablus, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man who ran toward an army checkpoint.
In Washington, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told CNN he had invited Sharon and Arafat to hold talks at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik. Mubarak, on an official visit to the USA, said he hoped a summit could "change the atmosphere" and lead to a reduction in violence.
Contributing: Barbara Slavin in Washington
Monday, 25 February 2002
Arafat Lives by Routine in Small Domain
USA TODAY
February 25, 2002
By Matthew Kalman
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- For the first time in as long as anyone can recall, Yasser Arafat has a fixed routine.
The famously secret movements of the man who rarely slept two nights in the same place for fear of assassination have become public knowledge now that he is limiting himself to a square half-mile -- the size of his headquarters -- in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Since Dec. 3, when Israeli missiles destroyed his helicopters, Arafat has been confined to Ramallah and has remained in the El-Mukata'ah presidential compound. For those 2 1/2 months, Israeli tanks have been stationed a few yards from his office. The 72-year-old Palestinian leader has become the most famous prisoner in the Middle East.
Israel says Arafat can leave any time he wants; all he has to do is arrest the men responsible for the death of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, who was gunned down at a Jerusalem hotel in October. Arafat says he is unable -- the Israelis say he is unwilling -- to catch the assassins. So he remains in Ramallah.
No longer able to roam the world (Arafat claims to have visited every country except Australia), unable to partake in international meetings and red-carpet receptions, Arafat presides mostly over a series of rooms. The change in Arafat's lifestyle is striking. His movements, once confidential and always unexpected, now are predictable and even choreographed.
He begins the day about 11 a.m. in the large new meeting hall of El Mukata'ah. He grants a public audience every morning to hundreds of Palestinian well-wishers at gatherings orchestrated by the newly created Committee of Popular Protection for the Palestinian National Project, which Arafat chairs.
''There are daily popular marches to the president's office and to the governate in support of the president and also to emphasize the steadfastness of the Palestinian people,'' says Nahla Qoura, a leader of Arafat's Fatah movement who helps organize the rallies. Many in the audience are employees of the Palestinian Authority.
'Arafat will defeat you'
Each morning, the crowd gathers in nearby Manara Square and marches to the compound carrying banners and posters of Arafat. The people chant and sing as they are shepherded into the conference hall.
The cheerleader, a short, bespectacled man in his 50s, is hoisted up by the crowd and produces a sheet of paper from his pocket. He is Abu Ali Muqbel, a Palestinian poet. A year ago, he was imprisoned and his head was shaved as punishment for chanting anti-Arafat couplets. Now he appears every day at the appointed time to lead the invited crowds in praising the Palestinian leader.
''With our blood, with our souls, we will redeem Abu Amar!'' he reads, invoking Arafat's nom de guerre. Turning his words on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he says, ''Oh, Sharon, oh Sharon, you coward, Arafat will defeat you!''
The crowd roars its approval as Arafat, standing on a table protected with tissue paper, flashes a V-sign for victory. Smiling, he asks the crowd for calm and launches into his daily monologue.
''You see the tanks across the street?'' he asks in Arabic. ''This is the same tank Sharon sent to me in Beirut.'' As defense minister in 1982, Sharon ordered the invasion of Lebanon that resulted in the expulsion of Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization from their headquarters in Beirut.
''He didn't frighten me then, and he doesn't scare me now,'' Arafat says. ''I don't care even if the tank comes to my bedroom. Palestinian stones can defeat these tanks and those who are behind them.''
The crowd goes wild. Within minutes, some will be outside, throwing stones at the Israeli tanks in what has become a daily ritual. Some youths form a circle in front of Arafat and begin chanting: ''Oh suiciders, oh suiciders, give us more blood in Jaffa Street! Give us more attacks!'' The reference is to one of Jerusalem's major thoroughfares; Jaffa Street has been the site of three suicide attacks in the past six months.
Arafat, who condemns suicide attacks in daily press interviews, looks on with a huge smile on his face. ''We will march toward Jerusalem, millions will be martyred,'' he says, pounding the lectern. The crowd roars its approval.
This morning, he deviates slightly from the script and does not begin chanting ''Jihad, jihad, jihad,'' the call for holy war, which is broadcast regularly on Palestinian television.
Then Arafat, surrounded by bodyguards, heads for his office on the second floor. He receives visitors in private -- diplomats, Palestinian officials and others -- until 3 p.m., when he takes his midafternoon nap. He will not be awakened unless it is urgent. After 6 p.m., Arafat is back at his desk, plowing through a pile of notes on small pieces of paper written by aides, supplicants from various ministries and organizations, and private individuals.
He signs each chit and hands it to an assistant. An aide says half-jokingly that Arafat has two pens, signing in red to indicate someone will get money, signing in blue if the request is to be ignored.
Hummus and politics
By early evening, the office of Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh is flooded with interview requests from reporters from all over the world. Dozens wait at the Grand Park Hotel in Ramallah, hoping to be selected. The chosen few are taken to the presidential compound. Arafat's evening performance begins after 9 p.m. and is strictly by invitation.
As dozens of gray-haired, moustachioed, chain-smoking officials go in and out of Arafat's office, visitors are escorted to a large, empty room nearby. On one wall hangs a huge picture of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem -- a symbol of the current uprising, which was two days old when Israeli police shot dead seven Palestinian demonstrators in the mosque compound in September 2000.
A table large enough to seat 20 dominates the room. Cheeses, cucumbers, pickles and hummus fill dishes set out. The meal begins with zucchini soup. When everyone is seated, Arafat enters. There is no fixed seating arrangement. Waiters dressed in white shirts and black waistcoats hover. The guests are an eclectic mix of senior Palestinian officials, journalists and special visitors. This evening, there are three different media crews and a couple of people hoping for a private meeting. There are no bodyguards.
Around the table on different nights are such familiar faces as PLO deputy leader Abu Mazen, West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and Mohammed Shtayeh, director of the Palestinian Economic Development Corp. Arafat says Mazen is a possible successor; Barghouti is wanted by Israel for allegedly planning several murders and terror attacks.
Arafat enters, sits and without a word grabs a piece of lettuce and begins eating. There is small talk. He is asked whether he remembers his early career as an engineer in Kuwait. A smile spreads across his face, and he reminisces.
In front of Arafat is a dish filled with what looks like molasses. It is a special dish made with honey, he explains to one of his visitors. ''This is very healthy, it makes you strong,'' he says as he dips some bread into the mixture and hands a small piece to each of the guests around him. It is a ritual he repeats every evening.
Suddenly, Arafat switches the conversation to politics and what he calls Israel's destruction of the Palestinian economy.
''Do you know that the Israelis have uprooted 50% of the olive trees in the West Bank and Gaza? These trees were the only source of income for tens of thousands of families.'' His assertion goes unchallenged, even though it's believed to be an exaggeration. The correspondents don't want to jeopardize their interviews.
Shifting to Arabic from English, Arafat continues, ''Add to this that they are holding more than $1 billion in tax revenue which they collect for us'' -- a reference to taxes on Palestinian goods and services that Israel stopped transferring to the Palestinian Authority to protest the violence.
Persistent rumors
As he talks, he sinks back in his chair, but his tunic, supported by the rigid bulletproof vest he wears underneath, remains where it is. It is as if his chest has suddenly inflated. Beneath the flak jacket, he appears painfully thin. His hands shake uncontrollably and he stammers even in Arabic. There are rumors, consistently denied, that Arafat suffers from Parkinson's disease and is still affected by injuries suffered in a plane crash in 1992.
Arafat's apparent ill health and advancing age have fueled private speculation about who will succeed him, but no Palestinian dared raise the subject in public until two weeks ago, when Arafat set out the constitutional procedure. It appears he is not yet ready to relinquish power. The Palestinian leader was involved in a confrontation last week with his main security chief, Col. Jibril Rajoub, during which Arafat reportedly drew his gun and accused Rajoub of seeking the top position.
After an hour, Abu Rudeineh announces it is time for the more formal individual interviews. Arafat is escorted from the room and into his office. A doctor who has been on hand follows with a medical bag. No one will discuss what medication the president is taking. As the interviewer is admitted, Abu Rudeineh commands: ''No questions about his private life. No questions about his wife, his daughter, where he sleeps or where he showers. Be serious, talk politics.''
Arafat spends up to an hour with each reporter, repeating prepared mini-speeches he has been reciting for weeks. He vows that Palestinians will ultimately have their own independent state.
Any journalist who departs from the script is thrown out. When the BBC's Lyse Doucet dares to question whether Arafat has really imprisoned Islamic terrorists, he angrily declares the interview over and has her escorted from the building.
The last journalists leave at 1 a.m. Arafat returns to his office and continues his paperwork until about 3 a.m., when he goes to sleep, according to his aides.
Efraim Inbar, chairman of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, says he believes Arafat will remain in power until he dies but will never establish a Palestinian state.
''Arafat is such a towering figure in the Palestinian national movement that he will never be replaced, nor allow anyone else to develop,'' Inbar says. ''He succeeded in bringing the Palestinian issue to the attention of the world, and he brought the PLO to Palestine itself. But he failed to establish a state even when he had the opportunity to do so.''
At 11 the next morning, Arafat will awake to another noisy demonstration of supporters. Yet another group of reporters will make their way to the Grand Park Hotel, ready to be charmed and dined by the king of Ramallah.
February 25, 2002
By Matthew Kalman
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- For the first time in as long as anyone can recall, Yasser Arafat has a fixed routine.
The famously secret movements of the man who rarely slept two nights in the same place for fear of assassination have become public knowledge now that he is limiting himself to a square half-mile -- the size of his headquarters -- in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Since Dec. 3, when Israeli missiles destroyed his helicopters, Arafat has been confined to Ramallah and has remained in the El-Mukata'ah presidential compound. For those 2 1/2 months, Israeli tanks have been stationed a few yards from his office. The 72-year-old Palestinian leader has become the most famous prisoner in the Middle East.
Israel says Arafat can leave any time he wants; all he has to do is arrest the men responsible for the death of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, who was gunned down at a Jerusalem hotel in October. Arafat says he is unable -- the Israelis say he is unwilling -- to catch the assassins. So he remains in Ramallah.
No longer able to roam the world (Arafat claims to have visited every country except Australia), unable to partake in international meetings and red-carpet receptions, Arafat presides mostly over a series of rooms. The change in Arafat's lifestyle is striking. His movements, once confidential and always unexpected, now are predictable and even choreographed.
He begins the day about 11 a.m. in the large new meeting hall of El Mukata'ah. He grants a public audience every morning to hundreds of Palestinian well-wishers at gatherings orchestrated by the newly created Committee of Popular Protection for the Palestinian National Project, which Arafat chairs.
''There are daily popular marches to the president's office and to the governate in support of the president and also to emphasize the steadfastness of the Palestinian people,'' says Nahla Qoura, a leader of Arafat's Fatah movement who helps organize the rallies. Many in the audience are employees of the Palestinian Authority.
'Arafat will defeat you'
Each morning, the crowd gathers in nearby Manara Square and marches to the compound carrying banners and posters of Arafat. The people chant and sing as they are shepherded into the conference hall.
The cheerleader, a short, bespectacled man in his 50s, is hoisted up by the crowd and produces a sheet of paper from his pocket. He is Abu Ali Muqbel, a Palestinian poet. A year ago, he was imprisoned and his head was shaved as punishment for chanting anti-Arafat couplets. Now he appears every day at the appointed time to lead the invited crowds in praising the Palestinian leader.
''With our blood, with our souls, we will redeem Abu Amar!'' he reads, invoking Arafat's nom de guerre. Turning his words on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he says, ''Oh, Sharon, oh Sharon, you coward, Arafat will defeat you!''
The crowd roars its approval as Arafat, standing on a table protected with tissue paper, flashes a V-sign for victory. Smiling, he asks the crowd for calm and launches into his daily monologue.
''You see the tanks across the street?'' he asks in Arabic. ''This is the same tank Sharon sent to me in Beirut.'' As defense minister in 1982, Sharon ordered the invasion of Lebanon that resulted in the expulsion of Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization from their headquarters in Beirut.
''He didn't frighten me then, and he doesn't scare me now,'' Arafat says. ''I don't care even if the tank comes to my bedroom. Palestinian stones can defeat these tanks and those who are behind them.''
The crowd goes wild. Within minutes, some will be outside, throwing stones at the Israeli tanks in what has become a daily ritual. Some youths form a circle in front of Arafat and begin chanting: ''Oh suiciders, oh suiciders, give us more blood in Jaffa Street! Give us more attacks!'' The reference is to one of Jerusalem's major thoroughfares; Jaffa Street has been the site of three suicide attacks in the past six months.
Arafat, who condemns suicide attacks in daily press interviews, looks on with a huge smile on his face. ''We will march toward Jerusalem, millions will be martyred,'' he says, pounding the lectern. The crowd roars its approval.
This morning, he deviates slightly from the script and does not begin chanting ''Jihad, jihad, jihad,'' the call for holy war, which is broadcast regularly on Palestinian television.
Then Arafat, surrounded by bodyguards, heads for his office on the second floor. He receives visitors in private -- diplomats, Palestinian officials and others -- until 3 p.m., when he takes his midafternoon nap. He will not be awakened unless it is urgent. After 6 p.m., Arafat is back at his desk, plowing through a pile of notes on small pieces of paper written by aides, supplicants from various ministries and organizations, and private individuals.
He signs each chit and hands it to an assistant. An aide says half-jokingly that Arafat has two pens, signing in red to indicate someone will get money, signing in blue if the request is to be ignored.
Hummus and politics
By early evening, the office of Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh is flooded with interview requests from reporters from all over the world. Dozens wait at the Grand Park Hotel in Ramallah, hoping to be selected. The chosen few are taken to the presidential compound. Arafat's evening performance begins after 9 p.m. and is strictly by invitation.
As dozens of gray-haired, moustachioed, chain-smoking officials go in and out of Arafat's office, visitors are escorted to a large, empty room nearby. On one wall hangs a huge picture of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem -- a symbol of the current uprising, which was two days old when Israeli police shot dead seven Palestinian demonstrators in the mosque compound in September 2000.
A table large enough to seat 20 dominates the room. Cheeses, cucumbers, pickles and hummus fill dishes set out. The meal begins with zucchini soup. When everyone is seated, Arafat enters. There is no fixed seating arrangement. Waiters dressed in white shirts and black waistcoats hover. The guests are an eclectic mix of senior Palestinian officials, journalists and special visitors. This evening, there are three different media crews and a couple of people hoping for a private meeting. There are no bodyguards.
Around the table on different nights are such familiar faces as PLO deputy leader Abu Mazen, West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and Mohammed Shtayeh, director of the Palestinian Economic Development Corp. Arafat says Mazen is a possible successor; Barghouti is wanted by Israel for allegedly planning several murders and terror attacks.
Arafat enters, sits and without a word grabs a piece of lettuce and begins eating. There is small talk. He is asked whether he remembers his early career as an engineer in Kuwait. A smile spreads across his face, and he reminisces.
In front of Arafat is a dish filled with what looks like molasses. It is a special dish made with honey, he explains to one of his visitors. ''This is very healthy, it makes you strong,'' he says as he dips some bread into the mixture and hands a small piece to each of the guests around him. It is a ritual he repeats every evening.
Suddenly, Arafat switches the conversation to politics and what he calls Israel's destruction of the Palestinian economy.
''Do you know that the Israelis have uprooted 50% of the olive trees in the West Bank and Gaza? These trees were the only source of income for tens of thousands of families.'' His assertion goes unchallenged, even though it's believed to be an exaggeration. The correspondents don't want to jeopardize their interviews.
Shifting to Arabic from English, Arafat continues, ''Add to this that they are holding more than $1 billion in tax revenue which they collect for us'' -- a reference to taxes on Palestinian goods and services that Israel stopped transferring to the Palestinian Authority to protest the violence.
Persistent rumors
As he talks, he sinks back in his chair, but his tunic, supported by the rigid bulletproof vest he wears underneath, remains where it is. It is as if his chest has suddenly inflated. Beneath the flak jacket, he appears painfully thin. His hands shake uncontrollably and he stammers even in Arabic. There are rumors, consistently denied, that Arafat suffers from Parkinson's disease and is still affected by injuries suffered in a plane crash in 1992.
Arafat's apparent ill health and advancing age have fueled private speculation about who will succeed him, but no Palestinian dared raise the subject in public until two weeks ago, when Arafat set out the constitutional procedure. It appears he is not yet ready to relinquish power. The Palestinian leader was involved in a confrontation last week with his main security chief, Col. Jibril Rajoub, during which Arafat reportedly drew his gun and accused Rajoub of seeking the top position.
After an hour, Abu Rudeineh announces it is time for the more formal individual interviews. Arafat is escorted from the room and into his office. A doctor who has been on hand follows with a medical bag. No one will discuss what medication the president is taking. As the interviewer is admitted, Abu Rudeineh commands: ''No questions about his private life. No questions about his wife, his daughter, where he sleeps or where he showers. Be serious, talk politics.''
Arafat spends up to an hour with each reporter, repeating prepared mini-speeches he has been reciting for weeks. He vows that Palestinians will ultimately have their own independent state.
Any journalist who departs from the script is thrown out. When the BBC's Lyse Doucet dares to question whether Arafat has really imprisoned Islamic terrorists, he angrily declares the interview over and has her escorted from the building.
The last journalists leave at 1 a.m. Arafat returns to his office and continues his paperwork until about 3 a.m., when he goes to sleep, according to his aides.
Efraim Inbar, chairman of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, says he believes Arafat will remain in power until he dies but will never establish a Palestinian state.
''Arafat is such a towering figure in the Palestinian national movement that he will never be replaced, nor allow anyone else to develop,'' Inbar says. ''He succeeded in bringing the Palestinian issue to the attention of the world, and he brought the PLO to Palestine itself. But he failed to establish a state even when he had the opportunity to do so.''
At 11 the next morning, Arafat will awake to another noisy demonstration of supporters. Yet another group of reporters will make their way to the Grand Park Hotel, ready to be charmed and dined by the king of Ramallah.
Thursday, 10 January 2002
Arafat under pressure
01/10/2002 - Updated 04:28 PM ET
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — A congressional delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Authority cancelled a planned meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat scheduled for Thursday after examining "evidence beyond a reasonable doubt" of direct involvement by the Palestinian Authority in weapons smuggling and terrorism.
The move to cancel the meeting came hours before a senior U.S. official said there is substantial evidence that the Palestinian Authority was involved in an attempt to smuggle 50 tons of weapons to Gaza and that Arafat knew about the shipment. The remark came after Israeli intelligence officials briefed State Department officials on the smuggling operation. The boat carrying the weapons was intercepted and seized by Israeli commandos last Thursday.
Secretary of State Colin Powell phoned Arafat on Wednesday and stressed "the urgent need for a full explanation" of the smuggling attempt, which he called "deeply troubling," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
The U.S. representatives visiting Israel, who also were briefed by Israeli intelligence, said they had seen evidence of Arafat's personal involvement in the shipload of illegal weapons from Iran being smuggled into the Palestinian Authority.
A U.S. official in Israel said the State Department would reevaluate its relationship with the Palestinian Authority in light of the revelations about the arms shipment.
Representative Peter Deutsch (D-FL) told reporters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem Wednesday that the Palestinian leader had gone back on the fundamental pledge of peace he made to Israel in the Oslo Accords, which provided the basis for U.S. engagement with the Palestine Liberation Organization, previously considered a terrorist organization.
"It is clear that the weapons were meant to be sent to the Palestinian Authority for their continuation of terrorism and violence," said Deutsch. "This incident presents a clear indication of Chairman Arafat's failure to act against terrorism."
Congressman Gary Ackerman (D — NY), a ranking member of the House Sub-Committee on the Middle East and South Asia, said the delegation had unanimously agreed to cancel their meeting with Arafat after receiving "a full intelligence briefing" from Israeli officials about the weapons haul, which included rockets, missiles, mines and 1.5 tons of sophisticated explosives.
The delegation said, "a meeting with the Palestinian leadership would send the wrong message about both Congress's views on terrorism and on the leadership of Chairman Arafat, in particular."
Ackerman said the representatives had seen "irrefutable facts that seemed to indicate beyond any reasonable doubt that the Palestinian Authority and Arafat personally were involved with the ship and the purchase of the weapons and the plan to transfer them to the Palestinian Authority."
The representatives' decision to boycott Arafat led to the collapse of their entire program in the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Abu Ala and PLO Jerusalem leader Sari Nusseibeh both cancelled their planned meetings with the US delegation. The other members of the group are Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Barney Frank (D-MA).
"We do think the peace process is salvageable," said Ackerman. "We have just finished meeting with Prime Minister Sharon and we believe the prime minister is committed to the peace process."
But Ackerman warned, echoing Israel's recent declaration that Arafat was no longer relevant, "Unless Arafat gets back to the peace process he will have rendered himself insignificant and squandered all the good will that a peace prize winner would have had." He was referring to Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize, which he won jointly with assassinated Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin for their efforts to establish a peace process.
"Arafat's signature on the Oslo Accords seems to have been written with invisible ink," Ackerman said.
Contributing: Barbara Slavin in Washington
Sunday, 23 December 2001
Oh little town of silent streets, how still it is
USA TODAY
23 December 2001
By Matthew Kalman
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — In the city where the Bible says Jesus was born 2,000 years ago, Christians might not be in the right mood to celebrate this Christmas.
After 15 months of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel, Bethlehem is a city ravaged by grief, damaged by violence and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
Normally, just before Christmas, Manger Square would be packed with pilgrims standing in line for hours to enter the Church of the Nativity, descend into the grotto and kiss the silver star marking the traditional site of the holy infant's birth. But this year, often not a single pilgrim or foreign tourist is in evidence. The grotto is empty and eerily silent. Souvenir shops have been shuttered.
Michael Giacaman usually keeps his souvenir shop open on Christmas Eve well past midnight to serve the floods of tourists who flock to the traditional processions and singing of carols.
This year, his plans have changed: "I might open for half a day," says Giacaman, surveying the empty square from the doorway of his shop. Two years ago, with millennium celebrations at their height, he sold an armful of mother-and-pearl and olive wood souvenirs to visiting Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Now, days go by without any sales.
"No tourists come here, so the shop sells nothing," he says. "We've had to export all our olive wood souvenirs to America."
In his office overlooking the square, Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser is counting the cost of the violence.
"We have 22 people dead and 150 injured," says Nasser. "The commercial center was badly damaged by Israeli tanks, which caused about $15 million of damage in 10 days. Our entire yearly budget is only $3 million. We have 70% unemployment, zero tourists in the hotels and maybe three restaurants open out of 86."
He says at least 500 residents have emigrated to escape the situation. "This Christmas, there is no peace, no joy and no stability," he sighs. "Fifty percent of our population are children, and they are the worst affected. I see it in my own grandchildren. They cannot sleep alone — they are haunted by the sounds of gunfire and missiles."
Most of Bethlehem's 28,000 residents are Muslims. Officially, they are united against the common enemy, Israel. Privately, many Christians blame their Muslim neighbors for inviting Israeli reprisals by shooting at the nearby Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. Some Christians have been shot in mysterious circumstances, including an elderly former city councilor who refused to follow the instructions of the masked Palestinian gunmen who roam the streets.
The signs of increasing Muslim extremism are clear to see. Opposite the empty Church of the Nativity stands the Mosque of Omar, adorned with a huge banner pledging allegiance to the terrorist Islamic Jihad group, supposedly outlawed by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "Our goal is Allah, our model is Mohammed, our constitution is the Koran, our path is Jihad (holy war)," proclaims the banner. "Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest wish."
Such a public display of Islamic fundamentalism in one of Christendom's holiest sites would have been unthinkable even a year ago.
As this Christmas approaches, the people of Bethlehem have seen too much death to focus on that holiest of births.
"Each year, we are newly born with Christ in this city," says Nasser. "Bethlehem belongs to all Christians. They should come and visit us, particularly now. We need their solidarity to survive."
But the only visitors are people such as Trevor Baumgartner, a 27-year-old child-care provider from Seattle who has come to Bethlehem for the first time to join a group protesting human rights abuses in Israel. He has been in Bethlehem for several days of political training and has not yet visited the Church of the Nativity.
"We here are choosing to engage in this fight through non-violent theory and practice on the ground, and part of that is being here," he says. "I guess you could call this a pilgrimage."
23 December 2001
By Matthew Kalman
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — In the city where the Bible says Jesus was born 2,000 years ago, Christians might not be in the right mood to celebrate this Christmas.
After 15 months of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel, Bethlehem is a city ravaged by grief, damaged by violence and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
Normally, just before Christmas, Manger Square would be packed with pilgrims standing in line for hours to enter the Church of the Nativity, descend into the grotto and kiss the silver star marking the traditional site of the holy infant's birth. But this year, often not a single pilgrim or foreign tourist is in evidence. The grotto is empty and eerily silent. Souvenir shops have been shuttered.
Michael Giacaman usually keeps his souvenir shop open on Christmas Eve well past midnight to serve the floods of tourists who flock to the traditional processions and singing of carols.
This year, his plans have changed: "I might open for half a day," says Giacaman, surveying the empty square from the doorway of his shop. Two years ago, with millennium celebrations at their height, he sold an armful of mother-and-pearl and olive wood souvenirs to visiting Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Now, days go by without any sales.
"No tourists come here, so the shop sells nothing," he says. "We've had to export all our olive wood souvenirs to America."
In his office overlooking the square, Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser is counting the cost of the violence.
"We have 22 people dead and 150 injured," says Nasser. "The commercial center was badly damaged by Israeli tanks, which caused about $15 million of damage in 10 days. Our entire yearly budget is only $3 million. We have 70% unemployment, zero tourists in the hotels and maybe three restaurants open out of 86."
He says at least 500 residents have emigrated to escape the situation. "This Christmas, there is no peace, no joy and no stability," he sighs. "Fifty percent of our population are children, and they are the worst affected. I see it in my own grandchildren. They cannot sleep alone — they are haunted by the sounds of gunfire and missiles."
Most of Bethlehem's 28,000 residents are Muslims. Officially, they are united against the common enemy, Israel. Privately, many Christians blame their Muslim neighbors for inviting Israeli reprisals by shooting at the nearby Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. Some Christians have been shot in mysterious circumstances, including an elderly former city councilor who refused to follow the instructions of the masked Palestinian gunmen who roam the streets.
The signs of increasing Muslim extremism are clear to see. Opposite the empty Church of the Nativity stands the Mosque of Omar, adorned with a huge banner pledging allegiance to the terrorist Islamic Jihad group, supposedly outlawed by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "Our goal is Allah, our model is Mohammed, our constitution is the Koran, our path is Jihad (holy war)," proclaims the banner. "Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest wish."
Such a public display of Islamic fundamentalism in one of Christendom's holiest sites would have been unthinkable even a year ago.
As this Christmas approaches, the people of Bethlehem have seen too much death to focus on that holiest of births.
"Each year, we are newly born with Christ in this city," says Nasser. "Bethlehem belongs to all Christians. They should come and visit us, particularly now. We need their solidarity to survive."
But the only visitors are people such as Trevor Baumgartner, a 27-year-old child-care provider from Seattle who has come to Bethlehem for the first time to join a group protesting human rights abuses in Israel. He has been in Bethlehem for several days of political training and has not yet visited the Church of the Nativity.
"We here are choosing to engage in this fight through non-violent theory and practice on the ground, and part of that is being here," he says. "I guess you could call this a pilgrimage."
Arafat vows to defy Israel's ban
23 December 2001
By Matthew Kalman USA TODAY
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Sunday that he would defy an Israeli ban and travel here for midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
Israeli officials have demanded that Arafat arrest the assassins of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi before they allow him to leave Ramallah. He has been confined to that West Bank city since early this month, when Israel destroyed his helicopters and demanded he fight Palestinian terrorism.
"No one can prevent me from reaching Bethlehem," Arafat said in Ramallah. Although he is Muslim, Arafat has gone to Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations each year since 1995, when the town was turned over to Palestinian authorities. "It is my duty, and I will see to it that I fulfill it," he said. "I will go there even if I have to go on foot."
The mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Nasser, said he would boycott midnight Mass tonight at the Church of the Nativity — believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus — if Arafat can't attend.
Last Christmas, the Israeli secret service escorted Arafat's convoy by road back from Bethlehem to Ramallah because his helicopter was grounded by driving rain. This year, Israeli tanks and ground forces are blockading Ramallah to prevent Arafat from leaving the city.
Israel has lifted restrictions on Palestinian Christians traveling in and out of the West Bank, so they can attend Christmas services in Jerusalem or Bethlehem.
Israel said Arafat had been given information on the assassins who killed Zeevi on Oct. 17 but was doing nothing to apprehend them, to disband terrorist organizations or to stop attacks on Israel.
Arafat has been under pressure from the United States and the European Union to crack down on militants. This month, he ordered radical groups to end suicide attacks on Israeli civilians. Over the weekend, both the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations agreed to suspend such attacks in Israel.
Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abdul Rahman said he had asked Pope John Paul II "to intervene to stop this attack on religious traditions and against the Palestinian people."
Also Sunday, a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dismissed as "imaginary and without any foundation" newspaper reports of a secret peace agreement between Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and a Palestinian official. The reports said Peres and Abu Ala, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, had agreed on the establishment of a Palestinian state "within eight months" in Gaza and the 42% of the West Bank currently under full or partial Palestinian control.
The latest wave of Palestinian-Israeli violence is in its 15th month.
By Matthew Kalman USA TODAY
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Sunday that he would defy an Israeli ban and travel here for midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
Israeli officials have demanded that Arafat arrest the assassins of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi before they allow him to leave Ramallah. He has been confined to that West Bank city since early this month, when Israel destroyed his helicopters and demanded he fight Palestinian terrorism.
"No one can prevent me from reaching Bethlehem," Arafat said in Ramallah. Although he is Muslim, Arafat has gone to Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations each year since 1995, when the town was turned over to Palestinian authorities. "It is my duty, and I will see to it that I fulfill it," he said. "I will go there even if I have to go on foot."
The mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Nasser, said he would boycott midnight Mass tonight at the Church of the Nativity — believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus — if Arafat can't attend.
Last Christmas, the Israeli secret service escorted Arafat's convoy by road back from Bethlehem to Ramallah because his helicopter was grounded by driving rain. This year, Israeli tanks and ground forces are blockading Ramallah to prevent Arafat from leaving the city.
Israel has lifted restrictions on Palestinian Christians traveling in and out of the West Bank, so they can attend Christmas services in Jerusalem or Bethlehem.
Israel said Arafat had been given information on the assassins who killed Zeevi on Oct. 17 but was doing nothing to apprehend them, to disband terrorist organizations or to stop attacks on Israel.
Arafat has been under pressure from the United States and the European Union to crack down on militants. This month, he ordered radical groups to end suicide attacks on Israeli civilians. Over the weekend, both the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations agreed to suspend such attacks in Israel.
Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abdul Rahman said he had asked Pope John Paul II "to intervene to stop this attack on religious traditions and against the Palestinian people."
Also Sunday, a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dismissed as "imaginary and without any foundation" newspaper reports of a secret peace agreement between Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and a Palestinian official. The reports said Peres and Abu Ala, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, had agreed on the establishment of a Palestinian state "within eight months" in Gaza and the 42% of the West Bank currently under full or partial Palestinian control.
The latest wave of Palestinian-Israeli violence is in its 15th month.
Sunday, 16 December 2001
Arafat's call for peace met with skepticism
USA TODAY
16 December 2001
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in a televised address Sunday to the Israeli and Palestinian people, called for an end to "armed attacks" and suicide bombings against Israel.
He also called for peace talks and said he wished to see a real Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital coexisting with Israel.
Arafat's address crushed hopes that he would issue a clear call for an end to the 15-month intifada (uprising) against Israel. He did not mention Hamas or Islamic Jihad by name. The militant Palestinian groups have been declared terrorist organizations by the United States and the European Union.
The Palestinian leader has been under intense pressure from the international community to rein in terrorists who have stepped up a campaign of suicide bombings and attacks on Israeli civilians.
In response to Sunday's address, Israeli and U.S. leaders said they were still waiting for Arafat to take action against terrorists. "Nobody heard anything we haven't heard before," Israeli Cabinet Minister Matan Vilnai said. "The proof will be in his actions, not his words."
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called Arafat's words "constructive" but said, "He must turn these important words into effective and sustained action against terror and violence."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking on Fox News Sunday, blamed the Palestinians for the breakdown of truce talks mediated by special envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni. Powell recalled Zinni to Washington over the weekend amid a new wave of Palestinian attacks and Israeli retaliation. "We sent Gen. Zinni over to try to get that dialogue going, and all of that was blown up by these terrorist organizations on the Palestinian side," he said.
Reading a prepared statement in a broadcast marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Arafat said, "I reaffirm the comprehensive and immediate cessation of all armed attacks, and I renew my call for a comprehensive halt of any attacks or operations, especially the suicide attacks which we have always condemned."
Arafat called for a renewal of the dialogue that produced "the peace of the brave" — a reference to his 1993 peace accord with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995. "We are not asking for the impossible, and we do not pose any threat to Israel's existence," he assured Israelis.
Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian security forces closed down offices and institutions linked to Hamas, which has taken responsibility for a wave of recent attacks in which more than 40 Israelis have died.
Israeli forces, meanwhile, continued military operations in Palestinian towns and villages throughout the West Bank and Gaza. More than a dozen Palestinians were killed over the weekend. Last week, Israel said it was cutting ties with Arafat and would be responsible for the security of its citizens.
16 December 2001
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in a televised address Sunday to the Israeli and Palestinian people, called for an end to "armed attacks" and suicide bombings against Israel.
He also called for peace talks and said he wished to see a real Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital coexisting with Israel.
Arafat's address crushed hopes that he would issue a clear call for an end to the 15-month intifada (uprising) against Israel. He did not mention Hamas or Islamic Jihad by name. The militant Palestinian groups have been declared terrorist organizations by the United States and the European Union.
The Palestinian leader has been under intense pressure from the international community to rein in terrorists who have stepped up a campaign of suicide bombings and attacks on Israeli civilians.
In response to Sunday's address, Israeli and U.S. leaders said they were still waiting for Arafat to take action against terrorists. "Nobody heard anything we haven't heard before," Israeli Cabinet Minister Matan Vilnai said. "The proof will be in his actions, not his words."
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called Arafat's words "constructive" but said, "He must turn these important words into effective and sustained action against terror and violence."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking on Fox News Sunday, blamed the Palestinians for the breakdown of truce talks mediated by special envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni. Powell recalled Zinni to Washington over the weekend amid a new wave of Palestinian attacks and Israeli retaliation. "We sent Gen. Zinni over to try to get that dialogue going, and all of that was blown up by these terrorist organizations on the Palestinian side," he said.
Reading a prepared statement in a broadcast marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Arafat said, "I reaffirm the comprehensive and immediate cessation of all armed attacks, and I renew my call for a comprehensive halt of any attacks or operations, especially the suicide attacks which we have always condemned."
Arafat called for a renewal of the dialogue that produced "the peace of the brave" — a reference to his 1993 peace accord with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995. "We are not asking for the impossible, and we do not pose any threat to Israel's existence," he assured Israelis.
Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian security forces closed down offices and institutions linked to Hamas, which has taken responsibility for a wave of recent attacks in which more than 40 Israelis have died.
Israeli forces, meanwhile, continued military operations in Palestinian towns and villages throughout the West Bank and Gaza. More than a dozen Palestinians were killed over the weekend. Last week, Israel said it was cutting ties with Arafat and would be responsible for the security of its citizens.
Thursday, 13 December 2001
U.S. envoy weighs giving up his cease-fire mission
13 December 2001
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
RAMALLAH, West Bank — U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni was considering whether to continue his 2-week cease-fire mission in the face of Israel's refusal to deal with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian leader's failure to carry out his promise to close down extremist installations.
Zinni has been trying to negotiate a cease-fire and create an atmosphere in which Arafat could move decisively against the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups. He will decide by Sunday whether to give up on his efforts. The United States and Israel have labeled both Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations. They are responsible for a new wave of bloody attacks against Israelis.
Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles Thursday at security targets in Gaza and in the West Bank, including a Palestinian government building in Ramallah and an office of Arafat's Fatah organization in Jenin. The attacks were retaliation for Wednesday's terrorist ambush near an Israeli settlement that killed 10 Israelis.
A U.S. official familiar with Zinni's efforts said the main stumbling block to implementing a cease-fire was Arafat's refusal to make the "hard decision" to end terrorist activity.
But Israel also came under renewed scrutiny for declaring it will cut off contact with Arafat. Secretary of State Colin Powell directed Zinni and U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer on Thursday to seek an explanation from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the Israeli Cabinet's action. He also referred to Arafat as "the elected head of the Palestinian Authority."
Israeli Cabinet ministers announced early Thursday that contact with Arafat was being cut. But they stressed there were no plans to topple him. "We have reached the point where Arafat has ceased being relevant as far as Israel is concerned to deal with the whole question of terrorism," Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit said. "From today onward, we will do everything we have to as a nation to defend ourselves."
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior Arafat adviser, called Israel's new attacks "a formal declaration of war."
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
RAMALLAH, West Bank — U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni was considering whether to continue his 2-week cease-fire mission in the face of Israel's refusal to deal with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian leader's failure to carry out his promise to close down extremist installations.
Zinni has been trying to negotiate a cease-fire and create an atmosphere in which Arafat could move decisively against the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups. He will decide by Sunday whether to give up on his efforts. The United States and Israel have labeled both Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations. They are responsible for a new wave of bloody attacks against Israelis.
Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles Thursday at security targets in Gaza and in the West Bank, including a Palestinian government building in Ramallah and an office of Arafat's Fatah organization in Jenin. The attacks were retaliation for Wednesday's terrorist ambush near an Israeli settlement that killed 10 Israelis.
A U.S. official familiar with Zinni's efforts said the main stumbling block to implementing a cease-fire was Arafat's refusal to make the "hard decision" to end terrorist activity.
But Israel also came under renewed scrutiny for declaring it will cut off contact with Arafat. Secretary of State Colin Powell directed Zinni and U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer on Thursday to seek an explanation from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the Israeli Cabinet's action. He also referred to Arafat as "the elected head of the Palestinian Authority."
Israeli Cabinet ministers announced early Thursday that contact with Arafat was being cut. But they stressed there were no plans to topple him. "We have reached the point where Arafat has ceased being relevant as far as Israel is concerned to deal with the whole question of terrorism," Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit said. "From today onward, we will do everything we have to as a nation to defend ourselves."
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior Arafat adviser, called Israel's new attacks "a formal declaration of war."
Tuesday, 11 December 2001
Europe adds Hamas, Islamic Jihad to terrorist list
December 11, 2001
By Matthew Kalman and Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — The European Union labeled the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad "terrorist networks" for the first time Monday. The EU demanded that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat dismantle the groups and order an end to armed attacks on Israel.
The decision by the EU to add Hamas and Islamic Jihad to its list of international terrorist groups — a list that also includes Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization — puts Europe more closely in line with U.S. policy, which strongly supports Israel. The move, Israelis say, also indicates that Western nations are united in their frustration with Arafat.
"I think certainly the American effort here and the terrorist attacks last week were eye-opening" to European foreign ministers, said Danny Seaman, director of Israel's government press office. "Many of them are coming to the conclusion that Arafat isn't doing anything."
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Ziad Abu Zayad said the EU is mistaken in its impression of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He said the two organizations should be regarded as Islamic resistance to Israeli occupation: "These groups are not international terrorist groups."
Israel didn't escape criticism Monday from the EU, which often has blamed the Israelis for violence in the region that has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in 14 months. The EU foreign ministers called on Israel to withdraw its forces from Palestinian-ruled areas, freeze the size of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and end its practice of having security forces assassinate suspected Palestinian terrorists.
Meanwhile, violence on both sides continued. Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian teenager and toddler Monday in an attempt to assassinate an alleged Islamic Jihad terrorist in Hebron in the West Bank.
In the attack, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car carrying Mohammed Ayoub Sidr, 26, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad who Israel says is responsible for suicide bombings in Jerusalem and shooting attacks near Hebron. Sidr was injured in the attack. Burhan Himuni, 3, who was riding in the car, and Shadi Arafe, 13, who was in a taxi nearby, were killed.
In the past 2 weeks, Israeli civilians have been hit by a wave of suicide bomb attacks.
Islamic Jihad took responsibility for an attack Sunday in Haifa that injured 29 people. Hamas admitted responsibility for suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa that killed 25 a week earlier. Israel retaliated after last week's bombings with fighter-jet attacks on Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Islamic Jihad installations.
Also Monday, as U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni met with Palestinian and Israeli leaders in an attempt to restart peace negotiations, Palestinian forces fired several mortars into Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza Strip.
By Matthew Kalman and Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
JERUSALEM — The European Union labeled the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad "terrorist networks" for the first time Monday. The EU demanded that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat dismantle the groups and order an end to armed attacks on Israel.
The decision by the EU to add Hamas and Islamic Jihad to its list of international terrorist groups — a list that also includes Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization — puts Europe more closely in line with U.S. policy, which strongly supports Israel. The move, Israelis say, also indicates that Western nations are united in their frustration with Arafat.
"I think certainly the American effort here and the terrorist attacks last week were eye-opening" to European foreign ministers, said Danny Seaman, director of Israel's government press office. "Many of them are coming to the conclusion that Arafat isn't doing anything."
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Ziad Abu Zayad said the EU is mistaken in its impression of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He said the two organizations should be regarded as Islamic resistance to Israeli occupation: "These groups are not international terrorist groups."
Israel didn't escape criticism Monday from the EU, which often has blamed the Israelis for violence in the region that has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in 14 months. The EU foreign ministers called on Israel to withdraw its forces from Palestinian-ruled areas, freeze the size of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and end its practice of having security forces assassinate suspected Palestinian terrorists.
Meanwhile, violence on both sides continued. Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian teenager and toddler Monday in an attempt to assassinate an alleged Islamic Jihad terrorist in Hebron in the West Bank.
In the attack, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car carrying Mohammed Ayoub Sidr, 26, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad who Israel says is responsible for suicide bombings in Jerusalem and shooting attacks near Hebron. Sidr was injured in the attack. Burhan Himuni, 3, who was riding in the car, and Shadi Arafe, 13, who was in a taxi nearby, were killed.
In the past 2 weeks, Israeli civilians have been hit by a wave of suicide bomb attacks.
Islamic Jihad took responsibility for an attack Sunday in Haifa that injured 29 people. Hamas admitted responsibility for suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa that killed 25 a week earlier. Israel retaliated after last week's bombings with fighter-jet attacks on Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Islamic Jihad installations.
Also Monday, as U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni met with Palestinian and Israeli leaders in an attempt to restart peace negotiations, Palestinian forces fired several mortars into Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza Strip.
Friday, 7 December 2001
Saudis airing anti-Semitic TV series for Ramadan Based on Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The National Post (Canada)
December 7, 2001
By Matthew Kalman
A major Arabic TV channel has produced a 30-part dramatization of the notorious anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to be broadcast throughout the Arab world as a special program for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Horseman Without a Horse is a multi-million-dollar production starring leading Egyptian actor Muhammad Subhi in 14 different roles with a large international cast from Egypt, Syria and France. The program was made by Arab Radio and Television (ART) a popular satellite channel based in Jedda, Saudi Arabia.
Roz Al-Youssuf, an Egyptian weekly, said in an admiring preview that the series successfully debunks Jewish claims that the Protocols – the supposed minutes of the Jewish clique that controls the world – were a forgery invented by anti-Semitic propagandists in Tsarist Russia.
"For the first time, the series' writer courageously tackles the 24 Protocols of the Elders of Zion, revealing them and clarifying that they are the central line that still, to this very day, dominates Israel's policy, political aspirations and racism," the paper reported.
The Protocols, which first surfaced in Russia at the end of the 19th century, have fed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that suggest Jews seek to exercise world domination through control of the media, banking system and political movements.
They were popular in Nazi Germany and are required reading among neo-Nazi groups to this day. The Protocols have sold thousands of copies in several Arabic editions and are particularly popular in Egypt and Syria.
News of the ART production comes as Dubai TV continues its nightly broadcast of Terrorman – a Ramadan satire depicting Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, drinking the blood of Arab children.
Since Sept. 11, one often-repeated fantasy that has been pushed is that the Israeli Mossad was behind the World Trade Center attack – a gruesome twist on the Jewish conspiracy theory that finds its most potent statement in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
December 7, 2001
By Matthew Kalman
A major Arabic TV channel has produced a 30-part dramatization of the notorious anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to be broadcast throughout the Arab world as a special program for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Horseman Without a Horse is a multi-million-dollar production starring leading Egyptian actor Muhammad Subhi in 14 different roles with a large international cast from Egypt, Syria and France. The program was made by Arab Radio and Television (ART) a popular satellite channel based in Jedda, Saudi Arabia.
Roz Al-Youssuf, an Egyptian weekly, said in an admiring preview that the series successfully debunks Jewish claims that the Protocols – the supposed minutes of the Jewish clique that controls the world – were a forgery invented by anti-Semitic propagandists in Tsarist Russia.
"For the first time, the series' writer courageously tackles the 24 Protocols of the Elders of Zion, revealing them and clarifying that they are the central line that still, to this very day, dominates Israel's policy, political aspirations and racism," the paper reported.
The Protocols, which first surfaced in Russia at the end of the 19th century, have fed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that suggest Jews seek to exercise world domination through control of the media, banking system and political movements.
They were popular in Nazi Germany and are required reading among neo-Nazi groups to this day. The Protocols have sold thousands of copies in several Arabic editions and are particularly popular in Egypt and Syria.
News of the ART production comes as Dubai TV continues its nightly broadcast of Terrorman – a Ramadan satire depicting Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, drinking the blood of Arab children.
Since Sept. 11, one often-repeated fantasy that has been pushed is that the Israeli Mossad was behind the World Trade Center attack – a gruesome twist on the Jewish conspiracy theory that finds its most potent statement in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Tuesday, 4 December 2001
U.S. raids Texas charity called front for Hamas
USA TODAY
4 December 2001
By Judy Keen and Matthew Kalman
President Bush, moving to fulfill his pledge to dismantle all terrorist groups with global reach, announced Tuesday that authorities had raided a Texas charity he said is a front for the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The announcement of the first U.S. crackdown on a U.S. group with no known links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network underscores the administration's anger with Palestinians' role in Middle East violence.
On Tuesday, Israel launched a second wave of airstrikes on Palestinian Authority facilities in the West Bank and Gaza in retaliation for weekend suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa that killed 25 Israeli civilians.
U.S. officials said action against the charity was accelerated after Hamas, which is on a State Department list of terror groups, claimed credit for last weekend's bombings.
Bush said the Treasury Department has frozen the assets of the Holy Land Foundation, based in Richardson, Texas. The group raised $13 million from Americans last year. Authorities closed its offices in Texas, California, New Jersey and Illinois. They also blocked the accounts of a bank and holding company with ties to Hamas that are based in the West Bank.
Bush said the money raised by the foundation helped Hamas recruit and train suicide bombers and support their families. "Those who do business with terror will do no business with the United States or anywhere else the United States can reach," he said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement from the foundation denying that it gives money to Hamas. The statement said the foundation "has been unfairly targeted in the nationwide smear campaign to undermine Muslims and the institutions that serve them."
In a speech to Congress on Sept. 20, Bush said the war on terrorism "begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated." Michael Zeldin, an official in the Clinton Justice Department, called Tuesday's action "the first objective proof" that Bush plans to go after all terrorists.
In the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appeared to enter a dramatic new phase Tuesday as Israel branded Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority a "supporter of terrorism" and stepped up airstrikes on Palestinian targets.
Two Palestinians were reported killed and dozens injured as Israeli helicopter gunships and fighter bombers fired missiles at eight Palestinian facilities in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel said the buildings had been used as terror bases. "All eight targets that were attacked were installations of security forces operating at the behest of the Palestinian Authority," Israeli army spokesman Ron Kittrey said.
Israeli security officials said a third of Israel's casualties in the past 14 months of violence have been suffered in attacks by "moderate" groups allied to Arafat.
Israeli bulldozers also wrecked the runway at Gaza International Airport. This move and Monday's destruction of Arafat's helicopters in Gaza City effectively consigned the Palestinian leader and other senior officials to the Palestinian-controlled territories.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said attacks on Palestinian installations prevented Arafat from meeting Israel's demand that he round up terrorists. He accused Israel of "tying Mr. Arafat's arms and legs, throwing him into the sea and telling him to swim."
The Palestinian Authority said it rounded up more than 100 militants after the weekend attacks, but Israel said those arrested were not senior commanders.
Israeli officials insisted they had no intention of toppling Arafat, but they said Israel had put peace talks on hold until it had completed its "war against the terrorism on our own doorstep."
Making his first public comments since the Israeli offensive began, Arafat hit back at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, telling CNN, "He doesn't want a peace process to start."
The new Israeli policy was hammered out at a stormy Cabinet meeting where right-wing ministers led by Sharon voted to adopt a resolution branding the Palestinian Authority "an entity that supports terrorism, and must be dealt with accordingly."
Labor Party ministers led by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres refused to participate in the vote. Peres told reporters in Bucharest Tuesday that his party might consider quitting Sharon's coalition if it tries to topple Arafat. Former Israeli foreign minister David Levy, a member of the Labor Party, worried about the Israeli move linking the Palestinian Authority with terrorism. "Is Arafat a partner, or is he our bin Laden?"
Palestinian leaders said Israel is making a grave mistake. "It is a most dangerous decision," said Hussein A-Sheikh, senior Fatah leader on the West Bank. "Israel now regards the entire Palestinian people as the enemy."
Keen reported from Washington; Kalman reported from Jerusalem.
4 December 2001
By Judy Keen and Matthew Kalman
President Bush, moving to fulfill his pledge to dismantle all terrorist groups with global reach, announced Tuesday that authorities had raided a Texas charity he said is a front for the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The announcement of the first U.S. crackdown on a U.S. group with no known links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network underscores the administration's anger with Palestinians' role in Middle East violence.
On Tuesday, Israel launched a second wave of airstrikes on Palestinian Authority facilities in the West Bank and Gaza in retaliation for weekend suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa that killed 25 Israeli civilians.
U.S. officials said action against the charity was accelerated after Hamas, which is on a State Department list of terror groups, claimed credit for last weekend's bombings.
Bush said the Treasury Department has frozen the assets of the Holy Land Foundation, based in Richardson, Texas. The group raised $13 million from Americans last year. Authorities closed its offices in Texas, California, New Jersey and Illinois. They also blocked the accounts of a bank and holding company with ties to Hamas that are based in the West Bank.
Bush said the money raised by the foundation helped Hamas recruit and train suicide bombers and support their families. "Those who do business with terror will do no business with the United States or anywhere else the United States can reach," he said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement from the foundation denying that it gives money to Hamas. The statement said the foundation "has been unfairly targeted in the nationwide smear campaign to undermine Muslims and the institutions that serve them."
In a speech to Congress on Sept. 20, Bush said the war on terrorism "begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated." Michael Zeldin, an official in the Clinton Justice Department, called Tuesday's action "the first objective proof" that Bush plans to go after all terrorists.
In the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appeared to enter a dramatic new phase Tuesday as Israel branded Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority a "supporter of terrorism" and stepped up airstrikes on Palestinian targets.
Two Palestinians were reported killed and dozens injured as Israeli helicopter gunships and fighter bombers fired missiles at eight Palestinian facilities in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel said the buildings had been used as terror bases. "All eight targets that were attacked were installations of security forces operating at the behest of the Palestinian Authority," Israeli army spokesman Ron Kittrey said.
Israeli security officials said a third of Israel's casualties in the past 14 months of violence have been suffered in attacks by "moderate" groups allied to Arafat.
Israeli bulldozers also wrecked the runway at Gaza International Airport. This move and Monday's destruction of Arafat's helicopters in Gaza City effectively consigned the Palestinian leader and other senior officials to the Palestinian-controlled territories.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said attacks on Palestinian installations prevented Arafat from meeting Israel's demand that he round up terrorists. He accused Israel of "tying Mr. Arafat's arms and legs, throwing him into the sea and telling him to swim."
The Palestinian Authority said it rounded up more than 100 militants after the weekend attacks, but Israel said those arrested were not senior commanders.
Israeli officials insisted they had no intention of toppling Arafat, but they said Israel had put peace talks on hold until it had completed its "war against the terrorism on our own doorstep."
Making his first public comments since the Israeli offensive began, Arafat hit back at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, telling CNN, "He doesn't want a peace process to start."
The new Israeli policy was hammered out at a stormy Cabinet meeting where right-wing ministers led by Sharon voted to adopt a resolution branding the Palestinian Authority "an entity that supports terrorism, and must be dealt with accordingly."
Labor Party ministers led by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres refused to participate in the vote. Peres told reporters in Bucharest Tuesday that his party might consider quitting Sharon's coalition if it tries to topple Arafat. Former Israeli foreign minister David Levy, a member of the Labor Party, worried about the Israeli move linking the Palestinian Authority with terrorism. "Is Arafat a partner, or is he our bin Laden?"
Palestinian leaders said Israel is making a grave mistake. "It is a most dangerous decision," said Hussein A-Sheikh, senior Fatah leader on the West Bank. "Israel now regards the entire Palestinian people as the enemy."
Keen reported from Washington; Kalman reported from Jerusalem.
Friday, 23 November 2001
Boys killed on walk to school as Israeli tank shell explodes
DAILY MAIL, November 23, 2001
From Matthew Kalman in Jerusalem
FIVE Palestinian boys were killed yesterday when one of them apparently kicked an unexploded Israeli tank shell as they walked to school in the Gaza Strip.
Witnesses said the youngsters - aged seven to 14 and all members of the same extended family - were blown to pieces by the blast.
Ahmed al-Asttal, a 22-year- old farmer wounded in the blast and a relative of the dead boys, said: 'I thought that the ground was shaking beneath my feet and I was so afraid.
'I couldn't walk. I looked at myself and I saw blood all over my clothes.'
A Palestinian commander in the area, Colonel Khaled Abu al-Ula, said the boys, including two pairs of brothers, had kicked or tripped over the unexploded round.
'After an investigation by our forces and by our explosives expert we can say that it is a tank shell which had not exploded,' he said.
He blamed Israel for the tragedy, saying its army 'continues to fire these bombs and shells at residential areas'.
Israeli officials expressed regret and offered condolences to the families.
But they said if the blast was caused by a tank shell, it had probably been fired earlier in the week in response to a Palestinian mortar attack from the area, in the Khan Younis refugee refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.
'There was no Israeli military activity in that area today,' said Israeli government spokesman Arye Mekel.
Palestinians have been firing mortars at Israeli soldiers and settlements every day for the past week, often from positions within civilian areas.
A youth who saw the carnage, 15-year- old Fateh al-Astel, said: 'We looked behind us and saw children running.
'I saw dismembered bodies. Half a body here, hands several metres away, another half a body in another place.'
Schoolchildren gathered in the crater left by the explosion, picking up the burnt remains of the boys' backpacks and school books.
Last night, Palestinian president Yasser Arafat blamed Israel for the youngsters' deaths.
He accused it of continued violations and warned of 'an escalation which is dangerous'.
Palestinian officials had initially said the boys were killed when an Israeli tank opened fire, but later admitted the unexploded ordnance had been lying there for some days.
From Matthew Kalman in Jerusalem
FIVE Palestinian boys were killed yesterday when one of them apparently kicked an unexploded Israeli tank shell as they walked to school in the Gaza Strip.
Witnesses said the youngsters - aged seven to 14 and all members of the same extended family - were blown to pieces by the blast.
Ahmed al-Asttal, a 22-year- old farmer wounded in the blast and a relative of the dead boys, said: 'I thought that the ground was shaking beneath my feet and I was so afraid.
'I couldn't walk. I looked at myself and I saw blood all over my clothes.'
A Palestinian commander in the area, Colonel Khaled Abu al-Ula, said the boys, including two pairs of brothers, had kicked or tripped over the unexploded round.
'After an investigation by our forces and by our explosives expert we can say that it is a tank shell which had not exploded,' he said.
He blamed Israel for the tragedy, saying its army 'continues to fire these bombs and shells at residential areas'.
Israeli officials expressed regret and offered condolences to the families.
But they said if the blast was caused by a tank shell, it had probably been fired earlier in the week in response to a Palestinian mortar attack from the area, in the Khan Younis refugee refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.
'There was no Israeli military activity in that area today,' said Israeli government spokesman Arye Mekel.
Palestinians have been firing mortars at Israeli soldiers and settlements every day for the past week, often from positions within civilian areas.
A youth who saw the carnage, 15-year- old Fateh al-Astel, said: 'We looked behind us and saw children running.
'I saw dismembered bodies. Half a body here, hands several metres away, another half a body in another place.'
Schoolchildren gathered in the crater left by the explosion, picking up the burnt remains of the boys' backpacks and school books.
Last night, Palestinian president Yasser Arafat blamed Israel for the youngsters' deaths.
He accused it of continued violations and warned of 'an escalation which is dangerous'.
Palestinian officials had initially said the boys were killed when an Israeli tank opened fire, but later admitted the unexploded ordnance had been lying there for some days.
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