Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2003, pages 6-7, 45

Special Report

 

Sharon Seeks to Dismantle Palestinian Leadership and End Hope of Sovereignty

 

By Rachelle Marshall

The question is: how are we going to do it? Expulsion is certainly one of the options, and killing is also one of the options.

—Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, discussing the removal of Yasser Arafat on Israel Radio, Sept. 14.

If Israel continues to play with fire, then it will get back nothing but fire.

—Jerusalem Times editorial, Aug. 15.

It has become commonplace to refer to the "Middle East cycle of violence," as if the ongoing conflict involved a series of Palestinian provocations followed by Israeli reactions. In fact, for Palestinians who endure endless punishments and daily humiliations the violence is continuous. Eventually someone who has been harassed once too often by checkpoint guards, seen too many of his neighbors' homes destroyed, and watched too many of his friends die in the street, sets off a bomb and kills a number of innocent Israelis and himself. The army then imposes longer curfews, sets up more roadblocks, demolishes more homes, and arrests and kills more Palestinians.

Before the Aug. 19 bus bombing that killed 20 Israelis put an end to the cease-fire called earlier in the summer by Palestinian militants, moderates on both sides had urged Israel to refrain from provocations so that the cease-fire could become permanent. Palestinian Culture Minister Ziad Abu Amer, who had been meeting with members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, warned they would not continue to observe the truce "if the Israeli army continues to destroy houses, arrest wanted men, and kill them."

The Israelis ignored such warnings and scoffed at the cease-fire, accusing radical factions of only wanting time to rearm. They also ignored the road map to peace sponsored by the United States, Russia, the U.N. and the European Union. Settlement construction continued, checkpoints remained in place, and the army escalated its raids of Palestinian cities and villages, arresting scores of people daily. An especially deadly raid on the Askar refugee camp in Nablus on Aug. 8 seemed clearly aimed at goading Hamas to respond. After the Israelis blew up a four-story building in the refugee camp and killed two Hamas members and two civilians, Minister of Government Affairs Yasser Abed Rabbo charged that, "Sharon wants to return to the policy of invade and destroy because Sharon wants to avoid implementing the road map." Abed Rabbo asked the Bush administration and the international community "for immediate intervention to put an end to this policy."

It was a hopeless plea. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon obviously prefers to see more Israelis die in terrorist attacks than give up his goal of permanent Israeli control of the occupied territories. Palestinian suicide bombers serve as allies in this endeavor by providing an excuse for the army's excesses. Standing in the way of Sharon's ambitions are moderate Palestinians and their leaders who are eager to negotiate peaceful coexistence with Israel. Consequently Sharon is trying to destroy any semblance of Palestinian leadership, create a state of anarchy in the occupied territories, and eliminate the possibility of such negotiations.

Before the suicide bombing of Aug. 19 Sharon did his best to undermine Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas by torpedoing the cease-fire he had helped arrange with militant groups—a cease-fire that Israel refused to abide by. Since that tragic event the Israelis have seen to it there will not be another cease-fire by systematically eliminating the Hamas political and religious leaders who had agreed to the first one.

Israel's intention was best revealed in the attempted killing on Sept. 6 of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the paraplegic founder and spiritual leader of Hamas. According to a high Israeli security official, just before Israel launched the 500-pound bomb on a Gaza City apartment house that wounded 15 people but only scratched Sheik Yassin, the spiritual leader had ordered Hamas militants to reduce their violence. As the Israelis could be certain would happen, retaliation came three days later with a bus bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15 Israelis.

The security official admitted that the missile strikes on Hamas leaders would increase violence, but he complained that Palestinian inaction against the militants had left no alternative. Former chief of Palestinian security Muhammad Dahlan disputed this and charged Israel with deliberately undermining his efforts after the Aug. 19 bombing to disarm and arrest members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Popular outrage made such arrests impossible after an Israeli helicopter gunship fired six missiles into a Gaza street two days later and killed Ismail Abu Shanab and his bodyguards.

Abu Shanab, an engineer educated in America, had helped broker the recent cease-fire, and even told a New York Times reporter that once the Palestinians had their own state, "maybe the next generation will see things differently." It was just such relative moderation that may have doomed Abu Shanab. By eliminating Hamas leaders who could be persuaded to call off violent attacks Sharon can be sure the suicide bombings will continue, leaving Israel free to ignore the road map, expand the settlements, and force the Palestinians into walled enclaves, all the while claiming such measures are necessary for Israel's self-defense.

Getting rid of a Palestinian leader to forestall possible peace negotiations is not a new tactic for Sharon. As defense minister in June 1982 he launched a massive invasion of Lebanon for the purpose of crushing the PLO, then headquartered in Beirut, and driving its chairman, Yasser Arafat, into exile. The PLO at the time had observed a year-long cease-fire with Israel, and Arafat was being cordially received in European capitals. He also had given strong hints that he would accept a two-state solution. To Sharon Arafat was far more dangerous as a diplomat than a terrorist.

Arafat not only survived Sharon's earlier attempt to destroy him but, despite his reputation for corruption and cronyism, today is more popular than ever. Crowds came to Arafat's ruined compound in Ramallah to cheer him after the Israeli cabinet voted on Sept. 12 to "remove" the Palestinian president. Although they did not specify any immediate action, another suicide bombing could bring his expulsion—or worse. Several cabinet members have urged that he be assassinated, and Uri Avneri, the Israeli peace activist and founder of Gush Shalom, believes this is a strong possibility.

Shortly after the cabinet's action the 80-year-old Avneri led 30 members of Gush Shalom to Arafat's compound, where they were warmly welcomed. Avneri said the murder of Arafat would be "a calamity" and would "put an end to any chance of peace and reconciliation between the two peoples for many years." He vowed to do everything in his power to prevent it. Two days earlier Avneri had warned, "Let no one be fooled by talk of deportation. I know Sharon...He means to kill Arafat. When the Americans look elsewhere then he will pounce."

 

Looking Elsewhere

American President George W. Bush already seemed to be looking elsewhere. Although National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell expressed strong opposition to Arafat's expulsion, a State Department official said it was unclear whether Bush himself would object to Arafat's removal. The crucial phone call from the White House that might have persuaded Sharon to show restraint was not forthcoming. Instead Washington sent the opposite message on Sept. 16 by vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Israel end its threats to deport Arafat. Although the resolution called for a halt to all violence in the area "including all acts of terrorism," U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte objected that it did not explicitly condemn Palestinian terrorist groups.

Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib predicted that the Israeli cabinet's action against Arafat was the first step toward dismantling the Palestinian Authority entirely and returning complete control of Palestinian areas to Israel. It was undoubtedly with the same goal in mind that Sharon had assured Mahmoud Abbas's downfall as prime minister. Sharon refused to lend Abbas credibility by easing restrictions on the Palestinians, and at the same time kept constant pressure on him to dismantle Hamas and other militant groups. Since no Palestinian prime minister could take such a step without igniting civil war Abbas was caught in an impossible bind.

As a supporter of the Oslo agreement who spoke out strongly against violence, Abbas was an impediment to Sharon's plans because he gave a respectable image to the Palestinian struggle for independence. At the same time he never tempered his demand for a state in all of the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. Ahmed Qurei, whom Arafat appointed to take Abbas' place on Sept. 7, has an equally respectable image. A former banker, he helped draft the Oslo agreement and has since served as speaker of the Palestinian parliament. He supports the same goals as Abbas, however, and therefore has no better chance of surviving.

On accepting his new post Qurei said that, in order for him to succeed, the U.S. and the international community would have to press Israel to end its violations of Palestinian rights and carry out the provisions of the road map. He also called on Washington to end its isolation of Arafat. But either of these actions would require a major policy reversal. Despite the fact that Arafat is one of the few democratically elected Middle East leaders, Bush has never been willing to meet with him. For Bush to put pressure on Israel also is out of the question. He will hardly risk angering the pro-Israel lobby with an election coming up, his victories in Afghanistan and Iraq unraveling, and 9 million Americans unemployed.

Knowing that Bush is distracted, Sharon is attempting to eradicate all traces of Palestinian resistance. In the two weeks following the mid-August suicide bombing the Israeli air force killed at least 11 Hamas leaders, along with 16 civilians. Scores more Palestinians, including children, were wounded, and dozens of families left homeless. The army immediately sealed off Gaza and the West Bank entirely, tightened the military cordons around Palestinian cities and towns, and continues to carry out house-to-house searches and arrests.

Sharon obviously calculates that if he makes life sufficiently intolerable for the Palestinians and the position of the Palestinian prime minister becomes untenable, the Israelis will be able to proclaim, as they once did, that "there is no one on the other side to negotiate with." For much the same reason the government is also going out of its way to alienate such outspoken advocates of peace as Sari Nusseibeh, the scholarly president of Al Quds University whom some Palestinians have criticized as being too willing to compromise with Israel. The government announced it would route the giant barrier separating Jerusalem from the suburb of Abu Dis directly through the Al Quds campus, taking up at least a third of the university's land. To many Palestinians the decision to disrupt the activities of 6,000 students was a gratuitous blow to an institution that is dedicated to breaking down barriers and enhancing prospects for peace. According to Nusseibeh, "It's basically saying to Palestinians: ÔNo peace. There's a wall between us.'"

The students at Hebron University received a similar message on Aug. 13, when Israeli troops surrounded the campus and prevented the university from holding scheduled graduation ceremonies for 1,500 seniors. Hebron University, along with the Polytechnic Institute in Hebron, was closed last January for six months and had only recently reopened. Although the cease-fire was still in place, the army shut down both schools for another six months, claiming students were using the premises to plan attacks on Israeli soldiers. The closures meant that, once again, the Israeli government took steps to alienate and radicalize the very young men and women who might someday serve as effective leaders of a Palestinian state.

Sooner or later the Israeli people must come to realize that their government is not providing them with security, but only creating more hatred. Sooner or later they will learn that war planes and Merkava tanks are no match against people who have nothing left to lose and are willing to die. Meanwhile Sharon's determination to retain the West Bank and Gaza not only has brought on the death of hundreds of Israelis but bankrupted the Israeli economy as well. As The New York Times reported on Sept. 12, Israel is suffering soaring unemployment, a slashing of welfare benefits, and a crisis in the state education budget, while the government spends hundreds of milions of dollars on expanding and defending the settlements.

The Israelis may also wake up to the fact that Sharon's supporters in America are the kind of friends they can do without. The Bush administration's pro-Israel hawks believed that by ousting Saddam Hussain they could reshape the Middle East and make the region safer for Israel. Instead their war has left a trail of ruin and made Iraq a magnet for violent anti-U.S. forces.

Middle East expert Nathan Brown of George Washington University said in an interview reported by the Jewish Telegraph Agency Sept. 6 that "American policy is now in a shambles, the road map no longer seems viable, the cease-fire is in tatters." During the same week Israel's former chief of military intelligence, Gen. Shlomo Gazit, warned, "Withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip is the only act that can save Israel from destruction."

Taken together, the two statements suggest that the greatest threat to Israel, and to America as Israel's ally, is Ariel Sharon and his bloody pursuit of a Greater Israel.

Rachelle Marshall is a free-lance editor living in Stanford, CA. A member of the International Jewish Peace Union, she writes frequently on the Middle East.

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