Israeli assaults ignite Palestinian resistance
U.S. maneuvers at UN to shore up plan for Iraq war
By Richard Becker
Massed Israeli military assaults on Ramallah and Gaza City
beginning Sept. 19 have destroyed most of the presidential
compound of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and, as of Sept.
25, left at least 15 people dead.
But the new attacks, while taking a heavy toll, triggered a
new upsurge of Palestinian resistance and intensified Israel's
international isolation.
Israel's predictable military "victory" turned into an
important political defeat, and at the same time complicated
the Bush administration's plans for war in Iraq.
The events began with the Israeli government's rejection of
an offer by the Palestinian Authority (PA) for a cease-fire on
Sept. 17. Israel has been occupying all the major cities of the
West Bank and imposing round-the-clock curfews on the
population for several months.
Besides the hundreds of Palestinians killed and wounded, the
curfews have made life nearly unbearable for all living under
their harsh terms. No one can go out when the curfew is in
effect, whether to work, school, visit family, or for medical
emergencies.
The day after the Israeli rejection of the cease-fire, the
first suicide bombing in nearly seven weeks took place in
Israel, followed by a bus bombing in Tel Aviv on Sept. 19. The
bombings, claimed by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations,
killed eight people.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon then ordered a major
assault on the compound of PA President Yasir Arafat in
Ramallah the same day. It is well known that both Hamas and
Islamic Jihad are at odds with Arafat on many political issues
and do not follow his leadership.
Sharon's assault pre-planned
By the size and scope of the attack in Ramallah, it was
immediately clear that the Sept. 19 assault was pre-planned and
that Sharon had been awaiting a pretext to launch it.
More than 60 Israeli armored vehicles were involved in the
operation, along with helicopter gunships. Armored bulldozers
demolished all of the buildings except the one Arafat was in.
Tank and ground fire was also directed into the PA president's
headquarters.
By Sept. 20, about 200 people were trapped in four rooms on
the second floor of the remaining building. Israel demanded
that all must be turned over for "interrogation," which in
Israel means torture. Arafat refused.
Israeli commanders announced over loudspeakers that the
remaining building would be brought down on top of its
occupants if they did not surrender.
On Sept. 21, Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinian
demonstrators in Ramallah who defied the curfew to demand an
end to the siege, killing at least four people and wounding
many more.
Overconfident in their overwhelming firepower, an Israeli
official openly boasted to National Public Radio on Sept. 22
that Sharon's objective was to force Arafat into exile within
days. The same deputy defense minister revealed that the
expulsion of the PA president had been Sharon's objective for
two years.
NPR also reported that no U.S. official had called to
criticize the siege, or even make a ritual call for
"restraint," making it clear that the Bush administration had
given Israel the green light necessary for an operation with
such high stakes.
But over the next 24 hours the political scene shifted
dramatically, due to two factors: the mass mobilization of the
Palestinian people; and the nearly unanimous international
condemnation of the Sharon government's actions.
Political scene shifts
Political demonstrations grew to the thousands and a general
strike swept Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The assault on the PA headquarters had a unifying effect.
In Gaza, armed demonstrations included members of Hamas, the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Arafat's
Fatah party and others.
"Despite the different views between us and Mr. Arafat, Mr.
Arafat is the president of the Palestinians," said Hamas
spokesperson Abdel Aziz Rantisi in an interview. "All
Palestinians are united on this issue, because we feel that
attacking the president of the Palestinians is attacking all
Palestinians."
In Ramallah, thousands of youths marched on Sept. 23 despite
the heavy toll of dead and wounded just two days earlier. "No
one threatens our president," 18-year-old Ali told the
Washington Post. "Our president is elected by us and we protect
him."
The foreign ministers of many European, Middle Eastern and
other states condemned the siege and demanded that it be
halted. So strong was the wave of international condemnation
that the U.S. also began issuing statements critical of Israel,
but using the mildest possible language.
A more-than-bizarre White House release said that President
George W. Bush "views what Israel is doing now as unhelpful to
the cause of bringing about reform in Palestinian
institutions."
On Sept. 23, after U.S. attempts to derail it failed, the
United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that called
for:
* Israel to "immediately cease measures in and around
Ramallah, including the destruction of Palestinian civilian and
security infrastructure."
* The "expeditious withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces"
from Palestinian cities toward positions held prior to
September 2000.
* The "complete cessation of all acts of violence, including
all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and
destruction."
To Israel's evident surprise, the U.S., while critical of
the wording, did not veto the resolution, abstaining instead.
The resolution passed 14 to 1. The U.S. has routinely vetoed
Security Council resolutions that criticized Israel.
U.S. posture tied to war plans
The Bush administration's decision not to veto this
resolution is very much tied to its plans for a new war against
Iraq. A major concern for many in the foreign policy/national
security establishment is the widespread anger against the U.S.
that permeates the Middle East because of Washington's
military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel.
For Washington to have vetoed a resolution against Israel's
assault on the Palestinian leadership and people, in the face
of global condemnation of Israeli actions, could have ignited a
new round of anti-U.S. protests in the region. Such a
development could postpone or even undermine Bush's Iraq war
plans, as happened in the spring of this year.
Despite the vote at the UN, there is no indication that the
latest Security Council resolution condemning Israeli
aggression will be enforced, any more than dozens of similar
resolutions against Israel over the past three decades.
While the U.S. insists that Iraq must be attacked again if
it doesn't "fully comply" with all UN resolutions, it protects
Israel from suffering any sanction or penalty for its defiance
of the Security Council.
Defying the latest resolution as well, Israel has not pulled
back from its siege in Ramallah. And, the night after the UN
vote, it launched the biggest military assault in years on
densely populated Gaza City. Israeli tanks and helicopters
attacked in the middle of the night.
The out-gunned Palestinians put up fierce resistance. Three
Palestinian militia members and six civilians were killed. At
least 24 people were injured in the attack.
It is especially important that international solidarity
with the Palestinian people and their just cause be intensified
in the coming period.
A next step will be demonstrations marking the second
anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (uprising) on Sept. 28 in
San Francisco and Sept. 29 in Chicago, as well as in many other
cities worldwide.
As the international movement to stop a new U.S. war against
Iraq grows, it must also raise the banner of justice and
self-determination for Palestine.
Reprinted from the Oct. 3, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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