A Nightmare Comes to Life
Three weeks ago, I
wrote an article regarding the future prospects of the Palestinian
question. Back then, I had a lot of optimism in the future of PA
President Yasser Arafat.
The article said, "Nothing sticks to Yasser
Arafat - no bullets, no scandals, no war, and most important of all,
no defeat." I had no clue, however, and in fact nobody in the region
imagined, that matters would deteriorate so quickly. The Arab world
today is facing one of its worse nightmares - similar in tragedy to
the creation of
Israel in 1948 and
the invasion of Beirut in 1982. Palestine is being re-occupied, its
symbols of statehood are being ruined, and silence prevails in most
Arab capitals.
In every sense, most Arab leaders, and not
the general public, have abandoned what once was labeled, "the first
Arab cause." Yasser Arafat and his people are once again fighting a
battle on their own. As they spill blood in the arena, 200 million
Arab spectators chant, clap, and cheer on saying, "bravo - proceed,
we are applauding for you." If anything, the latest events in the
occupied territories should have given Yasser Arafat a reality
check. First, it is now obvious to Arafat that salvation will not be
coming from the Arab world,
America, nor will
it come from the usually pro-Arab European Union (EU). The myth of
an Arab-Palestinian, Arab-EU, or an Arab-U.S. honeymoon has finally
been shattered. The EU dropped its moderate policies by issuing an
official declaration on December 10, 2001 calling on Arafat to
dismantle Hamas and Islamic Jihad, labeling them terrorist
organizations, and asking Arafat to make a public declaration in
Arabic calling for an end to the intifadah. The mass
circulation Israeli daily Yediot Aharanot quoted the senior
EU representative Javier Solana, who was on a diplomatic mission to
Israel, as having dampened an already wrecked Palestinian morale by
saying, "This is the end of the PA."
Facing increased pressure from their Arab
allies, the Europeans reverted their statements shortly afterwards,
and said, "The democratically elected Palestinian leader, Yasser
Arafat, and the Palestinian Authorities are the only intercoluters
in this conflict for Israel, who needs a partner in peace talks"
said the Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel. "We don't think that
weakening the PA or Chairman Arafat can help advance the peace
process in any way." Since the latest round of violence broke out on
December 1, 2001
however, they have taken no serious steps at reaching a just
cease-fire. In the past, especially following September 11, the U.S.
administration tried rallying Arab support for its cause by
promising to back Arafat's claims for an independent Palestinian
state. Eagerly, the Palestinian leader showed solidarity after
September 11, condemning the twin attacks, donating blood to their
victims, and refuting Osama bin Laden's claims that linked his cause
with that of Palestine. Following the December 2, 2001 summit in
Washington between George Bush and Ariel Sharon, however, matters
changed dramatically.
Bush met with seven Jewish donors to the
Republican Party to discuss the
Middle East crisis
and said, in regard to Arafat, "I would have done exactly what
Sharon is doing." Other rude comments made by the U.S. President
were published in Yediot Aharanot, labeling Arafat a "weak
leader whose regime will collapse." Perhaps President Bush forgot
that this "weak" Arafat had outlived eight U.S. administrations
since coming to power in the midst of the Johnson presidency in 1967
and drained the efforts of 14 Israeli cabinets. Bush's regional
envoy Anthony Zinni, also spoke of the Palestinian leader with
little respect, saying, "In my entire career, I have never
encountered such a lack of credibility." Even the Palestinian
leader, clearly annoyed, remarked on Zinni's behavior saying, "He
treats me like a soldier whose supposed to obey orders." During his
talks with Sharon, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a
bus in Haifa, killing 15 people, and 24 hours earlier, another had
exploded on a pedestrian street in Jerusalem, killing 10 Israelis.
An infuriated Sharon returned home from Washington a changed man,
having secured unconditional U.S. backing for harsh retaliation.
He struck back with Israeli warplanes,
gunned down Arafat loyalists, destroyed police stations in Jenin,
while choppers and troops were deployed around Arafat's office in
Ramallah to prevent him from traveling to
Gaza. Reportedly,
he has spent the past two weeks watching television, talking with
world leaders over the phone, reading newspapers, and meeting with a
small handful of ministers who managed to make it to his office
through Israeli checkpoints. On December 6, 2001 Israeli troops
struck at Palestinian Authority (PA) targets in Salfit and struck at
Arafat's private compound, bringing tanks up to 200 meters of his
office and shooting missiles that landed at 50 meters range. In a
series of symbolic gestures, the Israelis knocked the Voice of
Palestine Station off the air, destroyed Arafat's private
helicopters, destroyed parts of Gaza Airport, and occupied the home
of Marwan al-Barghouti, Arafat's top lieutenant, transforming it
into a military compound. On December 13, 2001 Israel blaming Arafat
for Hamas attacks that killed 10 Israelis, declaring that it had
severed ties with the PA and considered Arafat "irrelevant" to the
regional crisis. As the PA leader was nailed down to his office,
Israeli troops set about killing prominent activists, re-occupying
buildings belonging to the PA, and hoisting the Israeli flag instead
of the Palestinian one on official buildings, a mirror image of the
1948 occupation.
The Israeli message was clear, "We were the
ones to bring you back, and we can expel you whenever we decide. We
created the Palestinian Authority in 1994, and now is the time to
destroy it." One of Arafat's oldest and must trusted aids, Ahmad
Abdul Rahman, said, "I have been with him for 35 years now. I have
never seen him in as much danger as now, except when we were in
Beirut." Realizing
that he was unleashing Arab hatred against his new world order, U.S.
President Bush softened his tone towards Arafat this week. While
Secretary of State Collin Powell contacted the PA President to
congratulate him on the Muslim holiday, Bush remarked to reporters
on December 14 saying, "the world expects Mr Arafat to lead, and so
do I." Meanwhile, the Arab world stood by in silence, too busy in
fact, preparing for the upcoming Eid celebrations, to mind the
isolation of "our brother Abu Ammar" as Arafat is customarily called
in Arab circles. The only serious attempt at bolstering Arafat's
cause was made by the state-run Nile TV in Cairo, which announced
that as of January 1, 2002, it would launch a satellite channel that
mirrors the Arab cause in Hebrew.
Working
with a crew of 50 Hebrew speaking Arabs, it will show the Arab
perspective of the killings, defend the isolation of Arafat and
conduct lively debates with Arab decision-makers and activists. To
date, this is the second project of its kind, since years ago,
President Husni Moubarak began a seven-hour a day Hebrew service
carrying the same objective.
Other calls for solidarity with
Palestine were
made by President Bashar al-Asad of Syria, and Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein, who called for an urgent Arab summit in Saudi Arabia to
discuss "the latest atrocities in Palestine." The dominant Arab
perspective, however, especially in official circles, remained
extremely passive. On December 13, 2001 Jordan's King Abdullah II
gave an interview to the London-based Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat,
urging Arafat to "work hard" to "regain American trust." Earlier
that week, Abdullah had shut down the border crossings between
Jordan and the West Bank, to prevent the influx of Palestinians
escaping the Israeli dragnet via the River Jordan. "We cannot under
any circumstances permit more refugees. We will not leave the
crossings open." When asked whether he would be willing to endorse
a suggestion made by Arafat earlier last year, asking for a
Jordanian peacekeeping force in the West Bank and Gaza, the king
flatly rejected the proposal. "President Arafat is my brother and I
will stand by him, but I will not interfere in an internal
Palestinian matter."
Struggling to remain alive, both politically
and physically, Yasser Arafat unwillingly began a manhunt of Hamas
and Islamic Jihad activists, arresting 200 activists in less than 48
hours. Offices for both parties were shut down, documents
confiscated, and the words, 'Closed by order of the Palestinian
Authority' were scribbled across their windows. On the first day of
Eid, Arafat appeared on national television and made the long
awaited declaration calling for an end to armed resistance. By
December 19, more offices had been shut down, PA jails were filled
with Hamas activists, and the party's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad
Yassin was under house arrest.
Immediately, the Arab world divided over his decision to strike back
at the Islamic resistance. The Doha-based al-Jazeera Channel
conducted a poll, which showed that out of 2,092 participants, an
overwhelming 90.8 per cent were opposed to the arrests, while only
7.9 per cent responded affirmatively, and 1.3 per cent were
undecided.
The Arabs, unfortunately, have not worked
for
Palestine since
1948, and even then, their efforts were futile and embarrassing. A
report published in David Pryce Jone's book The Closed Circle,
shows that in the years 1967-1987, an estimated 35,000 Palestinians
were killed at the hands of Arab forces - either the Jordanians,
Syrians, or Lebanese commandos. These deaths were caused by
anti-Palestinian policies in Syria, the September fiasco of Jordan
in 1970, and the ongoing Lebanese Civil War which included massive
Palestinian killings, mainly by the Maronites at Damur and the
Syrians at Tal al-Zaatar. In Jordan alone, Arafat was to remark
years later, the late King Hussein killed 25,000 Palestinians.
Meanwhile, during this 20-year period, only 4,464 Israelis were
killed in the 1967, 1973, and 1982 wars combined. In 1987, Arafat
remarked in an interview saying, "No, no, it is not because they are
superior that we have not regained Arab territory. It is because we
have our own troubles in the Arab arena that keep us divided." Its
also rather shocking that since September 28, 2000, the date of the
intifadah, an estimated 1,000 Palestinians have been killed
(an average of three per day), and another 17,000 have been injured.
The Arabs, therefore, have not shown more clemency than the Jews.
Both are blameworthy for the destruction of Palestine.
Damascus
Gulf News
December 20, 2001