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TITLE: Brief and The Facts |
AUTHOR: Ross Castle |
PUB: Hear Palestine |
DATE: January 5, 2001 |
Mr. Ehud Barak is threatening towage regional war if the Palestinians do not accept his "solution." President Clinton told President Arafat that if the Palestinians do not accept his proposals, Israel will wage a war against them, and that the USA will support Israel. We live in a world where the victimisers and the occupants threaten to smash the victims, if they do not accept slavery of occupation and are happy with it. When people, who do not know what is going on in Palestine, read or hear the statements of both Mr. Barak and his accomplice Mr. Clinton, they might think that the situation in Palestine is calm.
Barak has been attacking Palestinian areas and civilians continuously for three months, using helicopters, tanks and heavy machine gun fire. Three hundred and eighty two Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers, who are occupying Palestine; 145 under the age of 18. So far, 16445 Palestinians have been injured- 5439 are children, 1011 are in serious condition and 979 are cases of partial or complete disability. Hundreds of houses were destroyed. More than 180,000 trees were uprooted (olive and citrus trees during this season).
The logical question here is what kind of war is Barak planning to wage against the Palestinians? What kind of an Israeli war against the Palestinians has President Clinton pledged to support? It will definitely be an ethnic cleansing war, a shameful act waged by the victims of the Nazis and President of a country that fought for freedom and democracy. All that we can say is that violence can never produce solutions to political problems. Thousands more Palestinians might be killed by Mr. Barak and Mr. Clinton. However, Israel will be acting self destructively and Clinton will be labelled with disrespect. As for the Palestinians, they will continue planting trees in the Holy Land and watch "Les etrangers" and the foreigners leave, the same way others who invaded the Holy Land left. Palestinians are deeply rooted in their land. No bulldozers, even the American made, can uproot them.
Events
Shelling and military reinforcements in the Palestinian territories
A number of Palestinian citizens were injured during confrontations throughout the West Bank and Gaza and several residential areas were shelled with rockets and heavy machine gun fire. The imposed military closure has been tightened even further throughout the Palestinian territories. Settlers continue to attack citizens and their property.
Exchange of fire took place in several locations.
Gaza Strip
Two Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces based on Zo'rob hill on the borders with Egypt fired at them. Husein Mutir said he suddenly felt pain in his leg as soon as he walked out of his home towards Salah Din mosque, only to discover that he had been shot in the leg. Doctors say Mutir was shot with a 800 mm bullet, which severely broke his leg in two places. There Palestinians were injured by shrapnel as a rocket targeted their area from Salah Din Gate in Rafah. Material damage was also inflicted on a number of homes. Israeli forces also targeted Barazil quarter in Rafah with heavy machine gun fire and rockets without there being any cause for the attack. No injuries were reported, but material damage was inflicted on several homes. Israeli forces based in Beit Hanoun also opened heavy machine gun fire intensively on homes in the area. No injuries were reported. Major military reinforcements took place around the settlements near Al Tufah checkpoint west of Khan Younis refugee camp and near Salah Din area.
Tulkarem
Israeli occupation forces based near Israeli chemical factories targeted residential areas with heavy machine gun fire. Dozens of tanks were brought into the area. Exchange of fire took place following the shelling. Israeli forces chased workers through olive fields, preventing them from entering Israel.
Hebron
Confrontations broke off on the dividing line of the city. Two Palestinians were injured. Israeli military patrols toured the streets of the city to make sure that the curfew was still in place. Israeli soldiers had also fired the night before last at Palestinian citizens, injuring one critically. In Beit Amers, Israeli forces raided homes and searched them intensively, in search for Palestinian youths throwing stones.
Bethlehem
Israeli occupation forces tightened the imposed closure even further. Palestinians were even prevented from crossing by foot from one part of the city to the other. Wadi Nar road, the only route open to Palestinians from the West Bank between Jericho and Bethlehem has been closed. Israeli soldiers attacked public cars using roads in the area. Al Khader village witnessed confrontations between Palestinian youths with stones and Israeli soldiers. No serious injuries were reported. Dozens of settlers closed the by pass road, south of the town, carrying racist signs against Arabs and Muslims. Three Palestinians aged 16-17, from Tqou' village were arrested while on their way out of school. Hussan village witnessed confrontations the night before last, due to the provocative measures undergone by Israeli soldiers against the citizens. Three Palestinians were injured with rubber coated metal bullets.
Nablus
Dozens of settlers from Alon Morieh and Itmar settlements gathered at the entrance Beit Forik to prevent citizens from crossing.
Qalqilya
Confrontations broke out last night with Israeli occupation forces at the southern entrance of the town. Several Palestinians were injured with live ammunition. Dozens of settlers spread on the main roads. Military reinforcements have also been taking place around Qalqilya. Israeli army demolished 10 Palestinian homes and bulldozed land in Gaza Ten Palestinian families were left without a shelter yesterday after their homes were demolished by Israeli forces near Dokit settlement north of the Gaza Strip. Bulldozing activities continue to take place throughout the Gaza Strip. Over 300 dunums of cultivated land were reportedly bulldozed at dawn yesterday north of Gaza.
Peace process
Arab Ministers back the right of return
Arab foreign ministers criticised key points of President Clinton's peace proposal on Thursday, insisting Palestinians have a "sacred" right to return to Israel, a position flatly rejected by Israel. But Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said he still hoped a peace deal with Israel could be reached before Clinton leaves office in two weeks. The Arab League foreign ministers objected to a portion of the U.S. proposal that would surrender the rights of millions of Palestinian refugees now in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere to return to homes in Israel. In exchange, the Palestinians would gain control of an important holy site in Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak insisted Thursday that he would not back down on the refugee question and repeated his refusal to sign an agreement giving the Palestinians sovereignty over the Jerusalem site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. "We cannot continue along this path at any price. We will not accept under any circumstances the right of return to Israel," Barak told a rally in Tel Aviv. "I have already said and I say again, I will not sign any document that transfers the sovereignty on the Temple Mount to the Palestinians," he added. Arafat left the Arab League meeting in Cairo without comment, but upon reaching Gaza said he still held out hope that a deal could be struck before Clinton's term ends Jan. 20. "We hope that, and we hope that as President Clinton promised, that he will exert his efforts before the end of the period," Arafat said. However, with positions hardening on both sides, it was unclear how much progress could be made. Israel says an influx of Palestinian refugees would destabilise the country by upsetting the balance between Jews and Arabs.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, speaking as the chairman of the Arab League meeting, said the ministers considered the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to Israel to be "sacred." "I would like to point out that Lebanon has totally rejected the idea of resettling the Palestinian refugees (permanently) and insisted on the right of the Palestinians to return. We believe that this is a sacred right," Moussa said. In Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Noam Katz said his government was engaged with the Palestinians, not the Arab League. Israel, Katz said, was trying to determine if Arafat's reported conditional acceptance "falls within the parameters of the Clinton proposals. If it does, and if a drastic drop takes place in the level of violence, then we will consider in a positive spirit resumption of the negotiations.
On Wednesday, an aide in Washington said Arafat had conditionally accepted the U.S. proposal after two meetings with Clinton. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh called on Arafat to issue a cease-fire order within 24 hours to back up his promise to Clinton to quell the violence, spokesman Hillel Fertouk said. Moussa said the foreign ministers also were concerned the Palestinians had not been assured full sovereignty over east Jerusalem and the city's Muslim holy sites. He said Arabs wanted further clarifications from the Americans and that the issues of Jerusalem and the refugees took up most of Thursday's discussions. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa reportedly opened Thursday's Arab League meeting by saying the plan should not even be discussed. The meeting was closed, but a source speaking on condition of anonymity said al-Sharaa called on the Arab League to instead concentrate on supporting the Palestinian uprising.
Arabs ranging from moderate to radical in their stance toward Israel have rejected the U.S. formula. The radical Palestinian Hamas movement said Thursday that with his formula, Clinton had virtually adopted "Zionist proposals, conditions and visions. Iran's English-language newspaper Iran Daily said that "for the Palestinians, the right of return is as clear as the sun. It can't be made foggy, hazy or nebulous." Palestinian-Israeli clashes have killed more than 350 people - most of them Palestinian - in the last three months. Israel sent its chief negotiator to Washington on Thursday for talks with U.S. officials to get clarifications on the Palestinian stance. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the next step in the peace process depends on the outcome of these contacts. "We are committed to exerting a great effort to reach an agreement but I think it will be very difficult to reach an agreement before the end of President Clinton's term. We are talking about very difficult issues," he said.
Israel too remains deeply sceptical that a peace agreement could be concluded before Clinton's term ends. "It is beyond human power to complete the negotiations in such a short time," the Israeli foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, told Israel radio. Sher, Clinton to meet in effort to reach agreement Ha'aretz- Leading Israeli negotiator Gilad Sher will meet with U.S. President Bill Clinton on Friday as meetings continue with American officials in Washington on Clinton's bridging proposal for a peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, Israel Radio reported. Sher, who arrived in Washington on Thursday, is expected to present to the Americans a six-page document detailing Israel's proposal for a possible peace deal with the Palestinians. According to Israeli officials, this is the first time that an Israeli government has presented in writing details for a possible permanent settlement with the Palestinians.
Sher will meet again Friday afternoon with U.S. Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross and his deputy Aaron Miller, who have been updating him on the reservations of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat regarding Clinton's proposals. After the meeting, Sher will meet U.S. National Security Advisor Sandy Berger at the White House. Sher will give Berger the document that contains Israel's official answer to the U.S. bridging proposal. Sher, an attorney, spoke for three hours Thursday with Ross and Miller about the Israeli and Palestinian responses to the American proposal. However, according to Israel Radio, Sher told Ross and Miller that he believes that chances of reaching an agreement before Clinton leaves office are slim.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat is also due to arrive in Washington. U.S. government officials hope that as a result of the discussions with Erekat and Sher, both sides will send negotiation teams to Washington for joint discussions. The Prime Minister's Office stated that Sher was instructed to speak only to American sources, and not to Palestinian sources. Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said Thursday he believes that Israel and the Palestinians can agree on a declaration of principles, which could form the basis for future negotiations "Ma'ariv": Clinton threatens Arafat of siding with Israel in case of war Israel's daily Ma'ariv quoted informed Palestinian and Israeli sources yesterday as saying that President Clinton threatened President Arafat during their latest discussions in the white House and warned from the results of his rejection of the American proposal. The paper quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Clinton told Arafat that if he did not respond to the suggestions, this will show that he is not interested in real peace and in this case Barak will wage a war in which the Americans will support him. Clinton also told Arafat according to these sources that the new American administration will not invest the same efforts in the peace process and will not take interest in the future of the Palestinians and that instead it will concentrate on the Syrian track. According to the sources, Clinton added, "You are missing a chance that will not be repeated."
Majority in Israel rejects Clinton's proposals
In a report by professor Efraym Ya'ir and Tmar Heberman, according to "peace standards" polls in Israel, the vast majority of the Israeli population rejects the latest American proposals as a basis for peace negotiations. However, the majority does prefer negotiations to confrontations as a better way of reaching an agreement between the two sides.
US might send reassurance letters to the Palestinian Authority
Israeli radio reported that that the American administration might send two letters of reassurance to the Palestinian authority concerning sovereignty over the Haram el Shareef and the refugees issue.
Israeli elections
Newspaper polls show Sharon's lead over Barak increasing Ha'aretz- According to polls published in both the Yedioth Aharonoth and Ma'ariv daily newspapers, Prime Minister Ehud Barak lags far behind Likud primeministerial candidate MK Ariel Sharon. The Yedioth Aharonoth/Mina Tzemach poll shows Ariel Sharon attaining 50 percent of the votes, Ehud Barak attaining 32 percent of the votes, and 18 percent of those polled still undecided. According to the poll, the gap between Sharon and Barak has grown by 13 percent in the past week, in Sharon's favor. The same poll asked what the voting preferences would be if the two candidates were Sharon and Minister for Regional Cooperation Shimon Peres. 49 percent of the respondents chose Peres, 44 percent chose Sharon, and 7 percent were undecided. The poll questioned 510 people and has a 4.5 percent margin of error.
The Ma'ariv/Gallup poll shows Barak attaining even fewer votes. According to the poll, Sharon would receive 50 percent of the votes, Barak would receive 22 percent, while 28 percent of those polled remain undecided. When respondents were given the hypothetical situation in which Peres was a prime ministerial candidate, 46 percent of the respondents chose Peres, 43 percent chose Sharon, and 11 percent were undecided. The poll questioned 640 individuals and has a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
According to The Basic Law on the Government, a candidate running for prime minister can pull out of the race up to four days before the elections. The results of the polls, published Friday, are sure to increase the volume of so-far almost inaudible whispers in the Labor Party suggesting that Barak be replaced by Peres as the party's candidate.
Likud sources: Meridor will support Sharon
Ha'aretz- Senior Likud sources predicted Thursday that in the near future MK Dan Meridor (Center Party) will announce his support for Likud prime ministerial candidate MK Ariel Sharon. In the past, Meridor said that if an agreement based on U.S. President Bill Clinton's bridging proposal was signed between Israel and the Palestinians, he would vote for Sharon. This week Meridor met with Sharon and his associate MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud). Rivlin said that "Meridor's path home is almost completely paved." According to Rivlin, if Sharon wins, Meridor is a candidate for a senior position in Sharon's government as defense, foreign, or finance minister.
Reports
Official Palestinian statistics on losses in the Palestinian territories
(29/9/00 - 29/12/00)
- 382 Palestinians have been killed since, 145 of whom are under the age of 18
- 16445 were injured, 5429 of whom are children, 979 suffer partial or complete disabilities
- 2575 Palestinians have been arrested, 1189 of whom work within the green line, and 669 arrested inside the Palestinian territories
- 56839 trees have been uprooted from 9888 dunums of land
- 3669 building have been targeted by the shelling
- 102 ambulances were targeted, of which 21 were completely destroyed
- 862 private cars have been destroyed
- 204 shops have been destroyed
- 4070 meters of walls have been demolished
- 259 green houses have been demolished
- 40 farms have been destroyed
- 29603 residential units have been approved for construction in settlements in the West Bank
- 4572 dunums (1dunum= 1000m2) of land have been levelled for settlement construction in the Palestinian territories
- 29 mosques have been burnt or partially damaged, 6 churches have been burnt
Solidarity
- Arab Emirates Red Crescent delegation arrived in Ramallah today and is offering medical aid for the Palestinian people
END