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TITLE: Update Since Election of Sharon |
AUTHOR: Marcia Freedman |
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DATE: February 28, 2001 |
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It is hard to write, I think because so many of us have a deep sense of fear about the future. Since the election of Sharon I have personally begun to feel, for the first time, a sense of insecurity as I shop in the shuk, get on a bus or go to work in my office on the Ben Yehudah Midrachov. I do not believe a word that Sharon says, nor in fact do I any longer believe the words any of the politicians utter. There is a new term in Hebrew, "l'zagzeg"--it means to zigzag, that is to say one thing and then it's opposite, i.e., to lie with ease. There is a crisis of credibility in Israeli politics that feels very dangerous in a democracy as fragile and incomplete as ours. I do believe the military commanders, however. They are beginning to demand that the Palestinian security forces be defined as "enemies," so that they can open fire and not be limited only to returning fire. They are also proposing that they be allowed to enter Area A (Palestinian controlled territory in the West Bank, containing the great majority of the Palestinian population, but not contiguous territory) at will. The army has also defined a new tactic of "liquidations," assassinating popular leaders of the Intifada, though there is growing international pressure on Israel to stop, as well as to lift the "closure", which is really a siege. The closures have become intolerable to the daily life of all the Palestinians. Those who are lucky enough to have jobs (about 40-50%) spend hours getting to work, and the unemployment rate is climbing still as the economy continues to slowly but steadily collapse. People are dying on the way to the hospital because it takes the ambulances so long to get through the frequent checkpoints along the way. Shortages of food and medicine are increasingly serious. The policy of providing security for the settlers at any cost to the Palestinians continues. The extent of the destruction of farmland, olive and citrus groves and homes is beginning to be bigtime. All that is needed is a decision by the army that such is needed to protect the settlers, and voila. The practice is so widespread that it suggests a high-level policy decision at the military level? the political level? It is hard to distinguish between them any more. The Palestinians are also beginning to adopt a war mentality, or so it seems to me. The Tanzim are increasingly a serious force, and one bent on body counts. The last time I reported these numbers, there were 300 dead, of whom 30 were Jewish. Now, the most conservative estimate is that there are 400 dead, 70 of them Jewish. The Jewish percentage is beginning to rise, and those who are most vulnerable are the settlers, particularly when they use the expensively built "by-pass" roads that bring them from their settlements in the West Bank to their places on work in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. They are multi-lane and well-graded, but they are becoming unsafe. It is too easy for a single sniper to fire at passing traffic. During the most recent incident (yesterday), a van transporting Israeli workers from one of the settlements was attacked, and the shells collected were from assault rifles and M16s (which the Israeli soldiers use). So it looks like the Palestinians are upgrading their weapons. This does not seem to be an organized effort at this point, but rather militias. Though it is hard to tell. My greatest fear is that the army is feeling itself debased (as it is, actually) in its role of an occupier who, by definition, uses violence as necessary means to control the occupied population. And therefore will seek "engagement" with a more serious enemy that provides not only a challenge but an opportunity to test the new toys acquired from the U.S., and to prove its "mettle". Syria/Lebanon have been run up the flag pole. Iraq and Iran as well. There is a very intensive drive on to rehabilitate the image of Arik Sharon. Backed by wealth and political power, it is already beginning to succeed. Let us hope that the angels of Arik are right. But there is as yet no sign that he can succeed in doing what he ran on--to bring the peace. The decision by the Labor Party to join a unity governemnt (after consistently promising voters before the election that that would never happen) only serves to make the prospects worse. Under 18 months of Barak, the amount of new construction in the West Bank was greater than under the 2-year period of Netanyahu. This new government can only be expected to speed up the settlers expansionism, which daily determines what Israelis call "facts on the ground." At the same time, Labor will provide the Sharon government with a cover of legtimacy, both within Israel and internationally. I greatly fear what this government will be capable of. It is hard to imagine a worse situation, but a worse situation is likely. The Israeli government can cut off the supply of Palestinian electricity and water; only yesterday the Israeli water authority announced that it might not be able to supply water to Bethelem and Hebron in another few months (but of course it will continue to supply water to all the settlements in those same areas). I am soon to return to Berkeley (March 9), so this is probably the last time you will hear from me from Jerusalem. I thank many of you who let me know that you were glad to receive my emails. I welcome opportunities to speak and to write when I am in the States. Marcia END |