Israel-Palestine war shows bankruptcy of "peace" process, people's 
rage

by MC12

Once again the people's blood is flowing in Palestine, and once 
again the United $tates is posing as a moderate influence, trying 
to broker a "peace" deal. That after pumping billions of dollars 
into militarizing the Israeli state, coercing the allegiance of 
Arab leaders, and orchestrating the systematic denial of 
Palestinian national self-determination for decades.

About 70 people died in the fighting between Palestinians 
(including those who are supposedly citizens of Israel) and 
Israelis in the first week of October, only three of them 
Israelis.(1) Another 2,000 people were injured.(2) But despite 
this crystal clear illustration of the hollowness of the United 
$tates-led "peace" process between Israel and the neocolonial 
Palestinian regime led by the Palestinian Liberation 
Organization's (PLO) Yassir Arafat, the United $tates is still 
trying to take credit for bringing about a cease-fire.

This is like firefighters setting fires so they can become heroes 
putting them out. The United $tates is like the firefighter the 
Boston Globe reported on: "In most cases of firefighter arson, the 
one who sparks the flames also is the first one on the scene."(3)

The situation also reveals the absurdity of Arafat's neocolonial 
position, in which he seeks recognition from the Palestinian 
people as a hero, while he constantly rolls over for the 
Amerikans. During recent negotiations in Paris, as Israel rained 
missiles down on Palestinian buildings, Arafat stormed out of the 
meeting at the U.$. ambassador's residence, shouting "This is 
humiliation. I cannot accept it!"

MIM wonders: Did he just notice the humiliation? Where has he 
been?

And Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wondered: Who does he 
think he is? A Reuters reporter heard her yelling, "Shut the 
gates! Shut the gates!" as Arafat attempted to drive away from the 
meeting. The guards locked Arafat in, and he was forced to come 
back inside, where he agreed to another fruitless cease-fire.(4) 
The meeting included U.$. Central Intelligence Agency Directory 
George Tenet, who the United $tates wanted to oversee an 
investigation into the cause of the recent violence. Tenet chairs 
a committee formed in 1996 to oversee security issues between the 
Palestinian authority and the Israeli Defense Forces.(5)

The next day, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported, "The Palestinians 
said that they would send more Palestinian police officers to the 
areas that have seen clashes and would remove stone-throwing 
youths. Two Palestinian police trucks pulled up at Netzarim 
crossroad south of Gaza Thursday. More than 50 Palestinian police 
officers rounded up groups of boys and teens and drove off."(6)

The Israelis claim that Arafat instigated the latest uprisings for 
political gain, after Israeli politician Ariel Sharon staged a 
high profile visit to the holy Muslim site of the Al Aqsa mosque, 
which is also a Jewish holy place.(7) Like the would-be 
firefighting heroes, Arafat has encouraged violent protests in the 
past, in part to show his influence, and also to receive credit 
from his imperialist masters when he is able to calm the 
protestors down.

That is a cruel version of leadership, which pits unarmed or 
lightly armed protestors against heavily fortified Israeli 
positions or troops, resulting in the lopsided casualty count 
usually seen in these conflicts. This time, when Palestinian 
Authority police joined in the fighting, the Israelis escalated to 
using helicopter gunships, tanks, and missiles.(1) The Israelis 
used heavy weaponry and sniper rifles, supposedly to target only 
armed Palestinians.(8) Needless to say, it makes a mockery of the 
supposed autonomy of the Palestinian territories when a foreign 
power is free to roll its tanks around their territory at will. 
This is the autonomy negotiated by the PLO instead of true 
national self-determination won by the people.

Israeli helicopters fired anti-tank missiles at two PLO police 
buildings in Rafah, Gaza, which killed two police officers and 
also wounded 70 civilians.(9) In Nablus, witnesses reported 
Israeli helicopters firing live rounds into crowds of 
demonstrators.(10). At Netzarim, a Jewish Israeli settlement on 
Palestinian land, witnesses said army helicopters shot five 
rockets at nearby buildings, and live bullets at a stone-throwing 
crowd.(7) Many of the injuries, however, were from the usual tear 
gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. One hospital in Jerusalem 
said it took in 18 patients with eye wounds from these bullets, 
and six people had to have eyes removed.(11)

Outside of Palestine, Arab protestors raised hell over the Israeli 
killing spree, including 10,000 people in the streets of Tehran, 
Iran (Iranian Jews also joined the protests); 5,000 people in a 
Palestinian refugee camp outside Amman, Jordan; protestors who 
stoned the U.$. Embassy in Syria; mosques in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 
20,000 people in Yemen, who police dispersed with tear gas and 
live ammunition; and thousands of protestors in the Sudanese 
capital Khartoum, where they chanted "Down, down, U.S.A." The 
United $tates closed its diplomatic missions throughout the Middle 
East.(12)

The international outcry over Israeli atrocities came to a head 
over the murder of 12-year-old Mohammed Jamal Aldura, who was 
killed cowering behind his father Jamal under a hail of Israeli 
gunfire. His father was wounded but survived. The Associated Press 
quoted the father as saying: "They started shooting at the taxi we 
were in and we got out to seek better shelter. The Israeli fire 
was heavy, although I was shouting and begging them to stop, for 
the boy's sake. But they never stopped and poor Mohammed died in 
my lap and my body was punctured with bullets." The killing was 
captured by TV cameras, and Mohammed's horrifying last moments 
were seen on televisions around the world (especially outside the 
United $tates). Israeli officials blamed the boy, saying he may 
have been throwing stones at soldiers.(13) Mohammed was only one 
of several children killed by Israeli bullets during the week. 
Yarden Vatikay, spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, said, 
"If they stop bringing children to these events then they will not 
suffer casualties."(14)

The Clinton administration really wanted a "final solution" deal 
on Palestine before they left office, which now appears 
impossible. But there is no reason to think the Amerikan strategy 
will change with a new administration here, or that the Israeli 
strategy will change with a change of power there, as the Labor 
party's militarism has matched that of the previous Likud 
governments muzzle for muzzle. The future for the Palestinian 
people will depend on the course of their own anti-imperialist 
struggles. MIM will continue to support the oppressed nation 
masses in their struggles for self- determination by exposing the 
Amerikan role in national oppression and using our newspaper and 
other media to build support for those struggles within Amerika.

Notes:

1. Christian Science Monitor Oct 6, 2000, p. 1.

2. United Press International Oct 5, 2000.

3. "Firefighter arson saddens residents of tiny Vermont town," The 
Boston Globe, July 25, 1999, p. F2.; see also "L.A. fire heroes 
targets of arson probe," San Diego Union-Tribune, May 6, 1994, p. 
A1; "When Heroes Turn Into Outlaws," New York Times, May 24, 1993, 
p. B1. 

4. Reuters, Oct 4, 2000.

5. United Press International Oct 5, 2000.

6. Deutsche Presse-Agentur Oct 5, 2000.

7. Associated Press, Oct 4, 2000.

8. Calgary Herald Oct 2, 2000, p. A4.

9. United Press International, Oct 1, 2000.

10. The Independent (London) Oct 2, 2000, p. 1.

11. Daily Telegraph (London) Oct 5, 2000, p. 19.

12. Associated Press, Oct 5, 2000.

13. Calgary Herald Oct 4, 2000 p. A4.

14. The Times (London) Oct 5, 2000.