Your Voice in a World where Zionism, Steel, and Fire, have Turned Justice Mute

 

 

Zionist Plans to Re-take the PA controlled area: Truth or Deception
 

 

by Hammad Hammad

For the past few months, the Zionist government and media have been waging a
war of words and missiles against Yasser Arafat and the PA.  Accusations
have ranged from not doing enough to curb what they call terror to direct
participation in military operations. This campaign has been the predominant
issue in the talks held between Zionist officials and the governments of the
US and Europe.

Recently, however, numerous reports have indicated that the Zionists are
planning a desicive military operation by which the lands they had put under
the PA control would be taken back and the PA would be dissolved. While
denying any such plans, the Zionists have taken few steps to indicate that
they may be considering this action seriously. The highly publicized
"disagreement" between Ariel Sharon and Shimon Peres on undermining Arafat
and the massing of troops and tanks in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are
the most prominent of those steps.

These reports and indications seem to have worried some people enough to
call for re-assessment of the benefit of military operations and,
consequently, the benefit of the Intifada as it exists today. Many
Palestinian and Arab officials have been speaking about Sharon's bloody
history and denying him the chance to destroy the "Peace Process." The new
official line from the PA is calling everyone to abide by the cease fire
(what cease fire!) so as not to "jeopardize the national interests of the
Palestinian people and their intifada." The inherent contradiction in that
statement is that the cease fire helps the Intifada while the fact is a
cease fire is nothing but a cease Intifada.

So, where is the truth? Are the Zionists really planning to re-take the PA
lands or is it nothing but a ploy to exert pressure on Arafat and the PA to
help stop the Palestinian military action? It is helpful here to look at
this re-occupation from the Zionist point of view in order to correctly
assess those recent reports. It is naive to think that Shron is stupid
enough to destroy the only security apparatus that has given the Zionist
entity peace for the past eight years. It is also naive to think that Sharon
is the absolute ruler who draws the strategy of the Zionist entity.

The great service the PA has provided the Zionists in the past eight years
in no secret. Furthermore, Zionist policy makers realize that the reason of
Arafat's inaction so far has been the fear of marginalization not only among
Palestinians, but also within his own Fateh; a result which they themselves
are trying to avoid. Arafat's marginalization will terribly hinder his and
the PA's future effectiveness in controlling Palestinian movement and open
the door to having to deal with "unfavorable" Palestinian leadership. While
the Zionist leadership is trying to keep that attitude under cover, American
and European officials, apparently fooled be the Zionist attack on Arafat,
have expressed that sentiment clearly.

Some may wonder if the PA has gone "rogue" considering the result to which
the final status negotiations have ended.  What if the PA had decided to
fight in order to get a better status in the negotiations? The official
stance of the PA clearly refutes this theory. The PA requests so far have
been stoppage of attacks, return to the situation as it existed before
September 28, 2000, and returning to final status negotiation from the point
at which they stopped. Many settlement advocates have suggested that the PA
put the Intifada to a better use. Some suggested bartering the crackdown on
military operation within what they call "Israel" with the stoppage of
attacks on Palestinian civilian target and bartering the stoppage of
"hostilities" in the West Bank and Gaza with completing the third round of
redeployment as agreed on in the Oslo and subsequent agreements. Yet, the PA
has not asked for any of that. On the contrary, along with the above
mentioned call to cease fire, they have recently started cracking down on
Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups that are trying to carry out military
operation.

Even if the PA had gone rogue, re-occupation is the last option to be
considered. re-taking the highly populated areas under th PA control is no
small feat. Maintaining presence in those areas, considering the armed
population and the example set by Hizbollah, is impossible without a heavy
price. It helps here to remember that during the first intifada, the Zionist
government was seriously considering a one side withdrawal from Gaza and
that when they took West Beirut in 1982, they could not maintain their
presence there for 3 full days.

If the Zionists have no intentions in re-occupying the PA territory, why
have they been portraying Arafat and the PA as instigators, if not the
leaders, of the Intifada? And why have they been threatening with
re-occupation?  There are many benefits which they stand to reap is they can
continue this attitude:

1. Pressuring Arafat into taking stronger steps to stop the intifada:
For the past 8 years, Arafat has been treated as a statesman and a dignitary
in the west, a status which he relishes. Denying him that status will have
a profound impact on his psyche and it will make him more agreeable to
helping with Zionist security.  Another point of pressure is financial.  By
denying the PA the money collected from taxes, they threatens the stability and
the status of the PA men. Remember that Arafat has kept his control over the
PLO and PA through his control of money.

2. Help Arafat's status and ability to control the Palestinian People:
The zionists are not ignorant of Palestinian politics. They realize that the
Intifada is out of Arafat's control and they realize Arafat's dilemma in
trying to control it. They also realize that anyone they attack gains
popularity in the Palestinian street which will lessen the impact on the
crackdown.

3. Give the PA a pretext to stop the intifada:
The Palestinian people have shown a strong ability to endure the hardship
of slaughter and blockade. The Zionists realize the the PA needs to
have a strong pretext to stop the intifada and that killing and
blockade are not it. Threatening to re-occupy the areas under PA
control and dissolving the PA is a perfect pretext for the PA under
the umbrella of "keeping the 'gains' of the Palestinian People."

4. Internal Reasons:
The zionist government needs to show its constituency
that there is a certain authority or regime that can be blamed, dealt with,
and, if necessary, militarily crushed. Blaming the ghosts of "terrorism"
is not a viable option since it means that there is no one available to
deal with and no ready solution. It also brings out the whole issue of
Zionism viability which they had struggled to eliminate through the so-called
peace process.

The PA has already started taking steps to eliminate military operations.
Cells that had been planning military operation have been arrested and
fighters returning from bombarding zionist settlements have been fired on
and wounded be the PA security forces. It will be interesting to see the
response of the Islamic and National forces to this attempt to destroy the
Intifada.





  

    

    

    
FAV Editor: Ibrahim Alloush Editor@freearabvoice.org
Co-editors: Nabila Harb Harb@freearabvoice.org
  Muhammad Abu Nasr Nasr@freearabvoice.org
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