The third anniversary of the intifada

Friday, September 26, 2003

Fear the fear, still life, painting by Silvia Rosenberg, 35x50 cm on canvas

The intifada began three years ago on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, which begins tonight. Thousands of police have been deployed around the country, both at synagogues and leisure spots, beaches and parks, city centers and the Western Wall, while Israel has been closed to residents of the West Bank and Gaza, except in emergency humanitarian cases. On the Temple Mount/Haram a Sharif, Muslims over the age of 40, and with blue ID cards, meaning either Israeli citizens or residents of East Jerusalem, were allowed to attend Friday prayers, where the third anniversary of the intifada was marked.

While there has been a lull in Palestinian attacks in against Israeli targets inside Israel in the last two weeks, since Israel targeted Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin and decided it had the right to 'remove' Yasser Arafat, as an obstacle to peace, there has been no let up in IDF actions against wanted gunmen in Gaza and the West Bank. Yesterday, along with a soldier killed in Bureij refugee camp, a three-year-old Palestinian girl was killed, as were three wanted men.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders remain in the underground. Arafat meanwhile is supervising Ahmed Qurei's efforts to form a government, while U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell continues to lobby European and moderate Arab countries to pressure Arafat to keep his hands off the Qurei' government and to stop sabotaging the peace process. The Quartet – and Sharon, indeed even Qurei – all say the roadmap is not dead, though it is not clear who will shepherd the sides along its winding path, as the U.S. begins its presidential election year.

Following a longstanding Israeli tradition, the prime minister, who rarely meets the press directly, gave interviews to the three news programs and the two afternoon tabloids, and except for the mention of European countries holding Iranians and Lebanese for whom Tehran might be ready to exchange information about missing aviator Ron Arad, he had nothing new to say: The U.S. will be consulted if Israel decided to move against Arafat – and it might not be possible to guarantee Arafat's safety in such a move; Arafat's sudden surge in strength because of the Israeli government decision is only temporary, the press should be more patient; the fence will not enclose Ariel, as per the U.S. request, but the settlement will be protected – and will be part of Israel in any future deal; His sons, under police investigation, are grown men who make their own decisions, and he knows nothing about their business dealings and never talks with them about the scandal, nor is he hiding anything, but he doesn't know anything; the pilots' letter and demonstrations against the ongoing war remind of him events during the Lebanon war, 'when there was an attempt to topple a democratically elected government'; yes, the economic situation is difficult, but difficult decisions have been made that will lead to its improvement next year; it is too early to speak of who will follow him as prime minister.

In the context of fending off court proceedings by Ron Arad's family against the emerging deal with the Hezbollah for a prisoner exchange that doesn't include the missing aviator, the Prime Minister's Office announced today that there would be no final decision on the increasingly controversial deal this coming week.

A Maariv report today hinting at shady dealings by Elhanan Tannenbaum, held captive by the Hezbollah since October 2000, compared with the utter lack of information about the fate of Arad, has made the impending deal increasingly sour for Israelis. It so far appears unlikely Israel will scotch the deal, which includes three dead Israelis and Tannenbaum in exchange for a few hundred Lebanese, Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Palestinians.

But there is mounting criticism of the deal, particularly from defense circles and parts of the Right wing, and Sharon admitted last night and today in New Year interviews to the press that there were tears in his eyes when he met with the Arad family to explain the state of the negotiations – and how it is probable that Arad won't be included in the deal.

Sharon's hint about enticing Iran into the deal focused attention on Britain, holding the former Iranian ambassador to Argentina, who was implicated in the bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish community center there. Germany meanwhile has a jailed assassination squad, who under orders from Tehran killed a Kurdish-Iranian dissident in the early 1990s.

The latest Arad legal maneuver had the state forced by the High Court to agree to hand over a highly censored version of a report prepared for the defense establishment by a retired judge, on the case of the missing aviator. The Arad family says that's not enough and their lawyer vows more legal action, meant to obstruct the exchange, if it does nto include progress in the Arad case.

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The Other Israel edited by Tom Segev, and published in September 2002, is a selection of essays, articles, and other jouranlist writings by a range of Israeli voices articulating practical, legal, and moral dissent to the Israeli government. The book questions popular assumptions about Israel's true supporters: are they those who support occupation, settlement and reprisal, or those calling for reconciliation and a just settlement? The book challenges the narrow perception that Zionism means taking over 'Judea, Samaria and the Gaza dsitrict.' Contributing writers include: David Grossman * Amira Hass * Avi Shlaim * Ilan Pappe * Gideon Levy * Meron Benvenisti * Neve Gordon * Shulamit Aloni * Baruch Kimmerling * Ami Ayalon * Ze'ev Sternhell * Gila Svirsky * Uri Avnery

[an error occurred while processing this directive] in Frosties, the anthology of quotations

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