Eyeless in Gaza, Wednesday, September 07, 2005

The Palestinian Authority’s National Security Council was meeting in emergency session today in Gaza after armed gunmen murdered Moussa Arafa, 65, the late chairman’s cousin and a former head of security in the Strip who symbolized for many Palestinians the corruption in the PA’s control. Although he was formally retired – after PA President Mahmoud Abbas fired him as part of the overall move toward security reforms in the PA – Arafat was said to wield some power in Gaza.

The shooting came after another apparent sign of the breakdown in PA law and order yesterday, when for the first time in more than two months, PA police did nothing to prevent Khan Younis teenagers, backed by Hamas and eager to reach the demolished settlement of Neve Dekalim, from cutting the fence around the settlement and engaging in rock throwing clashes with IDF troops still there. One teen was said killed, and several were said to be wounded in the incident.

The Khan Younis incident immediately raised questions in Israel about why is the IDF waiting until next week to leave Gaza. Ostensibly it is because the political echelon is waiting for a solution to the synagogues issue – what to do with about 20 synagogues left behind in Gush Katif. The army wants to demolish them, but there is some pressure, mostly from religious-Rightist circles but also from some dovish groups, for the buildings to be allowed to remain standing. The High Court of Justice has even instructed the government to ask the Palestinians if they would protect the buildings as holy sites.

But the real reason the army remains now in Gaza, is that it wants to operate according to its own schedule so it is not seen running from Gaza under a barrage of fire or stones. So, at least as of right now, come hell or high water, the IDF will only quit Gaza on September 15. We’ll see.

The slaying of Moussa Arafat meanwhile has once again focused attention on the anarchy prevalent in the Palestinian street, raising questions about whether Abbas’ policy of mainstreaming Hamas and other armed groups as a way to disarm them can work. Abbas’ main platform is the ‘one PA, one law, one gun’ policy, which means Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Fateh’s armed wing, and all the other armed groups must abide by the law instead of taking it into their own hands. His plan is that as the election campaign for the Palestinian Legislative Council moves forward toward its January Election Day, the popular mood in the Palestinian street, as evidenced by the polls, will force the armed groups to put down their weapons. It’s good in theory, and there are even some Hamas leaders who have indicated that is their direction, but for each one like that, there’s one who says the Gaza Strip was liberated by weapons and so will the West Bank.

Some figures around Abbas, like Mohammad Dahlan (who has been out of commission as minister for disengagement for the last few weeks with ‘back problems’) would prefer a somewhat stricter approach to dealing with the armed groups. But the problem runs even deeper than militants in ideological organizations. There are criminal groups, like the so-called Popular Resistance Committees in Rafah who like to spout political rhetoric but are fighting for control over their smuggling routes. There are small gangs of teens with weapons, who control the alleyways of their small corner of a sprawling refugee camp, and there are the corrupt security officials, who like the assassinated Moussa Arafat, used their position as authorities in the camps or towns to extort money and privilege.

U.S. Army General William Ward is supposedly working with the Palestinians to help them implement reforms that would clean up at least the corrupt armed forces, largely by restructuring them into three main groups instead of the decentralized and often rival groups in which they are now organized. It’s all part of the Quartet’s roadmap to a peace agreement. Behind the scenes, Britain’s MI6 is also very busy at that, while Egyptian security officials apply both political pressure and provide training courses for PA officers. There has been some progress on the reform front, according to the Israeli press, but not enough. And everyone agrees that a much higher American profile, nudging everyone along, is needed. But with the Americans busy dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane in the south, nobody is expecting a major American initiative to get the roadmap rolling right away.

Meanwhile, on the domestic Israeli front, Binyamin Netanyahu is suddenly backtracking, denying he ever intended to force early elections. He just wants a new chairman for the party and Sharon can remain in office until next year. It’s obvious why he is backtracking – new polls are showing Sharon ascendant and Netanyahu slipping fast. Reports of Netanyahu’s inevitable victory apparently were premature. He’s still popular with Likudniks, but the wider public is not impressed.

More news from today || Yesterday's situation (Archive)

© Today's Situation From Ariga, http://www.ariga.com by Robert Rosenberg; Feel free to pass this page on, including this line: Subscribe to get it daily by email -- or unsubscribe -- at http://www.ariga.com/signup.shtml >>>>>>>>>>RSS Feed

Feed Shark

Today's Situation || Yesterday's Situation