Incarceration or Transfer: The Post-Incursion Plan

Like Israel's war in Lebanon, which was minimized as an "operation,"- Operation Peace for the Galilee-Operation Defensive Shield had political goals far beyond that indicated by its modest "defensive" name. Under the guise of destroying the "infrastructure of terrorism," Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his willing partner, Israeli Defense Minister and head of the Labor Party, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, believe they have accomplished two major goals that fundamentally alter the political situation. In Jenin, Israel destroyed the Palestinians' ability to resist the ever-expanding occupation. In Ramallah, Israel destroyed the infrastructure of Palestinian civil society, rendering the Palestinians unable to govern themselves. Aware that terrorist "incidents" will continue, the Israeli army is engaged in a mopping up exercises, entering Palestinian areas with absolute impunity, and little opposition from the international community.
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thanks to Palestine Indy Media

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Israel beginning land seizures

The Israeli army is quietly taking over West Bank land privately owned by Palestinians in what it says is a temporary move to protect its citizens from militants. But Palestinians -- mindful that similar tactics were once used to establish Jewish settlements -- fear they will never get their land back.

According to Israeli military documents, copies of which were obtained by The Associated Press, some of the land seized is in areas where officials want to build a fortified fence to keep Palestinian militants from entering Israel. Other documents indicate Israel is trying to create buffers between Jewish enclaves and Palestinian towns deep within the West Bank -- including this town of Salfit, which is surrounded by 17 large and small settlements.

Critics say the scattered and in some cases sizable seizures could carve up the West Bank in a way that would make it difficult for the Palestinians to create a viable state on land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
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Reform in the territories for the Jews too

The headlines about reforms in the Palestinian Authority are reminiscent of the reports about efforts to establish a government without Haredim. Both are meant to distract public opinion from the real story. Inflating the importance of the argument between the prime minister and the American president's envoy about Yasser Arafat's status helps Ariel Sharon pull the wool over the eyes of everyone. Assessments on the prime minister's desk anyway say there isn't a single Palestinian leader who can, or wants to, lay down the law in the territories for the glory of the Greater Land of Israel.

"When the Palestinians speak with us about reforms," says a senior American official, "it's clear to everyone they are meant to advance toward Palestine, and not perpetuate Bantustans." Therefore, anyone talking about reforms without making clear they are meant to lead the Palestinians to independence - said the official - is deceiving themselves or the public. A European diplomat last week asked if anyone would expect the Irish Republican Army to lay down its arms in exchange for a vague promise that afterward it would take part in discussions about "painful concessions."
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A recently issued B'Tselem report, the most comprehensive study of the settlements issued in recent years, says Israel has created a separation- cum-discrimination regime in the territories. The regime enables the settlers to take over land, establish separate planning institutions and use one law - civilian - for Israelis, and another law - military - for Palestinians. The Supreme Court gives this unique phenomenon a legal sheen, whether by legitimizing wrongdoing by the government and army, or by generally refusing to intervene to prevent harm to the Palestinian residents.

And what reform is Israel proposing to correct these distortions of the law and proper rules of government? To mark 35 years of occupation, the management of the Israel Broadcasting Authority has instructed that its broadcasters replace the term "settlers" with the expression "residents of Netzarim," etc. While the Palestinians look for a new leader to undertake reforms in "Judea and Samaria," Sharon and Ben-Eliezer will continue putting together governments without Haredim and conducting a peace process without Arabs.
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