Ramallah Diary / Defying the curfew to demonstrate over the attack on Muqata
By Amira Hass
Suddenly, at about 11 P.M. on Saturday night, people started calling one another to ask with disbelief if it was true there was demonstrating in the streets. "Is it true what Al Jazeera is reporting - that dozens of young people are demonstrating in support of the besieged Yasser Arafat? Could the tear gas suddenly filling the room and burning the eyes with suffocating tears, and the gunshots drawing closer, all be aimed at dispersing such demonstrations?" [read more]
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Unconvincing explanations
The explanation that the government is giving for the decision to demolish the Muqata - the Palestinian Authority official compound in Ramallah - and to isolate Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in the wake of the murderous terror attacks last week is unconvincing, and it involves the government in contradictions.
The government is contending that by tightening the siege on the Palestinian leader, it aims to reinforce his labeling as someone who is irrelevant to dialogue until he comes to the conclusion that it is best for him to quit the territories and leave it to other people to lead the PA. Another of the government's justifications is its demand to hand over the wanted men who have taken shelter in Arafat's office. This explanation is not believable because the government is not providing evidence that proves a connection between the latest terrorist actions and the involvement of Arafat and the aides who are with him. The organization that took responsibility for last week's terror attacks is the Hamas. [read more]
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Hanegbi: IDF action not over; Arafat 'will be deported'
Environment Minister Tzachi Hanegbi of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud party said Monday that the IDF's Operation Matter of Time had not been stopped, and that ultimately, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would be deported, perhaps this month or next. [read more]
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Anniversary with Life in Palestine
Living under a twenty-four hour a day, military-imposed curfew often puts me into a reflective, somewhat philosophical, if not self-indulgent frame of mind. Perhaps its the confinement. Perhaps its the continuous shooting, shelling, and horrendous roar of the tanks and jeeps driving around. Or maybe the depressing reality that an entire population--the Palestinians--has been condemned to a life of oppression and dispossession, sanctioned by a world that will not stand up to the might of Israel and the United States.
I suppose that today the source of my meditations stems from the fact that it is my birthday. A birthday spent under military curfew, listening to gunfire, and rationing food and water. A birthday in Palestine. [read more]
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Worthy and Unworthy Victims
Munich Matters, Sabra and Shatila Don't |
