A Disaster Foretold
by Uri Avnery

So now it is official: the government of Israel has decided to assassinate Yasser Arafat.

Not any more to "exile". Not any more to "expel or kill". Simply to "remove".

Of course, the intention is not to remove him to another country. Nobody seriously believes that Yasser Arafat will raise his hands and allow himself to be marched off. He and his men will be killed "during the exchange of fire". This would not be the first time.

Even if it was possible to expel Arafat to another country, nobody in the Israeli leadership would dream of doing so. How come? Allow him to make the rounds of Putin, Schroeder and Chirac? God forbid. So the plan is to remove him to the next world.

Not immediately. The Americans forbid it. It may make Bush angry. Sharon does not want to annoy Bush.
[...]

So when will the planned assassination be carried out? When some big suicide attack will take place in Israel, one so big that an extreme reaction will be understood by the Americans, too. Or when something happens somewhere to divert world attention from our country. Or when some dramatic event, something comparable to the destruction of the Twin Towers, makes Bush furious.

What will happen afterwards?

Arab leaders say that there will be "incalculable results". But, in truth, the results can be calculated fairly well in advance.
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Too Little Too Late?

I finally got around to reading today's New York Times editorial on the Israel/Palestine question, and I have to say, I was actually impressed:

The longer Israelis continue to settle in the West Bank and Gaza, the harder it will be to cleanly divide the land between two nations with separate identities. Talk of two states will end. Two options will remain: an apartheid state run by a heavily armed Jewish minority, or a new political entity without a Jewish identity.

The conclusion is clear. Israel must begin to plan its exit from the West Bank and Gaza not only to permit the creation of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state but to preserve its own future.

The Times goes on to chastise Holy Joe for ginning up his phony argument with Dean, and tries to frame the issue as a question of what's in Israel's best interests -- which is probably the only way an American audience can accept it.

You do not have to believe in Mr. Arafat's sincerity or the Palestinians' good will to grasp the need for a radical course shift. You need only understand the meaning of self-preservation.

Given the history, the audience and the political leanings of the New York Times, this is gutsy stuff. Maybe -- finally -- the pack ice is breaking around the frozen hull of American policy in the Middle East.

But there is another question lurking under the ice: What if it's too late?
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A time to act

There's no reason to complain to the prime minister and the defense establishment. The present policy is exactly what Ariel Sharon, the chief of staff, the government and the leaders of the settlers think is correct and desirable. They know this policy has a price and they are willing to pay the price with eyes wide open. Their hearts are rent at the sight of the tragedy in Cafe Hillel, on the No. 2 bus in Jerusalem, or at Tzrifin, but to them those who are murdered are soldiers who fell in battle.
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International community supports a deluxe occupation

The publication of Amnesty International's report on the humanitarian crisis in the territories this week would not have attracted attention even without the latest bloody events. The fact that about 60 percent of West Bank residents live below the poverty line, and the conclusion that the economic and humanitarian crisis was caused by the blockades and the sieges, would not have shocked anyone, even less so when the headlines scream, "We'll smash them."
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Twilight Zone / Birth and death at the checkpoint

Rula was in the last stages of labor. Daoud says the soldiers at the checkpoint wouldn't let them through, so his wife hid behind a concrete block and gave birth on the ground. A few minutes later, the baby girl died
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Here is a blog about life in the occupied territories. I doesn't have permalinks so you have to scroll down the page for the posts.

Rafah Kid Rambles

Under The Fig Tree - Horia from Laura (scroll down)

EXTRACT: "She was eight years old and she would have started her school year the next day. She was so smart, so sweet, y'achti, look at her." (The photos passed around, Ayya looking bright and determined in a red sweater her hair high in pigtails)." It was Yom il-Jumaa (Friday) and she had been fasting all morning with me. I gave her some money and told her to go buy something to eat, she was only eight and there was no reason for her to fast. She went on her bicycle. She bought wafers, chips, and a popcycle and rode back.

A tank was shooting from the Neve Dekalim settlement which borders their neighborhood. It shot her through the heart, she fell from her bicycle, we found her covered in blood, all the snacks she had just bought to break her fast, covered in blood, her hands still holding onto them..."
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Boy of 17, shot by Israeli soldiers, left bleeding overnight to die

The bullet ridden corpse of Mohammad Abdullah Abu al-Husni, was found yesterday morning near the town of Jabaliya, where he lived in Gaza.

According to local medical sources, 17 year old Mohammad was shot several times in his legs on Saturday evening, while walking past an Israeli military post in Gaza. As he lay on the ground Mohammad used his mobile phone to call an ambulance, however, Israeli soldiers held back the ambulance, preventing the medics from attending the boy.

As he lay on the ground, emergency medical staff tried to communicate by phone how best to attend his own injuries, but each time Muhammad attempted to move soldiers in the nearby military post shot again at his legs.
[more]

  thanks to Rafah Kid Rambles