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Palestinians Will Resist Military Attack Until the End
by
Bassam Abu-Sharif
The Israeli Ministerial Cabinet, which is
responsible for political decisions concerning the security of Israel
especially in the issues related to the Arab Israeli conflict, and the
situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, held an exceptional meeting on
Wednesday. The meeting followed the assassination of five Palestinian
Islamic activists in Bethlehem by Israeli Apache helicopters. Just two
weeks earlier, the Cabinet had assigned Sharon the responsibility for all
decisions concerning Middle East security, specifically the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The purpose of the meeting seems
clear—Sharon, having learned his lesson in the aftermath of Sabra and
Shatila for not having sought official approval from his political
enemies, must gain their support for his activities in the territories.
Directly after the assassinations, according to media accounts, Sharon
spent three hours attempting to convince MK’s that a comprehensive attack
on the territories under the Palestinian Authority rule could be dangerous
on political and media level, especially if turned western opinion against
Israel. This was the version of the meeting distributed to media while G8
meetings were held in Italy. But the actual content of the meeting might
be indicated more accurately by the points approved by the
Cabinet—continued assassination of Palestinian activists and the right of
Israel to respond lethally to any Palestinian fire, even if it causes no
Israeli injuries.
Sources reported that the Cabinet also took
much more critical decisions:
-Adding military reinforcement in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip of some 12,000 soldiers and additional weaponry and
surveillance equipment.
- Israeli forces should be placed at the
entrance of each Palestinian city and village and ready for attack at a
moment’s notice.
- Forces should be supplied with equipment
and ammunition to continue operations for an entire month in case
Palestinians are successful in blocking shipments of supplies.
More threatening, however, was Sharon’s
plan to reinforce Green Line borders with personnel and an electrified
fence. The strategy would suffocate the Palestinians population centers.
Such actions could very well be interpreted as a prelude to a full-scale
assault.
Most Palestinian analysts agree that
Israeli army forces would not face much trouble reoccupying the
territories under Palestinian Authority control. The Palestinian Army is
not equivalent to the Israeli one. Israeli tanks can easily penetrate
Palestinian cities and streets, commanders can impose curfews, soldiers
can shoot unarmed resisters.
This would not be the end of the story.
Sharon’s cold-hearted military machine is capable of reinforcing its
occupation with mass murder and expulsion as he and other Israeli generals
and Prime Ministers have done in the past. But just as in the past,
Palestinians would resist. Women and children would defend themselves with
pots, pans, slingshots and knives. Sharon would soon find himself in a war
he could no longer control.
The Director of Danish Television, an old
friend of mine, asked me today: "How long do you think the Palestinians
can hold on?" My response was immediate: " Decades. Until the day comes
when they can see their state, they will hold on and fight until they
achieve their freedom. The fight for freedom is demanding. During the
French Revolution it was said that French revolutionaries would only leave
their parliament if they were dead. The case is no different for
Palestinians."
Bassam Abu-Sharif
is a special advisor to President Arafat.
Source:
by courtesy & © 2001 Bassam Abu-Sharif
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