November 1, 2001	Thursday	Shaba’an 14, 1422

DUBAI: After 13 months of the Palestinian intifada and more than 950 deaths, the cycle of violence appears unending in the Middle East and might well even threaten the US-led coalition in its “war” against terrorism. Many were hoping that the recent diplomatic boost the Palestinian cause received in the wake of the Sept 11 bombings from the United States and Europe, particularly Britain, would signal a positive turn in the peace process.

Coming against what seemed to be an inherent realization that the crisis over international terrorism had something to do with frustrations over the Palestinian cause and what critics call the “fundamentally flawed” US approach to the Middle Eastern conflict, the statements from White House and Downing Street were welcome.

Palestinian political analyst Ghasan Al Khatib says, ”Israel’s ability to reoccupy Palestinian-ruled areas at will has set a precedent which threatens arrangements which took effect after the Oslo interim peace accords were signed in 1993.”

Israel has since withdrawn from two towns after coming under intense pressure from the US administration. But critics say a lot of damage has already been done . What is more alarming are reports making the circles that Israel may be planning to assassinate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and destabilize the PNA. Regardless of the authenticity of the report, it has sent shockwaves through the region.

Dr Musa Keilani, a Jordan-based journalist, says: “It was no knee-jerk reaction — the no-holds-barred approach Israel assumed following Bush’s public endorsement that Washington always saw the creation of a Palestinian state as the natural outcome of the peace process. Sharon understood that Bush’s comments reflected an implicit realization that the attacks on the United States had some link with the Muslim and Palestinian frustrations. Israel could ill-afford that realization in a serving American president,” he says.

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said: “The international community must deplore and condemn aggression by Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinians, as the world wages war on all forms of international terrorism.”

Commenting about a link between the Sept 11 attacks and US and other policies toward the Middle East, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak said: “The world will never see the end of terrorism if the Palestinian question is not resolved.’

According to Shawqi Issa, executive director of the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment: “As long as the international community fails to take a strong position against the crimes being committed by Israel, this same community shares the responsibility of gross violations of human rights being committed on a daily basis against Palestinians.”

PV Vivekanand, editor of a Gulf daily, says: “The worst mistake Israel ever made in the Middle East peace process was taking the Palestinian people for granted and assuming that the decades of brutal occupation have coopted them into accepting that they were not a match to Israel’s military might and, as such, they should be thankful to whatever Israel was willing to offer them.” Agreements were reached, he argues, but they involved Palestinian compromises more than Israeli “concessions.”

Keilani says: “The requirements of peace are clear: The Israeli leadership should treat its Palestinian counterpart as an equal partner in the quest for peace instead of looking at it as an enemy to be handled with contempt and hostility.” —Dawn/InterPress Service.