After Bethlehem, what?

THE exit of the thirteen “wanted” Palestinians from the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem brings to an end the 38-day drama of the siege by Israel of one of Christianity’s most holy places. If it were an Islamic holy precinct, Ariel Sharon would have perhaps had no hesitation in asking his trigger-happy troops to storm it and slaughter those in it, including the 84 worshippers trapped inside. Israeli troops had not withdrawn from Bethlehem by the time these lines were being written. But a withdrawal was imminent, thus ending what has been described as Israel’s most massive military operation in two decades. Like all of Israel’s war operations, this one, too, was not without its massacre of civilians. Another feature of this “incursion” into the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority was the destruction of all symbols of Palestinian statehood. PA offices were ransacked, computers smashed, disks and sensitive documents taken away and, to punish Palestinian civilians, electricity, water and food supply cut off. At one stage, Arafat was down to one potato a day in Ramallah. Yet his spirit and those of his comrades and the Palestinian people remained high. At no stage did it appear that the Palestinian people or their leadership would cave in under pressure of the Israeli blitz and brutality. In fact, Palestinian will and spirit remain high as ever, and it is for Israel to ponder whether it has gained anything out of the six-week operations.

If Tel Aviv thinks it can destroy the Palestinian people’s will to resist its 35-year occupation of their land, then it is mistaken. Tuesday’s suicide-bombing that left 17 Israelis dead showed the futility of its six-week occupation of PA territory. The Palestinian people have demonstrated time and again that military operations and massacres do not break their spirit. Dir Yassin, Sabra-Chatilla and Jenin have only strengthened their resolve to fight for the liberation of their territories. The sooner Israel and its patrons realize this the better it would be for peace in the Middle East.

Sharon’s predecessors - Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak - had derailed the Oslo accords, though they did not abandon it. Sharon has already rejected Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s peace plan that called for an Arab recognition of Israel in return for its complete withdrawal from Palestinian territories, including the Arab part of Al Quds. His rejection of the Saudi plan and reliance on brute force have left the question of a fresh peace initiative wide open. He was recently in Washington, and there President Bush referred to him as “my friend” in whose policies he had full faith. This will only serve to encourage him in his policy of brutal suppression of the Palestinians. There are reports that Israel now wants to invade Gaza. That will mean a repetition of what happened in the West Bank - more massacres. It is time America and the West made Sharon realize the futility of military means for a solution of the Palestinian crisis. The only way out is to effect a ceasefire and bring the two sides to the negotiating table to revive the Oslo accord - an accord both sides had agreed to abide by and to which the United States is a party.

An ill-advised move

THE news that thousands of precious books and antiquities kept in the archaeology department’s library and museum in Karachi are being shifted to the Lahore Fort is disturbing beyond belief — all the more so, because the purpose is said to be only to facilitate a retiring official in his research project. Regardless of whether this is the case, the matter needs to be investigated at the highest possible level, and the relocation move stopped forthwith. Books of historical value and antiquities are not pieces of furniture in government inventory which can be callously moved around at the whims or convenience of public servants from one place to another. Besides being seen as a mindless act, the relocation of these national treasures to Lahore — or to any other city — carries implications that are obviously beyond the comprehension of the department functionaries who have thought of it and initiated the move.

There is no dearth of library and research facilities of a similar kind in Lahore, even though such facilities there are equally mismanaged and ill-kept as a result of chronic neglect and apathy shown by the archaeology department. Besides, Lahore Fort is not the safest of places for such antiquities; the latest scandal there involved the theft of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s horse-trappings cast in gold and worth millions of dollars in the international antique market. In the case of the books and antiquities in question, these have been housed in Karachi for many years, and they have benefited research scholars from Sindh and Balochistan in the past. They should continue to be available to researchers in this part of the country in the future as well. Indeed, it is mindless and arbitrary acts like this on the part of public officials which breed inter-provincial disharmony and bitterness, and also result in the theft of our national treasures.

The federal ministry of culture, tourism, sports, minorities and youth affairs should immediately move in the matter and stop the so-called relocation process. It should also arrange for the already shifted antiquities to be brought back to Karachi. The ministry may have its administrative reasons for moving the archaeology department’s headquarters from Karachi to Lahore, but that does not call for or justify the relocation of archaeological assets located in Sindh. The archaeology department should also be expected to take steps for the proper upkeep of these national treasures in the cities and provinces where they are located, so that they do not have to be relocated on the pretext of better preservation. And the large amounts of money being spent on this senseless relocation business had better be used for upgrading the existing museum and library facilities in Karachi.

In the name of security

THE pattern is depressingly familiar. As soon as a serious terrorist attack takes place in Karachi, certain key roads are blocked off and commuters are forced to take long detours and endure frustrating traffic jams. The same pattern can be witnessed once again following Wednesday’s devastating suicide bomb attack in the city. For motorcyclists, in particular, there is the additional hassle of constantly being stopped and searched by the police, ostensibly as a security precaution. However, there have been complaints that these searches have become an excuse for the police to harass law-abiding citizens and extort money from them. While no one can question the need to tighten security and conduct snap checks of suspicious vehicles, there is a fine line between genuine security precautions and sheer harassment.

Similarly, the tendency to shut off major arteries as a security measure seems a rather drastic step. Surely it is possible, as in many other countries, to maintain strict security without causing such major dislocation and inconvenience to the public. The authorities clearly need the cooperation of the public if they are serious about rooting out terrorism and crime. Petty harassment and extortion, as well as major disruptions in their already hard-pressed lives, can only alienate people and make the task of the law enforcement agencies more difficult.