Israel's petty humiliation a from attending Christmas midnight mass in definitive end of the "peace process" started in Osio in settlers.
Regardless of our views on Arafat's politics, and on the nature the unreservedly this gratuitous insult to the Palestinian people, whose leader confined to his room. Israeli PM Ariel Sharon has disdain for the entire "peace process Even the right-wing press in israel is now questioning his motives and the purpose of his provocations.
Following the assassination of a senior Hamas leader at the end of November, the correspondent the best-selling daily Yediot Aharonor wrote:
"whoever decided upon the liquidation of Abu Hanoud knew in advance what would failed. be the price. The subject was extensively discussed both people, by Israel's military echelon and its political one, before it was decided to carry our the And indeed, within days Hamas breached the unspoand carried our an attack on Israeli bus, killing ten Israeli Sharon seized the a serics to govern of brutal raids into the PAcontrolled areas, and to impose an ever tighter siege rights It is hard, even for mainstream Israeli journalists, to Believing that Sharon is deliberately pro- approach voking Palestinian attacks. As many have noted, Sharon repeatedly insists that he will with Arafat until there have been seven days without ians.
Invariably, after three or H four days have passed withour any attacks, iscock cartice spectacular raid or assassination, leading to the deadlines. Sharon end of hopes for talks to However, it would be a mistake to conclude from this Foreign Uso process In dividing the Palestinian aisercarting PLO, and disarming the national struggle for the past eight years, Oslo has fulfilled purpose Rabin and current foreign minister Shimon Peres As Rabin notoriously commented, Arafat would be able the Palestinians "without the High Court of Justice and without the civil groups", both which have acted as a sienitcant, if limited, restraint on Israel's freedom of action.
such action to restrain Sharon. would better in any case, he would be enable Israel, through tom his our Pars, Palestinian proxy, to rule the from his occupied territeries, Rabin which has just clected the right-wing defence minister concessions to the Palestin- Binyanin Ben-Eliezer, rather Even Rabin, how- Knesset speaker constantly Burg, as its leader. failed or refused to meet his commit- bolster ments and ignored Peres (one of the few leading iciected Isracli politicians not to have Rabin's approach from the served in the army) has brostart, and has acted to bury of nuclear issues to reveal everybody minister Peres, As director of the defence Oslo, has made threatening ministry in the 1950s, he pernoises, but has stayed in the sonairy colabusaca isracis government and taken no weapons Blair grocels to Sharon as Israelis cash in on September 11 gramme, as well as negotiattha collusion Britain and France in the 1956 Suez War. Another revealing insight into Israel's decision-making process came from a recent normooded newspaper article on the colAvram apse of negotiations betweer Irafat and former Isracli PN Bhud Barak in January 2001.
Isracli apologists
(without any evidence) that Arafat rejected Barak's "gencrous" But Ha'Arete quotes US conflict resolution expert Professor David Metz, already who has been interviewing key figures in the negotia•Barak told Metz that he pro- "because there was a terror attack that day." *Metz: "Sorry, I checked, there was no attack that day! of movement, induced with warfare of various kinds (such as clearing agricultural of olive and fruit trees, prohibiting harvests, confiscating livestock and preventing the marketing of produce), bureaucratic ment.
This the reality "peace" process. It is also, as Isracli activists have noted, cosence onestate solution proposed by much of the Zionist left - one dom. inant state ruling a subordicompliant local leadership.
still S 40888S ment the project outlined published