A weakened Arafat's orders perpetuating chaos, violence
By Steve Rodan, Middle East Newsline
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, January 9, 2001
JERUSALEM — It was yet another announcement from the White House:
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has pledged to U.S. President
Bill Clinton to reduce the violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The news brought a smile from a Palestinian security official. The
official predicted — correctly — that the level of violence would not be
reduced by an iota and that Arafat would avoid relaying any order.
"Arafat, particularly in the West Bank, is no longer the only game in
town," the official said. "There are uprising leaders who now make decisions
and have long stopped asking Arafat for instructions."
The result: both Israeli and Palestinian security officials have
virtually no expectations from the latest U.S. effort to reduce violence and
restore security cooperation. They agreed that Arafat has refused to issue
clear orders to stop Palestinian gunmen from attacking Israeli civilians and
targets.
In Cairo, security officials from Israel, the PA and Egypt and the
United States convened for seven hours overnight Monday in a meeting chaired
by CIA director George Tenet. Palestinian sources said the meeting failed to
achieve a breakthrough.
But a senior PA security source said that the meeting is expected to do
little more than repeat previous commitments. The source said Israel will
probably pledge to reopen the Gaza airport and border crossings while the
Palestinians will agree to restore security cooperation.
Arafat has allowed some of his senior officers to cooperate with their
Israeli counterparts, Israeli and PA security sources said. But at the same
time, the PA chief encourages other military chiefs to organize attacks on
Israelis.
The result has been chaos. In Ramallah, Palestinian security sources
said, agents of the Preventive Security Apparatus, led by Col. Jibril
Rajoub, have pursued gunmen from the General Intelligence sent to attack
northern Jerusalem neighborhoods. In
Bethlehem, PA security police patrol the suburbs that skirt Jerusalem while
Fatah gunmen fire toward Israeli targets from nearby streets.
In Hebron, Israeli and Palestinian security officers have secretly met
and discussed information of a bombing plot. PA officers arrested three
suspects
identified by Israel.
Still, these developments have not made a dent in the efforts to restore
peace in the region. PA security forces and police no longer control events.
They have been replaced by a so-called uprising command, composed of
representatives from the ruling Fatah party, Islamic opposition and PLO
factions.
"These leaders enjoy influence and power and don't want to lose it," a
senior Palestinian source said. "There is a conflict between the
uprising people and the PA."
The mini-war, the source said, has produced an alliance against the PA.
Palestinian services have collapsed and even the police are no longer
functioning. Officers come to work and do little more than sit around. In
many cases, they are hired to participate in attacks against Israel in
squads that include both Fatah and Hamas members.
Israeli officials said Arafat's dozen security agencies are divided into
those that cooperate with Israel and those participate in attacks against
the Jewish state. Rajoub's agency remains authorized with security
cooperation. The Gaza security agency of Col. Amin Hindi also engages in
security cooperation.
Arafat's Force 17 praetorian guard and Tirawi's General Intelligence and
military intelligence are said to help plan attacks. The Gaza agency headed
by Col. Mohammed Dahlan has helped organize shooting and bombing attacks
against Israel. Dahlan also continues to serve as an interlocutor with
Israeli security officials.
"I believe that we have not achieved the minimum of what is required
according to the [United Nations Security Council] resolutions of
international legitimacy 242, 338 and 194," Dahlan said. "We will continue
to resist the occupation until we retrieve our legitimate rights."
Arafat's military intelligence, headed by his nephew, Mussa, has been
accused by Israel of operating a squad of bombers in the Tel Aviv area. The
squad is suspected of blowing up a Tel Aviv bus on Dec. 28 by using a
cellular phone.
A 25-year-old Jordanian laborer, Abdullah Abu Jaber, was arrested in the
bombing. He is said to have been recruited by PA military intelligence and
paid 200 shekels [$48]. An Israeli Arab and a Moroccan national were also
arrested.
Arafat, the head of military intelligence, has dismissed the Israeli
assertion, calling it fantasy.
Palestinian sources said the conflict between security agencies has
destroyed any semblance of order in the PA. They report screaming matches
between Hindi and Tirawi during security meetings with Israelis and said
some officials are pressuring Arafat to dismiss officers who mislead the PA
chairman.
The question, Israeli and Palestinian security sources agree, is whether
Arafat can restore calm even if he is intent on doing so? The assessment is
mixed, but the consensus is that Arafat will require up to six months until
he can tire out Palestinian uprising leaders. This would require an effort
to deny the new uprising leadership money to hire gunmen and win influence.
"There's no question that if there's an order by the chairman [Arafat],
it will be fulfilled," Fatah leader Hussein Sheik said. "But you are talking
about a movement that consists of tens of thousands of people. We can
control them, but it won't happen just like that."
Israeli officials said the longer Arafat will wait the less control he
will have over Palestinian revolt leaders. They said Arafat faces a slow but
steady deterioration in his authority.
"There are the first signs of deterioration," said David Chacham, Arab
affairs adviser to the Defense Ministry. "But we saw this before the
outbreak [of the mini-war]. There is a trend of defections from the
Palestinian security forces. They are the first signs and they are not
irreversible. He [Arafat] is still seen as the symbol of the Palestinian
revolution."
Tuesday, January 9, 2001
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