Hi all; Israeli reports on Palestinian view:
Palestinians fear tougher Israeli action after U.S. attack
Amira Hass, Ha'aretz English Edition, September 13, 2001
Palestinian organizations fear that Israel will take advantage of Tuesday's terror attack in the United States to step up its military operations in the territories. Representatives of several Palestinian non-governmental organizations warned Wednesday that with the world's attention temporarily distracted, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would find it easier to take military steps against the Palestinian Authority.
This prediction has already come true in the area of the West Bank town of Jenin, they said, noting that nine Palestinians had been killed in an assault by the Israel Defense Forces on the city and three nearby villages Tuesday night.
The NGOs also said they feared that Israel would exploit the situation to launch a direct attack on the PA - something the United States has hitherto opposed. Such an attack could take the form of an attempt on PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's life or an attempt to prevent him from re-entering the territories should he leave.
Similar fears were expressed by official PA spokesmen. At a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday, the heads of two Palestinian NGOs discussed these fears openly. Hanan Ashrawi - spokeswoman for the Arab League, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the director of Miftah, an NGO dedicated to promoting democracy and dialogue - opened the press conference by sending her condolences to the American nation, in the name of the Palestinian people, the PA, intifada activists and the Arab states.
Ashrawi urged the world not to draw conclusions about Palestinian attitudes from the behavior of the few "exceptions" who had rejoiced at news of the attacks. The initial rejoicing, she added, had merely been at the news that symbols of the American regime had been struck, before the extent of the casualties had emerged. Once the scope of the devastation had become clear, the rejoicing had been replaced by shock and mourning, she said. "The Palestinians, as victims of the Israeli occupation, naturally identify with the victims of the terror attack," she stated.
Both Ashrawi and Ghassan al Khatib, a lecturer in communications and director of the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center, also protested what they termed Israel's "cynical and propagandistic" use of pictures of Palestinians rejoicing over the attacks to portray the Palestinians as aggressors.
Khatib then noted that until now, the main disagreement between Israel and the U.S. had been over Israel's treatment of the PA, with the U.S. opposing certain Israeli measures against the Palestinian Authority and particularly any plan to topple it. Now, however, the Palestinians feared that Israeli government circles would begin moving in this direction, he said.
haaretzdaily.com
-- Carl |
