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Politics : Middle East Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maceng2 who wrote (161)	12/16/2001 7:37:14 PM
From: David Alon	Respond to of 6945

Mortar hits Gush Katif despite orders from Arafat By Arieh O'Sullivan TEL AVIV (December 17) - A mortar was fired at a settlement in Gush Katif last night and an IDF outpost there came under rocket grenade attack, after a day that began with troop withdrawals from parts of the Gaza Strip and continuing arrest sweeps in the northern West Bank. The attacks came a few hours after Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat called for an end to attacks on Israelis. Last night, Palestinians fired at an IDF position at El Kahder, near where they had fired on troops manning a checkpoint along the Bethlehem bypass (tunnel) road in the morning. The mortar attacks persisted despite the pre-dawn strike by attack helicopters at two Palestinian Police stations in Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp. That attack was in retaliation for mortar attacks on Gush Katif settlements. There were no reported injuries. Shortly after, Palestinians fired two mortar rounds at an IDF base in the northern Gaza Strip. Also yesterday, security forces recovered the body of an apparent Palestinian suicide bomber who blew himself up Saturday night near an IDF checkpoint in the Sha'ar Ephraim area on the Green Line. Last night, an IDF units backed by tanks and armored bulldozers moved into areas around the east Samarian villages of Tubas, Tamoun, and Taisir. The army said that many perpetrators of terror attacks had come from these towns. The bulldozers dug trenches to block terrorists from getting freely to the Jordan Valley, where at least three Israelis have been shot dead in ambushes in the past two months. In Tamoun and Tubas, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at troops, who returned fire. There were no reports of any casualties. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer sent Id al-Fitr holiday greetings to the leaders of Jordan and Egypt. He warned in his greetings of the urgent need to end the bloodshed and killing of innocent people. "I am full of hope that this holiday will be a sign for a renewal of political negotiations on the basis of mutual respect and understanding, with the clear view that terrorism and violence do not coexist with a yearning for peace," Ben-Eliezer wrote. jpost.com What I don't understand is, since the PLO enjoy blowing themselves up, why does it bother them when the Israelis help them?

To: maceng2 who wrote (161)	12/17/2001 3:11:35 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 6945

Arafat basically said 1. The Palestinians are winning 2. The Palestinians will never be humiliated 3. The armed struggle should cease because this is a clever new way to outwit Ariel Sharon. A very face-saving way to change course without admitting that you are changing course. (You never go broke over-estimating the importance of face among the Arabs.) Of course, while 3. says 'stop fighting', 1. and 2. say 'keep on fighting, we're winning'. So a mixed message imho, unlikely to be followed by action satisfactory to the US.