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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Murrey Walker who wrote (100408)	6/5/2003 2:51:01 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

While all the peace-processing goes on in Aqaba, it's business as usual back in Ramallah: Talking the Talk by Elliot Chodoff Yesterday's statement by Abu Mazen in Aqaba renouncing terrorism is certainly a good thing in and of itself, but the issue is greater than saying the right words in the presence of the American President. Understanding that the US Administration will not deal with him if he doesn't utter the magic words, Abu Mazen did just that, but in the West Bank and Gaza, business remained as usual and showed no signs of changing for the better in the immediate future. The IDF reported that it is currently dealing with 60 warnings of terrorist attacks, up from the mid-50's earlier in the week. While this may sound a bit like a stock report, it pays to remember that the success of any one of these attacks-in-the-making means the deaths of possibly scores of innocent civilians and the wounding of more. We can certainly predict that with time an attack will succeed, and Abu Mazen will certainly go through the motions to condemn it. And the next one. And the next. While Abu Mazen was hobnobbing with Arab leaders, President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon, back at the mukat'a in Ramallah Yasir Arafat was distributing funds to assure that his followers will remain loyal to him. In the course of the week he handed out some $35 million putting together the best group of supporters money can buy. Whether Abu Mazen is willfully covering for Arafat, talking peace while the chairman organizes terrorism, or he is unwittingly playing the front man, the results will be the same: Arafat-sponsored terrorist attacks will continue while Abu Mazen claims that he opposes them. Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have all stated clearly that they will not accept any cease fire with the Zionists. A Fatah leader was quoted today as saying that the increased pressure of the IDF alert for the Jewish Holiday of Shavuot (which begins this evening) has made it impossible to launch any serious attacks for the next few days, but the alert will be relaxed after the holiday ends and then Fatah will have the opportunity to get back in the killing business. Abu Mazen? Nobody takes him seriously. In this context Israel is expected to take concrete steps along the "road to peace" laid out by the road map, by withdrawing form Palestinian population centers and beginning to remove settlements. Over 100 Palestinian security prisoners have already been released, some of whom have managed to appear in Arafat's office giving him publicity and credit for their freedom. The US is pressing Israel for quick progress in the now started peace process, but unfortunately this new and improved peace process provides evidence neither of peace nor of process. chodoff.blogspot.com