It was not a spontaneous outbreak of Palestinian civil disobedience. This time real battles were involved. True, they were contained and limited to certain locations, but the exchanges of fire yesterday between IDF soldiers and Palestinian security people were significantly more serious than even the Hasmonean Tunnel incidents of September 1996.
Israel opened the tunnel, and the situation quickly deteriorated. Yesterday, by
contrast, almost everything was planned. Palestinian security agents and
numerous politicians were among the demonstrators.
One, Salah Te'amra, a member of the Palestinian parliament, told
reporters in Bethlehem that even if Yasser Arafat himself were to come
and order him to halt, he would continue marching on the IDF positions near
Rachel's Tomb. Then the stone throwing began, followed by live fire. The
Palestinian security marched alongside the demonstrators.
In Bethlehem, the situation did not get completely out of hand, but in other
locales, the Palestinian security personnel were the first to open fire with live
bullets in response to the rubber bullets shot by IDF soldiers.
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), considered the No. 2 man in the Palestinian
Authority, commented on Palestinian radio yesterday morning about whether the
Palestinian Authority had launched the riots for the prisoners held by Israel.
"We in the Palestinian government are responsible for the fate
of the prisoners because they are our flesh and blood. We believe they fought
for peace and now they must go free."
As important as the prisoners issue may be to the Palestinian Authority, it was
not the crux of the matter yesterday.
While the riots broke out in many places
from Jenin to Gaza, it was no coincidence that the most severe incidents took
place at the Judea and Samaria junction, north of Ramallah. That is the location
of the IDF command post and the Civil Administration in the territories, and it
symbolizes more than anything else the Israeli administration of the territories.
The intentional shooting at IDF soldiers with Arafat and his people just a few
hundred meters away was more not the whim of a junior officer.
Why did Arafat launch the riots? He probably wanted to speed up the
deadlocked talks and make diplomatic gains. The Palestinian leadership has
been saying for some time now that the Israelis only understand the language
of violence. What caused Israel to withdraw from Lebanon if not the Hezbollah
attacks?
Arafat still has fond memories of his gains after the tunnel riots. Then
prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had refused to meet him until then,
immediately asked to see him and a short time later, Arafat won the withdrawal
from Hebron.
Expecting to make similar gains, Arafat will probably start calming his people down. It will not be easy. Yesterday's casualties will be buried today, and a number of angry demonstrations are planned for the end of the week. But the Palestinians security system is disciplined enough to put down the riots immediately if necessary.
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