COLUMN: Disturbing Islamic holy site fans fire
THE EVENTS
in Israel over the past week and a half
have compelled me to comment on what may be a landmark in Mideast relations,
for better or worse, and tie in nicely with my comments last week.
For those of you who have been without news for the last 10 days or so, and I know there are a lot of you, here is a basic primer of events. Last Tuesday, Benja- min Netanyahu's Likud Party government in Israel made the decision to open up a tourist tunnel under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The tunnel, which dates back to ancient days, was renovated and excavated to, in the government's words, facilitate tourism in the area.
However harmless Netanyahu may have portrayed the development, it runs under one of the holiest sites of the Islamic religion, and is opening at a time when Arab tensions in East Jerusalem are running high due to Israeli reluctance to fulfill provisions of the Camp David accords.
Not surprisingly, the Palestinian reaction to such a move was one of shock and anger. Immediately afterward, Yasser Arafat called for peaceful demonstrations and strikes to protest the move. Israeli riot police were of course present and, in a nutshell, what began as isolated rock throwing escalated into gun battles with automatic weapons as Israeli police and Palestinian police exchanged fire. Fighting raged from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, with Israel finally moving tanks into West Bank and employing Cobra gunships in Gaza to spray Palestinian forces with large-caliber gunfire.
When the dust had settled on Friday, at least 36 Palestinians and 11 Israelis were dead and hundreds were wounded. On Saturday, violence flared again as after religious services a few Palestinian youths threw rocks at Israeli troops near Al-Aqsa Mosque, with some falling near the Western "Wailing" Wall. The troops then advanced on the dispersing worshippers, firing both rubber and live ammunition. The troops alleged that a large number of youths had attacked, but recanted in light of eyewitness accounts.
Riots again raged, but there was little blood this time as Palestinian police and Israeli troops effectively restrained crowds rather than exchange gunfire. But by Sunday, over 65 were left dead. Such events are disturbing, to say the least, as they underscore two important points: that the Palestinian government has less control over its citizens that it ought, and that the Likud government in Israel is pursuing a hard-line and extremely dangerous course of actions that border on illogical.
Arafat's calls for protests were understandable, yet he had to have known that gathering crowds together at such a time could lead to violence. Furthermore, the inability of Palestinian police to prevent the mob from taking on a mind of its own and the exchanges with Israeli troops indicate that the situation assumed its own unplanned dynamics and defied control.
One cannot help but wonder if further symbolic agreements can go anywhere, or if the real actions so abhorred by Netanyahu, like the promised withdrawal from Hebron, will have to occur to bring stability. It appears that Arafat realizes this -- the offer of a conciliatory meeting replete with handshaking and the like by Netanyahu was discarded in favor of proceeding with talks involving not only Israel and Palestine, but also Egypt, France and the United States. Netanyahu is not so ignorant to know such a move could trigger such a crisis.
His lack of concern for Arab sentiments about the tunnel suggests that there were other motives behind the tunnel opening -- that the move was an expression of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Also, gross changes in the topography of Jerusalem are in violation of the Oslo agreements. The decision to use tanks and helicopters in West Bank and Gaza also demonstrates a heavy-handed tactic which can only hamper negotiations.
Faisal al-Husseini, the PLO's representative in Jerusalem, comments rather truthfully -- "I told [the Israeli government] this tunnel would lead to this. ... But this government ... disregards what we say. Their rule is `Arabs only know the language of force.'"
Without peace the region's prospects are bleak -- the Palestinian rebellion will continue, but any gains are unlikely and the population can only look forward to continuing poverty and occupation.
Israel can, of course, hold on to the occupied territories with little problem, since it enjoys clear military superiority. But it will pay for every acre of land with blood.
And if there is war with Syria or Egypt, you can imagine the slaughter and repercussions. The collaboration must continue or the region risks descent into violence again. The summit in Washington which will be over by the time this hits the presses will hopefully have smoothed things out somewhat. One can only pray for peace.
This item appeared in the Opinion section of the October 4, 1996 issue.
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