Sharon continues aggression

by Hans Lebrecht

Israeli government chief Ariel Sharon and his spokespersons answered the US 
President's Bush and British PM Anthony Blair's calls to pull back without 
delay from the Palestinian cities re-conquered during the last week saying: 
"Only after our military goals, to eliminate the Palestinian terror, are 
achieved."

His radical Chief of General Staff Shaul Mofaz told the press that this 
would take not less that four weeks at least. They expressed their 
satisfaction with Bush's accusations against the "irrelevant terror 
chieftain" Yasser Arafat, claiming that he, and no other was responsible 
for the horrible situation the Palestinian people is finding themselves in 
now, that Arafat, had allegedly betrayed his people.

Arafat who is confined within two rooms of his office in Ramallah, while 
tanks and Israeli elite troops are stationed in front of his windows and on 
the other side of the doors of his room, with electricity and phone 
connections interrupted by the hour, has not yet officially responded to 
Bush's attack.

When pressured by the US Administration, Sharon has "gratefully" allowed 
the American envoy Anthony Zinni to meet Arafat in his confinement. Arafat 
told him that he was not able to do anything as long as the Israeli 
aggression is not called off.

The Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo (the home of whom 
was searched and ransacked too by the Israeli aggressors) stated at a press 
conference, that if Colin Powell would not meet Arafat during his visit, no 
Palestinian would meet the US Secretary of State.

If Sharon does not end his aggressive military offensive and pull out of 
the Palestinian cities, neither the Palestinian people nor the Arab world 
would take the Bush speech as a serious approach towards a ceasefire or 
peace.

Another Palestine National Authority (PNA) Minister, Hassan Asfour, added 
that Bush's attempt to put the blame for the inhuman, aggressive Israeli 
war upon the shoulders of President Arafat, could be seen as an open call 
to Sharon's henchmen to assassinate, or at least expel Arafat from his 
homeland.

The chief Palestinian peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat rejected the open call 
to dispose of Arafat and find other, allegedly "more responsible" leaders 
to negotiate with. "The Palestinian people are fully backing their elected 
President Yasser Arafat; it is not for Bush, Blair or Sharon to pick and 
chose who represents our people", he stated.

During last weekend (April 4-6), over a hundred Palestinian resistance 
fighters and civilians have been killed during the continuing brutal 
Israeli attack in Jenin and its refugee camp alone.

More than 30 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in Nablus.

In spite of the enormous superiority of Israeli arms and US made equipment 
— heavy tanks, armoured troop carriers and bulldozers, missile firing 
helicopter gun-ships, hand gun and submachine guns — Palestinian 
resistance fighters succeeded in killing five Israeli soldiers and injuring 
more than 20. Bethlehem with its for the Christian world holy churches and 
places is turned by the Israeli army into another war theatre, where, until 
I write these lines, also about 20 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers 
fell victim to the Sharon war.

Almost two thousand Palestinians, "suspected terrorists" were captured and 
detained so far during the attack upon all West Bank cities and villages, 
except Jericho in the Jordan valley.

Israel has reopened and is enlarging the southern desert concentration 
"detention" camp in the Negeb desert close to the Egyptian border. Now, the 
Israeli military governor for the West Bank has ruled that detained 
Palestinians will not be able to meet a lawyer for at least three weeks or 
more after his detention.

Sharon's "Lebanon War I" is meanwhile hailed by a majority in Israel's 
public opinion, but, on the other hand, the peace camp is gathering 
increasing strength. On Saturday (April 6) evening, a crowd of about 15,000 
marched from the Tel-Aviv Rabin Square to the Kiryah Defense Ministry's 
Office.

The march was called for by the Shalom-Akhshav (Peace-Now) movement and was 
joined by other, more radical activists from the Gush-Shalom peace bloc, 
the Ta'ayush, Women Peace Coalition, the Israeli Communist Forum and 
others.

At the rally in front of the Defence Ministry, banners and posters called 
for "Stop the War", "Stop the bloodshed", "Stop the war crimes", "Get out 
of the Occupied Territories", "Bring back the soldiers", "No military 
option. Back to peace negotiations", etc...

The rally was addressed by Knesset (Israeli Parliament) members of Meretz 
and Labor "doves", opposed to the participation of their party in the 
Sharon coalition.

On Thursday last, the Tel-Aviv police made an unprovoked attack on a vigil 
of about three to four hundred Israelis in front of the US Embassy.

The vigil was called for by the Monitor Committee of the Arab population of 
Israel and was authorised by the police.

Many Jewish Israelis joined the vigil to express their solidarity with the 
just demands of their Arab co-citizens who demanded that the Bush 
Administration stop its one-sided pro-Sharon bias.

It was arranged that the US Embassy would accept a delegation of the 
Monitor Committee to present their demands in a statement.

But when the delegation attempted to enter the building they were asked to 
undergo a harassing bodily "security check". They refused and went back to 
the vigil.

At that moment a police force, partly horse mounted, brutally attacked the 
vigil. Among the seven vigil participants and one police sergeant injured 
and brought by ambulances to the Ikhilov hospital was the former General 
Secretary of the Communist Party of Israel and veteran Knesset Member, Meir 
Vilner. He is one of the two still living signatories to the Israeli 
Independence Charter of 1948.

A police spokeswoman later claimed that the vigil was attacked because a 
Palestinian flag was shown by the vigilantes.

Already the day before, on Wednesday (April 3), the occupation forces and 
police prevented by brutal force a march from the A-Ram roadblock on the 
Jerusalem-Ramallah highway by more than 3,000 Israeli anti-war protesters, 
who tried to march into the besieged sister cities Ramallah and El-Birreh.

The marchers were accompanied by ten trucks loaded with foodstuff, baby 
food and medicines for the hungry 150,000 inhabitants of those cities who 
were confined to their houses and shelters.

At the fortified A-Ram road bloc, the marchers were brutally attacked and 
dispersed by teargas, truncheon swinging soldiers and mounted police.

Many were injured. We could see on our TV screens the Arab Knesset Member 
Muhammad Barakei (Hadash), blood spilled all over his face from a wound to 
his head, but continuing to vehemently protest the brutality of the 
attackers.

* * *

Hans Lebrecht who is based in Israel, was an active member of the anti-
fascist underground movement against the Hitler regime from 1936 through to 
1938 in Germany. He is Vice President of the International Federation of 
Resistance Fighters (HQ in Vienna).