The Palestinian Authority as well as the general Palestinian public condemned the "thuggish and irresponsible" assault on Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, Khaled Amayreh reports A few dozen youths, reportedly associated with the Islamist Hizbul Tahrir (Liberation Party), heckled and jostled Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher in the Al- Aqsa Mosque on Monday prompting his security personnel and accompanying Egyptian guards to form a human chain around him. According to eyewitnesses, Maher was not physically assaulted, but a number of youths hurled abuse and criticised him for "cooperating with the killers of Muslims", an apparent reference to his visit to Israel and Egyptian efforts to restart peace talks. "We condemn in the strongest terms the assault on Mr Maher. Mr Maher's visit to Israel was fully coordinated with the Palestinian leadership, and the aim of the visit was to break the vicious cycle of violence and revive the peace process," said PA Negotiator Sa'eb Erekat. Palestinian resistance groups have also issued statements denouncing the assault on Maher as "totally unacceptable and rejected behaviour". During his one-day visit to Israel, Maher met with top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and opposition leader Shimon Peres. The Egyptian official urged his hosts to support ongoing Egyptian efforts to reach a cease-fire and initiate the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. During a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart in West Jerusalem, Maher said that Sharon promised to "meet quiet with quiet", a phrase Israeli spokespersons and officials reiterated several times during the past few days. Maher's brief visit to Israel, the first in more than two years, came in the aftermath of Sharon's "Herzliya speech" last Thursday in which he vowed to take far-reaching unilateral measures against the Palestinians if they failed to meet Israeli conditions for "peace" within six to nine months. Under the new plan, officially dubbed "disengagement from the Palestinians", Sharon suggested that Israel would tighten the strangle-hold on Palestinian towns and villages, complete the construction of the infamous separation wall and withdraw the Israeli army to new lines. As one Israeli commentator put it, Sharon would tighten the noose on the Palestinians, as a way to avoid paying the price for peace, namely giving up the occupied territories. Palestinian leaders and the media have strongly condemned the plan. PA Premier Ahmed Qurei described the speech as "threatening and aimed at encircling the Palestinians and narrowing their horizons". "Instead of threatening the Palestinians and negotiating with itself, we call on the Israeli government to start immediately genuine and serious negotiations for the purpose of implementing the roadmap," said Qurei. PA negotiator Sa'eb Erekat said Sharon's "threats" won't make peace. "With this unilateral approach, they [Israel] may make peace with themselves, but not with the Palestinians." Many Palestinians, as well as Israelis, have expressed serious doubts about Sharon's willingness or even ability to carry out his plan which requires the relocation of dozens of small and isolated settlements as well as the evacuation of tens of thousands of settlers. In fact, Sharon's extreme right-wing allies, including the settlers' party, the NRP, and the National Union have already threatened to leave the government should Sharon proceed with the plan as stated. "We won't stay in a government that dismantles settlements and transfers Jews from their homes," threatened NRP leader Effi Eitam, who calls for the expulsion of non- Jews from "the land of Israel". Opposition leader Shimon Peres also denounced Sharon's speech, describing it as "disappointing". "Instead of a decision, we were handed another delay, and a delay that is not necessarily in our favour. Sharon is turning Israel into a hostage to the Palestinian demography. If we continue to follow this policy, our situation will get increasingly worse," he said. The implementation of Sharon's designs, with their predictable and nightmarish impact on Palestinians' daily life, would very likely trigger fresh waves of violence. In the meantime, an average of two to three Palestinians are killed by the IDF on any given day. This week two children, aged two and five, were killed in Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank. The two-year-old toddler, Firas Al-Araj, was hit by several bullets in his chest as he was standing eating a piece of bread at the front door of his home. The other boy was reportedly playing with his sister in their home's backyard when he was shot. The Israeli media and officials have been tight-lipped on the latest atrocities, with Israel's largely obsequious media repeating the army's routine terse statements that "two Palestinian boys were killed in IDF operations". Needless to say, these latest murders and the world's callous indifference, is once again pushing the Palestinians towards a new level of frustration and desperation.
