Under siege in Ramallah and curfew in the territories, Palestinians ponder changes in strategy, reports Khaled Amayreh Click to view caption Israel has rejected the latest UN Security Council resolution demanding an end to the Israeli army siege of the already devastated Ramallah headquarters of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The resolution, which passed 14-0 with the United States abstaining, also called for Israeli troops to withdraw from Ramallah and other Palestinian cities. The Israeli state radio quoted "senior officials" as saying that Israel does not intend to comply with the resolution. Some Israeli officials interpreted the American abstention as a ploy to preserve favorable international relations ahead of a possible military campaign against Iraq. The Palestinian Authority welcomed the resolution but voiced doubts about the international community's resolve in pushing Israel to comply with the resolution. "We hope this resolution will not be consigned to the hundreds of other UN resolutions which Israel defied and ignored over the years," said PA official Yasser Abed Rabbo. Needless to say, Palestinian scepticism in this regard is more than legitimate and will likely be vindicated in the next few days. The Israeli onslaught began on Friday, 20 September, a few hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber struck aboard a passenger bus in Tel Aviv, killing himself and five Israelis. The bombing was in reaction to the killings of more than 40 Palestinian civilians in the previous two months at the ands of Israeli troops. It is significant to note that during this period there were no significant attacks by the Palestinians. Finding the requisite pretext in the suicide bombing, the Israeli army sent its tanks and bulldozers to the Muqataa compound in Ramallah. There, Israeli bulldozers worked round-the-clock for two days, demolishing the huge headquarters; confining the Palestinian leader and about 250 of his top aides and guards to two small halls and three rooms. In addition, Israeli soldiers took strategic positions around the compound, often firing at Arafat's guards inside and killing at least one person. The Israeli army further tightened the noose on the Palestinian president and his supporters on Sunday night by cutting water, electricity and telephone service to their building. At one point, an Israeli officer issued an ultimatum via loudspeaker, warning "everybody inside to come out with your hands raised or else the building will be destroyed on your heads". The ultimatum, transmitted live on Palestinian television, apparently galvanised the Palestinian people in support of Arafat. Indeed, thousands of angry Palestinians, from across the Palestinian political spectrum, took to the streets in several towns in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, defying the Israeli curfew and risking being shot by soldiers who were given instructions to "shoot to kill". And this is exactly what happened as Israeli soldiers opened fire on the largely peaceful protesters, killing three people including a journalist in Ramallah, and two other people, one of them a child, in Nablus and Tulkarm. The massive show of solidarity with Arafat seems to have been an expression of indignation at Israel's insolence rather than a manifestation of sudden genuine support for Arafat. Nonetheless, the largely spontaneous protests convinced the Israeli government to back off for the time being, enabling the Palestinian leader space to breathe. The Israeli army did withdraw bulldozers from the site in Ramallah, but only after they had demolished the bulk of the compound. As for the tanks, they are guaranteed to remain at the devastated compound "until Arafat surrenders the wanted terrorists". Meanwhile, the Israeli army killed nine more Palestinians on 23 September in the latest bloody incursion into the Gaza Strip. This brought to 14 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli troops in less than 48 hours. Israeli troops, backed by tanks, armed personnel carriers and Apache helicopter gunships raided three densely populated neighbourhoods in eastern and northern Gaza shortly after midnight. The forces dynamited and demolished several homes belonging to the families of suspected Palestinian guerrillas as well as 12 foundries the Israeli army alleged were being used for manufacturing weapons. Proprietors vehemently denied Israel's claims and accused the Israeli army of only seeking to punish them and destroy their only source of income. At the Shujaiyya neighbourhood east of Gaza, Palestinian defenders tried to put up a resistance and reportedly succeeded in damaging three tanks. However, it was abundantly clear that the defenders' sporadic resistance couldn't match Israel's overwhelming fire power. In addition to the nine Palestinians killed, over 30 others were injured, four of them critically, according to hospital sources in Gaza. Ismail Abu Shanab, a Hamas official in Gaza, vowed to retaliate for the "carnage" created by the raids. "They want to bully our people into capitulation, but I tell Sharon that the resistance will continue as long as the occupation does." He accused the Israeli army of adopting a "scorched land" policy, saying the Israeli army was first and foremost targetting the ordinary Palestinian citizen under the guise of fighting terror. The Israeli raid into Gaza came only a few hours after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that the army was going to launch several operations in Gaza targetting Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Sharon hinted that the Israeli army would this time target Hamas leaders in Gaza; most agree that this will likely cause more suicide bombings inside Israel. In the meantime, Israeli troops mercilessly repressed several largely non- violent demonstrations throughout the West Bank, using rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades and eventually live ammunitions. On Monday 24 September in Dura, 10 miles southwest of Hebron, Israeli soldiers opened fire on school children, injuring 13 of them. One Israeli tank also fired an artillery shell at the main power transformer in the town, causing a power outage for more than 12 hours. The latest Israeli rampage in Gaza and Dura comes as the bulk of Palestinian towns and villages remain under curfew. Fed up with the open-ended house imprisonment, Palestinians have begun to defy the curfew by non-violent means. But most Palestinians doubt that the Israeli army will allow Palestinians to achieve their goals through passive resistance.
