War by instalments

Whether Israel engages a massive military strike, or continues its war of attrition, the consequences for the Palestinians are appalling, writes Graham Usher from Jerusalem
In the absence of an internationally monitored cease-fire, or any other international intervention, the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority are slouching inexorably toward a zero-sum conflict: for one to exist, the other has to disappear.
The drift to that denouement accelerated on Monday when Nidal Sharouf, a 20-year old Palestinian from Burqin near Jenin, blew himself up next to a railway station in the Israeli town of Binyamina. The blast left two Israeli soldiers dead and 14 others wounded. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, saying the hit was in revenge for Israel's attacks on their cadre, most recently the abduction of Mahmoud Hamdan by an Israeli undercover squad in Bethlehem on Sunday.
Israel, predictably, struck back, shelling PA security and intelligence positions in Jenin, Tulkarm, Hebron and Khan Yunis. But the real revenge was to be exacted the next day.
At around 3pm Tuesday two US-built Apache helicopters swooped to kill four Palestinians and wound 14 others in a pigeon coop in an orchard in Bethlehem. Two of the men were members of Hamas, including Omar Saada, reportedly the head of Hamas's military arm in the Bethlehem area.
The army said it had "unequivocal" intelligence the four were about to launch "a major terror strike" in Jerusalem, possibly to coincide with closing ceremonies of the Jewish Olympic games now taking place in the city. Hamas political leader in Gaza, Abdel-Aziz Al- Rantisi, said the four were in the orchard to greet another Palestinian recently freed from an Israeli jail. He also vowed Hamas "will respond in the time and place it determines."
The time and place were not slow in coming. Ninety minutes later, and for first time in the West Bank since the Intifada started in September, a mortar shell was fired on Gilo settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. It landed without inflicting injury but all were aware that another red line in the conflict had been crossed.
The army responded with a ferocious barrage of fire on the neighbouring Palestinian village of Beit Jala. This was met with fire from Palestinian guerrillas and, six hours later, another mortar shell.
The National and Islamic Forces in Bethlehem, a cross-factional body that guides the uprising and includes Hamas and Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the two strikes. It also declared dead the cease- fire brokered by CIA chief George Tenet on 13 June. The PA went on supreme alert and the Israeli army, in the largest military mobilisation since the Intifada erupted, brought in infantry, tanks and armoured personnel carriers near and above the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem and Jenin.
This is where they remain, poised, if Ariel Sharon so orders, to deliver a "crushing military blow" to floor the PA once and for all and open the way to a full Israeli re-occupation, at least of Bethlehem, Jenin and perhaps Hebron.
But it is not yet clear whether the Israeli leader is ready to embark on this road. In the last week he has reaffirmed Israel's policy of "active defence" to quell the uprising and assured Arafat (via his son Omri) there are no plans to destroy his authority. He has also called on Europe and the US to exert "maximum pressure" on the Palestinian leader to bring about an "absolute cessation of terror", preferring for now, it would seem, a diplomatic solution.
But Palestinians are aware a "restrained" Sharon is no less lethal than an "active" one. For in bowing to an international consensus on refraining from a massive strike against the PA, and garnering political kudos for doing so, he can proceed apace with the same policy and the same end. At least this is the view of Palestinian lawmaker and the Arab League's new Commissioner for Information, Hanan Ashrawi.
"When people ask me if there is going to be a war, I say there is a war now. It is a unilateral war by an occupying power, with a strong army, against a civilian population living in prisons and under siege. But does that mean Sharon is about to pull out the F16s and commit genocide? No, it means attrition, demolishing our infrastructure, our institutions, shooting to kill our activists and civilians, sating Sharon's appetite for annexation by taking our lands and destroying our economy.
"This is not necessarily a huge army crushing a defenceless people. It can be done away from the media. It need not be dramatic. But it remains a slow death and a war by instalments."
Recommend this page
Related stories:
Steadfast in Hebron
Apartheid is alive and well
The price of Camp David
Liquidating Arafat
Israel prepares for war
Spoiling for a strike 12 - 18 July 2001
Intifada in focus
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor