By Khaled Amayreh Many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip reacted to last Friday's Wye Plantation agreement with ambivalence and scepticism, preferring to wait and see how, and if, the agreement would be implemented on the ground. On the one hand, Palestinians welcomed the promised redeployment of the Israeli army from 10 per cent of West Bank territory in addition to the partial and largely disingenuous redeployment from an additional three per cent, slated to become a "nature reserve". On the other hand, the bulk of Palestinians have been disheartened by the stringent conditions attached to the agreement, particularly with regards to security, and also by the uncertainty hanging over a third redeployment. Supporters of the deal argued that the Palestinians succeeded for the first time ever in regaining Palestinian land from a Likud-led government that embraces the ideology of "Eretz Yisrael". "The agreement symbolises the final downfall of the Zionist ideology which views the West Bank as part of historical, Biblical Israel," said Al-Tayeb Abdel-Rehim, an aide of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Nevertheless, he conceded, somewhat begrudgingly, that there were "flaws and blemishes" in the accord. "We did not get all we wanted," he said, but added in a self-reassuring tone that "this is an interim agreement and it will be followed by a third phase of redeployment and then the final status talks." For ordinary Palestinians, the agreement made too many concessions to Israel in return for too little. One Palestinian concern is the security annex to the agreement, which obliges the Palestinian Authority to fight "incitement" without clearly distinguishing between legitimate freedom of expression and incitement to violence. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a former Minister of Higher Education, warned against infringing on civil liberties, especially freedom of the press and expression in the name of fulfilling commitments. Another Palestinian councillor, Hosam Khader of the Balata refugee camp near Nablus and a long-time critic of Arafat's administration, voiced anxiety over the role given to the American Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] in overseeing Palestinian security compliance. "I'm afraid our entire security apparatus will become an extra-territorial department of the CIA," said Khader. As expected, Hamas castigated the agreement, saying it amounted to total surrender. Sheikh Nayef Rajoub, Hamas spokesman in the Hebron area, described the accord as a "security pact between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," saying the "Israelis, Americans and the PA are all after Hamas." Less than a week after the White House signing ceremony, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed not to begin implementing the agreement until the Palestinians presented to the Americans a cohesive security memorandum detailing their plan to combat violence. Netanyahu said a special cabinet session, previously scheduled for today, would not be held pending Palestinian compliance. "As far as we are concerned, and for all practical purposes, we will not be able to begin implementing our part of the agreement until the Palestinians implement their part," he said. Netanyahu also criticised statements attributed to chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Ereikat in which he was quoted as saying the agreement stipulated a meeting of the PLO Central Council, rather than the Palestinian National Council [PNC], to strike off anti-Israel provisions from the PLO's charter. "We will not settle for anything less than a meeting of the PNC," Netanyahu said. His statement drew an angry reaction from Palestinian negotiator Hassan Asfour. "It seems that once again Netanyahu is going to succumb to political blackmail by the settlers and extremists. It shows that Netanyahu has unwillingly signed the agreement under pressure from the American president." The opposite interpretations of key parts of the agreement -- security and the Palestinian charter -- indicate that implementation is bound to face major hurdles. Meanwhile, Palestinian police arrested a Palestinian on suspicion of killing a Jewish settler on Monday. Police sources in Hebron said the Palestinian, Jamil Khalifeh, confessed to having killed the settler. Khalifeh was apparently angered by the agreement and acted on his own initiative. His arrest demonstrates PA resolve to combat violence and deny Israel any pretexts for not honouring its commitments. Earlier, Palestinian police effectively cordoned off the Gaza home of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin, denying journalists access to the ailing sheikh who has vowed that "as long as there is Israeli occupation and terrorism, resistance will continue." Last Friday, PA police briefly detained 11 journalists and cameramen, including a foreign reporter, for interviewing Yassin without obtaining prior permission from "official circles". In Nablus, PA police arrested Sheikh Hamed Al-Beitawi, head of the pro-Hamas League of Palestinian Ulama [religious scholars], a few hours after he gave an interview to an Arab satellite television station, in which he castigated the agreement. According to his son, Hatem, Sheikh Al-Beitawi was charged with incitement and endangering Palestinian national interests. A leading Islamic Jihad figure, Sheikh Nayef Azzam, was also arrested in Gaza on Sunday on similar charges.
