Wanna bet? Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but, pardner, you WILL disarm!
Posted on 05/01/2003 6:03:52 AM PDT by Kieri
Militants Say They Will Not Disarm, but Hint They Are Ready to Cut a Deal With New Palestinian Prime Minister
By Karin Laub Associated Press Writer
Published: May 1, 2003
JERUSALEM (AP) - Militias in the West Bank and Gaza Strip say they will not disarm, and have delivered that message to the new Palestinian prime minister with a suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv pub and threats to unleash more attacks.
The prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, now has two options for carrying out what many see as his central mission - bringing the armed groups under control. He can either bargain with them or crack down at the risk of triggering civil war.
Militia leaders have signaled privately, including in talks with Abbas in the weeks before he became premier, that they're ready, for a price, to halt attacks on Israelis. Ending the violence is a key requirement of the "road map" to peace unveiled by international mediators hours after Abbas was sworn in Wednesday.
Yet the incentives are only Israel's to give: a withdrawal from Palestinian towns, and a halt to arrests and targeted killings of wanted Palestinians.
Israel, in turn, says it will make such gestures only once Abbas begins disarming and arresting militiamen responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis in the past 31 months of fighting.
Abbas' hands are further tied by the widespread support the militias - Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades linked to his Fatah movement - enjoy among Palestinians embittered by Israeli travel bans and the reoccupation of many of their towns.
Furthermore, the Palestinian security forces have been rendered largely ineffective in the West Bank as a result of Israeli military strikes, including missile attacks that have demolished most of their bases. In the Gaza Strip, 14,000 armed men are still on the job, but Israeli restrictions greatly hamper their movement.
Despite such a difficult opening position, Abbas promised in his first speech to parliament earlier this week that he would not tolerate the possession of illegal weapons and would enforce the rule of law.
The militant groups were quick to respond. "We will not drop our weapons until the occupation ends," said Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, unlike Abbas, do not believe in peace negotiations with the Jewish state. The Al Aqsa Brigades appear more likely to agree to lay down their weapons if there is a genuine peace effort, but many of their members have been radicalized during the current violence conflict.
Abbas, who considers the armed Palestinian uprising a major mistake, has told his confidants he would begin his cleanup in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is strongest.
Ziad Abu Amr, a veteran Hamas watcher and culture minister in Abbas' Cabinet, says he expects the prime minister will first opt for persuasion, but that force might follow. "The idea is to avoid a violent showdown," Abu Amr said. "But in the final analysis, he (Abbas) is going to exercise his authority as a prime minister."
A crackdown would be led by Mohammed Dahlan, the former head of the Preventive Security Service in Gaza. Dahlan, now minister for security affairs, has bragged that he is not afraid of a showdown with Islamic militants, and once referred contemptuously to one of the Hamas leaders as the "head of the Taliban in the Gaza Strip."
It wouldn't be the first Palestinian Authority offensive against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In the mid-1990s, when interim land-for-peace deals with Israel were under threat because of suicide bombings, Palestinian security forces rounded up hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists, shut down Islamic charities and Hamas social welfare institutions, and kicked out Hamas-affiliated mosque preachers.
In 1995, in the bloodiest confrontation between Palestinian security agents and militants to date, 16 Hamas supporters were killed in a firefight with police outside a mosque.
In the past 31 months, Israel has carried out its own crackdown, killing scores of militants in targeted attacks and arresting thousands, often using intelligence provided by Palestinian informers. Despite such major blows the militant groups have proven resilient; suicide bombings and shootings continue.
To date, there have been 89 suicide bombings, including one early Wednesday in a Tel Aviv pub, "Mike's Place," in which three bystanders were killed. In the case of Hamas, each killing of a prominent Hamas activist by Israel has brought new recruits.
Wanna bet? Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but, pardner, you WILL disarm!
Wanna bet? Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but, pardner, you WILL disarm!
Not a problem!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.