24 - 30 January 2002
Issue No.570
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 24 - 30 January 2002 Issue No.570 |
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Killing the messenger
By targeting private homes and public buildings -- including the Voice of Palestine radio building -- Israel is tightening the noose on Arafat, reports Khaled Amayreh from Jerusalem
Given the tacit green light from the Bush administration, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is seeking to further cripple the leadership of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Aside from targeting public buildings, police stations and the Gaza airport, Sharon has placed Arafat -- whom he has declared "irrelevant" -- under virtual house arrest in Ramallah.
On Friday, 18 January, Sharon ordered the destruction of the Voice of Palestine radio station (VOP) in Ramallah, the main communication organ of the Palestinian Authority. A powerfully symbolic move, the blowing up of the five-story building, which houses the VOP's studios and administrative offices, was clearly meant to wound the PA leadership.
For nearly 30 years, Palestinians were at the mercy of Israeli Arabic radio -- a virtual propaganda tool for the Israeli occupation army. VOP's nationalist message and patriotic programming was evidently unpalatable to Israeli security and the political establishment. Compared to Nazi-style tactics by PA official Ahmed Abdel- Rahman, Israel's attempt to kill the messenger was nonetheless unsuccessful. The VOA managed to resume transmission on a local frequency from a secret location.
Obviously infuriated by the move, VOP Director-General Radwan Abu Ayyash said that Sharon's order proved that Israel "is not interested in peaceful coexistence. They only want to subjugate and enslave us." Abu Ayyash added that Israel's "criminal actions against our institutions testify to its designs and malicious intents."
"They are trying to tell the Palestinian people, 'Look: you have no choice but to accept apartheid, colonialism and occupation. We've destroyed your radio station, we are placing your president under house arrest, and America is in our pocket, so you have no choice but to surrender and raise the white flag," fumed Abu Ayyash.
"But we are telling them that we will not surrender and our voice will continue to be heard. We will expose your brutality and evil. We are accustomed to your savagery and repression. You may succeed in destroying a radio station in Ramallah and demolishing civilians' homes in Rafah, but you won't be able to destroy our will to struggle for freedom and peace," Abu Ayyash added defiantly.
The attack on the VOP coincided with an aerial attack by Israeli warplanes on the Palestinian town of Tulkarm that killed at least one Palestinian and injured more than 20 others. The attack, carried out by F-16 fighter jets, came after a Palestinian guerrilla fighter killed six Israelis in the town of Khadera on Thursday, apparently in retaliation for the assassination by the Israeli army of Ra'ed Al-Karmi, a leader of the Fatah militia in Tulkarm.
On Sunday, Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Dalya Rabin, daughter of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, admitted in an interview with the Israeli army that Al-Karmi's murder triggered the Khadera killings. "There was quiet for three weeks, and I believe the calm would have lasted longer if we hadn't assassinated Al- Karmi," she said.
Rabin's warning, however, went unheeded by Sharon. On Monday, 21 January, the Israeli army reoccupied the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm. Soon after, Israeli troops imposed a tight curfew on the town of 100,000, warning people through loudspeakers that they would be shot if they were seen outside their homes. Edgy soldiers then stormed homes in downtown Tulkarm.
"They behaved like gangsters and street criminals. They destroyed our television set, smashed the furniture and threw out our food. They threatened to shoot us if we dared to protest ... then they left," said resident Mohamed Jallad.
In the northern suburbs of the town, the occupation troops reportedly strafed residential homes with heavy machine-gun fire. "I was getting ready to perform the dawn prayer when a volley of bullets hit the kitchen," said Muhsen Al-Jamal, another Tulkarm resident. "I thought I was going to die. I moved all the children to a back room and we huddled there until sunrise," he said. "Why doesn't CNN or the New York Times say anything about Jewish terror?"
By nightfall, at least two Palestinians were dead and more than 20 were injured, many seriously. An Israeli army spokesman announced that more than 20 residents -- described as "terrorist activists" -- were arrested. But it is unclear whether the detainees were anything more than peaceful resisters. Israel routinely refers to all forms of Palestinian activism against Israeli apartheid as "terrorism," even when the activities are peaceful.
The onslaught continued on Tuesday, when four Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops during an incursion into the West bank city of Nablus. Israeli commandos raided a Hamas hideout and explosives lab, army and Palestinian officials said, prompting Hamas to announce that it would no longer abide by a truce with Israel.
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