Boomerang effect

Palestinians were far from surprised at news of last week's Sinai bombings, reports Khaled Amayreh from the West Bank

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Palestinian officials, including PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, condemned last week's bombings in Taba and expressed solidarity with Egypt. In a letter to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Arafat denounced the attack and voiced sympathy with the families of the victims, "on my behalf and on behalf of the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people, we express our true feelings of solidarity with the families of the victims and send our condolences to them."

Similar sentiments were voiced by PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and other Palestinian officials who sought to highlight the "strong relations between Egypt and the Palestinian people".

Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah likewise sought to distance themselves from the bombings, re- affirming a long-standing policy of confining resistance to the Israeli occupation to the Palestinian arena and not exporting violence to foreign, especially Arab, countries.

"We wouldn't do anything to harm the interests of Egypt," said a Hamas spokesman in Gaza.

And there is no reason to believe Palestinian resistance groups were involved in the Taba bombings: Egypt has been forging a close relationship with these groups, especially Hamas.

The Palestinians view relations with Egypt as strategically important, sufficiently so that no responsible Palestinian faction would court their ruin.

Nor have Israeli intelligence or government officials pointed an accusing finger towards the Palestinians. Yet it is clear that a vast majority of Palestinians, including the Palestinian leadership, blame ongoing Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip for making the bombings "inevitable".

"I have no doubt that what happened in Taba and what has been taking place in northern Gaza are linked. The killing of innocent Palestinians in Gaza leads to the killing of innocent Israeli civilians, it is a macabre equation, and one for which Israel is first and foremost to blame," said Hani Al-Masri, a prominent Palestinian columnist and political analyst.

Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly by telephone, Al-Masri angrily pointed to the contradictions of Israel "sending tourists to the Arab world while slaughtering Palestinian children in Gaza".

"They should have realised that hatred of Israel is growing throughout the Arab-Muslim world because of what Israel is doing to the Palestinians." Although the culprits remain unidentified, Al-Masri pointed out that virtually every Arab and Muslim is becoming an enemy of Israel as a result of what he calls "Israel's Nazi-like treatment of the Palestinian people".

"Israel is pushing Arabs and Muslims all over the world to the edge. When Arabs and Muslims in neighbouring countries turn on their TVs and see the gruesome images of decapitated children and mutilated women in Gaza, how do you think they will react?"

Similarly, Hamas officials in Gaza, while expressing sorrow for the loss of innocent Egyptian and other lives, said "Israel brought this on itself."

"It is only natural that the wanton massacres Israel is carrying out in Gaza will boomerang, and I see these things [the bombings] as a direct result of Israeli aggression," said Hamas Gaza spokesman Fawaz Barhum.

"Israel cannot slaughter children and women in Gaza at will and then expect Arabs and Muslims to give hospitality to its tourists."

The non-involvement of Hamas or other Palestinian resistance groups in the Taba bombings does not seem to carry much weight with Israeli officials.

"Terror is terror regardless of the perpetrator," said Amira Oron of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. She told the Weekly that there could be no connection between "what is happening in the [occupied Palestinian] territories and the Taba bombings.

"I know very well that Arabs will jump and say it's a reaction to what Israel is doing in Gaza. But this is not exactly true, terror happens in other places such as Madrid and Istanbul."

Oron nonetheless conceded that the Israeli domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, had anticipated that "something like this would happen sooner or later."

"Shin Bet warned Israeli tourists not to go to Egypt at this time, but they didn't heed the warnings."

Asked whether the continued killing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank made such incidents as the bombings at Taba inevitable Oron said: "This is how the terrorists think, but not us. Egypt is a moderate country which has suffered as a result of terror and we hope Israel and Egypt will cooperate more closely against the terrorist groups."

Al-Qaeda leaders, including Ayman El-Zawahri, have been increasingly focussing on the "genocide in Palestine" to highlight their anti-American campaign. Hani Al-Masri believes increasing involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of Al-Qaeda and like- minded organisations will "result in a drastic escalation in tension and violence, not only in Palestine but all over the world".

"No other cause could so enhance the image and strengthen the popularity of Al-Qaeda."