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November 30, 2001/Kislev 15, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 12
U.S. envoys may halt Mideast violence
MITCHELL DANOW
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The terror attacks that greeted the new U.S. peace team in the Middle East raise the question: Can these envoys succeed where their predecessors failed?
A burst of Palestinian terror accompanied the first full day of work on Nov. 26 for former Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni and the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, William Burns.
In the most serious attack, two Palestinian gunmen from the West Bank city of Jenin entered Israel just hours after Israeli troops withdrew in response to American pressure. The gunmen opened fire on civilians in the northern Israeli city of Afula, killing two Israelis and wounding dozens more.
Later in the day, Palestinian gunmen wounded three Israelis in a shooting attack in the Gaza Strip, wounded a foreign worker in an Israeli car in the West Bank, and raked workers on the Trans-Israel Highway - inside Israel but near Palestinian-controlled areas - with gunfire.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received news of the Afula attack while he was meeting with Zinni. One of the gunmen was from Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
Sharon told Zinni that Arafat had established "a coalition of terror" with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the PLO, the Palestinian militias and the Force 17 presidential guard. Zinni also took a helicopter trip over the West Bank with Sharon.
Even before the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000, there had been no shortage of envoys - most notably from the United States, but also from the European Union, Russia and elsewhere - who sought to prod Israel and the Palestinian Authority into some semblance of peaceful relations.
Earlier this year, a U.S.-led international panel known as the Mitchell Commission set out a series of confidence-building measures to help end Israeli-Palestinian violence. Israeli and Palestinian officials welcomed the initiative - then returned to the bloodletting.
Several weeks later, the director of the CIA, George Tenet, arrived with a blueprint for a cease-fire. Officials from both sides agreed to the truce Tenet drew up - but the welcoming words were not followed with meaningful implementation.
Now come Zinni and Burns, accompanied by U.S. diplomat Aaron Miller, a veteran member of U.S. Mideast peace efforts. Zinni, who took a helicopter tour of the West Bank with Sharon, told the Israeli premier he will stay as long as necessary to achieve his task.
Sharon's office said on Nov. 26 that "Israel attaches supreme importance to achieving a cease-fire."
Even Sharon's dovish foreign minister, Shimon Peres, did not get carried away by the envoys' arrival. "We will do our utmost for the mission to succeed, but we see very clearly the difficulties ahead," Peres told reporters.
Yet there are reasons to believe this U.S. mission might yield tangible results where others have failed.
The Bush administration wants solid Arab backing for its war on terror. Ending Israeli-Palestinian violence with a peace accord the Arab world considers fair would help advance American interests.
Moreover, many have come to see the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict as fertile ground for the extremism that breeds terror. With many in the Arab world criticizing U.S. support for Israel - which allegedly comes at the Palestinians' expense - American officials have an added incentive to get the two sides to end violence.
In addition, Sharon will head to Washington the first weekend in December to see President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, and may wish to avoid the kind of public dressing-down that soured his last visit.
Another reason is the number of losses Israel and the Palestinians have suffered. More than 700 Palestinians and nearly 200 Israelis have died since the uprising began over a year ago.
Then there are the financial losses: Israeli officials earlier this month declared that the nation is officially in a state of recession. The Palestinian economy has been decimated.
The cost of the violence provides a strong motivation to reach a cease-fire. There was some evidence of this last week, when Palestinian researchers released a poll indicating growing Palestinian dissatisfaction with the uprising against Israel.
On the other side of the balance sheet, there is one compelling reason to believe that Zinni & Co. will fail like their predecessors: the violence shows no sign of letting up. Indeed, hours before the envoys arrived Nov. 26, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the Erez Crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, lightly wounding two Israeli soldiers.
The following day brought the deadly Afula attack. The two terrorists were shot and killed after firing into a crowd of civilians. The incident took place hours after Israeli forces withdrew from the West Bank city of Jenin. Israeli forces had moved into six Palestinian cities Oct. 18, a day after Palestinian terrorists killed Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
Last weekend, Israel and the Palestinians engaged in a series of tit-for-tat strikes.
Nov. 23, Israel killed Hamas leader Mahmoud Abu Hanoud in a helicopter attack. Hanoud had topped Israel's most-wanted list for allegedly planning terror attacks that killed dozens of Israelis. Israel charged that Hanoud was behind the June suicide bombing outside the Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv and another suicide attack in August at the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem.
Hanoud's death followed an incident that created more Palestinian anger and prompted an Israeli investigation. On Nov. 22, five children from one Palestinian family were killed in an explosion in Gaza. The children ranged in age from 6 to 14.
On Nov. 26, Israeli officials announced that soldiers had placed a bomb in a fortified position that Palestinian gunmen frequently used to fire on Israelis. It exploded when the children happened upon the bomb and began playing with it.
The army called the incident "serious and very regrettable," but faces criticism for placing the bomb in a place where children pass by.
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