The noose tightens around Palestine
By Adam Hanieh
RAMALLAH — On September 4, three bombs exploded within seconds of each other in the busy shopping area of Ben Yehuda Street, Jerusalem. The bombing happened a little over one month after a similar attack in the nearby Mahane Yehuda market.
Immediately following the bombing, a tight closure was announced on the West Bank and Gaza strip, following the pattern of the Israeli response to the Mahane Yehuda bombing. Israeli and US spokespeople made similar demands on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to "dismantle the terrorist infrastructure" and disable organisations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Responsibility for the bombing remains unclear. Israeli military sources announced the existence of a Hamas leaflet a couple of hours after the bombing. However, reminiscent of the earlier bombing, the leaflet is now widely regarded as false; the Israeli military is currently pointing the finger at Hizbullah forces in south Lebanon.
One major difference between this bombing and the one last month is the question of Lebanon. Stealing the media spotlight from the bombing during the following weekend was the bungled Israeli raid on Lebanon near the coastal town of Sidon.
Twelve Israeli commandos were killed as they parachuted into Lebanon in an operation that caused great schisms within Israeli society. Prominent Knesset member Yossi Sarid, leader of the left-Zionist Meretz party, announced the formation of a committee to support peaceful withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
The fact that this question is now being raised by a Knesset leader indicates the widespread support for such an option. Even the right-wing Ariel Sharon, who engineered the original invasion of Lebanon, has admitted that the "option is a possibility".
From one closure to another
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has used the bombing to increase pressure on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to intolerable levels. The closure implemented has been almost identical to the one following the previous bombing.
This first closure had only just been lifted before the September 4 bombing. Some towns, such as Beit Sahour and Bethlehem, were sealed for a total of 28 days.
During the last month, Israeli military authorities destroyed 31 agricultural dirt roads in an attempt to stop residents commuting to and from West Bank towns.
Soldiers invaded 45 villages, and many residents reported that they had their houses raided, their furniture broken and their cars stolen as part of this harassment.
In the first week of the previous closure, 167 Palestinians were arrested. A similar pattern is occurring this time, with Israeli soldiers carrying out raids in the 97% of the West Bank under their military control.
Netanyahu declared on July 31 that his security services and military would reserve the right to conduct military actions in the remaining 3% of Palestinian-controlled areas. In the last month, 127 Palestinians have been administratively detained (arrested without charge or trial). This brings the total number of administrative detainees to over 500.
Economic effects
One of the main reasons for the closure is to damage the Palestinian economy. Losses are estimated at US$6 million for every day of closure.
There is a growing shortage of basic foodstuffs in the West Bank and Gaza markets. Vegetables are rotting in the fields, resulting in a loss of US$350,000 per day. The damage to other agricultural markets, like flowers, is estimated at US$100,000 per day. The supply of dairy products is decreasing by nearly 40%.
The unemployment rate has risen from 40% to 75% in Gaza and from 35% to 65% in the West Bank. Approximately 65,000 labourers have been denied entry to Israel to resume their work.
In the most serious and long-term move, the Israeli Builders and Contractors Association announced that it would cease hiring or employing Palestinian workers, even those with work permits from the Israeli authorities. Approximately 30,000 Palestinians are employed by this association, and the loss of their jobs will mean a massive loss of personal and national revenue.
Closure also impedes the work of Palestinian democratic and academic institutions. On July 31, 18 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council were forced to return to Ramallah after their attempts to pass through Israel to their homes in Gaza were denied.
Before being permitted even to return to Ramallah, the members were detained for seven hours at the checkpoint. This occurred despite the fact that Legislative Council members hold VIP cards, which enable free passage. The members finally returned to Gaza the next day, yet this trip lasted six hours, again due to problems and delays at Israeli checkpoints.
Other Palestinian officials, also holding VIP cards, were denied passage through the Allenby Bridge into Jordan or the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
Around 33,000 students and 15,000 teachers have been denied access to universities and other institutions of higher learning.
Closure leads to violence
Many Palestinians have been assaulted at the Israeli military checkpoints, and others have been randomly shot at as they were heading to work or trying to transfer the wounded to nearby hospitals.
Sleiman Alhamouz, a resident of Al Fawwar refugee camp, was brutally beaten while heading to a hospital in Hebron for an examination. Alhamouz had his clothes stripped off before being beaten by the soldiers with rifle butts, detained for five hours and finally sent home in critical condition.
Sayel Zeidan was brutally beaten at a checkpoint near his village of Bani Naim. Mahmoud Zahran was assaulted by Israeli soldiers when they learned that he was employed as a driver for the Palestinian security services. His clothes were stripped off; he was insulted and then detained for several hours.
Israeli soldiers have also been hampering the movement of ambulances between West Bank towns, resulting in serious difficulties for local medical services. A number of medical personnel were barred from resuming their duties at hospitals, while several emergency cases were placed at the mercy of the Israeli military, which often refuses to cooperate.
A Red Crescent ambulance transferring a patient in critical condition was refused entry at the Ramallah checkpoint. A second Red Crescent ambulance was shot at near Hebron.
In an appalling incident, Israeli soldiers did not allow Fatma Jibril, who was in labour, to go to the hospital, resulting in the death of the child and endangering her life.
House demolition
One of the most devastating effects of the closure is the continued demolition of Palestinian homes by the Israeli military authorities. The total number of house demolitions from the July 30 bombing to the September 4 bombing was 52.
Most of these houses were destroyed on the pretext of "illegal building", but building permits are almost never issued to Palestinians, leading to massive overcrowding. More than 140 people have been made homeless by the demolitions.
Most of these homes lie near settler bypass roads or in the path of proposed settlement expansion. The Israeli government exploits the fact that international attention is focused elsewhere, and the Palestinian population cannot react to these demolitions because of the siege.
The home owners are unable to get to their lawyers, and their lawyers cannot go to their clients.
Who benefits?
These facts go a long way to explaining the suicide operations. However, there is also the political factor. Not only is there widespread despair because of the Israeli actions, but there is also widespread political despair.
The inability of the Palestinian leadership to fundamentally oppose the course dictated by US and Israeli imperialism, and the total vacuum of secular opposition to this leadership, are painfully apparent.
The result is an ambivalence towards suicide operations. Support is expressed on the street and in the refugee camps by those most bearing the brunt of the continued occupation. This is why Arafat is not able to carry out the demands of Israel and the US to break the infrastructure of Hamas.
However, this support should not be overstated — significant layers of the Palestinian population see the futility of such actions. Indeed, a common suspicion expressed after the last bombing was that the Israelis themselves were responsible. Although this is extremely unlikely, such a sentiment indicates who really benefits.
A criticism voiced against Israel during the whole Oslo process has been the creation of "facts on the ground" which predetermine the outcome of any negotiated settlement.
The current period is a continuation of this approach — house demolitions, arbitrary arrests and population transfer all significantly affect the demographic and political balance in the area. Without a coordinated popular opposition, a disastrous final settlement is drawing closer.