Siege of tormented Palestinians must end

At last the United States administration has made a statement criticising Israel's brutal action against the Palestine National Authority president's headquarters, Al Muqata'a in Ramallah. But it took U.S. President George Walker Bush five days to criticise Israel for the first time over its destruction of the compound.

Bush's spokeswoman said: "Israeli actions in and around Al Muqata'a are not helpful," an apparent shift in position by the White House which two days earlier said Israel "had a right to deal with its security."

It has become morally unacceptable not to protest in the strongest terms possible against the inaction on the part of the present U.S. administration while ordinary Palestinians and their leadership, are being subjected to unprecedented humiliation.

Under curfew in Ramallah, a friend of mine, Sam Bahour, emailed me this message: "Today (last Saturday) is our fourth day under 24-hour lockdown and there is no indication that this curfew will be lifted tomorrow. As you are seeing on TV the Israelis are proceeding to do what they know best - destroy."

Sam graphically describes the situation: "As I write (6p.m. Saturday), thick black smoke billows above Arafat's headquarters compound. Something is on fire but we cannot tell what. The wind is moving the smoke all over Al-Bireh."

He continues: "For the last two nights we have returned to the escalation we lived through this past April. At around three p.m. an unmanned plane started whizzing overhead, out of sight but making a whizzing sound for hours on end. A nerve wrecking tactic.

"At 9p.m. Apache helicopters, usually two or three, start flying at low altitude over Ramallah and Al-Bireh. They stay overhead for one to two hours. Then the tanks and APC's rumble through the streets. The children are horrified. Parents are in deep depression.

"As we ration our supplies and try to fill the long days Areen (his young daughter) asked me a question while I was staring at the Pesgot settlement, where my family had land that was confiscated. She asked, 'Dad, do the settler kids go to school when we are under curfew?' I explained that they did, knowing that the Israeli media machine will one day say, see they teach their kids to hate us."

The only type of action we have seen recently was the meeting, last week of the "Quartet", comprised of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia, which was more ceremonial than substantial. But time is running out for the Palestinians if the "Quartet", and particularly the U.S., don't start moving quickly.

"Force the Palestinians to Surrender and End the War" - the streets of Israel have been placarded with this slogan that dangerously paraphrases the sentiments of the average Israeli.

The Israeli public has been blinded, or chooses not to see, the true reality that they are living. The Israeli government is lost. The IDF has failed. The Israeli public is living in a world of fantasy. The U.S. should make it absolutely clear to premier Ariel Sharon that his war against Palestinian violence has failed and will continue to fail.

There are limits to how much force can be used against a civilian population of millions, and there are severe limits on the ability of military force to defeat the will of a people struggling for freedom and independence.

Israeli policy makers, the military and unfortunately the public, see only one side of the war. The failure of Israel to honestly look into the realities on the other side will continue to show that Israel is lost and that it has no real answers.

Sharon's government will continue to delude its public into believing that each new "operation" and "siege" will end the war and will bring the Palestinians to their knees. The latest of these "operations" aimed at isolating Arafat is doomed to failure both militarily and politically.

The Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon declared that the intention of the latest destruction around the Palestinian presidential HQ was to isolate Arafat.

But with thousands of Palestinians demonstrating in support of Arafat - many in defiance of military curfews, the vast majority of Palestinians, including Arafat's strongest critics, declare that they "are all Arafat - I am Arafat".

It is time for action to implement the Quartet's "roadmap for peace" in three stages as it is stipulated by the signatories, not by Sharon's interpretation.

In stage one, Israel, with security improvement, should withdraw its forces to September 2000 borders and support free Palestinian elections early in 2003.

But comprehensive security reforms are being undermined by Israel which is even preventing dozens of Palestinian security personnel from attending CIA-led training. Holding an election would seem a joke given 80 per cent of the Palestinian population is not allowed to travel within their towns and villages to register their votes.

The second phase intended to last until end of 2004 with a "focus on creating a Palestinian state with 'provisional' borders as a way station to a permanent status." These 'efforts' which 'should' focus on creating a Palestinian State are in reality up to Sharon's government to determine.

The third phase takes place by 2005 and talks about "negotiations aimed at a permanent status solution in 2005," with no mention of the refugees' right of return and no restriction on Israel settlement activity.

Any final settlement should be based on Resolutions 242 and 338. The world realises occupation is the root of the problem in the Middle East. UN resolutions must be enforced by an international task force.