Barry Rubin notes that the Palestinian terror war continues against
His attack will be encouraged by the official Palestinian media and by PA-appointed and paid clerics in their sermons.
He will not be stopped by PA forces.
If he succeeds in killing Israelis he will be praised by PA institutions, the ruling Fatah group, and the Palestinian media.
If he is captured or arrested by
Israel, the PA will demand his release. After an attack he will not be arrested by the PA. In a few high-profile cases attracting Western pressure he will be placed under house arrest and soon allowed to "escape."
If he is killed the PA will make him an honored martyr.
If he is a member of the ruling Fatah group, it will not criticize, expel or punish him.
Whatever he does, including the brutal murder of Israeli civilians, he will still be welcome to join the PA payroll as a security man.
If as a member of the security services he commits a terror attack, he will not be fired.
According to Rubin, during the “cease fire” (February 8 through July 8), Palestinians have carried out 812 attacks on Israeli targets (with thousands more disrupted by Israeli security efforts). In the last three months, 21 Palestinians under the age of 18 were caught at Israeli checkpoints trying to smuggle bombs or weapons into
Remarkably, nearly half (47 percent) of the attacks since the cease-fire have been claimed by Fatah, the ruling group in the PA, into whose hands the international community now proposes to place $3 billion in aid [actually $9 billion -- ed.]. To date, no Fatah official, member or security force employee has been punished, expelled, or fired for involvement in almost 400 attacks.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s roundup of cease fire news is here.
If they keep this up, we just may have to downgrade the PLO office.
Posted by: Mordechai | July 20, 2005 at 05:18 AM