Al-Aqsa opts out of Mideast truce

[bemildred]

Sounds like some horse trading is going on.

The hardline Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades group ended its truce on anti-Israeli attacks after Palestinian security forces
arrested 20 militants in Yasser Arafat's headquarters.

The announcement, which could re-ignite the violence in the region, came as Israel made it clear it was not planning to
change its controversial policy to isolate Arafat.

---

A senior Palestinian official told AFP those arrested would be transferred to a prison in the West Bank town of Jericho.
He said the arrests had come as a result of "US pressure" and with the knowledge of Israel.

---

News of the arrests came shortly after reports emerged that the US administration had softened its demands on the
Palestinian Authority (PA) for the immediate dismantling of militant groups.

theage.com.au

[Darranar]

1. The first, perhaps, but not the last...

Mark my words, the cease fire is going down, and this withdrawal is only the beginning.

[newyorican]

2. I think

Abbas is soon to follow. He has come back empty-handed too many times. He is also being looked at as the hand-picked overseer of the annexation of over half of the WB. Hope he has a good security detail.

[Gimel]

14. Dismantling terror

This is an important step in the first stage of the Road Map. Abbas opposes dismantling Hamas, Alaqsa and Islamic Jihad. He is afraid of their power.

Arresting terror suspects is crutial to Road Map. If they are allowed to continue to rebuild during this cease fire, as their imprisoned members are released, it only plays into their hands for a future reign of terror.

[bemildred]

17. I don't think it is so much that he opposes it,

as that he lacks the capability, and there may be some
disagreement about what that phrase means. It seems
clear he is trying to stop the bombings and follow a
political track.

The IDF tried really, really hard for quite a long time
to "dismantle the terrorist networks" and failed to make
much of a dent in their capability to blow up buses when
they felt like it, so I fail to see how Abbas can be expected
to outperform them in his present circumstances.

It is in any case fallacious to think that the capability to
commit terror can be somehow dismantled, it is not some sort
of hi-tech secret, and there is no complex human organization
behind it. The terror will stop when nobody wants to do it
and nobody supports the resistance. A real, independent
Palestinian state would be a big step in that direction.

[bemildred]

3. I am not sure.

When you juggle grenades, some times you get explosions,
but, this sounds like some political posturing; like Shrub
backs off on the Palestinian civil war a bit, Arafat arrests a few
guys, Al Aqsa shakes their fist at everybody for it, Sharon
dismantles a few "outposts", and everybody looks good for the
home audience while Shrub gets to string his road map along a
bit further. If you get a bus blown up, then I am wrong and we
are back to hostilities.

[Darranar]

4. I surely hope so...

But this seems to me like a hole in the dam-one that will get larger and larger until the whole thing collapses. Perhaps it was intended as political manuevering, but other terrorist organizations could follow them, and Israel will surely use this as an excuse to promote their continued presence in many Palestinian areas.

[bemildred]

6. Fundamentals do need to be addressed.

It is wise to keep one's eye on what happens there.

But it also is good to keep in mind that a good deal of
"News" is theatrical in nature, it is intended to cover
political butts, or sometimes to damage them, rather than
to inform.

[Darranar]

8. Of course...

Objective media may eventually become, if it is not already, an oxymoron.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Al-Aqsa was never part of the truce

they are no different from Hamas, except that Al-Aqsa is loyal to Arafat.

Abu Mazen may be right in fearing a Palestinian civil war would ensue were he to crackdown on militant groups. If you want a nation of your own, you will have to crackdown on those militants that refuse to obey the fledging government. Israelis had to crackdown on their own militants during the British Mandate.

[bemildred]

7. The story says:

"It had officially signed on to a suspension of attacks declared
by other groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, on June 29."

[Darranar]

9. A latecomer?

Is that why they weren't mentioned in the official names of groups that signed on?

[bemildred]

10. So it seems.

[vierundzwanzig]

11. Israel had to crack down on their own militants

... I don't think so. Ben Gurion was part of the notorious terrorist Stern Gang and they made him head of state.

Somehow everybody seems to forget that Israel's foundations are terrorist (without even deliving into the current state of affairs).

[Wonder]

12. An Interesting Point

that is why I am having trouble with this dismantling of militants. Rather than during this ceasefire some negotiations convening in regard to some of those harder issues left on final status, and bit more show of good faith from the Israeli..General

I do not know all the fine points during the crack down on the Israeli militants, do you? Was the BA assassinating irgun, haganah and stern gang leaders and their families?

without all the fine points it seems Israel got the state, came partition and there was kind of transference from terrorism to legitimacy.

[IndianaGreen]

13. Ben Gurion was not part of the Stern Gang

Sorry, vierundzwanzig, but Ben Gurion was not part of the Stern Gang.

Every nation's freedom fighters are referred to as terrorists. Remember the Mau Mau terrorists, and their leader that Britain imprisoned for many years. Jomo Kenyatta was a scholar and poet, and he became Kenya's first President on independence. A man as beloved in his day as Nelson Mandela is today.

Even Kenyatta had to deal with the radicals. It is the only way to have law and order, which is a requirement to nationhood.

No Palestinian state could tolerate the likes of Hamas or Al Aqsa Brigades running rampant with their own little wars of vendetta. For Palestine to become a reality, those that want a viable Palestinian state will have to deal harshly with some of their own.

On edit:

I forgot to mention that Mandela also had to deal with his radicals, in this case Winnie Mandela.

[Darranar]

15. Completely agreed, IndianaGreen!

But in order for peace, the Israelis must also crack down on their extremists, such on the IDF soldiers who commit acts of terrorism. And, of course, they must remove the settlements, which I would assume counts as cracking down on terrrorism.

[Muddleoftheroad]

16. Settlements

I am sure Israel would remove settlements as part of a peace treaty. How many and which ones are part of any potential settlement.