TIFFANY & CO.
burgeoning influence of the
fundamentalist llamas move-
ment and by Syrian attempts
to escalate the uprising and
encourage the Palestinians to
take up arms.
Such a move would lead to
a wholly unpredictable Israeli
response and could involve
the wholesale deportation of
Palestinians from the
territories.
"Husseini is the meat in
the sandwich," one Israeli
source said this week. "The
Israelis and the PLO know
who he is and what he repre-
sents. They can use him as a
reliable intermediary, and if
things do not work out
Shamir and Arafat can simp-
ly deny the initiative and
disown him."
For the moment, the Is-
raelis and Palestinians are
locked in a grim embrace:
Israel will not be defeated by
the uprising, although it is
taking a massive physical and
psychological toll, while the
Palestinians are convinced
that time is on their side and
that international pressure
will ultimately force Jeru-
salem to make the conces-
sions they are demanding.
The tough military crack-
down ordered by Rabin
earlier this month, which in-
volved a more liberal use of
plastic bullets against
Palestinian demonstrators —
the military stick to comple-
ment his peace carrot — has
done little to reduce the level
of violence.
Indeed, the past month has
been the bloodiest and most
violent since the start of the
intifada. Not only are the
Palestinians refusing to un-
bend in the face of the
crackdown, they actually ap-
pear to be drawing strength
from their suffering.
According to the Jeru-
salem-based Palestinian jour-
nalist Jamil Hamad, this
continuing defiance is an ex-
pression of "the new Pales-
tinian spirit, the Palestinian
Zionist movement."
"The intifada is becoming a
part of daily Palestinian
behavior," he said, "a part of
the Palestinian conscious-
ness, of the Palestinian
psychology.
The unpalatable 'fact that
Israel's rulers must face —
and one which they may
already have confronted — is
that the intifada is not a pure-
ly law-and-order problem
which can be dealt with by
ever-larger security forces
and increasingly severe
measures
against
demonstrators.
Indeed, the tougher
measures appear to have had
the effect of radicalizing the
population, driving them fur-
ther and faster than ever
toward the outermost limits
of political extremism and
religious fundamentalism.
This message appears final-
ly to have penetrated the
hardline thinking of Shamir,
who may once again be pre-
paring to pull a rabbit out of
his copious hat — one which
will surprise not only his col-
leagues and critics at home,
but also his friends and
enemies abroad.
Quiet Diplomacy
In Gaza Strip
While Shmuel Goren was
conducting his secret talks
with Faisal Husseini in Kfar
Yona jail last week, quiet
diplomacy was also under
way among Palestinians in
Gaza.
According to Israeli sources,
General Aryeh Ramot, head
of the Israeli Civil Ad-
ministration in Gaza, held a
secret meeting at the
weekend with 12 Palestinians
in Gaza who are associated
with the mainstream wing of
the PLO.
Among the Palestinian in-
terlocutors were engineers'
union secretary Akil Matar,
citrus exporters Isma'il Ali
and Khader Shurab, attorney
Farih Abu-Madin, Hebron
University lecturer Dr Riad
al-Ara, industrialist Ludfi
Risik, journalist Mohammed
Khas and Gaza Maternity
Hospital director Dr. Yousuf
Mahadi.
At the meeting, the Pales-
tinians demanded the cancel-
lation of taxes, the with-
drawal of Israeli army units
from the vicinity of schools,
the removal of the tax ter-
minal at the Erez checkpoint
between Israel and Gaza, and
the reopening of the Islamic
University.
Ramot is understood to
have declined to discuss
political issues because he
was wearing his military hat,
but he told the Palestinians
that the Civil Administration
was proposing that Pales-
tinian debts to Israel should
be rescheduled and that they
should be paid without fines
or interest.
According to the Civil Ad-
ministration, 6,000 Gaza
Strip residents have not paid
debts and fines. — H.D.
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