might cease when Arafat reportedly issued an
order last week for an end to Palestinian mortar
attacks on Israel.
Within days, however, the attacks resumed —
and Palestinian militia members denied ever having
received the order from Arafat in the first place.
Applauding
Suicide
Even if Israel can reach agreement with Arafat on
a cease-fire, many wonder whether he would be
l able to deliver on the deal.
Arafat often tries to shirk responsibility for
Palestinian violence, saying it emanates from ele-
ments he does not control. Sharon, however,
increasingly is holding the Palestinian Authority
responsible for all attacks that originate in areas
under its control.
Since taking office earlier this year, Sharon said
he would target Palestinians responsible for attacks
on Israelis, but would seek to avoid collective pun-
ishment against the general Palestinian population.
The policy was based on the assumption that
the civilian population eventually would force the
Palestinian leadership into a cessation of hostilities.
So far, however, the opposite appears true.
Far from seeking peace, the Palestinians have
treated a new militia that draws its membership
From Arafat's own Fatah faction, Hamas, Islamic
fihad and the marxist Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine.
When rumors circulated this week that Arafat want-
..c1 to disband the new militia, hundreds of Palestinians
I
I
took to the streets of the Gaza Strip in protest.
In addition, many Palestinians believe the suc-
cess of Hezbollah fighters — whose war of attri-
tion forced Israel to withdraw its troops from
southern Lebanon — shows that Israel under-
stands only the language of force.
Palestinian public opinion polls have shown
overwhelming support for continuing the violent
uprising — 80 percent of respondents, according
to a recent poll by the Palestinian Jerusalem
Media and Communications Center — with 75
percent supporting suicide bombings.
A rare dissenting voice is Bassam Abu Sharif, a
political adviser to Arafat and one of Arafat's clos-
est associates. Abu Sharif criticizes Palestinian ter-
ror attacks directed at Israeli civilians.
"Your attacks should be aimed at the soldiers
deployed at the entrances to our cities," Abu
Sharif said durinc, a television interview. "Why
don't you attack them, and not blow up children
on their way to school?"
Abu Sharif charged that attacks on Israeli civil-
ians give Sharon rhetorical ammunition against
the Palestinians as he seeks support from the
international community.
Abu Sherif's interview did not play well in
some Palestinian quarters.
Three days after it aired, Islamic religious lead-
ers in Bethlehem demanded that Abu Sherif be
declared a collaborator with Israel.
Little wonder that the Israel Defense Force con-
tinually warns that dealings with the Palestinians
are likely to get worse before they get better. ❑
Left: A Palestinian university
student carrying an AK-47
weapon portrays an Israeli
soldier arresting Palestinians
during an anti-Israeli rally
at a university in Gaza City
on April 25.
Top right: A settler from the
Jewish settlement of Gush Katif
in the Gaza Strip holds a sign
demanding increased security
during a rally outside of the
Prime Minister's o ice in
Jerusalem on April 29.
Top of opposite page: One of the
bodies of four Palestinians who
were killed when a bomb went
of near the Gaza-Egypt border
is laid to rest at the cemetery in
the southern Gaza Strip refugee
camp of Rafah on April 26
At the funeral, Palestinians
said the blast was an Israeli
operation aimed at killing
the group members.
Hints Of PROGRESS
Sharon says "no talks under fire,"
but talks about talks intensifi.
DAVID LANDAU
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jerusalem
any Israelis felt let down and even a bit embar-
rassed as Foreign Minister Shirnon Peres spoke
of a possible cease-fire during meetings in Washington
and New York this week, while Palestinian violence
continued to take its toll back home.
On Tuesday, Israelis were shocked when Assaf
Hershkovitz, a young father from the West Bank
settlement of Ofra, was gunned down near
Ramallah by Palestinian terrorists. Only three
months ago, Hershkovitz's own father, Aryeh, was
killed in chillingly similar circumstances.
Over the weekend, Peres diplomatic meetings in
Egypt and Jordan prompted a surge of optimism.
With each passing day, however, the optimism waned
as Palestinian shootings and mortar attacks continued
unabated in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
After meeting with Peres in Cairo on Sunday,
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was quick to tell
the world that Israel and the Palestinians had
reached a cease-fire agreement. He had to be cor-
rected by Peres, who wriggled uncomfortably in
semantic distinctions, saying Monday that Israel and
the Palestinians had reached "an understanding" on
a cease-fire, but not yet a written agreement.
Mubarak, enraged, accused Israel of tricking him,
while Israeli sources said Mubarak's announcement
had been a ploy to impose a fait accompli on Israel.
Despite the disappointment and frustration,
however, there does seem to be movement on the
diplomatic front for the first time since Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon took office in early March.
Sharon's policy of "no talking under fire" — lio
PROGRESS on page 26
M