of European and South American
immigrants. Many residents chose the
community for its quality of life —
proximity to Jerusalem, affordable hous-
ing, good schools and great climate —
rather than for ideological reasons.
Unlike many smaller, widely scattered
settlements on the West Bank that are a
focus of Palestinian bitterness as sym-
bols of Israeli "occupation," the Etzion
block is generally believed to be among
the areas that would stay under Israeli
control in any final peace agreement
with the Palestinians.
Efrat employs a few dozen Arab
municipal workers, most of whom live
in the village whose land abuts Efrat.
There has never been a fence enclosing
the city, and although there are strict
regulations regarding the movement
and supervision of Arabs within Efrat,
up until two weeks ago they were only
lightly enforced. Arabs entered freely
on foot, donkey or bicycle, shopped in
local stores and knocked on doors look-
ing for odd jobs.
Many Efrat residents recognize and
know the names of local Arabs who
clean their streets and parks, build their
homes, or work independently as gar-
deners, housecleaners and handymen.
One reason Efrat has employed so

the daunting prospect of political instabil-
ity — and, possibly, early elections.
The inter-ministerial disputes also
exacerbate a widely held concern that
the politicians, both in the unity govern-
ment and in the opposition, have no
workable policy to offer.
Sharon himself, in a series of briefings
and comments Monday, told Knesset
members and reporters that there is "no
diplomatic outlook at this time, only a
military outlook."
The explicit denial of any diplomat-
ic strategy could help Sharon fend off
the remorseless pressure he faces from
the right — led by ex-Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu — that wants
him to topple the Palestinian
Authority and root out the terrorist
infrastructure it has cultivated in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In recent weeks, Arafat's mainstream
Fatah movement has emerged as the
principal terrorist group in the
Palestinian areas, carrying out most of
the attacks in the West Bank and inside
Israel proper.
That drops the pretense of modera-
tion that Fatah cultivated during the
peace process, when it routinely was
contrasted to the "militants" of Hamas
and Islamic Jihad that Arafat claimed he
sought vainly to control.

many Arabs is the belief that it must
provide economic support for poor vil-
lagers who have little other opportunity
for work. The economic relationship,
the theory went, engenders loyalty as
opposed to embittering the Arabs and
possibly pushing them to commit acts
of terror.
Within the last year, three Efrat resi-
-
dents have been killed in drive-by
shootings on the road just outside the
settlement, but until the supermarket
attack, the settlement itself had been
free of the intifizda (uprising).
Following the bombing, however, Efrat
is under a round-the-clock general
security alert, so everyone who owns a
gun is required to carry it, including
those with army-issued weapons.
Volunteers now stand guard at all pub-
lic gatherings, outside synagogues and
the community center, and three
guards patrol each of the two commer-
cial centers.
One of the Palestinians whose liveli-
hood is dependent upon working in
Efrat is Daoud Ben Latifa, a resident of
Al Jaba, about eight miles away. He has
been working in a local supermarket for
the past fdur years, and he said even
during the past year and a half, with
daily incidents of violence in the terri-

Coalition Cracking

Increasingly, the barrenness of Sharon's
diplomatic field ups the pressure on the
Labor Party to secede from the unity .
government. Ben-Eliezer is predicting
privately that Labor will leave within
weeks or months when a suitable situa-
tion presents itself
Ben-Eliezer believes the decision to
keep Arafat confined to Ramallah has
contributed significantly to the surge in
terrorism against Israel. Yet he is reluc-
tant to leave the government during the
current dispute over whether Arafat
should continue to be confined, given
the Israeli public's near-universal
loathing for the Palestinian leader.
Meanwhile, Sharon's tough and bleak
statements Monday are believed to have
stirred anxiety in Washington. The Bush
administration has been loathe to inter-
vene as the violence escalated; its
admonishments of Israel have been dis-
tinctly low-key, while it consistently has
blamed Arafat and the Palestinian
Authority for not doing enough to curb
terror.
By midweek, however, there were
signs of growing American unrest.
The Hdaretz newspaper reported that
Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed
with Sharon the possibility of sending
the U.S. peace envoy, retired Gen.

tories, he still felt comfortable in Efrat.
He called the recent attack "a terrible
thing."
"I'm very sad that it happened, but
the most important thing is that no one
got hurt," he continued. "When it hap-
pens in Tel Aviv, or other places, it's
scary. Now it's happening here, and even
as an Arab, I am scared. It's incompre-
hensible to me how someone can do
this."
The attack left him unemployed, so
he is using his time to take university
courses via the Internet. But he needs
to return to work soon to support his
wife and four children.
While expressions of regret are wel-
come, many in Efrat now have difficul-
ty believing their sincerity, especially
since the bomber was not.a radical
member of Hamas, but a familiar face
around town.
For the past six months, Eddie. Van
Cobordan has worked at the supermar-
ket where the attack occurred. Like sev-
eral others in Efrat, an Arab coworker
phoned him after the attack to apolo-
gize and ask how he was doing. "At that
moment, I did not know how to
respond," Van Cobordan said. "Did he
mean it, or was he lying. I just didn't
DREAM on page 22

Anthony Zinni, back to the region. In
Washington, State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher said
Tuesday there was nothing new to report
on Zinni. "He will go back when it's
appropriate and useful," he said.
American policy-makers also want
Israel to allow Arafat to travel to an Arab
League summit in late March in Beirut,
where the Saudi Arabian proposal may
be discussed.
If Israel prevents Arafat from going,
his absence likely will become the
focus of the summit, to the advantage
of the more hard-line Arab states.
Building up its military and diplo-
matic forces for a possible showdown
with:Iraq's Saddam Hussein later this
year, Washington is anxious that the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict not spiral
even further out of control and spread.
to other fronts. That might deter more
moderate Arab states from supporting,
or at least condoning, American action
against Iraq.
The worsening security situation
therefore could trigger some interven-
tion by Washington ahead of the Arab
summit.
Possibly, some Israeli observers say,
both bloodied protagonists want that
to happen, though only the Palestinian
side will admit it publicly. O

Tech Tool

Israel Advocacy
Network uses e-mail
to inform and
activate local
supporters of Israel.

HARRY MRS BAUIVI
StaffWriter

A

Jewish community pro-
fessional for nearly 20
years — serving last as
director of the Anti-Defamation
League, Michigan Region --
Don Cohen knows the impor-
tance of being informed and
involved.
For the past six months, his job
as Israel advocacy consultant to
the Jewish Community Council
of Metropolitan Detroit has been
to inform the local
Jewish community
about events in
Israel and to pro-
vide ways people
can take supportive
action.
Don Cohen
As a way to
inform and acti-
vate, Cohen began the Israel
Advocacy Network (IAN), a
weekly e-mail newsletter that
includes articles about Israel,
news analysis, action items and
information about Israel-related
events in the community.
"I hear from people who feel
they don't know enough to enter
the debate, though they are
appalled by the violence against
Israel," Cohen said. "While Israel
is not always correct, it is impor-
tant that we understand the
rationale for their actions. Our
task is difficult because we don't
have easy answers, and it is
important that our community
understands that."
The IAN e-mail list has
reached 700 locally.
Cohen calls the anti-Israel
crowd organized and vociferous.
"While it is to our overall
credit that we recognize there
are shades of gray, when it

TOOL on page 19

3/8
2002

17