Israel Says More Military Action

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday that Israeli troops would press ahead with a campaign against Palestinian militants in two major West Bank towns despite U.S. pleas for a full withdrawal. Israel also grabbed a senior aide to Yasser Arafat whom Sharon says was behind suicide bombings.

In an interview with CNN, Sharon said Israel would pull back from Jenin, Nablus and other areas within a week, the first indication of a time frame for ending the large-scale campaign against Palestinian militants that began March 29.

But the withdrawal was far from the complete rollback that the American government is seeking. The two exceptions to the pullback Sharon gave were Bethlehem, where Israeli forces are engaged in a standoff with more than 200 armed men in the Church of the Nativity, and Ramallah, where Israeli troops surround Palestinian leader Arafat's office.

Sharon said Israeli forces will not leave Bethlehem until the standoff is over and will not leave Ramallah until those behind the October assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi are handed over.

In response, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said, "We don't plan to deal with these conditions. He must leave every city that has been reoccupied without any conditions. We are not going to bargain with the Israelis over every town and village."

In Ramallah, elite Israeli troops seized Marwan Barghouti, a popular figure in the West Bank who Israel says is the leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which was behind the latest suicide bombing, an attack in a Jerusalem market Friday that killed six people plus the woman bomber.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, meanwhile, continued his efforts to calm regional violence, visiting Lebanon and Syria.

In the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, medics began retrieving bodies, but it might be days until it becomes clear how many Palestinians died in the fiercest battle of Israel's offensive, a point of contention between the two sides.

In Bethlehem, Israeli troops exchanged fire with Palestinians inside the church compound, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born.

Two Palestinian policemen - one seriously wounded several days ago and the other reportedly suffering a nervous breakdown - also surrendered to Israeli troops ringing the shrine, witnesses said. They became the first Palestinians to surrender in the 12-day standoff.

In his CNN interview, Sharon said Israel and the United States agree that the armed men inside the church must surrender and those deemed to be connected with terrorism should be tried in Israel or deported, perhaps with British assistance, to an unspecified country. The Palestinians have rejected the idea.

Pope John Paul II also called The Rev. Ibrahim Faltas, who is in charge of the church, on Monday. Faltas told The Associated Press the call was "a message from the pope to support and encourage us," and the pope "thanked us for our deep steadfastness and courage."

Arafat also said Monday he conditionally accepted an Israeli proposal for a Mideast peace conference led by the United States. Powell said such a conference would be "a way to get the parties together and talking."

Powell said the United States would not host the conference. Arafat, in an interview with Fox News, did not address Sharon's demand that he be excluded from it.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat criticized the idea, saying Israel simply should accept the latest Arab peace initiative - full peace in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from all the territories it captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

U.S. officials said the next Powell-Arafat meeting would be on Wednesday. Palestinian officials said the two sides were working on a joint statement. On Monday, members of Powell's delegation met with Palestinian negotiators in the West Bank town of Jericho in talks Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan characterized as a good exchange of ideas.

On Monday, an elite Israeli force searching for militants captured Barghouti, 41, at the Ramallah house of Fatah official Ziad Abu Ain, who also was detained, West Bank security chief Jibril Rajoub said.

Israel accuses Barghouti, sometimes mentioned as a possible successor to Arafat, of direct involvement in nine different attacks -suicide bombings and shootings - in which 13 Israelis and a Greek Orthodox monk were killed.

The Israeli army said a force of infantry, armored corps and elite soldiers surrounded a house in northern Ramallah and ordered those inside to come out.

According to Israel Radio, Barghouti initially told the soldiers in Hebrew, "I know you've come for me," but he refused to come out. The elite unit went in and Barghouti surrendered without a fight. No shots were fired, the radio said.

Barghouti and his nephew, Ahmed, were given to security forces for interrogation, the army said in a statement.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Barghouti will be put on trial in Israel.

In a statement, the military said Barghouti, "as part of his work ... received large budgets from local and foreign groups, including (funds) authorized by the signature of Yasser Arafat."

Barghouti is head of the Tanzim, part of Arafat's Fatah organization, and "was considered the commander and guide of the al Aqsa Brigades, which are blamed for a large number of deadly terrorist attacks in which dozens of Israelis were killed and hundreds injured," the military said.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Barghouti turned Tanzim into "the most murderous of the terrorist organizations committing most of the recent attacks against Israel, attacks of all types, but principally suicide attacks including female bombers, shootings and bombings."

Sharon cited Barghouti's arrest in explaining the importance of the military campaign.

"Just imagine if we had withdrawn one day earlier and he would have been free and he'd be able to continue," he said.

"Killing or humiliating him will bring catastrophes for Israel and will expand the circle of violence," he said.

In the Jenin refugee camp, scene of the deadliest fighting during Israel's offensive, ambulances drove through rubble-strewn alleys Monday searching for bodies.

Israel and the Palestinians have argued over who will retrieve the bodies - part of their bitter dispute over what happened during the weeklong battle. Palestinian officials initially alleged troops killed hundreds of people, including many civilians, in the camp.

Israel estimated about 100 people were killed, most of them gunmen. Soldiers said Sunday they found 40 bodies.

Sharon told CNN he believes casualties in Jenin were in the "few dozens" and called claims of a massacre a "lie."

"There were very hard battles there, and I think the Israeli forces, not like any other armed forces being involved in a very hard battle, were very careful not to hurt civilians," Sharon said. "We don't have anything to hide there."

Israel Radio said 14 bodies were found Monday, but only seven were removed because some camp areas remain booby-trapped. Foul smells rose from beneath debris, and some residents have tried digging with their hands to check for people or animals.

Dr. Waiel Kaddam, a Palestinian Red Crescent doctor who was inside the camp, confirmed seven bodies were collected. Medics, he said, were allowed only in one part of the camp, were not allowed to take pictures or film the scene, and lacked equipment needed to get to bodies.

"At the moment, it is very, very difficult," Kaddam said. "It seems that the bodies that we have to move with our hands are under a lot of rubble, and some bodies have ammunition around them."

You probably know most of this, but it is always good to be reminded of the truth, is it not?

I'm sure you know that there has never been a country called Palestine or a race of people called Palestinians. The idea that the West Bank and Gaza are occupied Palestinian land, and that the Palestinian people are fighting for their land, has been accepted by most media and governments in the world.

But if you look at a map of the Middle East you will see that Palestine is a region, not a country. We can locate the Mojave Desert on the map, but we still do not recognize it as the 51st state. Similarly, the region of Siberia is a region not a state. Or the Sahara is a region not a state, etc. Neither is Palestine a state. It never was a country, just a region.

Importantly, the Jews did not displace anyone, because no one permanently resided there. It was a land inhabited by nomadic, Bedouin tribes. The whole region was nothing but deserts and swamps. Only about 120,000 Arabs resided in an area that covered the territories, the state of Israel and Jordan. When Mark Twain visited the area, he wrote he found nothing but a wasteland.

During the 19 years that the territories - including Jerusalem and Gaza - were occupied by the kingdoms of Jordan and Egypt, no one talked about a Palestinian state … not the Arab countries, not the United Nations. Nobody asked Jordan or Egypt to abdicate their ownership and give it to the Palestinians. Not even the Palestinians themselves said anything about a Palestinian state or a Palestinian people, because they hadn't thought up the idea yet.

The fact simply is that there are no Palestinians. These people are Arabs like all other Arabs, and they happen to live in a region called Palestine. They are not a separate people.

What makes a separate people? Religion, language, culture, garb, cuisine, etc. The Arabs in Palestine speak the same language, practice the same religion, have the same culture, etc., as all the other Arabs. The few minor differences that exist between them are like the minor differences that exist between the Welsh, the Scots, and the Londoners. They are still all Britons. Yankees and Southerners have the same minor differences, but they are still all Americans. People in the south of France are quite different from the people in the north, but they are still all French. These inconsequential differences do not make a people.

The Arabs living in Syria or Jordan, etc., are also the same Arabs, but they are each a separate nation because they each have a separate country. The so-called Palestinians want a separate country because they claim to be a separate nation. They are not. They were never a separate people before the new state of Israel. How did they suddenly become one now?

But if you can "invent" a country and "invent" a people, you can somehow try to justify that it is okay to send in suicide bombers to kill women, children, babies, old men, old women and noncombatant citizens, because these people have taken away your land. And the United Nations and the European Union can somehow rationalize their condemnation of Israel as the correct response against a country who has stolen land from it's rightful owners.

Let me ask you, what is the United States doing in Afghanistan? Routing out terrorists. Why? Because they attacked the United States on September 11. I understand this. But what I do not understand is how the world can critisize Israel for doing exactly the same thing, only on a much smaller scale.

Ask yourself this: Should the use of terror ever be rewarded? When is the use of terrorism justified as a military or political tactic? And if Israel gives into the terrorists, what implications does this hold for the future?

Let us examine the truths here:

1) There never was a Palestinian state or a Palestinian nation. There are no Palestinian people, per se. Rather, these are Arabs living in a region that historically has been called many things, including "Palestine."

2) Israel did not go to war against a Palestinian state and occupy its land. Rather, Israel was attacked by six Arab countries at once. She defended herself, defeated her attackers, and won the so-called territories, not from the Palestinians, but from Jordan and Egypt.

3) Jerusalem was never the capital of any state but Israel. It was certainly never the capital of a country that didn't exist. Why should the Palestinians get any part of it? Because they want it? Because they have terrorists?

4) Jerusalem, under the current Israeli control, is a free and open city. Israel, as a democracy, guarantees freedom of religion within its borders. Contrast this fact with areas that have come under Palestinian occupation. How many millions of Christians have fled the harassment and persecution that exists in these countries?

5) Most Arabs living in Palestine today are not indigenous to the region. It was not until after the Jews had changed deserts and swamps into a productive and thriving land that the Arabs started migrating there. Arafat himself was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. Did you know that?

The belief that giving the Palestinians a state will bring peace is a delusion. The truth is that they want it all. The short-term goal is a state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza. The long-term goal is a state which includes all of "historical Palestine," including Jordan. How do I know this?

The late Faisal Husseini, Arafat's Jerusalem representative, a man who was cultured, sophisticated and considered the most moderate of all the Palestinians, shortly before his death on May 31, 2001, expressed his true feelings in an interview with the popular Egyptian newspaper el Arav. Husseini said: "We must distinguish the strategies and long-term goals from the political-phased goals which we are compelled to accept due to international pressures." But the "ultimate goal is the liberation of all of historical Palestine." Explicitly he said: "Oslo has to be viewed as a Trojan Horse."

He even added and clarified that it is the obligation of all the Palestinian forces and factions to see the Oslo Accords as "temporary" steps, as "gradual" goals, because in this way, "We are setting an ambush for the Israelis and cheating them." He also differentiated between "strategic," long-term, "higher"goals, and "political" short-term goals dependent on "the current international establishment, balance of power" etc.

All of historical Palestine! Does not this include all of Israel and all of Jordan? What does this say to you?

The bottom line is that even if the Arabs are given a state of their own, they will always feel wronged, cheated, and forced into giving up what they have been brainwashed to believe is theirs. They will continue to plot and look for an opportunity to destroy Israel in order to take back what they claim is theirs, especially the younger generation that has been brainwashed to hate the "occupying enemy." Whether there is a Palestinian state or not, there will be no peace.

Only a massive and ongoing re-education of the Arab people to these truths will enable meaningful negotiations to begin, followed by a lasting peace between Arabs and Jews. It is therefore critical that everyone who has an audience, whether in print or other media, use the forum they have available to repeat these truths again and again until they reach the consciousness of those waging war in the Middle East.

news...as it goes

News Flashes


23:47	A-G investigating options for putting arrested Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti on trial in military court
23:46	Senior U.S. official: Colin Powell to meet Ariel Sharon on Tuesday, Yasser Arafat on Wednesday
22:50	Saudi cabinet says U.S. credibility damaged by lack of pressure on Israel to withdraw from PA areas
22:35	Israeli ambassador to France receives threatening letter containing bullet
22:07	Ariel Sharon says Israel to put detained Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti on trial
22:00	Colin Powell to meet Yasser Arafat for second time in Ramallah on Tuesday
21:58	Erekat to CNN: Sharon pullout pledge is a sham, he is defying the U.S. and the world
21:54	Some 4,500 additional university students to be drafted for reserve duty next week
21:47	Saeb Erekat on CNN: PA does not dismiss idea of participating in ministerial level peace summit
21:37	PA`s Saeb Erekat on CNN: Sharon is declaring every Palestinian village, town and city as a big jail
21:25	Sharon on CNN: I do not believe there is any possibility of reaching peace with Yasser Arafat
21:24	Ariel Sharon on CNN: I believe there are others (to replace Yasser Arafat)
21:17	Sharon to CNN: IDF will be out of Jenin in two days, out of Nablus in about a week
21:17	Security sources: special, immediate measures needed for expected Palestinian response to Barghouti arrest
21:14	Mortar fired at Gaza Strip settlement during siren to commemorate fallen soldiers; no injuries
20:56	French PM Lionel Jospin: any international peace conference without Yasser Arafat makes no sense
20:53	Hezbollah vows to continue attacks on IDF troops in north, says U.S. partner to Israel`s crimes
20:45	MK Michael Kleiner calls for Barghouti to be tried by military court that can impose death sentence
19:51	EU foreign ministers decide not to put economic sanctions on Israel, call for supporting Powell`s efforts

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