It is a familiar Israeli/American game. Israel threatens to elect the even-more-hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu, and American officials cower. Yet Sharon is unlikely to be less hawkish when it comes to what counts -- the West Bank and Jerusalem. Will American Jews who support former prime minister Netanyahu in the expected contest for Likud party leader this fall be put off by this U.S. interference in Israeli politics in favor of Sharon?

If this change in position is truly the Sharon government's policy, U.S. officials may have reason to be hopeful about the future of the peace process. Such a positive statement, however, is at variance with Sharon's lifelong goal of undermining Palestinian nationalism and denying its aspirations for statehood. As evidence, we can add another quote, this one from Dov Weisglass, a top adviser to Prime Minister Sharon in an interview with Ha'aretz last fall:

"The disengagement is actually formaldehyde. It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that's necessary so that there will not be a political process with the Palestinians...Effectively, this whole package that is called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed from our agenda indefinitely. And all this with authority and permission. All with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress. What more could have been anticipated? What more could have been given to the settlers?"

What Weisglass means is that Palestinians will have to be satisfied for the next X number of years with a fraction of their people having freedom, narrowly defined and entirely controlled by Israel. Gaza and the northern corner of the West Bank are one-third of the Palestinian population west of the Jordan River. All of the main West Bank cities remain surrounded by the Israel Defense Forces, separated by hundreds of checkpoints that daily hassle the population. As the better of two evils, the administration apparently wants Sharon re-elected. This is a formula for more violence that will fuel anti-Americanism throughout the Muslim world and lead to more terrorism against America and our allies, at home and abroad.

All Palestinians between the ages of 16 and 35 are prohibited from leaving Gaza, for example, a prohibition that has been in effect for some time.

Unspecified attacks and sometimes unreported attacks are taking place against Palestinian civilians, for example, a 19-year-old living in Rafah, which was reported on the Rafah blog site.  The PCHR reported paralyzing roadblocks on the main road of the Gaza Strip. “Thousands of Palestinian civilians were seen waiting at the roadsides to travel between the north and south of the Gaza Strip.” 

Moreover, the occupation in the West Bank continues at full force.  During the period August 25-31, PCHR reported more than 30 military incursions into the West Bank, the raiding of private houses and arrest of civilians.  The IDF continues to raze houses that have been constructed “without permits,” and to confiscate land for checkpoints. In Hebron, where Jewish settlers have attacked Palestinians repeatedly, a new attack took place on August 25.   According to PCHR, they “threw stones and empty bottles at a house belonging to Mohammed Hamed Abu 'Eisha.  They also demolished the fence of the house.  {The IDF] were present in the area, but did not intervene to stop this attack.  The house was damaged.”

Peaceful demonstrations against the construction of the “Separation” Wall, especially in the area of Bil’in, encountered unusually hostile force from the IDF.  Many were wounded and arrested, including members of the International Solidarity Movement.  The force used against the demonstrators earned the wrath of a Haaretz editorial on September 6 which wondered why more restraint wasn’t used, especially since it had been so evident in the pro-settlement demonstrations in Gaza two weeks earlier.  The Israeli courts have also come down against the use of excessive force used by the army, but to no effect.

The Guardian is also reporting on the use of indiscriminate killings by the Israeli army and its “culture of impunity.”  Its report stems from interviews provided by a group of former Israeli soldiers called Breaking the Silence.

Conflicting reports appeared on the strengthening of Jewish colonies in the West Bank.  On the one hand, Ehud Olmert is supposed to have told the Jerusalem Post that there was no plan to expand Israel’s largest colonies, but on the other, al-Jazeera reported that up to 3,000 units would be added to Ariel (which lies deep within the West Bank), which would in effect double the size of the colony, currently numbering 18,000.  As we reported last week, the increase in the number of new Jewish colonists in the West Bank topped 12,000 for the first six months of 2005.

Currently, the international border crossing for the Gaza Strip is at Rafah, and for many years the Israelis have indicated that they would never relinquish their authority to the Palestinians at that crossing.  But in the past year, negotiations with the Egyptians have proved fruitful, and it appears that the Egyptians will be allowed to deploy troops at the border to monitor the crossing (and therefore be held accountable to goods passing through the border).  About this, the Palestinians are dubious, since it may jeopardize their contacts with the West Bank, where the heart of Palestine lies.

The demotion of the old Jewish settlement housing is supposed to be completed by the middle of September, when the IDF is also supposed to be leaving.  According to Haaretz, the IDF took the PA security commanders on a tour of the sites.  A group of Palestinian youths who threw rocks at the troops later on were fired upon by the troops, and one was killed.  Later the Palestinians launched a Qassam rocket into the Negev.  It was the first reported skirmish between the Israeli army and the Gazans since the evacuation.  Abbas is expected to post thousands of Palestinian military around the sites to protect them from people who might rush in and seize plots.

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