Israeli
Iron-Fist Policy Fails to Crush Palestinian Resistance: Report
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Israeli
practices against the Palestinians will not stop their
resistance to occupation.
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JERUSALEM,
July 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Palestinian resistance
operations that killed 12 Israelis and wounded dozens left some
Israelis questioning whether the military's month long strict
reoccupation of Palestinian towns is enough to stop attacks. The
Middle East situation grew tenser on the ground this week, news
agencies reported Saturday, July 20, 2002.
A
month after it launched a new, vast military operation in the West
Bank, Israel appeared to be looking for new ways to crack down on the
Palestinians, unmindful of criticism it could be violating rights
conventions and generating more violence, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
This
week's spasm of attacks was the first since Israeli armor and troops
reoccupied seven major West Bank towns last month, and have since
imposed a choking curfew on them.
Apparently
trying to justify the failure of “iron-fist” policy, Israeli
Cabinet Minister Tzipi Livni said, "Obviously it was expected. We
cannot completely stop terror but it is our obligation to try to
reduce it as much as possible".
Last
weekend, Israelis started going back out to cafes, cinemas and malls
– sensing greater security after nearly a month of relative calm.
But the attacks Tuesday and Wednesday were a reminder that the problem
is far from over.
"We
see that our military control will not solve the problem on the
whole," said dovish lawmaker Ran Cohen, a retired army colonel.
"When we keep the people under curfew, we produce more motivation
to attack Israel, and we help the terrorist organizations in that
way," reported the Washington Post.
Israel
insists on calling Palestinian resistance “terrorism”, even though
no international treaty, convention, law or agreement prevents people
under occupation from freedom struggle.
For
his part, Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Cabinet Minister, said attacks
would not stop as long as Israel's military was occupying their
towns.
"I
don't think it's possible to prevent someone who wants to die from
doing so without a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian
territory," he said.
Israel
is now considering other strategies, including uprooting the families
of activists from their homes in the West Bank and sending them to the
Gaza Strip to deter future human bombs.
Demolition
of houses belonging to activists might also increase, said Raanan
Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. A wall has
also been built along sections of the invisible boundary between the
West Bank and Israel.
"These
two attacks will require us to study very carefully how they happened
and to find ways to prevent these types of attacks," Gissin
said.
The
Palestinian resistance, for its part, pledged a continuation of
resistance operations until the end of occupation.
“Let
them study our operations and try to stop them, we will always find
new ways to attack them,” a Palestinian activist said, asking not to
be named.
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