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U.S. Investigative Team Arrives On Heels Israeli Government Upheaval
JERUSALEM & WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) - A United States-led commission started its investigations on Monday into more than eleven weeks of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has claimed the lives of more than 300 Palestinians and a dozen Israelis, news agencies reported.
The U.S.-led commission said it would resume its functions despite the resignation of Barak.
The commission, which consists of five international members led by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and was expected to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat later the same day.
According to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, a member of the commission, the main purpose of the commission team, is to analyze the situation with the Palestinian and the Israeli sides, and not try to determine responsibility for the start of violence in September.
"We don't want to be part of a problem. We want to be part of a solution to a problem," Solana said.
The establishment of the commission was one of the recommendations made at the U.S.-brokered peace summit that took place at the Egyptian resort of Sharm Al Sheikh in October.
At that summit, Palestinians had initially demanded that there be an international inquiry into the causes of the clashes in the Occupied Territories, accusing Israel of using excessive force against Palestinians and causing the escalation of violence in the region.
During negotiations however, and at the great insistence of Israel, an international inquiry focusing on the finding of fault for the rising escalation of violence was replaced by a fact-finding commission led by the United States in which no blame was to be assigned from whatever conclusions emerged from the investigation.
"We've nothing to hide," Gadi Baltiansky, Barak's spokesman, told Israel's Channel One television. "If of course they want to meet people on our side, they will ask, tell us - we will cooperate with them," he said.
Israel says its soldiers used violence to defend themselves and Israeli settlers. Moreover, Israel accused Arafat of giving a "green light" to the Intifada and not taking enough measures to halt it. Barak also blamed Arafat for releasing members of the Islamic resistance from Authority prisons.
The clashes began after Palestinian protestors took to the streets after a provocative visit by hardline Likud Leader Ariel Sharon to the Muslim holy site of al-Aqsa Mosque.
A PLO faction, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), kept up the battle cry against Israel Monday, calling on Palestinians to take up arms against Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers in the occupied territories.
"Take your guns and shoot at settlers and soldiers of the occupation and not in the air," PFLP secretary general Abu Ali Mustapha said at a Ramallah rally to mark the movement's 33rd anniversary.
The team is also planning to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan during the visit.
In the Territories today, hundreds of Palestinians protested in the streets of Nablus during the funeral of a 20-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead by Israeli soldiers. The mourners chanted slogans calling for international protection.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled his intention to challenge Barak, who resigned as prime minister, but will challenge again as the labor party representative in a new round of elections held 60 days from his announcement Saturday.
Under Israeli law, only members of the parliament can run for prime minister elections. This law could hinder Netanyahu's candidacy. However, the Likud, Netanyahu’s party, said it would try and pass legislation in the parliament to change the law to allow Netanyahu to stand as a candidate for the prime ministerial position.
Barak resoundingly defeated Netanyahu in the last Israeli elections held in 1999.
The date of the elections has not been fixed, but is due to take place on February 6th.
Netanyahu is currently leading Barak 52% to 32% in a recent opinion poll conducted by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
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