Tensions began heating up after scores of armed cops escorted 11 Israeli settlers into two houses in Palestinian- controlled east Jerusalem September 14. Miami millionaire Irving Moskowitz, who says he owns the two buildings, also proposed constructing 70 more Israeli homes in that district. Residents immediately came out in protest.

Bitya Klein, one of the settlers, explained their aim is to "build a ring around Jerusalem and this [Ras al-Amud] was the only place there wasn't a piece... Jerusalem belongs to us."

Israeli infrastructure minister Ariel Sharon said he supported the settlers' actions because they would rule out the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian capital in Jerusalem. Under agreements signed between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1993, all final decisions on how Jerusalem is divided and who governs it will be reserved for final-status talks, which are not even under way.

On September 17, hundreds of Israelis joined with Palestinians protesting against the settlements. An increasing number of Israeli citizens have come out against the step-up in Israeli settlement expansion into the Arab territory.

In another instance of opposition to Tel Aviv's policies against the Palestinian people, Yuval Lotem, a lieutenant in the Israeli Army reserve, was recently jailed for 26 days for refusing to work in a prison where Palestinians are kept without trial. "There is no enlightened occupation," Lotem said, "no good jailer when the prisoner is jailed without justification... These are political prisoners held because of their opinions, not because of anything else they've done. If they had done anything, they would have been indicted."

On the morning of September 20, protesters held signs calling on settlers to leave the neighborhood and save the peace process. Later, dozens of protesters blockaded the road to the area. Police fired rubber bullets at the activists, who retaliated with stones. The Washington Post describes the cop presence on the scene as "a virtual armed camp."

The next day Palestinian activists trying to reclaim the house ran up against police and were pushed back trying to enter. They included Fuad Haidieh, an Arab man who contends he never sold the disputed property that Moskowitz claims to have purchased. The government eventually reached an agreement with the settler families that they would move out, but 10 seminary students could occupy the homes.

Palestinian Authority president Yasir Arafat said the settlement was a "clear violation" of the peace agreements. Speaking at the 108th session of the Arab League, which took place in Cairo September 20, Arafat called on the 22 Arab governments represented there to freeze normal relations with Israel until negotiations with Tel Aviv made favorable advances. The League passed a resolution condemning the Israeli government as culpable for the breakdown in the peace process, but did not boycott the regime.

Netanyahu announced September 21 that Tel Aviv would issue 4,000 permits to Palestinian construction workers, loosening a ban that prevented Palestinians from traveling to Israel. A week earlier 10,000 Palestinians gained entry. When the ban was instituted following September 4 suicide bombings in Jerusalem, unemployment in West Bank and Gaza Strip skyrocketed to 70 percent. It has crept back down to the previous figure of 40 percent as Tel Aviv has slowly reopened its borders.

Rifts in Israeli government
Netanyahu also tried to distance the regime from the occupation at Ras al-Amud, publicly condemning the action and claiming no prior knowledge of the settlers' intent. But some of his advisors told the press that the government knew well in advance of Moskowitz's moves. Under pressure from Palestinian unrest, Netanyahu initially threatened to remove the settlers by force.

Several members of Netanyahu's cabinet threatened to walk out if the settlers at Ras al-Amud were forcibly removed. Among the most outspoken supporters of the settlers are Sharon, who is a senior figure in the ruling Likud party; Public Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani; and Ehud Olmert, the mayor of Jerusalem.

Foreign Minister David Levy backed Netanyahu's stance on the Ras al-Amud settlement. He declared he would not remain in a government that undermines the "peace process." Israeli defense minister Yitzhak Mordechai took a similar position.

At the same time individual Zionists are following a course of direct confrontation with Palestinian fighters. Right-wing organizations threatened to send more of their supporters to Ras al-Amud if Tel Aviv attempted to evict the settlers. Moskowitz vowed to continue construction of apartments in Ras al-Amud, despite Netanyahu's claims that he would block the project.

Yaacov Schwartz, a 63-year-old Israeli factory owner, staged his own kidnapping September 20, telling police that he had been overpowered and abducted by two Arabic speaking hitchhikers. After disappearing for two days, his wife Elisheva went on national television accusing "Islamic militants" of kidnapping her husband, and called on U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright - on tour in the Mideast at the time - to intervene. After evidence found by cops did not match Schwartz's story, he admitted to lying. Associated Press reports that the Haaretz newspaper said Schwartz "had taken part in dozens of demonstrations by the extreme right."

The Israeli government declared September 23 that it identified four suicide bombers who set off blasts in Jerusalem between July and September. Ten days earlier Israeli authorities had arrested relatives of those they claimed were suspects and forced them to give blood samples for DNA testing. The Zionist regime's standard practice is to carry out punishment - such as demolition of homes - against families of those accused of actions against the Israeli state.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli government troops invaded six villages in the northern West Bank September 21, arresting 50 Palestinian men. A spokesperson for the Israeli army said the this assault was "conducted as part of activities to deter and prevent terror." In the village of Asseira Asamalieh, one of the focal points of the raids, Israeli authorities imposed a curfew the night before. The next day all Arab males age 17 and older were herded into a school courtyard, while soldiers searched houses.

Israeli security forces shut down the central mosque in Dura, West Bank, and a youth club in the nearby village of Samoa September 22, claiming they were suspected of having dealings with Hamas, a Palestinian group taking responsibility for some of the bombings. Israeli troops left orders that the mosque be closed for two months, which Dura residents ignored.

Rising unemployment in Israel
Inside Israel itself, unemployment has risen to a three- year high of 7.7 percent. There are at least 17 cities in Israel where unemployment has surpassed 10 percent. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, in the second quarter of 1997 Israel's gross domestic product grew by an annual rate of just 1.6 percent, down from 2 percent growth in the first quarter.

Israeli finance ministry director-general Shmuel Slavin said the government will have to implement more budget cuts, but assured workers that the "reforms" recently adopted by the government would not be against their interests.

The Histadrut union federation in August threatened to launch a general strike against these "reforms." Trade union officials accused Tel Aviv of reneging on union contracts, firing union workers, and trying to replace them with unorganized workers at sub-union-scale wages.

The Israeli regime also faces problems in Lebanon, where it occupies the southern part of the country. Speaking at a September 21 rally, Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Tel Aviv that his organization would strike Israeli installations, as well as its tourist industry if the Zionist state targets public utilities in Lebanon. Hezbollah has been fighting to end the Israeli occupation of Lebanon.

A little more than a month earlier pro-Israeli militiamen bombed the Lebanese city of Sidon, killing at least 10 civilians. The aerial assault also disabled power lines, cutting off electricity to 80,000 residents.

The next day Hezbollah rebels and Lebanese soldiers responded with 80 Katyusha rockets including firing into Israeli territory. Nasrallah said, "We can live without them [utilities] for some time, but we will not live a second without dignity."  
 
 
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