As unrest boils in the region, the U.S. government continues to press for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. It is applying particular pressure on the Palestinian leadership, falsely blaming it as the main source of violence. While siding with the Zionist regime, the U.S. rulers are pursuing their own divergent interests, pressing Tel Aviv to negotiate a settlement in order to gain stability in a region where Washington seeks to increase its domination.

The refusal by the Palestinian people to give up their fight for a sovereign homeland remains a major obstacle to these imperialist goals.

Around 2 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and 1 million in the Gaza Strip. Another million reside within Israeli borders--almost one-fifth of Israel's population--facing institutionalized discrimination. In addition, close to 2 million Palestinians are refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

The breakdown of "peace talks" in July, and the failure of attempts to reopen them, set the stage for the conflict that erupted in late September. During the July sessions, Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat balked at demands by Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and U.S. president William Clinton to cede long-held Palestinian claims to sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem. Arafat is the chairperson of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and president of the Palestinian National Authority.

The renewed conflict began after rightist Israeli politician Ariel Sharon walked onto a holy Islamic site in Jerusalem on September 28, surrounded by 1,000 cops. Encouraged by clerics at mosques, thousands of Palestinians mobilized in the face of Israeli police and military forces that included infantry, helicopters, and armored vehicles. Since then, youths armed with stones confronted Israeli forces in West Bank cities, Gaza, and inside Israel. Protesters blocked highways and organized funeral processions--that became political demonstrations--for victims of the Israeli violence.

Palestinian National Authority (PNA) police have sometimes joined the fighting as protesters have come under Israeli fire, or watched as clashes occur. The Tanzim militia, which is linked to Arafat's Al Fatah group in the Palestine Liberation Organization, has been active in organizing the resistance to the Israeli forces.  
 
Attacks by Zionist settlers
As the conflict unfolded, attacks by Zionist settlers on Palestinians increased. In a Palestinian district in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth, as residents defended themselves from rampaging settlers October 8, Israeli police opened fire on the Palestinians, killing two men, aged 25 and 42.

"It did not occur to us that the police would get to the scene, see what was happening and side with the thugs who were attacking our homes and beating people randomly," Jalal Hassan told reporters. "It was a message from the Israeli state to all of us: 'You are not really citizens. You do not belong here.'"

After the incident, Obour Rizeq, a city worker, pointed to the second-class status of Palestinians living in Israel. "We do not receive the same economic or political benefits.... Young men cannot find work. Nearly half of all Arabs in Nazareth live below the poverty line.... Why is anyone amazed that everything has exploded?"

The previous day, the Israeli army positioned tanks at Zionist settlements in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron as settlers and Palestinian forces exchanged gunfire. Armed settlers blocked road junctions in the West Bank and Gaza, saying they were retaliating against the destruction of a Jewish religious site in Nablus.

Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon on October 7 crossed the border with Israel and captured three Israeli soldiers from a patrol vehicle. Hezbollah spokespeople said the goal of their operation was to exchange the three sergeants for 19 Lebanese prisoners being held without trial in Israel.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak immediately seized on this incident. He threatened to attack Lebanon and Syria and to pull out of efforts to restart negotiations. Barak also issued an ultimatum giving Palestinian authorities 48 hours to restrain the protests or face the use of "all available means" by Israeli troops. On October 10 the Israeli cabinet withdrew the threat, saying that Arafat would be given a "last chance" to contain Palestinian protests.

Barak also raised the possibility of seeking an "emergency" coalition government with Sharon. The right-wing politician spurned the offer, saying he would push for early elections, and denounced Barak's decision to extend the deadline of his ultimatum. In an October 10 editorial, the New York Times, which supports Washington's push to reopen talks, advised Barak to "put aside the idea" of a coalition government with Sharon. At the same time, the Times editors declared that Barak's threats "to unleash full military force against Palestinian targets are readily understandable."

On October 7 the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that, without naming the Israeli government, condemned the "excessive use of force" against the Palestinians and called for an immediate resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks. Washington had threatened to veto the resolution before the condemnation of Tel Aviv was toned down. Fourteen council members voted for the resolution, and the U.S. representative abstained.

The Clinton administration has continued to pressure the Palestinian leaders. The October 11 New York Times reported that "Clinton has spoken to Mr. Arafat daily since [October 6], sometimes three times a day, impressing upon him, location by location, how things must be brought under control." London and representatives of the European Union have delivered a similar message.

"The Palestinians, in many ways, are putting the Israelis under siege," U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright asserted October 8. "We are concerned about excessive use of force, but also about this siege mentality that is being, really, provoked, in a way, by all the stone-throwers.

She added, "Mr. Arafat has made some very hard decisions in the past, and he has been able to control things.... He has to do everything he can to get this rock-throwing and violence under control."

Tel Aviv's brutal repression has sparked demonstrations throughout the Middle East. Protests of more than 10,000 people have occurred in Cairo, Baghdad, Beirut, and Tehran. In the Syrian capital of Damascus students pelted the U.S. embassy with stones.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak announced that an emergency summit of governments in the region would be convened in Cairo October 21-22.
 
 
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