The Hindu : A jolt to peace process

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 21, 2002

International

International

A jolt to peace process

By Kesava Menon

Manama March. 20. A bomb attack on a bus in northern Israel today, in which five civilians were killed, has jolted but not derailed the grinding progress towards a cease-fire.

Israeli government spokesmen were quick with their response that the attack proved that the Palestinian Authority was not serious about a cease-fire. But Israeli security officials are expected to continue their talks with Palestinian counterparts perhaps on the presumption that the worth of these discussions should not be judged before they have been concluded. Israel has pulled out its armour and troops from most areas conceded to the full control of the Palestinian Authority.

For their part, the Palestinian security forces have moved into sectors vacated by Israel and have begun putting arrangements in place. These procedures have not been completed in respect of all areas into which the Israeli army had moved in over the past fortnight. Therefore it is too early to judge the effectiveness with which the Palestinians are fulfilling their promise to halt terrorist activity emanating from their territory.

In any event, the attack today was inside Israel proper though the Haifa-Afula highway, on which the bus was attacked, runs quite close to the seam between Israel and the northern West Bank. Even after a cease-fire, the responsibility for security in this area will remain with Israel but the Palestinian security forces will presumably be obliged to ensure that no militant is able to move from Palestinian controlled areas to Israel proper.

It is also possible that this particular suicide bomber set off on his mission before the Palestinian Authority Chairman, Yasser Arafat, had reiterated his promise to implement previous cease-fire obligations and before his security forces could move into position. What is more worrying is that a senior leader of Hamas today said that their campaign of violence against Israel will continue so long as Israel occupies Palestinian territory.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has also said that the question of permitting Mr. Arafat to attend the summit would depend on whether the cease-fire agreement is being implemented. However, Mr. Sharon has added his own bit of mischief by stating that Mr. Arafat's return to his territories would depend on whether or not his speeches in Beirut cause `incitement'. What constitutes `incitement' is open to interpretation and Mr. Sharon and some of his closeaides are prone to opt for as wide an interpretation as possible.

Since the Cheney-Arafat meeting depending to quite an extent on Israel's satisfaction with the cease-fire and since Mr. Sharon would not like to see the Palestinians and Americans cosying up, further fire-works cannot be ruled out.

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