TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/121189/12118900.032

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 8.3 KB | 162 lines

                                                                                WORLD, Page 59

MIDDLE EAST

Still Stuck in the Stone Age


As the Palestinian uprising enters its third year, both sides
have reason to mourn

By Jon D. Hull/JERUSALEM


    Beatings. Mass arrests. Rubber, plastic and lead bullets.
The Israeli army has deployed all these and more against the
Palestinians in a futile effort to smash the revolt that
erupted in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on Dec. 9,
1987. In the two years since then, Israel's politicians have
bickered endlessly and fruitlessly in the search for a solution.
The intifadeh goes on, the deaths go on, the Arab-Israeli
stalemate goes on.

    Back in 1987, few thought the revolt would last long enough
to mark a first anniversary, let alone a second. Israeli
leaders insisted the rebellion would be quickly crushed. But a
second year without a settlement pays credit to the
Palestinians' remarkable endurance and ingenuity. Armed with
stones and Molotov cocktails, Arab youths have managed to
confound the Israeli army, regain their tattered pride, and
remind the world that Israel's "enlightened" occupation is a
painful contradiction in terms. Yet many Palestinians fear their
revolution has stalled. Mass demonstrations have given way to
smaller skirmishes waged by a hard-core group of activists, and
Israel has yet to concede so much as an inch of land. Meanwhile,
the world's attention has been diverted by more dramatic events
elsewhere. Frustrated and embittered, many Palestinians wonder
whether they can afford the price necessary to reach a
compromise.

    Since the first fusillade of stones and bullets two years
ago, more than 750 Palestinians have been killed and tens of
thousands wounded. Sixty have been expelled, and 6,000 remain
imprisoned without trial. Israeli troops have sealed or
demolished at least 400 homes. At the same time, the Jewish
population in the territories has increased 12%, to nearly
80,000, not including East Jerusalem, and the government has
quietly inaugurated six new settlements.

    Yet none of this has spelled defeat for the Palestinians.
Ironically, the uprising's survival is assured by the army's
harsh measures, which are drastic enough to guarantee hatred
among Arabs but not to end the revolt. The methods Israel has
refined to keep the intifadeh in check may be more responsible
for Palestinian solidarity than the slogans of the Arab
leadership, so that the uprising has been institutionalized as
a self-perpetuating expression of pride and anger. But a growing
number of Arab extremists argue that stones are no longer
sufficient. "The only way we're going to get rid of the Israelis
is with force," says a young activist from Nablus. "We have to
make them suffer." So far, Palestinians have succeeded in
killing 42 Jews, most of them civilians. The activist says
several hundred more will have to die before Israel can be
brought to the negotiating table.

    Palestinian guerrillas armed with automatic weapons offered
a grim demonstration of that philosophy last month when they
ambushed an Israeli patrol in the Gaza Strip and killed two
soldiers. But stepped-up Palestinian violence will only beget
more violence from Israel. Warned Brigadier General Zvi Poleg,
who commands Israeli forces in Gaza: "The rules of the game
change when lethal weapons are used against soldiers."

    That is precisely what worries Palestinian moderates, who
fear that any escalation would jeopardize hard-won
international sympathy. Already, the carefully nurtured image
of a rebellion fought by children with stones has been tarnished
by a gruesome turn to Arab-vs.-Arab bloodshed. At least 140
Palestinians have been shot, beaten, stabbed or hacked to death
by fellow Arabs. Most of the victims were charged with
collaborating with the occupation.

    The Palestinians most hated by their neighbors are those
who brandish Israeli-provided weapons. In the West Bank village
of Ya`bad everyone knows -- and shuns -- three Palestinian
brothers who watch over the community with binoculars, Uzis and
walkie-talkies. Says a resident: "These traitors carry out the
army's job, beating people, destroying property and shooting in
the air day and night just to scare us." Intifadeh leaders have
made such blatant collaboration a capital offense. Other victims
are accused of offending Islamic factions by trafficking in
drugs and sex. And some are the victims of personal vendettas
or tribal rivalries: the label of collaborator provides a
convenient cover for settling scores.

    To many Israelis, these killings are proof that the
uprising is merely a brutish expression of Palestinian
hostility. But that attitude ignores the fundamental
accomplishments of the intifadeh. Two years of prime-time revolt
have wrought an extraordinary shift in international, and
especially U.S., public opinion, convincing many of Israel's
supporters that the Jewish nation's continued rule over 1.7
million Arabs is dangerous and absurd. And after decades of
serving as pawns for larger powers, the Palestinians in the
West Bank and Gaza have taken control of the Arab struggle
against Israel, forcing the rest of the Arab world to play
catch-up. Jordan's King Hussein took his cue last year by
revoking his claim to the West Bank. Last December P.L.O.
Chairman Yasser Arafat made capital out of the uprising by
renouncing terrorism and recognizing Israel's right to exist.

    Arafat's excruciating conversion earned the P.L.O. a
dialogue with Washington, but brought on nightmares in
Jerusalem. Pressure mounted from the Bush Administration and
American Jews, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir finally
countered with an initiative last spring that calls for
elections among Palestinians in the territories. Representatives
chosen there would negotiate a period of autonomy with Israel,
to be followed by the promise of talks on a final settlement.

    Jerusalem has been in the middle of a game of hot potato
ever since. The main obstacle: how to assemble a Palestinian
delegation that gives Arafat a voice but allows Israel to
pretend that the P.L.O. is not party to negotiations. So far,
no formula has been found. While the U.S. is growing impatient
with Shamir's delaying tactics, President Bush appears unwilling
to expend his political capital by pressuring Shamir. Privately,
many U.S. officials have concluded that Shamir is incapable of
compromise.

    Most Israelis have grown inured to the disturbances. Except
for annual stints in the reserves, few ever come into contact
with the violence. "We've simply got used to the intifadeh,"
says Joseph Alpher, deputy head of the Jaffee Center for
Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv. "The hardships are not
unbearable." But the insidious effects are profound, and may
eventually force Israel to choose between the territorial claims
of its more extreme politicians and sheer self-preservation.

    Israeli moderates warn that the occupation is corrupting
both the army and society. Says Israeli author David Grossman,
whose 1988 book, The Yellow Wind, limned the destructive effect
on Israel's soul of the continued occupation of the West Bank:
"We are training our youngsters to be cruel and brutal. They
bring that back home."

    Israel's growing number of hard-liners remain unsatisfied
with what they see as the army's insufficiently tough approach.
Complains Noam Arnon, a spokesman for settlers in Hebron: "This
is a war, but the army treats it like a minor disturbance."
Yuval Ne'eman, a right-wing Knesset member and advocate of
annexation, accuses the government of outright appeasement.
"We're moving in the direction of giving up land," he says. "The
Arabs have brought Mr. Shamir to his knees."

    Few Palestinians would agree. Without some movement in the
peace process, they may soon conclude that further violence is
the only way to force a political breakthrough. Says Grossman:
"I'm afraid things will have to get much worse before they
improve. I'm afraid it will have to become a violent crisis."
That would suit both Arab and Jewish extremists just fine.
Israeli hawks have been waiting for an excuse to pull out the
heavy artillery, and Arab radicals are eager to renew their holy
war. As the intifadeh enters its third year, both sides seem
poised for nothing more than further bloodshed.