Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., October 25, 2007 Cheshvan 13, 5768 | | Israel Time: 21:24 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Print Edition
Diplomacy
Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising
Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel
del.icio.us
Digg It!  new
Last update - 09:28 24/10/2007
Some assassination plot
By Amira Hass

A dense row of policemen from the Palestinian Presidential Guard is deployed in the streets of Ramallah whenever the entourage of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) passes through, or whenever a high-ranking guest visits him. Judging by the dramatic manner in which the Israeli media dealt two days ago with the "assassination attempt" against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, one might have concluded that the plotters were pulled from among the ranks of the Presidential Guard at the last moment, when they were just about to shoot at Olmert's car when he was on his way to taste the cooking of Saeb Erekat's wife.

The dramatic Israeli reports confused the Palestinian spokesmen. Each one gave a different version, which only reinforced the impression that this was a roundup of the usual suspects. For their part, the spokesmen immediately suspected that the Israeli drama was intended to sink the Annapolis summit. As though otherwise it was destined to be a success story.

It's true that one should never believe official spokespeople, certainly not those of any security service. So we should not automatically believe the details given by the Palestinians: that the three (or five) men were simply discussing an unripe "plan" among themselves, that their intended weapon was a Molotov cocktail, and that they were released after a two-month investigation by the Preventive Security Services, because no sufficient grounds were found to indict them.
Advertisement
In Ramallah they came to the conclusion that the two men who were detained for a second time last Friday were actually taken into custody to protect them from Israeli arrest, after the detention of their friend at a military checkpoint. To the same degree, it is permissible, even recommended, to ask whether this is not an example of hysteria and deliberate inflation on the part of the Shin Bet security service. "The Shin Bet is well aware that this is not a serious conspiracy, otherwise what prevented the Israeli army from arresting those released?" they wondered in Ramallah.

The Israeli opinion of the PA security services is fueled by images rather than reality. The details of this reality are precisely what caused the Palestinians to dismiss the dramatic Israeli report: After all, any two people can declare themselves a cell in one of the many groups of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, and the Shin Bet can declare any three Fatah members "a terrorist cell" and enhance the imaginary danger they represent. Young Palestinians, most of them Fatah supporters, joined the security services mainly for the salaries they offer in a period of chronic unemployment. Their military training and their skills are accordingly inferior.

The true motives behind the adoption of the title "Al-Aqsa Martyrs" are related to jobs, honor and power more than to an ability to act against the occupation. The arrogance comes at the expense of seriousness. And none of the Palestinian echelons, from the two governments to the "cells," excels in its planning ability, a necessary condition for any "assassination plot" as for any struggle against foreign rule.

The Palestinian spokesmen were confused not because Israel "caught them in the act." They were confused because again Israel provided an overly strident reminder of its true expectations of the PA: that it serve as an assistant prison guard, a subcontractor of the Israeli occupation. Since its establishment, the PA has oscillated between the two extremes: placating Israel and the United States, on the one hand, and convincing its people that it is leading them to the end of the occupation, on the other. At one point it arrests and conceals, at another it releases and conceals. Abu Mazen sometimes condemns Israel, sometimes calls Israelis "our neighbors." On the basis of these imaginary neighborly relations, he invited Olmert for a return visit in "his state" (Jericho, for this purpose).

Whether this was a plan that failed (and if it had succeeded or even been attempted, it could have been expected to worsen Israeli oppression), or whether it was a fantasy of frustrated young men, the "assassination plot" serves as a reminder to the government in Ramallah: Even those who depend for their livelihood on PA money do not forget that Israel is not the neighbor to the west but the occupier that sits in their homes. For them the Israeli prime minister is not a neighboring leader who is visiting them, but the exalted representative of the foreign invader.
Bookmark to del.icio.us
An unhealthy obsession
12 years after Rabin's death, the public discourse is mostly concerned with his killer.
Angel in hell
For two weeks last winter, German immigrant Raphael Angel lived a nightmare.
  1.   That`s right Amira, if Arabs expect services they need pay taxes 09:41  |  Genuine Tosefta 24/10/07
  2.   shame on passive Arabs! 09:48  |  Roxana from IRAN 24/10/07
  3.   a great woman, a great human being 09:51  |  Israeli 24/10/07
  4.   Carried away with their own cleverness. 09:58  |  Natallie Durson 24/10/07
  5.   Israel`s Collaborators 10:03  |  Walid 24/10/07
  6.   Walid...Nayiknee okhtak iza betreed? 10:06  |  Tamir Palestine 24/10/07
  7.   THAT`S WHY THEY WILL LOST 10:10  |  indrajaya 24/10/07
  8.   Another BS from Amira The Hatred 10:11  |  Hastaroth 24/10/07
  9.   amira 10:20  |  eva 24/10/07
  10.   Has Amira Hass applied for Swiss citizenship....??? 10:21  |  Swiss (Dino) 24/10/07
  11.   amira in ramallah 10:23  |  ofer 24/10/07
  12.   THE PA FORCES ISRAEL TO EXERT THE OCCUPATION 10:23  |  Mitch Iginer 24/10/07
  13.   Israel`s Nurturing of Terrorists 10:35  |  Walid 24/10/07
  14.   For Tosefta , You are extremely wrong mate 10:44  |  Sky Hawk 24/10/07
  15.   YOU SEE ! WHAT IS STUPID ? 10:51  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 24/10/07
  16.   The assasination plot is NOT the main security issue,ongoing 11:19  |  PETER S .M. 24/10/07
  17.   SWISS Not necessary Amira already lives in paradise. 11:31  |  PETE R SM 24/10/07
  18.   SWISS Not necessary Amira already lives in paradise. 11:31  |  PETE R SM 24/10/07
  19.   DAHLAN + SHIN BET = A LIE 11:33  |  indrajaya 24/10/07
  20.   Historical truth Hass wants to hide 11:54  |  Jonathan S 24/10/07
  21.   # 17 PETER SM 12:04  |  Swiss (Dino) 24/10/07
  22.   Palestinian spokesperson, Hass, is confused. 12:19  |  akiva (zionist) 24/10/07
  23.   Tamir Israel 12:22  |  Walid 24/10/07
  24.   Palestinian spokesperson, Hass, is confused. 12:22  |  akiva (zionist) 24/10/07
  25.   Rantings of a mad woman 12:25  |  D Lawrence 24/10/07
  26.   # 10 Swiss 12:33  |  Lynn 24/10/07
  27.   Lay Off 12:41  |  Dennis 24/10/07
  28.   More to the point,Has Amira applied for Palestinian citizenship 12:44  |  nina to Dino #10 24/10/07
  29.   Jonathan S 12:45  |  Walid 24/10/07
  30.   You mean follow the rule of law??? 12:46  |  WTF is wrong w/ you 24/10/07
  31.   Sharon Created Hamas 12:59  |  Walid 24/10/07
  32.   Olmert is the Elected PM of Israel 13:02  |  Efox 24/10/07
  33.   # 26 Lynn 13:09  |  Swiss (Dino) 24/10/07
  34.   # 28 nina, I will stick to my point...... 13:15  |  Swiss (Dino) 24/10/07
  35.   WTF is wrong w/ you 13:36  |  Walid 24/10/07
  36.   Efox 13:40  |  Walid 24/10/07
  37.   Mitch Iginer 13:48  |  Walid 24/10/07
  38.   Eva/ amira 13:58  |  Anne 24/10/07
  39.   #37walid-Disagreements require logic.Maybe one day you`ll get it. 14:00  |  Walid 24/10/07
  40.   CENSORS WON`T LET ME SAY WHAT ARABS BELIEVE-AMIRA IS FROM MONKEYS 14:05  |  Tom Bell 24/10/07
  41.   #39 is from MITCH IGINER TO WALID #37 14:07  |  Mitch Iginer 24/10/07
  42.   # 40, TOM BELL 14:10  |  indrajaya 24/10/07
  43.   For Walid, the cynical 14:22  |  Jonathan S 24/10/07
  44.   Tom Bell 14:26  |  Walid 24/10/07
  45.   #42Indra-ARE YOU REALLY KIDDING? ASK YOUR LOCAL MULLAH OR IMMAM ! 14:27  |  Tom Bell 24/10/07
  46.   For Tom Bell about monkeys 14:36  |  Jonathan S 24/10/07
  47.   #46Jonathan-You are so right, IF USED CONSTRUCTIVELY. 14:53  |  Tom Bell 24/10/07
  48.   Of course, the PA is a manager of the Occupation 14:57  |  El-birawi 24/10/07
  49.   #44walid-Thanks but i already know how you feel about Jews&Israel 15:00  |  Tom Bell 24/10/07
  50.   #7 indrajaya - is LOST again 15:03  |  Shlomo 24/10/07
  51.   I am not joking is Amira insane on drugs or both? 15:18  |  Mark Hamil 24/10/07
  52.   Jonathan S 15:29  |  Walid 24/10/07
  53.   Tom Bell 15:35  |  Walid 24/10/07
  54.   fruits of arrogance 15:37  |  ravi 24/10/07
  55.   Sky Hawk 15:50  |  Israeli 24/10/07
  56.   For Walid about past and future 16:03  |  Jonathan S 24/10/07
  57.   #53Wal-IF TAQIYA ALLOWS DENYING FAITH THEN IT ALSO ALLOWS ANY LIE 16:19  |  Tom Bell 24/10/07
  58.   what is Amira Hass` nom d`guerre? 16:38  |  eddie 24/10/07
  59.   How do you know? 16:54  |  B 24/10/07
  60.   Long live Amira 16:58  |  Sam (UK) 24/10/07
  61.   Walid #5 17:11  |  Tess 24/10/07
  62.   Hello Amira, I am sure you are right... 17:11  |  Dutch 24/10/07
  63.   Lahd Concept 17:24  |  khairi janbek 24/10/07
  64.   Tom Bell 17:25  |  Walid 24/10/07
  65.   Jonathan S 17:34  |  Walid 24/10/07
  66.   So what else does a palestinian state have to offer??? 17:52  |  Voice of Reason 24/10/07
  67.   #50 Indrajaya, Re: The Noble Prize 18:47  |  dutch 24/10/07
  68.   #50 Indrajaya, Re Shlomo `s Peace prize 18:48  |  Dutch 24/10/07
  69.   Tom Bell and Taqiyyah 18:52  |  Phil 24/10/07
  70.   help the occupation 19:09  |  David 24/10/07
  71.   Hass: The Arabs Need Not Do Thier Part ... EVER 19:11  |  pace306 24/10/07
  72.   Amira, three monkeys in one 19:22  |  Eddie 24/10/07
  73.   ATILLA when there will be Peace to Kurdistan free of Turkey? 19:25  |  Genuine Tosefta 24/10/07
  74.   This woman has become a sick joke 19:30  |  Udi 24/10/07
  75.   Her only criticism 19:49  |  Mike 24/10/07
  76.   Walid on Frankenstein, Golem et al 19:54  |  sh 24/10/07
  77.   Amira, since when Arabs kill guests? 20:02  |  Serge 24/10/07
  78.   69-Phil:EVERYONE HERE KNOWS MUSLIMS LIE. IF YOU SUICIDE YOU LIE. 20:03  |  ATTA TYPPESH 24/10/07
  79.   Amira, the imagined deference among the pal`s... 20:17  |  Misha 24/10/07
  80.   #51 Mark Hamil, Hamas is not a terrorist group 20:22  |  Dutch 24/10/07
  81.   #80 20:41  |  Jeff 24/10/07
  82.