Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., March 03, 2008 Adar1 26, 5768 | | Israel Time: 13:54 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 10:00 02/03/2008 Get ready for the third intifada By Zvi Bar'el Tags: Gaza Life in Ramallah is grand, for now. The supermarkets offer a wide array of goods, the discos are hopping and economic growth has exceeded 7 percent since Prime Minister Salam Fayyad took office. Maybe the Palestinian Authority has not received all of the $7.7 billion pledged by donor states but there is a feeling that it is possible to do business, both in the public and private sectors. Evidence of this is the dissatisfaction of Fatah members with the presence of too many technocrats and not enough Fatah appointees in the Fayyad government. They want a share in the goodies, too. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is also pleased. Even though nothing seems to be moving in the talks with Israel, at least meetings are taking place. "If we do not reach an agreement in 2008 it will be difficult to have conditions for negotiations similar to the ones currently in place," he told the London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat. And what have these terrific conditions, who are backed by the Americans, led to? Zero results. It doesn't matter, as long as the West Bank is calm, and flourishing, between the checkpoints and the settlements. The serenity of the West Bank is threatened by only one thing: the war in the Gaza Strip, where as of last night 60 Palestinians had been killed. Apparently both Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have convinced themselves that not only is this a case of two separate countries, in which one has no effect on the other, but it is also about two different peoples. As such, a solution with one Palestinian state and one Palestinian people does not necessitate a solution with another Palestinian people. In one Palestine there will be a flourishing economy, and in the other there will be war. In one Palestine factories will operate and there will be dancing in discos, and in the other, children will be killed. Advertisement Even if Abbas is not moved by this reality - because of his tremendous personal anger at Hamas for stealing away from him one third of the Palestinian state as well as his frustration that his forces and loyalists failed to prevent the Hamas takeover in the Gaza Strip - Israel should be very, very moved. The Strip may be ruled by Hamas, but the war that the organization is waging against Israel is a Palestinian war. A million and a half Palestinians do not pay taxes to the PA, but they also do not have a normal life. The Gazan civilian population, hundreds of thousands of whose representative grabbed hold of the lifeline that was momentarily available to them when Hamas breached the wall closing them in, is the dynamite on which the first and second intifadas were built. At the same time, and because of the same siege, Arab leaders were forced to embrace the Gaza Strip as a Palestinian entity, irrespective of the fact that it is ruled by Hamas. According to a Bir Zeit University survey, over 80 percent of the Palestinians want Hamas and Fatah to reconcile. The respondents do not consider the division of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip a natural phenomenon that can be accepted quietly. They recognize, as should Israel, that the Strip is a genuine threat to the status quo in the West Bank. It bears repeating that in the last intifada there was a competition of sorts between the West Bank and Gaza, between Fatah and Hamas, and even between different cities in the West Bank and the Strip, as to who could carry out more violent attacks against Israel. When Hamas dispatched suicide bombers into Israel, Fatah adopted the method, and when Nablus was on fire, Hebron followed, because when there is a national struggle it overcomes all domestic differences. The illusion that a good economy, open borders and a decent standard of living guarantee an undisturbed occupation has twice blown up in Israel?s face. This illusion has been resuscitated. The West Bank, Israelis say - as does Abbas - will not be like Gaza. Where is the guarantee? Israeli control, which was twice caught unprepared by an intifada? PA control? The same PA that lost the Gaza Strip? The Qassam rockets that Hamas fires at Israeli towns are also meant for Ramallah and Nablus, and the question that needs to worry Israel very much is not only how to fortify Sderot and Ashkelon, but also how to prevent the outbreak of a new intifada in the West Bank. The moment that war begins in the Gaza Strip, it will not be a war against Hamas; it will be seen as a war against the most downtrodden and poor segment of the Palestinian people, against women and children, a war that cannot leave the West Bank indifferent. The opening of a second front, on the east, against Israel, should then come as no surprise. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Born to bear arms Many children of expatriates return to Israel to serve in the IDF Doctored death? An Independent expert says IDF bullets didn't kill Mohammed al-Dura.   1.   Realistic article,israel is living with an illusion! 10:40  |  lakshmi 02/03/08   2.   Mr. Bar`el: Get Your Priorities Straight - It`s Not Funny Anymore 10:44  |  massaraksh 02/03/08   3.   Everyone knows that Zvi! 10:49  |  S 02/03/08   4.   So you say. 10:51  |  Dror 02/03/08   5.   israel will suffer, believe that 11:18  |  raw truth 02/03/08   6.   Jesus how much more whining about pals and ignoring Israelis? 11:47  |  don 02/03/08   7.   don is absolutely correct 12:27  |  Dror 02/03/08   8.   What`s that? 12:57  |  The Other Alan 02/03/08   9.   What else can Abbas do? 13:00  |  Mark Lincoln 02/03/08   10.   Funny 13:24  |  NOT 02/03/08   11.   #1 Lakshmi "Israel is living with an illusion" 13:28  |  H 02/03/08   12.   It is not fanny, its lacking of rationality.. 14:07  |  Buzaglow 02/03/08   13.   in the lands where semites live there were 14:22  |  vukovac RENO 02/03/08   14.   The Third Intifada should be for equel citizenship with Jews 15:07  |  El-Birawi 02/03/08   15.   A broader intifada against Israeli interest is to expected. 15:25  |  Dutch Dirk 02/03/08   16.   10 H.what`s wrong? Jealous! Those guys are good looking ones,if 15:31  |  lakshmi 02/03/08   17.   Gaza = Egypt 15:52  |  Terje 02/03/08   18.   Hamas has got one goal to make the iraeli to 16:16  |  Kris 02/03/08   19.   Nonsense Threatening ourselves is foolish 16:34  |  Shalom Freedman 02/03/08   20.   Difference between Fatah & Hamas 16:44  |  Al T Alana 02/03/08   21.   zvi bar`el 17:29  |  peter green 02/03/08   22.   Don`t forget the Israeli Arabs 18:14  |  Ron 02/03/08   23.   Conflict 18:29  |  Sonia Bum 02/03/08   24.   Killing of innocent 21:00  |  Fred 02/03/08   25.   SELF HYPNOSIS OF J-ZIONISM 01:45  |  JOHN ISH ISHMAEL 03/03/08   26.   How stupid is Israel`s leadership? 02:17  |  Johnboy 03/03/08   27.   Excellent well argued article, congrats. 10:14  |  Chanalau, Tova 03/03/08

Today Online IDF pulls troops out of Gaza, Hamas declares 'victory' Responses: 153 Rosner: Obama, Clinton aides court hawkish Jews in Ohio Responses: 6 PM: Peace talks with the Palestinians must go on Responses: 67 Issacharoff and Harel: Hamas wants lull, but only on its own terms Responses: 35 'We thought you wanted peace,' says father of slain Gaza sisters Responses: 79 U.K. Jewish pupils boycott Shakespeare test over Bard's anti-Semitism Responses: 36 More Headlines 13:29 PM: Peace talks to go on, as will attacks on Hamas 13:06 IDF pulls troops out of Gaza, Hamas declares 'victory' 12:45 Report: Armed Israeli kills West Bank rock-thrower, fearing lynch 13:51 MI: 20 Grad-type missiles fired at Israel over course of Gaza op 12:43 Chavez: Colombia has become the Israel of Latin America 12:57 Mock debate deceives Cleveland Jewish voters 12:22 From suicide bomber to peacenik, Shifa al-Qudsi 'thought only of revenge' 13:07 U.K. Jewish pupils boycott Shakespeare test over Bard's anti-Semitism 10:53 'We thought you wanted peace,' says father of slain Gaza sisters 10:31 Minister Ayalon to push for indirect truce talks with Hamas 10:25 Three people killed in car crashes in Jerusalem, Petah Tikva 08:39 Barak, legal team to mull artillery use on civilian areas in Gaza Previous Editions Select Day 02 mar 29 feb 28 feb 27 feb 26 feb 25 feb 24 feb 22 feb 21 feb 20 feb 19 feb 18 feb

Special Offers Advertisement Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Long-term Israel programs MASA is your gateway. More programs. More grants. NEW! Dan Boutique Jerusalem Hotel Hip Dan Hotel in Jerusalem. Attractive Introductory Rates 7589 rockets fired so far HELP US TO HELP THEM Marina Royale Herzelia Pituach Your Luxurious Suite While Staying in Israel Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved