Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha'ul Mofaz told a closed group of top Central Command officers last week that he sees the Command's chief mission as preparing for the armed conflict that he feels is likely to break out in 1999. Mofaz told the officers that they should prepare for various
eventualities, as "the uncertainty surrounding the diplomatic process is an important factor." He said that lines of communication with the PA must remain open, and added that the officers should "exhibit understanding for the needs of the Jewish residents of Yesha, who are living under difficult circumstances," adding that these must be within the framework of the law.

Comment: Public pressure from among Jewish residents is being felt. It has moved the Israeli government to send up yet another smokescreen forewarning the uncertainty surrounding the diplomatic process and counseling understanding the needs of the Jewish residents. Our needs are appropriate training and weapons to defend ourselves, not understanding. All of a sudden the IDF should prepare for various eventualities. Why not just say prepare for war ? Through this deliberate confusing and minimizing of the issue, Mofaz and the Israeli government are revealing Israel s utter vulnerability.

Mofaz was addressing his top Central Command officers, wasn t he? Was he worried that
his officers might take the law into their own hands? What, then, is the meaning of this insinuation, and who was really meant to hear it? This news report is pervaded with disinformation, aimed at soothing the residents of Israel into believing that someone is worried for their security.

The Jewish communities of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza have been abandoned with virtually no weapons, training, community preparation, or even the basic knowledge of what is about to happen. Meanwhile, the Arabs are getting ready, security is getting the rhetoric, and the Jewish people are getting deception, cowardice, and a heavily drugged sleep.
 
 
 
 

"We are willing to die; for them every death is a tragedy..."
Interview with Faysal Huseini, leader of al-Fatah, by Kenize Mourad

[Huseini:] Oslo is dead and buried. The Palestinian youth, especially in the refugee camps, wants to start fighting again, and we are having a great deal of trouble holding them back. Despite everything, we have decided to be patient until the end of the five-year interim period so that nobody can say that it was us who sabotaged the peace process. But on 4 May 1999, we will announce the independence of the Palestinian state. We will forcefully open up our borders with Jordan and Egypt, which are currently controlled by the Israeli army. There will be violent confrontation and death, but this time on both sides. Are the Israelis more numerous and better equipped? Yes, but the superiority of us Palestinians lies in the fact that we are willing to lay down our lives, whereas for them every death is a tragedy that society cannot bear. We have no other solution. But watch out If, yet again, the world lets Israel do what it wants, and if the PLO leadership fails in its last fight, then it will fall because the people will no longer have confidence in it. The only alternative will be Hamas. The fundamentalists are waiting; they are prepared to take power. Where Jerusalem is concerned they are capable of mobilizing Muslims from around the world -- from Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco. There will be popular reactions everywhere; no Middle East government will be secure. The political map of the region will be sent into turmoil, and then Israel will have real reasons to be afraid!

As for the Western capitals, none of them will be safe. Nobody will be able stop the suicide attacks carried out by these young people who have been made desperate by years of sacrifice that have led to nothing.And since in Israel, the Jewish fundamentalists, who are already very
powerful, will take power -- that will mean a clash between two versions of fundamentalism. Unless the Palestinian question is resolved, then what we are seeing today is nothing compared to what could happen. Given Israel's means of destruction, as well as those held by several
Muslim countries, the entire world will be in danger.
 
 
 

.....Al-Barghuthi believes that procedures to establish a Palestinian state have actually begun with the establishment of the firstPalestinian Authority in our history. Since the establishment of thatauthority, he aid, the building of the state has been going on despite some failures and we should not close our eyes to the many successes we have made. We should prepare ourselves to confront any danger, such as a possible Israeli decision to reoccupy the areas of the Palestinian
National Authority or destroy the Palestinian Authority itself. We have to prepare ourselves to confront that option on the ground, planned for by the Israeli rulers.

Al-Barghuthi said that the Palestinian people are ready to do what they can to protect their territories and that some preparations are under way to confront such a possibility. We have been able, he said, to train thousands of youths and hold various military training courses
for that purpose.

I believe, he said, the whole Arab nation will be put to test toward the Palestinian people's cause next year, wondering if the Arabs can protect the Palestinian state.

He also said that the Palestinians should move at the international level to secure an international support from the EU and the United Nations because such a state, if established under Resolution No. 181, will rely on the international legitimacy; that there is no opportunity
for reaching any accord with the Israelis ensuring the minimum rights of the Palestinian people; and that what is going on in this regard is sheer illusion.

He also said I believe that the peace process will further deteriorate if the current Israeli Government does not take a new position. The situation is moving toward explosion, and the Palestinian people will not sit back with folded arms before the Israeli settlement building process and the terrorism of confiscating lands. Rather, they will resist the Israelis in every available way, and any future violence should be blamed on the Israeli Government alone.