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"Today Gaza, Tomorrow Jerusalem"
By Daniel PipesExcerpt: But I forecast a very different outcome. Given that some 80 percent of Palestinians continue to reject Israelâs very existence, signs of Israeli weakness, such as the forthcoming Gaza withdrawal, will instead inspire heightened Palestinian irredentism. Absorbing their new gift without gratitude, Palestinians will focus on those territories Israelis have not evacuated. (This is what happened after Israeli forces fled Lebanon.) The retreat will inspire not comity but a new rejectionist exhilaration, a greater frenzy of anti-Zionist anger, and a surge in anti-Israel violence. Palestinians themselves are openly saying as much. Ahmed al-Bahar, a top Hamas figure in Gaza, says that âIsrael has never been in such a state of retreat and weakness as it is today following more than four years of the intifada. Hamasâ heroic attacks exposed the weakness and volatility of the impotent Zionist security establishment. The withdrawal marks the end of the Zionist dream and is a sign of the moral and psychological decline of the Jewish state. We believe that the resistance is the only way to pressure the Jews.â Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, says likewise that the withdrawal is âdue to the Palestinian resistance operationsâŠand we will continue our resistance.â Others are more specific. At a mass rally in Gaza City last Thursday, some 10,000 Palestinians danced, sang, and chanted, âToday Gaza, tomorrow Jerusalem.â Jamal Abu Samhadaneh, commander of Gazaâs Popular Resistance Committees, announced on Sunday, âWe will move our cells to the West Bankâ and warned that âThe withdrawal will not be complete without the West Bank and Jerusalem.â The Palestinian Authorityâs Ahmed Qurei also asserts, âOur march will stop only in Jerusalem.â Posted by: ed 2005-08-10 |
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