Netanyahu and his hidden agenda
By Amer Anabtawi
harging ahead more
like an invading army than a team of archaeologists, Israelis broke through
the last few stones of a long-controversial tunnel under the cover of the
night and heavy security. The tunnel ran alongside the foundation of the
third holiest site of Islam, one of the most hotly contested areas of land
perhaps in human history.
This area, known to Muslims
as Haram Al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, contains the Western
Wall, the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque and is claimed and held
sacred by both Muslims and Jews. Yet the Netanyahu government went ahead
with the completion of this tunnel without consultation with any of the
concerned parties, an action halted by all the previous Israeli governments
even before any peace agreements were written.In doing so, the government
disregarded the position of the Palestinians and the more than one billion
Muslims, along with flagrantly violating the Oslo Agreements, which mandate
the freezing of the status quo in Jerusalem.Undoubtedly, the heavy
security and the late hours under which the action was taken shows that the
Israelis knew exactly what they were doing, despite their claims that the
tunnel is of value to tourists only. Benjamin Netanyahu's government,
having comprehended the magnitude of its actions, must have predicted the
outbreak of protests, demonstrations and violence even without the alleged
"incitement" by the Palestinian Authority.But what is of most
significance here is the larger picture, which brings out into light the
hidden agenda of Netanyahu and his extremist allies--to create enough havoc
and anarchy to destabilize the Palestinian Authority and undermine the Oslo
Agreements, while at the same time establishing a new status quo on the
ground that will prejudice any new negotiations in its favor.This is not to vindicate
the crime already committed--the Palestinians justifiably fear the threat
to the foundation of Haram Al-Sharif, and the tunnel alters the status quo
in Jerusalem and thereby violates international agreements. But the opening
of the tunnel is only the spark that ignited the anger and frustration of
the Palestinians amassed by the continuous provocation, injustices and
arrogance of the Netanyahu government, not to mention the disappointment
from the previous, supposedly peaceful Peres government.Granted, Palestinians did
not get much from the Oslo Agreement, which remains controversial among
many Palestinian intellectuals and was recently likened by Peres to
"swallow(ing ) poison" for the Palestinians. However, Netanyahu has brought
the entire process to a virtual halt. International observers have
repeatedly criticized his government for not honoring the agreements of the
previous governments, and for the average man in the street in the West
Bank, Netanyahu's arrogance and disdain for the Palestinians has
continuously upped the ante in the war of nerves between the two sides,
finally culminating in a violent venting of frustrations.Not only has Netanyahu been
slow to implement the peace accords, but he has continuously and openly
tried to reverse the situation since taking office. His government has
defiantly resumed the rapid construction of new settlements in the occupied
territories of the West Bank, despite the objection of every other member
of the United Nations, including the United States.The choking closure of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip goes on unabated, leading to harsh economic
conditions for the Palestinian masses and a 20 percent drop in their
already low standard of living. Redeployment from Hebron, which was
supposed to take place in March, has been totally ignored. Consolidation of
the Israeli grip on Jerusalem continues at a hastier pace through
confiscation of land, continued denial of identification cards or building
permits for the Arab population of the city, prevention of Palestinian
residents of the West Bank from entering Jerusalem, establishment of
Israeli neighborhoods in Arab East Jerusalem, and now challenging Arab
custody of Muslim and Christian holy sites.These violations are not
just randomly plotted actions of an extremist government determined to mock
already signed international agreements. Rather, they are the orchestrated
plan of a cunning mastermind bent on rewriting the agreements altogether.
As the actions go unchallenged, Netanyahu is forcefully altering the
balance of control in the occupied territories and instituting a new
reality--a sort of fait accompli or what Zbigniew Brzezinski terms
"accomplished facts"--that will make it even harder to implement previous
agreements.Not only that, but the
effect of these new facts reaches into the future to yet unwritten
agreements. As James Baker, former U.S. secretary of state, said, "Any time
you start creating facts on the ground, you prejudice negotiations."
Furthermore, the spread of violence and anarchy and the breakdown of the
Palestinian Authority will present the Netanyahu government with the
pretext it needs to disregard the Oslo Agreements and dispute the integrity
of the Palestinian people. Consequently, the government will be able to
forge new harsher agreements under circumstances different from those
envisaged by the Oslo agreements.Unfortunately, the
fruitless, theatrical talks in Washington last week have clearly given
Netanyahu what he wanted. He is probably solidly on his way to fulfilling
his larger extremist agenda. The talks succeeded in nothing more than
shutting up the Palestinians in exchange for the promise just to "talk,"
without any solid commitments, deadlines or compromises by Israelis.And with Netanyahu getting
away with murder, this is sure to embolden his extremist allies among the
settlers and in the government. And with the success of this latest
maneuver, the establishment of new "accomplished facts" on the ground is
sure to continue--a strategy alluded to by Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert
after the tunnel was opened when he commented that "there are certain
things there is no chance (Palestinians) can change... They have to
understand the realities of life here."Amer Anabtawi is a graduate student in aerospace engineering.