Word: intifadas
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...magic of the movies makes people react in strange ways. But truth is stranger than fiction, and the real-life terrorist attacks on the United States and the latest intifada launched against Israel have made a lot of people—particularly American Jews—react in even stranger ways...
...that Arafat chose to retire, the menu of likely successors, if chosen democratically, is hardly palatable to Washington. The most popular current Palestinian leaders, after Arafat, are Marwan Barghouti, the West Bank Fatah chief currently in an Israeli prison for his role in directing the Tanzim militias in this intifada, and Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the blind spiritual leader of Hamas. The moderate negotiators from Arafat's inner circle such as Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) and Ahmed Qurei (a.k.a. Abu Ala) are aging and in ill health, and their intimate involvement in the failed Oslo process has made them magnets...
...That won't be easy. In Bush's view, responsibility for ending the murderous cycle of violence that has consumed Israel and the Occupied Territories since the current intifada began in September 2000 rests almost entirely on the Palestinians. Bush demanded that they oust their leader and replace him with one more palatable to Washington, build a "practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty" (a standard not yet met by any of Washington's Arab allies) and stop the attacks on Israel. The carrot: Perform those tasks to U.S. satisfaction over the next 18 months and the Palestinians will...
...President's address as a green light to expel Arafat, nobody believes there's going to be any Palestinian reform as long as Sharon's forces are inside PA territory. Bush did call for Israeli forces to withdraw to the positions they held before the onset of the current intifada, but he didn't specify any timetable. And plans to have Secretary of State Colin Powell fly out immediately to the region to press for implementation of the Bush agenda have been shelved...
...Arafat's reasons for supporting the Tanzim are political. The aging PLO leader and his inner circle are mostly products of decades of Palestinian exile, men brought Arafat back with him from Tunisia to staff the top tier of the PA. But in the course of their 1987-1991 intifada, the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza had evolved a strong local leadership, and many of these younger men were resentful at being overlooked in favor of the Tunisians. The grassroots Fatah leaders are generally more militant than those around Arafat, fiercely critical of the corruption and authoritarianism that...