Word: winging
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...West Bank, thought they deserved another 30%, Arafat, as part of a strategic decision to get closer to the U.S., agreed last spring to an American compromise: 13%. Though ideologically opposed to withdrawing from any part of the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of the right-wing Likud, finally bowed at Wye. Says Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy: "Arafat scored big. He now has Likud agreeing to give up a significant piece of territory...
...Khamenei, spiritual leader of Iran, called Arafat a "traitor" and a Zionist "lackey." Hassan Nasrallah, spiritual leader of Hizballah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia, followed suit, suggesting that Palestinians assassinate Arafat, just as Egyptian radicals had killed Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. In a leaflet faxed to reporters, the military wing of Hamas, breaking with its practice of eschewing internecine violence, accused Arafat of treason and warned that its activists, if pushed, might "direct their war and guns, out of necessity," against the Palestinian Authority...
...number of leaders of the political wing of Hamas claimed the leaflet was a fake. But this did not soothe the P.A. Says Jibril Rajoub, head of preventive security in the West Bank: "I have to take everything seriously." Another security chief says he does not think Hamas will target Arafat, but he does expect assassinations of lesser officials. Says a P.A. Cabinet member: "If you want to get rid of Arafat or any other P.A. official, all you need is a crazy guy like those who blow themselves up in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and unfortunately there...
Arafat has clamped down on Hamas before, but its activists sense that this time is more serious, not least because the CIA is lending a hand, putting its own prestige and officers on the line. Says "Amin," a member of the military wing: "We believe the meeting in Wye had just one goal: liquidating Hamas." In the past, Arafat has arrested Hamas men and then quietly released many through what the Israelis complained was a "revolving door." With the CIA watching, that door may finally stop spinning...
While the Wye agreement asks P.A. security officials to respect human rights, neither the Israelis nor the Americans expect that they will, which will turn up the heat on Arafat even further. Says "Omar," an activist in the military wing of Hamas: "We cannot let Arafat's dogs beat us and eat us, and do nothing. What do you expect of us? That we turn the other cheek?" Adds a colleague, "Ali": "We have reached the conclusion that preaching about national unity is not going to achieve anything. We have to do it the way others did, in Sudan, Afghanistan...