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| Middle East |
| Back in Bethlehem... |
| 2002-11-22 |
| Israeli troops reoccupied Bethlehem on Friday, searching homes and deploying tanks outside the Church of the Nativity after 11 bus passengers, including four youngsters, were killed in a Jerusalem suicide bombing. With troops back in Bethlehem, Israel was again in control of all Palestinian population centers in the West Bank except for the quiet oasis of Jericho — mirroring the massive deployment that capped military offensives in April and June. I wonder what's different about Jericho? However, Israel's range of responses is limited; it is under pressure from the United States to keep a lid on Mideast violence while Washington concentrates on its campaign against Iraq. In responding to Thursday's bus bombing, the Israeli military was expected to stick to tried methods, such as hunting militants and demolishing homes of terror suspects. Expelling Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, an option previously raised by hard-liners in the Israeli Cabinet, was not discussed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz in consultations Thursday. That's too bad, from one standpoint, a good thing from the standpoint of not allowing somebody who's not gone senile to take over... Arafat accused Israel of destroying peace prospects, "not only with the Palestinian people, but with all countries in the Middle East and Arab nations." "See? We wuz just sittin' around, mindin' our own bidnid, when these here Jews, they come roarin' up, for no reason at all..." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Jericho is different because it's stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Because of this, the people living there don't have much opportunity to murder Israelis and in return for not killing people the IDF leaves them alone. Interesting how that works, isn't it? |
| Posted by: Aracona 2002-11-22 11:56:52 |