Palestinian Prime Minister says Terrorist Attacks are an obstacle to Peace by The Independent / SBS TV / UN News 9:37am 28th Mar, 2004   Ramallah. April 1, 2004    Palestinian PM: attacks bar to peace (TheAge)    Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie yesterday branded suicide attacks an obstacle to peace in the strongest official Palestinian condemnation of the bombing campaign against Israeli civilians.    Addressing parliament on the eve of a new US diplomatic mission to the region, Mr Qurie urged Palestinian restraint following Israel's March 22 assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, for which militants have vowed bloody revenge.    "The resistance of the Palestinian people to Israeli occupation crimes has suffered from attacks that have targeted Israeli civilians," Mr Qurie told lawmakers gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah.    He said such attacks led to an "accumulation of hatred and loss of confidence between the two peoples and place obstacles in the path of reviving the peace process".    Palestinian leaders have often condemned suicide bombings during the 31/2-year-old uprising, saying such attacks have hurt the Palestinian cause in the eyes of the international community.    But Palestinian officials have avoided blaming bombings for derailing the peace process, putting the onus instead on Israel for its military crackdown in Palestinian areas.    Opinion polls show strong Palestinian grassroots support for suicide attacks. Israel has criticised Mr Qurie for failing to confront militant groups behind the bombing campaign, which has killed hundreds of its citizens. The continuing cycle of violence and mutual recriminations has paralysed a US-backed "road map" to peace.    Mr Qurie voiced hope for the first time that an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza could revive peace moves, but said it must be accompanied by withdrawal from the West Bank.    "The Gaza pull-out proposal could be a chance (to revive peace moves) and we all should work together to seize this chance in a wise and courageous manner," he said.    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has announced a go-it-alone initiative to evacuate Jewish settlers from Gaza but has made clear he would uproot no more than a handful of settlements in the West Bank, home to the largest concentration of Israeli enclaves.    Meanwhile, Mr Sharon, faced with growing opposition from his coalition partners and leaders of his Likud party, has agreed to hold a party vote on his Gaza withdrawal plan. Mr Sharon was greeted with both applause and jeering at a meeting of Likud's governing body, the central committee.    The members were pleased with Israel's killing last week of Sheikh Yassin, but angry about the withdrawal plan and worried about Mr Sharon's legal difficulties. A corruption inquiry stemming from a real estate deal involving his son, Gilad, could lead to the Prime Minister's indictment.    The vote will not take place until after the April 14 meeting between Mr Sharon and US President George Bush.    - agencies    Jerusalem. March 26, 2004    "Intellectuals urge Palestinians against Violence after Death of Sheikh Yassin", by Donald Macintyre (The lndependent /UK)    Sixty leading Palestinian intellectuals and officials yesterday signed a prominent advertisement implicitly urging Palestinians not to escalate the cycle of violence by maintaining the strategy of suicide bombings.    The half-page advertisement in the Palestinian Liberation Organization'sAl-Ayyam newspaper urged Palestinians not to give Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, "a chance to crown his aggression on our people" by reacting with renewed violence after the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the Hamas leader.    The advertisement appeared to be a concerted attempt to stem the militant reaction triggered by the assassination - which it vigorously condemned - and was in sharp contrast to the bloodcurdling threats of vengeance uttered by Abdel Aziz Rantissi, the newly designated Hamas leader in Gaza. Instead it called for a "peaceful Intifada".    The publication following a massive demonstration of support for Hamas at the huge funeral procession for Sheikh Yassin. And although the advertisement was clearly drafted in advance, it also came close after the foiling of a suicide bombing mission at Hawara checkpoint, on Wednesday, involving a 16-year-old recruited by armed militants. Iyad Sarraj, a prominent child psychologist in Gaza, said yesterday that "every Palestinian I spoke to today was appalled and disgusted and ashamed and angry," at the exploitation of the 16 year-old.    The advertisement, which includes well known moderates including Hanan Ashrawi, the Palestinian Legislative Council member, and Sari Nusseibi, the Al Quds University principal, as well as a range of officials in the Fatah Organization's, appeared to attempt a compromise between those who would abrogate the use of armed violence altogether and those who want restricted military operations which do not include attacks on civilians in Israel. All the signatories are thought to be against suicide bombings whether perpetrated by Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the Fatah linked al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.    Although ferociously condemnatory of Israeli policy and of Mr Sharon in particular for the "criminal and appalling" act against Sheikh Yassin the advertisement declared: "We, in spite of that, call on all our people in the homeland, guided by national interests to take the initiative from the hands of the criminal occupation gangs, subdue the anger, and rise up again in a peaceful intifada which is clear in its goals, correct in its appeal, and takes the initiative."    The signatories also include Mahmoud Alul, the governor of Nablus, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, who jointly produced with the prominent Israeli leftist politician Yossi Beilin the Geneva Accord which sought to define a "final status" solution based on a division close to that of the pre-1967 borders.    Although the signatories to the advertisement will have an uphill struggle persuading many Palestinians enraged by the assassination of Sheikh Yassin , it is nevertheless a significant exposure of the view of many leading Palestinians that a new approach to the struggle for Palestinian rights is needed, if the floundering process is ever to be revived. The initiative follows growing signs that Mr Sharon is contemplating only a very limited withdrawal from a handful of West Bank settlements in addition to his planned disengagement from Gaza.    Copyright © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd    26 March 2004    UN humanitarian agencies urge Israel to lift movement restrictions into Gaza.(UN News)    Calling on the Israeli Government today to restore full access to Gaza for humanitarian aid, the UN Special Coordinator's Office (UNSCO) said new Israeli-imposed restrictions on staff movements may force humanitarian agencies to cut back on assisting Gaza's civilian population.    "The UN recognizes Israel's legitimate security concerns and senior officials have repeatedly sought to engage the government of Israel to resolve these concerns, but without success," UNSCO said.    "Because the restrictions persist, the UN is compelled to call publicly on the Government of Israel to restore full access to Gaza for UN and humanitarian workers and goods."    Nearly all humanitarian aid vehicles from the UN and other agencies have been banned from crossing at the Erez checkpoint in the last three weeks, while transporting food containers through the commercial Karni crossing point is now obstructed, UNSCO said.    These humanitarian operations had provided food for several hundred thousand people and more than half of Gaza's essential social services, it said.    The restrictions were put in place because of Palestinian attacks on 6 March, in a vehicle disguised as an Israeli military vehicle, and on 14 March by two suicide bombers on Ashdod port, it said, but the incidents did not involve UN vehicles or goods. Anyone not on official Israeli lists has to apply for special clearance to enter Gaza and approval can take from five days to two months, UNSCO said.    March 24, 2004    "Shimon Peres Interview". ( SBS TV: Dateline)    Shimon Peres was prime minister of Israel in the 1980s and again in 1995 to '96. He played a key role in negotiating the Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestinians and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Currently he is leader of the opposition Labour Party and has criticised the government for the assassination of Sheikh Yassin. He claims it will cause more terror, not end it. Mark Davis spoke to him this afternoon from his office in Jerusalem.    MARK DAVIS: Shimon Peres, thanks very much for your time. What's the mood like in Israel today?    SHIMON PERES, OPPOSITION LEADER: I think most people support the act against Sheikh Yassin and they wonder about the consequences. Will this lead to an escalation of the situation? Nobody wants to see higher flames of terror all around us.    MARK DAVIS: We've just spoken with Hamas leader Mahmoud al Zahar who has unequivocally pledged a bombing rain against Israeli citizens. Has that message sunk into Israel, do you think?    SHIMON PERES: Well they were not innocent or inactive until now. They bombed, they killed the innocent people, children, women, so this message is not something surprising to us. We are used to them. It's a terrible organisation. They don't have any responsible program for the future and they are running irresponsible campaign of violence and death.    MARK DAVIS: Well, it's not easy to criticise your own government under these circumstances, why have you chosen to speak out about the assassination of Sheikh Yassin.    SHIMON PERES: We are in opposition and we have to show the other side of the story and the argument is not whether Sheikh Yassin should have remained alive or not. He was a terrible leader who called for death and terror day in and day out. The problem is does it serve the purpose of reducing the hatred, of reducing the need of terror. Leaving the terroristic issue, more of a local nature than a wider one.    MARK DAVIS: Well the prospect that this will worsen the situation is presumably something that the Israeli cabinet thought through before they made this decision. What is their end game in your opinion?    SHIMON PERES: Well, now depends very much whether the government will continue with the peace process. If we shall embark upon a movement throughout peace, then it may reduce the tension. I believe personally that you cannot stop terror just by killing the terrorist, you have to fight them clearly. But you also have to tackle the reasons for terror. You have to ask yourself what are the motivations of people who commit suicide and for that reason, we in the position feel that you have to do two things, which are contradictory in a parallel way. One is to fight the terrorist in a determined way. On the other hand is to negotiate with the Palestinians that they themselves will begin to fight terror because terror is their enemy, not only ourselves. The terroristic works are frustrating any agenda that the Palestinians are trying to introduce.    MARK DAVIS: Well, you've signed an assassination order yourself against Hamas leader in 1996. Now that killing was followed by a wave of bombings across Israel. Are you drawing on that experience in making your assessment today?    SHIMON PERES: I don't think so. First of all I didn't sign anything so I don't take your question for granted. But I want to say that the so-called engineer was a ticking bomb. He was not just a leader of terror. He himself was responsible for 54 acts of terror and he was on his way to commit a 55 one. So something has had to be done in order to prevent him from doing it.    MARK DAVIS: Well, there was, of course, a series of reprisal bombings against Israeli citizens after that attack. Now, Mr Sharon would be aware of that history. What is your thinking in - what is his thinking in your opinion? Does he believe he's now able to defend Israel better than - and is more prepared than the government was in '96?    SHIMON PERES: Well, let's clarify the situation. There is a consensus in Israel that when you are facing a ticking bomb, namely a person that carries a bomb on his way to Israel to kill innocent people, we must prevent him from doing so. About that, there is neither a legal or political argument. The problem begins concerning the higher level or the case where leaders are not necessarily having at that moment a ticking bomb.    MARK DAVIS: Will Hamas change, in your opinion, under its new leadership of Dr Rantissi?    SHIMON PERES: I am not sure. It's very hard to believe that fanatic people can be changed overnight.    MARK DAVIS: Well this government shows no sign of backing down. The Prime Minister and senior ministers have all suggested that more Hamas leaders may be killed, or some have suggest will be killed. Is that a mistake in your opinion?    SHIMON PERES: Well, I would do it differently. I don't think does anything to spread threats. We have to act when there is no other alternative but to act in order to stop an additional murderer or murder, but otherwise as I have said, we've simultaneously developed a policy, which will convince more and more Palestinians that there is a political alternative. I mean, as the Chinese are saying, you know, talk talk, bomb bomb. There are times that you cannot avoid a bombing, but it shouldn't be the time to stop talking.    MARK DAVIS: It certainly does seem all bomb, bomb at the moment. There's also suggestion that Yasser Arafat will be targeted. Again, are you taking those suggestions seriously and what's your advice upon that?    SHIMON PERES: To be fair to the government, I must say that they're also advocating talk, talk. About Arafat, I think the present policy will be continued by the present government, namely, neither to expel him, nor to harm him in any other way.    MARK DAVIS: A number of commentators have suggested that this may be a final fling to weaken Hamas before Israel withdraws from Gaza. Is that a credible theory in your opinion and is Israel likely to do so?    SHIMON PERES: I don't know where the commentators took this idea, but my own opinion is that you can withdraw from Gaza without the added acts.    MARK DAVIS: And do you believe that Mr Sharon is inclined to do so?    SHIMON PERES: I'm not a spokesman for Sharon but that's what he says.    MARK DAVIS: Well threats have now been made by Hamas and al-Qa'ida for reprisals for this killing against America and its allies, how seriously are you taking those claims?    SHIMON PERES: Al-Qa'ida was not sitting idle anyway, even before the killing of Sheikh Yassin. They just performed in Spain and they will try to perform again and again. Their motives doesn't stem from reason and they don't have a message for the future.    MARK DAVIS: But this would be a turn of events if Hamas were to widen its focus to America and its allies?    SHIMON PERES: I think Hamas and al-Qa'ida are trying to do whatever they can anyway and they don't need any additional urge. Visit the related web page
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