NOT QUITE SURE PALESTINIANS ARE READY TO QUIT VIOLENCE

Submitted by Clare M. Lopez (United States), Jan 7, 2003 at 19:37

Dear Mr. Pipes - much appreciate your regular commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (or the Oslo War)...especially that you pull no punches, call a spade a spade - for which candor, you are roundly, regularly villified. Must note, though, in your most recent article about Palestinians perhaps becoming disillusioned with the endless violence, you quote Gen. Abdel Razak al-Yehiyeh in this vein - unfortunately for all involved, Gen. Yehiyeh (appointed PA Minister of Interior in June 2002) was sacked by Yasser Arafat in October 2002 - precisely because he was perceived as too willing to accede to western pressure for reform within the PA - he was replaced that same month by Hani Al-Hasan, a member of the Fatah Central Committee as well as the PLO Central Committee and a loyalist who has been at Arafat's side since 1963. I also would argue that far from calling it quits, Arafat (now shorn of his PA security apparatus, destroyed by the IDF) has instead unleashed Fatah, Tanzim, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the rest of his terrorist militias to pursue even closer coordination with the (formerly rival) radical Islamist groups (Hamas, PIJ, Hezbollah) in order to "stay in the game", not give it up...Sunday am's horrible double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, I think, attests to that version of events.

Sincerely,
Clare M. Lopez
Senior Intelligence Analyst
Hawkeye Systems LLC
Alexandria, VA

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