Newspaper Page Text
Yaslr Arafat’s predicament
Bus bombing hardens Israeli stand
by Vnukov Ben Yosef
Special to The Southern Israelite
JERUSALEM Once again,
the fate of Yasir Arafat was at
stake. Once again, the Palestine
Liberation Organization chieftain
was trying to extricate himself
from a siege. Once again, Israel
had come under pressure to allow
Arafat and 4,000 Palestinian
terrorists loyal to / him to vacate
Lebanon.
It was an ironic replay of the
summer of 1982 when the Israelis
were pleased as could be to allow
the PLO to leave Beirut. But this
time, the Israelis had no desire to
make it easy for Arafat and his
fnen to escape.
This indeed appeared to
contradict long-standing Israeli
policy which was against keeping
the PLO forces in Lebanon. But
Arafat's predicament in the
borthern Lebanese seaport town of
Tripoli these past few weeks has
created a new reality for Israel.
Syrian-supported PLO rebels have
kept Arafat PLO loyalists bottled
up in the Tripoli region, with some
1,000 men killed on both sides
during the past month's fighting.
Rather than permit Arafat and
his men to leave Lebanon, which
might have seemed the preferred
Israeli goal, the Israelis now appear
quite willing to have him remain —
as long as he is threatened, and the
PLO continues to engage in
violence against one another.
The Israelis might have been
more amenable to permitting
Arafat’s departure by sea from
Tripoli had it not been for the
terrorist bus bombing last week in
Jerusalem, which left five Israelis
dead (two of them teen-age girls)
and another 45 wounded, Arafat
almost immediately took credit for
the bombing.
So Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir, in a letter to the United
Nations secretary-general last
Thursday (Dec. 8), insisted that
Arafat not be aided. "In light of
this horrendous crime (the
Jerusalem bus bombing),
* perpetrated by the PLO terrorists.
Yaakov Ben Yosef
it is inconceivable," wrote the
prime minister, “that the U.N.,
which is dedicated to the
preservation of human life and the
enhancement of peace, should
provide them with any assistance
or facilities whatsoever.”
In case there was any doubt
about Israel's unwillingness to give
Arafat safe passage out of Tripoli,
the Israeli navy the next day
(Lriday) pounded PLO positions
in Tripoli. Whether the Israeli
barrage was a direct response to
the bus bombing or a message to
Arafat that leaving yipoli might
well be dangerous for him, it was
clear that Israel had noTntention of
helping the PLO chief to escape.
In a week of rather gloomy
news, the one bright spot as far as
Israel was concerned came
from the West Bank where an
unprecedented condemnation of
the Jerusalem bus blast came from
five prominent Palestinian Arabs.
The denunciation of the PLO
terror appeared on the front page
of last Thursday’s Al-Fajr
newspaper in East Jerusalem and
shook up Palestinian Arabs who
were trying to assess what the
obvious change of attitude might
mean.
Those signing the remarkable
document were Karim Khalaf,
ousted by Israeli military
authorities as mayor of Ramallah
and the victim of a terror attack in
June 1980, which cost him a foot;
Mustafa Natshe, dismissed last
summer by the Israelis as acting
mayor of Hebron; Anwar
Nusseibeh, a former Jordanian
defense minister and now
chairman of the East Jerusalem
Electric Corporation; Hanna
Seniora, the editor of Al-Lajr; and
Paul Ajlouny, owner of Al-Lajr,
who lives in the United Stales.
“It is our belief,” the five signers
wrote, “that attacks on civilian
targets are detrimental to any
Palestinian-lsraeli understanding.
Such acts, be they in Jerusalem, in
Ain el Helweh, or in Nablus, arc to
be regretted.
“Violence against civilians,
carried out by either side, is
counterproductive to a just
solution to the Palestinian
problems. We believe that the PLO
was not behind the incident
because it contradicts the political
line which the legitimate
leadership of the PLO is
following."
The cycle of violence went on.
An ll-year-old Palestinian Arab
girl from Nablus was killed last
Thursday in that large West Bank
town. A 26-year-old Jewish settler,
American-born, from the West
Bank settlement of Eilon Moreh,
was arrested.
There were two footnotes to
Israeli Just ory this week, one which
grabbed major headlines, the other
which caused only a tiny ripple.
The headline-grabber was the
simple act of former Prime
Minister Menachem Begin leaving
his once-official residence on
Balfour Street Saturday evening
and driving to his new home in the
Yafeh Nof section of Jerusalem.
For 102 days, the apparently-
ailing Begin had remained
secluded in his home, seeing only a
handful of family members and
other acquaintances. Aides said
that Begin had been suffering from
a skin rash that had forced him to
grow a beard, and thus prevented
him from appearing in public.
When his photo appeared in the
Sunday Israeli press, he was clean
shaven. smiling, gaunt-looking and
uncommunicative. No reporters
were present to talk with him, but
photographers who tried to snap
sf| Or VeShalom Synagogue PRESENTS i|
:;i* A SNAZZY :::i|
{:::: RITZY :::•
GLITZY
SUPERFANTASTIC
NEW YEAR S EVE PARTY
with
Hors’ D’oeuvres
Champagne Breakfast
633-1737 At Door:
Members *30
:mbers *35
Dancing
Open Bar
For reservations call
Members *25
*30
his photo were asked not to by
Begin's son Beni who tried to cover
his father's face so he would not be
photographed.
Was Begin ready to return to the
public limelight? His former aides
insisted that soon he would. But
the former prime minister passed
up a chance to appear at an
anniversary meeting Sunday
evening of Begin's old Irgun
cronies from the underground
days in the 1940s.
The other footnote concerned
Ariel Sharon. In a pique at U S.
Ambassador to Israel, Sam Lewis,
the ex-defense minister wrote to
Shamir that a commission of
inquiry should be set up to
determine whether in fact Lewis, as
had been alleged by an aide to the
late Deputy Prime Minister
Simcha Ehrlich, had suggested a
year ago to Ehrlich that Sharon be
ousted since he was hurting Jsracfi-
American relations.
EXPANSION SALE
Th«M and other value* aM week long.
Chuck Steak 2.29 lb.
Shoulder Steak 2.89 lb.
Chuck Roast blade cut . .. . 1.59 lb.
Veal Chops second cut 2.99 lb.
Breast of Veal whole, or in strips .... 1.79 lb.
THANK YOU tor your patience and patronage during our
expansion As a token of our appreciation, we re offering
Freebie
1 lb. of ground beef free with minimum
$20 meat, poultry or dell order
215 Copeland Rd , N.E.
252-4396
2166 Brlarcllff Rd., N.E.
634-6861
yyZi?
kgshef
meats
f^deli"*
Under Strict Orthodox Rabbinical Supervision
»:*V- Non-members Non-members ■"as
Summer Jobs
Available!
Camp Barney Medintz is now
interviewing for the 1984 season.
Positions Available Include:
Supervisors for Unit and Specialty Areas. Counselors,
Rovers. Nurses (RN). Food Service Manager. Dietician.
Office Assistants, Kitchen Help and Health
Administrator.
Specialists are needed for:
Swimming
Canoeing
Water Skiing
Sailing
Photography
Arts & Crafts
Ceramics
Dance
Song
Drama
l eather Crafts
Judaics
Nature Crafts
Rock Climbing
Tennis
Athletics
Archery
Backpacking
All applicants must be at least high school seniors
unless applying for kitchen or babysitter positions, then
high school junior status is required
Staff season: June 10 — August 11
Write or call Camp Barney Medintz
c/o Larry Melnick, Director
AJCC/Zaban Building
5342 Tilly Mill Rd.
Dunwoody, GA 30338
404-396-3250
Salary ranges: *275-* 1500
based on age and experience
PAGE 3 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE December 16. 1983