European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 13, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday october 13, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 Luel Arab by Thomas l. Friedman new York times t he israeli air strike against the Palestine liberation organization Shea quarters outside Tunis and the hijacking last week of an italian cruise ship underscore the degree to which the Arab Israel conflict has been transformed in the last year. The conflict which was once primarily Between Israel and surrounding Arab countries has evolved into a struggle almost exclusively Between Israel and palestinian arabs with the Arab countries As spectators. Although Lar away Tunis was the scene of an israeli attack Israel s statements and actions suggest that its motivation Lor that attack stems irom incidents that have been taking place inside Israel and on the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip. In the last 12 months. The level and ferocity of palestinian attacks against israelis there have intensified irom Stone throwing and tire burning to abductions and stabbings committed by individual arabs against individual jews. Sixteen israeli men and women have been killed in such incidents Over the past year in Israel in the occupied territories and in nearby Cyprus. At least 12 others have been wounded. A substantial percentage of the attacks appeared to have been directed by the Plo. But what is new about the wave of violence according to israeli military experts and West Bank arabs is that a majority of the attacks in Israel and its occupied territories were initiated locally by individual arabs who used crude homemade weapons and showed an unusual audacity. Examples Are the Decem stabbings in Broad Daylight of two heavily armed israeli soldiers in Hebron and the shooting of israeli soldiers at Range in Ramn llah and Al birth earlier this Yeni. Why should we delude ourselves regarding what s happening Between us and the arabs who Are under our control asked Zeev Schilf. Military editor of the Tel Aviv daily a Aretz. He described recent events As the buds of a civil War. Another round of War Between two populations grasping the same plot of the local origin of the attackers Schilf said proves that the coals Are glowing right Here and Are not always imported from Amman or Beirut Damascus or while Arab officials in the West Bank publicly condemn the acts of violence against israelis some palestinians Are privately applauding the attackers. Meron Benvenisti a former Deputy mayor of Jerusalem and the leading israeli expert on land use in the West Bank said the Arab israeli conflict appeared to be shrinking Back to its pre-1948 roots. In the earlier years local palestinians looked to outside forces to Bear the Brunt of the fight against Israel. Today they appear to be developing the attitude that they can Only maintain their hold in the West Bank and the Gaza strip by taking the initiative themselves. That feeling appears to Date from the decline of the Plo As a military Force capable of putting pressure on Israel. This is a grass roots reaction Benvenisti said and israelis will have to address themselves to something real now not an enemy across the Border but one within which is just where the conflict started 100 years palestinians. Israeli academic experts and military officials who Deal with the West Bank cited several factors that have helped transform the conflict. They pointed to the Rise of a new More militant generation of palestinians in the West Bank and the influence thai the War in Lebanon has had on that i Suksi a lion in Aptil cell Pawlo l�84 ,, of on Young Arch in not to occupied Jordan wet Bonk no. 1967. A Ner tinn Many cite the no tins of israeli tellers. The Transfer a Plo Headquarters to Amman Jordan and the reload of 000 palestinian terrorists into the territories in a prisoner Exchange. A recent analysis in the rightist israeli newspaper tvs and that the old generation of lenders the contemporaries of King Hussein of Jordan and of Yasser Arafat. The Plo loader Are gradually dying out and boing replaced by Oung leaders who have grown up and developed under israeli according to the newspaper a researcher noted in his doctoral dissertation that while the older generation in the occupied territories loathed Israel As a state the children hate israelis both As jews and As the old leadership the newspaper added favourably compared israeli actions in the territories to those of the More heavy handed jordanian administration so to make do with the lesser of two but for the new generation the paper said there is but one real hostile regime which they encountered Day in and Day out. And which they Are forced to confront at every Road Junction every movie theater Entrance and every Bridge Over the Jordan the younger palestinians also Are less afraid of the israelis than were their parents the generation that grew up in the territories before 1967 witnessed Israel crush three Arab armies at said Amnon Cohen an expert on palestinian history at the hebrew University of . They were shocked by this and they ook the might of the israeli army Lor granted. The Young generation do not suffer Horn this Shock. They grew up with the israeli army of the 1973 War and the a Billy of the shiite Weslei is to drive the israeli army out of most of Lebanon appears to have had an important psychological Impact on West Bank youths and to have contributed in part to the new wave of violence. Israeli military officials say they believe that the 600 palestinians freed May 20. Who included some of the Best known palestinian killers of israelis in the last 20 years Are being closely watched and Are not engaging in subversive activities. The freed prisoners do serve As important role models however the officials said. The 600 men were freed to the occupied territories As part of an Exchange of 1,150 prisoners Tor three israeli soldiers. In the last 18 year Israel has systematically destroyed the traditional Arab leadership in the West Bank and Gaza strip through expulsions or dismissals from posts. Only one mayor of a major Arab town. Elias m. Freij of Bethlehem remains in his Job. The others Are under the administration of military governors. In the absence of Strong and moderate local leaders the Young generation is looking to the released prisoners for inspiration. Another Factor that has helped make the recent violence possible the experts said is the weakening of Israel s intelligence gathering capabilities in the West Bank and Gaza strip As a result of the Lebanon War. The Day to Day gathering of intelligence in the West Bank was always carried out by agents of the Shin Beth the Security Agency that is Israel s equivalent of the Fri. But when the israeli army invaded Lebanon the Shin Beth with its experienced Case officers and members fluent in arabic transferred much of its resources to assist the occupation. Many of its agents still work in Southern Lebanon. According to israeli military sources about 20 Shin Beth agents were killed during the invasion of Lebanon and in the suicide car bombing of the israeli intelligence Headquarters in Tyre on nov. 4. 1983. In addition the nature of the violence in the territories is changing making it More difficult to detect in Advance the military officer noted. At most he said Only 50 percent of the recent attacks have been directed from the outside. Another Factor contributing to the increase in Arab violence according to israeli military experts and palestinians has been the provocative behaviour of jewish settlers. The settlers say they Are moving into the Hebron marketplace because they want to live with the arabs said Amnon Cohen a historian. In reality they want to replace them. They want friction in order to jus Lily bringing the army in and imposing harsher Security. We must not Only condemn Arab aggression but jewish
