As Israel and the free world mourn the slaughter of innocent men, women and children at Kibbutz Metzer, the media is trying to sort out the maze of Palestinian military forces and Yasser Arafat’s role in this act of terror.
Al Aqsa Brigades, the “military wing” of Arafat’s Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the attack. Al Aqsa Brigades appears on European and U.S. lists of terrorist organizations.
Curiously, some news organizations failed to report the basic fact of Al-Aqsa Brigades claiming responsibility for the kibbutz attack. See for example the Chicago Tribune’s report, “Gunman Kills 5 at Kibbutz Near Border.”
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-11-11/news/0211110223_1_islamic-jihad-kibbutz-metzer-jenin
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The media widely reported Arafat’s standard condemnation of the kibbutz attack, however evidence shows that his Palestinian Authority is funding and encouraging such attacks. This week, former PA Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh told the Toronto Globe & Mail that Arafat has been actively blocking security reforms:
“[Yehiyeh] said that during his term as Palestinian interior minister, he was prevented from demilitarizing the police forces and overruled when he tried to remove several commanders who had participated in attacks on Israelis. He said he found the task of reforming the police impossible. ‘The ones I did succeed in moving are now back in their jobs’… While [Arafat] may mouth a commitment to reform and an end to military confrontation with Israel, he often opposes it in practice.”
http://globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021112/UPALSM/International/international/international_temp/3/3/22/
Meanwhile, the new Palestinian Interior Minister, Hani al-Hassan, confirmed this week his support for Al Aqsa Brigades and attacks against Israelis over the Green Line. Al-Hassan said: “The settlers are not civilians because they carry arms.”
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1036406774800
So how would Al-Hassan explain the kibbutz massacre? Besides the fact that Kibbutz Metzer is within the Green Line, it anyway seems unlikely that 5-year-old Matan and 4-year-old Noam were carrying weapons at the time.
Incredibly Israel Radio Arab Affairs Correspondent Avi Yissakharov reported that the kibbutz attack did not violate the deal being brokered by the European Union that there be no suicide attacks within the Green Line. Since the gunman escaped, this was technically not a “suicide attack.”
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So if Arafat/Fatah/Al Aqsa Brigades are working together, what about Islamic Jihad?
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2439423.stm) reports Al-Aqsa Brigades as saying that the kibbutz attack was in retaliation for the death of Iyad Sawalha, a commander in Islamic Jihad. So now Arafat’s Brigades are retaliating for attacks against Islamic Jihad — ostensibly the Muslim radicals that Arafat pledges to rein in. Something doesn’t add up. Sounds like more proof that Fatah and Islamic Jihad are coordinating terror activity.
We recall earlier this year when the PA allegedly put Hamas leader Shiek Yassin under house arrest. MSNBC.com reported at the time:
“White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer all but mocked the Palestinian leader, saying his jails are ‘built with bars in front with revolving doors at the back.’ Certainly the sheik himself appeared serene as he dismissed reports that Arafat had placed him under house arrest. ‘If it were true, you wouldn’t be meeting me,’ he told Newsweek, his high-pitched voice barely louder than a whisper…”
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So if Arafat/Fatah/Al Aqsa Brigades and Islamic Jihad are all working together, what about Hamas?
Meetings are being held this week in Cairo between representatives of Fatah and Hamas, allegedly for the purpose of convincing Hamas to cease terror attacks inside Israel. Yet according to Reuters, the Hamas-Fatah agreement only calls for ending suicide bombings for one year (not exactly a “moral denunciation”), does not preclude other forms of attacks (like shooting rampages in peaceful family kibbutzim), nor precludes targeting women and children across the Green Line.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=574&ncid=574&e=5&u=/nm/20021111/wl_nm/mideast_hamas_talks_dc_1
Additionally, it seems that the government of Jordan could be added to this growing list of accomplices. The Arab news site Albawaba.com reports that the Jordanian foreign minister has called on Palestinians to halt suicide bombing attacks — but only temporarily, during the upcoming Israeli election period.
HonestReporting encourages members to monitor your local media to see how they are reporting the maze of Palestinian military forces and Yasser Arafat’s role in terror.
Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.
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