Dr. Aaron Lerner at IMRA, who's been my major source of news on the Middle East for several years now, pulled a sort of joke a little while ago. It wasn’t funny, and it wasn’t intended to be, but it gave me quite a jolt. Unfortunately, this is not what happened. 2:00 AM Monday - exhausted Palestinians in Arafat's HQ were stunned as elite Israeli forces pulled Yasser Arafat from his office after an operation that kept them sleepless for over 48 years. After a quick check by an Israeli medical officer , Arafat was flown to Eilat were he was loaded on his infamous weapons ship, the Karine A and sent sailing. The last building in the Ramallah compound was demolished after crates of documents and contraband were carted off by the IDF. A team of translators is working feverishly around the clock on this intelligence bonanza and the international press was presented with a stunning display in Jerusalem of illegal weapons and other equipment found in Arafat's offices. In response to Palestinian claims that the equipment had not in fact been discovered in Ramallah the IDF Spokespersons office released a film showing the capture of some of the more controversial equipment (highlights are available on the IDF website). Some local Palestinian officials declared that while they remain loyal to Arafat that they were first and foremost loyal to the Palestinian people and would work to serve their interests.
Yeah, but I never got to that last line (or the rest of this somewhat satirical political commentary) until after I’d spent several minutes racing around trying to scare up some news about this "development" on any media source I could find. Shades of H.G. Wells, ya know Aaron? Gee whiz! It's after midnight here on the East Coast of the USA, and some of us are a little less than perspicacious at this time of night.
The point of the “joke,†however, was even less funny. The Bush administration has dragged out the old “unhelpful†reprimand again and tomorrow (actually, later today) the UN Security Council will meet to consider a palestinian-sponsored resolution calling for Israel to end its siege of Arafat’s compound. The U.S. doesn’t want to ruffle feathers in advance of the vote on its proposed Iraq resolution, and so may be forced to forego a veto.
So, asks IMRA, was there a plan? Why did the cabinet approve a plan that apparently lacks a final page? Good questions. Definitely not funny.
