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Peace Process

EU: Gaza not enough; leave W. Bank too


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
October 24, 2004

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana Friday said Israel’s retreat from Gaza was a good first step, but one that must be followed by a full and complete withdrawal from what the world calls the “West Bank”, including the eastern half of Jerusalem.

The veteran Spanish diplomat promised a visiting PLO official Israel’s unilateral flight from the Strip would be used by the world to jumpstart the stalled Road Map to Middle East peace – a plan that rewards the Palestinian Arabs with an independent state, despite their years of corruption and terrorist activity.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sold his “disengagement” plan to the Israeli people as a means to halt indefinitely the international juggernaut intent on birthing the Muslim nation of Palestine, and secure the Jews’ hold over vital sections of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

It is becoming increasingly apparent he will have difficulty keeping his word.

In other news further eroding confidence in Sharon’s plan, a government report has indicated that, under international law, Israel would remain the legal occupying power in the Gaza Strip even after withdrawing because of its continued control over the borders.

Furthermore, a senior Hamas official confirmed the terror group was producing many of its weapons in Gaza, and would not be greatly affected by Israel tightening its control over the area from outside.

Sharon has insisted that pulling out of Gaza and redeploying the IDF around its perimeter would remove the burden of caring for the hostile Arab population there, and greatly increase Israel’s ability to thwart violence emanating from the coastal strip.

Sharon’s rationale

Earlier this month, Sharon’s bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, confirmed in an interview with Ha’aretz that, while Israel remained interested in a final peace settlement, the Gaza retreat was meant to freeze current international peace efforts for the foreseeable future.

Israel could not allow the world to continue shoving “land-for-peace” plans down its throat when the “Palestinian” leadership was not interested in peaceful coexistence, Weisglass explained.

In addition, Sharon has touted his disengagement plan as a means to ensuring Israel maintains control over large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, as well as eastern Jerusalem, and has lauded tacit US approval of this formula.

Gaza only the start

But tying the success of his scheme to the backing of a US president who at best has another four years in office is proving risky, especially when the world’s other major powers have openly stated they would not sit by and allow the Jews to hold onto those parts of their biblical heartland claimed by the Palestinian Arabs.

“Sharon is mistaken if he thinks that withdrawal from Gaza is enough,” Solana said in a weekend interview with Germany’s Der Speigel . “Europe won’t support that.”

Israel must “commit to making the [Gaza] withdrawal the first step in a process that leads to the pullout from all the occupied (sic) areas,” he said.

Road Map to Palestine

In Brussels Friday, Solana promised visiting PLO “foreign minister” Nabil Sha’ath that the EU would do its “utmost” to accelerate implementation of the Road Map peace plan.

Solana, along with other European officials, urged the “Palestinians” to embrace Israel’s retreat from Gaza, and vowed to ensure it remained within the framework of the Road Map.

The foreign policy czar said Europe was willing to help the Jews leave Gaza, provided the evacuation be carried out as part of wider international efforts to establish a “Palestinian” state.

He also insisted Israel negotiate the transfer of power with the PA, a stipulation that would eliminate the plan’s unilateral nature, which according to Sharon is its greatest asset.

‘Occupying’ power

Sharon has gone to great lengths over the past year to convince Israelis that leaving Gaza would result in numerous benefits to the Jewish state, not least of which was removing the burden of caring for a hostile Arab population.

Confidence in his promises was further eroded Sunday when details of a government report indicated Israel would in fact remain responsible for the well being of Gaza’s Arabs even after withdrawal.

Legal experts from the Justice Ministry, Foreign Ministry and IDF wrote in a 47-page document that “disengagement does not necessarily exempt Israel from responsibility in the evacuated territories.”

International law would still recognize Israel as the “occupying” power in Gaza because of its continued control over the Strip’s borders, coastline and airspace, they noted.

Sharon’s plan states Israel must maintain control over Gaza’s perimeter in order to contain the anti-Jewish terrorism emanating from there – a job the prime minister has promised would become easier and involve less casualties following the retreat.

Gaza’s weapons industry

Controlling Gaza’s borders from the outside, however, may have less of an impact on security than Israel would hope.

Senior Hamas official Nizar Rayyan told The Jerusalem Post that most of the terror group’s weapons were homegrown, and that they did not need to rely on imports in order to murder Israel’s Jews.

"Thank God, the weapons of the Hamas fighters are manufactured locally," Rayyan said. "For several years now we have had our own weapons factories and we are working round the clock to improve the fighting capabilities of our fighters.”

“We first made hand grenades and rocket-propelled RPGs, mortar rockets and their launchers, and then Kassam and Yassin rockets,” he boasted.

International pressure is expected to make IDF incursions aimed at wiping out these facilities far more difficult following the withdrawal.

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