At The Speed Of Hate

  • LAURENT REBOURS--AP

    CLAMPDOWN: After Peres' deal kicked in, diplomats asked the same question: Can Arafat turn off the violence? He was able, at least, to turn it down. Above, a Palestinian policeman pulls back a protester

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    YOSSI ALONI--AP
    BLASTED HOPE: Even as plans for a cease-fire jelled, an Islamic Jihad bomb blew up in Jerusalem

    If the resolve of some Palestinians was cracking, so was the political facade Arafat had created. In the Nationalist and Islamic Committee that Arafat set up to coordinate all the Palestinian political factions, there were signs that not everyone was united. At a meeting in Ramallah last Sunday, officials from Arafat's Fatah Party called for a resolution opposing attacks against Israeli civilians. The Hamas representative, a young and usually fiery sheikh named Hassan Yussef, agreed that "it would be harmful to the image of the intifadeh to attack civilians." A source who attended the meeting says the entire table turned to Abu Salem, the representative of Islamic Jihad, expecting him to agree with Sheikh Yussef. Salem simply folded his arms and refused to speak. Islamic Jihad, which took responsibility for the Jerusalem blast, let its bomb do the talking.

    After the attack, the group gave a veiled warning to Arafat to keep up the tough line. "We hope there will not be any internal Palestinian tensions," Nafez Azzam, an Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, told TIME. "We would prefer everyone's energy to be directed against the enemy, Israel."

    Barak is prepared to give Arafat another chance to prove that the moves toward a reduction in violence can stick. The Israeli Prime Minister won himself some more domestic political leeway early last week, when he bought off the opposition Shas Party with government funding for its ultra-Orthodox educational system. That forestalled Barak's troubles in the Knesset, where he had the firm support of only one in four legislators. The Israelis are hoping President Bill Clinton will be able to haul Arafat fully back on board the peace train. Palestinian sources say Arafat is willing to meet Clinton in Washington this week to discuss new peace moves. Barak also wouldn't turn down an invitation.

    The White House is working out times for each man to meet with Clinton separately after the presidential election. When they do, Clinton will have very limited goals. His top aides say the President would explore with Arafat and Barak only how to get back to peace negotiations. They wouldn't get to a discussion of the substance of those negotiations. He'd be happy if he could get the two sides just to agree to begin talks. "We're very realistic about the fact that with this much violence you can't just sit down and say, 'O.K., where were we?'" says a senior Administration aide. The Israelis, meanwhile, aren't taking any chances. Jerusalem is filled with police and border guards amid strong warnings that Islamic Jihad will strike again--in turn, embarrassing Hamas into a big operation of its own. The army sent reinforcements to the border with Lebanon and tightened up procedures there, fearing attacks by Hizballah and another attempt to kidnap soldiers into Lebanon. About 50 Islamic Jihad and Hamas activists, freed from jail by Arafat in the early days of this intifadeh, remain at large. Shomron may not be the last Israeli street to echo to the sound of their bloodlust.

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