June
5, 2002, 11:35 a.m. “Justice”
Games
Prison ain’t
what it used to be.
By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
he
supreme court of the Palestinian Authority earlier this week ordered the
release of Ahmed Saadat, one of those terrorists meant to be incarcerated
in a Jericho prison under the supervision of American and British wardens,
as per an agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
in April. Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP), was among those hiding out in PLO leader Yasser Arafat's
headquarters in Ramallah during a month-long standoff. He is wanted by
Israel for planning the assassination of tourism minister and cabinet
member, Rehavam Zeevi. The PA court declared that there was no evidence
linking Saadat to the murder, despite the fact that the PFLP openly claimed
responsibility for the deed.
Arafat expected international
silence to accompany his "release" of the PFLP leader. That
was to be the payoff for his compliance with international demands for
reforms in the Palestinian Authority, according to an unnamed PA official.
Insofar as Israel does not take Arafat's reforms seriously to begin with,
both prime minister Ariel Sharon and defense minister Benyamin Ben-Eliezer
reacted with a warning that Israel would take whatever steps necessary
to prevent the release and would see itself "free of all related
obligations." Even Knesset member Ran Cohen of the far-left Meretz
party had a negative comment about the Saadat release, saying that it
"makes a mockery of Palestinian rule of law." Cohen did not
reveal, however, when exactly such "Palestinian rule of law"
came into existence in the first place. Knesset member Benny Elon, who
took over as head of the right-wing Moledet party after Rehavam Zeevi
was killed, reacted without surprise at the PA decision. "As President
Bush once said, we have to either bring them to justice or bring justice
to them," Elon commented, "We need not complain when other countries
don't do the work for us, but rather do the work ourselves. I hope Saadat
is the next targeted killing…"
Such official and
unofficial sentiments led most Arab leaders to assume that Israel was
willing to lay siege to any area to which Saadat was released. Therefore,
Arafat acted quickly to avoid a repeat of the Ramallah fiasco, which only
weakened his strength in the Arab "street." He had the PA cabinet
release a statement today stating that, while it respects the ruling of
the court, it cannot approve the release of Saadat due to Israel's threats.
In other words, the PFLP leader is now in a type of protective custody
rather than internationally sanctioned incarceration. Arafat expertly
finessed the situation so that he gets the American credit for keeping
him in prison, the Arab credit for trying to release him, while avoiding
the embarrassment of another Israeli siege in PA territory.
The real question
is, were Saadat actually "released," how would anyone know?
Israeli sources reported some time ago that the PFLP head was not in a
PA prison at all, but effectively working from a desk in a headquarters
of his own. All of those terrorist prisoners meant to be incarcerated
in Jericho reportedly receive visitors with no restrictions, can talk
with one another freely and are surrounded by jailers who are all Arab.
The Americans and British are window dressing. Israeli opponents of the
deal insisted at the time that Saadat and his fellow terrorists must serve
their sentences in Israeli prisons, but U.S. officials assured Israel
that justice would be served under the watchful eyes of American and British
wardens. This week, head of Israel's secret service, Avi Dichter, told
the government cabinet that the American and British wardens have been
unable to fulfill the terms of the agreement. As Arafat himself said in
April, when asked by reporters from the Arab press about the imprisonment
deal with Israel, "Just like he is in a Mukata [Arafat's headquarters
in Ramallah] here, he will be in a Mukata in Jericho."
On May 19, the truth
of Arafat's claims and the prescience of right-wing Israeli opponents
to the compromise imprisonment was made tragically obvious when a suicide-bombing
attack struck Netanya's outdoor market, killing three Israelis and wounding
more than 55. The attack, Israeli intelligence reported, was arranged
and ordered by none other than Ahmed Saadat, from his supposed incarceration
in Jericho.
—
Nissan Ratzlav-Katz writes from Israel. Ratzlav-Katz is opinion editor
for www.IsraelNationalNews.com.
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supreme court of the Palestinian Authority earlier this week ordered the
release of Ahmed Saadat, one of those terrorists meant to be incarcerated
in a Jericho prison under the supervision of American and British wardens,
as per an agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
in April. Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP), was among those hiding out in PLO leader Yasser Arafat's
headquarters in Ramallah during a month-long standoff. He is wanted by
Israel for planning the assassination of tourism minister and cabinet
member, Rehavam Zeevi. The PA court declared that there was no evidence
linking Saadat to the murder, despite the fact that the PFLP openly claimed
responsibility for the deed.
