THE BUSH PLAN:

On June 24, 2002, President Bush set forth the conditions that the Palestinian Arabs must fulfill in order to merit U.S. support for the creation of a Palestinian Arab state. Among the major obligations are that the Palestinian Arabs must “dismantle the terrorist infrastructure,” “end incitement,” “elect new leaders not compromised by terror,” and unequivocally embrace democracy and free market economics.

This report analyzes Palestinian Arab actions during the third week following President Bush’s speech, July 9-July 15, 2002.

I. “Dismantle the Terrorist Infrastructure”

What They Must Do: President Bush said that the Palestinian Arabs must “engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure.” Those terms were previously defined in the Oslo and Wye accords as including arresting and imprisoning terrorists; shutting down bomb factories; seizing terrorists’ weapons; extraditing terrorists to Israel; punishing factions of the PLO that engage in terrorism; and outlawing terrorist groups.

What They Did During Week #3:

A. No Terrorists Arrested: There were no reports of terrorists being arrested or imprisoned.

B. No Terrorists Extradited: The PA continued to ignore Israel’s 45 requests for the extradition of terrorists.

C. No Terror Groups Outlawed: The PA did not outlaw Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, or any other terrorist groups.

D. No Terrorists’ Weapons Seized: There were no reports of the PA seizing terrorists’ weapons.

E. No Closure of Bomb Factories: There were no reports of the PA shutting down any bomb factories. By contrast, Israeli forces destroyed a Hamas bomb factory in Khan Yunis on July 14.

F. No Punishing of PLO Terror Factions: There were no reports of the PLO leadership punishing PLO factions that are engaged in terrorism, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

G. New Terrorist Attacks: Throughout Week #3, Israeli forces were engaged in “Operation Determined Stand,” resulting in a sharp decrease in terrorist attacks. Nevertheless, there were at least 31 terrorist attacks or attempted attacks, in which 2 people were murdered and 2 wounded:

July 9: Shooting attack on an Israeli policeman in Jerusalem, killing an Arab bystander…Mortars fired at Jews in Gaza…Shooting attack on an Israeli Army outpost near Gadid.

July 10: Terrorists shot an Israeli soldier to death near Kerem Shalom, south of Rafiah…Firebombs thrown at an Israeli motorist near the Rantis Junction…Israeli police attacked near the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem… Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers near Kfar Darom…Firebomb attack on Israeli soldiers in Jenin.

July 11: Three attempted bombing attacks in Gaza; the explosives were discovered and dismantled…Shooting attack on an Israeli Army patrol near Nachal Oz…Bomb attack on an Israeli automobile between Efrat and Tekoah; one passenger wounded…Four terrorists captured while preparing to carrying out a suicide attack.

July 12: Bomb attack on an Israeli bus near Beit Haggai, south of Hebron…Car-bomb intercepted and defused near the Kalkilya-Kfar Saba junction…Shooting and firebomb attack on a disabled Israeli armored personnel carrier in Jenin…Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers in Deir al-Balah.

July 13: Shooting attack on an Israeli Board Police jeep near Um el-Fahm…Seven mortars fired at a Jewish community in Gaza …Mortar fired at another Jewish community in Gaza…Stabbing attack on a Border Policeman near the Cave of the Patriarchs, in Hebron.

July 14: Two mortars fired at the town of Dugit…Stabbing attack on an Israeli Border Policeman in Balata, near Shechem (Nablus)…Mortars fired at the town of Alei Sinai…Shooting attack on an Israeli automobile near Kadim…Attack on an Israeli automobile near Beitar; one passenger wounded…Stabbing attack on a Border Policeman near Shechem (Nablus)…Shooting attack on Israeli soldiers near Kibbutz Kisufim.

July 15: Rocket fired at Jews in Gaza…Bomb attack on Israeli motorists traveling between Anatot and Anata, north of Jerusalem.

II. “End Incitement”

What They Must Do: President Bush stated that the Palestinian Arabs must “end incitement to violence in official media and publicly denounce homicide bombings.”

What They Did During Week #3:

The PA’s official newspapers, television, and radio continued to broadcast a steady stream of anti-Israel and anti-American incitement and PA officials continues to make inciting statements. For example, the PA representative in Dubai, Saleem Abu Sultan, told the Gulf News that the United States itself organized the September 11 terrorist attacks: “America plans things and knows what it exactly wants from a certain area. They always plan, like they planned the case of the recent September 11 attacks and blamed Bin Laden and the Muslims.”1

III. “Elect New Leaders Not Compromised by Terror”

What They Must Do: President Bush stated that the Palestinian Arabs must hold “fair multiparty elections by the end of the year, with national elections to follow,” in which they “elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror.”

What They Did During Week #3:

Shortly after President Bush’s speech, the PA announced that it will hold elections for chairman of the PA and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council in January 2003, if Israel withdraws from various parts of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.2 It remains to be seen whether those elections, if held, will be free and fair, as President Bush has urged, or will be marred by ballot-stuffing and intimidation of voters and potential non-PLO candidates, as were the last PA elections, in 1996.

IV. “Build Democracy Based on Tolerance and Liberty”

What They Must Do: President Bush said that the Palestinian Arabs must “build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty,” with “a new constitution” and “a truly independent judiciary. He said they must “confront corruption,” and “the Palestinian parliament should have the full authority of a legislative body.” They must implement “market economics,” and create “a vibrant economy where honest enterprise is encouraged by honest government.” In addition, there must be “an externally supervised effort to rebuild and reform the Palestinian security services” with “clear lines of authority and accountability and a unified chain of command.”

What They Did During Week #3:

In early July, Arafat fired Jibril Rajoub, chief of the PA Preventive Security Force in Judea-Samaria; Ghazi Jabali, the PA Chief of Police; and Mahmoud Abu Marzouk, the civil defense chief. However, Jabali was then offered the position of Adviser on Police Affairs to Arafat, and Rajoub was offered the position of governor of Jenin, while the current governor of Jenin, Zuhair Manasra, was offered Rajoub’s job. On July 9, Israeli government spokesman Ra’anan Gissin described the firings as an attempt by Arafat to “remove his opponents” under the cover of “the illusion of reform.”3

On July 10, Arafat announced the appointment of Mohammed Dahlan as his National Security Adviser. Until earlier this year, Dahlan had served as Security Chief in Gaza, and masterminded numerous terrorist attacks, including the November 2000 bombing of a schoolbus in which two Israelis (one the husband of a U.S. citizen) were murdered and four were permanently crippled, one of them a U.S. citizen.

1 Jewish Telegraphic Agency, July 15, 2002.
2 New York Times, June 27, 2002.
3 Washington Times, July 10, 2002.