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People and Politics / Someone is not telling the truthEither the political and security hierarchy of the Palestinian Authority has conspired with senior American and European diplomats to weave a web of lies, or for more than three months the political and security hierarchy in Israel has been deceiving everyone - and in particular themselves. Here are some selected Rashomons:Hamas Rashomon Shimon Peres revealed yesterday morning on Army Radio that after the siege on the Muqata Mohammed Dahlan, Arafat's national security advisor, appealed to the heads of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to desist from attacking Israelis. In other words, according to Peres, the government's decision to punish Yasser Arafat for the crimes of Hamas, to humiliate and isolate him, was the proper thing to do. Moreover, when Palestinian Authority officials and Fatah leaders want - or are spoken to in the language of force - they can restrain the most fanatic of the Islamic zealots. If Peres is right and Dahlan is indeed the person who knows ways to the hearts of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the foreign minister exposed him as a collaborator with the Israeli occupier - and at a time when the rais is back in the headlines as the star of the "brave struggle of the Palestinian people" against the Israeli occupation. But Dahlan said yesterday there's not a shred of truth to what Peres said. He said not only has he not been asking Hamas and Islamic Jihad to stop their attacks, but the invasion of the Muqata actually put an end to the contacts he has been having with them in recent weeks. "Bogie (Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon) and [Avi] Dichter (head of the Shin Bet) know we've been talking with Hamas over the past few months about a cease-fire. They're telling you stories that it's nothing more than some low-level talks in Salfit," said Dahlan in a phone call from Gaza. "They also know that even before the attack on Salah Shehadeh in Gaza, we reached an understanding with the Hamas leaders about an end to attacks on Israeli civilians. Do you really think that Ahmed Yassin, [Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz] Rantisi and other Hamas leaders just got up on TV and proposed a hudna? We've been talking for months with the Hamas. Now it's all gone to hell because of Sharon and Fuad." Dahlan proposed that Peres should no longer count on him, or anyone else in the PA leadership to run errands to the Hamas to stop the next attack. "And after the next attack," Dahlan asked, "what are you going to do? Destory Abu Mazen's house or say Bogie forgot his pen in the Muqata and has to go back to get it?" Dahlan said Arafat would not hand over any of the people holed up with him in the Muqata and won't agree to send them to Gaza. "He's used to living in those conditions and can last there for a long time." The food Rashomon Here's a little Rashomon - Israel has been showing off the meals it supplies to the besieged people in the Muqata, saying it is an example of its generosity. Dahlan says all the food is prepared by the Palestinians and Israel only provides the delivery boys, who take a tithe off the top to satisfy their own hunger. The prime minister Rashomon Recently, and especially since the Palestinian Legislative council session that ended with a resounding defeat for his new-old cabinet, Arafat has been under enormous pressure to name a prime minister. The Foreign Ministry's legal advisor was even asked to prepare an opinion on the legal status of a Palestinian prime minister according to the Oslo agreements. Oslo II chose the title "rais" as a compromise between president and chairman and made no mention of a prime minister while there was no Palestinian state. It was decided however that if the government of Israel decided to recognize such an appointment, it would not contradict the Oslo accords. It turns out it was Arafat who clung to the Oslo accords to rebuff domestic and international pressure to elect a prime minister. He used that excuse on a number of occasions in meetings with Fatah leaders who discussed the makeup of the new cabinet with him. Arafat said he was "nothing more than president of two rooms" in the Muqata and there was no need for a "prime minister of two rooms." He also tried to divide and rule, but the turning point came when Dahlan and Abu Mazen, with Marwan Barghouti's blessings and Jibril Rajoub's silence, formed an alliance. A very credible source said at the weekend that the breakthrough came last Thursday, when Abu Ala promised his support for Abu Mazen as prime minister. Abu Ala has been named as a candidate to inherit Arafat's seat, so his agreement to the Abu Mazen appointment tilts the scale in favor of Abu Mazen. On Friday, a decisive meeting of the Fatah's central committee was scheduled for the Muqata. The members assumed Arafat would not be able to stand up to a joint front that included Abu Mazen and Abu Ala, backed by Dahlan and the entire Fatah leadership. The next day, on Saturday night, Abu Ala denied any connection to it. Like all the members of the leadership since the invasion of the Muqata - including Arafat's harshest public critics - he fell silent and doesn't dare even hint about a prime minister. That version, which is based on statements made by both Palestinian and Western diplomatic sources at the highest level, pulls the rug out from under the Israeli strategy of "isolating Arafat." Ariel Sharon said this week that Arafat's presence interferes with the development of Palestinian leaders with whom he is in contact. Either the government's uppermost officials don't know what's going on under their noses, or they are cooperating with political and military elements who for the last two years have not missed any opportunity to advance their program to get rid of those they call "the Tunis gang." Wanted men Rashomon The reason the government gave for the invasion of the Muqata - a siege meant to bring about the arrest of "wanted men" - also turns out to be not such a small Rashomon. First the government spoke about 19 wanted men, then 50, then 19 again. Then it turned out the IDF does not have a list of wanted men and was demanding that the Palestinians provide a list of all the people under siege with Arafat. Yesterday, foreign diplomats said that they were told Israel is interested in speaking with four people - the head of intelligence in the West Bank, Tewfik Tirawi, the Force 17 commander and his deputy, and a fourth person. At least Tirawi can be reasonably called a retroactive wanted man. Three months ago - after Operation Defensive Shield - he offered me grapes in the small courtyard on the southern side of the Muqata rubble. Between us and the IDF forces were only two sleepy Palestinians guarding a gate. By Akiva
Eldar
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