Faithful Say Arafat Will Stand Firm

RAMALLAH, West Bank â€”  To the outside world, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s choice could hardly seem more stark: He either hunts down Islamic militants or risks destruction of his regime by Israel.

But in this West Bank commercial and governmental center, hours before Israeli helicopter gunships destroyed Arafat’s personal helicopters in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian leader’s dilemma seemed not nearly so black and white.

Even as they braced for a wide-ranging Israeli military retaliation, Ramallah residents expressed faith that Arafat will resist the Jewish state’s demands and withstand whatever it throws at him.

“He is Arafat,� said Elen, a shoe store owner who declined to give her last name. “He is a survivor.� No one seemed to believe that the symbol of Palestinian nationalism had reached a moment of truth that would force him to take decisive action or radically alter his policies.

Arafat would run the risk of civil war if he undertook the all-out assault on Islamic militants that Israel and the Bush administration demand, Palestinians said. That pressure follows Palestinian suicide bombings and gunfire over the weekend that left more than two dozen Israelis dead and more than 200 wounded.

When Arafat cracked down on Islamic militants in 1996, their popularity was at a nadir because negotiations with Israel seemed to be progressing toward creation of a Palestinian state.

Today, the peace process is dead and the popularity of Islamic militant organizations rivals Arafat’s own. Hamas, the largest Palestinian Islamic militant group, has formed an armed alliance with elements of Arafat’s own Fatah movement.

“I don’t think Arafat has reached the point where he has made the decision ‘I will do what has to be done,’ � said Khalil Shikaki, a Palestinian pollster and political analyst. “Because that would mean he would have to face Fatah.�

Instead, Shikaki and others said, Arafat is more likely to take limited steps aimed at temporarily reining in militants as he hunkers down to absorb the Israeli army’s strikes.

Islamists staged a show of strength Monday to underscore to the beleaguered Palestinian leader that he must not go too far in acting against them after his security forces arrested more than 100 militants Sunday night.

About 1,000 Hamas supporters marched through downtown Gaza City in defiance of Arafat’s ban on demonstrations supporting militant groups. They called on Hamas to continue attacking Israel and made a gesture of support for the arrested militants.

“Greetings to all the moujahedeen [Islamic fighters] who paid a price for their sacrifices for the sake of God,� the marchers chanted when they stopped outside the main Gaza prison, where the militants are being held.

And in Nablus, students at An Najah University rallied to honor Maher Ihbeishi, a 24-year-old plumber from the West Bank city who carried out a suicide bombing on a bus in Haifa on Sunday.

“The fighters are behind the walls of the [Palestinian] Authority’s prison while the collaborators with the Israelis are free,� read a banner held by a demonstrator.

But here in Ramallah, the arrests of militants were shrugged off as Arafat’s attempt to buy time and persuade the United States and European governments, if not Israel, that he is serious about fighting terrorism. Palestinian residents tended to agree with the Israeli government’s assessment that those arrested were political operatives, not the military leaders who plan attacks and recruit suicide bombers.

Arafat’s “own survival right now is what is motivating him. He will do whatever it takes to survive the next week,� said Shikaki, the pollster. “I don’t think that Arafat has the capability to make real arrests.�

After Hamas claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa, the Palestinian regime said it would no longer tolerate the group’s challenge to its authority.

Arafat and his Cabinet declared a state of emergency Sunday and ordered Palestinian security forces to carry out one of the largest arrest campaigns ever against the Islamic militant groups that have been steadily gaining public support among Palestinians during more than 14 months of fighting with Israel.

Mostly, the arrests went smoothly. But in at least two instances, there were hints of what Arafat will face if he tries to truly dismantle the groups.

Angry crowds rebuffed security forces who tried to arrest militants at the Dehaishe refugee camp in Bethlehem and Al Amari refugee camp in Ramallah. Officers were forced to retreat when hundreds of camp residents, many of them armed, refused to let them take away the militants they had come to arrest.

At Al Amari, Yunis abu Reesh, a 29-year-old member of the Tanzim militia that is linked to Fatah, said he was among those who told the security officers that they must leave the camp without the Hamas militant they came to arrest.

More than two dozen armed security officers in four vehicles drove into the camp about midnight Sunday, Reesh said. They were looking for a man he knew only as Abu Malik, a Hamas militant from another camp who had been hiding in Al Amari from Israeli forces since September.

“People in the camp aren’t used to seeing security forces arrest someone who is a fighter against Israel,� Reesh said. Between 500 and 600 residents, including many militia members, gathered around the officers as they tried to lead Abu Malik away, Reesh said.

“It was natural that we would protect him,� Reesh said. “The factions understand that Arafat is under too much pressure from the Americans and the Israelis to arrest people, but the people do not understand this change.�

In the end, Reesh said, residents negotiated a compromise with the officers: If they would retreat, Tanzim members from the camp would bring Abu Malik to the Ramallah security headquarters. He said the militant was handed over to officers early Monday.

“People understand that Arafat knows what he is doing,� Reesh said. “They are willing to go along with him, because he is under pressure.�

But Reesh said no one in the camp would accept a serious sweep of militants hiding there, or the confiscation of arms the Palestinian Authority also has promised to carry out.

“It will not be easy for them to arrest people, because the factions understand that today it is Hamas, tomorrow it will be Islamic Jihad, and the next day it could be Fatah,� Reesh said. “We understand that civilians are not to be seen with their guns in public, but no one will turn in their weapons, because we are still at war--there are still Jewish settlers; there is still the Israeli army.�