Aug 31 2000
Dangerous distractions
The botched military operation in the Palestinian village of Assira Shamali near Nablus should never have happened. Neither should the killing a week earlier of the mukhtar of the village of Surda, near Ramallah.
In both incidents Israel got a public relations blow, and in neither incident did it achieve its objectives. In Assira Israel lost three of its soldiers and the Palestinian they were searching for escaped leaving Islamic supporters to declare a major victory. In Surda, the elderly man killed, certainly not the one the Israelis intended to kill, is the uncle of the PLO’s Washington representative Hassan Abdel Rahman. US Secretary of State Madeline Albright called Abdel Rahman to express condolences. Continue Reading »