Saturday, February 26, 2005

A bombing in the time of Hudna ll

Go away from the computer for a few hours and suddenly there is a new culprit in the Tel Aviv nightclub bombing. The Jerusalem Post carries the story:
The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Saturday evening, from Damascus, for the deadly attack in Tel Aviv on Friday night. "The period of calm was set for one month, and that month is over," said Abu Tark, a senior member of the Jihad movement. "Israel did not obey the agreement, and that's what led to our action." The announcement confirms the security establishment's earlier suspicions, which also estimated that the Hizbulla was not involved. Defense officials estimated that the Islamic Jihad in Damascus had operated via one of its cells in the Tulkarm area.

Well, well, Islamic Jihad had originally claimed responsibility on Friday night along with Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade before they issued denials. In the interest of fair play let's blame Suha Arafat and Abu Mazen's mother as well. The more significant angle that has come out of this story is the emphasis placed on Syrian involvement for sponsoring and harboring Islamic Jihad. This is nothing new and Syria does a history of aiding and abetting various terror networks but as they say; timing is everything.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is said to have issued a freeze on all hand overs of towns to the Palestinian Authority until Abu Mazen acts decisively to disarm the terrorists groups but it is interesting to note that Mofaz felt the need to emphasize that the disengagement from Gaza would remain on schedule despite the freeze or any lack of action on the part of Abu Mazen in dismantling the terror groups. If Abu Mazen cannot be relied upon to rein in the terrorists; how does it benefit Israelis to sleep safer at night if the security sensitive Philadelpi corridor is turned over to the control of the Palestinian Authority?

No comments: