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The Israeli Defense Forces have been working with Palestinian security forces in the occupied West Bank. Cooperation has been good, in fact, the World’s Matthew Bell reports that Israel may soon allow its Jewish citizens to visit the territority. Download MP3
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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI, and WGBH, Boston. It’s too early to assess the effectiveness of US support for the armed forces of Iraq and Afghanistan. But US support for security forces in the West Bank seems to be working. Palestinian forces started receiving training and assistance from the Pentagon under President Bush. The Israel Defense Forces still have the final say on security in the territory. But the IDF says cooperation with the Palestinians is going well. In fact, The World’s Matthew Bell reports that Israel may allow its Jewish citizens to visit the West Bank again.
MATTHEW BELL: The place to be in Ramallah the other night was the Shab Fdail concert. The Algerian pop singer performed to a packed outdoor amphitheatre. The show was part of the week-long Palestine International Festival. Palestinian and foreign performers took part. But there were none from Israel. Festival organizer Suha Barghouthi says inviting Israeli artists, even those who oppose the Israeli occupation, would send the wrong message.
SUHA BARGHOUTHI: The image they are going to give it’s very bad, that there are normal relationship, you know. We can’t accept that Israelis, for example, to come to dance with us in Ramallah while I can’t reach Jerusalem. I didn’t go to Jerusalem since ten years.
BELL: Bargouthi is referring to the fact that Israel bars most West Bank Palestinians from entering the Jewish State. As soon as the occupation ends, she says, Israeli performers can take part in the festival. But Israeli citizens might not have to wait that long before they can once again visit Palestinians towns and cities. The West bank city of Jenin has a dark image for many Israelis. The military says 31 suicide bombers from Jenin killed 124 Israelis in the first few years of the Second Intifada. But today, Jenin has another image. The Israeli military holds it up as an example of what can happen when Israelis and Palestinians work together to keep the peace and build the economy. The Israeli-imposed curfews and checkpoints are gone. Arab Israelis can visit here and spend money. But Jewish Israelis are still prohibited by their government from entering populated Palestinian areas. Fahdi Khallak runs a small grocery store here.
ARABIC SPEAKING
FAHDI KHALLAK: Before the Intifada, we had a situation where Israeli Jews used to come here. They used come from Haifa, Acca, my father was here, and he had all kinds of people.
BELL: He says there isn’t enough local money to sustain Jenin’s economy. Businesses need Israelis, Arabs and Jews, to come back. Things are good right now, he says. People don’t want chaos. People from the Jenin refugee camp still remember the chaos of April 2002. The fighting between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces here went on for nearly two weeks. About 50 Palestinians died, including many civilians. 23 Israeli troops were also killed. Residents here, including a young mother and her friend, say they would not welcome Israeli visitors back to their city.
ARABIC SPEAKING
FEMALE SPEAKER: I think if Jewish Israelis come here we will have a third Intifada. They killed our children. How can we allow them to come into our town again?
BELL: The Palestinian who says he came up with the idea of letting Israelis visit Jenin to go shopping or sightseeing is Brigadier General Radi Assidi, commander of Palestinian National Security Forces for the Jenin area.
ARABIC SPEAKING
BELL: The general tells me his forces are ready to assume full responsibility for security in Jenin. The Palestinian people, he says, are not violent and they would welcome Jewish Israelis back to shop or go to restaurants.
ARABIC SPEAKING
BELL: But what needs to happen, he goes on to say, is the Israeli army must leave Jenin. He says the Israelis should stop conducting night-time raids in Jenin and stop arresting Palestinians. His forces can handle the job. Then things would go back to the way they were before the Intifada. Assidi recently took senior Israeli officers, dressed in full uniform, on a rare daytime tour of Jenin. He says the Israelis complimented him and his forces for their help in restoring peace and quiet. But Assidi’s not satisfied with Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation. The general says the Israeli military likes to talk about coordination with Palestinian forces. But ultimately, he says, coordination is really just a form of Israeli control. I spoke with a senior Israeli military officer familiar with the Jenin area and he said Palestinian security forces there do deserve credit for helping to keep the peace. But he said, in his view, they are not ready to assume full responsibility. As for the prospect of Israelis being allowed to visit Palestinian areas in the West Bank, this officer said that he thinks the time is not right for that either. For The World, I’m Matthew Bell, Jenin, in the West Bank.
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