[rhinoceros 1]
but I understand that we may have missed something. Is it the fact that rule of law is problematic in Palestine since the uprising, or is it some other conclusion we should draw?
[Joe Dees 2]
It is not problematic. The PA has been decimated as an enforcement vehicle by the Israeli response to its collusion with terror, and its pronouncements are openly and contemptuously flauted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
[rhinoceros 3]
I was just trying to be non-commital before a specific question was stated. It seems we have one now.
I agree with your statement, except for the part about (PA's) "collusion with terror", which has not been demonstrated here yet.
[Joe Dees 4]
Imad Mugniyeh, one of the FBI's most-wanted terrorists, and the architect of the Marine Barracks and US Embassy Bombing in Beirut, as well as the hijacking of an aircraft and the execution of passenger US Navy diver Robert Stetham, arranged to have 50 tons of weapons, sealed in 83 waterproof tubes, transferred from Iran to the PA with the assistance of a PA ship captain; the shipment was intercepted by Israel.
Documents seized in the raid on Arafat's office show approved disbursements of funds to the Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade for the construction of suicide belt harness bombs. There's plenty of evidence, and it has appeared here before.
[rhinoceros 5]
The first one doesn't say much about terrorism. Just that the Palestinians allegedly do not buy their guns from authorized dealers. I found a BBC article and a Times article here
http://www.sierratimes.com/cgi-bin/warroom/topic.cgi?forum=11&topic=67
but apparently we'll have to take Israel's word about something that happened during the Israeli invation. The involvement of Mugniyeh and Arafat seem to be Israeli allegations.
I don't know what you think of this excerpt from the BBC article; my first reaction was amusement.
<quote from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1761836.stm >
"Military experts say the weapons would have fundamentally altered the strategic balance in the region. They could have precipitated an all-out war between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."
<end quote>
The second point seems more significant. I'll just list what the accused have to say, while they are not in Guantanamo.
The PLO, in a legalese statement, essentially says that the documents are of questionable authenticity, the Israelis did not allow journalists or lawyers to examine them, and even if they are authentic they do not prove what they are supposed to.
http://www.nad-plo.org/eye/news44.html
The Electronic Intifada site says that the documents may be authentic, but they do not prove what they are supposed to.
http://electronicintifada.net/actionitems/020404aamb.html
Another article defending the position of PA, I found here:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/apr2002/araf-a12.shtml
---- This message was posted by rhinoceros to the Virus 2002 board on Church of Virus BBS. <http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=51;action=display;threadid=26062>
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