(Jerusalem Report) Ehud Ya'ari - Senior Palestinian figures have lately been telling Prime Minister Sharon that they expect him to raze the settlements that Israel evacuates. They argue that if the settlers' houses remain intact, Arafat's people will take them over, after handing out due portions to rival factions. The "intifada aristocracy" will turn all of Gush Katif into the most exclusive suburb in the Strip and reap the fruits of the evacuation without sharing any of the booty with the population at large. Under pressure from Arafat, the Palestinian leadership has announced that the PA alone will inherit the settlements. That should be taken as a warning. If those same corrupt bureaucratic bodies become "responsible" for the settlements, then the state of chaos will spill over from the rest of Gaza into the evacuated areas as well, and the most aggressive will tear off pieces of what used to be the Katif bloc for themselves.
2004-07-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive