Sharon: Dump Arafat And His Cronies
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called on the Palestinians to overthrow their current leadership and predicted Monday that the coming year would bring a turning point in the Mideast conflict.
"Your terrible suffering is needless," Sharon said, addressing his comments to the Palestinians during a speech that inaugurated the winter session of Israel's parliament. "Blood is being spilled for nothing. Change the despotic regime that is leading you from failure to failure, from tragedy to tragedy."
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials Monday accused Israel of trying to stir up trouble in a town that has been quiet since Israel's army withdrew in August.
Palestinians blamed Israel for the Sunday night death of Mohammed Abayat, a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
Israel neither confirmed or denied its involvement. In the past, militants sought by Israel have been killed by booby-trapped phones. And in the last two years, two other members of the Abayat clan were killed in operations blamed on Israel by Palestinians.
Sharon, who is to visit Washington this week and meet with President Bush, charged that "murderous terror gangs" have taken over the Palestinian territories with the encouragement and consent of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
However, he added: "I assess that there is a real possibility that the coming year will be a turning point. I believe that our Palestinian neighbors will themselves reach a moment of change in their attitude toward Israel. I promise that (my) government will be alert to any sign of change...to make peace."
In June, Mr. Bush also called on Palestinians to change their leadership. The Palestinians have tentatively scheduled general elections in January — but Israel's occupation of West Bank cities has raised questions of whether they can take place. No serious challenger to Arafat has yet arisen.
Mohammed Abayat "belongs to a family of criminals," said Raanan Gissin, an Israeli government spokesman. "Terrorism is the family business."
However, Israeli authorities haven't accused Abayat of any specific act of violence. Palestinians said that while he was a member of the Al Aqsa militia, he didn't hold a ranking position.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Israel may have been attempting to kill one of Abayat's cousins, Nasser Abayat, a local Al Aqsa leader in Bethlehem.