Jericho prison raid by the Israeli - a collusion?

Categories: Wormie Says

On March 14, 2006 the Israeli Defence Force stormed a jail in Palestinian-run town of Jericho and ‘captured’ Ahmed Saadat, the political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was accused by planning the revenge killing of hardline Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. His predecessor Abu Ali Mustafa was assassinated by Israel a year after the outbreak of the intifada. The Palestinian judiciary had cleared him of involvement, but he was kept in custody. He was elected to parliament earlier this year, and both Mr Abbas and the militant election victors, Hamas, had spoken of releasing him soon. The prison was under the charge of the Palestinian Authority but supervised by the US and British troops.

Britain and the US had repeatedly warned Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that it would withdraw its monitors from the Jericho prison citing threats to its security forces monitors. Mr Abbas said the monitors had complained about small violations of the detention agreement, such as the unauthorised family visits or use of mobile phones, "but they never spoke of serious things". [Links] Certainly, for a long time the Palestinians have not been keeping to the rules they were meant to be following for running this particular prison. But there is a new element of uncertainty - from the perspective of UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and others - with the advent of the administration led by the Islamic militant group, Hamas. Hamas has said it will not recognise Israel, but it has hinted at continuity. [Links] Within 10 minutes of the US-UK forces, the Israelis manage to bring in bulldozers and other military equipment in its storming of the Jericho prison.

This raid brought 2 major questions. Firstly is there a collusion between the Israeli and the US-UK forces? Given that the Israeli manage to bring in bulldozers and all in their raid in such a short time certainly raises eyebrows. If the Israelis were not informed of the timing of withdrawal, could they have assembled such a force in so short a time? There were some examples of collusion between the British and the Israelis, and the Americans and the Israelis.
However, at this point, the evidence is not necessarily pointing in that direction. Strangely, there are no condemnations from the US or the British regarding the invasion and storming of the Palestinian prison.

Secondly, what is the legal status of the Palestinian courts? Ahmed Saadat was tried and cleared by the Palestinian judiciary. What right has the courts in Israel in trying him again? Is the Israeli judiciary of a higher standards or any more partial than that of the Palestinians? I guess the answer depends on who you talk to. If a country can just raid another country so as to retry a prisoner, where is justice then? Yes, I agree sometimes there are times when we do not agree with the outcome of a court proceedings but it does not mean we can take matters into our own hands. I hope this will not set a precedent to any countries as an excuse for invasion!

The fallout is to be expected. The British Council cultural centre in Gaza City were burned and foreigners were kidnapped. Although such actions cannot be justified, it is certainly understandable. This episode will sadly serve to strengthened the hands of the militant Hamas and justifies their existance and hardline attitude towards the Israel in particular and the West in general. President Abbas and his Fatah Party will be weakened further. It will take a long time for any compromise to be reached following this episode.

Mr Blair seemed to understand the problem in the Middle East when he said: "The only way we are ever going to get a peace process beginning again in the Middle East is if it is accepted that the solution the international community is committed to, a two state solution, can only be proceeded with if both sides accept the existence of the other state. We totally respect the mandate Hamas secured in the elections. We supported those democratic elections. We support them still. But if they want our help, both politically and financially to make progress, it has to be on an understood basis that means giving up violence, negotiating peacefully and accepting the existence of Israel. However his words does not hold any weight because there was no condemnation of Israel. By invading the Jericho jail, Israel once again demonstrated that the only law it will follow is Israel law. Since there is no respect and acceptance of the Palestinian state and its judiciary, how can they expect the Palestinian to respect and accept the existence of Israel?

[Ref1][Ref2][Ref3][Ref4][Ref5]
Text of U.S.-UK letter to Abbas
Israel press justifies Jericho raid
Q&A: Israel's Jericho jail raid
Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area
History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict