July 14, 2004.
Arab leaders throughout the Middle East have begun adding an interesting twist
to their condemnations of terror attacks.
From Ramallah to Tehran, claims that the United States and Israel are
behind the worst terror attacks on civilians of their own countries are being
sounded with increasing frequency.
“You know who is behind these acts,” Yasser Arafat told reporters at his
Ramallah compound following the murderous terror attack in Tel Aviv on
Sunday that claimed the life of a 19-year-old female soldier. “Europe knows it,
the Americans know it, the Israelis know it.”
The PLO chief went on to claim that only Israel stands to gain from such
attacks, adding that those responsible are also those who killed Tourism
Minister Rechavam (“Gandhi”) Zeevi and who carried out an earlier bombing
attack against Israelis. In the past, Arafat has accused the Israeli secret service
of carrying out such attacks as provocation.
According to Palestinian Media Watch, Arafat said on official PA television, “We
are against such kinds of bombings, and you must never forget that the Israelis
are completely behind it, as they have been in the past. You know who is
behind these acts, which are aimed at harming the court decision [against the
counter-terrorism partition].”
Arafat continued, “We most not forget who stands behind them, as it
was in Beit Lid [a 1995 double suicide bombing attack that killed 21 people,
mostly soldiers]… [and] who murdered [the late tourism minister Rechavam]
Ze’evi, who is behind Ze’evi… [Israel] …attempts to cover up what happened in
the Hague!”
Arafat is not the only member of the Palestinian Authority (PA) that ascribes to
such theories. Hatem Abdul Kader, a member of the Palestinian Legislative
Council and a leader of Fatah, told the Arab news site Al Bawaba,
“It is possible that the Al Aqsa Brigades may have done [the bombing]
themselves… It is possible that some cells may have been manipulated by
Palestinians or Israelis who have an interest in seeing the International Courts
verdict reversed…
Some bombings that the [Al Aqsa] Brigades have claimed responsibility
for may have been carried out by them. However, some bombings could have
been done by Israel itself. We cannot say that there is Israeli penetration within
the Brigades… but what I am trying to say is that any one can claim
responsibility for any bombing.”
Such conspiracy theories are not confined to the Palestinian camp. Iran’s
Supreme Leader,” Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khameini, in a meeting with visiting
Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong on Tuesday, spoke about world
terrorism, including the beheadings of foreign civilians taking place in Iraq.
“We seriously suspect the agents of the Americans and Israelis,”
Khameini said, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency, “in conducting such
horrendous terrorist moves, and cannot believe that the people who kidnap
Filipino nationals, for instance, or behead U.S. nationals are Muslims.”
Khameini also said on Tuesday that drug addiction and ethical wrongdoings
amongst Iran’s youth were the fault of the Americans and Zionists, IRNA
reported:
“There is no doubt that the hands and brains of the enemies are behind
the conspiracy of drug addiction and ethical lawlessness.”
