“Justice” Games: Prison ain’t what it used to be
NISSAN RATZLAV-KATZ
National Review, 5 June 2002
The supreme court of the Palestinian Authority earlier this week ordered the release of Ahmed Saadat, one of those terrorists meant to be incarcerated in a Jericho prison under the supervision of American and British wardens, as per an agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in April. Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was among those hiding out in PLO leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah during a month-long standoff. He is wanted by Israel for planning the assassination of tourism minister and cabinet member, Rehavam Zeevi. The PA court declared that there was no evidence linking Saadat to the murder, despite the fact that the PFLP openly claimed responsibility for the deed.
Arafat expected international silence to accompany his "release" of the PFLP leader. That was to be the payoff for his compliance with international demands for reforms in the Palestinian Authority, according to an unnamed PA official. Insofar as Israel does not take Arafat's reforms seriously to begin with, both prime minister Ariel Sharon and defense minister Benyamin Ben-Eliezer reacted with a warning that Israel would take whatever steps necessary to prevent the release and would see itself "free of all related obligations."
Even Knesset member Ran Cohen of the far-left Meretz party had a negative comment about the Saadat release, saying that it "makes a mockery of Palestinian rule of law." Cohen did not reveal, however, when exactly such "Palestinian rule of law" came into existence in the first place. Knesset member Benny Elon, who took over as head of the right-wing Moledet party after Rehavam Zeevi was killed, reacted without surprise at the PA decision. "As President Bush once said, we have to either bring them to justice or bring justice to them," Elon commented, "We need not complain when other countries don't do the work for us, but rather do the work ourselves. I hope Saadat is the next targeted killing…"
Such official and unofficial sentiments led most Arab leaders to assume that Israel was willing to lay siege to any area to which Saadat was released. Therefore, Arafat acted quickly to avoid a repeat of the Ramallah fiasco, which only weakened his strength in the Arab "street." He had the PA cabinet release a statement today stating that, while it respects the ruling of the court, it cannot approve the release of Saadat due to Israel's threats. In other words, the PFLP leader is now in a type of protective custody rather than internationally sanctioned incarceration. Arafat expertly finessed the situation so that he gets the American credit for keeping him in prison, the Arab credit for trying to release him, while avoiding the embarrassment of another Israeli siege in PA territory.
The real question is, were Saadat actually "released," how would anyone know? Israeli sources reported some time ago that the PFLP head was not in a PA prison at all, but effectively working from a desk in a headquarters of his own. All of those terrorist prisoners meant to be incarcerated in Jericho reportedly receive visitors with no restrictions, can talk with one another freely and are surrounded by jailers who are all Arab. The Americans and British are window dressing. Israeli opponents of the deal insisted at the time that Saadat and his fellow terrorists must serve their sentences in Israeli prisons, but U.S. officials assured Israel that justice would be served under the watchful eyes of American and British wardens. This week, head of Israel's secret service, Avi Dichter, told the government cabinet that the American and British wardens have been unable to fulfill the terms of the agreement. As Arafat himself said in April, when asked by reporters from the Arab press about the imprisonment deal with Israel, "Just like he is in a Mukata [Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah] here, he will be in a Mukata in Jericho."
On May 19, the truth of Arafat's claims and the prescience of right-wing Israeli opponents to the compromise imprisonment was made tragically obvious when a suicide-bombing attack struck Netanya's outdoor market, killing three Israelis and wounding more than 55. The attack, Israeli intelligence reported, was arranged and ordered by none other than Ahmed Saadat, from his supposed incarceration in Jericho.