Israel Matzav: Turn out the lights, the party's over

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Turn out the lights, the party's over

I don't know how many of you used to watch Monday Night Football in its early days in the 1970's on ABC. One of the broadcasters was (Dandy) Don Meredith, who had been a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in his playing days. When the game had been decided, he would sing "Turn out the lights, the party's over." This morning, the party is over for the terrorists of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades who received amnesty last month and (hopefully) we can finally turn their lights out. (With the Olmert-Barak-Livni government in power, don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen, but at least now where we stand is out in the open).

Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, announced Tuesday it would no longer honor understandings reached with Israel, and called on its members to carry weapons to defend themselves against the IDF.

"We call on all our members who handed over their weapons to the Palestinian security forces to report to their commanders so that they can be issued new weapons," said a leaflet distributed in Ramallah.

The group said the decision was made after the IDF arrested two Fatah gunmen who had been given amnesty by Israel in line with understandings reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

...

According to the group, Israel on Monday night arrested Iyad Bisharat and Ahmed Abu Jalboush, two Fatah gunmen whose names had appeared on the first list of pardoned fugitives.

"We call on all our members to display caution and not to be deceived by the so-called amnesty from Israel," the leaflet read. "We will no longer honor the agreements that were reached with Israel over the issue of the wanted men. We won't hand over our guns. This is a lie designed to split the Palestinian resistance."

The group said it had previously warned against the "plot" aimed at confiscating the weapons of Aksa Martyrs Brigades members in the West Bank. "The Israeli enemy does not respect any commitments or agreements," it said.

The Fatah group also criticized PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad's government, holding it responsible for the arrest of its two men. [This is part of the play here. The 'Brigades' want to make sure that they cannot be neutralized by Abu Mazen's 'government.' CiJ]

"Fayad must clarify his position vis-á-vis the arrest of our men, whose names had appeared on the list of wanted men who received amnesty," it said.

An Israeli official said in response that such a move by Fatah's military wing would only escalate violence.

"Israel expects the Palestinian Authority to take proper steps to root out terrorism against Israel, and to work with Israel to chart a more promising future for both sides," an official in the Prime Minister's Office said. "Incitement such as this only serves to ratchet up the situation, and would only harm the chances for progress between both peoples."

The IDF declined comment.