Nablus

Early last Saturday morning Raed Suragji a Tanzim operative, Anan Subeh, and Ghassan Abu Sharahand , both members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, met their maker.

Two days earlier they were involved in the drive-by murder of Rabbi Meir Hai near Nablus.

A number of foreign news services reported the killing of the three terrorists in more dramatic language,”IDF units blasted their way into the homes of the three wanted Palestinians felling each in a hail of bullets.”

An IDF spokesman said all three wanted men were given an opportunity to surrender before the attack took place. A relative of one of the dead men claimed the call to surrender was never made. Despite these contradictory versions of the event, the indisputable fact is that a large IDF force surrounded their homes for hours before the attack, their families were allowed to leave without being harmed and a surrender offer was made.

No so long ago Nablus looked like a Middle East version of a Wild West town. Gun toting Palestinian militants meted out arbitrary justice, demanded protection money from local businesses and caused havoc and chaos everywhere

The change took place eighteen months ago following the amnesty offered by the IDF to Palestinian terrorists provided they surrender their weapons and sign a pledge to cease all terrorist activities. In addition the US supervised training programme for the Palestinian security forces helped establish a measure of law and order in the town.

Anan Subeh was one of the terrorists who had accepted the amnesty offer. Subeh's family said he had also joined the Preventive Security Service, a branch of the Palestinian security forces. Apparently he was moonlighting in his old occupation

Suragji was released from an Israeli prison in January, after a seven-year term for involvement in shooting attacks. Abu Sharah had been involved in terrorist attacks in the past.

This was the first incursion of Israeli forces in Nablus in months and it undoubtedly damaged the prestige of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Israel tried to embarrass the Palestinian Authority and its president," complained Husam Khader, a member of Palestinian parliament who visited one of the mourning tents for the terrorists killed on Saturday morning

A BBC correspondent who visited Nablus said the anger is palpable. “Newly printed martyrdom posters are again ubiquitous in Nablus's Old City and downtown, while tens of thousands of angry mourners over the weekend called for revenge and an end to cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian security forces.”

The Israeli incursion was a massive show of force, far more than was required to apprehend or kill the three terrorists. Some observers doubted the wisdom of using a”sledgehammer to kill a fly.” Others reasoned that we should have left the job to the Palestinian security forces.

An Associated Press correspondent reporting the incident mentioned the “collateral damage” the Palestinian Authority had suffered. “Since the violent takeover of Gaza by Hamas in 2007, Abbas has gradually strengthened his control in West Bank towns to keep the Islamists there in check.

Palestinian leaders frequently complain that Israel is undermining these efforts by carrying out arrest raids in areas under Palestinian control. Israel counters that while the performance of the Palestinian security forces is improving, its military will step in when necessary.”

When an IDF spokesman was asked why the special unit used in the operation had shot the three Palestinians and not arrested them he said " we had to operate under the assumption that they (the suspects) are dangerous." All three terrorists were armed!

Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, rushed to Nablus in an apparent attempt at damage control, paying his respects at a large communal wake and condemning Israel. Fayyad told Associated Press correspondent,

"This attack was a clear assassination, and I believe it is targeting our security and stability."

My personal unqualified opinion is that if the three wanted men had been Hamas terrorists the Palestinian security forces would probably have executed the operation diligently, however because the P.A has a historical link to the Tanzim and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades the P.A security forces dragged their feet and looked in the wrong places. Admittedly they made a number of arrests, however it was clear their efforts weren’t leading anywhere.

The IDF show of force conveyed a clear message. Any attempt to return to the old rule of terror will be ruthlessly put down.

The US Administration wasn’t happy with this heavy handed approach. Many European governments were openly critical and a few local columnists feared the Nablus crackdown would precipitate further violence and undermine the standing of the Palestinian Authority. I’m sure the criticism was noted and filed away somewhere.

A brief historical footnote:

The name Nablus is a corrupted form of Flavia Neapolis, a town founded by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD. Since then it has been conquered many times. When it fell to the Arabs in 636 Neapolis became Nablus, many of its churches and Samaritan synagogues gradually lost their congregants and found a new use as mosques .

Vespasian was probably aware that Canaanites had settled at Flavia Neapolis long before a Roman cornerstone was set there.

The problematic story of the “Rape of Dinah” mentioned in Genesis 34 could be used to draw a moral comparison, however the killing of the three Palestinian terrorists last Saturday and the slaughter of Shechem and his kinsmen by the gates of the town by Dinah’s brothers have little in common.

Flavia Neapolis also Nablus is called Shechem in Hebrew (Shchem), ironically immortalising the hapless biblical seducer.

I'll conclude on a pleasanter note. This week I hosted the New Zealand Attorney General Christopher Finlayson.

Chris is also Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage in John Key’s National party government. He is also Minister for the Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.

Overworked with caring for these three portfolios Chris came to Israel for a holiday. He is firm supporter of Israel and this was his third visit here.

I met him on a previous occasion when he stayed here at Ein Harod.

Earlier in the week I took him to visit the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Church of the Miracle of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the Beit Shean antiquities, the Crusader fortress at Belvoir and a few other sites.

Last night we (my wife, our youngest daughter and Chris) ate dinner at a restaurant perched on a brow of the northern slope of Mount Gilboa.

It was a clear night and the view of the lights in the Jezreel Valley below us imparted a tranquil almost optimistic atmosphere as we toasted the New Year in wishing the wishes we all wish.

Happy New Year.

Beni 1^st of January, 2010.