Israeli authorities slapped a 24-hour curfew on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Arabs pitched rocks, Molotov cocktails and steel bars at soldiers armed with tear gas and rubber bullets. Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasir Arafat called on Palestinians to step up protests “in every village, every city and every camp.” It took Israeli troops three days to restore order; they killed 17 protesters and wounded 1,000. Jordanian security forces killed four more when rioting crossed the border.
The violence strained the already brittle relationship between Washington and Jerusalem. President George Bush offered condolences to the families of the slain Palestinian workers, a gesture that offended many Israelis. Bush said he was “deeply troubled” by the unrest, adding that he was especially upset by the deaths of children: a Save the Children report released last week says Israeli troops have killed 159 children with an average age of 10. The violence, Bush said, “will continue and possibly grow so long as there is an absence of a promising peace process that nourishes hope among Israelis and Palestinians alike.” Trying to jump-start that stalled process, the administration increased its pressure on the recalcitrant Shamir. Secretary of State James Baker said Washington might back the use of a United Nations observer force in the territories–a switch from past policy and a move Israeli officials fiercely oppose.
Arab leaders quickly pushed their advantage. At a special session of the U.N. Security Council in Geneva, Arafat demanded that a U.N. observer force be sent to the territories. Leaders of the Arab states who will meet in Iraq this week will discuss ways to bolster the uprising. So far, however, Israel refuses to move ahead with the peace negotiations. Shamir returned to his efforts to put together a new government–one that would include ultraorthodox parties and extreme right-wingers who favor expelling the Palestinians from the occupied territories. Bush was calling for restraint, but with militants on both sides digging in, there was no reason to expect anything but more bloodshed.
