Fighting a Cancer

The 650,000 Palestinians on the West Bank of the Jordan River are still angry. Restive under nine years of Israeli occupation and irritated by the presence of right-wing, nationalist Israeli settlers in illegal kibbutzim (TIME. May 17), the Arabs again rioted in West Bank cities, as well as in the old quarter of Jerusalem. Three Arabs were killed in clashes with Israeli troops--one of them a 16-year-old girl, whose funeral was attended by several West Bank mayors and other local dignitaries. In the aftermath, Premier Yitzhak Rabin's government debated new tactics for dealing with the cancerous resistance that is an irksome security risk and, increasingly, besmirches Israel's image.

Arab students triggered the latest incidents, stoning Israeli troops and blocking traffic with flaming tires. Army officials insisted that their soldiers had merely fired warning shots. Arab leaders charged that the deaths--which raised the total in West Bank uprisings since February to ten--had been caused deliberately. Curfews were clapped on five Arab cities--including Hebron and Nablus--and at least one refugee camp. Arab politicians, including ones who gained office in last month's anti-Israel municipal-election returns, charged the pacifying forces with storm-trooper tactics. Said Elias Freij, mayor of Bethlehem: "People are fed up with the Israeli occupation and they want an immediate end to it."

Genuine Unrest. Belatedly, Israel is recognizing the depth of that feeling. Former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan admitted in an interview with the newspaper Ha 'aretz that only genuine unrest, rather than terrorist agitation, could account for the demonstrations. He suggested that Israeli soldiers stay out of West Bank cities to avoid provoking conflict. "West Bank residents should be allowed to live their lives," he said. "If they want, then let them demonstrate and wave Palestinian flags." But Dayan added a chilling corollary: Arab mayors should be warned that if their towns exploded again, they would be placed under a blanket interdiction. It would be designed to deal a crippling blow to Arab livelihoods by preventing delivery of food supplies to market in a designated town, for example, or barring sheep from leaving for pasture.

TIME has learned that just such a plan is under consideration by the Israeli government. It would single out rebellious towns and villages for the embargoing of such things as electricity, food or medicine. In addition, the Israeli reserve troops on the West Bank have been replaced by crack border police, paratroops and other elite units.

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