The current conflict is a political crisis not a security crisis. But Israel and the US persist in framing the situation as street riots rather than as an uprising against foreign occupation. This is like the Chinese government which still views the Tiananmen Square massacre as a case of poor crowd control--a few tanks with faulty brakes and some students that got in the way.

The Palestinians want their land back. They are sending a clear message that the peace process must be based on long-established principles of international law, but the US is not listening. Fearful of losing its monopoly on Middle East diplomacy, the US is watering down the international peacekeepers proposals. Only with hands untied can the UN address the fundamental political causes of the recent explosion.

The Oslo process is dead. It promised an end to the occupation. Instead it produced 50,000 new settlers and 1,000 more Palestinian homes bulldozed. It pledged a sovereign Palestinian state but left all infrastructure (electricity, telecommunications, gas, water) in Israeli hands. The Oslo formula provided land in pieces not land for peace. The Palestinian state it proposed was an archipelago with no free internal passage and surrounded by a sea of Israeli settlements, bypass roads and military checkpoints. Its no surprise the Camp David talks collapsed. The Palestinians demanded their home back, and Israel offered rooms for rent with police stationed in every hallway.

The Israelis want and deserve security. But to get it they must establish clear and just borders. Expanding settlements make that impossible. Each new settler planted in Palestinian territory requires Israel to deploy a fleet of soldiers around him, pulling the Israeli army further and further away from their own land. To increase security for all, the UN must help implement Israels withdrawal to its 1967 borders. That means an international force with teeth and a clear political mandate.

The Israeli government must end the economic inducements for settlers to move into the Palestinian territories. These inducements violate international law as well as the Oslo agreements in which Israel agreed to freeze settlements. Last year, the Israeli organization Peace Now released a poll indicating that 53% of West Bank settlers had moved to the occupied territories for non-ideological reasons: cheap housing, great views and income tax rebates. Nearly 34% of the settlers were prepared to evacuate in return for reasonable compensation. The UN and the US must facilitate this withdrawal.

The case of Hebron is informative. Over 2000 Israeli soldiers guard 400 militant settlers planted in the center of this Palestinian town. In 1994, an Israeli settler killed 29 Palestinians. By 1997, tensions had mounted again and the UN deployed an observer team in Hebron. Unarmed and lacking a clear mission, this UN team has submitted numerous reports but done little else. The settlement continues to grow, and in the last two months at least 19 Palestinians have died in Hebron. Two weeks ago it was reported that Hebron settlers opened fire on the convoy of Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Palestinians do not need observers, they need protectors. Had the UN sent only observers to East Timor, those massacres would still be occurring. Israel is in flagrant violation of international law. The settlements are expanding and the killing is accelerating. With the crime still in progress, the UN must dispatch a cops not photographers to the scene.

Ian Urbina writes for Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) and can be contacted at: (202) 679-9104 or MERIP1@aol.com

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