Stardate 20020628.1925

(On Screen): The Palestinian compound in Hebron has been destroyed. Fifteen Palestinian militants Israel very much wanted were holed up in the place and refused to come out over the course of four days.

I wonder whether they remembered the siege in Bethlehem and were hoping that the Israelis wouldn't have guts enough to come in after them. The difference was that these bozos weren't holed up inside one of the most holy Christian shrines in existence and didn't have Christian hostages. So the Israelis used a bulldozer to knock a hole in the wall of the compound, and then men went inside and set explosive charges to level the place. Boom. Game over.

Suspicious me wonders if this is a dress rehearsal for doing the same thing to what's left of Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah. He was surrounded once and the Israelis didn't actually come in for him (thought they pretty thoroughly trashed most of his compound). Then he saw the Bethlehem siege, and the Israelis didn't go in that time, either. But this time, in Hebron, they didn't fool around.

If, sometime soon, Sharon's government decides they've had enough of Arafat and want to expel him from the country, I think part of the point of this effort in Hebron may have been to present him with an object lesson in what will happen if he doesn't surrender when asked.