Middle East Deporting

(2 of 2)
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Ambassador to the U.N., labeled the Security Council a "kangaroo court" and declared, "We were frankly very disappointed ! that the U.S. joined in this exercise." Though several U.S. Jewish leaders have decried the Israeli use of live ammunition, they were nearly unanimous last week in rejecting the U.N. vote. Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, said the U.S. action "will be seen by the Palestinians as a license for further violence."

Nonetheless, a majority of the American public seemed to agree with the Administration's criticism of Israeli tactics during the riots. In a poll conducted last week for TIME by Yankelovich Clancy Shulman,* 50% agreed that the Israelis had used "too much force" to quell the Palestinian protests, while only 23% said Israel had used "about the right amount." Fifty-six percent said Israel had in general treated the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza unfairly, while only 16% thought they had been handled fairly. And 50% of those polled said the U.S. was right to criticize Israel, while 35% thought it was wrong.

The demonstrators got moral support from unexpected sources. After having his tour of the Kalandia camp cut short by rock throwing, Republican Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island faulted Israel's management of the crisis. Another visitor, British Foreign Office Junior Minister David Mellor, infuriated Israelis when he emerged from the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza and called conditions in such camps an "affront to civilized values." He also sharply upbraided an Israeli army colonel for arresting a 14-year-old boy accused of throwing stones. "I saw no stones being thrown," Mellor told the stunned officer.

Despite the furor over expulsions, the nine Palestinians are not expected to be deported any time soon; all have filed appeals, the first step in a procedure that can take weeks. Meanwhile, some moderate Palestinian leaders talked of a campaign of civil disobedience. Few thought the scheme would succeed. But neither did anyone think that Israel's expulsions would stem the violence. Said Tayshir Hamad, brother of Bashir: "How many Palestinians have been deported since 1967? Thousands. But nothing has changed."

FOOTNOTE: *The survey was conducted by telephone with 1,804 adult Americans. The potential sampling error is plus or minus 3%.