The view from Gilo
By Uri Bank

(November 17) - All of a sudden we, the residents of Gilo, 
have found ourselves on the front lines of this violent 
stage of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Ours is not a community 
made up of die-hard idealists who consciously chose to live 
in a danger zone out of some feeling of sacrifice. Most of us 
live in Gilo simply because it is one of the cheapest options 
open to one who wants to live in the capital of Israel. 

After the initial round of fire, the IDF moved two tanks in and 
we were relieved. It seemed that the government meant business, 
hinting to the Palestinian terrorists: "If you try that again 
there will be VERY severe consequences!" 

But they did shoot at us again, critically injuring a border 
policeman, and lo and behold, the tanks did not shoot back with 
their full capacity. It became a game of cat and mouse - the 
Palestinians shot at Gilo, and the tanks were only permitted to 
retaliate with machine guns, which any regular infantry unit has, 
instead of wiping out the buildings that were being used as 
terrorist bases. 

The Palestinians were utilizing the Jewish-Israeli sensitivity 
to loss of personal safety. They were hoping that we would be 
so distraught by our women and children being put on the front 
lines that we would go all out, responding with devastating 
fire-power - which would portray the poor villagers of Beit Jala 
to the world as little David being oppressed by the Israeli 
Goliath. 

Prime Minister Barak decided not to play this game. He eventually 
removed the two tanks and replaced them with infantry units and 
snipers. 

The Palestinians specifically chose Beit Jala because it is the 
place of closest proximity between Palestinian-controlled Area A 
to the Jerusalem municipality boundary. Also, they were hoping 
that the IDF would hit some of the Christian sites in the village, 
which would turn the Christian world against Israel. 

But the main goal was to make clear to everyone that even Gilo, 
considered part and parcel of urban Jerusalem, is in their eyes 
just another settlement being occupied by hostile Jews who 
unjustly took it away from the Palestinians. Gilo, they believe, 
needs to be liberated just as much as Nablus, Ramallah or 
Bethlehem. 

In order to attain this goal, the Palestinians are cynically 
using the villagers of Beit Jala, forcing their way into their 
homes and using them as bases for shooting at Gilo. The villagers, 
for the most part, just want to live in peace, but they have had 
to bear the brunt of our return fire. 

Right-wingers like myself predicted all of this. I stood with 
Binyamin Netanyahu six years ago - while he was still the leader 
of the opposition to Rabin's government - on Har Gilo, a mountain 
that overlooks Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Gilo. I told him: "If 
they give them guns and total control (i.e., of Area A) of 
Bethlehem and Beit Jala - they are eventually going to use those 
guns against us. Look at those buildings (I was pointing to 
Ha'anafa Street). Those buildings are within light-arms range. 
Bullets will be flying into their living rooms!" 

We did everything we could to prevent this, through demonstrations 
pleading with the government not to give them guns. 

There is a general concensus that the situation in Gilo is 
intolerable and that "something must be done." But the 
government seems to care more about not escalating the 
situation and not exacerbating world public opinion than it 
does about protecting the residents of Gilo. Any day a child 
might be injured or killed - and we know that when that happens 
the government will finally take action. 

So why wait? 

I, and my fellow members of the Residents Committee for a Safe 
Gilo, have come to the conclusion that the government should 
push back the boundary of Area A by a kilometer and a half, 
which is the range of light-arms fire. This will form a 
security zone - an area that will be re-designated as Area B, 
which gives Israel total security control and will enable the 
IDF to move in and keep the terrorists out. 

The beauty of this suggestion is that even the villagers of 
Beit Jala would agree to this. They have been saying all along 
that they want the terrorists out and to be left in peace. 
To confirm this, I called one of the villagers, who said he 
wouldn't care even if we went as far as to re-designate the 
village Area C (i.e., total Israeli control). 

Unfortunately, it is dangerous for anybody in Beit Jala to go 
public with such a sentiment, so I couldn't convince him to 
come with me to make a joint public statement at a press 
conference. But the point is that they too are interested in 
the IDF moving in and taking control of the chaos - so what 
are we waiting for? 

(The writer, a resident of Gilo for 18 years, is a founder of 
the Residents Committee for a Safe Gilo.)