More on Robert Dreyfuss’s piece on Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton. Earlier we focused on the Dayton’s “sell-by date” for the two-state solution. The question we ignored is what does Dayton know about peace in Israel/Palestine in the first place?
Dreyfuss plays both sides of this story, including Dayton’s observations and predictions about the region, while also adding a bit of context about how his work is perceived. Dreyfuss explains:
From the detailed description provided by Dayton, it’s clear that the Palestinian forces he’s enabling could certainly be accused of carrying out the self-policing of the West Bank for the Israelis. Because the West Bank is, after all, occupied by Israel and riddled with illegal settlements besides — plus beset by a surrounding wall, 600-plus intrusive checkpoints, and a network of Jews-only highways — the Palestinian troops are utterly at the mercy of the Israelis. Each recruit is vetted by US security forces (i.e, the CIA), then vetted by Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence arm of Israel, and then by Jordan’s super-efficient intelligence service, before they begin their training in Jordan. Dayton made it quite clear that the Palestinian units thus trained are primarily deployed against two targets in the West Bank: against criminal gangs, and against Hamas.
So far, they’ve received $161 million is US funding.
At this point it would seem the purpose of the Dayton force was clear. The Dayton project, which is aimed at weakening the democratically-elected Hamas government and strengthening Fatah, seems similar to the 1980s strategy of funding and training the Nicaraguan Contras as a proxy force against the Sandinistas. It should come as no surprise that some of the same figures behind that plan, are behind this one as well. And while Dreyfuss’s reporting is admirable in describing the obstacles to any effective Palestinian governance under occupation, it is unfortunately not critical enough when it comes to the US interest in Israel/Palestine, or the realities of Dayton’s military force. One example of this is when the article doesn’t challenge one of Dayton’s claims which is put forth as a sign of progress. Dreyfuss reports:
Dayton described how, during the Israeli assault on Gaza last December
and January, the West Bank remained quiet — even though some analysts
were predicting an upsurge of sympathy for Hamas, which controls Gaza,
along with violence, even a third intifada. “None of these predictions
came true,” said the general, who added that the Palestinian battalions
allowed peaceful demonstrations of solidarity with Hamas, but kept the
lid on violent actions.
This is simply not true. Amira Hass reported on these forces violently supressed protests in Ramallah against the war saying “Ramallah residents were shocked on Friday when a
protest against the Israeli offensive in Gaza was forcibly dispersed by
Palestinian Authority security forces using tear gas and clubs.” An even more damning account appeared on the Indymedia Ireland under the title “Quisling Palestinian Authority facilitates Israeli blood bath in Gaza,” which tells stories of these armed militias suppressing the work of Palestinians human rights organizations and imposing their political agenda. As for Dayton’s role, it is summed up in Hass’s article: “‘Welcome to Dayton country,’ a teary-eyed female
Palestinian protester shouted, referring to U.S. General Keith Dayton
who trained the PA security forces that dispersed the crowd.”
The story here is not Dayton’s urgent predictions for peace, but what he, and US policy, are doing to prevent any peace from being possible. Rather than encouraging Palestinian reconciliation and unity, a widely recognized prerequisite for an effective negotiating stance, the US is helping to further splinter and manipulate the Palestinian public and Dayton’s militias are a central tool in this effort.
During the 1980s, the liberal and progressive media in the US were critical of their government’s funding and training of the Nicaraguan Contras as their human rights abuses and anti-democratic nature came to light. We need the same vigilance now.
