Har Homah will dominate US meeting

TODAY'S meeting in the White House between the Palestine Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, and President Clinton is expected to be dominated by the Israeli decision to build a new Jewish settlement.

Although the Washington meeting is seen as a reaffirmation of the legitimacy of Mr Arafat and his Authority, neither Palestinian nor Israeli commentators believe the US would intervene decisively to prevent construction.

For Palestinians, the Har Homah settlement has become a test of Israel's intentions. If it should go ahead, Palestinians predict Israel would not honour the rest of its treaty commitments. Har Homah is seen as a violation of the Oslo accords because it is a new settlement, not just an extension of an existing colony. It is the second such new settlement to be built by the Likud government the first is Kfar Oranim now being constructed near Ramallah.

Palestinians see Har Homah a an attempt to pre-empt final status negotiations on Jerusalem. The settlement has been conceived as another link in the chain of Israeli colonies enclosing Jerusalem, cutting the eastern Arab sector off from the Palestinian populated areas of the West Bank.

In spite of widespread Palestinian anger, Mr Arafat has, at Washington's behest, discouraged and indeed used his internal security apparatus to prevent, his people from mounting protest demonstrations which could erupt into violence.

This policy of restraint contrasts sharply with his call last September for protests at Israel's opening of a tunnel beside the mosque complex in Jerusalem. During four days of subsequent violence, 15 Israelis and at least 61 Palestinians were killed.

Mr Arafat goes into his White House meeting with little or no leverage over the US or Israel. A leading member of the Palestinian Legislative Council told The Irish Times that Mr Arafat's "autocratic style" has "deprived the Palestinians of the leverage afforded by a viable democratic opposition".

His domination of the Palestinian scene was confirmed last Thursday during a "national dialogue" meeting in Nabins. The gathering was attended by all but" one of the Palestinian factions, including the Islamist Hamas movement, the local leadership of which signed on to the peace process two weeks ago.

This meant that only Islamic Jihad and exiled Hamas activists have called upon Palestinians in thee territories to take action against Israel over Har Homah. But this was a threat with which Mr Arafat's security services can be expected to contend.

If Israeli redeployment from a still undefined area of the West Bank this week goes ahead now in doubt the action could defuse Palestinian anger over Hard Homah, at least temporarily. But, under pressure from his own right wing militants, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin, Netanyahn, has refused to make a clear commitment.