An attack on peace

TWO OF the six victims in Thursday night's assault on the Karni crossing point between Israel and Gaza were Munam Abu Sabia and Ibrahim Kahili -- Israeli Arab truck drivers who were killed while trying to earn a living. The fate of those two truck drivers is emblematic of the irrationality of the Karni attack and the attackers.

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The suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation is only prolonged and made worse by the attempt of three armed factions to send a message written in blood. The Islamist movement Hamas, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and the Popular Resistance Committees issued a statement declaring that the Karni attack "affirms the consensus of the resistance factions on the choice of jihad."

This is a message directed not only to Israel in response to the killing of 9 Palestinians last week but also to the newly elected Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who has denounced the tactics of the armed groups.

The groups behind the attack were refusing to acknowledge any peacemaking mandate that Abbas may claim from the Palestinian electorate. Abbas has made it clear he wants to fuse Yasser Arafat's 12 disparate security services into three bodies commanded by people who share his view of the need to obtain a cease-fire with Israel and who will be loyal to their elected president.

Indirectly, violently, the perpetrators of the Karni assault were stating their refusal to take orders from reorganized Palestinian security services. This is particularly so if those services come under the command of someone such as Mohammed Dahlan, a tough former security boss in Gaza who makes no secret of his readiness to crack down on extremists.

When the three self-described resistance factions trumpet their "consensus" on the continuation of jihad, they are saying they will not be affected by vote tallies or the niceties of majority rule. At best, their resort to violence is a miisguided way of negotiating with Abbas over the terms of a cease-fire and the staffing of Palestinian security services. They want to retain their weapons and rocket factories in the event of a truce with Israel, and they also want some of their own people integrated into the new security forces.

At worst, the Karni attack foreshadows a tragic stalemate between Abbas and the armed factions. In this scenario, they will go on trying to sabotage Abbas's wise strategy of clamping down on violence and demanding that Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon enter negotiations leading to peaceful coexistence between Israel and an independent, viable Palestinian state.

It is in Israel's interest to help Abbas by refraining as much as possible from military retaliation and collective punishment of Palestinian society. Abbas embodies a precious chance for Mideast peace that neither people can afford to miss.