In ‘Message to Baker,’ Arab Kills 4 Israelis

A lone Palestinian fatally stabbed four Israeli women at a suburban bus stop Sunday, and police said he meant it as a “message” to Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who is scheduled to visit Israel today on a mission to advance Israeli-Arab peace.

The slayings darkened the atmosphere of uneasy anticipation surrounding Baker’s visit. In recent days, the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has stiffened its resolve to resist expected pressure from Washington to give up occupied land to Palestinians.

Palestinian leaders have expressed deep mistrust of the Bush Administration but hope, nonetheless, that Baker might meet with them, hear their views and bestow a measure of recognition to the cause of statehood for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“I think this stabbing shows how difficult it is to reach an agreement with such people who are capable of killing women and children,” said Shamir spokesman Avi Pazner. “This is a disgusting act committed by a Palestinian terrorist.”

Palestinian leader Faisal Husseini, who expressed eagerness to meet with Baker, tried to balance the stabbings against Israeli suppression of the Arab uprising, or intifada. “We are witnessing the expression of sickness in society and the destruction of human values in both communities,” he said. “All sincere people should work to push forward the peace process in order to get out of this cycle of violence.”

Husseini said the question of a meeting should not be governed by the current climate. “I don’t see any connection at all. The man who did the knifing does not represent the Palestinian people.”

The assailant was identified as Mohammed abu Galla, a 26-year-old male nurse and resident of the Gaza Strip, where police wounded more than 50 protesters in weekend unrest. He carried a pair of butcher knives so that if one broke he could use the other, police said.

Three of the victims were 57, 32 and 20 years old. The age of the other woman was not immediately known. A young girl broke her leg running away in fright. The suspect was wounded in the neck, trunk and leg by a passing policeman who captured him.

“All he said at the hospital was, ‘This is a message for Baker,’ ” explained Police Inspector General Yaacov Turner, who ordered beefed-up patrols overnight.

Enraged bystanders hurled stones at passing Palestinian cars and shouted for revenge. “Go home, Baker, you are responsible for the murder of Jews!” one onlooker shouted to reporters.

Tension has been building in Jerusalem as Baker’s visit approached. Palestinian youths blocked roads in Arab neighborhoods of the city and threw rocks at police and border patrolmen. Underground leaders encouraged the protests hoping to raise the profile of the 40-month-old Arab uprising, Palestinian activists said.

Last week, a student at a militant nationalist Jewish seminary was stabbed to death in Jerusalem’s Old City. Colleagues of the victim took over Arab-owned buildings and stoned Palestinian cars on a city street.

Stabbings by Palestinians became a significant feature of the intifada after the deaths of 20 Palestinians at Al Aqsa Mosque by policemen last October. Thirteen Israelis have been stabbed to death since then.

Baker, who is scheduled to visit the Old City today, will be protected by a phalanx of police and security agents. Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza will be barred from entering Jerusalem.

Moshe Friedman, Jerusalem’s deputy police commander, predicted that both Arabs and nationalist Israelis would attempt to disrupt the visit. “Our estimate is that extremist elements will try to whip up tempers and there could be disturbances,” he said.

Leaders on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were preparing to deal with possible peace proposals from Baker.

The Shamir government is expected to renew an offer to hold Arab elections on the occupied land while insisting on its claim to the territory. Shamir also wants Washington to persuade Arab states to make unconditional peace with Israel.

The government was stung by President Bush’s recent declaration in favor of a land-for-peace formula that would compel Israel to give up some or all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. After a restrained initial reaction to Bush’s speech, which was made to Congress, Israeli officials took the weekend offensive.

“What more is the world asking? That we become a sliver of land? That we stand on the head of a pin?” asked Deputy Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in televised comments.

The government also turned aside suggestions Sunday that it give up the Golan Heights to Syria in return for peace with the traditionally hostile neighbor. “The Golan Heights is under Israeli sovereignty. It is not a subject for negotiations,” said Economics Minister David Magen after the week’s regular Cabinet meeting.

Israel occupied the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza after turning back an invasion of Arab armies in 1967. In 1981, Israel annexed the strategic heights, which overlook northwestern portions of the country, but has stopped short of formally annexing the West Bank and Gaza, home to 1.7 million Palestinians.

The right-wing Shamir government is aggressively pursuing a policy of settlement in the West Bank and Gaza to increase the territories’ Israeli population, estimated at about 100,000. Opposition members of Parliament produced documents last week that detailed plans for construction of houses to shelter another 88,000 settlers.

Washington opposes the settlements on the grounds that they make territorial compromise difficult, and the issue is expected to be raised by Baker.

Palestinians, meanwhile, are reeling from the battlefield defeat of their hero, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait was supported by the Palestine Liberation Organization.

With Hussein’s defeat, many Palestinians took a rejectionist stand and pledged to have no dealings with the United States. However, because Bush’s land-for-peace remarks appeared to hold out the promise of an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza, hostility quickly softened.

After the speech, Palestinians say, the PLO gave permission to a delegation led by Husseini to meet with Baker, if invited. Husseini is considered a prime public contact for the PLO.

Although Baker has indicated a willingness to meet with Palestinians in Jerusalem, no meeting has been set, Palestinians say. If the talks take place, the Palestinians are expected to express agreement with Bush’s land-for-peace formula but also to ask for pressure on Israel to give in.