They had no right to appoint their own defence lawyers, no time to prepare a defence or call witnesses and no right of appeal. But these are minor details. The absence of executions since that time was an encouraging sign that Arafat was ready to mitigate the worst of his human rights abuses in response to criticism. This morning's events shatter that illusion. Accusations, trials, legal procedures and punishments are one issue, the other is the nature of the charges.
Collaboration is the most serious crime it is possible to commit under military occupation.
Accused collaborators have often been dealt with harshly, for example in Nazi-occupied Europe. Perhaps I am asking the wrong questions. The executions in Gaza and Nablus did not have the mark of a search for justice, but were political in the worst sense of the word. Arafat, his popularity temporarily shored up by the sacrifices of others, perhaps wants to cast himself as the leader of the intifada rather than the bedraggled follower he is, and sacrificed these two men to the critics who believe he has not been tough enough. Usually, whenever Arafat takes these sorts of measures, they are followed by the most breathtaking and shocking concessions and climbdowns.