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Jewish World Review July 26, 1999 /13 Av, 5759

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Econophone

Barak's flawed prophesy

http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
"I am not a prophet,'' Israel's new prime minister, Ehud Barak, told an American TV interviewer who had asked whether "a true Palestinian state'' might soon emerge. But then Barak prophesied that in 15 months Israel would negotiate a peace deal with Syria and will have finalized agreements with the Yasser Arafat.

Officials in Barak's office quickly explained that 15 months is a working framework and not a firm commitment, but that's not how it sounds to the Clinton Administration. Officials calculate that in about 15 months there will be a presidential election ... perfect timing to help Al Gore win the presidency (should he be the nominee), ensure a Clinton legacy and cast Clinton in the role of messiah when, in fact, he will resemble Neville Chamberlain.

President Clinton already is throwing money around, promising new long-term aid to Israel and her adversaries. But he is not Bob Barker and this is not "The Price Is Right.''

As always in the Middle East, reality trumps hope. Through the United Nations and the Geneva Convention, much of the world continues seeking to force Israel to yield up so much land that its very existence will be imperiled. And the Arab press continues to reveal the true intentions of Israel's enemies, which are ignored at Israel's peril.

Writing in Al-Ahram Weekly last week, Abdelwahab Elmessiri, professor emeritus in philosophy at Ain Shams University, said: "The Jews form an organic people (a Volk) that is organically attached to Palestine, and therefore does not belong to Western civilization. To transform this parasitic people ... it should be transferred ... outside Europe (Palestine eventually became the targeted area, on account of its strategic importance to the West). The pariah Volk would then be settled there, replacing the indigenous population (that should be either exterminated or expelled). Jewish Volk would achieve through Western imperialist formation what it failed to achieve through the Western cultural formation.''

By this reasoning. Palestine is a country that belonged to Palestinians until it was invaded and usurped by the Jews. Jerusalem was the Palestinian capital but is now being Judaized by Israel. Under such a historically fraudulent scenario, the only right and just thing for Israel to do is "return'' land to its proper owners, the Palestinians.

Add to this bad history an even worse moral reasoning. An Israeli with whom I recently spoke told me of her longing for peace: "I have one son in the ¡rmy and another one going soon,'' she said, ` and I want there to be peace.` She said she didn't care whether Israel gave up land or not to get that peace. "We are so tired of war,` she told me. And how much land did she think would be necessary to achieve this peace? Would 1948 borders suffice?, "Oh, no, not that much,` she replied.

"How would you know how much land would be enough?'' I asked. She wasn't sure.

"Don't you believe what your enemies say in their press and in their mosques and to their own people about wanting all the land and being satisfied with nothing less?'' I asked.

"Oh, I don't believe any of that,'' she naively replied. She is the type of person the State Department Arabists and Israel's other enemies are counting on to seal any "peace deal.'' What it will seal, of course, is Israel's fate. People who refuse to understand the mind of clerical extremists can't comprehend a people who believe Allah has selected them for a mission to exterminate all "infidels'' by any means necessary and that if signing agreements with those infidels causes them to lower their guard so they might better achieve that divine mandate, so be it.

It doesn't take a prophet to see what will happen if Israel relinquishes more land without iron-clad guarantees and reciprocity the world has yet to see from the Palestinian Authority. All it takes is a knowledge of history, a reading of the Arab press, an understanding of human nature and just a little theological training. Most prophets would comprehend such things.

So should Israel's prime minister.


Up

07/23/99: George W. Bush Sends A Signal
07/16/99: Hillary's drop-in candidacy
07/13/99: Sen. Bob Smith's revolt
07/09/99: Clinton has wrong answers on poverty tour
07/07/99: To tell the truth
06/29/99: A family to value
06/25/99: Remembering Eric Liddell
06/21/99: In the culture wars it's G-d vs. guns
06/18/99: Unequal justice under a bad law
06/15/99: Speaker Hastert wants reinforcements
06/11/99: Clues for the clueless
06/09/99: Victory? What victory?
06/07/99: Too good for prime time
06/03/99:The Creator and Commencement
05/28/99: The Cox Committee Report
05/26/99: 'A turning point for our country'
05/24/99: Barak is not Israel's savior
05/19/99: It takes a leader
05/17/99: Questions for Gov. Bush and the others
05/12/99: OAF-ish behavior explains U.S. mistakes
05/07/99: Israel's high-stakes election
05/04/99: Jeb Bush chooses to save kids, not institutions
04/26/99: Surrendering our civilization
04/26/99: War abroad, war at home

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