|
Jewish World Review / Oct. 21, 1998 /2 Mar-Cheshvan, 5759
Cal Thomas
A 'peace' agreement: Wye not?
WHEN THE ISRAELI DELEGATION arrived at Maryland's Wye
Plantation for "peace talks'' with Palestine Liberation
Organization leader Yasser Arafat and his friends in the
Clinton administration, it walked into a trap.
The relinquishing of an additional 13 percent of land to the
Palestinian Authority was thought to be in the bag. All that
needed to be negotiated were enough meaningless
statements by Arafat to address Israel's security concerns, and
the deal would be cut in time for a White House ceremony.
But in the wake of a grenade attack in southern Israel, the
Israeli delegation refused to discuss any topic but security.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, slandered as an
obstructionist by administration Arabists, is asking for no more
than his late predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin: cancellation of the
Palestinian Covenant calling for Israel's destruction and a
results-based war against terrorism. Arafat consistently refuses
to agree to such a deal. His advantages are many, including
an American administration that is largely on his side and the
"luxury'' he enjoys not having to respond to a democratic
constituency or a parliamentary form of government. Absent
an agreement on Israel's two primary concerns, any
"negotiations'' are meaningless.
Arafat intends to establish a Palestinian state by next May. He
also intends to use whatever land he has at that time as a base
from which he and his friends plan to topple the Jewish state
and evict all Jews from the land. Is there any proof to the
contrary? As Netanyahu said before leaving Israel, "An Arab
willingness to compromise 50 years ago could have prevented
all this suffering.'' They didn't compromise then, and, after
four wars and numerous terror attacks, it is clear that they
have no desire to do it now. Only Israel is being pressured to
compromise, which would be unilateral disarmament.
While leaders talked in Maryland, the true intentions of
Israel's enemies could be seen and heard back home. The
10th terrorist attack in the last few weeks occurred in
Beersheba. A man, identified by Israel as a Palestinian,
reportedly drove up in a BMW, tossed into a bus station two
grenades that wounded 60 people. No immediate action was
taken by the Palestinian Authority. According to an article in
the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv on Oct. 19, the PA also
continues to stockpile weapons, including Katyusha rockets
and rocket-propelled grenades, in violation of the Oslo
accords.
Palestinian television speaks not of peace but of war and
victory. The Palestinian Authority newspaper, called PMW,
says it is a "lie'' that "the PA media ha(ve) always defended
the peace process.'' Recent television clips support that view.
The PA media continue to incite against Israel, saying that
Israel's establishment was illegal and therefore void; that
death in battle fighting Israel is a desirable achievement; that
Israel must be fought and all of Palestine must be liberated
(that includes the anemic borders of 1948, too). In the PA
media Israelis are compared to the Nazis, and they are said to
be enemies of Mohammed and Islam and guilty for massacres
committed by others.
One TV clip designed for children depicts all of Israel as
Palestine and says, "They took everything in 1948.''
Martyrdom fighting Israel is shown as a Palestinian's highest
calling, and mothers appear thanking Allah that they were
able to give their sons in the cause of "liberation.'' Even PA
schoolbooks poison the minds of the next generation by
promoting war against and hatred of Jews. Are such teachings,
statements and broadcasts consistent with an attitude of
peace and plans to live in a neighborhood dedicated to
harmony and understanding?
In an Oct. 14 letter to Netanyahu, the National Religious
Party (NRP) said the government of Israel should have
"stopped long ago the destructive process of interim
withdrawals which have no value and (instead) insist on the
immediate opening of negotiations of a permanent
settlement.''
The NRP is right. If the PA and its friends in the Arab world
were serious about peace with Israel they would first change
their behavior, then their covenants and other belligerent
words. Then, perhaps, Israel would begin to feel that its
security and survival were protected. Not until then should
Israel give another inch. If that means war, Israel's next move
should be to prepare and to make sure it will win again, even
if the Palestinians would lose the land they already have,
along with the base they are building to wipe Israel off the
map. War and victory are better than surrender and
10/19/98: Vanity Fair snubs some of the greatest women 'leaders'
10/14/98:The mean machine
10/09/98: Impeachment: an outside perspective
10/07/98: The corruption of the Secret Service
10/02/98: Land erosion in Israel
10/01/98: The race panel: lies in black and white
9/18/98: The Clinton strategy and the Clinton legacy
9/18/98: Stopping him before he sins again
9/15/98: Repenting when the end is near
9/11/98: Faithfully executing: Congress vs. the President
9/10/98: The degrees of separation between Dan Burton and Bill Clinton
9/08/98: Joe Lieberman and the Democrats' conscience
9/04/98: Clinton vs. Reagan and the struggle for power
9/02/98: If only Bubba had been a Boy Scout
8/31/98: Liberal clergy and the Lewinsky affair
8/27/98: Combating the terrorists among us
8/25/98: The president as 'Chicken Little'
8/20/98: That was no apology
8/18/98: Big government's crab grab
8/14/98:Untruths, half-truths and anything but the
truth
8/12/98: Lying under oath: past and present impeachable offenses
8/10/98: Endangered species
8/04/98: In search of an unstained president
7/31/98: The UK is ahead of US in one area...
7/28/98: Murder near and far
7/21/98: Telling the truth about
homosexual behavior
7/17/98: One Nation? Indivisible?
7/14/98: Who cares about killing when the 'good times' are rolling?
7/10/98: George W. Bush: a different 'boomer'
7/08/98: My lunch with Roy Rogers
7/06/98: News unfit to print (or broadcast)
6/30/98: Smoke gets in their eyes
6/25/98: Sugar and Spice Girls
6/19/98: William Perry opposed
technology transfers to China
6/19/98: The Clinton hare vs.the Starr tortoise
6/17/98: The President's rocky road to China
6/15/98: Let the children go
6/9/98: Oregon: the new killing fields
6/5/98: Speaking plainly: the cover-up continues
6/2/98: Barry Goldwater: in our hearts
5/28/98:The Speaker's insightful remarks
5/26/98: As bad as it gets
5/25/98:Union dues and don'ts
5/21/98:
Connecting those Chinese campaign
contribution dots
5/19/98: Clinton on the couch
5/13/98:
John Ashcroft: another
Jimmy Carter?
5/8/98: Terms of dismemberment
5/5/98: Clinton's tangled Webb
4/30/98: Return of the Jedi
4/28/98: Desparately seeking Susan
4/23/98: RICO's threat to free-speech and expression
4/21/98: Educating children v. preserving an institution
4/19/98: Analyzing the birth of a possible new nation
4/14/98: What's fair about our tax system?
4/10/98: CBS: 'Touched by a perv'
4/8/98: Judge Wright's wrong reasoning on sexual harassment
4/2/98: How about helping American cities before African?
3/31/98:Revenge of the children
3/29/98: The Clinton strategy: delay, deceive, deny, and destroy
3/26/98: Moralist Gary Hart
3/23/98: CNN's century of (liberal) women
3/17/98: Dandy Dan
3/15/98: An imposed 'settlement' settles nothing
3/13/98: David Brock's Turnabout