Cal Thomas
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
PUT SIMPLY, the recent agreement signed by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak, and witnessed by Egypt's president and America's secretary of state, is
a piece of theater designed to mask the true intention of Israel's enemies: complete
domination of all the land they continue to regard as Palestine. Such an objective remains in
their language, in the sermons of their clergy, in their television news, in classroom instruction
aimed at creating a new generation of Jew haters and in their hearts.
Israel's enemies can be likened to a wild animal. The flaw in Western thinking has always been that such a beast will be satisfied with a small piece of meat and will not want the rest. In fact, the animal will continue to demand more and threaten you if you don't give it to him. Finally, when you refuse to give any more, he will forcibly take the rest and then eat you.
There is a cycle in the Middle East, of which the scenario in Sharm El Sheik is a part. Middle East commentator Clarence Wagner Jr. of the organization Bridges for Peace describes it this way: (1) The Arabs make great peace overtures that get Israel and the West excited; (2) Israel and the Arabs negotiate an accord that promises certain concessions from the Arabs in exchange for land given to them by Israel; (3) Israel gives them land, but the Arabs do not reciprocate; (4) the peace process stalls; (5) Israel is blamed; (6) the West pressures Israel to get on with the process; (7) efforts to "jump start'' the process are made by Israel with input from the West; (8) jothing happens, the Israeli leader is ousted in elections and his successor promises to do better; (9) go back to (1) and begin again, which is where Barak is.
Palestinian negotiators promise minuscule things in exchange for the land that Israel pledges to give them. Who thinks Arafat is more likely to live up to these promises than previous ones he has consistently broken? Within hours after the signing ceremony, car bombs in Haifa and Tiberias exploded in what appeared to be a terrorist attack gone awry. Three people, apparently the perpetrators, were killed. An Arafat spokesman predictably denied responsibility, but Hamas and the terrorism network won't be stopped by ink stains dried upon some line.
While PLO negotiators claim to want peace, they are making preparations for war. According to an Israeli military spokesman, a new tunnel has recently been discovered running between the Palestinian and Egyptian sections of the Gazan border town of Rafiah (there are many other tunnels in territory relinquished by Israel). Inside the tunnel authorities discovered digging tools, ropes and other devices. Israeli military officials believe terror organizations are using the tunnels to bring arms, explosives and other dangerous items into the autonomous areas. Israel says all of the tunnels started from the Palestinian side.
Why would a people supposedly desiring peaceful coexistence with Israel be engaged in activities one could properly discern as war-like? This is precisely what the Japanese did to the United States in 1941. They talked peace while preparing to bomb Pearl Harbor.
Under the latest agreement, which affirms the Wye River accord the Clinton administration pressured then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign, Israel, in addition to the land installment plan, will also: (1) hand over more than 350 prisoners, many of them involved in violence; (2) open a southern safe-passage route between Gaza and the West Bank, connecting the Palestinian territories; (3) allow construction of a commercial seaport in Gaza.
The seaport will be useful to the Palestinians for importing arms for the coming all-out war against what remains of the Jewish state.
Look for the Palestinians to make only token gestures in living up to their minimal promises. Once the latest land grab is finished, watch for Arafat to demand more land and, when he doesn't get it, the West will put new pressure on Israel to give it to him. The beast won't be satisfied until he has it all, including all of Jerusalem.
On May 15, 1965, Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser declared: "Our aim is ... the creation of a unified and contiguous Arab region from which Israel will be eliminated.''
There is no reason to believe this objective has been abandoned. Thereis reason
to believe that the latest "peace'' accord will assist Israel's enemies in reaching
