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standing of Arab purposes, overlooked Arab violations of their commitments, and pursued withdrawals in spite of clear indications that the Arabs had no intention of honoring their engagements.There is no choice, then, but to revert to square one. All those who thought that the Palestinians were the heart of the conflict should rethink their concepts. While Saddam is indeed a cruel, ruthless, and bellicose leader for Israel and most of the rest of the civilized world, he symbolizes a great hope for the Palestinians and many other Arabs. Saddam's ability to break the UN and U.S. siege of sanctions in recent months is only a hint of what awaits the Middle East in the years to come. Therefore, it is premature at this point to talk about the peace that is to descend on Earth should the Israeli-Palestinian dispute be somehow resolved.
It is to be hoped that with a strong and firm Israel as a prospective partner, the Arabs eventually come to understand that short of a profound, indeed revolutionary revision of their traditional views about the Jews and Israel, and their acceptance of their Jewish rivals as their partners in peace, in full equality, they can only hurt themselves. Israel's slogan should be: "Only if you change will you receive, if you don't, you won't."
Raphael Israeli is professor of Islamic, Middle Eastern, and Chinese history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. This essay is adapted from a study published by the Ariel Center for Policy Research.
Americans, gasping in horror at the recent assault on our nation, ask in wonderment where these suicide terrorists come from. What hellish corner of the earth foments this hatred and incites young men to blow themselves up while murdering innocents? What sick society abets this? Since Hitler, we have not witnessed youth roused to such hysterical fanaticism.
We would do well to study the daily anti-Western, racist ranting of clerics, the indoctrination by so-called teachers, and the exhortations to martyrdom which have become standard fare among the Arabs of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. One has to hear the exultation of the local population, including, most inexplicably, the parents of the suicide bombers, each time a suicide terrorist wreaks havoc on innocent civilians. The blood chills when Arab parents celebrate the death of one child and pray that their other children will be part of the "struggle."
Much is properly made of the training camps in Afghanistan and the role of Syria and Iraq in training suicide bombers. Unfortunately, the same tactics among the Palestinian Arabs are dismissed as stemming from the "root" cause--namely, subjugation by Israel.
A rethinking is warranted. While the State Department continues to invoke "negotiations" between Israel and the PLO, it ignores the training of future suicide bombers in areas controlled by the "Palestinian Authority." If we continue to turn a blind eye, those areas will serve as easy recruiting grounds for more fanatic terrorists.
President George W. Bush has fortunately avoided the measured tones of our Secretary of State. In his speech to the nation on September 20, 2001, President Bush was unequivocal, resolute and tough. The President gave the states that harbor and encourage terrorists a decisive, unyielding ultimatum. What was even more striking was his mention of the terrorists' goal of driving Israel out of the Middle East, properly linking groups whose aim is the destruction of America with those who wish to obliterate Israel. Furthermore, several times he mentioned the terrorists' desire to kill and hurt Jews and Christians and fellow Arabs.This drew our attention for two reasons. One, with these words, Bush refused to submit to those nations that specifically asked for the omission of Israel from the strategic planning in an anti-terrorist coalition.
Second, it was in marked contrast to the exquisite avoidance of even the mention of Israel during the Gulf War by his father, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, and the despised James Baker. Last, it took the wind out of the sails of those in the State Department and chattering class who attempt to link the Israel-Arab struggle with the carnage in Manhattan and Washington. This President, in marked contrast to his predecessor, has never invited the archterrorist Arafat to the White House. (We ardently hope Israel does not open up that dreadful prospect by resurrecting from the dead the obscenely named "peace process.") Bush is determined to implement "homeland defense." Would that Ariel Sharon could follow that example instead of yielding to the political threats of the Israeli left.
May our President's mission succeed. May our nation prevail.
After months of urging "restraint" on Israel, our own nation has sadly confronted first hand the horror of the murder of innocent men, women and children by suicide-terrorists. In an article entitled "Israel Isn't the Issue" (Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2001) Norman Podhoretz delivers a lethal blow to commentators who would perversely link the disaster in America to the Israel-Arab conflict. Citing numerous examples from the Arab press and sermons, including those of
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September-October 2001 - 11 - Outpost