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are not responsible for the abject failure of Israel's government to protect its people. The case of Salim Sarsour, murderer of Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, is an example. Arrested several times and briefly imprisoned between 1989-96, Sarsour joined Hamas after killing Ra'anan August 20 and apparently was responsible for the grenade attacks in Hebron September 30 and October 19 in Beersheba. The IDF and GSS knew of his activities, but yielded oversight to the PA which, of course, averted its gaze. These kinds of situations will increase exponentially after the next withdrawals.
The result of Israel sharing "security" with Palestinians is not only spectacular bombings with dozens of victims and gruesome murders of innocents, but incidents like that on the night of October 16 near a town in the Benjamin district of Samaria. As often happens, Arabs at the roadside were shining floodlights at oncoming Israeli cars. When the drivers slow down they are stoned. That night, two Israeli security guards sought
"Jews are supposedly famous for intelligence. How can some of their leaders be so stupid?"
The Palestinians, the UN, and our own State Department say such violence is the fault of the Jews, who are 'imperialists' in Israel. But Imam Dr. Abdul H. Palazzi, President of the Muslim Association of Italy, tersely states, "the PLO are criminals and thieves." The main impediment to peaceful relations between Arabs and Israel, he writes, are "Arab leaders who use a distorted view of Islam as a political tool. Sadly, most Arabs believe their poisonous propaganda." Distilling the poison, Mr. Clinton pushes Israel to oversee a process that virtually compels Jews to leave the heartland for the coastal plain. As Jabril Rajoub succinctly put it, "if Jews want to be safe they should move to Tel Aviv." So long as the rationale for "security" is to avoid provoking the Arabs and thus jeopardize the "peace process," logic dictates that all Jews in Israel decamp for Long Island. As Reuters gloated, "Israel is now locked into peace," the iron maiden of Oslo's deadly nuptials.
The notion that Palestinian attacks on Jews are the product of a few "terrorist cells" is a fraud. As Rajoub's comments above indicate, the entire PA "security" force is a terrorist army. Early in October, Mohammed Dahlan, head of PA "Internal Security," announced that he was inducting dozens of members of Hamas into his police. An October 19 report revealed that the Palestinians have factories in Judea where they build rocket launchers to attack Israel. Two Jewish teenagers recently were shot to death while swimming in a stream west of the "green line," the pre-1967 Israel that supposedly will remain Jewish after Judea and Samaria are ceded to Arafat. PA media and officials regularly announce that all "Palestine" will be "liberated." Now Mr. Netanyahu presents the Knesset with more pledges of Arab compliance, even though it is clear that further withdrawals hasten a war under conditions appealing to Syria, Egypt and Iraq.
Imam Palazzi is amazed that "Israelis think they can achieve peace by giving the murderer Arafat a State and an army. This is insane," he wrote early in September. "Jews are supposedly famous for intelligence. How can some of their leaders be so stupid?" So another stereotype bites the dust as the antics of Jews without brains, faith, or courage leave a very bitter taste, not unlike blood.
There is little sign that Israel's rulers have learned (or care to learn) from the post-war failures of 1967 and 1973, the self-lacerating surrender at Camp David, the betrayal of Oslo, the riots of September 1996, or the Hebron fiasco of January 1997 with its worthless "Note for the Record." Until Wye, Israel retained the exclusive formal right to decide the scope of any further withdrawal. Having failed to publicize, reiterate, and insist on that prerogative Netanyahu now has given it away. Henceforth, a PA-Israeli Committee will design further Israeli retreats. It requires little thought to foresee the Palestinian complaints, happily amplified by the media, that will keep the pressure on Israel to cease its "intransigence" and get on with the business of self-dismemberment.
What might otherwise have been done? This is the re-established Israel's Jubilee year. Much noise, time, and expense have gone to promoting and funding an influx of tourism and special events. These hopes are now ebbing like the sea of faith from leaders and a nation in which too many ignore or scorn their heritage. The Jubilee mandated in the Torah requires that every 50th year, all land in Israel be returned to the head of each Jewish family. A serious, self-respecting Israeli government would have spent the last decade preparing for this long-awaited restoration of deeds. Had that been done, the maps being prepared now would be for Jewish reclamation of family land instead of for its alienation. Should Israel ever have another opportunity to do
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Outpost - 4 - November 1998