savethehumans.com
Shock therapy for planet Earth.
Back to: home last page

Arafat is Not the Problem

Printable Version

by Jason Roth

We have seen the results of a controlled experiment. Arafat, confined to the de facto jail cell of his office in Ramallah, is nearly cut-off completely from the outside world. The maximum military pressure is on the man supposedly responsible for Palestinian terrorism. Yet the suicide bombings continue.

The situation suggests a question: Is Arafat the problem? At one time, before all the broken promises, Arafat may have been the problem. But as the saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." No longer is Arafat the problem. The problem, now, is Israel's moral paralysis. Secondarily, in an act of contributory negligence, the problem is the western world's moral cowardice to support Israel in their own self-defense.

Israel can no longer wait for terrorists to solve their terrorism problems. It is clear to any thinking person that there is nowhere else for Israel to go. They have surrounded Arafat, are monitoring all or nearly all communications coming from his office, and are preventing him from even scratching his ass without everyone in the Israeli government knowing about it.

The terrorists tell us the truth if we care to listen. As when Iran refused to join the American-led coalition against terrorism, the terrorist group Hezbollah declared its opposition to the Saudi peace plan at last week's Arab summit in Beirut. Hezbollah has vowed attacks on Israel, even if Israel were to leave occupied Palestinian territories. Does anyone still think that "land for peace" will stop people who want to blow themselves up? Is it land that suicide bombers want?

Israel's choice is clear: self-preservation or self-destruction. If they choose self-preservation, they must do more than lock Arafat in his office and turn his electricity off and on again. They must do more than knock a few walls down with a few tanks. They must occupy all Palestinian territory.

Temporarily, if not permanently, Israel must turn every square meter of Palestinian dirt into an Israeli police state. They must make the arrests that Arafat never did and arrest or kill the terrorists whom Arafat has perpetually released. Imprisoning Arafat, killing him, or simply removing him from power will not end the terrorism. It will be necessary, but not sufficient.

Like the United States has done in Afghanistan, Israel must go after terrorists in a regime that has chosen to support and engage in terrorism. The United States government asked the Taliban once to expel the Al-Qaeda terrorists from their territory, then promptly took unilateral action when the Taliban refused. Israel has asked Arafat repeatedly to end the terrorism, and he has failed. Israel must now act.

There is no need to argue whether Arafat tried or will try to stop the terrorism. The United States did not ask Taliban rulers to "try" to capture Al-Qaeda members. Good intentions, if anyone believes the Taliban or Arafat might have them, are not going to keep American skyscrapers standing or allow Israeli citizens to shop at supermarkets or celebrate religious holidays without getting blown the fuck up.

Israel must act.

As Prime Minister Sharon has said, Israel is in a war for survival. But a U.S.-endorsed U.N. resolution calls for Israel to withdraw troops from Ramallah and other Palestinian cities. The U.N., and the members of the U.S. government who endorse it, do not support a war against terrorism. It is clear who in the U.S. government speaks for the U.N. It is not President Bush.

On Saturday, President Bush defended the Israeli occupation of Ramallah: "I can understand why the Israeli government takes the actions they take. Their country is under attack."

Bush's statement is in direct contradiction with the faction of the U.S. government that endorsed the U.N. resolution. It is clear that there is dissention within the Bush administration.

Bush needs to end the dissention at once. He needs to lead. He needs to tell the world that the war against terrorism is not an isolated battle in which America is engaged for the mere expediency of the moment. The war against terrorism, if it is to be a winnable war, must be fought by all free countries, against all terrorist regimes.

How long will the free world continue to entrust the task of eliminating terrorism to a man absent of the power and will to do it?

Back to: home last page