Posted on 01/07/2005 5:29:11 AM PST by SJackson
Has no one learned anything?
On Sept. 13, 1993, I was on the White House lawn watching the signing of the Oslo accords. I also watched the intellectual collapse of the entire Middle East intelligentsia — journalists, politicians, "experts" — as they swooned at the famous handshake between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin and refused, that day and for years to come, to recognize what was obvious: that Arafat was embarking not on peace but on the next stage of his perpetual war against Israel, this one to be launched far more advantageously from a base of Palestinian territory that Israel had just suicidally granted him.
Why was this so obvious? Because Arafat said so — that very night (in an Arabic broadcast to his own people on Jordanian television) and many times afterward. The Middle East experts refused to believe it. They did not want to hear it. Then came the intifada. Thousands of dead later, they now believe it. The more honest ones among them even admit they were wrong.
Now Arafat is dead, Mahmoud Abbas is poised to succeed him and the world is swooning again. Abbas, we are told, is the great hope, the moderate, the opponent of violence, the man who has said the intifada was counterproductive.
The peacemaker cometh. Once again, euphoria is in the air. Once again, no one wants to listen to what is being said.
Elections for the new Palestinian leader are on Sunday. Conveniently, this being a Palestinian election, we already know the winner. How has President-to-be Abbas been campaigning?
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Mahmoud Abbas is a clean-shaven terrorist wearing tailored Italian suits. Nothing in his past leads one to believe he would take the PLO away from its terrorist policies and pledge to destroy Israel. And Israeli leaders are looking to symbols instead of substance. You would think after the Oslo bloodbath of the past decade they learned something. Judge Abbas by what he does, not just by what he says. So far his embrace of fellow terrorists is not a promising sign.
Let's face it. If you believe in what the Bible relates you must accept that there will NEVER be peace in the Middle East (Jerusalem) until the final Apocalypse. No matter what anyone does or doesn't do, including the Jews, the Moslems, the Christians, or anyone else. Everything we all do from here on out is a holding action until the day of the big blowout.
And it will be instigated by the absolutely insane "children of Ishmael", that is, the Moslems, who are destined to be the mad bombers of this world!
The current state of affairs is what happens when the foolishness of 'personality politics' is given full sway.
This absurd horseshirt began with Jimmy Carter, who thought he could personally bring peace to the Middle East by injecting himself into negotiations between Israel and the Arab states, and by bringing Sadat and Begin to Camp David, and having that cute 3-way handshake with the 3 flags (U.S., Israel, Egypt) flying behind them, that it wouldn't be long until all the ME states were holding hands and singing Kumbaya.
Far from it. Egypt became a pariah for a number of years to other Arab states due to the peace treaty it signed with Israel, and although the treaty has remained after the death of Sadat, Begin and Carter (oops, Carter's still alive, my bad), the fact is, very little was gained politically for either Israel, Egypt and the United States (Israel is still the target of Islamofascist terrorists, Egypt is barely on speaking terms with Israel (read a sample of Egypt's state-run media to get an idea why), and the United States is still viewed as the Great Satan by many Arabs.
Fast forward to Emperor Billigula and his shameless brown nosing of the terrorist Arafat, and his strong arming of Barak in an attempt to build HIS legacy as a Middle East 'peacemaker'. History has already rendered it's judgment on the failed Clinton initiative. Arafat continued to wage his incremental war of attrition against Israel via homicide bombers, with the encouragement of people like (drum roll) Saddam Hussein, Barak went down to political defeat, and Clinton ended up with a legacy he didn't want (but justly deserved), and the U.S. position in the Middle East was eroded further by the failure to respond to terrorist acts committed against us.
Rather than have presidents fall into the trap of thinking that due to their own brilliance, that THEY personally can bring peace to the Middle East, they should appoint a savvy and well respected negotiator/diplomat, spell out what they are and are NOT authorized to negotiate on behalf of the U.S., ditto for Israel, the Palestinians and any Arab power interested in legitimately making peace with Israel, and you have those three (or more) non-descript, non-headline grabbing personalities sit down and start talking. IF they are able to reach agreement, those agreements are then sent to the respective governments for THEIR approval. Once everyone is in agreement, the treaty or agreements are signed, and when the ink is actually dry, THAT is when the heads of state come out, smile for the cameras, sign a *ceremonial* document to mark the occasion, and that is how you successfully negotiate something between hostile entities: WITHOUT injecting the leaders (and their egos). That isn't to say that a president, prime minister or other political leader can't have involvement in such negotiations, but if and when they do get involved prior to the final agreement, they need to be kept low-profile, out of the public eye, and all parties have to understand that they have to keep their mouths shut about it.
The failure to engage such a process (non-personality driven) is why we have had nothing but failures, and why there is a perpetual state of warfare in the Middle East.
Just my .02, your mileage may vary.
I don't know about the Apocalypse but I do agree. The PA teaches nothing but hate to each succeeding generation, hate the Jews, hate the Americans. It saves them the trouble of actually running a government. I don't see any solution until the Palestinians realize they will get much better treatment from the Israelis than they ever will from their own leaders and their Arab 'brethren'.
Nope, I doubt that they've learned anything at all. They still haven't learned the lessons of 1938!
I hope Bush can withstand the pressure to negotiate until Abbas and the Palestinians have proven for a substantial period of time that they have given up terrorism. I think Bush's refusal to negotiate with the Palestinians (Arafat)in his first four years was very effective.
related topic:
Abu Mazen / Mustafa Barghouti billboards defaced [pic]
Yahoo ^ | 1-6-05 | Murad Sezer
Posted on 01/07/2005 9:43:19 AM PST by OXENinFLA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1316122/posts
oops, earlier version:
Charles Krauthammer: Arafat's Heir
The Washington Post ^ | January 7, 2005 | Charles Krauthammer
Posted on 01/06/2005 9:18:51 PM PST by quidnunc
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315767/posts
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