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Enough
Jerusalem Post ^ | 9-11-03 | Editorial staff

Posted on 9/11/2003, 1:29:47 PM by veronica

The world will not help us; we must help ourselves. We must kill as many of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders as possible, as quickly possible, while minimizing collateral damage, but not letting that damage stop us. And we must kill Yasser Arafat, because the world leaves us no alternative.

No one seriously argues with the fact that Arafat was preventing Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister he appointed, from combating terrorism, to the extent that was willing to do so. Almost no one seriously disputes that Abbas on whom Israel, the US, and Europe had placed all their bets failed primarily because Arafat retained control of much of the security apparatus, and that Arafat wanted him to fail.

The new prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, clearly will fare no better, since he, if anything, has been trying to garner more power for Arafat, not less. Under these circumstances, the idea of exiling Arafat is gaining currency, but the standard objection is that he will be as much or more of a problem when free to travel the world than he is locked up in Ramallah.

If only three countries Britain, France, and Germany joined the US in a total boycott of Arafat this would not be the case. If these countries did not speak with Arafat, it would not matter much who did, and however much a local Palestinian leader would claim to consult with Arafat, his power would be gone.

But such a boycott will not happen. Only now, after more than 800 Israelis have died in three years of suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks, has Europe finally decided that Hamas is a terrorist organization. How much longer will it take before it cuts off Arafat? Yet Israel cannot accept a situation in which Arafat blocks any Palestinian break with terrorism, whether from here or in exile. Therefore, we are at another point in our history at which the diplomatic risks of defending ourselves are exceeded by the risks of not doing so.

Such was the case in the Six Day War, when Israel was forced to launch a preemptive attack or accept destruction. And when Menachem Begin decided to bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. And when Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield in Palestinian cities after the Passover Massacre of 2002. In each case, Israel tried every fashion of restraint, every plea to the international community to take action that would avoid the need for "extreme" measures, all to no avail. When the breaking point arrives, there is no point in taking half-measures. If we are going to be condemned in any case, we might as well do it right.

Arafat's death at Israel's hands would not radicalize Arab opposition to Israel; just the opposite. The current jihad against us is being fueled by the perception that Israel is blocked from taking decisive action to defend itself.

Arafat's survival and power are a test of the proposition that it is possible to pursue a cause through terror and not have that cause rejected by the international community. Killing Arafat, more than any other act, would demonstrate that the tool of terror is unacceptable, even against Israel, even in the name of a Palestinian state. Arafat does not just stand for terror, he stands for the refusal to make peace with Israel under any circumstances and within any borders.

In this respect, there is no distinction, beyond the tactical, between him and Hamas. Europe's refusal to utterly reject him condemns Palestinians, no less than Israelis, to endless war and dooms the possibility of the two-state solution the world claims to seek.

While the prospect of a Palestinian power vacuum is feared by some, the worst of all worlds is what exists now: Terrorists attack Israel at will under the umbrella of legitimacy provided by Arafat. Hamas would not be able to fill a post-Arafat vacuum; on the contrary, Hamas would lose the cover it has today.

A word must be said here about the most common claim made by those who would not isolate Arafat, let alone kill him: that he is the elected leader of the Palestinian people. Even if Arafat was chosen in a truly free election (when does his term end?), which we would dispute, this does not close the question of his legitimacy.

Whom the Palestinians choose to lead them is none of our business, provided it is a free choice, and provided they do not opt for leaders who choose terror and aggression. So long as the Palestinians choose such a leadership, it should be held no more immune to counterattack by Israel than the Taliban and Saddam Hussein were by the United States.

We complain that a double standard is applied to us, and it is. But we cannot complain when we apply that double standard to ourselves. Arafat's survival, under our watchful eyes, is living testimony to our tolerance of that double standard. If we want another standard to be applied, we must begin by applying it ourselves.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; Philosophy; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: arafat; hamas; islamicjihad; israel; palestinians; terrorism
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1 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:29:53 PM by veronica
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To: dennisw; SJackson; BenF; Nachum; Catspaw; Alouette; Brian Allen; quidnunc; MadIvan; Thinkin' Gal
FYI.
2 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:31:15 PM by veronica (http://www.majorityleader.gov/news.asp?FormMode=Detail&ID=123)
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To: American in Israel; yonif; yoe; JohnHuang2; Sabertooth
Bump.
3 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:32:36 PM by veronica (http://www.majorityleader.gov/news.asp?FormMode=Detail&ID=123)
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To: veronica
An excellent--and brutally frank--view of the situation. Make it so.
4 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:34:39 PM by Petronski (Calm down. Eat some fruit or something.)
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To: veronica
Thanks for the ping, friend.
5 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:35:04 PM by JohnHuang2
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To: veronica
I 'll never understand why Arafat wasn't smoked years ago. He should be a glaring example of what you get when you negotiate with evil.
6 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:38:25 PM by blastdad51 (Proud father of an Enduring Freedom vet, and friend of a soldier lost in Afghanistan)
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To: veronica
Something Americans should think about re Al Qaeda and their supporters --

What are we going to do with millions of war criminals - put them in jail, so the US taxpayers can support them? Send them someplace where they can plot against us and strike again?

If they are determined to destroy us, to the point of giving up their own lives, there is only one means for our self-defense: kill them.

The only questions: when and how.

7 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:43:15 PM by Ed_in_NJ
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To: veronica
why Israel has not yet gone to town on the PA and Arafat is a mystery to me. I hope they do so, soon.
8 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:46:28 PM by King Prout (people hear and do not listen, see and do not observe, speak without thought, post and not edit)
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To: Ed_in_NJ
agreed.
Islamofascist terrorists should be interrogated and publicly executed. "Detaining" them serves no worthy purpose.
9 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:48:07 PM by King Prout (people hear and do not listen, see and do not observe, speak without thought, post and not edit)
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To: veronica
3rd posting..
10 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:48:32 PM by TomServo ("I worked at NASA back when we were next to Cost Cutters.")
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To: Ed_in_NJ
The answer for Israel and the USA: do it now in anyway possible.
11 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:48:48 PM by gedeon3
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To: blastdad51
I 'll never understand why Arafat wasn't smoked years ago. He should be a glaring example of what you get when you negotiate with evil.

Smoke Arafat? Hell, the US won't even let Israel exile him:

The Washington Post reported Thursday that while administration officials are frustrated by Arafat's continued ability to thwart peace moves, "they have also privately warned Israeli officials not to act on the growing sentiment in Israel to exile Arafat, believing that would unleash anger across the Arab world that would complicate U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq."

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/338449.html

12 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:50:16 PM by Catspaw
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To: veronica
A rather startling editorial, to say the least,
even coming from the Jerusalem Post.
13 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:53:27 PM by Allan
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To: veronica
I must point out that The Jerusalem Post is moderate/centrist. For them to make such a call to arms is practically unheard of. This article reads more like Arutz Sheva (rightist) than JP. Nonetheless, I see it on the JP website.

As many people who have read my posts here know, I hold both Israeli and American citizenship. I was born in the U.S., but my father was Israeli, and I have lived in both countries. I consider Israel to be my permanent home.

As I have posted before I started out, years ago, on the left wing of Israeli politics, naive and idealistic. I have moved sharply to the right as it became clearer and clearer to me that the Palestinians would never meet their obligations under Oslo. Later it became obvious to me that the Palestinians, or at least their leaders and a significant part of the population, had never abandoned the idea of destroying Israel and will never agree to live in peace with us.

In better times I have known Palestinians whom, I believed, were genuine friends. If they were they dare not say so now for fear of their lives.

I too, posted that I had reached my breaking point. It is a point which too many Israelis and our friends have passed. I hope Ariel Sharon has read the articles like this. I hope now he acts without hesitation. He can always patch up relations with our friends later.

The Palestinians started a war. We must act like a nation at war.
14 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:54:24 PM by anotherview ("Ignorance is the choice not to know" -Klaus Schulze)
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To: Catspaw
Smoke Arafat? Hell, the US won't even let Israel exile him: Israel is an independent country. The U.S. cannot prevent Israel from taking whatever action the Sharon government deems necessary. The U.S. can punish Israel: withhold aid, impose sanctions, etc... but it does not control the Israeli government. In the end the decision belongs to Ariel Sharon.
15 posted on 9/11/2003, 1:57:35 PM by anotherview ("Ignorance is the choice not to know" -Klaus Schulze)
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To: veronica
People say that you don't want to replace a known evil leader with the unknown evil leader. But I say that Afafat is not a leader but a flag or icon. His longevity is symbolic of their struggle. Take him down and you will do more damage to terrorism than if you had killed 10,000 homicide bomber foot soldiers.
16 posted on 9/11/2003, 2:01:58 PM by Theophilus (Save little liberals - Stop Abortion!!!)
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To: TomServo
I searched, I always do. Hmmmmm.
17 posted on 9/11/2003, 2:05:26 PM by veronica (http://www.majorityleader.gov/news.asp?FormMode=Detail&ID=123)
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To: veronica
Killing all terrorists and those who support them is "the only solution". For Israel and for us. If the Europeans don't get it we (Israel and us) need to just get on with it and get it done.
18 posted on 9/11/2003, 2:10:35 PM by ImpBill ("You are either with US or against US!")
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To: anotherview
>The U.S. can punish Israel: withhold aid, impose sanctions, etc... but it does not control the Israeli government

No. Israel is
a client-state. We didn't
have to "withhold aid"

to get them to not
bomb Iraq when missles fell...
Ultimately, they

choose their own actions,
but within the larger scheme
of listening to us.

Why our government
restrains Israel, and shrugs
at Arab monsters,

will some day make sense
but now, I'd bet, tin foil glare
would get in our eyes...

19 posted on 9/11/2003, 2:13:25 PM by theFIRMbss
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To: veronica
We must kill as many of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders as possible, as quickly possible, while minimizing collateral damage, but not letting that damage stop us.

Do it!

20 posted on 9/11/2003, 4:54:01 PM by TigersEye (Regime change in the Courts. - Impeach Activist Judges!)
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