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Why I oppose Palestinian state: Joseph Farah says it's bad for Israel and for Arabs
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Thursday, April 18, 2002 | Joseph Farah

Posted on 04/18/2002 12:26:35 AM PDT by JohnHuang2

On April 9, 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush in the Arab town of Jenin.

While the operation was "sophisticated," according to Israel Defense Forces, and included a building loaded with explosives in strategic locations, flanking rifle fire used to pin down the Israelis and a suicide bomber to trigger the key blast, there is something about this incident that illustrates why a Palestinian state is not in the best interests of the world, nor even those who would live in such a state.

The most "clever" part of the operation was dispatching toward the pinned down soldiers the suicide bomber – a boy about the age of 10. Why was this clever? Because the Arab leadership who sent him understood that Israeli soldiers, even those under the stress of battle, would not shoot a 10-year-old child.

Thus, the boy exploded and killed the soldiers, too.

It's this kind of immorality – repeated a thousand times a day in Yasser Arafat's territories – that makes Palestinian statehood a bloody awful idea.

It's not only a threat to Israeli security – the argument we hear repeatedly from media pundits – it would also ensure that future generations of Palestinian children will be victimized in this manner. More will be indoctrinated from birth to be martyrs. More will be taught that Jews are evil. More will be taught the virtues of hatred.

And Israeli Arabs, who ironically today know more freedom than any of their brethren in Arab countries, will become slaves of a new state under the totalitarian control of Arafat and his unelected successors.

In an interview I conducted with Pat Buchanan this week, I explained to the columnist, who strongly favors the creation of a Palestinian state, that no such state has ever existed in the history of the world. He conceded that point, but replied that Arab states such as Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia never existed before they were created by the colonial powers in the last century.

True enough. But why would the world want to repeat that mistake? What did the creation of those states do for the world? And, just as importantly, what did the creation of those states do for the people who live within their borders?

This is the question that is never discussed by the pundits. I've been called a racist for opposing the creation of a Palestinian state under the leadership of Arafat. In fact, I believe many of those calling for the creation of such a state are themselves racist. They do not have the best interests of the Arabic people at heart. They do not believe Arabs are capable of self-government. They apparently think that Arabs are only worthy of living under tyranny.

On the other hand, I say the only chance for peace in the Middle East will come when there is an expansion of freedom – a defeat of tyranny.

Is this a pipedream?

Not really. I remember when the Lebanese people governed themselves freely.

Because of that recent experience with self-governance, Lebanon could be a free nation again if given the chance. But it suffers instead under the yoke of domination by neighboring Syria – one of only a handful of countries in the world occupied by a foreign military power.

Why does the Arab world need another police state? Will the so-called "Palestinian people" really be better off under an Arab dictator than under Israeli domination? As an Arab-American journalist, who has spent a good deal of time in the region, I tell you the answer is no.

It's time for the dictators in the Arab world to be overthrown. It's time for an expansion of freedom. It's time to aid insurgency movements in the Islamic world that will bring freedom to the people. It's not time to create more slave states.

Yes, a Palestinian state headed by Arafat or an Arafat-like successor sworn to the destruction of Israel will be a constant threat to the Jewish state. But, what most observers miss, is the fact that it will also be an oppressive obstacle to freedom for the Arab people.




TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
Thursday, April 18, 2002

Quote of the Day by friendly 4/17/02

1 posted on 04/18/2002 12:26:35 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
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To: dennisw;zion_ist;Robert_Paulson2;The Sword;Sabramerican;xm177e2;lent;zion_ist;angelo;Veronica...

2 posted on 04/18/2002 12:37:40 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
bump
3 posted on 04/18/2002 12:40:03 AM PDT by GeronL
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To: JohnHuang2
"The most "clever" part of the operation was dispatching toward the pinned down soldiers the suicide bomber – a boy about the age of 10. Why was this clever? Because the Arab leadership who sent him understood that Israeli soldiers, even those under the stress of battle, would not shoot a 10-year-old child.

Thus, the boy exploded and killed the soldiers, too"

Didn't see this incident harped on by the press, did we. I shake my head.

4 posted on 04/18/2002 2:05:39 AM PDT by KDD
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To: JohnHuang2
what most observers miss, is the fact that it will also be an oppressive obstacle to freedom for the Arab people

They don't miss it. They know it. But they ignore it, because it is an uncomfortable reality of the situation that doesn't fit well with their dogmatic outlook. Leftists ignore things they can't resolve when those things are in conflict with other principles they hold. They never try to reconcile them, or try to find a causal relationship between them.

So, they don't like occupation and call for freedom, and ignore the fact that the people will have less freedom when the occupation ends than they do now. And it's uncomfortable for them to hear about the racism in the media and government and mosques, and the brutality in the streets, and they cannot understand these incidents so they concoct an excuse for them, that "occupation" is causing all this when that couldn't be further from the truth.

Yes, some of them are racists, because they do believe that the Arab people need oppressive governments over their head. But then again, some of them believe that ALL people need oppressive governments over their head.

5 posted on 04/18/2002 8:49:38 AM PDT by monkeyshine
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To: JohnHuang2
I agree that a Palestinian state won't be a nice, tolerant, secular democracy, but what is the alternative? What does Farah propose to do with people who consider themselves to be the Palestinian nation, who have demonstrated that they will all fight to the death untill they have a country of their own? Does he honestly believe that a democracy such as Israel is capable of forcibily ruling such a poeple against their will?
6 posted on 04/18/2002 12:09:57 PM PDT by traditionalist
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To: traditionalist
who have demonstrated that they will all fight to the death

Where? Where?

A few fought. The vast majority have surrendered quicker then the French.

Some of the top leaders of the most savage organizations are in Israeli custody. Why didn't they fight "to the death" or even to a paper cut?

Because this time the Israelis were armed with something besides a slice of pizza or a matzah.

7 posted on 04/18/2002 12:16:11 PM PDT by Sabramerican
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To: Sabramerican
I guess you haven't read about what happened in Jenin.
8 posted on 04/18/2002 12:28:53 PM PDT by traditionalist
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To: traditionalist
Pray tell. What happened in Jenin?
9 posted on 04/18/2002 12:31:29 PM PDT by Sabramerican
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To: Sabramerican
The details are unclear, but what is clear is that hundreds of Palestinian men, armed only with small arms, fought an Israeli army supported by tanks nearly to the last man.
10 posted on 04/18/2002 12:36:22 PM PDT by traditionalist
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To: traditionalist
So that is a good thing we won.
11 posted on 04/18/2002 12:38:54 PM PDT by TLBSHOW
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To: traditionalist
LOL

And Bullsh*t.

Where are the bodies? Oh, I know, mass invisible graves.

12 posted on 04/18/2002 12:38:55 PM PDT by Sabramerican
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To: Sabramerican
The bodies are buried under the rubble left by Israeli tanks and buldozers. I see you have not read the reports by international investigors who have actually been there.
13 posted on 04/18/2002 12:42:17 PM PDT by traditionalist
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To: TLBSHOW
that is a good thing we won.

I am an American, not an Israeli, so leave me out of the "we."

14 posted on 04/18/2002 12:43:36 PM PDT by traditionalist
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To: traditionalist
I hope you are right. I hope many Arabs fought to the death and thousands of bodies are found. Keep me advised.
15 posted on 04/18/2002 12:44:12 PM PDT by Sabramerican
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To: Sabramerican
Look at the AP story. It took the IDF 8 days to take the camp. The IDF estimates they killed 100 militants. 36 surrendered. None could have escaped since the IDF had the place surrounded. They didn't quite fight to the last man, but these stats show it was close.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/664208/posts

16 posted on 04/18/2002 12:52:10 PM PDT by traditionalist
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To: JohnHuang2
There would have been a Palestinian state, it was part of the UN partition plan.

And again in the ill-conceived land-for-peace efforts of Barak, Carville & Clinton.

The universal hate for Isreal dunked those plans twice and now Yassir is well on his way to accomplishing these goals by just sitting in his bombed out compound and yelling at people.

The degree of appeasment here is just staggering.

The entire world bends over backwards for these people and this "state" when they have scuttled their OWN PLANS twice in favor of hate and terrorism.

17 posted on 04/18/2002 12:53:50 PM PDT by Jhoffa_
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To: JohnHuang2
So, what is the alternative? To have millions of people live in a non-nation? It seems to me that if no nation claims the West Bank as their sovereign territory, the people living there have a right to declare it their own nation.

Who has any right to say that they can't? I'm obviously missing something, because if I were a Palestinian leader, I'd be working on a charter or constitution and then simply make the declaration.

18 posted on 04/18/2002 1:02:24 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: traditionalist
Even if 100, read what I wrote in #7, a few fought. Mostly they just set traps.

In any event thousands- including the most militant- surrendered likecowards. Oh, lets not forget the few "brave" Islamic souls who ran for cover in Church.

19 posted on 04/18/2002 1:02:31 PM PDT by Sabramerican
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