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Posted on 12/11/2001, 5:14:41 PM by Starmaker

There is something rather odd going on and I´m not quite sure what to make of it. I could be wrong but it seems to be connected to a few recent terrorist attacks in Israel. As difficult as it may be for me to accept, the series of suicide bombings that resulted in 26 deaths and hundreds of injuries appear to be providing what many had long since given up on; a near honest public assessment of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Granted the current, global dialog is still inundated with misconceptions, distorted definitions, and self-serving motives. Compared to the demagoguery, lies, naivety and utter ignorance that have resulted in the marginalization of the Israelis and the romanticization of the Palestinians, however, the current situation looks damned near impartial.

To the casual observer, the scale and ferocity of the attacks on the weekend of Dec 1st look to have prompted the reevaluation of a few well-established notions. You know the type: that Israel´s national pastime is shooting stone throwing children, that the Palestinians would live in peace if Israel would only let them, that Yasser Arafat is not a career murderer but a peacemaker, and that those who indiscriminately kill Israeli citizens are not fanatical terrorists but are instead "freedom fighters". But in order to believe that the carnage of late was the catalyst for this newfound open-mindedness one would have to accept that these acts were indeed more ferocious and on a larger scale than attacks of the past. Sadly, neither is the case.

From virtually the moment that the Jewish state was declared an independent nation, the random spilling of its citizen´s blood has been a fact of life. It has defended itself in frequent wars forced upon it not by other lone nations, but groups of nations. In stark contrast to the well-trained, organized and technologically advanced regional power that it is today, the early years of their perpetual struggle for survival saw Israelis battling with little more that sparse, outdated weapons and Molotov cocktails. The mere fact that the country survived the early years of its modern existence can only be attributed to dogged determination or divine intervention (whichever you prefer). The chain of staggering, often astounding, defeats they have dealt out have forced their enemies to adopt less conventional methods, those being the tactics of terrorism.

Spawned in the primordial, post-WWII soup of anti-colonialism, Pan-Arab nationalism, and communism, Yasser Arafat emerged onto the world stage. After the founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, which brought together various smaller terror groups, he began his ascension from fledgling killer in the organization´s military wing (the Fatah), to de facto leader of the Palestinian People, and godfather of world terrorism. That there has never been an actual "Palestinian People" has been lost in the decades of turmoil. Those grouped under this heading are actually a mishmash of Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians and others. This is of little relevance to the current situation, as is the fact that Mr. Arafat is a native of Egypt and not the West Bank, as commonly believed. Merely birth records substantiate that vicious rumor.

The decades that followed witnessed Arafat, his organization and their allies blazing quite a trail for themselves through bombings, highjackings, assassinations and other assorted methods. In their wake were left the bloody, charred remains of countless innocent men, women and children. Among those were 11 murdered members of the 1972 Israeli Olympic delegation, the U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel, who was executed along with his aid George Curtis Moore, and wheelchair-bound, American tourist Leon Klinghofer, who was dumped into the ocean in front of his wife.

The fall of the Shah of Iran and the subsequent rise of Islamic fundamentalism enabled the so-called Palestinian Liberation movement to make common cause with those who were not only willing to kill, but also willing to sacrifice their lives in the process. The result was an ever-increasing body count from their actions. The collapse of world communism dried up support for leftist terror groups, and lifted the threat of such bloodshed from much of the western world. Soon thereafter, many lost the ability to empathize with those in Israel who continued to be victimized. As the Soviet Bloc unraveled, the subjugated citizens of totalitarian regimes were depicted defying military authority and facing down tanks. Somewhere along the line, and amid all of the peace euphoria, the raging Intifada began to be portrayed as a romantic struggle against oppression, instead of the well-orchestrated, terrorist directed, public relations campaign that it was.

Increasingly the world community accepted Yasser Arafat as a legitimate leader and turned a blind eye to his unrelenting terrorist activity. By contrast, the calls began to mount for Israel to end its "occupation" of perceived Palestinian land. Conveniently forgotten was that these areas had come under their control only after numerous desperate battles, which put the survival of the Jewish state at risk. The truth of the Palestinian cause is that it has never been about the withdrawal from the territories. It is now, and always has been, about the total destruction of Israel. The birth of this movement took place long before the occupied territories were, in fact, occupied, so the goal could not be otherwise.

But no amount of historical fact or evidence of his connection to the continued bloodletting could prevent the PLO chairman from becoming the first mass murderer to be named a Nobel laureate. Nor could it stem the tide of international pressure that carried him to the position of PA dictator. The Oslo Peace Agreement facilitated his ascension to power but it bought the people of Israel nothing whatsoever. Instead it cost them very dearly. Since the adoption of the accords in 1993, and the transfer of territory, more Israelis have died at the hands of terrorists then in the prior 45 years of the state´s existence.

None of this is particularly mysterious. At no time has there been a legitimate recognition of Israel´s right to exist from the Palestinians, or their leaders. At no time have there been any real attempts to put an end to the violence. Now that they have a foothold on the Israelis doorstep, striking out at Jewish civilians has become considerably easier. And though the bodies continued to pile up, the calls for further appeasement did as well. The refusal of the PA regime to accept an amazingly generous peace offer demonstrated either an inability or unwillingness to make peace. It also highlighted an inability or unwillingness on the part of world leaders and press pundits to accept their true intentions.

While the butchery of the Dec 1st weekend has created almost universal indignation in the non-Arab world, the reasons for this are not exactly clear. It isn´t as if that brief stretch of days differed all that much from those that preceded (or followed) them. Only two days earlier, on Nov. 29th, a suicide bomber killed himself and three passengers onboard an Israeli bus. Two days before the September 11th attacks on the United States, a suicide bomber killed three at a railway station in northern Israel. One month prior to that, a bomber killed 15 Israelis in a Jerusalem pizzeria. On June 1st, another killed 21 outside a Tel Aviv nightclub. On July 30th of 1997, 15 were killed at a market. On March 4th of 1996, 14 died at a shopping center. On March 3, 1996 a bus bomb took 18 others. And on… And on… And on…

These are only a few highlights. Any attempt to list all of them, along with the daily mortar barrages, sniper attacks, and other random shootings would be next to impossible. Yet none of this has produced the current level of outrage. Quite the contrary has been the case. Rather than compassion, ridicule and condemnation have been what the Israelis have received. They have been told to give more. They have been asked to take further "risks for peace" and to bravely absorb casualties. Any attempt to respond to the killing of their citizens, and to prevent further deaths has been labeled "Israeli aggression". Secretary of State Colin Powell has classified such efforts as "counter productive", and President Bush has urged "restraint".

But suddenly and dramatically, the rhetoric has changed. With the notable exception of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, whose blind faith in the peace process could only be further illustrated by a tie-dyed tee shirt and a "make love not war" sign, public reaction has become abruptly rational. Commenting on the Dec 1st attacks, Pres. Bush exclaimed: "I was horrified and saddened to learn of the bombings that took place in Jerusalem… I strongly condemn them as acts of murder that no person of conscience can tolerate and no cause can ever justify." Sec. Powell similarly stated that: "I have spoken with Chairman Arafat and have made absolutely clear that these despicable and cowardly actions must be brought to an end…" Public discourse is now inundated with condemnation of Yasser Arafat. It is also teeming with speculation of who might lead the Palestinians once he is removed.

Perhaps the personal loathing that Bush has for Arafat can no longer be contained. Maybe the searing hypocrisy of a world united in a fight against terrorism, while ignoring the plight of Israel, is now too much to bear. For whatever reason the change has come, it is welcome. Though it has arrived too late for the Israelis who have already died. It has come too late to stop the successful indoctrination of a new generation of Palestinian suicide bombers. And it has come far too late to prevent the further suffering that will result from over a decade of self-serving righteousness and empty-headed utopianism.

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