Recent Palestinian allegations about a massacre in the Jenin ‘refugee camp’ (in reality, a fortified terrorist base) were spread like brushfire by the Western media, despite no corroborating evidence. So was Yasir Arafat’s poisonous charge, upon emerging from isolation in his compound, that Israel was setting fire to the Church of the Nativity – a transparent effort to incite Christian rage against the Jews.
The ease with which Western media gave currency to such dubious ‘news’ illustrated once again how Western complicity helps the Arabs to spread disinformation damaging to Israel’s and the West?s war against terrorism.
The Arabs have successfully pilloried Israel in the court of public opinion through the deft propagation of two big lies. Relying on the sketchy historical knowledge of most people, and on the propensity of oft-repeated lies to become accepted wisdom, Arab officials have fabricated a historical narrative that has gained wide acceptance. It justifies Arab aggression, even terror, as an understandable response to cruel Israeli ‘occupation’ and to the ‘stealing of Palestinian lands.’ The charges often stick, even though they are based on falsehoods.
What are the facts, then?
Since the second stage of Oslo was implemented in 1995, and most Palestinian towns and villages were ceded to the control of Arafat’s Palestinian Authority, over 95 percent of the Palestinian Arab population of the West Bank and Gaza have not been under physical Israeli occupation. Yet amazingly, Arab spokesmen keep talking about their need to fight Israeli occupation, and the media seldom challenge them.
It seems like everyone forgot that in signing the Oslo accords, Israel recognized Arafat’s PLO as the official representative of the Palestinian people. Arafat was brought back, with his henchmen, from exile in Tunisia and given control of territories that Israel occupied in the defensive 1967 war – areas that never belonged to any Palestinian entity. In return for self-government, the Palestinians undertook to revoke parts of their national covenant that called for Israel’s destruction, and never again to resort to violence. These pledges were constantly violated the moment the Israeli occupation was removed.
Still, Israel, exhausted by incessant Arab attacks, and eager for peace, continued implementing the Oslo agreements, including the ceding of territory and relinquishing control over the Palestinian population. Since Oslo 2, the Palestinians have enjoyed self-rule of sorts. We say ‘of sorts’ not because of the repeated incursions Israel had to make to thwart suicide bombing attacks, but because rule by Arafat’s Palestinian Authority was not really ‘self-determination.’
The election that Arafat won, with an over 90 percent majority, Bolshevik style, was rather questionable and was never repeated again. In fact, the ‘Authority’ Arafat has established is even more repressive than many of the 21 dictatorships governing the other Arab states. His henchmen did what they knew best. They immediately established a rule of terror, brooking no opposition, and wrested control from the local leadership. They systematically violated the Palestinians? most rudimentary human rights, engaging in extortion, kidnap, torture, and summary execution. They robbed the inhabitants of their livelihood, creating such mayhem that the Palestinian standard of living was cut by half and unemployment rose to over 60 percent. Every resource was exploited to wage a war against Israel, including considerable funds earmarked by the European Union and the U.S. as aid for the refugees.
Arafat’s war disrupted trade with Israel and the employment there of most Palestinian labor, both sources of increasing Palestinian wealth. A nascent Palestinian civil society was destroyed, enabling the PLO to radicalize an increasingly impoverished population, and to transform their misery into pathological hatred for Israel.
Yes, the Palestinians are right in feeling under occupation and oppressed. But they are mistaken to think it is by Israel.
