All right, folks. Here we go again. It’s round 28 (or is that 328?) in the latest well-intentioned, very misguided efforts to bring about peace between Israelis and the so-called Palestinians. There was a time — and it wasn’t too long ago — that Palestine always referred to Israel and Israelis were called Palestinians. And what we now call the Palestinians, well, back then they were often known as Jordanians. That was until Jordan got fed up with their crazy violent ways, killed thousands of them and booted their leadership clean out of the country.
My my, how politics creates its own sense of Hollywood reality.
Anyhow, back to the most recent mishugas — the (Off-The) Road Map. Every previous treaty, agreement, declaration, handshake and paper-signing that was supposed to bring about peaceful co-existence meant two things: Israel made concessions. The “Palestinians” got land. And cities. And money. And weapons (often given to them by Israel, no less).
The Palestinians were also supposed to make a few ever-so-slight changes as a show of good faith. Things like saying, “Israel, we recognize your right to breath and walk. We’ll allow your citizens to take buses and eat in pizza shops and celebrate Passover seders with their grandparents without getting blown to bits.”
Only problem is, the PA never came through on its end of the deal. Instead, ‘Palestinian’ leaders felt more empowered and continued their corrupt, terrorist ways.
One would think the West, President Bush in particular, would know all too well that one cannot compromise with terrorism. To the terrorists, peace agreements and land treaties and photo-ops on the White House lawn mean one thing — weakness on the part of the other party. It tells them their methods can reap some mighty nice dividends: Shaking hands with the heavy hitters and bigwigs of the planet, getting lots of monetary bonuses for signing on the dotted line, maybe even cover pics on Time and Newsweek. And all that without having to make any real, substantial changes other than vague, open-ended promises.
The new PA honcho/puppet, Mr. Abbas, who comes to the bargaining table with very bloodstained hands, recently told Bush and the media the following: “I can’t really crack down on those pesky little undercover terrorist organizations committed to Israel’s destruction. Why risk alienating the masses? But, scout’s honor, I’ll talk to the boys about a cease-fire. Now hand over the goodies.”
These ridiculous deals also give terrorist-sponsoring groups precious time to continue their evil ways. Furthermore, they’re one-sided because the ‘Palestinians’ have no intention of keeping their part of the bargain. For them, it’s a win-win situation. Get free handouts. Lots of moolah. World sympathy. Plenty of pictures and interviews. They smile at the very word ‘negotiation,’ for it enables them to continue to oppress their own people and engage in their usual anti-U.S., anti-Israel, and anti-democratic ways.
Time and time again the PA has shown its true colors. Rather than use all their millions of dollars for positive social endeavors, they’ve turned to Syria, Iraq, North Korea, Iran and other wonderful countries for illegal weapons. Although Arafat tried to suppress the video footage, we saw the ‘Palestinians’ dancing on the streets on 9/11. They held massive demonstrations in support of Saddam — recently one of the most popular names given by ‘Palestinian’ parents to their children. The PA leadership urged their followers to rush to Iraq to “destroy the infidels,” promising a swift victory in the name of Allah. (Too bad they all didn’t go.) At any rate, there’s no doubting where their sentiments lie.
Question for the President Bush: Why spend billions, invest so much time and energy, risk American and coalition soldiers, and alienate the entire world to get rid of one terrorist regime (Iraq) only to empower another called Palestine? And, get this, in the same part of the world, no less? Curly, Larry and Moe would’ve loved this script.
This “road map” is like trying to read AAA directions in the dark. In fact, it’s a map that leads to nowhere fast. Well, let’s qualify that. It goes full circle, coming back eventually to where we started from. Turn on a light and we’d all realize that Israel should, in fact, be following the American example on how to deal with terrorists. Defeat them militarily. It’s a lot quicker (and much safer) than dragging on this war of attrition, words, and one-sided treaties.
Let’s repeat this one mo’ time: defeat them militarily. Once this decision is made, and the IAF is called into action, the battle would be won in days, not weeks. The entire region and the world at large would breathe a sigh of relief. Only then would brutal dictators and regimes be disposed of and the citizens they once controlled be free to make some important changes in attitude.
Israel has won, thank G-d, all of the wars imposed on it by its hostile Arab neighbors. Rather than reward Israel with the bounties of strength and true peace, however, the U.S. has continued its misguided notion of empowering the wrong side. Trying to appease the militant Arab world with the almighty dollar is like the Off-The-Road Map: doomed from the get-go. The Arabs may not like it, but only a strong Israel can bring about true peace and positive change in the Middle East.
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