Steve Malzberg
Thursday, June 7, 2001

This time the targets were teen-age girls outside a beachfront disco in Tel Aviv. Twenty have died, and scores have been injured.

The father of the bomber praised his son and said he hoped that his other sons would do the same. In fact, he said he wished that he himself had done it.

Some of the Palestinian press reported that the bombing occurred in occupied territory and targeted and killed many Israeli soldiers. Both statements are lies. An opinion poll done in the West Bank shows that 65 percent of Palestinians approve of the slaughter. For a while Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said nothing.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Cabinet stated that they held Arafat responsible for the massacre. Sharon called him a murderer and said that Israel would retaliate, striking back hard. That's when Arafat condemned the bombing and called for a cease-fire at the insistence of the U.S. and most other world leaders. Israel had already instituted a cease-fire unilaterally.

So what's the latest? In case you missed it, folks, the United States and Israel are on the verge of a deal that would freeze construction at Jewish settlements on the West Bank and Gaza. According to the Associated Press, which quotes diplomatic sources, under the agreement there would be no new settlements, no construction at existing ones and no expropriation of Palestinian-owned land for settlements.

This follows the recommendations of the fact-finding George Mitchell Commission, headed by the former Senate majority leader. Why is this so important? Because this is what the Palestinians have wanted for some time.

Sharon, elected earlier this year, said that he "will refuse to negotiate under fire." He insisted that Arafat and the Palestinians call off their surge of violence, which began last September, following the breakdown of negotiations at Camp David.

(You may recall that at that time Arafat turned down an offer from former Prime Minister Barak, which would have given the PLO control of most of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as part of Jerusalem. Soon, the violence began.)

So what happens? To get good grades from the rest of the world, Sharon has not hit back at all. In fact he is on the verge of rewarding Arafat with an agreement on the settlements and probably heading back to the "peace talks."

Let's take a closer look at this. Arafat walks away from the best offer he'll ever get, starts a round of violence that lasts for some 10 months and includes multiple suicide bombings. Following the latest bombing, which targets teen-age girls, Sharon holds Arafat responsible, calls him a murderer and threatens to strike back hard. Instead of striking back, Sharon will agree to halt most settlement activity as is called for in the Mitchell Commission Report.

What does Israel gain? Why, the word of Yasser Arafat that the violence will end, until next time, that is. Wow. Arafat wins! You might think that this is crazy. In fact, it's nothing new.

Ever since "The Handshake" occurred on the White House lawn between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin following the signing of the Oslo Accords, Arafat has had a foolproof way of making sure that he would turn the "peace process" into the "piece process." Instead of both sides living up to their respective ends of the bargain, the PLO would constantly break its agreements while at the same time demanding more and more from Israel.

The sad punchline to this story is that for nearly seven years Israel gave in. It didn't matter that the PLO had too many police, or that they were armed with automatic weapons, or that government-sanctioned hatred of Jews was still being taught to Palestinian children via textbooks and official Palestinian Authority TV, or that terrorists were being released from Palestinian jails, or that terrorist attacks and other violence was taking place.

All of those are examples of violations of the Oslo Accords. However, Arafat would still manage to gain more and more concessions from the Israelis, more and more land in the West Bank and Gaza, slowly defeating Israel, "piece by piece," while not making "peace" at all.

Last Sunday on ABC's "This Week," George Will was asked what President Bush and the United States should do to get more involved in trying to solve the Mideast conflict. Will responded that it was not our problem. Furthermore, he quoted the Syrian defense minister, who said: "When I see a Jew I kill him. If all Arabs did the same, there would be no more Jews."

Will said that this conflict is about the genocide of the Jews. I agree. Until the call for genocide is ended, there can be no peace in the region. Until Arafat is finally held accountable for what he continues to do, there can be no peace. As long as Israel continues to give and give and give without getting, there will be no peace.

Peace comes through strength. Right now, until it strikes back, Israel shows its enemies no strength, and that's an invitation for more death and destruction.

As I write this, a report has just crossed the AP wire. During Arafat's cease-fire, "a 5-month-old Israeli baby was clinging to life after being hit in the head by a stone while riding in a car in the West bank. The baby suffered severe brain damage." When will Israel learn?

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

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