What the world can learn from Israel
By Reuven Koret September 12, 2001
We in Israel are humbled by the enormity of the terrorist crimes
against the United States. Far from feeling any sense of "we told
you so," Israelis are as one stunned by the scale of America's
first domestic experience of suicide bombings. Plane-bombs are
geometrically more lethal than the car-bombs or human-bombs
we routinely experience, and America's shocking losses in one
morning overwhelm even those of us who have lived for years
and decades in a war with Arab terror.
Since the attacks, I have received many unsolicited messages
from readers, many of whom express heartfelt empathy with us:
"Now we know how Israelis feel" or even "The whole world has
become Israeli." So, for our American friends and others ready to
listen, I humbly offer some "lessons" that we Israelis have
learned in our own front-line fight against terrorism.
1. Tightened security is not that bad
You will get used to security guards in parking lots, at mall
entrances, at school entrances. You will get familiar with the sight
of sappers checking suspicious objects and defusing explosive
devices. You will appreciate being asked to open your purse or
briefcase. You will welcome a five-minute interview at the airport
by someone who isn't just going through the motions. You may
not like it, but you will learn to live with it.
2. Think mathematically, and positively
Terrorism is designed to paralyze. Terrorists try to frighten and
stop you from living a normal life. They cause you to think twice
about where you go, when you go, which chair you sit in. They
cause you to worry about your loved ones, your parents and
children. You need to discipline your mind with reason, to think in
terms of the overwhelming probability that you won't be killed by
a terror act. You must harness your fear, and live as fully and
happily as you can. Shield your young children from the visual
horrors of terrorism -- let them enjoy their innocence as long as
possible. Living well, courageously and joyfully is your best
defense, and your best personal revenge against terror.
3. Appeasement doesn't work
It is not enough to say, as UN chief Kofi Annan did yesterday,
that no just cause is advanced by terrorism. The support of a
cause for terrorism is a clear indicator that the cause is not as
just as it pretends to be. Terrorism is a crime against humanity,
and intentional attacks on civilians are not a phenomenon that
can be tolerated by civilized people. Period. We Israelis are all
too familiar with Arab spokespeople who mumble condemnation
of attacks against innocents, but then in the next breath say: "we
don't approve, but you need to understand" or "the poor
terrorists don't have jobs, they are desperate, they have no other
way to express themselves." Then there is the argument that "if
only" (if only America would be more even-handed, sensitive to
Arab suffering, etc.). The goal of the terrorist is to make you
think that you can stop terror "if only" you did something. But
once you accept this argument, they have you beat; they have
you under their control, because you can never do enough to
satisfy their demands. The more you give in, the more the
terrorist will want. Terrorism is insatiable.
4. Arafat remains a terrorist, and his Authority a terror
nest
Even liberal Israelis have learned that Arafat is and always has
been committed to the armed struggle to liberate Palestine,
occasionally by dialogue, but mostly by armed struggle. In the
territories that Israel has handed over to the Palestinian Authority
after it promised to give up terrorism and violence, Arafat
created an infrastructure that serves as a staging ground and a
safe haven for terror attacks. He has released the worst terrorists
and terrorism planners. Arafat has used his Authority to educate
a generation to hatred, and violence, and anti-Jewish racism. He
is an enemy not just of Israel, but also of the free world. He tried
to use terror to take over Jordan and was kicked out in 1970 by
Hussein. He tried to use terror to take over Lebanon and was
kicked out in 1982 by Israel. Now he thinks he has his best
chance yet and is building a terror army next to our home. Israel
will, sooner or later, kick him out of power. That is our job. The
West can learn from us how to do it with minimal loss of innocent
life.
5. Radical Islam opposes democracy, not just Israel
Radical Islam sees itself as at war with the West, with democracy,
with freedom. Democratic ideas and civil rights threaten its
authoritarian power structure and theology. Israel is a lighting rod
because of our proximity and because the repeated military
victories and economic successes of the Jewish State is seen as a
humiliation to Islam. But Israel is always portrayed as Little
Satan. The Great Satan is the United States and the other
western defenders of Judeo-Christian morality and civilization.
But if, heaven forbid, they should even have an independent
Palestinian State with geographical contiguity with Jordan and
through it, Iran and Iraq, the Mediterranean and Europe will be
next on the agenda after Israel is wiped out. This jihad, for them,
is not about borders. It is about the right of anyone who does not
submit to Islam to live. And as we see today, the terrorists will
not hesitate to take thousands of lives to make this point.
6. Force works. More force works better
This is war. The terrorists have always been at war with the rest
of the world. The West preferred to think that disputes could
always be settled with dialogue and mediation and diplomatic
resolutions. The World learned with Japan, and with Hitler, that
sometimes you need to fight, and fight together, to win
decisively. Israel has been at war for a long time, at times feeling
quite alone in the fight against terror. But now the terrorists have
declared war on the United States, and there is no substitute now
for a massive international coalition to eradicate terror groups
and the states that support them. The horror of the attacks on
New York and Washington, as terrible as their death toll was,
pales in comparison to what could be, and if nothing is done, will
be, once the terrorist lay their hands on, and exploit, biological,
chemical and nuclear weapons. Now is the time to eradicate those
threats before they eradicate us.
7. Pre-emption is preferable to punishment
Israel has long ago learned that it is better to preemptively attack
terrorists and their bases rather than wait to be victimized by
them, and then be compelled to retaliate after being bloodied.
Israel pre-empted an impending attack in 1967, and won
decisively in six days. Israel, fearing diplomatic isolation,
preferred in 1973 to let itself be attacked and paid heavily in
human life and risk to the entire nation for that restraint. Israel
has exercised amazing restraint over the past year in response to
the Palestinian violence initiated after Arafat walked away from
the negotiating table at Camp David. But Israeli restraint has
given way to an escalating policy of preemptive elimination of
terrorist leaders and tougher military steps to apply pressure on
the supporters and planners of terrorism.
Now Israel, and the West, must initiate massive and decisive
preemption on a scale commensurate with the demonstrated
threat of suicide bombers. Preemption should be paired with
deterrence, including consideration - by Israel and the West -
making explicit the previously implicit threat of non-conventional
responses to terrorist outrages. Moreover, the deterrent threat
should speak the language of the Islamic terrorists. If they attack
the symbols of our civilization, they should know that we will
target theirs, including their most sacred shrines.
8. No one country can do it alone
No country is an island, immune from the terrorist threat.
Terrorism is a global phenomenon, which demands a global
response. Intelligence sharing, defensive measures, and military
actions must be planned and executed in a coordinated fashion
by a coalition of the world's nations and its international
organizations. Israel no longer can be asked, as it was in the Gulf
War, to stay on the sidelines while the United States and its allies
do the work for us.
9. Know who your friends are
Israel is not a perfect country, and Israelis have made their
share of mistakes. But we are fundamentally a freedom-loving,
peace-seeking, civilized nation that shares common values with
the West. When the people of the United States suffer, we mourn,
and give blood, and send rescue units -- the latter, unfortunately,
the best in the world due to our long and painful experience. Not
all Israelis are good people and not all Moslems or Arabs or
Palestinians are bad. But look at the harsh reality: when
thousands of Americans die an awful death, when the United
States is humiliated, we don't burst into song and dance, shoot
guns in the air and pass around sweets. Leave aside policy
questions and nuances of disagreements over this issue or that.
Learn to distinguish friend from enemy.
10. If not now, when?
There is now a narrow window to act before the stakes of
terrorism are raised to unimaginable and intolerable proportions
with the introduction of non-conventional weapons. Israel has
always lived with a sense of national mortality. Unfortunately,
America, and maybe the rest of the free world, today feels that
sense of vulnerability. A nation cannot live like this indefinitely.
You, like us, must now act. No one else will do it for us. And if we
are not for ourselves, who will be for us? |
