It's hard to say if the US State Department is serious about it's condemnation of Israel, or whether that is merely "show" for Arab consumption.
Personally, even if you're not a Israeliphile (which SHOULD NOT be how folks construe my opinions about the issue), we have to admit that Arafat has used targeted civilians and organized terror against them in order to advance his poitical agenda.
The Israelis, imo and according to the facts I've observed, while not "snow-white", have not deliberately targeted civilians as a matter of national policy. Something that cannot be said of the Palestinians under Arafat.
I personally believe a Palestinian state such as Arafat desires is unviable, both economically and politically. It cannot sustain and support itself independently, but requires extensive contacts with Israel both for infrastructure as well as jobs to employ its people. And I don't see this scenario changing for decades.
Thus, I believe the Israelis are rightly concerned that the only manner in which Arafat can perpetuate his power is by the use of conflict with Israel. That is the nature of dictators. They maintain their power by distracting their people from their own economic failures and cast the blame upon some enemy.
Btw, whether one likes him or not, one simply has to listen to the compelling arguments made by people like Netayahu. Bibi has rightly put the true nature of this struggle into its proper context, namely that the Arab-Israeli conflict is really a conflict between western values and Arabs ones.
This is about 29 minutes long, but well worth the listen:
jpostradio.com
Thus, even if a "peace settlement" is arrived at, if Israel fails to secure guarantees that the West Bank will remain demilitarized, and that they will retain control over the airspace and border frontiers crucial to their own self-defense, this will only prove to be stepping stone towards directly confronting Israel.
And the Israelis know that, as should most American analysts of the region. Peace cannot be attained with one side claiming to be negotiating in "good faith" and "recognizing" the claims of the other side in English, while asserting to his followers in Arabic, that the peace process is is just a necessary measure towards final victory over the Jews.
Hawk |
