Abbas must launch his own terror war
Krauthammer
Friday, February 11th, 2005
It is now conventional wisdom that the new opening to a Middle East peace is a result of Yasser Arafat's death. This is only half true, and it misses the larger point.
Arafat's death was a necessary condition for hope, but not a sufficient one. It was necessary because Arafat had the power to suppress and literally kill any chances of peace. But his passing would have meant nothing if it had not occurred at a time when the Palestinians finally realized that Arafat's last great gamble, the second intifadeh, was a disaster.
The reason history does not always repeat itself is that the interval in between often leaves its mark. The Palestinians know that Arafat's war left them a legacy of death, corruption, misery, international isolation and social ruin as the myriad militias he created roam the streets, terrorizing their own people. That is why they elected Mahmoud Abbas, who campaigned against the intifadeh.
Is Abbas a real peacemaker? We do not know yet. He was disappointing during the election campaign, when he paraded around with terrorists and promised to protect them. He was disappointing again last week when the Palestinian Authority arrested three terrorists in Gaza and then released them a few hours later.
On the other hand, Abbas has deployed the authority's troops in Gaza, ordered all attacks to stop and resumed security cooperation with Israel.
What we can say about Abbas is that while we (well, some) knew that Arafat was dedicated to perpetual war, Abbas is not. That is a start.
During the last summit, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak came begging Arafat to make peace with him shortly before a disgusted Israeli public could vote him out of office.
Was not Barak the good guy? And Sharon now the tough guy? Surprise. Arabs respect toughness. Sharon launched a massive invasion of the Palestinian territories after the Passover massacre of 2002. Western experts and the media were practically unanimous that this would achieve nothing.
Completely wrong. In fact, it is precisely Israel's aggressive counterattack against Palestinian terrorists that has brought us to this point of hope.
The Palestinians see the strategic option of terror gradually disappearing. Moreover, Israel's successful military offensive demonstrated to the Palestinians that the premise of the second intifadeh - that a demoralized and terrorized Israel would essentially surrender - is false.
Will they not try another intifadeh in the future? They might. But now they know the cost will be enormous. And the Israelis do not break.
Of course, at some point Hamas and the other terror groups will surely try to destroy the ceasefire. It could happen tomorrow. At that point Abbas - and the Palestinians as a national community - will have to decide whether to take them on. If they do, they will have their state. If they don't, they are back on the road map to ruin. |
