Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scoobah who wrote (1264)	12/20/2001 12:46:13 PM
From: Scoobah	Respond to of 32591

Arafat's 'peace of the grave' By Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney December 19, 2001 Disregard Yasser Arafat's weekend plea for an end to armed attacks and suicide bombings. Two days after his supposedly heartfelt broadcast to the world, replete with bellicose statements and baseless promises, the planet's most accomplished hypocrite was calling for additional martyrs in the continued struggle for Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Palestinian mortar rounds, rocket grenades and snipers' bullets continue to fly. Arafat will never change. He has failed to live up to his foremost obligation, the core of the Oslo agreement: to take all necessary measures to prevent terror attacks against Israelis. Barely two weeks after the horrific massacres in Jerusalem and Haifa, 10 more Israelis were killed and over 30 wounded in the West Bank city of Emmanuel when their bus was bombed and fired upon. At least one of the Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the attack was included on a list of 33 wanted terrorists that Israel submitted to the PA several weeks ago. The terrorists were never arrested. Since 1993's Oslo Accords, Arafat and his cohorts viewed Israel and the West as useful fools in a process that Arafat himself boasted would isolate the Jewish state politically. Israel has a choice. It can continue to gamble that world pressure will somehow force Arafat and his regime to make a firm commitment to the peace process. Or Israel can continue to boycott Arafat's corrupt terrorist regime, knowing that if Arafat falls, Ariel Sharon's unity government may end up facing a far more splintered, fractious enemy. The first option would seem to be a waste of time. Arafat has been given far too many chances to prove himself a partner for peace. As for any hope that he can reign in terrorism, we need only note that Arafat's own Fatah organization claimed joint responsibility for the suicide bombing near Hadera three weeks ago. For Israel, the only sane option is to conduct itself as if the Palestinians have no leader. And Israel did just that last week in declaring Arafat no longer "relevant," severing all ties with him and going ahead in launching more intense air raids, targeting more terrorists and their leadership. The onus is on Arafat to use all necessary means to end terrorism before Israel would be willing to re-explore avenues to peace negotiations. Yet Arafat and his supporters also know that Israel cannot assassinate or plot to dislodge a Nobel Peace Prize winner. To this day, Arafat depends on Israeli security forces to guarantee his personal security in the Palestinian Authority-administered zones in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has no choice, since Israel's own survival cannot be ensured without the approval of the world community. So Israel's only option is to scare, inconvenience and belittle the Palestinian leader with tanks outside his window and a state of house arrest. Is Israel better off with or without Arafat? Should Israel simply wait for the more radical Palestinian groups to remove Arafat? These are questions only Israel can answer. But it's clear that American President George W. Bush now accepts Sharon's resolve to fight terror Israel's way. With the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the flight of Al-Qaida, Israel's hands are no longer tied by the need to play along with Bush's so-called anti-terrorism coalition. Yasser Arafat knows that. The ball is in his court, especially now that Israel has made it clear it no longer feels the need to play his game, nor fall victim to his 'peace of the grave.'