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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CountofMoneyCristo who wrote (14759)	4/2/2002 9:24:45 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27666

Palestinians unleash the ultimate weapon Diane Francis National Post Israel is in an impossible situation. nationalpost.com Its warrior-leader may command the strongest army in Middle East history, and have an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but the Palestinians have unleashed the ultimate weapon. A daily stream of young men and women willing to commit suicide to impose a reign of terror on Israel. This represents the most cunning weapon ever devised. It makes David bigger than Goliath. The Palestinian strategy is brilliant, if demonic. Every day -- until their demands for a homeland are met -- they intend to commit mass murders. By so doing, they will eventually destroy Israel economically as well as psychologically. This has started to happen. An Israeli friend, a Zionist who left Britain in 1948, lives with his wife in a settlement outside Jerusalem. The couple's six children have all left the country and live in either the United States or Europe because they saw no future in the region. A Palestinian friend, a Christian whose siblings live and work in Jerusalem, says his brother's store is no longer frequented by its Israeli customers and must close for lack of business. He doesn't blame the customers who are frightened or angry. He blames the situation and says his brother simply must leave. Flight, and fright, will unravel the prosperity and living standards that Israel has created, miraculously, since its inception in 1948. The only solution is to divide the country into two separate nation-states. This is what the Palestinian terrorists say they want. And this is what Israel virtually agreed to three years ago when its former prime minister offered Yasser Arafat 90% of what he requested. Then Arafat walked and launched his war. And he is, to be perfectly blunt, winning it. That's why Israel has no choice. If two states are not created soon, the world will witness the slow-motion destruction of Israel. That is because the weaponry against it is unassailable. The best intelligence service in the world, Israel's Mossad, cannot prevent these crimes from happening. Our open societies insure that the bombers can never be interdicted. They can never be brought to justice. So all that Israel or the United States or any other victim-country can do is go in with its army and remove or detain those leaders or conspirators who may have harboured and financed the suicide missions. Along the way innocent people sometimes get killed. And when Israel retaliates by sending in the tanks and the troops against people in hovels, it looks like a bully. Immediately, the Arab nations -- and such bleeding heart governments as Canada's -- sign United Nations resolutions condemning Israel's violence. Our External Affairs Minister attacks Israel for killing innocent civilians. Anti-Semites jump for joy. Belgium threatens to indict the Prime Minister of the State of Israel for crimes against humanity. Not Arafat. Bigots jump for joy. Such reactions and resolutions are unjust and intellectually dishonest. There's a world of difference between purposely blowing up families in pizzerias or people at a Seder as opposed to civilian casualties and other collateral damage when an army is hunting down other culprits. But these reactions are also part of the Palestinian arsenal. Israel always appears to be Goliath against Palestinian David, when the opposite is true. This garners sympathy for the Palestinians, giving them some moral ground in the minds of the uninformed. Another wrinkle in this war is the effective manipulation of the media. The day-of publication of the bombers' photographs, complete with details about their lives and last hours, is particularly heart-rending and attention-grabbing. Their photos run besides those of their victims. Sometimes more prominently. In the minds of many, the bombers become victims too, not just perpetrators. Whatever one's take on this unprecedented army of volunteer suicide victims, Israel simply cannot win on any level. It cannot win militarily. It cannot win psychologically. It cannot win politically. And it cannot continue to win economically. The only hope is for the United States and Europe to impose a two-state solution on the region. Then they must back this up by sending in their armies to keep the peace for as long as it takes. dfrancis@nationalpost.com