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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lou Weed who wrote (101372)	6/13/2003 12:26:34 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

Mythical Cycle by Elliot Chodoff We suppose it was predictable that the media would attribute the murderous terrorist bombing yesterday in Jerusalem which left 16 dead and some 100 wounded to retaliation for the failed IDF attempt to eliminate Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi. Having created the myth of the "cycle of violence" the commentators must feel compelled to justify it even when the facts don't really fit. The idea that the violence in Israel is somehow a result of both sides' intransigence has been repeated so often that it has taken on a life of its own. Built into the "cycle" myth is the contention that if either side would only step back and break the cycle, the violence would end. There is only one problem with this quick fix to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: there is no cycle of violence. There is a terrorist war directed at Israel and attempts to murder Israelis continue regardless of Israeli policy and actions. Yesterday's bus bombing is a case in point. Hamas, for obvious reasons, claimed that the attack was in retaliation for the IDF attack on Rantisi. The media reported this claim as truth, utterly ignoring the fact that the bomber left Hebron for his mission two days before the attack on Rantisi. So either the terrorist was blessed with an extremely impressive case of prophetic vision, or the attack in Jerusalem would have occurred regardless of the Israeli action in Gaza. The fact remains that there have been and continue to be some 60 alert warnings of terrorist attacks in progress against Israel. Only IDF activity keeps the success rate as low as it is. Does anyone really believe that if the IDF ceased all activity that Hamas and friends would stop their attacks on Israelis? They say they won't. Rantisi says that attacks will continue until the last Jew leaves Palestine (=Israel). Should he not be taken seriously? Predictably, the New York Times added an extreme spin to the cycle of violence, blaming it all on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ("Downward Spiral in the Mideast" NY Times, June 12, 2003). While noting that "The deadliest blows so far have come from Palestinian terrorists," the Times goes on to say that "the gravest political damage is being done by Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, whose reflexive military responses to terror threatens to undermine the authority of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen, -EC), the moderate new Palestinian prime minister." Just so that we understand, the problem is not terrorists killing innocent civilians, it is Israel's military action against terrorism. We noted recently ("Talking the Talk," Archives, June 5, 2003) that Abu Mazen's renunciation of terror was good thing, but he needed to back up his words with action. The Times' view is that Abu Mazen's words should be backed by Israeli inaction. The Times cites the fact that Abu Mazen has spoken the magic words, renouncing terror, as sufficient to take him at face value and cease military operations. "To build a Palestinian political consensus against terror," the Times tells us, "Mr. Abbas needs to show his people that his conciliatory words have brought a change in Israeli behavior." In the meantime, let's not let a few murdered Israelis get in the way of a good road map. chodoff.blogspot.com