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Politics : Moderate Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (11582)	6/14/2004 1:48:41 PM
From: Amots	Respond to of 20773

O.K so since mine is not trustworthy, here is someone else opinion on the SECURITY WALL (which I don't support in the current location) : The End of the Intifada? June 11, 2004 By the time this paper hits the newsstands, there may have been another suicide bombing. But despite this disclaimer it appears Israel has won this round of the war against Hamas, heralding what might be the end of the second "intifada." There has been no successful suicide attack in over three months. Last year, there were 20 attacks, killing 141 people. This year, there have been only two, in which 19 died. Israel has all but decapitated Hamas, greatly crippling its operational capabilities. And the security barrier has made it infinitely more difficult for suicide bombers to reach their targets. Those who still try are usually intercepted, thanks to improved intelligence. Much of the Western media and Europe's policy elite routinely condemn Israel for its counterterrorism measures. These "illegal" and "excessive" actions will only strengthen the radical forces among the Palestinians, they gloomily predict. Luckily, Israel has ignored them. Let's look at Israel's policy of "targeted killings." Europe predicted the elimination of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin would only lead to more bloodshed. Hamas dutifully provided the saber rattling for Europe's dark prophecies. It promised to "open the gates of hell" but before they could even scramble for the keys, Israel killed Yassin's successor. "The leadership is spending all its energy on hiding, which greatly complicates any sort of sophisticated planning," Shmuel Bar from the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya told us. Or take last month's raid on the weapons-smuggling tunnels in Rafah. A Reuters story from Monday depicts how rather than raising the popularity of Palestinian extremists, as the critics warned, Israel's determined action isolated them. "Communal support for the smugglers has cooled . . . residents are turning on the tunnel men." The raids also succeeded in disrupting the arms supply for terrorists. As Reuters reports in the same story, "the cost of a Kalashnikov bullet has doubled recently to 30 shekels." The security barrier Israel is building has been equally effective. "How does it help to continue with this wall," EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten asked back in October. Maybe he should pay a visit to the Gilboa region. This area used to see 600 terrorist incidents per year; now, the number of attacks is zero. But it's not only Israelis who benefit from this strategy; it also makes life easier for the average Palestinian. Consider the city of Jenin. More than 25 suicide bombers have come from this town. The barrier has helped to stop this death-dealing flow and Israeli troops no longer have to patrol this town. As a result, "there is 70% more nightlife in Jenin than a year ago," Palestinian Legislative Council member Hader Abu Sheikh told the Jerusalem Post. Adds the director-general of the city's chamber of commerce, Ziad Mifleh: "There are positive business indicators, as people are starting to think of capital and investment and commerce again." Contrary to popular "root cause" mythology, it is not poverty that breeds terrorism but the other way around: terrorism breeds poverty. With the violence now down, the economy will improve. Some 2,500 Palestinians from Jenin are allowed again to enter Israel to work. The security barrier does of course bring some hardship to Palestinian farmers who might be cut off from their land or find themselves encircled by barbed wire. But private land is only requisitioned, not confiscated and remains the property of the landowner who receives compensation. Also, Israel has already shortened the planned length of the barrier by about 100 km to ease the difficulties for Palestinians. The Israeli Supreme Court has delayed the completion of the fence as it hears complaints from Palestinians. The relative quiet also paved the way for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. Without the success in the fight against terror, it would have been impossible to contemplate the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas would have claimed this move as its victory and gained enormous strength. The Europeans first greeted the plan with skepticism but then embraced it as the only game in town. Will they also acknowledge how wrong they were in their criticism of Israel's antiterror measures? Don't hold your breath. URL for this article: online.wsj.com Copyright 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved