Iraq
as a model for Palestine
by Chuck Chriss
President, JIA
Do
you recognize this scenario? An evil dictator, whose corrupt regime
oppresses and exploits his own people, obtains prohibited weapons
and threatens neighboring countries with armed conflict while supporting
international terrorism. The dictator commits serious human rights
violations, uses lies and propaganda to cover his actions, and brands
his enemies as the source of the problems. The international community
of nations is split between those who see the dictator for the brutal
menace he is vs. those who oppose any action against the dictator
and find ways to heap blame on the democratic countries in conflict
with the dictator.
The above could
describe the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Following the intolerable
attacks of September 11, 2001 the United States entered Afghanistan
with large scale forces and crushed the Taliban, driving their remnants
into the mountains or out of the country. A democratic regime dedicated
to peace and economic development has been installed in Kabul, under
Hamid Karzai. US forces remain in Afghanistan to root out the stragglers
and to protect the fragile new government.
The above could
also describe Saddam Hussein and his regime in Iraq. After exhausting
alternatives short of war, the United States is now leading a coalition
of countries who view Iraq under Hussein as a serious threat that
requires invasion and regime change to crush that threat. Their
goal is to allow for a new government to emerge representing the
people, a government that will pose no international threat. It
is an explicit goal of the American campaign to install a democratic
regime that is committed to peace and economic development — a
continuation of the old government is explicitly rejected. A broad
coalition of nations supports the US-led war, including moderate
Arab regimes.
But the same
scenario also describes Yassir Arafat and his regime in the disputed
territories adjacent to Israel. In order to avoid extinction in
the early 1990s, Arafat and his cronies publicly renounced terrorism
and entered into US-brokered agreements with Israel. But almost
immediately Arafat and the PA armed themselves with types and numbers
of weapons prohibited by the Oslo agreements they signed, building
a huge security apparatus. They continuously failed to carry out
their side of agreements while complaining loudly that Israel was
not in compliance. Terrorism against Israel never stopped and, in
fact, increased. In the same pattern as the US and its coalition
partners, after exhausting the Oslo "Peace Process", and
after suffering a major escalation of violence against them, Israel
has engaged in combat operations in the PA controlled zones, successfully
suppressing (but not eliminating) terrorism against Israel. In operations
that are quite similar to those now on TV live from Iraq, Israel
has entered enemy strongholds and has chosen to use less than maximal
force in order to spare civilian lives and public infrastructure,
at increased risk to IDF soldiers. Israel has paid a terrible price
in casualties for its restraint, as is also the case for the US
in Iraq.
American public
support for the war in Iraq is around 75% favorable and will probably
grow as the demonic nature of the Hussein regime is further revealed.
As Americans and others watch the on-line, real-time war in Iraq
they will hopefully see the parallels with Yassir Arafat’s Palestinian
Arabs:
1. In both cases,
a brutal dictator has suppressed political opposition to hold his
own people hostage to his program of power politics and regional
aggression. Rather than focus on economic cooperation and development,
millions of Palestinian Arabs have been kept in refugee status and
poverty purely as a political lever against Israel, just as millions
of Iraqis have been impoverished and terrorized to maintain the
power of Saddam Hussein.
2. Each regime
is directly and indirectly responsible for violence against its
neighboring countries and internal sub-populations. Iraq attacked
Iran, Kuwait, the Kurds, the Sunnis and others while Arafat has
attacked Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Arab Christians and others while
conducting or supporting terrorist operations all over the Middle
East, Europe and elsewhere.
3. Each regime
is in constant violation of international agreements, twisting their
meaning or ignoring them altogether, while falsely blaming other
countries for violations.
4. Each regime
has acquired prohibited weapons — both the kind of weapons and
the number of weapons. These weapons have been used aggressively
against neighbors, to support terrorism, and to suppress dissent
internally.
5. In both cases,
there has been widespread corruption in their internal affairs.
Arafat has become a billionaire and his cronies live in luxury while
most Palestinian Arabs are impoverished. Saddam Hussein can choose
which palace to inhabit and his armies wax fat (at least until the
US-led attack) while ordinary Iraqis struggle to live.
6. In both PA
controlled areas and in Iraq there have been widespread violations
of human rights. Arafat has suppressed the press, the courts and
the political opposition where he controls. Palestinian Arab thugs
intimidate, torture or kill opponents or alleged "collaborators"
including dragging their bodies through the streets and publicly
displaying the corpses. Terrorists are immune from law enforcement
and are in fact trained and equipped by the regime. Almost the same
list applies to Iraq, with the addition of horrific torture and
rape as a regular method of terror and population control.
Why is it that
Israel is expected to settle with the current Palestinian Arab government
and make major concession to them in the name of "peace"?
Unlike Afghanistan and Iraq there is no requirement to totally crush
and eliminate the current Palestinian Arab government and replace
it with a new, democratic government committed to peace and economic
development. Quite the contrary, the US, Britain, and the "Quartet"
have published a new "road map" promising a Palestinian
state by 2005, with few preconditions. These actions continue to
prop-up the corrupt Arafat regime and show that even inhuman levels
of terrorism against Israel will not cause a loss of international
support for the Palestinian Arabs.
In this vein,
last week the US welcomed the appointment of Mahmoud Abbas (aka
Abu Mazen) as "Prime Minister". Abbas is an Arafat crony,
a Holocaust-denier who expresses a radical position on the "Right
of Return", a highly tainted man who cannot be represented
as a departure from the old regime. He lives in a $1.5 million house
in Ramallah, a sign of his close ties to the existing power structure.
But even though the powers of this "Prime Minister" are
not well defined, and Arafat continues to hold onto key elements,
Abbas’ appointment was widely welcomed as progress in the reform
of the PA.
After the speech
by President Bush in June of 2002, Israel expected that a Palestinian
Arab state would only be discussed again after crucial pre-conditions
were met: the end of terrorism, the end of anti-Israel incitement
in Palestinian Arab schools and propaganda, the emergence of new
democratic institutions to empower the people and end corruption,
and other positive changes. But unlike Iraq, unlike Afghanistan
the Palestinian Arab con game continues at the expense of Israel
with outsiders rushing to endorse a State of Palestine regardless
of reform.
Israel is a
nation under siege. The Palestinian Arabs, backed by other Arab
and Muslim countries, want to destroy Israel. They attack Israel
every day. Every day! The international community clearly supports
the Palestinian Arabs in their attacks; Israel is condemned for
its efforts to defend its people. When it matters enough, the United
States can rise above the international back-stabbing and self-dealing
to do what has to be done for American and world security. Israel
is not so powerful, but deserves and should get the support of all
who support the US-led war in Iraq and War on Terror. The dictatorships
and corrupt monarchs of the Middle East, including Yassir Arafat
and his Palestinian Authority, must be replaced by truly free and
democratic governments of their people, dedicated to economic growth
and human potential. Then peace with Israel will be automatic and
long lasting.
Sources
and additional reading on this topic:
Palestine
Facts
The
dash to Baghdad, George Will
Pax
Americana, Mona Charen
Delivering
Dominoes, Claudia Rosett
Palestinian
PM Better than Arafat, Analysts Say
|