Post by MO on Sept 25, 2003 22:47:46 GMT -5
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34683
Why Oslo has failed
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Posted: September 19, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
This past week marked the 10th anniversary of the Oslo Agreement that set the groundwork for the rapidly folding roadmap to peace.
It is doubtful that the many who watched approvingly as Yitzhak Rabin shook the bloodstained hand of Yasser Arafat on the rose garden lawn expected it to end with the worst wave of terrorism in Israel's history.
I have to admit that I wept when I heard of the Oslo Agreement. I knew exactly where it would lead. I knew that it would only open the doors for thousands of Palestinian terrorists to finally get inside Israel proper with deadly weapons.
In the aftermath, the only thing Israel has learned from this experiment is a lesson for the new generation of Israelis. It was a lesson their fathers were taught in the blood and suffering of five major wars. They learned that peace cannot be negotiated with terrorists. Every prediction made by the political right in 1993 has come true with a vengeance.
The more land Israel turned over, the more Yasser Arafat demanded. The more compromises given, the more Arafat was emboldened to go for all of Jerusalem and the whole of Israel. The restraint Israel has been forced to display because of outside interference – led by the United States and the United Nations – the more the Muslims interpreted it as weakness. And this is the most dangerous miscalculation that can be given to them.
The most enduring obstacle to peace, according to the Palestinians, is Israeli settlements, like the one in Hebron. Isn't it interesting how the ethnic cleansing of their territory of Jews can be an acceptable obstacle to peace to the international community? The Palestinian policy of driving all Jews out of what they call their territory is a blatant demonstration of "ethnic cleansing." Just imagine the international repercussions if Israel sought to ethnically cleanse its territory of all Arabs. Doesn't this make you think about how unbalanced things are? But for most people, this kind of thing just goes right over their heads.
Here is the real problem why Oslo and all other attempts to negotiate peace with the Palestinians have failed. It isn't the Jewish settlements in Hebron that are the obstacle to peace. It is the Jewish settlements in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberius, Caesarea, and everywhere else that are the real barrier to peace, according to the predominant Muslim view. As long as there are Jews anywhere, except floating face down in the Mediterranean, Arafat will call their presence an "obstacle to peace."
Oslo envisioned a Palestinian state emerging after a gradual process of reconciliation. Instead, the opposite has happened. The Palestinian leadership made a strategic decision to create a Palestine not through negotiations, but through blood and fire.
The Palestinian goal of the last three years has been to demoralize the Israeli people through terrorism and force a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the territories.
So far, the Palestinian strategy has failed dismally. The result of Palestinian aggression has been the hardening of Israeli resolve and the near-total destruction of the infrastructure of a future Palestinian state.
And as long as Yasser Arafat remains on his throne in Ramallah, Israel has little choice but to fight the war that is constantly forced upon them. The current war isn't a "cycle of violence." It is the Israeli response to the relentless murder of its civilians by Palestinian terrorists. It is also Israel's necessary response to convince the Palestinians that terrorism will not lead to Israel's destruction, but to the Palestinians'.
Thus far, Israel has shown superhuman restraint. But if Israel is finally forced to fight for its survival, it has the capability of obliterating the Palestinian elements who will not forsake terrorism – including the Muslim patrons of terror in the surrounding countries. And that day is fast approaching.
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Hal Lindsey is the best-selling author of 20 books, including "Late Great Planet Earth." He writes this weekly column exclusively for WorldNetDaily.
Why Oslo has failed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: September 19, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
This past week marked the 10th anniversary of the Oslo Agreement that set the groundwork for the rapidly folding roadmap to peace.
It is doubtful that the many who watched approvingly as Yitzhak Rabin shook the bloodstained hand of Yasser Arafat on the rose garden lawn expected it to end with the worst wave of terrorism in Israel's history.
I have to admit that I wept when I heard of the Oslo Agreement. I knew exactly where it would lead. I knew that it would only open the doors for thousands of Palestinian terrorists to finally get inside Israel proper with deadly weapons.
In the aftermath, the only thing Israel has learned from this experiment is a lesson for the new generation of Israelis. It was a lesson their fathers were taught in the blood and suffering of five major wars. They learned that peace cannot be negotiated with terrorists. Every prediction made by the political right in 1993 has come true with a vengeance.
The more land Israel turned over, the more Yasser Arafat demanded. The more compromises given, the more Arafat was emboldened to go for all of Jerusalem and the whole of Israel. The restraint Israel has been forced to display because of outside interference – led by the United States and the United Nations – the more the Muslims interpreted it as weakness. And this is the most dangerous miscalculation that can be given to them.
The most enduring obstacle to peace, according to the Palestinians, is Israeli settlements, like the one in Hebron. Isn't it interesting how the ethnic cleansing of their territory of Jews can be an acceptable obstacle to peace to the international community? The Palestinian policy of driving all Jews out of what they call their territory is a blatant demonstration of "ethnic cleansing." Just imagine the international repercussions if Israel sought to ethnically cleanse its territory of all Arabs. Doesn't this make you think about how unbalanced things are? But for most people, this kind of thing just goes right over their heads.
Here is the real problem why Oslo and all other attempts to negotiate peace with the Palestinians have failed. It isn't the Jewish settlements in Hebron that are the obstacle to peace. It is the Jewish settlements in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberius, Caesarea, and everywhere else that are the real barrier to peace, according to the predominant Muslim view. As long as there are Jews anywhere, except floating face down in the Mediterranean, Arafat will call their presence an "obstacle to peace."
Oslo envisioned a Palestinian state emerging after a gradual process of reconciliation. Instead, the opposite has happened. The Palestinian leadership made a strategic decision to create a Palestine not through negotiations, but through blood and fire.
The Palestinian goal of the last three years has been to demoralize the Israeli people through terrorism and force a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the territories.
So far, the Palestinian strategy has failed dismally. The result of Palestinian aggression has been the hardening of Israeli resolve and the near-total destruction of the infrastructure of a future Palestinian state.
And as long as Yasser Arafat remains on his throne in Ramallah, Israel has little choice but to fight the war that is constantly forced upon them. The current war isn't a "cycle of violence." It is the Israeli response to the relentless murder of its civilians by Palestinian terrorists. It is also Israel's necessary response to convince the Palestinians that terrorism will not lead to Israel's destruction, but to the Palestinians'.
Thus far, Israel has shown superhuman restraint. But if Israel is finally forced to fight for its survival, it has the capability of obliterating the Palestinian elements who will not forsake terrorism – including the Muslim patrons of terror in the surrounding countries. And that day is fast approaching.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hal Lindsey is the best-selling author of 20 books, including "Late Great Planet Earth." He writes this weekly column exclusively for WorldNetDaily.