Following the failure of U.S. Secretary Powell to get Arafat to agree to a ceasefire, an American official said last night that the U.S. would veto any further United Nations resolutions regarding Israel. \"Washington is tired of resolutions,\" the source said, \"and feels that more action in the Middle East is needed, and less talk in New York [home of the UN].\"
The London-based A-Sharq Al-Ausat Arabic-language paper reports today that Powell, in his meeting yesterday with Arafat, did not even relate to the latter\'s request to have Israel remove the siege around his Ramallah compound. PA sources recounted that Powell talked rudely to Arafat. Powell said yesterday that a cease-fire is unattainable until Israel withdraws from PA-controlled areas, but said that the world is waiting for Arafat to stop \"equivocating\" and to actually put a stop to terrorism.
Journalistic and other observations on Arafat:
\"The Bush administration keeps conferring legitimacy on Yasser Arafat. In the Middle East, \"zero tolerance for terrorism\" becomes \"infinite patience with evil\" in pursuit of an illusory peace... Getting Arafat to disavow terrorism is like going to Al Capone after the St. Valentine\'s Day Massacre and asking him to sign a gun-control petition. The Palestinian chairman is the world\'s longest-running terrorist act --
on which the curtain rang up in 1965. Since he initiated the current bloodbath in September 2000, over 400 Israelis (mostly civilians) have been murdered . Documents the Israelis found in Arafat\'s Ramallah compound show him paying for the slaughter of Passover celebrants, bat mitzvah guests and Jerusalem shoppers...
\"And still the administration engages in its lethal charade. Arafat \"has not consistently opposed or confronted terrorism,\" President George W. Bush said in Rose Garden remarks earlier this month. Newsflash, circa 1944: \"Chancellor Hitler has not consistently opposed or confronted genocide.\" White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer says the president believes the path to peace \"goes through Chairman Arafat.\" ... Arafat is drowning, and the administration is trying to toss him a lifeline... [E]very Israeli advance on the West Bank - every Barghouti captured, every bomb factory put out of business - is a victory for civilization... The road to peace runs not through Arafat, but over his prostrate body.
- Don Feder, jewishworldreview.com
\"...To be fair, Powell [who left Israel yesterday after not getting Arafat to agree to a cease-fire] did manage to calm the situation along Israel\'s northern border, where Hizbullah has been doing its utmost to open up a second front. But even this is unlikely to last very long...
\"Locally, the result of Powell\'s failed mission is likely to be a resurgence of violence and terrorism. By paying two highly publicized visits to Arafat\'s Ramallah compound, Powell tore away the label of \"irrelevant\" that the Sharon government has sought to pin on the Palestinian leader. In this sense, then, the Powell mission was a victory for Arafat, who once again demonstrated he is able to utilize terrorism without fear of painful diplomatic repercussions.
\"Arafat also chalked up another achievement thanks to Powell\'s visit - a sooner than planned Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities such as Jenin and Nablus, which Sharon said on Tuesday would be completed within a week. Though troops remain in Ramallah and Bethlehem, the military pressure on the Palestinians is far less than it was just a week or two ago. While Israeli forces were able to inflict a painful blow on the terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, much of it remains in place, and Gaza\'s has yet to be dealt with at all. Hence, it is only a matter of time before the terrorist organizations are able to regroup and rebuild, something that does not bode well for the future...\"
- Michael Freund, The Jerusalem Post, April 18, 2002
\"The current struggle stems directly from the Palestinian Authority\'s inability and unwillingness to commit to a genuine and lasting peace... The growing tensions in Israel and the Palestinian-held areas were greatly aggravated by the momentous events of September 11. Among other things, this brought about a change in Yasser Arafat. While not losing sight of his long held goals, Arafat also feared that the emergence of Osama bin Laden and his war with the West could lead to Arafat\'s own irrelevance.
With the liberation of Jerusalem and all of Palestine as his unwavering goal, and fearing being pushed to the sidelines by the Islamists, Arafat escalated the violence. By early 2002, he unleashed a spate of terrorism which has reached an all time high, with no end in sight. Israel rightly chose to defend herself against this escalation...
\"Finally, I would like to say, we must not lose sight that under Arafat\'s leadership, the Palestinian people are suffering from economic hardship, instability and a nearly hopeless future. It is my sincere hope that we will see the emergence of a viable Palestinian leadership that in turn, will end the cycle of violence, and bring a lasting peace to the Middle East. A real peace Israel has sacrificed so much to attain.\"
- US Congressman Jim Saxton (R-NJ), speaking this week at an Israeli Embassy reception in honor of Israel\'s 54th Independence Day.
The London-based A-Sharq Al-Ausat Arabic-language paper reports today that Powell, in his meeting yesterday with Arafat, did not even relate to the latter\'s request to have Israel remove the siege around his Ramallah compound. PA sources recounted that Powell talked rudely to Arafat. Powell said yesterday that a cease-fire is unattainable until Israel withdraws from PA-controlled areas, but said that the world is waiting for Arafat to stop \"equivocating\" and to actually put a stop to terrorism.
Journalistic and other observations on Arafat:
\"The Bush administration keeps conferring legitimacy on Yasser Arafat. In the Middle East, \"zero tolerance for terrorism\" becomes \"infinite patience with evil\" in pursuit of an illusory peace... Getting Arafat to disavow terrorism is like going to Al Capone after the St. Valentine\'s Day Massacre and asking him to sign a gun-control petition. The Palestinian chairman is the world\'s longest-running terrorist act --
on which the curtain rang up in 1965. Since he initiated the current bloodbath in September 2000, over 400 Israelis (mostly civilians) have been murdered . Documents the Israelis found in Arafat\'s Ramallah compound show him paying for the slaughter of Passover celebrants, bat mitzvah guests and Jerusalem shoppers...
\"And still the administration engages in its lethal charade. Arafat \"has not consistently opposed or confronted terrorism,\" President George W. Bush said in Rose Garden remarks earlier this month. Newsflash, circa 1944: \"Chancellor Hitler has not consistently opposed or confronted genocide.\" White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer says the president believes the path to peace \"goes through Chairman Arafat.\" ... Arafat is drowning, and the administration is trying to toss him a lifeline... [E]very Israeli advance on the West Bank - every Barghouti captured, every bomb factory put out of business - is a victory for civilization... The road to peace runs not through Arafat, but over his prostrate body.
- Don Feder, jewishworldreview.com
\"...To be fair, Powell [who left Israel yesterday after not getting Arafat to agree to a cease-fire] did manage to calm the situation along Israel\'s northern border, where Hizbullah has been doing its utmost to open up a second front. But even this is unlikely to last very long...
\"Locally, the result of Powell\'s failed mission is likely to be a resurgence of violence and terrorism. By paying two highly publicized visits to Arafat\'s Ramallah compound, Powell tore away the label of \"irrelevant\" that the Sharon government has sought to pin on the Palestinian leader. In this sense, then, the Powell mission was a victory for Arafat, who once again demonstrated he is able to utilize terrorism without fear of painful diplomatic repercussions.
\"Arafat also chalked up another achievement thanks to Powell\'s visit - a sooner than planned Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities such as Jenin and Nablus, which Sharon said on Tuesday would be completed within a week. Though troops remain in Ramallah and Bethlehem, the military pressure on the Palestinians is far less than it was just a week or two ago. While Israeli forces were able to inflict a painful blow on the terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, much of it remains in place, and Gaza\'s has yet to be dealt with at all. Hence, it is only a matter of time before the terrorist organizations are able to regroup and rebuild, something that does not bode well for the future...\"
- Michael Freund, The Jerusalem Post, April 18, 2002
\"The current struggle stems directly from the Palestinian Authority\'s inability and unwillingness to commit to a genuine and lasting peace... The growing tensions in Israel and the Palestinian-held areas were greatly aggravated by the momentous events of September 11. Among other things, this brought about a change in Yasser Arafat. While not losing sight of his long held goals, Arafat also feared that the emergence of Osama bin Laden and his war with the West could lead to Arafat\'s own irrelevance.
With the liberation of Jerusalem and all of Palestine as his unwavering goal, and fearing being pushed to the sidelines by the Islamists, Arafat escalated the violence. By early 2002, he unleashed a spate of terrorism which has reached an all time high, with no end in sight. Israel rightly chose to defend herself against this escalation...
\"Finally, I would like to say, we must not lose sight that under Arafat\'s leadership, the Palestinian people are suffering from economic hardship, instability and a nearly hopeless future. It is my sincere hope that we will see the emergence of a viable Palestinian leadership that in turn, will end the cycle of violence, and bring a lasting peace to the Middle East. A real peace Israel has sacrificed so much to attain.\"
- US Congressman Jim Saxton (R-NJ), speaking this week at an Israeli Embassy reception in honor of Israel\'s 54th Independence Day.