(an open letter to Ariel Sharon)
When WorldNetDaily staff writer and talk show host Geoff Metcalf
interviewed Joan Peters, the author of the book "From Time
Immemorial," he asked her what she saw "as the most crucial, compelling
challenge in the Mideast right now?" Peters answered:
"The most crucial, compelling problem in the Mideast is standing history
on its feet from its place turned on its head, and trying to get justice
turned back on its feet. The history of the region has been so distorted
by the flames of a politically motivated force. There is no way to right
this unless people just stop and say, "Whoa!" (1).
The Israeli people have made a first step in this direction. The
election of Ariel Sharon was followed by a loud "Whoa!" from the whole
world. His more than landslide victory should be a more than sufficient
reason for Israel to take the second crucial step and finally abrogate
the Oslo agreement. The Israelis are fed up with it. A January Peace
Project survey, which also included the Israeli Arabs, showed that only
"27.8% of the Israelis still support the Oslo agreement, although 72.4%
of them said that they are peace supporters"(2) .
During his pre-election campaign, in an interview with the Orthodox
Jewish weekly Kfar Habad, Sharon announced that the Oslo process is
dead, and the tsunami of the Israeli election brought him to power in
the Jewish state. Now, as the elected leader of Israel, Sharon must
announce the death of the Oslo process to the international community as
well.
The handcuffs and shackles of Oslo must be destroyed and thrown in the
dustbin of history. The truth must be spoken loudly and unequivocally.
The term "peace process" was a blatant lie and the Arabs did not hide
it. Their whole purpose was to bring Israel to its 1967 "Auschwitz
borders" and to flood it with so-called "refugees," thus bringing an end
to the Jewish state.
The Arabs keep repeating this mantra ad nauseam. One can fill dozens
of pages with the statements of Arab leaders declaring it. In the wake
of the Israeli elections Dr. Saeb Erikat, the Palestinian Authority's
Minister of Home Rule, in a meeting with ambassadors from Japan, Turkey,
Romania, Norway and South Africa and EU representative Miguel Moratinos
just did it again, saying that "Israelis must realize that there would
never be regional stability without the return of the refugees to the
homes from which they were evicted, as well as Israeli withdrawal to the
June 1967 lines, first and foremost in Jerusalem"(3).
How terrible it is that it took Israeli leaders seven and a half years
to realize that the Arabs will not compromise on their demands. Dan
Meridor, chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee, spent long hours at Camp David in all sorts of talks with the
Palestinian Arabs
"His abiding impression was of deep, wall-to-wall Palestinian conviction
that Israel has no historical case to justify its existence. It was this
doctrinaire adherence to their view of history, and rejection of the
Jewish view, that convinced Meridor a full, permanent-status deal was
beyond reach. 'It was a laboratory situation,' he says. "Before, I had
my theories. There, I saw that permanent status was not possible'"(4).
Ehud Barak himself admitted the blunder when he said in one of his last
interviews,
"I learned a few things in the past nine months. Because we had these
great experts on the Palestinians who knew for sure where you could cut
a deal. But it turned out that they didn't know. They were wrong.
Because the Palestinians really do have intransigent national
attitudes."(5).
Perhaps the Israeli Jews understood this before their leader and this
is why his defeat in the election was so merciless. It appears that the
voters realized that the only thing Barak still can do, if he stays in
power, is to try to offer something more to Arafat and in response to
have even more murdered and maimed Israelis. Barak also knew that his
efforts were in vain. What can be better proof of this than the
following statement:
"One of two things will happen: Either there will be a settlement along
the lines we put forward, which creates some sort of equilibrium, or at
least it will be clear to honest Israelis from the left that if there is
no settlement, it is because the Palestinians are not ready for a
settlement of two states for two peoples. Because the Palestinians are
still clinging to the 'phased theory' as a practical plan"(5).
Several hours after the news of Sharon's victory stunned the world, CNN
commentators were still arguing trying to determine what Sharon can
offer to the Arabs if they were not even eager to accept all the goodies
offered to them by Barak. It never occurred to them that Sharon will
give the Arabs the one and only commodity that really counts in this
situation. He will offer them PEACE! He will not give them Jerusalem,
or more land in Judea, Samaria or Gaza, or the Golan; he will give them
only peace and nothing else. So it will be peace for peace.
What can be greater than the peace that he will offer to them?
However, if they do not accept it and continue their war against the
Jewish state, which since the beginning of Oslo has taken the lives of
over 530 Israelis, then the Jewish state will finally use all its
formidable military force, and it will be war for war.
By offering the Arabs peace Sharon will start the process of turning
history and justice from its head back onto its feet. It will be a
formidable task to repair the damage inflicted on the truth during the
last several decades. Sharon will need to put Israel's best
propagandistic forces on constant propagandistic assault all over the
world to bring the truth back to life. The term "occupied land" in
reference to the lands of Judea, Samaria and Gaza must be eliminated
from the dictionary of humankind. The term "Palestinians" must be
replaced by the proper term "Palestinian Arabs." The truth must be
spoken about the so-called "refugees." The world must know that they
are a weapon in the hands of the Arab leaders, who have made their lives
miserable, while fighting a 52-year-long war against the Jewish state.
While political analysts are concerned with Sharon's ability to put
together his Cabinet because of the multitude of parties in the Israeli
Knesset, they should rest assured that Sharon has a simple solution to
this problem. It actually does not matter whether he has a national
unity government or a "narrow" Cabinet. The only thing that he must do
after the Government is sworn in, is to declare that he is open to any
vote of no-confidence. Any dissolution of the Knesset will lead to a new
election in which the Likud and the other nationalist parties will only
gain more power.
Sharon should tell the Israelis that he is going to implement a strong,
non-defeatist Zionist policy in order to restore pride and honor to the
Jewish state and the Jewish people. He will restore in the Jews a solid
Zionist ideology, since as he explained, "We are missing basic things
which for other peoples are self-evident. And the fact is that a people
that is not willing to defend what belongs to it cannot, in the end,
withstand any campaign anywhere"(5).
The Oslo process is dead. The era of empty threats is over. Israel
will not be humiliated anymore.
1. "Finding truth in the Mideast ," Geoff Metcalf interviews author,
journalist, historian Joan Peters. 02.04.01.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21579
2. Peace Project January 2001 Survey. IMRA (Independent Media Review &
Analysis). 05/02/01.
3. Official PA radio news- P.B.C. VOP (Voice of Palestine)
Radio-February 3, 2001. http://www.israelbehindthenews.com/
4. Leslie Susser: " Which Way Forward Now?" 01/09/01.
http://www.jrep.com/Israel/Article-5.html
5. Ari Shavit: "Israel According to Sharon". Ha'aretz , 02/02/01.
-------------------------------------------
Boris Shusteff is an engineer. He is also a research associate with the
Freeman Center for Strategic Studies.
When WorldNetDaily staff writer and talk show host Geoff Metcalf
interviewed Joan Peters, the author of the book "From Time
Immemorial," he asked her what she saw "as the most crucial, compelling
challenge in the Mideast right now?" Peters answered:
"The most crucial, compelling problem in the Mideast is standing history
on its feet from its place turned on its head, and trying to get justice
turned back on its feet. The history of the region has been so distorted
by the flames of a politically motivated force. There is no way to right
this unless people just stop and say, "Whoa!" (1).
The Israeli people have made a first step in this direction. The
election of Ariel Sharon was followed by a loud "Whoa!" from the whole
world. His more than landslide victory should be a more than sufficient
reason for Israel to take the second crucial step and finally abrogate
the Oslo agreement. The Israelis are fed up with it. A January Peace
Project survey, which also included the Israeli Arabs, showed that only
"27.8% of the Israelis still support the Oslo agreement, although 72.4%
of them said that they are peace supporters"(2) .
During his pre-election campaign, in an interview with the Orthodox
Jewish weekly Kfar Habad, Sharon announced that the Oslo process is
dead, and the tsunami of the Israeli election brought him to power in
the Jewish state. Now, as the elected leader of Israel, Sharon must
announce the death of the Oslo process to the international community as
well.
The handcuffs and shackles of Oslo must be destroyed and thrown in the
dustbin of history. The truth must be spoken loudly and unequivocally.
The term "peace process" was a blatant lie and the Arabs did not hide
it. Their whole purpose was to bring Israel to its 1967 "Auschwitz
borders" and to flood it with so-called "refugees," thus bringing an end
to the Jewish state.
The Arabs keep repeating this mantra ad nauseam. One can fill dozens
of pages with the statements of Arab leaders declaring it. In the wake
of the Israeli elections Dr. Saeb Erikat, the Palestinian Authority's
Minister of Home Rule, in a meeting with ambassadors from Japan, Turkey,
Romania, Norway and South Africa and EU representative Miguel Moratinos
just did it again, saying that "Israelis must realize that there would
never be regional stability without the return of the refugees to the
homes from which they were evicted, as well as Israeli withdrawal to the
June 1967 lines, first and foremost in Jerusalem"(3).
How terrible it is that it took Israeli leaders seven and a half years
to realize that the Arabs will not compromise on their demands. Dan
Meridor, chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee, spent long hours at Camp David in all sorts of talks with the
Palestinian Arabs
"His abiding impression was of deep, wall-to-wall Palestinian conviction
that Israel has no historical case to justify its existence. It was this
doctrinaire adherence to their view of history, and rejection of the
Jewish view, that convinced Meridor a full, permanent-status deal was
beyond reach. 'It was a laboratory situation,' he says. "Before, I had
my theories. There, I saw that permanent status was not possible'"(4).
Ehud Barak himself admitted the blunder when he said in one of his last
interviews,
"I learned a few things in the past nine months. Because we had these
great experts on the Palestinians who knew for sure where you could cut
a deal. But it turned out that they didn't know. They were wrong.
Because the Palestinians really do have intransigent national
attitudes."(5).
Perhaps the Israeli Jews understood this before their leader and this
is why his defeat in the election was so merciless. It appears that the
voters realized that the only thing Barak still can do, if he stays in
power, is to try to offer something more to Arafat and in response to
have even more murdered and maimed Israelis. Barak also knew that his
efforts were in vain. What can be better proof of this than the
following statement:
"One of two things will happen: Either there will be a settlement along
the lines we put forward, which creates some sort of equilibrium, or at
least it will be clear to honest Israelis from the left that if there is
no settlement, it is because the Palestinians are not ready for a
settlement of two states for two peoples. Because the Palestinians are
still clinging to the 'phased theory' as a practical plan"(5).
Several hours after the news of Sharon's victory stunned the world, CNN
commentators were still arguing trying to determine what Sharon can
offer to the Arabs if they were not even eager to accept all the goodies
offered to them by Barak. It never occurred to them that Sharon will
give the Arabs the one and only commodity that really counts in this
situation. He will offer them PEACE! He will not give them Jerusalem,
or more land in Judea, Samaria or Gaza, or the Golan; he will give them
only peace and nothing else. So it will be peace for peace.
What can be greater than the peace that he will offer to them?
However, if they do not accept it and continue their war against the
Jewish state, which since the beginning of Oslo has taken the lives of
over 530 Israelis, then the Jewish state will finally use all its
formidable military force, and it will be war for war.
By offering the Arabs peace Sharon will start the process of turning
history and justice from its head back onto its feet. It will be a
formidable task to repair the damage inflicted on the truth during the
last several decades. Sharon will need to put Israel's best
propagandistic forces on constant propagandistic assault all over the
world to bring the truth back to life. The term "occupied land" in
reference to the lands of Judea, Samaria and Gaza must be eliminated
from the dictionary of humankind. The term "Palestinians" must be
replaced by the proper term "Palestinian Arabs." The truth must be
spoken about the so-called "refugees." The world must know that they
are a weapon in the hands of the Arab leaders, who have made their lives
miserable, while fighting a 52-year-long war against the Jewish state.
While political analysts are concerned with Sharon's ability to put
together his Cabinet because of the multitude of parties in the Israeli
Knesset, they should rest assured that Sharon has a simple solution to
this problem. It actually does not matter whether he has a national
unity government or a "narrow" Cabinet. The only thing that he must do
after the Government is sworn in, is to declare that he is open to any
vote of no-confidence. Any dissolution of the Knesset will lead to a new
election in which the Likud and the other nationalist parties will only
gain more power.
Sharon should tell the Israelis that he is going to implement a strong,
non-defeatist Zionist policy in order to restore pride and honor to the
Jewish state and the Jewish people. He will restore in the Jews a solid
Zionist ideology, since as he explained, "We are missing basic things
which for other peoples are self-evident. And the fact is that a people
that is not willing to defend what belongs to it cannot, in the end,
withstand any campaign anywhere"(5).
The Oslo process is dead. The era of empty threats is over. Israel
will not be humiliated anymore.
1. "Finding truth in the Mideast ," Geoff Metcalf interviews author,
journalist, historian Joan Peters. 02.04.01.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21579
2. Peace Project January 2001 Survey. IMRA (Independent Media Review &
Analysis). 05/02/01.
3. Official PA radio news- P.B.C. VOP (Voice of Palestine)
Radio-February 3, 2001. http://www.israelbehindthenews.com/
4. Leslie Susser: " Which Way Forward Now?" 01/09/01.
http://www.jrep.com/Israel/Article-5.html
5. Ari Shavit: "Israel According to Sharon". Ha'aretz , 02/02/01.
-------------------------------------------
Boris Shusteff is an engineer. He is also a research associate with the
Freeman Center for Strategic Studies.