?The sinner should not have any benefit (Ketubot 11a, et. al.).? This principle permeates the entire Talmud. Its logic is apparent: wrongdoing must not be rewarded. Just imagine Osama bin Laden engaging the United States and its allies in diplomatic negotiations that conclude in an agreement that, as long as he and his cohorts refrain from future terrorism, the United States government would permit him to remain in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban. Absurd and immoral, you would say. Well, this is about to happen in the Middle East. Arafat and his band of terrorists will be given a state, which the American and Israeli governments will recognize as legitimate.
Peace would be a great blessing for Israel and the rest of the world. Many of today's newly independent states gained their freedom by revolution and guerrilla warfare. A few emerged as a result of terror tactics. However, if we continue to reward terrorism, we will ultimately discover discontented groups around the world engaging more and more in the kind of terrorism we witnessed on September 11. In the United States alone, there are multiple discontented political groups. They cover the full spectrum, both left and right. Would anyone consider the state of Montana becoming a sovereign entity because racist militias want it? In the 1960's, the Black Panthers were jailed and Patty Hearst's kidnappers were rightfully incarcerated. Currently, a universal policy prohibits negotiations with hijackers. This policy has proven successful in deterring what was at one time an epidemic of hijacking. Yet, now the United Nations and the world's most powerful countries are prepared to cede to the wishes of Yasser Arafat, the father of modern terrorism, and reward him with a state and a legitimate government.
What should we expect of this new Palestine? Will its terrorist leaders turn their swords into plowshares? Will President Bush's wish for Israel and Palestine to live peacefully side by side come true? Or, will the new state follow the paths of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Sudan, nations listed by our State Department as sponsors of terror?
I would certainly not object to a demilitarized and completely democratic Palestinian state governed by those whose hands are not stained with the blood of terror.ism, but corruption, terror and deception became the practiced pattern of the Palestinian Authority since the day it was formed. Israel, foolishly, armed Arafat's so-called "police force" which emerged as an even greater army than the Taliban. Other than a casino in Jericho where thousands of Israeli Jews capriciously indulge Arafat's henchmen with millions of dollars in profit, the Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank could hardly note the difference their self-governance provided. The terrorists fattened their pockets as they fed the masses with hateful incitement against Israel and the United States.
The United States needs a broad coalition of support in its war against terror, but the inclusion of states that sponsor terror is farcical. Worse yet is granting statehood to a group of international hoodlums who use suicide bombings, ambush shootings and outright murder as means to rule and govern their people with an iron fist. The PA offers propaganda and lies instead of food and jobs.
The Oslo Accords were negotiated by Israelis who certainly meant well. It is pointless to attack peace advocates who think it possible to make peace. The issue goes far beyond Israel and the Middle East. It's a matter of life and death for civilization and humanity. Terror must not be rewarded. World leaders must go beyond declarations of war against terror. Terrorism will end when its perpetrators learn that it is bereft of benefit and leads to ostracism by all nations and peoples on earth.
Menachem Begin envisioned an Arab population benefiting from Israel's advanced technology and egalitarian economy, teaching the benefit of democracy and freedom, bereft of hate and terror and drawn to democratic principles and peace. He once shared his ideal with me, "Not land for peace, but food, shelter and life for peace."
For genuine peace, we would consider even more.
-------------------------
Rabbi Grossman is former President of the Rabbinical Council of America and current Chairman of the Board of Religious Zionists of America.
Peace would be a great blessing for Israel and the rest of the world. Many of today's newly independent states gained their freedom by revolution and guerrilla warfare. A few emerged as a result of terror tactics. However, if we continue to reward terrorism, we will ultimately discover discontented groups around the world engaging more and more in the kind of terrorism we witnessed on September 11. In the United States alone, there are multiple discontented political groups. They cover the full spectrum, both left and right. Would anyone consider the state of Montana becoming a sovereign entity because racist militias want it? In the 1960's, the Black Panthers were jailed and Patty Hearst's kidnappers were rightfully incarcerated. Currently, a universal policy prohibits negotiations with hijackers. This policy has proven successful in deterring what was at one time an epidemic of hijacking. Yet, now the United Nations and the world's most powerful countries are prepared to cede to the wishes of Yasser Arafat, the father of modern terrorism, and reward him with a state and a legitimate government.
What should we expect of this new Palestine? Will its terrorist leaders turn their swords into plowshares? Will President Bush's wish for Israel and Palestine to live peacefully side by side come true? Or, will the new state follow the paths of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Sudan, nations listed by our State Department as sponsors of terror?
I would certainly not object to a demilitarized and completely democratic Palestinian state governed by those whose hands are not stained with the blood of terror.ism, but corruption, terror and deception became the practiced pattern of the Palestinian Authority since the day it was formed. Israel, foolishly, armed Arafat's so-called "police force" which emerged as an even greater army than the Taliban. Other than a casino in Jericho where thousands of Israeli Jews capriciously indulge Arafat's henchmen with millions of dollars in profit, the Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank could hardly note the difference their self-governance provided. The terrorists fattened their pockets as they fed the masses with hateful incitement against Israel and the United States.
The United States needs a broad coalition of support in its war against terror, but the inclusion of states that sponsor terror is farcical. Worse yet is granting statehood to a group of international hoodlums who use suicide bombings, ambush shootings and outright murder as means to rule and govern their people with an iron fist. The PA offers propaganda and lies instead of food and jobs.
The Oslo Accords were negotiated by Israelis who certainly meant well. It is pointless to attack peace advocates who think it possible to make peace. The issue goes far beyond Israel and the Middle East. It's a matter of life and death for civilization and humanity. Terror must not be rewarded. World leaders must go beyond declarations of war against terror. Terrorism will end when its perpetrators learn that it is bereft of benefit and leads to ostracism by all nations and peoples on earth.
Menachem Begin envisioned an Arab population benefiting from Israel's advanced technology and egalitarian economy, teaching the benefit of democracy and freedom, bereft of hate and terror and drawn to democratic principles and peace. He once shared his ideal with me, "Not land for peace, but food, shelter and life for peace."
For genuine peace, we would consider even more.
-------------------------
Rabbi Grossman is former President of the Rabbinical Council of America and current Chairman of the Board of Religious Zionists of America.