Can words be used as a weapon? The Palestinian Authority seems to think so. In mantra-like fashion, their leaders and spokespersons continue to attribute the incessant violence in the area to the ?occupation? of the West Bank and Gaza. Just give us back our land, they say, and peace will surely be attained.
Terrorists kill. Terrorists also lie.
When Osama Bin Laden describes the American effort in Afghanistan as an ?unprecedented war crime,? he distorts reality and twists the truth no less than those Palestinian leaders who cleverly warp words to justify their evil deeds. Take, for example, Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti when he speaks of an assumed Israeli ?assassination? of an ?activist? under his command.
Here is what this ?activist? (Raed Karmi) had to say to CNN on August 23, 2001:
"We train the teenagers to carry out terrorist attacks inside Israeli territory. We train 17- and 18-year-olds to attack settlers, kidnap soldiers from inside Israel."
Karmi, a member of the Tanzim militia, participated in some of the most vile and vicious attacks in the last year and a half of Palestinian-initiated violence. Among his dubious achievements was the abduction and murders of Motti Dayan and Etgar Zeitouny on January 23, 2001 as they were dining innocently in a Palestinian restaurant. Yet Karmi?s terrorism did not begin or end with these killings. He went on to participate in and plan other actions, including recently attempted suicide attacks. Karmi?s activities were part of the reason Israel considered him to be a ?ticking bomb? and asked the Palestinian Authority to arrest him. According to the Palestinians, Karmi was in custody at the time of his death. So much for the truth when it comes to terrorists and those that support them. Israel has not ?assassinated? any innocents, unless one can say that there are innocent terrorists.
The Palestinian Authority?s Fatah, Tanzim and Force 17 carry out acts of murder against civilians, all the while presenting themselves as ?freedom fighters?. Those that declare, ?We have done every thing in our power and have presented our credentials as peace seekers and builders?? (WAFA-Palestinian News Service, 1/15/2002) simply do not tell it as it is. In the two weeks prior to that statement, Israel suffered 78 terror-related incidents. The day following the statement, another Fatah ?activist? killed 6 Israelis at a birthday party for a 12-year old girl. The only ?peace building? efforts most Israelis see being generated by the Palestinian leadership are those that, like the illegal smuggling of arms on the Karine-A, lead to violence, incitement and the deaths of countless Israelis and Palestinians.
As we know from history, however, repeat a lie long enough and with enough conviction and it eventually is perceived as the truth. Palestinians speak of an ?occupation?, but fail to note that it began after an Arab-initiated war, in 1967, in which Israel was forced to defend itself. Since then, treaties on a ?land for peace? formula were completed with both Egypt and Jordan. When Palestinians claim they are asking for only 22% of historic Palestine, they fail to note that 78% of the land offered the Jewish people in the Balfour Declaration is occupied not by Israel, but by another Arab state, namely Jordan. The source of the conflict is not the occupation of what Palestinians argue is their land, but rather a long history of Arab recalcitrance and refusal to accept the presence of a sovereign, Jewish state.
In contrast, Israel?s willingness to live in peace alongside an independent Palestinian neighbor has been consistent since it accepted U.N. resolution 181 in 1947, agreeing to the partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab homelands. What Israel accepted, the Arabs did not. The historical reality is that violence and terror against the Jewish state existed from before it?s inception and was not a result of the 1967 war. That simple truth is driven home with every shooting, mortar round and suicide attack that Israelis experience.
It is often said that truth is the first casualty of war. In the war the world is now waging against terrorism, we need to be vigilant in ensuring that terrorists do not achieve through words what they have failed to achieve through violence.
-------------------------------
I. J. Mansdorf is the coordinator of the Israel Citizens Information Council, an initiative of Israel?s ?Yisrael B?Aliya? party, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky.
Terrorists kill. Terrorists also lie.
When Osama Bin Laden describes the American effort in Afghanistan as an ?unprecedented war crime,? he distorts reality and twists the truth no less than those Palestinian leaders who cleverly warp words to justify their evil deeds. Take, for example, Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti when he speaks of an assumed Israeli ?assassination? of an ?activist? under his command.
Here is what this ?activist? (Raed Karmi) had to say to CNN on August 23, 2001:
"We train the teenagers to carry out terrorist attacks inside Israeli territory. We train 17- and 18-year-olds to attack settlers, kidnap soldiers from inside Israel."
Karmi, a member of the Tanzim militia, participated in some of the most vile and vicious attacks in the last year and a half of Palestinian-initiated violence. Among his dubious achievements was the abduction and murders of Motti Dayan and Etgar Zeitouny on January 23, 2001 as they were dining innocently in a Palestinian restaurant. Yet Karmi?s terrorism did not begin or end with these killings. He went on to participate in and plan other actions, including recently attempted suicide attacks. Karmi?s activities were part of the reason Israel considered him to be a ?ticking bomb? and asked the Palestinian Authority to arrest him. According to the Palestinians, Karmi was in custody at the time of his death. So much for the truth when it comes to terrorists and those that support them. Israel has not ?assassinated? any innocents, unless one can say that there are innocent terrorists.
The Palestinian Authority?s Fatah, Tanzim and Force 17 carry out acts of murder against civilians, all the while presenting themselves as ?freedom fighters?. Those that declare, ?We have done every thing in our power and have presented our credentials as peace seekers and builders?? (WAFA-Palestinian News Service, 1/15/2002) simply do not tell it as it is. In the two weeks prior to that statement, Israel suffered 78 terror-related incidents. The day following the statement, another Fatah ?activist? killed 6 Israelis at a birthday party for a 12-year old girl. The only ?peace building? efforts most Israelis see being generated by the Palestinian leadership are those that, like the illegal smuggling of arms on the Karine-A, lead to violence, incitement and the deaths of countless Israelis and Palestinians.
As we know from history, however, repeat a lie long enough and with enough conviction and it eventually is perceived as the truth. Palestinians speak of an ?occupation?, but fail to note that it began after an Arab-initiated war, in 1967, in which Israel was forced to defend itself. Since then, treaties on a ?land for peace? formula were completed with both Egypt and Jordan. When Palestinians claim they are asking for only 22% of historic Palestine, they fail to note that 78% of the land offered the Jewish people in the Balfour Declaration is occupied not by Israel, but by another Arab state, namely Jordan. The source of the conflict is not the occupation of what Palestinians argue is their land, but rather a long history of Arab recalcitrance and refusal to accept the presence of a sovereign, Jewish state.
In contrast, Israel?s willingness to live in peace alongside an independent Palestinian neighbor has been consistent since it accepted U.N. resolution 181 in 1947, agreeing to the partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab homelands. What Israel accepted, the Arabs did not. The historical reality is that violence and terror against the Jewish state existed from before it?s inception and was not a result of the 1967 war. That simple truth is driven home with every shooting, mortar round and suicide attack that Israelis experience.
It is often said that truth is the first casualty of war. In the war the world is now waging against terrorism, we need to be vigilant in ensuring that terrorists do not achieve through words what they have failed to achieve through violence.
-------------------------------
I. J. Mansdorf is the coordinator of the Israel Citizens Information Council, an initiative of Israel?s ?Yisrael B?Aliya? party, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky.