What could possibly be gained for three Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv almost two weeks ago? The answer is Israeli retaliation whereby hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinians would be killed by Israel's superior military strength. The more dead Palestinians, the more international support for Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to achieve statehood.
Arafat is losing all credibility. The United States is breathing down his neck. U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Anthony Zinni, whose mediation efforts have been suspended, has reportedly called Arafat the "Godfather" of the Palestinian Authority "mafia" and an "incorrigible liar." Arafat's latest gesture for renewed negotiations in his op-ed piece that ran in the New York Times this past weekend, spewing with more empty promises to crack down on terrorists, is yet another flagrant attempt to sway public opinion to his side. Arafat's "Palestinian Vision of Peace" is diametrically opposed to the suicide bombings that he himself encourages. Just over a week ago, after condemning the second Jerusalem attack in English, Arafat called for millions of martyrs in the battle for Jerusalem, in Arabic, to an Arabic-speaking audience, declaring his own desire to die as a martyr.
U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice described Arafat's opinion piece as "not helpful." She said that if Arafat wants to achieve the vision of peace he outlines, then he needs to go after terrorist networks responsible for the bloody wave of violence in Israel. Instead, Arafat has formed an alliance with the Lebanese-based, Syrian-approved terrorist organization Hezbollah and its patron Iran, the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. There we have it, Israel's axis of evil: the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah and Iran. This alliance was evidenced in last month's Iran-supplied arms shipment of the Karine-A bound for Gaza. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney rightly accuses Arafat of working with Hezbollah and Iran to get the 50-ton supply of weapons for the PA to use against Israel. President Bush says he is disappointed with Arafat over the arms shipment, accusing him of "enhancing" terror.
In fact, the White House is seriously contemplating severing ties with Arafat and his PA, shutting the PLO office in Washington and adding Arafat's Fatah organization, along with his personal security apparatus, Force 17, to the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. Moreover, for the first time, there is no mention of the "cycle of violence." The U.S. stipulates that before peace negotiations can resume, Arafat must crack down on terrorists and acknowledge that the arms shipment was intended for the Palestinians. Yet Arafat denies any knowledge of the ship. No reference to the arms shipment was made in his article appearing in The New York Times.
Despite finally admitting to his connection with Iran and promising "that all links between the PA and Iran will halt" (Ma'ariv), Arafat continues to strengthen his ties with both Hezbollah and Iran, whose aim is to annihilate Israel and create an Islamic empire in the Middle East. Iran's spiritual leaders, the ayatollahs, who are the real source of power in Iran, are committed to the destruction of Israel and call for the liberation of Palestine. They do not consider Palestinian terrorists to be terrorists, because, in their view, these so-called "militants" are merely trying to free their land. It was inevitable that Arafat would eventually hitch up with Iran, recently identified by President Bush, in his state of the union speech, as comprising the world's axis of evil, along with Iraq and North Korea.
Iran, lacking a border with Israel, is using Arafat's PA, as well as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as proxies in the PA-controlled territories to threaten Israel. In the same way, it is using Hezbollah as its proxy army in Lebanon to wage war against northern Israel. Just two weeks ago, Hezbollah fired mortars and anti-tank missiles at IDF positions along Mount Dov in the Golan. Over the weekend, anti-aircraft missiles were fired over northern Israel against IAF planes. According to Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Hezbollah possesses approximately 10,000 ground-to-ground rockets, with a range of between 20-70 kilometers. These rockets came from Iran. They carry conventional explosives, but they could easily be converted to carry chemical or biological agents. Considering the fact that Iran has an excellent missile capability, thanks to China and North Korea, and most probably has nuclear weapons, thanks to Russia, destroying Israel should not be too great a feat. In fact, just this past December, Iran's former president implied that Israel could be the target of an Islamic nuclear attack.
In this radically dangerous context, Hamas has deployed rockets in the West Bank that can target Israeli cities around Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion Airport. The PA is preparing to launch attacks with new advanced weaponry prohibited by the Oslo peace agreements. Israel has warned the PA that any such attacks would result in massive retaliation, which is exactly what Arafat wants. Massive retaliation. Dead Palestinians. Public international support. He wants all of Palestine, meaning, the destruction of the State of Israel. With the help of Iran and Hezbollah, Arafat's goals do not seem too far off.
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Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney is an associate with the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research (CIJR) in Montreal.
Arafat is losing all credibility. The United States is breathing down his neck. U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Anthony Zinni, whose mediation efforts have been suspended, has reportedly called Arafat the "Godfather" of the Palestinian Authority "mafia" and an "incorrigible liar." Arafat's latest gesture for renewed negotiations in his op-ed piece that ran in the New York Times this past weekend, spewing with more empty promises to crack down on terrorists, is yet another flagrant attempt to sway public opinion to his side. Arafat's "Palestinian Vision of Peace" is diametrically opposed to the suicide bombings that he himself encourages. Just over a week ago, after condemning the second Jerusalem attack in English, Arafat called for millions of martyrs in the battle for Jerusalem, in Arabic, to an Arabic-speaking audience, declaring his own desire to die as a martyr.
U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice described Arafat's opinion piece as "not helpful." She said that if Arafat wants to achieve the vision of peace he outlines, then he needs to go after terrorist networks responsible for the bloody wave of violence in Israel. Instead, Arafat has formed an alliance with the Lebanese-based, Syrian-approved terrorist organization Hezbollah and its patron Iran, the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. There we have it, Israel's axis of evil: the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah and Iran. This alliance was evidenced in last month's Iran-supplied arms shipment of the Karine-A bound for Gaza. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney rightly accuses Arafat of working with Hezbollah and Iran to get the 50-ton supply of weapons for the PA to use against Israel. President Bush says he is disappointed with Arafat over the arms shipment, accusing him of "enhancing" terror.
In fact, the White House is seriously contemplating severing ties with Arafat and his PA, shutting the PLO office in Washington and adding Arafat's Fatah organization, along with his personal security apparatus, Force 17, to the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. Moreover, for the first time, there is no mention of the "cycle of violence." The U.S. stipulates that before peace negotiations can resume, Arafat must crack down on terrorists and acknowledge that the arms shipment was intended for the Palestinians. Yet Arafat denies any knowledge of the ship. No reference to the arms shipment was made in his article appearing in The New York Times.
Despite finally admitting to his connection with Iran and promising "that all links between the PA and Iran will halt" (Ma'ariv), Arafat continues to strengthen his ties with both Hezbollah and Iran, whose aim is to annihilate Israel and create an Islamic empire in the Middle East. Iran's spiritual leaders, the ayatollahs, who are the real source of power in Iran, are committed to the destruction of Israel and call for the liberation of Palestine. They do not consider Palestinian terrorists to be terrorists, because, in their view, these so-called "militants" are merely trying to free their land. It was inevitable that Arafat would eventually hitch up with Iran, recently identified by President Bush, in his state of the union speech, as comprising the world's axis of evil, along with Iraq and North Korea.
Iran, lacking a border with Israel, is using Arafat's PA, as well as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as proxies in the PA-controlled territories to threaten Israel. In the same way, it is using Hezbollah as its proxy army in Lebanon to wage war against northern Israel. Just two weeks ago, Hezbollah fired mortars and anti-tank missiles at IDF positions along Mount Dov in the Golan. Over the weekend, anti-aircraft missiles were fired over northern Israel against IAF planes. According to Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Hezbollah possesses approximately 10,000 ground-to-ground rockets, with a range of between 20-70 kilometers. These rockets came from Iran. They carry conventional explosives, but they could easily be converted to carry chemical or biological agents. Considering the fact that Iran has an excellent missile capability, thanks to China and North Korea, and most probably has nuclear weapons, thanks to Russia, destroying Israel should not be too great a feat. In fact, just this past December, Iran's former president implied that Israel could be the target of an Islamic nuclear attack.
In this radically dangerous context, Hamas has deployed rockets in the West Bank that can target Israeli cities around Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion Airport. The PA is preparing to launch attacks with new advanced weaponry prohibited by the Oslo peace agreements. Israel has warned the PA that any such attacks would result in massive retaliation, which is exactly what Arafat wants. Massive retaliation. Dead Palestinians. Public international support. He wants all of Palestine, meaning, the destruction of the State of Israel. With the help of Iran and Hezbollah, Arafat's goals do not seem too far off.
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Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney is an associate with the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research (CIJR) in Montreal.