For the past nine years I've been a staunch, unwavering critic of the so-called ""Peace Camp"" in Israel; ever since that fateful, tragic, deceptively sunny day in September, 1993, when the Jewish leadership sat on the White House lawn, mesmerized by the impossible dream of peace with murderers.
As the Israeli leadership unwittingly signed away the lives of hundreds of its citizens and endangered countless thousands, Israel was transformed by the Oslo process into another Bosnia, with active warfare in the streets of every city, and the number of murders climbing dramatically each year. And as Israel moved closer and closer to the false "peace" position of Israeli retreat to the 1967 indefensible borders, the true Palestinian Arab vision grew clearer; the map on Arafat's wall showed Palestine covering the width and breadth of Israel and the Palestinians were almost there -- they smelled blood, literally and figuratively.
Through it all, the so-called Israeli "Peace Camp" marched in step with the Palestinian terrorists. When Jews were murdered in cold blood, lynched, strangled, beaten beyond recognition, or shot and blown up, where were the shiva - mourning - visits to the grieving families from the leaders of the "Peace Camp"? Where was the sympathy for the thousands of lives destroyed by Oslo - those murdered and wounded, and their families and friends, who will never be the same? Not even an admission of a possible error in judgement - either of strategy or misplaced trust.
But when the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat was confined to his Ramallah compound in retaliation for his active leadership of the terror-murder groups, members of this same so-called "Peace Camp" marched off to visit him with wishes of encouragement. When the Israeli Defense Forces attempted to clear abandoned buildings that were shielding murderers on the path between Hebron and Kiryat Arba (where twelve Israelis had been murdered just days before using these very buildings as shields), members of the so-called "Peace Camp" used all of their resources to block demolition of these abandoned structures.
And the rhetoric against the Jewish State continues unabated, using claims of, above all, "democracy" as its sword. US Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer, and a prior leader of the so-called "Peace Camp" in America, publicly and summarily declares that "Israeli settlement activity cripples chances for real peace", oblivious to the one-sided war waged by the Palestinian Arabs for Israel's destruction. Yossi Beilin, another leader of the so-called "Peace Camp", writes in the New York Times that "a democratic Jewish nation" is guaranteed if a clear border is established, "settlements" are uprooted (and hundreds of thousands of Jews are forced to abandon their cities or face certain death from the terrorists) and a state is given to the Palestinians.
My view has always been that the "Peace Camp" is led by the Don Quixotes of the Jewish world, dreamers who fail or refuse to see the dark realities of hate and bloodshed right in front of their noses. Following the outbreak of the Oslo War in September 2000, when Arafat's PA/PLO army attacked Israel, I believed the leaders of the "Peace Camp" were so invested in the process that they could not reverse course and admit they were wrong - dead wrong. I've written about these theories in previous articles in this and many other publications.
Yet, never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine that the motivation of some of the leaders of this so-called "Peace Camp" could be money - in their pockets!
Let's look at the facts. A private study conducted by author-researcher Rachel Ehrenfeld showed that Arafat used the public relations coup of Oslo to launch a whole new criminal career as a drug trafficker, arms smuggler, money launderer and counterfeiter to help amass a fortune estimated by the British National Criminal Intelligence Services nearly ten years ago at ten billion US dollars. You might think a fortune like that would lead to moderation, but Arafat has every incentive to maintain his terrorist and criminal escapades. After the first year of the two-and-one-half year-old Oslo War, utilizing suicide/homicide bombings and other terrorist tactics against Israel, the Palestinian Authority's annual revenues from donations jumped 80 percent, from $555 million to well over $1 billion. Not surprising Arafat has provided the inspiration and financial model for terrorist groups all over the world, including Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Arafat's PA has survived and flourished since 1993 based on two sources of revenue, reports Ehrenfeld, ?international donors such as the European Union, the Arab states and the United States; and ?criminal enterprises.??
Want to know how much of American taxpayer money goes to fund Arafat? You had better sit down. The US has given $548.7 million in direct aid to the PA, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. But the total sum, according to Ehrenfeld's study, is actually $1.1 billion. The European Union is even crazier than Washington. Altogether, in loans and aid, the EU has provided $2.52 billion to the PA. Then there's the UN, which approved $521.7 million just this year, about 30 percent of which came from the US. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Arafat has taken these "investments" from the West and put them to work in criminal enterprises to create new revenue streams. Ehrenfeld says, "The PA oversees massive counterfeiting of CDs, DVDs, clothing, cosmetics and schoolbooks... The PA oversees the counterfeiting of Israeli, Jordanian and Kuwaiti currency... The PA shakes down ordinary citizens for tribute through kidnappings, extortion, even phony traffic violations... Stealing cars from Israel is rampant in PA territory, and the Palestinian ?government? runs the re-licensing of those cars." Then there's the drug-running, arms-smuggling, etc. It all adds hundreds of millions of dollars to the phantom PA budget.
Where does all this money go? Israeli government estimates say about $1.3 billion went directly into the pockets of Yasser Arafat. So, not only is this man a murdering terrorist, he's a thief. Not only is he a liar, he's a con artist. Not only does he victimize Israelis, he victimizes his own people.
And now the tricky part. One of Israel's main daily newspapers, Maariv, reported that Yossi Ginosar, former head of the General Security Services and the person that all three Labor prime ministers (Rabin, Peres and Barak) entrusted with leadership of their back channel PLO negotiating team, is not just a business associate of PLO intelligence chief Jibril Rajoub (Maariv reported that an owner of the original Jericho casino explained how Ginosar got wind of the project, then in construction, told his friend Rajoub about it, who showed up at the site with his goons and gave the workers 20 minutes to clear out; he then took over the casino with Ginosar) and others in the PLO leadership, but he (together with Arafat subordinates) is also the guardian of Arafat's secret Swiss bank account, into which Arafat transferred these hundreds of millions of donor dollars (at least $300 million according to Maariv). Say it ain't so, Joe (Ginosar)!
And now, there are allegations that "a national scholar" with and spokesman for the Israel Policy Forum in the United States helped Ginosar with the illegal transfers of funds. Maariv also accuses him of "taking a cut" from the cement and gasoline monopolies supplying the Palestinians. Although the "national scholar" has acknowledged his involvement in business dealings with the Palestinians and Ginosar, he has denied the allegations. Nevertheless, there is enough substance that Israel's Attorney General has ordered a full investigation.
So let me get this straight. At best, the Israelis entrusted with peace negotiations with the Palestinians were business partners of the Palestinians and stood to make millions more if "peace" were achieved, at whatever cost. I guess we all know now why Ginosar's Jericho casino continued operating well into the Palestinian Oslo War against the Jews (until the PLObegan using the casino as a staging ground for murder operations). And some of the "leaders" of the "peace groups" in the US were allegedly also partners of the Palestinian murderers, throughout the War against the Jews. And at worst, some of these people were also involved in helping to launder the donor funds into the personal accounts of the corrupt Palestinian Arab leadership.
I don't claim that the motivation of many in the so-called "Peace Camp" was financial; in fact, I am sure most of the leaders of this camp fall into the too na?ve or too "heavily invested" groups mentioned earlier in this article; however, with the strength of the allegations and with the number of people allegedly involved in this scandal mounting daily, the so-called "Peace Camp" might consider a new name, maybe the "Piece Camp" - a piece of this deal and that deal, a piece of this moshav and that "settlement", a piece of you and a piece of me.
--------------------------------------------------------
J. Philip Rosen is the Chairman of American Friends of Likud , a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the Chairman of Media Watch International.
As the Israeli leadership unwittingly signed away the lives of hundreds of its citizens and endangered countless thousands, Israel was transformed by the Oslo process into another Bosnia, with active warfare in the streets of every city, and the number of murders climbing dramatically each year. And as Israel moved closer and closer to the false "peace" position of Israeli retreat to the 1967 indefensible borders, the true Palestinian Arab vision grew clearer; the map on Arafat's wall showed Palestine covering the width and breadth of Israel and the Palestinians were almost there -- they smelled blood, literally and figuratively.
Through it all, the so-called Israeli "Peace Camp" marched in step with the Palestinian terrorists. When Jews were murdered in cold blood, lynched, strangled, beaten beyond recognition, or shot and blown up, where were the shiva - mourning - visits to the grieving families from the leaders of the "Peace Camp"? Where was the sympathy for the thousands of lives destroyed by Oslo - those murdered and wounded, and their families and friends, who will never be the same? Not even an admission of a possible error in judgement - either of strategy or misplaced trust.
But when the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat was confined to his Ramallah compound in retaliation for his active leadership of the terror-murder groups, members of this same so-called "Peace Camp" marched off to visit him with wishes of encouragement. When the Israeli Defense Forces attempted to clear abandoned buildings that were shielding murderers on the path between Hebron and Kiryat Arba (where twelve Israelis had been murdered just days before using these very buildings as shields), members of the so-called "Peace Camp" used all of their resources to block demolition of these abandoned structures.
And the rhetoric against the Jewish State continues unabated, using claims of, above all, "democracy" as its sword. US Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer, and a prior leader of the so-called "Peace Camp" in America, publicly and summarily declares that "Israeli settlement activity cripples chances for real peace", oblivious to the one-sided war waged by the Palestinian Arabs for Israel's destruction. Yossi Beilin, another leader of the so-called "Peace Camp", writes in the New York Times that "a democratic Jewish nation" is guaranteed if a clear border is established, "settlements" are uprooted (and hundreds of thousands of Jews are forced to abandon their cities or face certain death from the terrorists) and a state is given to the Palestinians.
My view has always been that the "Peace Camp" is led by the Don Quixotes of the Jewish world, dreamers who fail or refuse to see the dark realities of hate and bloodshed right in front of their noses. Following the outbreak of the Oslo War in September 2000, when Arafat's PA/PLO army attacked Israel, I believed the leaders of the "Peace Camp" were so invested in the process that they could not reverse course and admit they were wrong - dead wrong. I've written about these theories in previous articles in this and many other publications.
Yet, never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine that the motivation of some of the leaders of this so-called "Peace Camp" could be money - in their pockets!
Let's look at the facts. A private study conducted by author-researcher Rachel Ehrenfeld showed that Arafat used the public relations coup of Oslo to launch a whole new criminal career as a drug trafficker, arms smuggler, money launderer and counterfeiter to help amass a fortune estimated by the British National Criminal Intelligence Services nearly ten years ago at ten billion US dollars. You might think a fortune like that would lead to moderation, but Arafat has every incentive to maintain his terrorist and criminal escapades. After the first year of the two-and-one-half year-old Oslo War, utilizing suicide/homicide bombings and other terrorist tactics against Israel, the Palestinian Authority's annual revenues from donations jumped 80 percent, from $555 million to well over $1 billion. Not surprising Arafat has provided the inspiration and financial model for terrorist groups all over the world, including Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Arafat's PA has survived and flourished since 1993 based on two sources of revenue, reports Ehrenfeld, ?international donors such as the European Union, the Arab states and the United States; and ?criminal enterprises.??
Want to know how much of American taxpayer money goes to fund Arafat? You had better sit down. The US has given $548.7 million in direct aid to the PA, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. But the total sum, according to Ehrenfeld's study, is actually $1.1 billion. The European Union is even crazier than Washington. Altogether, in loans and aid, the EU has provided $2.52 billion to the PA. Then there's the UN, which approved $521.7 million just this year, about 30 percent of which came from the US. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Arafat has taken these "investments" from the West and put them to work in criminal enterprises to create new revenue streams. Ehrenfeld says, "The PA oversees massive counterfeiting of CDs, DVDs, clothing, cosmetics and schoolbooks... The PA oversees the counterfeiting of Israeli, Jordanian and Kuwaiti currency... The PA shakes down ordinary citizens for tribute through kidnappings, extortion, even phony traffic violations... Stealing cars from Israel is rampant in PA territory, and the Palestinian ?government? runs the re-licensing of those cars." Then there's the drug-running, arms-smuggling, etc. It all adds hundreds of millions of dollars to the phantom PA budget.
Where does all this money go? Israeli government estimates say about $1.3 billion went directly into the pockets of Yasser Arafat. So, not only is this man a murdering terrorist, he's a thief. Not only is he a liar, he's a con artist. Not only does he victimize Israelis, he victimizes his own people.
And now the tricky part. One of Israel's main daily newspapers, Maariv, reported that Yossi Ginosar, former head of the General Security Services and the person that all three Labor prime ministers (Rabin, Peres and Barak) entrusted with leadership of their back channel PLO negotiating team, is not just a business associate of PLO intelligence chief Jibril Rajoub (Maariv reported that an owner of the original Jericho casino explained how Ginosar got wind of the project, then in construction, told his friend Rajoub about it, who showed up at the site with his goons and gave the workers 20 minutes to clear out; he then took over the casino with Ginosar) and others in the PLO leadership, but he (together with Arafat subordinates) is also the guardian of Arafat's secret Swiss bank account, into which Arafat transferred these hundreds of millions of donor dollars (at least $300 million according to Maariv). Say it ain't so, Joe (Ginosar)!
And now, there are allegations that "a national scholar" with and spokesman for the Israel Policy Forum in the United States helped Ginosar with the illegal transfers of funds. Maariv also accuses him of "taking a cut" from the cement and gasoline monopolies supplying the Palestinians. Although the "national scholar" has acknowledged his involvement in business dealings with the Palestinians and Ginosar, he has denied the allegations. Nevertheless, there is enough substance that Israel's Attorney General has ordered a full investigation.
So let me get this straight. At best, the Israelis entrusted with peace negotiations with the Palestinians were business partners of the Palestinians and stood to make millions more if "peace" were achieved, at whatever cost. I guess we all know now why Ginosar's Jericho casino continued operating well into the Palestinian Oslo War against the Jews (until the PLObegan using the casino as a staging ground for murder operations). And some of the "leaders" of the "peace groups" in the US were allegedly also partners of the Palestinian murderers, throughout the War against the Jews. And at worst, some of these people were also involved in helping to launder the donor funds into the personal accounts of the corrupt Palestinian Arab leadership.
I don't claim that the motivation of many in the so-called "Peace Camp" was financial; in fact, I am sure most of the leaders of this camp fall into the too na?ve or too "heavily invested" groups mentioned earlier in this article; however, with the strength of the allegations and with the number of people allegedly involved in this scandal mounting daily, the so-called "Peace Camp" might consider a new name, maybe the "Piece Camp" - a piece of this deal and that deal, a piece of this moshav and that "settlement", a piece of you and a piece of me.
--------------------------------------------------------
J. Philip Rosen is the Chairman of American Friends of Likud , a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the Chairman of Media Watch International.