[Part one of this article can be read at http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=4685.]
Despite all that was known about Yasser Arafat's chicanery, corruption and support for violence, he was still given the royal treatment when he lay on his deathbed in a Paris Hospital in November, 2004. Well-wishers from around the world came to lay flowers outside his hospital room. There were even more flowers for his royal funerals in Paris, Cairo and Ramallah.
But where are the flowers for the thousands of Israelis that he left maimed and disfigured, who have to struggle for the rest of their lives with prosthetics and wheelchairs?
Where are the flowers for the 21 teenagers who were killed while waiting on line to enter a disco?
Where are the flowers for the Gaza schoolteacher whose pregnant wife and four daughters were shot at close range by Arafat's terrorists?
Where are the flowers for the woman who lost both her mother and her daughter in one bombing incident? The little girl's body was splattered not only with her blood, but also with the ice cream that her grandmother bought for her as they shared a summer day together.
Where are the flowers for the woman who was pregnant with twins and was killed with her husband after returning joyfully from a visit to the gynecologist?
Where are the flowers for the hematologist who was killed on the way to the hospital to treat both Arab and Jewish patients?
Where are the flowers for the renowned trauma physician who was killed with his daughter the night before her wedding?
Those flowers have long wilted and gone. But the flowers for Yasser Arafat are still fresh and vibrant. Dignitaries from around the world are rushing to Ramallah to curry favor with the new Palestinian Authority leadership and place a wreath on Arafat's tomb. Jimmy Carter is still a champion of the Palestinian cause and was selected to supervise the recent elections. He was filmed visiting Arafat's tomb to pay his respects. Peter Hansen never apologized for his accusations about Israeli massacres in Jenin and even justified having Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll. The European Union promised to contribute a lot of money to develop the Gaza Strip, but only after the Israeli communities are removed. Wouldn't it make more sense to develop the Gaza Strip with both Arabs and Jews, so it could become a model for peaceful coexistence and mutual cooperation? Similarly, James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, wants to give the Palestinians an additional $500 million per year, over the $930 million per year that they are currently receiving in international aid. He wants to do this after Israel removes checkpoints and closures, in order to "restore the possibility of hope for young Palestinians." He hasn't offered to restore any hope for the young citizens of Sderot, who live under a constant barrage of Kassam rockets that are shot by young Palestinians.
Despite all that is known about the financial abuse in the Palestinian Authority, why is the whole world so eager to throw more money at them? At the same time, the tiny State of Israel - which is a barely visible speck on the face of the Earth, but an acknowledged leader in science research, technology and health care - has become the focus of world censure and enmity. The whole world seems eager to carve it up and feed it to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. There are two possible solutions to this enigma. The first is that we're all living in Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, where good and evil, right and wrong are all confused in a mixture of fantasy, reality and imagination. The other possibility is that we are all living in the current chapter of the long saga of the persecution and harassment of the Jew.
One has only to browse through Abba Eban's Heritage: Civilization and the Jews to learn that in the last 1,000 years, there was hardly a day when Jews somewhere in Europe, Russia or the Mediterranean weren't tormented, persecuted, slandered, harassed or defamed. The history of the Jew in the last 1,000 years is replete with tortures, Inquisitions, massacres, persecutions, blood libels, expulsions, pogroms and exterminations. But today there is a more politically correct way to hate Jews. One can say, "I have nothing against Jews, I'm only against Israel's expansionist policies and its oppression of the Palestinian people." Another popular saying is, "I'm only against those Biblical fanatics who believe that they have a God-given right to occupy Palestinian lands." These people would like the Arab Muslims to have 23 Judenrein states, while Jews should be confined to a miniscule area with indefensible borders, which they should share with hostile Arabs.
Jews must understand that the continued vilification and demonization of the miniscule State of Israel, combined with an outpouring of sympathy for the "plight of the Palestinians", has nothing to do with occupation, settlements or refugees. These are issues which could have been easily resolved a long time ago by partners willing to compromise at a negotiating table. Israel has made many offers to return land in exchange for true peace, but the Arabs "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity." Instead of encouraging the resolution of these issues through negotiated compromise, the world keeps pumping more money into a Palestinian Authority that uses it to incite more violence from its mosques, classrooms, media and websites.
The world has already become enamored with the new leader of the Palestinian Authority. He earned the appellation of being a "moderate" because he wears an American-style suit and tie, and wants to destroy Israel slowly and non-violently.
Everyone knows that a tiny, fragmented Palestinian State on the West Bank and Gaza would not be physically or economically viable. There are too many barriers to overcome before there could be mutual cooperation like there is among the European nations. The two biggest employers in the Palestinian areas are the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, both of which get almost all their funds from international contributions. Instead of resettling the Palestinians into areas with lower population densities, where they could become more self-sufficient, the world still insists on supporting the concept of a tiny, fragmented, overcrowded, Palestinian State that would only serve as two thorns on both sides of the State of Israel. The Palestinian State would be declared Judenrein and act as pincers to squeeze the Jewish State to death.
The State of Israel would be in a constant struggle to defend its citizens until they all have to flee for their safety. That is what the enemies of Israel want.
[Part 2 of 2]
Despite all that was known about Yasser Arafat's chicanery, corruption and support for violence, he was still given the royal treatment when he lay on his deathbed in a Paris Hospital in November, 2004. Well-wishers from around the world came to lay flowers outside his hospital room. There were even more flowers for his royal funerals in Paris, Cairo and Ramallah.
But where are the flowers for the thousands of Israelis that he left maimed and disfigured, who have to struggle for the rest of their lives with prosthetics and wheelchairs?
Where are the flowers for the 21 teenagers who were killed while waiting on line to enter a disco?
Where are the flowers for the Gaza schoolteacher whose pregnant wife and four daughters were shot at close range by Arafat's terrorists?
Where are the flowers for the woman who lost both her mother and her daughter in one bombing incident? The little girl's body was splattered not only with her blood, but also with the ice cream that her grandmother bought for her as they shared a summer day together.
Where are the flowers for the woman who was pregnant with twins and was killed with her husband after returning joyfully from a visit to the gynecologist?
Where are the flowers for the hematologist who was killed on the way to the hospital to treat both Arab and Jewish patients?
Where are the flowers for the renowned trauma physician who was killed with his daughter the night before her wedding?
Those flowers have long wilted and gone. But the flowers for Yasser Arafat are still fresh and vibrant. Dignitaries from around the world are rushing to Ramallah to curry favor with the new Palestinian Authority leadership and place a wreath on Arafat's tomb. Jimmy Carter is still a champion of the Palestinian cause and was selected to supervise the recent elections. He was filmed visiting Arafat's tomb to pay his respects. Peter Hansen never apologized for his accusations about Israeli massacres in Jenin and even justified having Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll. The European Union promised to contribute a lot of money to develop the Gaza Strip, but only after the Israeli communities are removed. Wouldn't it make more sense to develop the Gaza Strip with both Arabs and Jews, so it could become a model for peaceful coexistence and mutual cooperation? Similarly, James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, wants to give the Palestinians an additional $500 million per year, over the $930 million per year that they are currently receiving in international aid. He wants to do this after Israel removes checkpoints and closures, in order to "restore the possibility of hope for young Palestinians." He hasn't offered to restore any hope for the young citizens of Sderot, who live under a constant barrage of Kassam rockets that are shot by young Palestinians.
Despite all that is known about the financial abuse in the Palestinian Authority, why is the whole world so eager to throw more money at them? At the same time, the tiny State of Israel - which is a barely visible speck on the face of the Earth, but an acknowledged leader in science research, technology and health care - has become the focus of world censure and enmity. The whole world seems eager to carve it up and feed it to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. There are two possible solutions to this enigma. The first is that we're all living in Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, where good and evil, right and wrong are all confused in a mixture of fantasy, reality and imagination. The other possibility is that we are all living in the current chapter of the long saga of the persecution and harassment of the Jew.
One has only to browse through Abba Eban's Heritage: Civilization and the Jews to learn that in the last 1,000 years, there was hardly a day when Jews somewhere in Europe, Russia or the Mediterranean weren't tormented, persecuted, slandered, harassed or defamed. The history of the Jew in the last 1,000 years is replete with tortures, Inquisitions, massacres, persecutions, blood libels, expulsions, pogroms and exterminations. But today there is a more politically correct way to hate Jews. One can say, "I have nothing against Jews, I'm only against Israel's expansionist policies and its oppression of the Palestinian people." Another popular saying is, "I'm only against those Biblical fanatics who believe that they have a God-given right to occupy Palestinian lands." These people would like the Arab Muslims to have 23 Judenrein states, while Jews should be confined to a miniscule area with indefensible borders, which they should share with hostile Arabs.
Jews must understand that the continued vilification and demonization of the miniscule State of Israel, combined with an outpouring of sympathy for the "plight of the Palestinians", has nothing to do with occupation, settlements or refugees. These are issues which could have been easily resolved a long time ago by partners willing to compromise at a negotiating table. Israel has made many offers to return land in exchange for true peace, but the Arabs "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity." Instead of encouraging the resolution of these issues through negotiated compromise, the world keeps pumping more money into a Palestinian Authority that uses it to incite more violence from its mosques, classrooms, media and websites.
The world has already become enamored with the new leader of the Palestinian Authority. He earned the appellation of being a "moderate" because he wears an American-style suit and tie, and wants to destroy Israel slowly and non-violently.
Everyone knows that a tiny, fragmented Palestinian State on the West Bank and Gaza would not be physically or economically viable. There are too many barriers to overcome before there could be mutual cooperation like there is among the European nations. The two biggest employers in the Palestinian areas are the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, both of which get almost all their funds from international contributions. Instead of resettling the Palestinians into areas with lower population densities, where they could become more self-sufficient, the world still insists on supporting the concept of a tiny, fragmented, overcrowded, Palestinian State that would only serve as two thorns on both sides of the State of Israel. The Palestinian State would be declared Judenrein and act as pincers to squeeze the Jewish State to death.
The State of Israel would be in a constant struggle to defend its citizens until they all have to flee for their safety. That is what the enemies of Israel want.
[Part 2 of 2]