Amid problems with Iran, a United Nations force in Lebanon that will act yet again to limit Israeli defensive actions and not interfere with Hizbullah, an alleged peace process going nowhere between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, and so forth, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to return to the Middle East. Solid reports state that she poured forth harsh and relentless demands on the Jews during one of her former visits, including demands that they supply their sworn enemies with arms.
Tigers don't change their stripes, nor leopards their spots.
Anyone who believes that the Jewish State should not only exist but also thrive, and has been following events since the Arab population elected Hamas - an organization openly dedicated to Israel's destruction - has some serious cause for concern. And not because of Hamas's political triumph.
As I've often written, the ascendancy of Hamas has been, in many ways, a good thing. Honesty really is better than lies.
The problem, however, is the continuing tendency to portray the West's darling, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, and his fellow Arafatians as the good guys, whom Israel should be missing right now. We daily read about alleged ideological differences between the Hamas and the Fatah disembowelers of Jews.
This is beyond misleading. It is an outright lie, as anyone who has ever visited any of the alleged "good cop" Abbas and Fatah websites, read any of the Palestinian Authority's textbooks, examined their maps, visited their children's camps, seen their plays, or listened to their imams in the mosques, or on the radio and television, could tell you.
Indeed, one could imagine a scenario wherein Israel is currently being set up for a return of its "good buddy" Abbas, and pressured to bend over backwards to prop him up - to keep the "bad cop" Hamas away. The State Department has done this before.
The most that Abbas previously offered was the same that his former master puppeteer did - Yasser Arafat's famous "peace of the Quraysh": a temporary hudna until the Arabs were strong enough to level the final blow against the Jews.
Very dangerous.
Consider the following for starters.
A translation by the highly respected Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on July 3, 2003 presented an interview with Ahmed Qurei' (known as Abu Alaa), who was running the Fatah show in the wake of Arafat's death. When he was asked about the Arabs' problem with having the word "Jewish" placed in front of the words "State of Israel" at the summits leading up to the roadmap, here was his response: "What is the meaning of a Jewish state? Do we say... Sunni state... Shi'ite state... Christian state? These are definitions that will bring... turmoil."
Qurei', and now President Abbas, sweet-talking Arafatians in suits, both held the same positions regarding a Jewish State. Fatah's founding charter is no different than Hamas's when it comes to this point. The honey-coating is for Western consumption only, to get the latter to squeeze the Jews harder for one-sided concessions. That's what "Middle East diplomacy" amounts to for Jews.
Abbas earlier openly ran on a platform for Israel's destruction, but by "more acceptable" means. Blown up buses bring bad press. Fatah's earlier showcase-model moderate, Faisal Al-Husseini, called for the creation of "Palestine" from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Abbas's "moderates" have repeatedly called any dealings with the Jews a Trojan Horse. Hopefully, this needs no further explanation.
Now, Abbas has allegedly confronted Hamas with the idea of accepting a state based on Israel's withdrawal to the pre-'67 armistice lines, which he called "borders." He proposed this united front to help restore some of the international funds cut off since the ascendancy of Hamas. But give Hamas credit; they won't lie like the Arafatians. Only Arabs are entitled to justice in its neck of the woods and Hamas is not about to hide its intentions the way the Fatah folks habitually do. Simply saying a few mixed messages has been enough to get the American State Department to squeeze Jews into repeated one-sided concessions, but Hamas won't even play this game. G-d bless them for that.
Abbas' folks have always said that they would follow a destruction-in-stages scenario. First, get Israel back to its indefensible, 1949 armistice lines; and then, at the proper moment, finish it off.
A mere look at Fatah websites, maps, textbooks and such tells the whole story. "Palestine" takes the place of Israel; it doesn't exist alongside it. There has been no attempt by Abbas and his so-called "moderates" to condition the "Arab street" to the thought that any, besides themselves, are deserving of justice in the region - no matter how tiny that sliver of justice is.
Think about how areas Israel has already withdrawn from are currently being used as launching pads for kidnappings, mortars, rocket attacks, and suicide bombings. And this was so when Abbas was still solely in charge, let alone during the reign of his predecessor, the late Egyptian ghoul (a.k.a. Arafat). And after each atrocity, Abbas "condemned" it as hurting the Arab cause, but not because it was wrong to blow innocent people apart.
While it is not enough to simply reiterate the past, certainly it must not be forgotten when planning the future.
Israel must make clear that it's not to be manipulated at will by anyone. This becomes even more important in the wake of its self-inflicted failures in Lebanon, which were years in the making.
Whether the Arabs have been led by Hamas or Fatah, the past is not the model to hope for. Beware those alleged "good ol' days." And watch out for the set up.
Tigers don't change their stripes, nor leopards their spots.
Anyone who believes that the Jewish State should not only exist but also thrive, and has been following events since the Arab population elected Hamas - an organization openly dedicated to Israel's destruction - has some serious cause for concern. And not because of Hamas's political triumph.
As I've often written, the ascendancy of Hamas has been, in many ways, a good thing. Honesty really is better than lies.
The problem, however, is the continuing tendency to portray the West's darling, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, and his fellow Arafatians as the good guys, whom Israel should be missing right now. We daily read about alleged ideological differences between the Hamas and the Fatah disembowelers of Jews.
This is beyond misleading. It is an outright lie, as anyone who has ever visited any of the alleged "good cop" Abbas and Fatah websites, read any of the Palestinian Authority's textbooks, examined their maps, visited their children's camps, seen their plays, or listened to their imams in the mosques, or on the radio and television, could tell you.
Indeed, one could imagine a scenario wherein Israel is currently being set up for a return of its "good buddy" Abbas, and pressured to bend over backwards to prop him up - to keep the "bad cop" Hamas away. The State Department has done this before.
The most that Abbas previously offered was the same that his former master puppeteer did - Yasser Arafat's famous "peace of the Quraysh": a temporary hudna until the Arabs were strong enough to level the final blow against the Jews.
Very dangerous.
Consider the following for starters.
A translation by the highly respected Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on July 3, 2003 presented an interview with Ahmed Qurei' (known as Abu Alaa), who was running the Fatah show in the wake of Arafat's death. When he was asked about the Arabs' problem with having the word "Jewish" placed in front of the words "State of Israel" at the summits leading up to the roadmap, here was his response: "What is the meaning of a Jewish state? Do we say... Sunni state... Shi'ite state... Christian state? These are definitions that will bring... turmoil."
Qurei', and now President Abbas, sweet-talking Arafatians in suits, both held the same positions regarding a Jewish State. Fatah's founding charter is no different than Hamas's when it comes to this point. The honey-coating is for Western consumption only, to get the latter to squeeze the Jews harder for one-sided concessions. That's what "Middle East diplomacy" amounts to for Jews.
Abbas earlier openly ran on a platform for Israel's destruction, but by "more acceptable" means. Blown up buses bring bad press. Fatah's earlier showcase-model moderate, Faisal Al-Husseini, called for the creation of "Palestine" from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Abbas's "moderates" have repeatedly called any dealings with the Jews a Trojan Horse. Hopefully, this needs no further explanation.
Now, Abbas has allegedly confronted Hamas with the idea of accepting a state based on Israel's withdrawal to the pre-'67 armistice lines, which he called "borders." He proposed this united front to help restore some of the international funds cut off since the ascendancy of Hamas. But give Hamas credit; they won't lie like the Arafatians. Only Arabs are entitled to justice in its neck of the woods and Hamas is not about to hide its intentions the way the Fatah folks habitually do. Simply saying a few mixed messages has been enough to get the American State Department to squeeze Jews into repeated one-sided concessions, but Hamas won't even play this game. G-d bless them for that.
Abbas' folks have always said that they would follow a destruction-in-stages scenario. First, get Israel back to its indefensible, 1949 armistice lines; and then, at the proper moment, finish it off.
A mere look at Fatah websites, maps, textbooks and such tells the whole story. "Palestine" takes the place of Israel; it doesn't exist alongside it. There has been no attempt by Abbas and his so-called "moderates" to condition the "Arab street" to the thought that any, besides themselves, are deserving of justice in the region - no matter how tiny that sliver of justice is.
Think about how areas Israel has already withdrawn from are currently being used as launching pads for kidnappings, mortars, rocket attacks, and suicide bombings. And this was so when Abbas was still solely in charge, let alone during the reign of his predecessor, the late Egyptian ghoul (a.k.a. Arafat). And after each atrocity, Abbas "condemned" it as hurting the Arab cause, but not because it was wrong to blow innocent people apart.
While it is not enough to simply reiterate the past, certainly it must not be forgotten when planning the future.
Israel must make clear that it's not to be manipulated at will by anyone. This becomes even more important in the wake of its self-inflicted failures in Lebanon, which were years in the making.
Whether the Arabs have been led by Hamas or Fatah, the past is not the model to hope for. Beware those alleged "good ol' days." And watch out for the set up.