THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 238, November 10, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT:
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER ARAFAT
By Alan Caruba
THE ISRAELI-ARAB CONFLICT & THE IMPENDING DEATH OF YASSER ARAFAT -- WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER ARAFAT IS GONE:
WILL THE DEATH OF ARAFAT OPEN THE DOORS TO PEACE BETWEEN THE ISRAELIS & THE PALESTINIAN ARABS?
WHAT DOES PAST EXPERIENCE & ARAB MUSLIM CULTURE SUGGEST?
FULL STORY:
I have been asked whether the death of Arafat will open the doors to peace between the socalled Palestinians and the Israelis. If the
past is any indication, the answer is no. It is important to understand that Palestinians are Arabs. They have little or no experience with
elections and, more importantly, the rule of law. Nothing protects Arabs from each other.
Who, I am asked, will be Arafat’s successor? It hardly matters. Whoever is designated — not elected — the next Prime Minister will be
more concerned with not being assassinated by his political enemies than with negotiating peace with the Israelis. Indeed, even the
appearance of negotiating anything that might lead to a peaceful resolution will prove a hot ticket to Paradise.
It is well to remember that Jordan’s King Abdullah, grandfather of King Hussein, was assassinated in 1951 and that, three months after
Egypt’s Anwar Sadat addressed the Israeli Knesset, one of his top advisors was assassinated in Cyprus. Sadat was later assassinated.
The current leader of Pakistan has been targeted several times for assassination, and the new President of Afghanistan survived at
least one attempt of which we know. A deputy of the interim Iraqi government was recently assassinated. The very word “assassin”
comes from an early Muslim era when this technique of leadership change was liberally applied between warring factions of Islam.
The real reason for the likelihood of bloodletting is that the dominant power in the Palestinian enclaves of Gaza and the West Bank is
Hamas. This organization of terrorists has been degraded of late by the Israeli policy of killing its leaders and fellow perpetrators of
terrorism. So long as Hamas has funding, guns and bomb-making capabilities, they will call the tune to which Palestinians will dance.
And dance they did on 9-11 and each time some child of theirs blows up some Israelis. The Palestinians were genuinely saddened by
the capture of Saddam Hussein.
The transition period following Arafat’s death is being led by former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, as the Chairman of the
Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). This Arafat clone’s greatest scholarly contribution was a book
that refuted the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II. He concluded that “only” 890,000 died. Abbas looks
good to Europeans and other anti-Semites because he has a law degree, acquired in Egypt and Syria, and a Ph.D. from Moscow
Oriental College. As Irwin N. Graulich noted in March, 2003, “His educational development was shaped by Nasser Fascism, a Syrian
totalitarianism, and a Communist Soviet Union. This is truly a foundation from Hell.”
This is, of course, not unknown to the Israelis and, whether he becomes Arafat’s designated successor or not, his track record does
not suggest an embrace of the very people who, as the founder of the terrorist Fatah movement, he has dedicated his life to
destroying. The Israelis are, in his view, the “Zionist entity.”
Even if the Palestinians come up with someone else to be their Prime Minister, it will be the fence the Israelis built that will most
insure their defense against future bombers and not the death of Yasser Arafat.
The Palestinians still dream of “liberating the territories of 1948”, not 1967, although they would be pleased to see the Israelis retreat
to those borders. With this in mind, do not expect the departure of Arafat from this world to change very much in the near term.
Only the destruction of Hamas will accomplish the first important step toward any semblance of peace.
Bury Arafat. Build the fence. Wait and see if the terror bombings cease.
The only Arabs who will continue to enjoy real freedom will be those who are citizens of Israel.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Israeli-Arab Conflict
The Middle East & the Arabs
Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
War & Peace in the Real World
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 28 West Third Street, Apartment 1321, South Orange, New Jersey, 07079.
Copyright 2004 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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