THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 1, January 3, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
ARAFAT'S FUNDING OF THE TERROR:
A BRIEFING BY MATTHEW REESE
Summary Account by Samantha Vinograd
THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT -- ISRAELI SOCIETY VERSUS PALESTINIAN SOCIETY: THE CONFLICT BETWEEN
THE THE TWO SOCIETIES & THE DISUNITY WITHIN EACH OF THEM -- DEMOCRACY AS THE FOUNDATION FOR GETTING PAST
THE INTERNAL DIVISIONS IN EACH SOCIETY
FULL STORY:
In Cain's Field, I examine the disunity within both the Israeli and Palestinian societies, a disunity that has contributed to the
continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In order to describe it, I utilized stories, not of leaders, but of ordinary people whose
sagas may not have been otherwise heard. I aimed to illustrate how these internal conflicts affect the lives of people not normally
covered by the Western media.
The past approach to diplomacy has been to try to achieve peace agreements and then deal with internal divisions. I conclude that
this process must be reversed; first deal with the internal divisions and then bridge the differences between the sides.
THE LEGACY OF YASSER ARAFAT
Arafat's legacy is a history of symbolism characterized by constant undermining and undercutting the very people whom he
professed to support. In Cain's Field, I describe the experience of Zakariya Balush, who served as Arafat's liaison to Arab
intelligence organizations and later as the deputy head of General Intelligence in Gaza. Balush became disillusioned with Arafat after
receiving a call from him indicating a promotion, and Arafat's subsequently implying the insecurity of Balush's new posting. I also
found, in my investigations, that Arafat injected millions of dollars into the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, even as he let his own
security forces go without pay for months on end.
Towards the end of his life, Arafat became a sort of pathetic figure, and his physical degeneration can be seen as a parallel to the
overall well being of the Palestinian people. A year ago, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, but never sought treatment. The
Palestinians also have something eating away at them. Arafat tried to portray them as victims, a portrayal that was adverse to the
wishes of many of them. After the fighting at Jenin, the international media showed the inhabitants of the town as victimized. Many
of these inhabitants were outraged and would have preferred being depicted as having stood up to Israeli might. This refusal to be
characterized as a victim reflects upon a different kind of Palestinian identity that is based upon pride.
PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS
The Palestinian elections in January, 2005, mark an important opportunity, as they can serve as the basis for the foundation of a
democratic state. Mahmoud Abbas lacks the legitimacy that Arafat enjoyed; he was a successful fundraiser for the Palestinian cause
in the Gulf states and a good negotiator, but has no power on the ground. The participation of Hamas in the elections could result in
its becoming part of the democratic process as an alternative to violence and terrorism. There is a hint that Hamas can channel its
energies to things other than terrorism. During an interview, Abdul Aziz Rantisi discussed with me the concept of the hudna
(ceasefire), explaining that, once land has been under Muslim rule, it must always remain Muslim, and so it is impossible to cede land
to Israel. Muslims must at least have a rhetorical option to say that one day the land will be recovered. According to recent polls,
Hamas garners 30-40% of popular opinion.
The new Palestinian leadership will have to deal with divisions between the internal and external leadership. The external leadership,
brought back along with Arafat from exile in 1994 and given the top posts, lacks legitimacy on the ground. It is viewed as foreign and
degenerate by many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The legitimacy of the external leadership rests upon the Oslo process
and little else. The internal leadership consists of those that were heads of the movements that spurred the first intifada and thus have
popular following, but they lack resources.
SHORTCOMINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
The international media has huge faults in its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For example, it reports that Arafat was
besieged in his compound for three years, while he could leave the compound and did do so in June, 2002, when he traveled to Jenin
and Bethlehem. In Jenin he received an angry reception over his failure to protect the people of the city. Upon arriving at the Church
of the Nativity in Bethlehem, he found that there was no one to greet him and, outraged, he returned to his compound and did not
leave it again until his last trip to Paris. Arafat realized that he had lost popular support and retreated into his memories.
Journalists are generally in the region too briefly to develop a proper sense of what they are covering in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Typically, for the first two years, journalists write the same stories as their predecessors. The following two years are spent trying to
write new stories, while still attempting to get a sense of the two societies. Most journalists are not in place long enough to develop
original insights. Journalism is too focused on the surface of things.
CONCLUSION
To bridge the internal divisions within both Israeli society and Palestinian society, each society must begin to see the other as
individuals rather than as members of a larger general group. In this way, problems become personal rather than general and
unattached.
The real foundation for getting past this disunity is democracy. People must feel as if they can find expression within their own
society and that others will listen. Israel has democracy, but it is not always a society in which people tend to listen to each other.
Palestinian society, on the other hand, does not have anything approaching democracy at the moment. Democracy will give groups
an outlet other than violence or hate or rejecting other groups. That is why the prospect of elections is so important now.
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
Matthew Rees is the author of Cain's Field: Faith, Fratricide and Fear in the Middle East (New York: Free Press, 2004) and has
been the Jerusalem bureau chief of Time magazine since 2000. Educated at Oxford University and the University of Maryland,
he served previously as Middle East correspondent for The Scotsman, Scotland's national newspaper, and as Middle East
correspondent for Newsweek. Mr. Rees addressed the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia on November 22, 2004.
The foregoing summary account Mr. Rees' briefing was written by Samantha Vinograd, a research assistant at the Middle East Forum.
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