Hal Lindsey
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
The considerable outrage being expressed by the uninformed on the daily talk shows is getting plenty of attention. Everyone, it seems, feels that the Palestinians are the injured party in the current explosion of violence.
For those blinded by the current wave of misplaced political correctness, it would be hard to imagine a scenario in which Palestinians might seek protection in an Israeli police station and be turned over to a waiting Jewish mob to be brutally beaten to death. Yet, in the Ramallah situation, two Israelis did exactly that -- they sought protection and refuge from the Palestinian police. Instead of protection, the police looked the other way as the mob seized the two Israeli reservists, stabbed them repeatedly and threw at least one of the soldiers out a second floor window into the arms of the waiting mob.
The scenes were horrific, yet in some people's minds, justified, since the plight of the Palestinians is "hopeless" -- victims of Israeli oppression -- economically, politically and socially. What nobody seems to understand is that the Palestinian people have their own government to blame.
Yasser Arafat and his cronies live in fine villas, drive expensive German automobiles, wear Armani suits to the various summit meetings, and wax eloquently about the plight of their oppressed constituency at Israeli hands. It is quite a contrast to the image projected by the Israeli negotiating teams who arrive in four-door Chevys wearing suits with shiny elbows and fraying shirt collars. And none of the Israeli leaders live in Mediterranean villas. Who's the oppressor here?
Two days after the murder of the two Israeli soldiers at the hands of a blood-crazed mob, Palestinian state TV broadcast the comments of a Muslim cleric. The cleric exhorted his flock to "kill the Jews and to kill the Americans, wherever they may be found." This is the true nature of the Israeli peace partnership as envisioned by Yasser Arafat. Again, the question: who is the oppressor, here?
Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship do not share the hopeless condition of their brothers living under the tender mercies of the Arafat government. Indeed, life for an Israeli Arab is so much better than for their Palestinian counterparts that a majority of Arabs in a recent poll indicated that, given the choice between
living under an Arab administration or under Israeli rule, they would prefer the Israeli brand of "oppression."
The Arab position appears to be that it's all Israel's fault because they are using bullets to respond to rocks. But nobody, not even the most articulate apologists for the Arab side, has any reasonable alternative to suggest. Should the Israelis throw rocks back? Or maybe they should just go home? Yasser Arafat, at the summit on Monday, insisted the Israelis withdraw first, and then the violence would stop. Who in their right mind is going to believe that, given the number of broken promises charged to his account in just the last three weeks?
Any argument that advances the case that the Israelis are to blame for the violence in the Middle East ignores the salient truth that it is the Palestinians who are behind the unrest -- not the Israelis. If the Palestinians stopped throwing rocks, the IDF would go home. Simple. The PA claims it has legitimate reasons for the violence. Fine. Then why deny that they are the authors of the violence in the first place? Ehud Barak offered a settlement more generous than anybody ever expected. He offered them all that they demanded, including the division of Jerusalem. His offer was so generous that, had it been accepted, it is unlikely Barak could have survived politically anyway. But still it was rejected out of hand. Yasser Arafat is a man who can't take yes for an answer.
Anybody with one eye and half a brain can see that the moment the rocks stop flying, so will the bullets. Yet, in order to accept the "oppressor" argument, one must pretend that the violence just "happened" and that it is Israel who is keeping it alive by shooting the rioting Palestinians. Just what do you think would happen if the Palestinians stopped rioting? Does anybody seriously believe that the Israelis would just keep shooting them without provocation? The media would have you believe that the Israelis are in control of the violence and that they should stop. How does one quell a riot by ignoring it? And how does one not quell a riot?
The situation remains in the hands of the only one who could have ended the violence -- Yasser Arafat. Sadly, his desperate, last-ditch effort to create an image of himself and his government as victims of an oppressive Israeli government ended as quickly as the lives of those unfortunate Israeli soldiers. He's created a bloodlust among his people that even he can no longer control. In 1993, Yitzhak Rabin was reluctant to shake Arafat's bloodstained hand, but did so out of love for Israel and a desire for peace. It will be hard to find an Israeli leader -- even Ehud Barak, who will make that same mistake again.
Title: Isreal vs. Palestine Go Israel!
