CAFI Newsletter #68
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Fri, 1 Feb 2002 15:31:59 -0500
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* CHRISTIAN ACTION FOR ISRAEL NEWSLETTER #68 *
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"ON YOUR WALLS, O JERUSALEM, I HAVE APPOINTED WATCHMEN"
Isaiah 62:6
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Friday, February 1, 2002
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. LIFE IN THE HEART OF JERUSALEM
2. U.S. SHOULD GET READY TO BREAK TIES WITH ARAFAT
3. SILENCE IS GOLDEN
4. PARDON MY FRENCH
5. BUSH WITHHOLDS PA FUNDING,
REASSESSES ATTITUDE TO ARAFAT
6. QUOTES TO NOTE
7. HIGHLIGHT ARTICLES
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1. LIFE IN THE HEART OF JERUSALEM
Ehud Olmert - Mayor of Jerusalem
(February 1) - No city in the world has a longer or
more painful experience of dealing with terror than
Jerusalem. Terrorists who desire to see our downfall
have repeatedly attacked the city's center, an area of
just 500 square meters. In the last six months, there
have been 10 such terror attacks in which 29 people
have been murdered and some 450 injured. Even for
a city as experienced with terrorism as we are, such
attacks cannot pass without leaving their mark on
the mood of the people.
Make no mistake about the deep resolve of
Jerusalemites not to surrender to the threat of terror.
The tears you may see in our faces are not a sign of
weakness, but a natural and human reaction to the
pain of losing loved ones tragically and suddenly.
There is no one in Jerusalem who does not suffer
both physically and emotionally from the impact of
this terror, but none of us considers leaving or
running away, and letting the terrorists win.
Maybe some would expect, under such
circumstances, that we would retreat to our homes,
locking the door behind us and showing that we are
afraid to go on with our daily lives. But here in our
capital, and the capital of the Jewish people, we
choose to do the opposite of what might be
expected.
Numerous foreign armies have come to Jerusalem
through the centuries, ravaging and conquering, but
these supposed victors have been relegated to the
wastebasket of history, and Jerusalem has grown
and flourished as a city and a capital.
It is said that Jerusalem is a city of peace, as its
name suggests, but Jerusalem has never been a
city of peace. Over and over again, it has been the
target of those who have tried to possess this
beautiful and remarkable capital in the hope that it
will somehow inspire them to a kind of greatness
that is beyond them.
Such conquerors have long been forgotten, for it is
only the Jewish people who have had an
unbreakable loyalty to this city, century after century,
against all odds. Nothing is or has been more central
in Jewish history as Jerusalem. Two thousand years
in the galut did not succeed in breaking the bond we
have with this holy city. No terrorist today will be able
to do it.
We believe in the future and strength of the eternal
and undivided Jerusalem and therefore our reaction
is to answer the terrorists with more building, more
roads, more malls and a new light rail system which
will help to further develop the city into a thriving
modern metropolis.
In the next few weeks, the Jerusalem Municipality,
together with the government, will begin
implementing a multi-million dollar program designed
to upgrade and develop the infrastructure of the city
center. Beginning in March of this year, a plan to
bring major public events and weekly activities to the
downtown area of Jaffa Road and Ben-Yehuda
Street will be put into action.
This plan will bring thousands of residents and
visitors to enjoy the stores, restaurants and cafes at
discounted prices and with attractive deals, and will
boost the economy of the downtown area. The whole
vicinity will be protected by extraordinary means that
will allow entry only through guarded checkpoints to
ensure the absolute safety of those who come to
enjoy these special activities.
At the same time, we will embark upon the
development of a new, comprehensive protective
system for the entire city of Jerusalem. The new
security measures that were discussed this week
with the prime minister are not politically motivated.
They are defensive measures aimed at dramatically
reducing the freedom of access to our city for
terrorists coming from Palestinian-controled areas.
The proposed walls and fences will provide our
security forces with a more effective means by
which to screen those coming in to the city in order
to prevent the entry of suicide attackers and other
terrorist elements.
The message from Jerusalem is a message of
hope, strength and perseverance. It is not easy and
these are not ordinary days, but we here in
Jerusalem have the will, belief and determination to
carry on, and we will overcome.
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2. U.S. SHOULD GET READY TO BREAK TIES WITH ARAFAT
By DENNIS ROSS The Wall Street Journal
Yasser Arafat sits in Ramallah a virtual prisoner. The
master of the half measure is now paying the price for
failing to make a strategic choice for peace.
A year ago he could not say yes to the Clinton ideas
-- ideas that would have given the Palestinians an
independent state with the Arab neighborhoods of East
Jerusalem as its capital and nearly all of the West
Bank and Gaza as its territory. He was incapable of
saying yes to peace, but unfortunately only too
capable of saying yes to violence.
In place of the Clinton ideas, what has Mr. Arafat
produced for his people? I think it is safe to say a
catastrophe: Over 850 dead, approximately 17,000
wounded, a destroyed economy, and no prospect any time
soon of having their aspirations addressed. A year
ago, the Palestinians were closer than they have ever
been to achieving their hopes and dreams. Today, they
are farther away than at any time since the beginning
of the Oslo process.
Does Mr. Arafat offer any vision for the future? His
speech on Dec. 16 gave his people some hope. His call
for a ceasefire and insistence that there could not be
multiple authorities in the Palestinian territories
produced a surge of support for him. Palestinians
crave leadership. They resent the corruption of the
Palestinian Authority; they would like to see
democracy emerge. But, at the same time, they want
their leaders to lead.
Unfortunately, Mr. Arafat has succeeded as a symbol
but failed as a leader. Even now he cannot make a
choice. He makes symbolic arrests, but not meaningful
ones. He cuts deals with Hamas and Islamic Jihad that
will be jettisoned when it is convenient to do so. He
calls for a ceasefire, while he seeks to smuggle in
enormous quantities of weapons and explosives from
Iran. The only choice Mr. Arafat consistently makes is
to avoid making a choice.
Mr. Arafat's historic error is not only to fail to
lead his own people but also to make Israelis doubt
they have a partner for peace. He has succeeded in
convincing the Israeli public that his aim is their
destruction. In such circumstances, who will press the
Israeli government not to inflict increasing pain and
suffering on the Palestinian public?
In the past I have argued for giving Mr. Arafat an
ultimatum: Make arrests, dismantle the infrastructure
of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, collect illegal weapons,
and speak the way Pakistan's Pervez Musharaff does to
his public about terror and violence. Legitimize
peace, not terror. Acknowledge that negotiations
nearly produced for the Palestinians, while violence
is destroying their prospects.
Knowing Mr. Arafat, the only possibility of ever
getting him to take these steps is for him to
understand that he is out of chances. Unfortunately,
he may never believe that. He certainly does not
believe it today. He still believes that he will
survive this spot like so many tight spots before. He
still believes that he is indispensable, so he can
ride out any difficulty. Sooner or later he believes
the Israelis will make a colossal mistake. One of
their incursions into Palestinian cities will kill a
large number of people and he will become the victim
again. Then the pressure will be put on Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon.
Of course, he could be right. Maybe the Israelis will
make a tragic mistake. But that won't change the
fundamentals of a situation in which Israelis and
Palestinians are now trapped in an escalating war
fueled by anger and revenge.
It may be that the fundamentals cannot be transformed
so long as Yasser Arafat remains as the leader of the
Palestinians. But no one can pick a leader for the
Palestinians except the Palestinians. Indeed, any
effort from the outside to displace Mr. Arafat will
only coalesce support for him.
Are we left with no options except to let the tragedy
worsen? I would still impose an ultimatum on Mr.
Arafat, requiring him to make the arrests, act against
the infrastructure, collect illegal weapons, and speak
differently to his public. If he does what is required
of him, the Israeli government must respond by lifting
the siege and carrying out their obligations under the
Tenet and Mitchell plans. But I have no illusions. I
doubt Mr. Arafat will do what is necessary. Not only
is he incapable of ending the conflict, I doubt now
that he is up to the task of even more limited, if
difficult, measures needed to produce stability and
negotiations.
In light of that, I believe the Bush administration
should prepare to suspend relations with him. It must
do so publicly, not silently. It must explain certain
truths to the Palestinian public: that only the
Palestinians can determine their own leadership; that
Palestinian aspirations must be addressed; that there
is no military solution to this conflict; that neither
Palestinian violence nor Israeli force will produce a
lasting settlement; that we will deal with any
Palestinian leadership, including the current one, if
it assumes the responsibilities of making peace. But
to date, their leader has failed to fulfill his
responsibilities, making commitments but never
fulfilling them, speaking of peace in the daylight
while supporting terror in the shadows. We cannot pick
the Palestinian leader, but we can choose not to deal
with a leader who is irresponsible.
Under such circumstances, Mr. Arafat might finally see
he is out of chances. Failing that, at least the
Palestinian public and our Arab friends will
understand what will be required before Palestinian
aspirations can be addressed.
Mr. Ross, President Clinton's Middle East coordinator,
is a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy.
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3. SILENCE IS GOLDEN
by Michael Recht - January 31, 2002
It's odd when one considers that, in these turbulent times
of catch phrases and words such as "Al-Qa’eda" and "war on
terrorism", that the phrase most acted upon now is one that
is rarely ever stated aloud: “Silence is golden.“
Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe continues his campaign of
totalitarianism and horror. Much of the international press
has been silenced and expelled. Local press reports now have
to be approved by the government or their authors may face
ten years in prison. White residents are being murdered for
owning land and black residents of the country are being
suppressed for being themselves and holding certain political
views. Yet, while the European Union has threatened sanctions,
the world sits silent, turning a cheek and hoping things
will pass.
China has begun a forced relocation of over one million
people. Their towns are needed to hold flood waters from
the almost complete "Three Gorges Dam". Although an
overwhelming ninety-five percent of the residents asked,
begged and pleaded not to have to leave, their cries fell
on deaf ears and their homes blown up. A great deal less
then two thirds of the government actually voted in favor
of the relocation, but president Jiang Zemin felt that no
one could or can stand in the way of progress. Less then
two percent of the million residents have received
compensation and hundreds of thousands are being forced to
move to new areas thousands of miles away. Still, the
world sits quietly, turning the other cheek with their
lips tightly sealed.
A Palestinian gunman enters a banquet hall and opens fire
with an automatic M-16 rifle. At the same time, he lobs
grenades into the crowded room, where a Jewish girl's
coming of age party is occurring. The girl, a recent
immigrant from the former Soviet Union, loses her
grandfather and five family friends. Within four hours,
the story has come and gone through world media. The
world has once again chosen to remain silent.
The Israeli army moves into a Palestinian controlled area.
They call ahead and inform the Palestinian authority that
they will be blowing up a building, so that the PLO has a
chance to remove any innocent bystanders. The
building, which housed "The Voice of Palestine Radio",
was being used to broadcast hate of and to incite
violence against Israel. After a four hour sweep of the
area that made sure everyone was well away, the building
was leveled.
Now the voice of the world is heard! "Israelis are
terrorists," booms Syria. "The Israeli army is a brutal
occupying force," yells the European Union. "Israel is
in direct violation of UN charters and treaties,"
announces the United Nations.
America blows up a building in Afghanistan as "a
preventative measure." Israel blows up a building in Tul
Karem and it is "a violent terrorist act." Is there any
rationale to explain the aforementioned dichotomy? Is the
world insane or just those who are running it?
If the aforementioned examples, taken from thousands of
others, can teach Israel anything, it is that world
opinion is severely confused. Whether it is out of
jealousy, misunderstanding or for economic reasons, most
of the world can find a reason to condemn or hate or
dislike Israel and its people. Israel has to take a stand,
once and for all. Enough is finally enough!
The Duke of Wellington, who overcame Napoleon's French
army, perhaps one of the most powerful armies of all time,
said that "tactics win battles, but strategies win wars."
Israel's tactics of Palestinian concrete for Jewish blood
is growing tiresome. Israel should do whatever is
necessary, including banning foreign media and forced
relocation, to protect its citizens. The voice of the
world can remain silent or it can cry out until it is
hoarse, but for once it must fall upon deaf ears. Israel
can not afford to listen anymore, it is costing Israel
too much time and too many lives.
----------------------------------------
Michael Recht is a university student from Ontario, Canada.
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4. PARDON MY FRENCH
Emmanuel Navon - Jerusalem Post - January 29, 2002
(January 29) - Israelis are by now used to hearing
shocking declarations by French officials who, every
so often, publicly reveal their true feelings about the
Arab-Israeli conflict.
After the September 11 attacks, French Ambassador
to Israel Jacques Huntzinger made a point of saying
loud and clear that, as opposed to their al-Qaida
colleagues, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists do
perpetuate their murderous acts for an
understandable reason.
A few days before September 11, French Foreign
Minister Hubert Vedrine compared US foreign policy
in the Middle East to that of Roman Emperor Pontius
Pilate vis-a-vis Jesus-Christ: the Americans, in case
anyone failed get the hint, were crucifying the
Palestinians under Jewish pressure. Vedrine did not
see any need to scold (let alone dismiss) his
ambassador to London for declaring that Israel is a
"shitty, little country" that endangers world peace.
Yet, Vˇdrine's most recent philosophical wandering,
which was barely mentioned in Israel, is by far his
most worrying.
Commenting on the recent wave of terrorist attacks
against Jewish individuals and institutions in France,
Vˇdrine declared the following: "One is not shocked
when young French Jews instinctively sympathize
with Israel regardless of its policies... So one should
not necessarily be shocked when young French
citizens [from North African background] feel
compassion for the Palestinians."
In other words, the burning of synagogues and
Jewish schools is nothing but the expression of
compassion for the Palestinians and is morally
equivalent to sympathizing with Israel and "its
policies." To insinuate that French Jews brought
upon themselves the current wave of anti-Semitic
violence by sympathizing with the Sharon
government is an easy way of absolving France from
the revival of French anti-Semitism.
What should be a matter of concern is that "French
citizens from North African background" might
conclude that the French government understands
their urge to burn synagogues and Jewish schools
after watching the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian
violence by French television.
Blaming European anti-Semitism on Israel's policies
is an "argument" that is commonly used by
European anti-Semites. Holocaust denier Richard E.
Harwood, for instance, claimed that Hitler's
persecution of the Jews was the direct and
understandable consequence of Chaim Weizmann's
call to fight with Britain against Nazi Germany.
Hearing similar assertions from a French foreign
minister is, in contrast, a new and awkward
phenomenon.
The estimated 600,000 French Jews are
outnumbered tenfold by their Arab fellow-citizens.
This comparative disadvantage is coupled with the
troubles that are destabilizing the leadership of
French Jewry. France's charismatic chief rabbi,
Joseph Sitruck, has been hospitalized for a few
weeks.
The outspoken president of France's representative
council of Jewish institutions, Roger Cukierman, is
constantly undermined by the declarations of his
predecessor Thˇo Klein, who seizes every
opportunity to accuse Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of
destabilizing the Middle East and of angering French
Arabs. Israeli ambassador to Paris, Eli Barnavi, a
Tel-Aviv history professor appointed by his colleague
and friend Shlomo Ben-Ami, cannot help but publicly
express his contempt for and disagreement with
Prime Minister Sharon.
In such a context, the Israeli government should
speak out louder and clearer on behalf of French
Jews, and publicly encourage their aliya. Former
prime minister Menachem Begin once declared that
anti-Semitism was "no longer an internal affair. It is
our affair, the affair of the whole Jewish people, the
affair of the state of the Jews."
Pierre Joseph Proudhon, a French political writer
and activist from the 19th century, had a simple
solution to the Jewish problem: "One should send
back this race to Asia or exterminate it." Back in Asia
in their own state, Jews are still accused of causing
trouble around the world: Their "shitty, little country"
is threatening world peace and is the true cause of
anti-Semitic violence in France.
By joining this country, French Jews will relate, with
compassion, to Vˇdrine's lexis from the safe side of
the fence. With compassion, because a nation that
claims to be a World War Two winner after four
years of German occupation should be granted the
benefit of the doubt on its ability to accurately
understand world politics.
(The writer is a political science lecturer at Bar-Ilan
University and CEO of Navon Consulting.)
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5. BUSH WITHHOLDS PA FUNDING,
REASSESSES ATTITUDE TO ARAFAT
Eric Silver - The Jerusalem Report
The United States, bitterly disenchanted with Yasser Arafat,
is withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the
Palestinian Authority. After the Wye agreement in October
1998, the Clinton Administration earmarked about $1.2 billion
for Israel and $500 million for the PA. Most of the money for
the Palestinians has never been delivered; neither has $30
million designated for Palestinian NGOs.
Indeed, the Bush Administration is now understood to be
reassessing its overall policy on Arafat. While still
pressing the PA chairman in late January to block intifada
violence, it has effectively suspended the mediation
efforts of former general Anthony Zinni. According to
Israeli diplomats, the Americans have interpreted the
thwarted gunrunning bid of the Karine A arms ship as a
clear sign that the PA was planning to escalate the
intifada into a Hizballah-style war of attrition.
Congress, which has to endorse aid appropriations, is
understood to be even angrier with Arafat — and that will
make it hard for the Administration if it tries to renew the
PLO's diplomatic status, which comes up for legislative
review in April. Israeli diplomats suspect that only fear of
creating a vacuum is inhibiting the White House from
canceling that status on its own initiative.
A senior American official recently told one of his
Palestinian counterparts that Arafat had made the biggest
mistake in the history of the Palestinian national
movement when he rejected Ehud Barak's offer at Camp
David in July 2000. And the Bush team argues that no
previous administration has been as forthcoming as it
has in backing Palestinian statehood, spelling out its
vision of a final-status agreement and dispatching mediators.
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6. QUOTES TO NOTE
“In Lebanon, there was an agreement not to
liquidate Yasser Arafat. I’m sorry we
didn’t get rid of him.”
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in an interview with
the daily Ma’ariv.
------------------------------------------------
"Israel needs the Palestinian Authority and
its elected president, Yasser Arafat, as a
partner to negotiate with, both in order to
eradicate terrorism and to work towards peace."
A statement signed by the 15 EU Foreign Ministers.
The Wall Street Journal notes that the EU description of
Arafat as the "elected president" is accurate only in the
sense that he was elected once; the one and only
Palestinian election was held in 1996. On May 4, 1999,
when the interim period expired, Arafat's tenure, and
that of other elected officials, was prolonged indefinitely,
and no new date for elections was set.
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7. HIGHLIGHT ARTICLES
A PALESTINIAN STATE: THE ULTIMATE POISON PILL
Palestinian State would be a mirror image of what Yassir
Arafat created in Lebanon: a fully-fledged terrorist
mini-state in the heart of Lebanon. Every refugee camp was
used as an outpost, with weapons and munitions storage
even in residential buildings, hospitals and schools so
as to use civilians as human shields. Every corner
controlled by Arafat's PLO was a tariff collection point
for anyone passing by on foot or car.
G-d help you if you couldn't pay the ransom.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/feb02/poison_pill.html
DON'T CALL THEM ARABS - RAMADAN IN ISTANBUL
Take religion. Unlike their Muslim brothers elsewhere,
mainstream Turkish Muslims never relied on the Koran alone,
or on interpretations of it by imams — past or present.
Turks have a long history of incorporating local tradition
into their religious practices, and local tradition in
Turkey is light years from Wahhabi austerity or Shiite
fanaticism.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/jan02/istanbul.html
ARAFAT IS THE PROBLEM
Arafat has many last chances. In 1970, he was driven out
by Jordan's King Hussein. In 1982, he was allowed to
retreat under IDF guns in Beirut and set up shop in Tunisia.
In December 1988, the US-PLO dialogue was opened after
Arafat pledged to renounce terrorism, and in 1990 that
dialogue was cut off when he was caught supporting
terrorism again. Following the 1991 Gulf War, Arafat who
had chosen the wrong side and once again seemed to
be broke and finished, was saved by the 1993 Oslo agreement.
http://christianactionforisrael.org/isreport/jan02/problem.html
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