Watch Out For the Set Up...
By Gerald A. Honigman (09/27/06)
Tigers don't change their stripes, nor leopards their spots.
And anyone who believes that the Jewish State should not only exist but also thrive and has been following events since the Arab population itself 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 most that the West's darling, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, previously offered was the same that his former master puppeteer did...Arafat's famous "Peace of the Quraysh"--a temporary hudna until the Arabs were strong enough to level the final blow against the Jews. So Israel must do what any other nation would do with such an enemy...
The larger problem, however, is the continuing tendency to portray Abbas, Ahmed Qurei', and other Arafatians as the good guys whom Israel should be missing right now.
Indeed, day after day we read reports about alleged ideological differences between Hamas and 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's websites, read any of the Palestinian Authority's current textbooks, examined their maps, visited their children's camps, seen their plays, or listened to their imams in the mosques or radio and television broadcasts could tell you.
Indeed, one could see a scenario being played out here where 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 cops away. The State Department has done this before.
Very dangerous.
Consider the following for starters...
A translation by the highly respected Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on July 3, 2003 dealt with an interview with Ahmed Qurei' (Abu Alaa,), who was the second Abu running the Fatah show in the wake of Arafat's death. Among other things, 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 Charter is no different than Hamas' when it comes to this subject…regardless of persistent claims to the contrary. The honey-coating is for Western consumption only…to get the latter to squeeze the Jews harder for one-sided concessions. That's what diplomacy amounts to for Jews.
Abbas earlier openly ran on a platform for Israel's destruction--but by "more acceptable" means. Blown buses bring bad press...as I like to reiterate. Fatah's earlier alleged showcase model moderate, Faisal al-Husseini, called for the creation of "Palestine" from the River to the Sea.
Abbas's "moderates" have repeatedly called any dealings with the Jews via such above diplomacy a "Trojan Horse." Hopefully this needs no further explanation.
Again, the most that has been offered by Abbas's alleged good cops in this power play alongside of Hamas--despite what others, like the Foggy Folks and even our President, like to imagine--is that hudna/temporary ceasefire mentioned above. Not long ago, while visiting Syria, Hamas' leader offered this same "gift" in return for Israel caving in to all of his demands.
Once again, Abbas has now allegedly confronted Hamas with the idea of accepting a state based on Israel's withdrawal to the pre-'67 armistice lines, its 9-mile wide existence, which he called "borders." He proposed this to present a united front to form a unity government to help restore some of the international funds that have been cut off since the ascendancy of Hamas. And give the latter credit...Hamas won't lie like the Arafatians are used to doing. In its eyes, only Arabs are entitled to justice in its neck of the woods, and Hamas is not about to hide its feelings and intentions to promote its agenda the way the Fatah folks habitually do. After all, simply saying a few mixed messages has been enough in the past to get the American State Department to squeeze the Jews into repeated one-sided concessions. But Hamas won't even play this game...and G_d bless them for that. Know your enemy...
Keep in mind that Arabs have always said--especially Abbas' folks--that they would follow a destruction in stages scenario.
First, get Israel back to its indefensible, 1949 armistice lines, and then--as in the words, again, of Faisal al-Husseini and many others as well--at the proper moment, finish it off. Keep in mind that when Arafat tried to overthrow King Hussein of Jordan in 1970, Syrian tanks poured across the border to assist him. Given the right set of circumstances, this same scenario could unfold against Israel as well...and with Arab states, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, also joining the ranks, armed to the teeth with top of the line American weaponry and such.
Again, a mere look at Abbas' and Fatah's website, maps, textbooks and such tells the whole story.
"Palestine" takes the place of Israel…doesn't exist side by side of it.
From the kindergarten to the play camps to the radio and television stations to the sermons in the mosques and so forth, 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, mortar, rocket, and suicide attacks against herself, and so forth. And this was so when Abbas was also still solely in charge, let alone his predecessor, the late Egyptian ghoul (aka Arafat).
And after each atrocity, Abbas "condemned" it as hurting the Arab cause…not because it was wrong to blow innocent people apart--often school kids.
But enough about reiterating the past.
Here's what needs to be done now…
Israel must make clear that it's no fool to be manipulated at will by anyone. This becomes even more important in the wake of its self-inflicted failures in Lebanon that were years in the making.
Israel must insist on drawing its own borders, using Resolution #242 as the guidelines. Arabs are still dreaming of the destruction in stages manure, and too many elsewhere support them on this. Israel thus has no other choice but to act unilaterally. So it must. And it must do so to thrive, not merely survive. Any 22nd state created for Arabs (and second, not first, Arab one in "Palestine") must not come at the expense of the one for Jews.
Israel's final borders must reflect a fair territorial compromise--one which will give Israel some semblance of strategic depth (keep former Presidents Johnson and Reagan's comments in mind), yet one which will not bring the bulk of Judea and Samaria's (known by those names far longer than they were called the "West Bank") Arabs--most of whom were newcomers into "Palestine" themselves--under Israel's control. Keeping in mind that purely Arab Jordan sits on some 80% of the original 1920 Palestinian Mandate's territory, Arabs will still wind up with more than a fair deal here…far more than anything that Arabs themselves have ever offered to any of their own national competitors, be they Kurds, Copts, Assyrians, black Africans, Jews, Berbers, and so forth.
As Israel took in more Jewish refugees fleeing "Arab"/Muslim lands than Arab refugees who were created as a result of the invasion of Israel in 1948 by a half dozen Arab states, Israel should do nothing but laugh at the humor of Arabs--including the "moderates"--insisting that the Jews slit their own throats by accepting any of those raised on jihad into their country. None…Zilch…Nada…in these regards. And Abbas has continuously made such a return one of his major points.
Israel must offer Arabs peace for peace, not land for peace. The latter idea has not worked, and Israel has only been perceived as weak as a result. Gaza has been turned into the terror entity all thinking minds knew it would--even though we hoped against all hope that we would be wrong here.
When the time comes to act, Israel must not risk any more of its own 19-year olds going in on the ground.
Gaza and so forth must be dealt with the way Britain, America, and others have dealt with their own deadly enemies in years past…It must be flattened from above. Qassams striking Israel proper must be answered by artillery or bombers hitting meaningful and painful targets--not empty fields and buildings. Jewish blood must come at an extremely painful price for those who take--or support those who take--it. Keep in mind that the Arab populace elected Hamas itself, and Fatah and its affiliates have as much or more Jewish blood on their hands as the Hamasniks.
No further land or other hard concessions should be made until real peace treaties are entered into with Arab partners capable of living up to them. Not one without the other…as has been the case up until now.
And finally, the Jew of the Nations must tell the Arabs to stick their proposed hudnas as far up whatever orifice of their own choosing they select. Such ceasefires only allow Arabs to get one-sided concessions from Jews while strengthening and building themselves up for future and more deadly attacks upon Jewish innocents.
Whether the Arabs have been led by Hamas or Fatah, the past is not the model to hope for. Beware those alleged good ole days...
And watch out for the set up.
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