Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Peace begins with security

WHAT TO DO with Yasser Arafat?

That's the question of the day in Israel, in the Palestinian territories, in the Middle East, Europe and most civilized countires and, especially, here in the United States. Not surprisingly, each of those governments and many of the people who live in the various countries has an opinion on the subject. And they are all different.

And, not surprisingly, Yasser Arafat loves the attention.

For most of the better part of the past year, the terrorist cum peacemaker cum terrorist has been holed up in a bombed-out office building, perhaps afraid to, but clearly unable to, leave his squalor without permission from the Israeli troops who guarded his front and back doors.

But once the American sponsored "road map" was put forth by President George W. Bush as the way to peace, and once the parties to the conflict -- the Israelis and the Palestinians -- felt assured that not only the United States but also most of the relevant Arab countries in the Middle East were along for the trip, Israel pulled her troops back and allowed Yasser to come up for air.

It didn't take very long for Arafat, after providing a reasonable period of time to interfere with and hinder any success that the new prime minister might achieve, to reassert himself and his murdering suicide bombers into the "peace process."

The latest spate of bombings inside Israel has driven Prime Minister Ariel Sharon toward the once unlikely decision of removing Arafat from the picture. Either physically or permanently. That will be Yasser's choice. That decision has been met with criticism from all the likely suspects and from others whose voices of usual reason and support make their concern worthy of attention.

For the record, I don't have a solution for the need to stop people who are willing to blow themselves up in crowded markets, movie theaters and private religious celebrations in order to achieve afterlife promises made by Arafat and his henchmen.

What I do know is that they must be stopped. In a column in The New York Times written earlier this week by Middle East expert Thomas Friedman, he warned that cleaning up body parts, repairing bus stops and mopping up the mess left by exploding human beings was becoming a part of normal life in Israel. We all know the impact that 9-11 had on our country. Can you imagine 9-11's occurring with such frequency that they become part of the environment in which we live? That's the way it is in Israel.

Tom's point was that if the civilized nations of the world, specifically the United States of America, don't step up and into the process to stop the suicide bombings from being an almost daily occurrence and, therefore, a part of the culture in that part of the world, then the madness will spread and it will be Americans who will be mopping up, re-painting and boarding the buses across our own country because it will be part of our culture, too.

And that is why Sharon is taking what were once unthinkable measures to stop the terrorism. That doesn't mean they will work or not make matters worse -- and some, like martyring Arafat may make things worse -- but it does mean that the status quo cannot continue.

Can Israel do more to show "good faith"? If we are talking about settlements that are still being constructed in what will apparently be Palestinian territory, if a peace treaty is ever reached, the answer is yes. Israel has already conceded the point that some of the settlements will have to be dismantled as part of a two-state solution.

But Israel dare not make that first move lest Arafat proclaim to the whole world of suicide bombers that violence does work, that it does accomplish political and territorial goals.

That means that the sponsors of the "road map" cannot be content to just present the plan and go on to other things. The United States, especially, must bring to bear its rather weighty presence in the region and force those Arab countries that fund and support the terrorists to cease immediately. No more money for terrorists, no more tribute dollars to the families of the "martyred" murderers and no more political cover for Arafat.

It is true that the parties must make this peace between themselves. But that does not mean that America, Europe and the other Arab countries can turn their backs on the process of killing innocent people. Friedman is right about that.

As for Arafat, he needs to know this much. Israel will survive, but perhaps he, the Palestinians and some of their neighbors won't. The choice has always been his.

But, the United States, that's another story. I don't think any of us in this country are willing to accept death and destruction on a daily, weekly or even yearly basis as part of the way we live, just because others don't like us.

There is the national security that should give America reason to act. I suggest Iran and Saudi Arabia for starters. Tell them Arafat sent us.

archive