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January 2, 2002
by Eugene Narrett, Ph.D.
Let's concede to Israel's current Prime Minister the debate about his motives. Let's assume they are pure, guided by a genuine love of Israel, its Land, history and people. The fact that no one would add to this short list a love of its Holy Scriptures raises questions about the entirety of the commitment but let that pass, for now. Even conceding the best of motives to Ariel Sharon, including the assumption that his strategy is meant to reduce the violence from which Israel suffers, it appears that his approach will not hold very long into the future, even given the best of short-term results. Key to the grand design seems to be to retain Yasser Arafat as the most visible "Palestinian" leader while re-establishing the public perception of him as a terrorist. That is, Sharon intends to undo one of the most damaging aspects of the Oslo delusion, that Arafat is a statesman while weakening the appeal the PLO exercises on major media. For functional (as opposed to photo-op) matters, Arafat will be replaced by a 'moderate' like Sari Nuseibeh or even Jibril Rajoub whom Sharon put in charge of security on the hills overlooking the Jewish ghetto in Hebron. In addition, PM Sharon doggedly lowers the expectations (that peaked under Ehud Barak) of global diplomatic cadres about the extent of the nascent Palestinian State. Since his run for office, Sharon has indicated consistently that he believes the "Palestinians" should have a contiguous state on about half the land of Judea and Samaria. They will not get any of Jerusalem and Israel will retain the western side of the Jordan Valley. Most Jewish settlements will be incorporated into Israel. "Palestine" will be de-militarized and Israel will control its airspace. The Sharon-Peres government will so persistently cramp Arafat's globe-trotting style and deploy within "the territories" that the PLO will learn that this time it has gone to far. The US will lead the UN and EU in accepting and recognizing the boundaries of the new improved (shrunken) Israel. There will be peace. NOT! Not a single item in this deal can be sustained as made clear by the means Sharon has followed toward it: accepting a relentless letting of Jewish blood and the destruction or isolation of Jewish holy places. There are no moderates associated with the PLO, if moderates mean influential Arabs ready to insist that their people peacefully accept Jews and a sovereign Israel as neighbors. As most readers of this space know, Mr. Nuseibeh, for example, collaborated with the Iraqi military in rocketing Israel in 1991. The PLO continues to insist that "return of Arab refugees" to Israel is essential to any peace plan. Aside from the lies from which these claims and terms derive, the fact is that such an influx would destroy the Jewish State, as it is meant to. An Arab State however small will not accept restraints on its sovereignty, nor will "the world community" abide them. They will ship it armaments and money, and passenger jets from Europe, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other States will send them what they wish. If Israel contests this, the US will take to patrolling "Palestine's" airspace, as it does northern Iraq. Mr. Sharon may retain Jerusalem as "Israel's eternal, undivided capital," but if its * million Arabs remain, or are allowed to increase, it will be untenable for Jews, and agitation for its division will rise. If Jews cannot live or own land in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Iran or much of Yesha, than only token numbers of Arabs should be allowed to live within Israel, period. However small, "Palestine" will be a staging ground for terrorist infiltration of and attacks on Israel, as was routine in the 1940s through '60s. There will be a repeat of fedayeen terrorism and murders. The current Oslo War will continue, and the world Controllers will be just as adamant that Israel "show restraint" in response to the murder of its citizens. Supporters of Mr. Sharon cite his "excellent relationship with President Bush" and tout the latter's comments that, "Israel has a right to defend itself," thank you very much. But consider the verse read early in Exodus: "a new king arose in Egypt that knew not about Joseph." Mr. Bush will not be President forever, perhaps not even in 2005, however rosy now appears the popularity derived from the (vaguely defined) "War on Terrorism" and its very strange bedfellows. Even assuming George Bush, Jr. truly is a friend of a strong Israel, he will not command the behavior of "Palestine" or its allies even during his incumbency, much less afterward. Frankly, comments by Bush administration officials that "this is not a green light, red light situation" anymore were brief, limited mostly to the hours after the terror attacks of November 27 - December 05 (Afula, Hadera, Jerusalem, Haifa, Emanuel). Those were public comments and clearly basic "understandings" with Mr. Sharon had been reached during his campaign, and likely, before it. The White House knows that Mr. Sharon will doggedly constrict the Jewish settlement of its heartland, regardless when, or if, the Mitchell Plan formally goes into effect. Indeed, housing starts in Yesha have fallen drastically from the days of Barak to those of Sharon. They also know, as Sharon has boasted, that he "knows how to evacuate a settlement." And it ought to be clear after several decades that American government rhetoric about "peace in the Middle East" is empty. The Executive Branch of the government, and many Congressional lobbyists want a constant crisis so their friends the Arms Corporations continue their lucrative and incendiary business. Resultant energy or other tensions also give the government an excuse to expand its powers, in the name of "fighting terrorism," of course. Sharon's methods are as dangerous as his goals. Sure, Arafat hates being cooped up in Ramallah; ordinary Jews have paid for his peeves with their blood, limbs and lives. But Likud's claims about his "irrelevance" are hollow. With CNN remaining on site to televise "His Excellency's"pouting and threatening speeches, he remains very much a part of world politics. He has damped down on terrorism with Israeli tanks in sight of his office but when this 'good behavior' is rewarded by the tanks' withdrawal, violence will increase again, until he is bought off with further concessions. For Arafat and most Muslims, the example of Mohammed's Hudabiya Treaty remains in effect. So long as he and his lieutenants remain alive, talk of settling the conflict is fatuous and/or villainous. Perhaps the worst failure is Sharon's willingness to part with or endanger Jewish holy sites, notably, Joseph's Tomb in Shechem, Rachel's Tomb outside Bethlehem and Hebron, and the physical integrity of the Temple Mount. Even setting aside one's belief in the Deity Who gave the Torah to Moshe, a nation that despises or trades away the core of its history is involved in a march toward forgetting and disappearance. Its enemies will despise it, and so will its own confused citizens. Ariel Sharon's strategy is a road to nowhere, as indicated by the games he plays with Shimon Peres and Israel's Foreign Ministry. Mr. Sharon's half-hearted denials of the shaping of a Palestinian State west of the Jordan indicate his fatigue, cynicism and surrender to the demands of Israel's enemies. This new State will insure that violence will escalate, and that Israel's margin for survival will shrink. Israelis need a government that will execute Arafat and his top honchos, destroy the PLO's consortium of gangs and annex, settle and build the Jewish heartland. It's that or war on far worse terms. Dr. Eugene Narrett is a writer and teacher in Massachusetts and is the author of Gathered Against Jerusalem: Essays on a False Peace (Dec. 2000). His new book, Israel Awakened: A Chronicle of the Oslo War, is currently available at www.1stbooks.com/bookview/7421.
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