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June 21, 2002/Tamuz 11 5762, Vol. 54, No. 40
A military solution is Israel's only choiceFARLEY WEISSThere is a simple philosophical solution to end Palestinian Arab terrorism.It is that the punishment for the terrorism must be so great that the terrorists see no military or political gain from engaging in terrorism, and instead see a permanent military and political loss from engaging in terrorism. Unfortunately, until today, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have not lost one inch of land nor have their relations been cut with a single country since the terrorism war was launched almost two years ago - that is why terrorism continues. The solution is that Israel must make permanent changes on the ground and diplomatically that make it clear that terrorism does not pay. The latest suicide bombing in Jerusalem continues to make it clear that Arafat has failed to keep the most fundamental obligation that he made and was the basis for Oslo. In his letter to Prime Minister Rabin on Sept. 9, 1993, Arafat wrote, "The PLO commits itself to the Middle East Peace Process and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to the permanent status will be resolved during negotiations. The PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance; prevent violations and discipline violators." In the "Prevention of Hostile Acts" Section of the Oslo Accords Arafat committed that "Both sides shall take all measures necessary in order to prevent acts of terrorism, crimes and hostilities directed against each other, against individuals falling under the other's authority and against their property, and shall take legal measures against offenders." There would have been no Oslo accords without Arafat's commitment in his Sept. 9 letter or the commitment in the Prevention of Hostile Acts Section of the Oslo Accords. It is often forgotten that from September 1993 until September 2000, Israel had never entered militarily the areas Israel turned over to Arafat, known as Area A, and yet Arafat used this time to preach Jihad and martyrdom. He organized a terror empire and provided a safe haven for those engaged in terrorism instead of fulfilling his commitment to teach his people to live in peace and end terrorism. Arafat launched his terrorism war in September 2000, after he rejected Prime Minister Barak's outrageously generous concessions. Many people forget that, despite his comments today, Barak proceeded to negotiate during this terrorism war and made even more outrageously generous concessions at Taba in January 2001 while Arafat was launching his war. Those who supported Oslo and were determined to achieve a political solution argued that the most renowned terrorist in the world, Yasser Arafat, would end his support of terrorism if you gave him something to lose, namely: land. The biggest problem with this theory is that Israel has never, to this very day, threatened Arafat with the two things that he fears most, which are loss of his life and loss of land. It is therefore not surprising that the terrorism has continued with Prime Minister Sharon in power. Israel can today very easily make permanent political changes on the ground in Jerusalem with very few diplomatic repercussions. There are literally thousands of illegally built Arab homes in East Jerusalem that are mostly empty, and Israel should videotape them to show they are empty and then destroy them. Israel should recapture Joseph's Tomb in Shechem and allow Jews to pray there. Finally, Israel should capture or kill Arafat, but at the least, permanently expel Arafat. It will show to the Palestinian Arabs what will await any new leaders if they follow in Arafat's footsteps. Terrorism is immoral even if your cause is justified, and in this case the cause is not justified. The biblical commentator Rashi wrote that the reason why the Torah says the word "justice" twice when it says "Justice, Justice thou shall pursue" is to teach us that it is only permissible to pursue just causes by just means. This is a fundamental moral principle that has been lost upon the world. We have shown in our response to Sept. 11 that there can be a military solution to terrorism. Israel must follow suit. Israel has no other alternative. Farley Weiss is the national vice president of the Zionist Organization of America and associate vice president of the National Council of Young Israel. |
