June1, 2001

"Arafat's Nations of Suicide Bombers -
A Universal Threat"

Thomas Friedman calls Yasser Arafat a coward who fears being shot if he compromises even one percent of the West Bank.  Rarely if ever do I agree with Friedman, but he is right about Arafat.  Palestinians do not have a leader, and we never had a "partner for peace."  The Israeli authors of the Oslo Accords scavenged through the rubbish and retrieved the old terrorist, whom Sharon had crushed in Lebanon, and who, after the Persian Gulf War, was persona non grata to both Arabs and all others, to make him a respected leader and partner for peace.  They failed.

Arafat squirmed when Barak offered him more than anyone ever expected.  In all his life, he knew nothing but terror, and now faced with the dilemma of becoming a legitimate head of his own state, he determined to stick with what he knew.  He's a demagogue and a weakling, incapable of making bold decisions, comfortable only with corruption and gangsterism.  Rather than giving food, housing and jobs to his people, his televised message to the Palestinians passionately stirs hate for Jews and Americans.  Arafat's media will stoop to anti-Semitism and fabrications as it recently did when they accused the mother of a ten-month-old infant, instead of the Palestinian sniper, of murdering her own child.   Unlike decent people everywhere, they showed no remorse. 

Where in heavens were Israel's leaders when in the presence of the then American First lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Arafat's wife accused the Israelis of injecting Arab children with the AIDS virus?  It should have been as clear as day that these sickening lies emanated from Yasser Arafat, the crazed wife's husband.  Had we at that moment decided to have no further  discussions with this disgusting liar, the world would have understood and the dastardly intifada would have been prevented.  But Israel's leaders pretended nothing was said.  And they keep pretending.  It's time to withdraw from euphoric illusions of peace with Arafat and his gang of thieves and terrorists. 

But how could Israelis continue to live under the threat of continued killing?  The answer is clear, "They can't, even if they must."  The old yiddish idiom, "truth is the best lie," and the truth about Arafat and his gang is a most powerful weapon.  It's time for Israel to take some propaganda initiatives.  Tell the world what Arafat has done. . .about his Swiss accounts and how many hundreds of millions of dollars he has stashed in Switzerland. Start broadcasting to the Arab people and let them know who's getting rich at their expense and sending their children to a cowardly death as supposed martyrs.  It will eventually sink in, and whether we like hearing it or not, wars are no longer won on battlefields. The Soviets taught us long ago that guns and bullets are ineffective weapons today.  The war in Vietnam is a perfect example; the communists defeated America and the free world in the arena of propaganda.    

Israelis have demonstrated extraordinary skill in business and technology, in its military prowess and the miraculous absorption of diverse people and varied cultures but have yet to make a serious attempt at public relations and getting its truth out to the rest of the world.  Because of Jew hatred, Israel's side of the story would be unheeded.  But we discovered that even Arab nations wanted our products and creativity and would thus dialogue and listen when we reveal Arafat's cataclysmic scheme.  He wants humankind brought to its knees.  He would love to see a regional war with Iran and Iraq using weapons of mass destruction and universal Armageddon.  Arafat is a lethal fuse who has made his people a nation of suicide bombers. 

Shabbat Shalom