February 6, 2004

"An End to Terrorism"

Near the end of January a homicide bomber murdered ten people on a bus in Jerusalem and wounded more than fifty. Comparing Israel‘s population to America, the deaths in Israel in this episode alone equal five hundred fatalities and twenty five thousand wounded, making this a major catastrophe. The Arabs are holding the jugular vein of Israel. Recently published studies show that more than two hundred-fifty thousand Israelis have left the country in the last three years. I mourn for each victim of a terrorism act, and I also worry about the diminution of Israel’s population.

I support building the wall between Jews and Arabs. It will help to some degree, but I want to point out the following: there are more than one million Arabs on Israel’s side of the wall, Arab propagandists who cry apartheid are rallying Jew haters everywhere, and the Arabs will find many ways to penetrate or circumvent the wall and continue to kill and maim.

A leader of Israel’s political right boasted to me that in the year 2003 terror against Israel was reduced by thirty percent, the result, he said, of Israel’s targeted assassinations of terrorists and other reprisals against perpetrators and their handlers. A thirty percent reduction was good news, but it’s not enough to give Israelis and Jews comfort.

There has to be a better way to end the terrorism while achieving a long term peaceful solution in the Middle East. The Bush Administration’s policy is getting nowhere. The Republican religious right strongly supports Israel and demands that Israel retain every inch of its land, with the result that the United States’ government keeps its hands off both Israel and the Palestinians, and this is wrong. America’s military victory in Iraq puts the Bush administration in a powerful position. The United States can demand implementation of the road map plan with its prerequisite of the complete cessation of terror.

The President can tell Arafat that he is guilty of conspiring with Saddam, and as a result should be tried for war crimes. The Bush Administration can place other pressures upon Arafat and the leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbolla that would restrain them. The suicide murderers in Iraq are aping Arafat’s followers. The murderer responsible for the recent killings in Jerusalem was a member of Fatah and its Al Aksa Brigade, an organization that Arafat openly controls. Arafat’s henchmen are engaged in the very same terror techniques as their allies in Iraq. Since the first Persian Gulf War, Arafat has been involved with pro-Saddam forces and Al Qaeda members.

The United States faced suicidal murderers and an immoral enemy during World War II when it fought against Japanese imperialism and its kamikazes. President Truman found no alternative but to resort for the first and only time in human history to the use of atomic bombs. Historians have argued in support of and against his decision, and there is merit to both sides. I don’t want to suggest or imply that Israel engage now in the use of nuclear weapons. The Arabs, however, must know that there is a limit to Jewish patience and suffering. Arab parents and children could not possibly relish the loss of their sons and daughters to suicidal madness or the economic strain terrorism has imposed on their lives. They should not remain silent to the evil their own leaders and fanatics impose upon them.

Much can, and will be, resolved when discussion replaces violence. The vast majority of Israelis are willing to make sacrifices for peace, but in the meantime, the might and power of the United States can have a positive impact. Israel needs help putting an end to terrorist attacks within its borders and President Bush can provide that help. American indolence does not serve the interests of our government or contribute to the well-being of the people, both Israeli and Arab, living in the troubled Middle East. The resolution to stop terrorism should not wait until after the election of the 44th President.

Shabbat Shalom