"Palestinian confidence building measures". No. Its not a cynical
joke. Its what any normal country would be demanding today. And
for good reason.
Because under the current circumstances Israel has no reason to
continue with what has turned into a "gangplank" and not "peace"
process.
In what appears to be a dress rehearsal for the impasse expected in
the final status negotiations, the Palestinians have embarked on a
public relations extravaganza, drawing support from both the Arab
and Western world to pressure Israel for concessions.
And the world is playing ball.
Forget about the truth. Forget about what is actually written in
the agreements. Arafat isn't happy and the world is at his feet.
So instead of telling the Ra'ees to stop with threats of violence
and his kooky stories about Har Homa (where he claims the Jews plan
to build a copy of Bethlehem to dupe the tourists) and tunnels
under the Temple Mount (to bring the Dome of the Rock tumbling down
and replace it with a Third Temple), President Clinton nods
patiently and glares at Israel.
"Only Israel can give while the Palestinians can only take." That
was the opening negotiating position of Shimon Peres et. al.. But
thanks to the "peace process", the Palestinians have much to give
Israel today: terrorist murderers, illegal weapons and stolen
cars, just to mention three possibilities.
Any step in the "peace process" - be it a withdrawal or transfer
of authority - increases Israel's reliance on others for its
security. But if, when Israel still hasn't conceded everything,
the world insists on ignoring serious Palestinian violations and
remains silent to gross misrepresentations of the agreements,
Israel has every reason to expect the situation to get even worse
when Israel has nothing left to offer.
Prime Minister Netanayhu can choose today to take a defensive
posture and hope for the best. The result will be a public
relations fiasco with more pressure on Israel to take a few more
steps down the plank to keep the "peace process" going.
But if Netanyahu takes a strong position demanding Palestinian
confidence building measures as a precondition for further
progress then maybe, just maybe, the "gangplank process" may become
a true "peace process."
Links to the White House, Congress and the Senate are available in our Communications Center.
You can also go to AIPAC's Web Site at http://www.aipac.org for additional updates and
for your members e-mail address and phone numbers.
Please bookmark this page and come back frequently for timely updates and links.
Please do not stay silent!!
Every voice that is heard DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!
