EDITORIAL
Democratic Pitfall
Question: When is it wrong to solve a
dispute through a democratic election?
Answer: When the election is rigged.
Israeli officials are worried that Saddam
Hussein may seek to avoid a military
showdown with the United States by sug-
gesting that he withdraw from Kuwait in
return for American and other forces
withdrawing from Saudi Arabia. As for
Kuwait, Saddam may propose a free and
democratic election for the inhabitants to
choose their own destiny.
Sounds reasonable enough. The problem
is, according to Israeli intelligence, more
than half of the citizens of Kuwait have
been displaced by Iraqis in the last two
months. And the longer the military stan-
doff, the stronger the possibility that
Kuwait will be completely inhabited by
Iraqis.
In addition, a pullout of Iraq from
Kuwait could lead to calls for a negotiated
settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli
dispute, and Israel does not want to be the
sacrificial lamb for Iraqi aggression.
Washington has been grappling with two
scenarios: a full-scale war or a diplomatic
solution. But the administration is divided
over whether a diplomatic solution that
i JUST Ki.SZCD Ng-
would end the threat of war but leave
Saddam in power, with his huge army and
his nuclear and chemical arsenal intact,
would be a victory. Some in the ad-
ministration would be satisfied With a
return to the status quo, arguing that
Saddam would be weakened at home and
that the U.S. would be able to monitor Ira-
qi actions and prevent a future nuclear or
chemical war.
The more hawkish officials, reportedly
including Secretary of Defense Dick
Cheney, fear that a return to the status quo
would be a major victory for Saddam. He
could say that he went eyeball to eyeball
with the United States, that he raised the
issues of democracy in Kuwait and a
homeland for Palestinians. And he could
still go on increasing his nuclear and
chemical arsenal, preparing for a war with
the Jewish state.
It is not difficult to see why Mideast real-
ists would like to see the United States
take on Iraq. While it is preferable to
defeat Saddam Hussein without resorting
to violence, it is prudent to advocate a swift
and decisive action. Any outcome that
leaves Saddam in power, able to strike
again, is no victory.
Tragedy In Jerusalem
Not surprisingly, the Arab and Israeli
accounts of what precipitated the violence
near the Western Wall and Al Aksa
Mosque in Jerusalem this week differ
greatly. But what cannot be disputed is
that violence, fueled by hatred and
distrust, resulted in death and injuries.
The Israelis maintain that the Arab at-
tack of rocks and bottles on thousands of
Jews praying at the Western Wall during
Sukkot services was premeditated. The
Minister of Police said that "piles of stones
and incendiary material, prepared in ad-
vance, were found at the site of the inci-
dent." He also noted that "the very
presence of thousands of Arab youths on a
normal day, not at an hour of prayer at the
mosque, indicates the intent of the rioters;'
The tragedy at the site of the holy places
underscores the extraordinary efforts
Israel has made in seeking to maintain
freedom of worship for Arabs and Jews
over the years. It seems clear that the at-
tack was an attempt to disrupt that bal-
ance and exacerbate Arab-Israeli tensions
over the Persian Gulf crisis by seeking to
distract the world from that crisis.
Unfortunately, the U.S. response to
chastise Israel and urge the United
Nations to condemn the Jewish state only
plays into the hands of Yassir Arafat and
Saddam Hussein, who want to shift atten-
tion from Saddam to Israel while linking
the Kuwaiti and Israeli issues.
The bloodshed is deeply regrettable and
the heavy loss of life is indeed sorrowful.
Whether or not it was necessary for Israeli
6
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1990
Dry Bones
Jo- LINER
AND ISRAEL.
...ON A
RU SSIAN
ISRAEL.I
AMERICAN
AIM Ake
L
&svitf
WliAT A
GREAT
IDEA!
i DAD,., i ii5 VOWED -1
CONZILAR vTATUs...
Kiss At A5441 AND hi.
BE AN Att154$MoR/ j
P
-91 1°
OPINION 1"—'—
The Real Comparison
Between Iraq, Israel
ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN
and KENNETH JACOBSON
I
police to use live ammunition, in addition
to tear gas and rubber bullets, can be
debated from afar, but police officials said
it was a matter of self-defense.
For thousands of Arabs, whose own holy
site is protected by Israel, to rain rocks and
stones on thousands of Jews praying at
Judaism's holiest site is an act of provoca-
tion. The spiral of violence is maddening,
but this latest incident only points to the
Arab need to recognize the right of the
State of Israel to exist, where Jews can
pray in peace at the site of a temple that
has been destroyed twice by those who
would prefer us extinct.
-544 RUSSIANS coomft
-a -rion)
WANT Tb
C4) 114 Eari-1
BuiLD A
At-feR(cA
AREN'T VI srPOsED To
TM INT ZOMETION ?'
srael and friends of Israel
have taken a low-key
approach to the Iraqi
crisis in consonance with the
notion that it is easier for the
United States to get Arab
support against Kuwait if
Israel is not conspicuous.
Meanwhile, numbers of Arab
spokesmen have appeared on
the airwaves and in an effort
to divert attention and
paralyze the U.S. effort have
engaged in the worst kind of
Israel-bashing.
Fortunately, the U.S. reac-
tion has been: diversionary
tactics won't work. Mean-
while, the Arab charges
against Israel and against
U.S. support for Israel go
unchallenged.
Iraq's supporters claim
Israel's "occupation" of the
West Bank and Gaza is like
Iraq's occupation of Kuwait.
In fact, there are fundamen-
tal differences between the
two situations.
Israel came into possession
of the West Bank, Gaza, the
Golan Heights, and the Sinai
as a result of a war of self-
defense in 1967. Egypt and
Syria took active steps of ag-
gression against Israel,
threatening her very ex-
istence, and soon thereafter
Jordan entered the fray
Mr. Foxman is national
director of the Anti-
Defamation League:
Mr. Jacobson is director of
ADL's International Affairs
Division.
despite Israeli urging to stay
out.
On the other hand, Iraq
seized Kuwait in as clear an
act of unprovoked aggression
as any since Hitler's march
through Europe.
Second, Israel made it clear
early on that the future of
these territories, seized in a
defensive war, could be
negotiated among the parties.
And indeed, when one party,
Egypt, finally was ready to
end its war against Israel,
peace was achieved and Israel
turned over the Sinai penin-
sula to Egypt. Iraq has made
clear its intentions of a dif-
ferent sort not only by its ag-
gression but by its immediate
announcement that it had an-
nexed Kuwait and that, in
fact, Kuwait had ceased to
exist.
Third, the difference bet-
ween the situations is
highlighted by the way the
United Nations has approach-
ed each. In the case of Israel,
U.N. Resolution 242 recogniz-
ed that the reason Israel was
in the territories was due to
the war and Arab refusal to
accept Israel's existence and
therefore legitimized Israel's
presence in the territories un-
til the Arabs made peace.
On the other hand, in the
case of Iraq's invasion, there
was absolutely no legitimacy
granted to it; instead the
United Nations instituted
sanctions, adopted
unanimously by the Security
Council, to enforce a
unilateral Iraqi withdrawal.
The United Nations thereby
demonstrated an understan-
Continued on Page 11