6t/ OW4 O ATTITUDES page 8 effr eff ee„ , 10) 399-2311 FOR AN IN-HOUSE URE YOUR ROOM SPACE! MS 1 & BUSINESS WORK MONTH DESTALS, TABLES AND MOR Interest-Free FINANCING -Limited- offer Manufacturers of Fine, Custom Furniture * 1 The reality is no one on earth is going to try Arafat for his crimes. All of the governments recognize him as the leader of the Pales- tinians and have only a margin- al interest in whether he fulfills his commitments. If Arafat can be tied to contin- uing terrorist attacks against Jews, the U.S. Congress, at least, would be inclined to take action; that is, withhold aid to the Pales- tinians. The determination of Arafat's responsibility inevitably will be made by the Israeli gov- ernment. This is not new. What Amer- ican Jews know about the PLO's activities is based almost entire- ly on what the Israelis tell us. When a terrorist incident oc- curs, we have no independent way of learning who was re- sponsible. We have always sim- ply believed the Israeli government when it announced the perpetrators were PLO, Hamas or whomever. I don't recall any American Jew questioning the Israeli line — until now. Opponents of the peace process are so determined to undermine the government, and so convinced of its treachery, that they accuse it of lying. Be- cause of a desire to demonize the PLO (to the extent it needed help), the government always had an incentive to blame Arafat for terrorism. Arafat is like the genie who escaped from the bottle. It's no use wasting time trying to shove him back in. F U R N I T U R E PRO FI I_ ES 21930 WYOMING, OAK PARK, MICHIGAN wgr:tn'se FREE APPOINTMENT IN HOME • 399-2311 !DARRELL'S SHELL Specializing In Driveability, Air Conditioning & fuel Injection We Can Diagnose Anything • Fleet Accounts Available We Accept Most Competitor's Coupons Auto Care 1m. NNE 1.1.1 I■ 1 7.7.y. _ -77 r MIMI MIMI 1295 F- 10 L Most Cars With Coupon mml I 1111111M1 =IN MEIN nn Most Cars With Coupon 1min Ems mos 553-2622 CORNER OF 12 MILE & ORCHARD LAKE ROAD FARMINGTON HILLS MIMI MIMI TIRE I-JbediTAIVAYI ROTATION I OIL, LURE & FILTE R IMMEDIATE R ! I & BALANCE I SERVICE " While You Wait - Most Cars Up to 5 Qts. of Shell Oil I Shell Oil Filter Lube & 21 Point Safety Check I With Coupon Plus $1.00 Environmental Fe a. DARRELL'S FREE I Air I Conditioning Inspection 1 RN= EINEM 11=111 111111•1 AC Recharge 951 $ 1.9 I Plus Freon Diagnostic Extra Most Cars ■ mom Nom mill Today, the motives are the re- verse. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin wants everyone to believe Arafat is sincere about peace, so his government blames every attack on Hamas. Is this the truth? How should I know? Israeli opponents of the gov- ernment can certainly accuse it of lying, but they would have a tough time proving it. American Jews can take a similar position, the problem is that many simul- taneously claim they really sup- port the peace process and don't oppose or criticize the govern- ment. Sorry, you can't have it both ways. I'm reminded of Amnesty In- ternational's routine condemna- tions of Israel. Amnesty can at least carry out an investigation and offer some evidence before it makes its charges. Do you believe Amnesty or the government? I guarantee the American Jews who believe Mr. Rabin lies about Arafat would trust the prime minister given that choice. Who commits a terrorist act and which organization is re- sponsible should be a simple question of fact, but for Ameri- can Jews it is not. It is really a matter of faith. Do you trust the Israeli government or not? Congress can hold hearings and investigate, but it is not like- ly to unearth independent infor- mation. Unless the CIA interrogates the suspects and has infiltrated the terrorist cells, it also has to rely heavily on what the Israeli government says. If we don't know who's re- sponsible for terrorism, what can the United States do about it? We can blame Arafat, as the com- pulsive PLO-bashers would like, and try to punish him by with- holding aid. That is not going to happen be- cause the Rabin government views him as its peace partner and maintains Arafat has taken steps to reduce the violence. The Clinton administration believes this as well. Moreover, the ter- rorists are doing fine without aid now. If other Palestinians see no improvement in their living con- ditions (the purpose of the aid), they will be more likely to turn to terror. So long as Jews live in the Is- lamic world, radical fundamen- talists will attack them. Israel has to improve its security and compel Arafat to take sterner measures against Hamas and other opponents of peace by ty- ing implementation of the Dec- laration of Principles to his behavior. Mr. Rabin is doing this. The United States has limited options for helping, but the president and Congress are taking the appro- priate steps by looking for ways to prevent Americans from send- ing money to the terrorists and working to minimize Iran's abil- ity to support them. U.S. rela- tions with Syria also must be tied to Syrian President Hafez al-As- sad's actions to prevent terror from Lebanon and willingness to expel terrorists from Damascus. Arafat is like the genie who es- caped from the bottle. It's no use wasting time trying to shove him back in, so let's focus on measures the United States can take to stop terrorism. El Mitchell G. Bard is a foreign policy analyst and author of The Water's Edge and Beyond: Defining the Limits to Domestic Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy. 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