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The Statehood Nonsense
1p
the right to succeed to the power that Yasser Arafat is
rapidly losing as chairman of the Palestinian
Authority. In the claims that Islamic Jihad and
Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine make for "credit" for terror
strikes, it is easy to see the faces of feudal
warlords trying to impress the masses with
their capacity for brutality. Whoever comes
after Arafat will try to make his mark in violence and
hatred, in shedding more Israeli blood, rather than
by a conscientious effort to negoti-
ate and maintain a sustained truce,
the necessary precursor to a broad-
scale peace followed by recognition
of a meaningful state.
If the West Bank and Gaza were
a state now, how would it be gov-
erned when its most familiar
leader, Arafat, cannot do the job?
EDITO DIAL
History Lit By A Menorah
s we realize more clearly than ever that we
cannot count on a miracle to bring peace to
the Mideast, it may be comforting to think
about a more distant event that is
both mysterious and a great Jewish victory.
The event, of course, is the one we cele-
brate this coming week, Chanukah.
Were it not for its proximity to Christmas,
Chanukah likely would have gotten short shrift in
America where memories begin in 1776, not in the
second century B.C.E. when Mattathias and his
son, Judah Maccabee, recaptured a defiled Temple
from the Greek-Syrian armies. They found only one
cruse, a day's supply, of suitably pure olive oil for
the great menorah. But Talmud records that the
menorah burned for eight days.
A
What rights would it accord its neighbors, other
than a pledge of intifada (uprising) to the death?
Why should its voice be accepted in international
councils that say terror is anathema?
It is possible to feel sad for ordinary Palestinian
families, locked into poverty and hopelessness by
their morally bankrupt, corrupt and visionless lead-
ership. But it is folly to think that the anarchy that
passes for governance in Gaza City now is worthy of
statehood. ❑
AV, NAV ,SV N
erhaps the awful violence of last weekend
will slow the impetuous American rush to
recognize an independent state for the
Palestinians.
By their actions — not just the suicide
bombings of teenagers in Jerusalem and
seniors on a bus in Haifa, but also the
continued drive-by shootings and the mor-
tar rounds that have killed more than 220 Israeli cit-
izens in the last 14 months — the Palestinians have
forfeited any claim that they are entitled to be treat-
ed as a civilized nation.
They have shown the world through their attacks
on Israel that they believe that doing hellish wrongs
is the path to righteousness. With the memory of
the Sept. 11 tragedy still fresh in our minds, how
can we see these self-proclaimed freedom fighters as
being any different from the madmen of Al Qaida?
What seems to be going on now is a struggle for
A HANUKKAH MIRACLE
WE CELEBRATED
IN BIBLICAL TIMES:
A HANUKKAH AAIRACLE
WE COULD USE
IN MODERN TIMES:
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At a time when the Arab and
Muslim world seems intent on
OtIE miGRT,
LASTED' FOR Elan-
denying that there ever was a First
or Second Temple in
Jerusalem, the Maccabean
AgriedaeraEra ■■
revolt and the Chanukah
story are a strong
reminder of our rich past, a histori-
cal truth we can share with the non-Jewish world.
still worth lighting a chanukiah to celebrate.
"Chanukah" means, literally, dedication. This
It is also worth making the effort to share that
coming week would be a nice time to dedicate our-
past with our own children, in parr as an alternative
selves anew to the vitality of our Jewish history and
to the majoritarian Christmas season that surrounds
to sharing that passion with our children.
them this month. More important than the gelt
When we spin the dreidel, we should remember
(chocolate foil-wrapped coins) will be our willing-
that a Great Miracle Happened There. Maybe it
ness to treat that ancient triumph as something
could again. ❑
important to us as adults and role models, a miracle
EDITORIAL
iww.yeald."-Peemt
$144.6710,PWriC446.1.6) lay
Remembering Arafat
with, if he ever was. He has overplayed his last hand,
New York City
advocating peace while addressing the West and calling
o more talk about the Green Line. This
for jihad against Israel in Arabic one time too many.
week, Yasser Arafat crossed the red line.
With his own Fatah people involved in a number
Whether the Palestinian Authority
of the most recent attacks within Israel,
leader lives or dies now, his story
Arafat has been exposed as a fraud to the
is in the past.
degree that even the U.S., which has
By encouraging, allowing or being; unable
propped him up for years, can no longer
to prevent two horrendous suicide bomb-
ings in Jerusalem and Haifa that took at
ignore the fact that he is more terrorist
than statesman, squandering every oppor-
least 25 innocent lives, Arafat pushed Israel
tunity to solve territorial disputes with
into a response that firmly places home
Israel through negotiations and always
security over foreign (read: American) rela-
resorting instead to violence.
tions, and underscored the foolhardiness of
In so doing, he has brought untold suf-
maintaining Arafat as a partner for peace.
GARY
fering to his people, insisting to them that
It makes no difference whether the
ROSENBLATT Israel, and the Jews, are their enemy and
Palestinian chief is unable to control the mur-
Special
must be eliminated rather than preparing
derous attacks or is orchestrating them. Either
Commentary
the Palestinians for peace, as he pledged to
way, he is not the man for Israel to negotiate
N
do at Oslo more than eight years ago.
For the last 14 bloody months, Israel sustained
thousands of violent attacks and more than 200
murders, mostly civilians far from the battlefield.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tried negotiat-
ing, threatening, sending the army into Area A,
eliminating the terrorist leaders. Nothing worked.
After the shocking Tel Aviv disco bombing in
June, killing 21 young people, Israelis were prepared
to strike against the Palestinian Authority, yet held
back, giving diplomacy another chance. But the
names of U.S. peacekeepers who have come and
gone is dizzying. Ross gave way to Mitchell, and
Tenet was followed by Zinni, each defeated by
Palestinian refusal to submit to the logic of compro-
mise rather than the madness of murder.
ROSENBLATT on page
34
12/7
2001
31