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The Iranian Connection
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Dry Bones
the sea — a position that
he New York Times reported last week
Arafat repeated as recently as
that it had found evidence that Yasser
a year ago.
Arafat had struck a deal with his one-
If that is the case, there is
time opponent Iran that is intended to
little reason for Israel to
funnel arms and money to the Palestinian
make any concessions to the
leader's intifada (uprising) fighters.
Palestinians — on land or
The report is hardly surprising. Surely no one
boundaries or statehood.
believed that the 50 tons of arms Israel seized in
Arafat almost certainly
January on the freighter Karine A got there with-
intends to use a cease-fire, if
out the direct knowledge of the leaders in both
one is negotiated, simply as
Tehran and Gaza City. The shipment wasn't
a time to prepare for future
some speculative enterprise by a rogue weapons
fighting, not as a prelude to
dealer who just happened to have exactly the sort
seeking a lasting peace.
of stuff the Palestinians want to be able to
And there is every
enlarge their war against the Jewish
reason for Israel to
state.
approach with great
But what makes the Times report so
caution the idea
worth reading is its account of when
floated by Saudi Arabia that
and how the deal between Iran and the
the Arab states would seek
Palestinian Authority was struck — at a secret
"normal" relations with
meeting in Moscow that took place while Arafat
Israel if Israel simply with-
was visiting the Russian president, Vladimir
drew from the territories it
Putin. Arafat was supposed to be in Moscow
captured in 1967. Absent a
explaining the Palestinian desires for a peaceful
true and effective effort to
settlement with Israel; instead, it appears, he was
disarm the Palestinian ter-
simply arming his forces for endless new warfare.
rorists, those "normal" rela-
Naturally, Iranian and Palestinian officials deny
tions could disappear within
that any deal exists. And the United States, hav-
months of an Israeli with-
ing identified Iran as part of the "axis of evil"
drawal from its control of
that President Bush wants to attack, has good
the West Bank and Gaza.
reason to leak information that shows Iran in the
The United States has
worst light.
been pressing Arafat to curb
But, as the Karine A capture shows, there is
the terrorists, arguing that
every good reason not to credit the Iranian and
he was stating publicly,
Palestinian claims. Among other things, Iran is
repeatedly and in Arabic that
the primary maker of the C-4 explosives, a ton of
their attacks must stop. That, however, is not
which were on the ship.
enough. Israel is correct to demand that Arafat
Even during the Oslo negotiations a decade
jail the terrorists before it will even begin to talk
ago, many Israeli leaders believed that Arafat and
seriously about a long-range political solution.
his aides never wanted a permanent peace in
The U.S. may be eager to enlist Arab support for
which they had to accept and respect Israel's
severe action against Saddam Hussein of Iraq,
right to exist within secure boundaries. No mat-
but it cannot be at the price of leaving Israel vul-
ter what the Palestinians said, they always acted
nerable to Arafat's proven duplicity.
as if their long-term goal was to drive Israel into
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EDITORIAL
As the Times report shows, Arafat and the
Palestine Liberation Organization can be counted
on to say one thing publicly and to do the exact
opposite in private, without a single gesture of
remorse. He and his lieutenants are not to be
trusted. The sooner the Palestinian find honor-
able successors to them, the better it will be for
everyone. ❑
Tale Of The Tape
o doubt the Rev. Billy Graham regrets
the anti-Semitic thoughts he shared
with President Richard Nixon 30 years
ago.
In case you missed the issue, the
Baptist minister, who has been a confi-
dant of presidents dating back to
Lyndon B. Johnson, told Nixon that
Jews were responsible for "the porno-
graphic stuff" and agreed with him that they
dominated the news media. This Jewish "stran-
glehold has to be broken or the country's going
down the drain," Rev. Graham said.
N
And, according to tapes released earlier this
month, the evangelist said he pretended to be
friendly to "a lot of the Jews" but "they don't
know how I really feel about what they are doing
to this country."
Just to make the hypocrisy a little
more plain, the exchange came after a
White House prayer breakfast on Feb. 1,
1972 — and less than a year after Rev.
Graham accepted an award from the National
Conference of Christians and Jews. And when
Nixon adviser H.R. Haldeman reported the
exchange in 1994, Graham strongly denied ever
EDITO RIAL
saying any such thing.
Now that the tapes have been released, the Baptist
minister, 83, has acknowledged that he did say those
things, but says he totally repudiates the feelings.
"My remarks did not reflect my love for the Jewish
people," he says, adding, "I humbly ask the Jewish
community to reflect on my actions on behalf of
Jews over the years that contradict my words in the
Oval Office that day."
We have reflected on his deeds and words. We
wish for Billy Graham only what he wishes for
himself, that he will be judged by a merciful
Creator. ❑
3/29
2002
45