False hopes along the fast track to war
by Amos Perlmutter
Washington Times -- May 22, 2001

Last week the Israeli-Palestinian conflict witnessed the highest 
escalation of Palestinian terror and Israeli response since the 
beginning of the Intifada eight months ago.

Yasser Arafat is in charge of terror and so is his organization, 
the Palestine Liberation Organization. He was never a true partner 
for peace with Israel, and he is clearly demonstrating it now. 
He rides the chariot of war toward Palestinian independence and 
praying at Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. The Oslo process 
is dead, and its death is clearly Mr. Arafat´s doing. The late 
former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to equip the 
Palestinian police only with pistols. Oslo was flagrantly 
violated by Mr. Arafat who created an army of 35,000 so-called 
policemen now armed with mortars and heavy equipment to terrorize 
Israel.

As predicted by many, Mr. Arafat has escalated the war with the 
hope of getting the Americans involved. The Mitchell Commission 
calls for evenhandedness between the parties, thereby lifting 
Mr. Arafat from his ignominious isolation into a partnership 
with the United States.

The commission was set up only for purposes of investigating the 
causes of the recent conflict. Its recommendations were never 
intended to be a basis for policy. It called for the end of 
Palestinian violence and for the Israelis to freeze the growth 
of the settlements. It is very unfortunate that Secretary of 
State Colin Powell considers the commission recommendation a
benchmark for negotiations.

Like hundreds of other commissions since the establishment of 
the State of Israel and before, this one has not achieved its 
purpose. It should be clear in the minds of the striped-pants 
diplomats and Arabists of the Department of State who now 
dominate the Bush administration´s Middle East policy, that if 
they examine the various commissions carefully they will find 
that after each commission´s recommendations, there was not 
only no implementation of their recommendations but also an 
escalation of violence.

It is curious that, while President Bush courageously and 
correctly calls for the end of violence and terror, his 
secretary of state and his minions contradict those intentions. 
Once you relinquish your policy to Foggy Bottom diplomats, you 
can rest assured that the chicaneries of Arafat and Co. will 
overwhelm these "well reasoned" diplomats.

If the Mitchell Commission is given the imprimatur, it certainly 
does not promise the end of violence, but rather the 
legitimization of Yasser Arafat the terrorist, who is not 
interested in a cease-fire. Diplomats should be aware that 
Mr. Arafat has no intention of ending the violence and that any 
American contact with him, like the planned meeting with Mr. 
Powell in Geneva, will only embolden his purposes. Mr. Arafat 
and the Palestinian Authority have declared war not Israel as 
the propagandists imply in their mission of deception.

The commission recommends a package deal, i.e. end of violence 
and settlements, but who will be the first to make concessions? 
The Sharon government has said it will not negotiate under fire. 
The Palestinians, with the help of the commission and the 
European Union (proven to be a party to Palestinian purposes), 
have used the settlements as an obstacle to peace.

But Israeli settlements were not an issue in 1993 when the Oslo 
Agreement was made. It was understood clearly that once 
confidence-building measures took place, a territorial 
arrangement would be made between Israel and the Palestinians. 
Having lost their diplomatic battle at Camp David and having 
no other recourse to justify their violence, the Palestinians 
once again came up with the Israeli settlement policy as a way 
to justify their violence and terrorism.

It is not surprising that the commission has accepted the 
standing American position against the settlements. Thus, the 
much-touted "balance" in the commission´s recommendations is no 
benchmark for settlement of the most pernicious issues in the 
relationship between the two parties.

There is no balance in politics. This is utter nonsense. It is 
surprising that politicians on the commission have recommended 
such an unrealistic, unworkable solution to the impasse. The 
only "balance" that will emerge from the commission, will be 
the return of Mr. Arafat to the White House, which is all he 
has in mind, as a palliative toward his relentless pursuit of 
his revolutionary war of independence.

For Mr. Arafat and the Arab States it is quite convenient to 
discuss that part of the commission´s recommendations that was 
favorable to them. They believe, and rightly so, they can garner 
American and European Union support for the freeze of settlements, 
since all these parties have been opposed to Israeli settlements 
since they began after 1967. Acceptance of the commission 
recommendations gives a platform to Mr. Arafat and his 
propagandists to portray Israel as a rejectionist, warmongering 
state that is going to war against the "innocent" Palestinians. 
This is the only reason they embraced the Mitchell Commission 
recommendations. This gives Mr. Arafat the means to use the 
settlements once again as an excuse to continue his war.

As for Israel, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has indicated his 
acceptance of the commission´s recommendations. This, despite 
the fact that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected them. It is 
now necessary for Israel to outflank Mr. Arafat´s political and 
diplomatic tactics by playing the Arafat game of accepting the 
recommendations but calling for specific modifications that, 
for all intents and purposes, will nullify them.

Both parties will use the commission for propaganda purposes, 
but neither party will follow the recommendations. A brilliant 
Israeli diplomacy is to steal the platform from Mr. Arafat by 
"accepting" the recommendations while actually rejecting them 
with diplomatic and legal tactics. This would knock out the 
EU "peace lovers" led by the anti-American French. Israel must 
make it clear that it accepts the commission on the basis of 
the end of violence first.

We live in an age of a pro-Arab CNN with one-sided dishonest 
reporting. Israel must muzzle the anti-Israeli media and throw 
the ball back into the lap of the European Union by "accepting" 
the commission recommendations. International politics are 
conducted by the media in today´s world. Israel must win this 
war.

Amos Perlmutter is a professor of political science and 
sociology at American University and editor of the Journal 
of Strategic Studies.