Viable for whom? By Michael Green mevin21@yahoo.com www.israelinsider.com May 6, 2002 A "viable" PLO state in the West Bank and Gaza will not only render its two neighbors, Israel and Jordan, "non-viable," but can also be expected to unleash a fearsome wave of terrorism and subversion throughout the region as a whole. This week, as Israel's Prime Minister Sharon flies in to meet President Bush in Washington, he is likely to be presented with a vision of peace based on a "viable" independent PLO state in the West Bank and Gaza, existing side-by-side with a secure and defensible Israel. Such a vision not only represents a clear contradiction in terms, but is deeply flawed and would inevitably drag the whole Middle East into a much bigger conflagration. Particularly with the detailed documents just being revealed on Yasser Arafat's deep implication as the undeniable Commander-in-Chief of Palestinian terror, any U.S. attempt to repackage him as a statesman and peace partner, besides making shambles out of the Bush Doctrine, would look as ludicrous as trying to fit Cinderella's delicate slipper onto one of her ugly sisters. Firstly, in terms of borders, any independent PLO regime bordering on Israel's narrow waistline, around Jerusalem, and in the strategic Jordan valley, would render Israel militarily indefensible against possible Arab attack from both inside or outside the confines of Palestine. Secondly, an independent PLO state with sovereign control of its borders, would inevitably turn itself into a stockpile of conventional and unconventional weapons. Think of a thousand Karine As, plus Iraqi-type mass-destruction capabilities only a few miles from Israel's population centers, industrial and transportation hubs! There will be no way to guarantee against such a deadly threat, and even the most comprehensive peace treaty will not be worth the paper it's written on. No Israeli government can accept such existential risks, particularly in light of the disastrous outcome of the gambles recklessly undertaken by Israel's Labor government in its haste to sign the 1993 Oslo agreements. Thirdly, such a PLO state, if allowed to control the Jordan Valley, will inevitably turn itself toward an irredentist takeover of Jordan and overthrow its Hashemite regime. With the exception of its ruling dynasty and a loyal Bedouin core, the overwhelming majority of Jordan's population consists of Palestinian Arabs from Western as well as Eastern (i.e., Transjordanian) Palestine. One signal from Chairman Arafat, and you can be sure that an unstoppable popular uprising ("Intifada") of hundreds of thousands of "Palestinians" will be out in the street liberating "Eastern" Palestine from its foreign Hashemite rulers. After all, this is a dynasty imported from the Arabian Peninsula, when Mandatory (or Greater) Palestine was divided into Western and Eastern halves by the British in 1922 to create the first Palestinian-Arab state in Transjordanian Palestine. Fourthly, if allowed to thus destabilize or incapacitate Israel and Jordan, a PLO state that dominates Greater Palestine will turn into the most subversive force in the Middle East. With or without the benefit of a like-minded Iraqi ally, it is bound to further inflict its blend of Islamist terror and revolutionary fervor toward a populist Intifada that will target the greatest plum of all - Saudi Arabia's vulnerable Wahhabi regime, and its neighboring oil sheikdoms. It is possible that not even precariously moderate Egypt or Alawite- dominated Syria could escape the wrath of such an Islamist- Populist tidal wave. The Jordan Valley is a scorching, semi-arid plain, roughly 50 miles long and 10 miles wide, dissected by the Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea basin. Together with the hills commanding its Western approaches, besides being the lowest point on earth, this valley could very well be the most strategic piece of real estate in the world today. A PLO state that dominates the Jordan Valley would hold the key to controlling Western and Eastern Palestine extending on both sides of the valley. And such PLO control of Greater Palestine, at the crossroads of the Middle East and North Africa, would inevitably lead to unprecedented strategic power with regard to the whole region. Clearly, whether it's called Palestine or Jordan, between desert and sea, within the confines of Mandatory Palestine, there is no place for an Arab sovereign entity other than a single Palestinian- Arab state existing alongside the Palestinian-Jewish state (i.e., Israel). And the introduction of a PLO state in the West Bank and Gaza (i.e., a second Palestinian-Arab state) would constitute nothing but a zero-sum threat with regard to the viability, stability, and security of the two key Western allies in the area - Israel and Jordan. So where does this leave the vision for peace? Firstly, such a vision can only be based on a "two-state solution" that incorporates nothing other than Israel and Jordan. Secondly, Arab-populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza -- with or without some type of federative relationship -- would be joined with Jordan and the Hashemite regime to form the "viable" Palestinian-Arab state. Thirdly, the Jordan Valley and other strategic parts of the West Bank and Gaza will have to remain under permanent Israeli sovereignty. And fourthly, there can never be a sovereign PLO rule or "Arafatistan" in Palestine -- west or east of the Jordan River. Arafat and his associated organizations are Israel's mortal enemies, sworn by immutable religious dogma as well as imperialist pan-Arab ideology, to the destruction of the Jewish State by all available means, ranging from relentless terror to diplomatic deception. To them, not only the West Bank and Gaza, but all of Israel will forever be the "Dar-ul-Islam" of occupied Palestine that irrevocably needs to be "redeemed and liberated". Nobody would advise that the U.S. appease or rehabilitate Osama Bin-Laden and his Al-Qaida cadres by setting them up as friendly family homesteaders in the Delmarva peninsula, while instating Osama as lifetime Governor of Maryland with command of his own army. In a similar vein, and to paraphrase a popular slogan, friends should not ask friends to let such lethal enemies set up shop in their backyard. Prime Minister Sharon should be adamant in refuting the "Clintonian" fantasy of a "viable" PLO state in the West Bank and Gaza, as a definite non-starter. Instead, he should emphasize how such a course of action cannot lead to peace or stability with regard to either Israel or the region. It can only lead to an escalating flurry of war, terrorism, and subversion throughout the Middle East, further destabilizing and endangering the "viability" of America's key Arab and non-Arab allies and interests in the region.