Rewarding Terrorists

March 24, 2002

by Brian W. Peterson

Rewarding Palestinian Arabs with their own state is to reward terrorists. Unfortunately, President George Walker Bush wishes to do just that.

Should the US choose to recognize the haven for terror known as the Palestinian Authority (PA), the long term prognosis for Middle East peace will be no better than current prospects. Peace is not at hand, nor will it be with a nation of unjustly rewarded terrorists.

At present, Israel is a tiny nation, betrayed at their inception by the British, who allowed only a fraction of promised land to the Jews. Despite the modest amount of land controlled by Israel, the Palestinian Arabs want more. They want more land and more bloodshed. They will not rest until they have wiped out the Jews.

Terrorist organization Hamas believes that Allah gave them the land that is now Israel and that the Koran instructs them to kill the Jews. No Israeli is safe - soldier or citizen.

Statehood for the PA would mean a safe haven for those who wish to continue the war of terror against Israel. In turn, Israel’s retaliations would be against a sovereign nation and would likely draw a response from other Arab nations.

Even if the PA government were demilitarized, the area would be a launching point for attacks. Terrorists would rely upon the new-found border as an invisible barrier much the way the Vietcong used North Vietnam as protection against American forces. Israel would not dare cross the border without fear of igniting a pan-Arab war.

To understand the mindset of Arabs living in the Middle East, a February Gallup Poll conducted in Arab countries found that 61% of those surveyed did not even believe that the atrocities of September 11 were carried out by Arabs. Given the propaganda directed at mainstream Arabs that is spewed by Arab extremists, truth is not readily available to many Middle East Arabs.

Unsurprisingly, 77% did not agree with our current war. Despite Saddam Hussein’s murderous and terrorist ways, war with Iraq will certainly be unpopular, as well.

So if even mainstream Arabs living in the region do not accept the reality of the events of September 11, why would we expect them to accept the U.S. as an arbiter of peace? They believe that we are lying to the world and unjustly smashing al-Qaeda. Why would they trust our efforts at peace?

There are many reasons to tremble at the thought of the future in the Middle East. Consider:

• Fox News recently interviewed the mother of a suicide bomber. She had six sons; number five was the bomber. She told the reporter that if she had 100 sons she would sacrifice them all for Allah to kill all the Jews in Israel. In a video made the day before the son’s suicide attack, the mother neither professed nor displayed any sadness as she shared the son’s final moments with his family. The family knew what tomorrow would bring.

• Arab countries are facing economic and political instability due to radical Islam. The greater the hold by the radicals, the greater the odds that mainstream Arab governments will fall. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are two such nations nearing the precipice.

• Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria all have approximately 50% of their populations under age 25. Given the economic and political climates in these nations, such demographics do not bode well.

Two curiosities about this present situation are worth noting. First, if President Bill Clinton had publicly favored a state for the PA, the hue and cry from Republicans would have been deafening. Not much opposition to President Bush’s recent utterances has been recorded.

Second, if Israel’s strategy for gain was to repeatedly attack civilians, the United Nations would call for a special session and world leaders would sternly demand that Israel face serious punishment. When the terrorists are Palestinian Arabs and the victims Israeli citizens, the world is strangely silent.

Palestinian Arabs do not desire peace and do not deserve to be rewarded for their terrorism. Assenting to their demands will only decrease the chance for peace in the Middle East. Terrorism ought not be rewarded.

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Brian W. Peterson writes a political column for the Antelope Valley Press (circulation approximately 60,000) in Palmdale, California. He is a graduate of Oral Roberts University, where he majored in TV/Film. Brian’s weekly commentary and newspaper columns can be found at www.LifeAndLiberty.com.

Send the author an E mail at Peterson@ConservativeTruth.org.

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