June
24, 2003, 8:45 a.m.
Unhappy Anniversary
One year later,
the roadmap is leading not to peace but to the past.
f one definition of mental illness is doing the same thing over and over
and expecting different results — e.g. "this time the door will
break, rather than my head" — than by 2002 American policy in
the Middle East had become deeply neurotic.
Administration
after administration, Republican and Democratic alike, had attempted to
implement the same plan: Make the Israelis again agree to give up land and
stop fighting terrorists, then hope the terrorism will stop and the Arab
world will accept a Jewish state.
It never happened — not even when, at Camp David in 2000, then-Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak flat-out offered Yasser Arafat an independent
state in the West Bank and Gaza. Arafat simply could not declare the war
against Israel over; he could not accept the existence of a permanent homeland
for the Jewish people in the Middle East.
A year ago today, President Bush recognized that it was time for a new idea
and to his great credit he came up with one: His 6/24/02 speech was a dramatic
paradigm shift. Speaking over Arafat's head directly to the Palestinian
people, Bush said a choice must be made: You can have terrorism and the
dream of destroying Israel, he said. Or you can have independence, security,
freedom, and democracy. But you cannot have both. In the aftermath of 9/11,
the United States will not help create another corrupt, terrorist-sponsoring
dictatorship.
Over the past year, however, Bush's clear statement of principle and purpose
has been muddied by the so-called Quartet — the United Nations, the
European Union and Russia collaborating with the US State Department. They
came up with a so-called Road Map that is less a guide to achieving Bush's
6/24/02 vision than a detour back to Oslo, a return to the so-called peace
processes that have so disastrously and lethally failed in the past.
Consider the President's key messages a year ago today, and compare with
the reality:
"My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security."
That vision is still not shared by any Palestinian leader in the West Bank
and Gaza — not even Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian Authority prime
minister. None of them is yet willing to say he accepts the permanent existence
of Israel as a Jewish state. If they did, they'd have to give up their demand
that Israel absorb millions of Palestinians — the so-called Right of
Return which would make Jews a minority in the state whose very purpose
was to be a Jewish homeland.
"There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties
fight terror."
So far, Abbas has made no attempt to fight terror. At most, he's been willing
to talk with terrorist groups about temporary ceasefires that would be to
their advantage — it would give them time to regroup and rearm.
"Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that
a Palestinian state can be born."
There really is no "new" Palestinian leadership. Mr. Abbas candidly
admits that he answers to Mr. Arafat. He has no independent power.
"I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders
not compromised by terror."
Mr. Arafat is, of course, deeply compromised by terror. And Mr. Abbas was
not actually elected by the Palestinian people.
"A Palestinian state will never be created by terror — it will
be built through reform. And reform must be more than cosmetic change, or
a veiled attempt to preserve the status quo. True reform will require entirely
new political and economic institutions, based on democracy, market economics
and action against terrorism."
There's been no real reform and, again, no action against terrorist. The
status quo has been preserved. Within hours of President Bush's Middle East
meeting with Messrs. Sharon and Abbas, the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade took
part in a lethal attack on Israelis. And Al Aksa is, of course, part of
Mr. Arafat's Fatah organization, of which Mr. Abbas also is a senior leader.
"Today, Palestinian authorities are encouraging, not opposing, terrorism.
This is unacceptable. And the United States will not support the establishment
of a Palestinian state until its leaders engage in a sustained fight against
the terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure."
Mr. Abbas does not publicly encourage terrorism. But, as noted, there has
been no sustained fight against terrorist groups, let alone any attempt
to dismantle terrorist infrastructures. And Mr. Arafat, continues not only
to encourage but also to sponsor terrorism in open alliance with Hamas and
Islamic Jihad. Incitement continues, too. The official television of the
Palestinian Authority still broadcasts music videos encouraging Palestinian
children to become suicide bombers. Just last Friday, clerics on the PA's
payroll called for the destruction of the Jews and praised Palestinian mothers
for raising their children to kill Jews — as they have most Fridays
for years. Under these circumstances, the Quartet's support for the establishment
of a Palestinian state both contradicts and defies President Bush's clearly
articulated policy.
"As new Palestinian
institutions and new leaders emerge, demonstrating real performance on
security and reform, I expect Israel to respond and work toward a final
status agreement."
Based on Israeli polls, it's clear that as those institutions and leaders
emerge, Israelis will be eager to respond. Mr. Sharon has already shown
his good will by releasing prisoners (including mass murderers of Israelis
and, by the way, Americans — who have been welcomed as heroes by
Mr. Arafat).
"All who are familiar with the history of the Middle East realize
that there may be setbacks in this process. Trained and determined killers,
as we have seen, want to stop it."
Surely, the way to eliminate those trained and determined killers is to…well,
eliminate them. Yet every time the Israelis attempt to do that the State
Department scolds them, arguing that removing terrorists determined to
stop the peace process damages the peace process. By what possible logic?
A year ago today, President Bush saw a new way to resolve the Arab-Israeli
conflict. It was based not on moral equivalence or demands that Israel
again trade its scarce land and precarious security for vague promises.
It was based on an end to terrorism, on each side accepting the other's
right to exist, and on achieving real freedom for the Palestinians through
political and economic liberalization.
A year later, it's time for the president to insist that those whose paychecks
he signs finally put aside the failed policies of the past and pursue
his vision instead.
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f one definition of mental illness is doing the same thing over and over
and expecting different results — e.g. "this time the door will
break, rather than my head" — than by 2002 American policy in
the Middle East had become deeply neurotic.
