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Sunday, August 21, 2005

Arabs accelerate media attacks on Israel

One of the biggest hopes of the wishful thinking accompanying the Gaza withdrawal is that it will lead to "peace." In the West, a peacemaking move is regarded as something that is naturally reciprocated with good-will gestures. But in the Arab and Muslim worlds, it appears to be a chance to increase the hateful rhetoric and absurd conclusions.

Here's a selection from Arab and Muslim writers over the past couple of days.

The Providence Journal published an op-ed by Mazin Qumsiyeh comparing post-withdrawal Gaza to apartheid South Africa, justifying terror, and referring to Zionist "ethnic cleansing."

Aljazeerah.info (from Georgia) blames Israel for Darfur and seems to be claiming that Israel wants to expand to Africa through the Sudan.

A New York writer names Preston Taran calls for the destruction of Israel, saying that a two-state solution is impossible. He openly calls for war in the name of Arab pride:

Therefore, “we have nothing to lose but our chains.” We cannot continue under these circumstances forever. Do we want our children to continue witnessing our humiliation? Do we want them to look us in the eyes and see our powerlessness? Do we want to keep on losing our children to Israeli murder? I do not think so. It is time to break the chains and end the “pleasant talk.”


Hamas has said, to no disapproval from the Arab world, that they will now move the terror attacks to the West Bank and Jerusalem.

The PA-controlled Palestine Media Center published an Al Ahram editorial slamming the Gaza withdrawal as a facade. It also mentions "territorial contiguity" as a requirement for a Palestinian state, meaning that Israel would have no territorial contiguity itself.

The next stages, from the Arab perspective, are clear, and all are consistent with Israel's destruction and inconsistent with any real desire to live in peace with Israel:
  • Do not create an independent state in Gaza because that would lessen pressure on Israel.
  • Move Kassam rockets to the West Bank because (they think) that is what caused the withdrawal.
  • No Palestinian state without all of Jerusalem.
  • No Palestinian state without cutting Israel in two.
  • No real Arab aid to Palestinians; their suffering is what keeps them useful.
  • Keep taking land, even tiny bits; never compromise. (Shebaa Farms is a good example.)
  • Use Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah to create the illusion of moderation by the PA.
  • Always blame Israel for every worldwide terror attack so Europeans will do the same.
  • Use Western standards of morality to castigate Israel; use Arab standards of morality to justify terror.
  • Lie continuously and often, because the West will report it as fact.
  • Keep pressuring about "right of return" to destroy Israel demographically.
  • Keep referring to Palestinians as "refugees" although in no other case are the descendants of refugees ever referred to as such. This way there are always more Palestinian "refugees," never fewer.
  • After the 1967 borders come the 1947 partition borders, then no borders at all.
There will be no softening of rhetoric as a result of Gaza - on the contrary, it will only increase. Because, ultimately, today's Israel is sensitive to world pressure and those who want to destroy Israel have an inexhaustible supply of means to apply it.