Posted 6/08/2003 04:26:00 PM by Ocean Guy
How long will this continue?

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the bloodshed must not be allowed to shred the road map. ``We have to all work together to get this terrorism under control but at the same time not let terrorism stop us moving forward,'' he told Fox News Sunday..."

What Powell is really saying is, “We must work together to give the terrorists a new state of their own.” He’s wrong.

Until the Arabs can demonstrate that they are willing to live in peace with Israel, then we in the US should not ask Israel to make even the slightest concession. To do so is to say that terrorism works.

Who, in the Arabs world should we look to for proof that they really want peace? Most, if not the vast majority of Arabs simply want Israel to disappear. Where is the leadership among the Arabs to say that peace is an honorable and desirable goal? There is none, there is no leader willing to admit that Arabs share in the responsibility of the mess and that they are willing to make the changes to accept Israel.

By any measure, the actions of the Arabs show us they are not interested in peace unless it’s the peace they gain by millions of Jews disappearing, and by the Zionist entity along with them. And it’s not only the terrorists that are to blame.

The editors, writers, cartoonists, and teachers who continually preach and teach hatred, who continue to lie to their population, are just as guilty as the deluded ignorant youth who decide to blow themselves up just for the chance of killing a Jew or two. The decay in Arab society, especially in the camps in the disputed territories, is broad and deep. Civil war may be necessary for any change.

But there will not be civil war. There will not be any sort of democratic revolution, mainly because there is little difference in opinion in the average Arab’s views on Israel. There is no reason to rebel. The terrorists are lionized, Jews are demonized, and everyone denies Israel’s legitimacy. Until this changes, there is no chance of peace. Still we hope.

Despite all evidence, we continue to hope that a miraculous change will take place in the Arab world. “If only we can get Israel to give a little more,” we seem to be saying, “then we’ll have real peace.” We gobble up every morsel of hope the Arabs throw at us. We take their words as solemn oaths. How much longer will we be the fools?

Through their actions, the Arabs tell us they have no interest in peace, yet we ignore them. We continue with the fantasy that they really think like us, that they have the same values as we do, and we hold them to a much lower standard. As long as this remains true, there is no chance for peace.

A real chance for peace with the Arabs will only be possible with some real leadership on the Arab side. It will demand courageous leadership that is willing to confront the faults in Arab society, and admit responsibility for their own shortcomings. That leadership is non-existent. Colin Powell cannot provide that leadership.

No one in the US, in Israel or anyplace else can give the Arabs the leadership they need. We can talk about working together to fight terrorism, but as long as we continue to reward the terrorists with any connection to the PLO, there will be no chance of peace.