SAVAGE NATION--WEDNESDAY JUNE 13, 2007

This is from a novel-ized account of a conversation that the author actually had with Fatah (and also HAMAS and Al Qaida, that I excluded)

http://teawithterrorists.com/Tea_with_Terrorists_17_Tea_with_Terrorists.Terrorism

“Why did you agree to meet with me?” (American asked to Fatah guy)

“Talking to writers is important. I did a TV interview before coming here. The world needs to understand our situation.”

“What do you want us - Americans - to know?”

“That it’s your fault,” the diminutive leader responded crisply. It would not be the last time Thor would hear this.

“Radical Islam is America’s fault - you and the Jews.”

Why did he begin by pointing a finger at Islam? But this was the question, Adams knew, so he asked it: “Why?”

“First, you must know we are not like them. Fatah is not extreme. We do not want to push Jews into the sea. We only want them out of Palestine - out of our land.” Although he didn’t say it, his superiors defined Palestine to be all of Israel. It’s what their maps showed. It’s what they taught their children in school. Even the logo of the PLO shows all of Israel. “I was raised in occupation.” The Captain’s tone was defiant. “Our goals are reasonable; so are our methods. We only want what is rightfully ours. We want to occupy our land, to live in peace in our own state, with our own people, and our own passports. They are the crazy ones.”

“They? You mean Hamas and Islamic Jihad?”

“Yes. They are still in the minority here, but their numbers are growing rapidly - very, very rapidly.”

“Why is that?”

“You saw our town. No one is working. People are starving. And they, the leaders of Hamas and Jihad, have all the money.”

“What money?”

“Before I answer, you need to know how we are suffering. No one has worked for almost sixteen months.”

“Since the start of the last intifada, right?”

An intifada is a call to arms. Alafat had told his followers to terrorize the Israelis into submission. The blood bath that followed had left the parties deeply divided, each wary of the other. Barricades had replaced roads, rhetoric had replaced reason, and death had swallowed hope.

“Yes, intifada. Since that time we have suffered. The only way we can feed our families is with the help of other Arab nations. But their money comes with an agenda - one that causes our people to think bad thoughts - very bad thoughts.”

“What do you mean?”

“They promote radical Islam. That leads to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”

“Islam? How does that lead to terrorist groups like these?”

“I am a Muslim. So are my men. We observe all of the holidays with our families. We adhere to many of the rituals. But they do not think like us. They are crazy, more violent.”

When men crazy enough to gloat over killing a busload of innocent people call other people crazy, they must be, Thor reasoned. “Does this violent form of Islam focus on the Prophet’s speeches? Is it political?”

“Yes. It is not the same as what I believe.”

“Is it popular?”

“Yes. It will soon be the majority. We have very little time.”

Adams had found his answer, but switched gears as he saw Fatah grow uncomfortable with the previous line of questioning. They did not want to talk about the influence of Islam.

“If you could have one or two of the following things, but not all three, which would be your biggest priority: possession of this land, political autonomy, or a productive economy - an end to poverty?”

The Captain looked at his Lieutenants. They appeared to be having a heated conversation. It was as if they wanted to give the approved answer.

“They say they want this land.” Niam translated. “It is where they were born. It is the most important thing to them. Autonomy is next, followed by the economy.”

“Curt Smith” scribbled notes furiously as he talked. “If you could have your own state with a vibrant economy somewhere else nearby, you’d give that up to fight over this pile of rocks?”

“Yes.” He had heard them right.

Israel was little more than a rock-strewn wasteland with a violent history. Much of the land was hostile and mountainous. It was dry, and rocky to a fault. While the Jews had transformed small sections of it into productive garden oases, there was better land almost everywhere.

“You said they - the Islamic groups, Hamas and Jihad - have the money. Is that why they are growing?”

The Captain and his lieutenants looked at Curt Smith like he was from another planet. “It’s the only reason the crazy groups are growing. Money is at the root of everything.”

“But who wants groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad to grow? Where is the money coming from?”

The Fatah leader explained, “We get money, food, and supplies from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, the Emirates, Iraq, and Ir....” He stopped abruptly, mid-sentence.

It appeared that the Captain had started to say Iran but had caught himself. Niam’s translation had stopped at Iraq too, but the slip had not escaped Thor’s notice. The truth was as obvious as the fifty tons of bombs on the Karine A. Yet denying unpleasant realities had become part and parcel of everyday life in the twilight zone.

“These countries used to just give us money, but now it’s supplies and money.”

“What kind of supplies do they send you?”

The Fatah Captain had to look away. As much as Adams wanted to know about the “supplies,” the leader’s body language made two things clear: he knew, and he wasn’t going to say.

“What is the problem with giving you money?”

“With money there’s too much skimming.”

“What do you mean ‘skimming’?” The Admiral knew the answer. He just wanted to see if the Palestinians would own up to their problem.

The combatants just stared at each other. Niam answered. “In every sector there is what you would call a mob boss. The most famous is Jube in Jericho, but they’re everywhere. In Bethlehem there are many ‘Jubes.’ They skim money off of the top and spread the remainder among those who are the most loyal.” It was shades of Mogadishu. There, Muslim warlords had skimmed food, medicines, and supplies, causing hundreds of thousands to die needlessly.

“Are supplies and money coming from the ruling families and the governments, or are they coming from more secret sources?”

“Both. The Saudi Royal family provides hundreds of millions.” In truth, Saudi was the PA’s single biggest supporter, to the tune of $400 million dollars a year.

“I have heard that these governments reward the families of the suicide bombers. Is that true?”

“Yes, of course.”

“How much, and who pays?”

“We do not like to use suicide bombers.”

“Yes, I know. You use rifles. You are soldiers.” Targeting civilians, he thought, but didn’t say. “But do you know how much is paid to the families of suicide bombers? Do you know who pays it?”

“The government of Iraq pays fifteen thousand, the Syrians, ten thousand. Iran also pays ten thousand. The Saudis have no set price, but they pay the most.”

“Dollars? Shekels? What?”

“Dollars. They have lots of dollars. Your dollars.”

“But there is more,” the diminutive Lieutenant added. “The families are taken care of for the rest of their lives. They are given the best housing, all the best things. Other sons are even offered the most beautiful women. The rest of their children get free university educations.” He sounded jealous. His people had been taught to hate, and they were being rewarded for it. The Palestinians had become mercenaries.

“Sometimes they get even more,” the tall Lieutenant said. “You know the story of the Palestinian girl and mother who were shot by the Israeli soldier?”

Thor nodded. He had seen the film on CNN five or six years before. It was a haunting example of what fear can do to a man’s judgment in the stress of combat. To their credit, Adams recalled, the Israelis had put the soldier in jail and apologized to the world for his behavior.

“The woman’s husband received over one million dollars from Saudi’s King Fahd, King Hussein, and the Sultan of Brunei. It was a reward for the good it had done our cause.”

“The money from Iran and Syria goes to Hezbollah mostly, then Hamas,” he claimed, supporting the party line. “The Syrians and the Iranians do not care so much about the Palestinian people. But it is good for them to have agents here who will follow their orders.”

“You Americans are often fooled by the Iranians, I think. You did not know why they offered to support the U.S. in Afghanistan.”

“Why did they?”

He smiled. “They knew that as soon as you were gone, they would step in and control the government. Last time the Pakistanis financed the Taliban. Now it is the Iranians’ turn to control Afghanistan. They are all neighbors, you know.”

The moment the Americans had lost interest, that very thing had happened. Warlords had crawled out of the ruins and swarmed down upon the people, all too eager to use their Iranian weapons to kill their brothers.

“Is there a relationship between Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad? Are these the favorites of the Iranians?”

“They are the same, really. Yes. You should know the Syrians and the Iranians are very close. They do many things together.”

“You said earlier that these groups were growing very fast - Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad. When did they start growing, and will they become the majority?”

“Radical Islam started to grow with the first intifada in ’88. It took off following the Oslo accords. It became much worse after the failed Camp David meetings with Clinton. That’s when Sharon came to power. Now it is all about the money. You buy support here with dollars.”

“How?”

“Everyone is out of work. There is no economy. Would you let your children starve, or would you accept their money?” the Captain asked rhetorically. “Do you think they just give it away out of kindness?”

Niam talked with them in Arabic and summarized in English. “If you accept their money and their food, you must accept their authority and their way of thinking - their form of Islam. They all have people. They assign someone to every family that accepts their money. Soon everybody is thinking the same way.”

“You go along or starve,” one of the Lieutenants added.

“You get what you pay for,” the Fatah Captain interjected. “If you had money, you could buy loyalty too,” he said with a devilish grin. “Support comes from dollars. Sometimes it’s even your dollars.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your government gives the Egyptian government two point seven billion dollars a year. Some of that money comes right here, through tunnels into Gaza. The Egyptians don’t like the Palestinian people either. Their money goes to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”

What he had said was true. The Israelis had offered to give the Gaza Strip back to the Egyptians, but they wouldn’t take it. What wasn’t true was Egypt’s promise. Israel had returned the Sinai in exchange for peace. Yet the Egyptians were among the largest suppliers of war materials to the Islamic militants, including Russian-made SAM missiles. Worse, their schools, mullahs, and media were the most vitriolic - openly preaching and teaching that Jews and Americans should die. A dollar doesn’t buy what it used to.

“What about the Oslo accords caused militant Islam to grow?”

“The Israelis cheated. Their government was taken over by the radical parties, the Shas and the Likud. They built more settlements on our land.”

“Did you know that we were trained by the Americans?” the most handsome of the terrorists asked.

“We not only pay you to kill Jews, we train you too?” Adams asked.

“Yes,” the Lieutenant replied brightly. “My friend and I were trained in the United States, in Virginia, by the CIA.”

“We were there forty days. There were nineteen of us,” the other said.

“As we got ready to land, they made us put our window screens down. We were blindfolded during the drive, too.” The first Lieutenant smiled.

“You said it was in Virginia. What part?”

“It was a base of some kind. There were many trees, giant trees, and a big body of water, a sea or a bay.”

“Fatah gets help from America. We are good friends,” the terrorist said. “You pay us about a hundred million dollars a year.”

Adams lifted his mock glasses to rub his eyes. He was trying to comprehend what he had heard. How could America be so stupid? Who was making these decisions? “What does Fatah want?”

“We want pre-1967 borders. UN Resolutions 181 and 242.”

Thor scribbled down another note. He was thinking. If all they wanted was pre-’67 borders, why did they attack in ’67? This made no sense. Not only was the West Bank part of Jordan at the time, and Gaza part of Egypt, Alafat’s PLO was at war with Jordan. I just don’t get it. The fact that Nasser had said the object of the ’67 War was to destroy Israel might have been a clue.

But the Admiral knew that line of questioning would lead to trouble, so he tried a different approach. The angels were already working overtime. “Back at the end of the Clinton administration in 2000, the Palestinians were offered most everything they wanted. Why did your Chairman turn it down?”

“Not everything,” the Captain said. “We were not given Jerusalem.”

“You were offered east Jerusalem, including the Jewish Temple Mount. The agreement would have given you ninety-five percent of the West Bank and all of Gaza. Statehood. This land we’re in right now.”

They conferred among themselves in Arabic. “The refugee problem. That’s why we turned it down.”

Alafat wanted Arabs to flood back into what he called Palestine. The more the merrier. While those who were here were breeding like rabbits, with an average of seven children to a family, they were still outnumbered by Jews two to one. But if the immigration floodgates were opened and another five million Arabs were allowed to enter, they would instantly be in the majority. Mind you, Alafat’s PA couldn’t take care of those who lived under its domination, so wanting more was clearly political. And there was one other little detail Alafat failed to mention when he cried for the “right of return for Palestinian refugees.” Any of the few hundred thousand adults at the time of “exile” would be seventy-five today.

“Those claiming to be Palestinians already have a state in which you are the majority. You represent seventy percent of Jordan, and thanks to the Syrian invasion, you control Lebanon as well. Why aren’t those Palestinian states? Or why not go to Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia? They have plenty of land. And they all say they love you - the Prince, the Ayatollah, the King, Emir.”

“Don’t go there,” Niam suggested. “I don’t think it is wise.”

Thor sighed. He knew the real answer anyway. There really was no such thing as the “Palestinian People.” It was a myth, a marketing ploy. They were just Arabs with an attitude. The chip on their shoulder was the only thing that made them different from the other hundreds of millions of Arabs surrounding Israel. And it was why no one wanted them.

The land had originally been called Canaan, named after Abraham’s uncle twice removed. When Abe had settled there, about 2000 B.C., the Canaanites, Perizzites, and a few other tribes inhabited the land. By the time of the Exodus, in the mid-1400s, they had been joined by the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites. Between Joshua’s conquest, begun in 1406, and Israel’s golden age under David, about 1000 B.C., these peoples had all but disappeared.

But as the Jews had risen in numbers and power, two coastal nations had reigned in small niches in the north and south of the Promised Land. The Philistines were located near today’s Gaza, and the Phoenicians, in today’s Lebanon. The Assyrian conquest in the seventh century B.C., followed by the Babylonian invasion in the sixth, had not spared these seafaring peoples. They, like the Canaanites before them, had vanished without a trace.

Unlike the now-extinct Philistines, the Jews returned to Judea after seventy years of Babylonian captivity, only to witness successive waves of conquest. In 70 A.D., however, the Jews were once again exiled from their ancestral homeland. Finally, in a desperate attempt to sever the Jews’ emotional attachment to Judea, the Romans invented the name “Palestinia” in 135 A.D. However, Israel’s national memory was not so easily obliterated. They never forgot that this rocky piece of ground between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea was their homeland, no matter what their overlords insisted on calling it.

After the fall of Rome, the moniker Palestinia was largely forgotten, a mere historical footnote. That is, until the end of World War I. Following the defeat of the Turks, the British dusted off the old Roman epithet, incorrectly referring to Judea as “Palestine.” The indigenous Arabs, who until that time had called the place Syria, took the name upon themselves, though they were genetically unrelated to the Philistines of old. But by calling themselves Palestinians and the land Palestine it caused the world to think it was theirs and that the Jews were trespassing. However, there have been no “Palestinian” people for the last 2,600 years. And there has never been a Palestinian state outside of Gaza.

Niam was getting progressively more nervous, constantly looking at his watch. The second set of terrorists had called him repeatedly on his cell phone, asking if the coast was clear. The first meeting had run a little long, and thanks to recent events, there was discord growing among the Muslim militants. The PLO’s Fatah was now hunting Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The first group had to leave before the second could arrive.

Adams knew that it was all a charade. In previous days he had talked to enough Arabs to understand the game they were playing. Alafat had come under pressure from America and Europe to diminish terrorist killings. Reining in terror was his sole responsibility. His promise at Oslo to do this very thing is why the Israelis gave Alafat what neighboring Arabs would not - territory and autonomy. But as time would prove, his promise was worthless. With Jews out of his autonomous regions, terror increased rapidly. And rather than admit that his own party, Fatah, had been responsible, Yasman blamed the atrocities on Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad - and even on the Jews. He had promised the West that he would put the offending parties in jail.

In actuality Fatah jailed but a handful of foot soldiers. They were taken from their homes with a promise of good food, a comfortable stay, and a quick release. According to Thor’s Palestinian sources, the terrorists were even told that the only reason they were being jailed was to appease the gullible Americans. This reality became painfully obvious moments later. When Niam told Fatah that they had to go so the meetings with Hamas and Jihad could begin, they laughed.

And so it was. Within seconds of Fatah saying goodbye, Thor found himself shaking hands with an entirely different breed of terror. These fine folks were introduced as Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and al-Qaeda. Unlike their predecessors, their uniforms were not coordinated. They had evidently not been trained by the CIA, nor were they supported by the U.S. Government or the European Union, the PA’s most vocal benefactor.

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