WILL THE MIDDLE EAST COOPERATE? BUSH'S GROUND RULES FOR A PALESTINIAN STATE

ETHER ZONE ^ | 6/28/02 | Carol Devine-Molin

[Gopblond]

President Bush’s June 24th speech on the Middle East situation certainly reflects his bold and visionary leadership style. But is it realistic to expect the Islamic world to enact needed reforms in the foreseeable future given its history and entrenched ways? In full finesse mode, Bush called for the ouster of the Palestinian Authority, and its leader, without referencing Yasser Arafat by name, simply stating that "new and different Palestinian leadership" must be elected. Moreover, Bush pressed for the regeneration of fundamental aspects of Palestinian society, changes that must prevail before any real progress can be made toward the establishment of provisional statehood. Bush espoused, ""When the Palestinians have new leaders, institutions and security arrangements, the US will support the creation of a Palestinian state".

Moreover, Bush exhorted the Palestinians to "embrace democracy", ameliorate systemic corruption, and eschew terrorism, all necessary to make way for the foundation on which to build a Palestinian nation with full US support, financial and otherwise. As on other occasions, Bush urged that nations stop aiding and abetting the various terrorism organization such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, bent on the destruction of Israel. He also encouraged movement toward normalization of relations between the Arab states and Israel. And concessions were asked of Israel, as well, with pressure for a military withdrawal from the West Bank, a halt of new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, and an ultimate agreement down the road for pre-1967 borders.

I applaud columnists Andrew Sullivan and Michael Kelly for their optimism regarding President Bush’s extraordinary initiative and overarching Middle East proposal. Michael Kelly eloquently stated in his 6/26/02 "Washington Post" piece, "Within the boundaries of gambling and guessing, I believe all this might really come to pass. The reason I do is that George Bush believes it might". Oh, how I wish I had that type of faith! Unfortunately, as much as I admire our President and agree with his stance in theory, I just don’t think that the Middle East players will cooperate with the game plan.

No doubt about it, Arafat must go and as quickly as possible. He has never been a statesman, a valid interlocutor, or a "partner for peace" with Israel. Arafat is nothing more than a double-talking, double-dealing terrorist who works hand-in-glove with other terrorists in efforts to demoralize and eat away at the fabric of Israeli society through a war of attrition. And he has been an incredibly corrupt Palestinian leader who has perpetrated myriad types of corruption including fraud and theft involving Palestinian Authority monies. Arafat has done nothing tangible in terms of building infrastructure or an economy for the Palestinians, to boot. And its really questionable whether the next leader chosen by the Palestinian people will be any less of a duplicitous thug committed to terrorism and lining his own pockets.

But the bigger problem is the radicalization of the Palestinian population, a notable trend among other Islamic peoples in the Middle East that have been influenced by extremist religious ideology (Wahhabism), as well. Surveys have demonstrated that up to two-thirds of the Palestinian population support the "suicide bomber" phenomenon. Simply put, the majority of the Palestinian people favor terrorist tactics against Israel. And the Palestinians don’t want to cooperate with Israel, they want to see it annihilated, wiped from the face of the earth. With that widely prevailing mind-set, its doubtful that the Palestinians are going to elect a "peace and love" proponent as their leader.

And even apart from radical Islam, Jihad adherents, and terrorist groups, the preponderance of mainstream Muslims reject Israel’s legitimate right to exist in the Middle East. It would be fair to say that the Islamic world is not going to encourage their Palestinian brethren to enter into peace and accommodation with the Israelis. And, of course, many Islamic nations such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan either fund and/or cooperate to some extent with terrorist organizations and exhibit no inclination to change. Moreover, there is very little in the way of democratic reforms among Middle East nations, which are almost totally ruled by despotic regimes. It must be underscored that the Middle East does not have a history of democracy, or any significant experience to draw on. Reason dictates that the surrounding Arab states and the rest of the Islamic world are not going to be the mid-wives that birth a democracy in "Palestine", or a state that would ostensibly live in harmony with Israel. That duty clearly falls to America and other western democracies.

Since Israel is integrally intertwined with the US and a staunch ally, of course it will closely comply and collaborate with the US, including on the matter of the settlements. However, Israel is in a struggle for its very survival, and it’s not going to pull out forces from the West Bank until it deems it safe to do so. In terms of a total return to pre-1967 borders, that’s asking a bit too much of Israel since it requires some of that land as a buffer for security. The Bush administration is cognizant of Israel’s overall plight and understands that there is room for negotiations on this and all other issues.

Although President Bush gave a great speech, it’s probably going to have minimal impact on the players in the Middle East. However, many Americans were clearly delighted that the President is no longer mincing words, and came out with the unmitigated truth that Arafat must go.

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Carol Devine-Molin is a Republican District Leader, a community activist, and the host of "On The Right Side", a local program sponsored by the Republicans, and seen throughout most of Westchester County, New York. She is a regular columnist for Ether Zone.

Carol can be reached at DevineMolin@aol.com

Published in the July 5, 2002 issue of Ether Zone. Copyright © 1997 - 2002 Ether Zone.

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