Posted on 05/28/2003 8:05:33 AM PDT by LarryM
Letter: Republicans Abroad in Israel to President Bush against Roadmap
27 May 2003
The Honorable George Bush President of the United States of America The White House Washington DC
Dear Mr. President,
We, the Republicans Abroad - Israel, would like to applaud your leadership in the global war against terror.
By removing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, and eliminating the evil regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, your administration has made the world a safer place for democracy and freedom. Under your stewardship, America has once again demonstrated that it is a benevolent superpower, one which uses force not to impose tyranny on others, but rather to liberate them from it.
As such, we are especially perplexed by your decision to press for the implementation of the Middle East "Road Map", which is slated to lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Since September 2000, the Palestinian Authority has engaged in a campaign of terror against Israel, and it is inconceivable that they should now be rewarded with statehood for their mindless acts of violence.
Moreover, as a result of various Palestinian attacks, more than a dozen American citizens have been killed during this period. Justice demands that the Palestinian Authority turn over those responsible for these acts to the United States, something they have thus far failed to do.
We believe that pressuring Israel to negotiate with terrorists at the same time that America is waging war on terror is both morally untenable and intellectually inconsistent. It blurs the clarity of vision which you have repeatedly enunciated since the September 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington, and sends the wrong message to terrorists around the world, namely, that violence can and does pay.
Mr. President, as loyal members of the Republican Party, we would also urge you to consider the political consequences which pursuit of the "Road Map" will likely entail.
Pressing ahead with this plan will only serve to alienate American Jews and the Christian right, many of whom view the "Road Map" as an act of defiance against the Divine promise to bestow the Land of Israel to the people of Israel.
Indeed, we are aware of increasing numbers of American citizens - both here in Israel and in the United States - who are now considering abandoning the Republican party as a result of your Administration's pursuit of the "Road Map".
In light of the above, we would therefore urge you to reconsider, and to cease pressuring Israel to implement the "Road Map".
For, as Vice President Richard Cheney said following the recent terrorist attack in Riyadh, "The only way to deal with this threat ultimately is to destroy it. There's no treaty that can solve this problem. There's no peace agreement, no policy of containment or deterrence that works to deal with this threat. We have to go find the terrorists".
Therefore, we believe the United States should stand behind Israel during these difficult times, and give it the full backing and support it requires to defeat the ongoing Palestinian terrorist threat which it faces on a daily basis.
Sincerely, Eliyahu Weinstein Bob Lang Chairman Co-Chairman Republicans Abroad in Israel 31 Mishol Hadekalim Jerusalem 97278 ISRAEL Telephone: 972-2-571-5030 Fax: 972-2-571-5031 Email: info@israelgop.co.il Website: www.israelgop.co.il
-------------------------------------------- IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis Website: www.imra.org.il
The British sure said he was, and put a price on his head. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
The problem is that Yasser Arafat is an unreconstructed terrorist. He still is responsible for terrorism today. He still controls the P.A. I fear that Mahmoud Abbas has little real power.
Let's see if Mohammed Dahlan can get Jabril Rajoub reinstated over Arafat's objections. If that happens I will believe that Abbas actually has some power.
The more important points, regardless of the outcome of the road map (to perdition)?
Excellent questions. The answer to both is yes IF the Roadmap were to actually succeed. The terrorists would lose one of their big justifications and would find recruitment all the more difficult. If America, Israel, or other allies do not have to deal with Palestinian terrorists of course that saves lives.
Assuming the Roadmap fails (and I do assume that) it gives President Bush more political ammunition for the war on terror and takes away the ability for the French, Russians, et al to look like anything other than self-serving idiots. More importantly, it will strengthen Bush's support for the war on terrorism among the American people and weaken the Democrats.
Sounds like a win-win to me.
Actually, yes. Unilateral separation, but with borders the Palestinians will hate. Dismantle the PA, remove the leaders, disarm them, and cage them in. No suicide bomber has successfully penetrated Israel from Gaza. Why? A big fence and lots of IDF troops. We need the same encircling the entire Palestinian population, or as close to that as is possible. We need to reroute the fence to take in the Etzion bloc, the Ariel bloc, and a corridor to Hebron.
1) Absence of war isn't peace.
2) Without outside pressure, lecturing, moralizing, meddling there'd have been peace with Arafat long gone or shot, terrorists in the ground etcetera.
3) Israeli and other lefties but especially israeli loons cried for american involvement in this peace processing consortium and now Bush works for them, they are jubilant, once the whole shop fails... finish it yourself.
That was not George Washington.
That is Yasser Arafat and it is Bin Ladin.
No. It legalizes one such regime.
Does it save or cost American and Allied lives in the war on terror ?
It'll cost, because terrorism pays
With all due respect this is the same argument that was posed when President Bush signed the unconstitutional Campaign Finance Reform, The Supreme Court will never let it stand. Well......we shall see, but right now it doesn't look all that good.
Ross Perot became a factor for a reason, there was a weakness percieved in President Bush, he exploited it and people responded. If he had filed and hid he may have been elected.
By the way Cal Thomas just appeared on neil Cavito's show and denounced the road map as suicide for Israel,
That's an excellent comparison.
Cal Thomas comes from the perspective of a Conservative Christian. To him giving up any of the West Bank is giving up part of the land promised to Israel by G-d, and therefore wrong.
I, OTOH, come from a Jewish and Israeli perspective. I would like to live in my little house in Netanya in peace without the constant threat of terrorist attack. If sacrificing some land will buy Israel peace it is worth it. If it saves Jewish lives is it worth it.
Do I believe land for peace can work? It has with Egypt, at least so far. Can it work now with the Palestinians? Unless there is a seed change in what the Palestinians teach their children, say in their media and in their mosques, then no, it can't.
The thing is, the Palestinians will be seen by Israel's allies, primarily the U.S., as the side responsible for the failure of the Roadmap. The Bush administration may finally understand that the Palestinian Authority supports and encourages terrorism. They may finally untie Prime Minister Sharon's hands. A failure to implement the Roadmap, to start fighting terror, to end incitement, or to disarm militants will spell the greatest disaster the Palestinians have ever known. It will let Israel deal with the terrorists and dismantle the P.A. once and for all.
I definitely see this as a win-win situation for Israel if Ariel Sharon and Silvan Shalom handle this deftly. I believe they will.
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