Just say - NO MORE

I’ve been waiting for someone other than myself (and a few others) to point the obvious inconsistencies in the Bush Administrations foreign policy via Israel/Palestine. Actually, I almost thought the events of the last two weeks were going two slip completely under the wire so I was glad to see this The Jerusalem Post op-ed piece asking Israelis to re-think their relationship with the Bush Administration:

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his successor Ehud Olmert justified unilateral disengagement on the grounds that we were obliged to take initiatives to break the impasse in the absence of a Palestinian peace partner. In order to implement this, 7,500 Israelis were uprooted from their homes and even now, a year later, most have yet to be permanently resettled. Subsequent events, climaxing with the Lebanon war, demonstrated the disastrous repercussions arising from this policy.

Today our enemies are emboldened. Some even believe their dream of destroying the Jewish state may now be realized. Yet worse is in the offing. Facing enormous pressure from allies whose support they seek for the impending confrontation with the Iranians, Washington - which had hitherto steadfastly endorsed our refusal to negotiate with terrorists - has tilted its policy to appear more "evenhanded."
Once again it is urging us to bolster the "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority.

THE REALITY is that despite wearing a suit and tie and talking to Westerners like a moderate, Abbas is simply paying lip service to a two-state policy - with the caveat that it must incorporate the "right of return" of Arab refugees; a prescription for our demise. More importantly, before Hamas won the election Abbas reigned over a regime whose central pillars - cultural, religious and educational - were based on sanctifying the murder of Jews as a supreme religious and national objective.

Mothers of suicide bombers appeared on official PA TV exulting the martyrdom of their sons; PA broadcasts of sermons in mosques called on congregants to kill Jews; schools, kindergartens and summer camps brainwashed children into accepting suicide bombers as ultimate role models. While occasionally condemning violence in remarks to the Western media, Abbas hailed families of suicide bombers as heroes and personally authorized them to receive a $250 monthly stipend. A recent PA Ministry of Culture book of the month honored Hanadi Jaradat, the suicide bomber who blew up 21 people at a Haifa restaurant. Wafa Idris, the first woman suicide bomber, has become a Palestinian role model for feminism. Football teams are named after "martyrs."

At least Hamas is honest about its evil intent to destroy Israel. But the reality is that Abbas's Fatah movement's armed wings are responsible for murdering far more Israelis than Hamas has.

TO MAKE matters worse, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is now actually urging Abbas to form a unity government with Hamas. The only obstacle is that Hamas insists on retaining its weapons and adamantly refuses - even insincerely - to express an incantation implying that it could ever accept the existence of the "Zionist entity."

Rice had previously coerced Sharon and his defense minister Shaul Mofaz into handing over control of the Philadelphi route between Sinai and Gaza to the Egyptians. Not surprisingly, the Egyptians reneged on their undertakings and a massive flow of armaments and terrorists have been pouring into Gaza along that route. Yet today the Americans are pressing Israel to ease security requirements at all checkpoints for "humanitarian reasons," in order to bolster Abbas.

Rice had previously insisted that Israel endorse the transfer of weapons to Palestinian security forces to strengthen the PA. Although reluctant, Olmert agreed to do so in May on the grounds that "we need to help Abu Mazen." Rice has announced that the US will also fund the expansion of the Abbas Presidential Guard from 2,500 to 6,000 troops.

Nobody, including our own government, seemed concerned that since Oslo weapons provided to Palestinian security personnel had been used to murder Israelis. Nor has the government drawn attention to the fact that Abbas is still trying desperately to persuade Hamas killers to merge with the PA security, which already incorporates Fatah murderers. ONE GAINS the impression that all the lessons of the Oslo disaster, including the pledge not to provide concessions without reciprocity, are being placed in cold storage.

Like a sick parody, we are once again operating on the premise that the PA - even as Kassams rain down on the south - is once again going to become our peace partner. And, worst of all, our government is trying to spin this sad reversal into a victory! All this, of course, raises the oft-quoted analogies to the pre-WWII appeasement. In fact, the current situation may be worse.

Read the rest here. I just wish some enterprising American journalists would start seriously questioning both the US President and his Secretary of State on what makes Abbas’ Fatah party “moderate”, and why is the US government pouring literally millions of US dollars into Fatah to boast its electoral popularity with the Palestinian people when they have recently shown a decided preference for Hamas aka honest murdering bastards.