Opinion

Israel must not give in to terrorists

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Critics of Israel contend that Israel has chosen to impose an oppressive “occupation” of Palestinian territory. They say that Israel can and must withdraw immediately in order to bring about peace in the region. This is a flawed argument.

The Israeli government has proven that it is ready and willing to relinquish control over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip during the Camp David accords two years ago. Prime Minister Barak proposed the formation of a Palestinian state comprised of all of Gaza, East Jerusalem and 97 percent of the West Bank, with the remaining 3 percent to be compensated in the Negev.

Shortly after this offer, the Second Intifada began. The carnage has lasted for two years and has left 623 Israelis dead and 4,500 wounded, with even higher casualties on the Palestinian side.

In any serious consideration given to the Intifada, people have to ask a simple question: What caused this? What angered Chairman Arafat so much about the Camp David offer that he categorically refused it without even offering a counterproposal? What tipped the scales in Arafat’s mind and caused him to walk out, eventually leading to the outbreak of the Second Intifada? The answer is simple: the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

In the early 1980s, northern Israel found itself the target of continuous rocket bombardment from Lebanon. Israel entered southern Lebanon in 1982 in order to halt these attacks. The Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon was met with ongoing and savage terror attacks perpetrated by the terrorist organization Hezbollah. By the year 2000, Israel was still occupying southern Lebanon and suffering heavy casualties.

Israelis had dubbed Lebanon the “Israeli Vietnam.” Prime Minister Barak decided to unilaterally pull out of Lebanon as a sign of good intentions. The whole Arabic world, including Chairman Arafat, saw this as proof that Israel was not willing to suffer casualties and that terrorism works.

A few days after Israel pulled out of Lebanon, Chairman Arafat told Ambassador Ross, “I sit at the negotiation table with them, and what do I get? Crumbs. Hezbollah fights and the Israelis run. How does that make me look?” (As stated by Ambassador Ross in a March 2002 speech at the University of Illinois). A short three months after that, the Intifada began.

Anti-Israel groups call for a unilateral Israeli pull-out. This will only work to strengthen the idea that terrorism works. If this lesson is learned, Israel, India and the United States will be just a few of the many countries facing the ugly beast of terrorism. Israel and the rest of the world have to establish that no concessions will be made to terror. Chairman Arafat, among many others, must realize that terrorism will not bring political rewards.

Since the creation of the state of Israel, it has been attacked on a regular basis by its Arab neighbors. Why? Because they refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Even today, only a select few have established a cold peace with Israel.

If Israel once again unilaterally withdraws because of terrorism, it will undoubtedly inspire more terrorism, which will lead to more concessions. Israeli borders will be pushed back to pre-1967, pre-1956, then to pre-1948.

It is imperative that the world learns this lesson—no goals will ever be achieved using terrorism as a tool. If this lesson is not learned, we will find ourselves in a world where blowing up buses is appropriate, exploding university cafeterias is acceptable, and hijacking planes in order to kill thousands of innocent civilians is justified.

The bloodshed in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza will end when the Palestinians renounce the use of terrorism and prove that they want to live in peace with Israel.

—Yevgeney Shulman (yshulman@wisc.edu) is a first-year medical student.