We clearly live in a difficult time. Without delving too far into the overly exposed, contentious nature of America’s “war on terror,” it seems fair to say we as a nation are now affected by a world of violence few people were acquainted with prior to Sept. 11.
However, there are places in the world where violence occurs on a daily basis. Recent escalations of violence in the Middle East bring this into focus. Since peace talks broke down between the Palestinians and Israelis in Sept. 2000, there have been ceaseless attacks between the two peoples. At least 879 Palestinians and 273 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian revolt began after peace talks froze.
While both sides are to blame for the carnage that has ravaged the region for so long, I believe the Palestinians own the ultimate blame for the continuation of the current situation. Aggression on both sides has led to tragic encounters this week. There have been nearly 50 deaths as the combatant’s trade attacks. Both sides profess a willingness to proceed with meaningful peace talks.
The Palestinians, however, leave little room for negotiation as Palestinian Liberation Organization president Yasser Arafat continually fails to control his factious people. Arafat pays lip service to the peace process regularly, and yet other Palestinian leaders call for nothing less than the annihilation of the Jewish state.
Recent comments from the Palestinians do not offer much hope for a resolution in the near term. A leader of Arafat’s own faction — Fatah — defiantly claimed that ambushes on Israeli checkpoints would be stepped up as part of “a new phase of the struggle.” Arafat himself makes things difficult with his repeated claim that “the Palestinians will continue to fight until the Palestinian flag flies over Jerusalem.”
The Israelis are not innocent in this matter, far from it. Israel’s parochial government with its draconian tactics isn’t exactly embracing peace with open arms. Ariel Sharon has decided to use harsher methods in the days to come, as a government official reportedly told Reuters: “Israel has decided to ‘take the gloves off.'”
In what could surely lead to a full-scale war, there is little doubt that the Israelis could crush the Palestinians; at this point it is up to Arafat’s people to make serious overtures of peace. Arafat’s assertions that he is unable to control the more militant groups within his territory ring hollow as he did just that following the bombings of Sept. 11. His doublespeak must end if there is to be hope of any sort of peace. Arafat’s tacit approval of militant groups seeking to destroy Israel does much more harm than any overt action may take.
Humanitarian groups (and Europeans) worldwide blame Israel for the violence taking place viewing the situation with a skewed sense of a bully nation picking on the smaller, weaker group of people. What they fail to recognize is the responsibility of both parties in the matter. The Israelis certainly need to give up part of the disputed territory in order to usher in peace. At the same time, the Palestinians need to move away from the intractable position of taking over all the Israeli land.
A Palestinian-Israeli war would be a travesty in many respects. The United States would inevitably back the Israelis, pitting our country against the whole of the Arab world. What could conceivably be another world war may be in the offing. To avoid such an awful chain of events, Yasser Arafat must take control of his people and lead them to a peaceful resolution before it is too late.
James P. Kent ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in economics and business management.
