Jewish leaders point to Arafat as cause of cycle of violence
Thomas Geyer
On July 28, David Roet, deputy consul general of the Israeli Consulate in Chicago, had dinner with his wife at Café Hillel in the area of Jerusalem where he grew up.
That café was the target of a bombing Tuesday that killed seven people and injured some 50 more.
Israel responded with strikes of its own, one of which was aimed at a local leader of Hamas, Mahmoud Zahar, whose house in Gaza City was bombed. He was wounded, and his 20-year-old son was killed along with a bodyguard.
It is that cycle of violence, Roet said, that is the reason why Palestinian President Yasser Arafat should be removed.
Israel has rejected a U. N. General Assembly resolution passed Friday that denounced the country's announced plans to remove Arafat at some unstated point in time. The resolution passed 133 to 4 with 15 abstentions.
Arafat has done nothing to break down the terrorist organizations as required by the U.S.-led road map that continue to kill Israelis, Roet said.
"Arafat doesn't allow peace," he said. "The problem is not the road map. Both sides have accepted it. The problem is getting somebody on the Palestinian side to implement it."
The road map, which gives directions for the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state by 2005, calls for the dismantling of terrorist organizations. "But Arafat refuses to do it."
And Israel cannot sit idle as its people are murdered, he said.
"Arafat is the obstacle to any kind of peace between Israel and the Palestinians," Roet said. "We will remove this obstacle in time and the way will be determined later. It could be operational in a year, or in a minute, depending upon the situation."
The United States has cautioned Israel about removing Arafat, which diplomats said would inflame the situation. Whether new Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia will have any authority to take apart the terrorist organizations depends entirely upon Arafat.
Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned Sept. 6, could have done the job only "without Arafat," Roet said. But the prime minister obviously will have no power to make decisions as long as Arafat is around, he said.
Rabbi Henry Karp of Temple Emanuel in Davenport said he does not believe Qureia will have any more success than Abbas.
"The fundamental problem is that basically, Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad set the tone for the Palestinians," he said. "These groups are not interested in a negotiated peace with the State of Israel. They want to destroy Israel.
"Until the Palestinian Authority demonstrates it is willing to seriously reign these guys in, as the road map calls upon them to do, then we're stuck in the mud."
But removing Arafat might not be the answer, he added. "Arafat needs to be discredited."
If the Palestinians would turn away from terrorism, Karp said, "their dreams would be fulfilled, which is a healthy economic relationship with a friendly neighbor in Israel."
Israel does not want to act on its military option, he said.
"The military might of Israel is awesome," Karp said. "If the Palestinians continue down this road, they will put Israel in a position of perceiving it has no alternative than the military option, which would be a nightmare for the Palestinian people."
Israel, though, carries some of the blame for the current situation, he added.
"Israel will need to dismantle illegal settlements and needs to abandon these strategies which only inflame the situation, such as these targeted assassinations, which are not working," he said. "Very often, they haven't killed terrorists, but they have killed other people. They're blowing up neighborhoods in an attempt to get one guy. They should instead arrest terrorists and try them in a court of law like a civilized society."
Also, there are things Israel can do now to help the situation, such as improve the quality of life for Palestinians.
"The Palestinian economy is in a shambles," he said. ‘The people need jobs and food and clothing."
Israel and the Palestinian Authority should be working together to eliminate terrorism and giving the Palestinian people a better life, Karp said.
"The key to peace ultimately will be found in the good things," he said.
Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.