Who Is Arafat Essay, Research Paper

Now more than ever President Bush is pushing Israel for a withdrawal from the Palestinian-occupied territories in order get the cease-fire in effect. President Bush once said that one cannot negotiate with terrorists; the question now is whether Arafat is a terrorist or a peacemaker. The answer is simple: Arafat is a terrorist, and President Bush should not force Prime Minister Sharon to negotiate with a terrorist.

If Arafat is not a terrorist then why are Fatah and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (terrorist groups) headed by Arafat (Kalman 1)? President Bush must face the truth about the Arab terror against Israel; he has to ?see that the goal of the Arab world has always been, and still is, to destroy the state of Israel?(Podhoretz 2). The fact is that after the Oslo peace accords in September 1993, Palestinians killed more Israelis than in the 15 years that preceded the accord (Kelly 2). If there was no peace as a result of that accord, why should anyone expect peace after any other accord that Arafat is in charge of, as he was in Oslo? How can a man that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, now urge Palestinians to ?sacrifice themselves as martyrs in jihad (holy war) for Palestine?(Kalman 2)? Is this a man that anyone can negotiate with?

Reuters reports that on April 1, 2002 ?one of Lebanon’s most prominent Shiite Muslim cleric [gave] his blessing to female suicide bombers, like [the] one who struck in

Jerusalem on Friday (March 29, 2002), calling them authors of a ?new, glorious history for Arab and Muslim women.??(Par. 1) President Bush must see that:

?there is no moral difference between the terrorists operating out of the PA and the al-Qaida network. He will recognize that to sponsor the establishment of a state run by the thugs and murderers of the PA would be tantamount to putting the Taliban back into power in Afghanistan? (Podhoretz 4).

To assail Israel now and make Sharon pull Israeli troops out of Palestinian territory without fully completing their task of rooting out the terrorists would be like telling Bush that he has to pull out American troops from Afghanistan because our troops are invading their land.

After Prime Minister Sharon announced war on terrorism and began sending Israeli troops into Palestinian territories, there have been fewer suicide bombings. While Israel was occupying the major Palestinian towns, there were no suicide bombings for about eight days, but as soon as Israel started pulling out, suicide bombings began again. On April 6, 2002, President Bush urged Israel to begin pulling out of the West Bank immediately.

Sharon said that Israel?s assault was a response to a ?murderous insanity which has taken hold of our Palestinian neighbors? and accused Yasser Arafat of heading a ?regime of terror.? He stated that Israel would press on ?until it has dismantled

Arafat?s terror infrastructure and the murderers hiding in different places have been arrested.? (Associated Press 1-2).

In essence, what Sharon is trying to do is to keep the nation of Israel a nation, and save as many Israeli lives as possible from the murdering Palestinian suicide bombers. His job as the Prime Minister is to lead his country and to defend it. Since March 29, there have been more than 1,500 Palestinians arrested by Israel, five to six hundred of which are fugitives, and seventy to eighty of whom were involved in planning attacks on Israel (Associated Press 3).

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is supposedly the leader of his people, and must lead his people towards peace instead of war. It is easy to see that he is leading his people towards suicide bombings, and not towards an attempt at peace with Israel. He wants to overtake Israel and make it Palestine. With all the former peace treaties between Israel, Arafat insisted on attaining everything, or nothing. When President Clinton met with Arafat and Prime Minister Barak at Camp David in December of 2000, the best deal that Arafat will ever be offered was proposed, but he refused to sign it. It would have given him 95% of the West Bank Territory and Jerusalem was to become an international city. Such an offer will not be extended again, and now Arafat should negotiate with Israel rather than Israel with Arafat because he has gotten more things than he dreamed of from Israel, and is still not satisfied. Forcing Israel to negotiate with Arafat is the same as forcing America to negotiate with Bin Ladin. If America is not willing to negotiate with a terrorist, then why should Israel have to?

WORKS CITEDAssociated Press. Israeli Troops Prepare to Pull Out of Two West Bank Cities.8 Apr. 2002. 9 Apr. 2002. .

Kalman, Matthew. Terrorists Says Orders Come From Arafat. 3 Mar. 2002. 11 Apr. 2002. .

Kelly, Michael. Promises But Never Peace. 5 Apr. 2002. 7 Apr. 2002. .

Podhoretz, Norman. Bush Must Face Truce About Arab Terror Against Israel. 7 Apr. 2002. 7 Apr. 2002. .

Reuters. Cleric Lauds Bombings by Women. 2 Apr. 2002. 9 Apr. 2002. .