The Israeli Labor Party misled its people when it approved the Oslo process. At the time, Israelis were told that the process was designed to test the motivation of the Palestinian Arabs to enter into a lasting peace arrangement and was reversible if it was found that assumptions about Arab intentions were wrong.
As it turned out, no such interest in peace has shown itself among the Palestinian Arabs. They have regularly evaded their obligation to fight Arab terror and to promote reconciliation between Arab and Jew. From day one of the process, continuous incitement of the Arab masses has been the rule as the Arab hordes turn out to cheer Hamas terrorists, bus bombers and deliberate killers of children. What is also evident, contrary to the Oslo agreements, Arafat has unilaterally assumed the role of head of state and his people to be a sovereign nation. At this very moment, under Arafat's new conscription order, he builds an illegal Arab army, already having brought under military arms more than twice the "police force" he was authorized under the agreement.
In short, the Arabs have failed their test of peace. Israel is now challenged by a hostile, irredentist, and rising power within her own borders. The promise of reversibility made by the former Labor government had been a sham and reveals at the least the total incompetence and dangerous other-worldliness of its leftist originators. They had breathed life into a virtually dead PLO in Tunisia, gave the arch terrorist Arafat legitimacy, gave his terrorists -- there is not a dime of difference between him and the Hamas -- sanctuaries adjacent to Israeli population centers, and even fitted these unreconstructed enemies with weapons that have already been used against Israel. It is not difficult to visualize what would happen in the event of war with outside Arab forces. An Arab "fifth column" behind Israeli lines could crucially add to the dangers. The impact of these realities must be faced.
The above excerpt, which only on close reading reveals itself to be anything other than contemporary, was published almost six years ago. It was called "Impacting Reality," and its message has, unfortunately, only become more real and urgent with the passage of time.
Back in 1997, Oslo was still in full swing and those who dared to point to the writing on the wall were labeled "extremists" and "enemies of peace." President Clinton was entertaining Arafat regularly at the White House. Terrorist attacks were still considered by most Americans to be other people's problem, notwithstanding the first World Trade Center bombing. It seems like a different world. But the sad thing is, it wasn't. It's just that few were willing to see it as it was.
At the time, Israelis were told that the process was designed to test the motivation of the Palestinian Arabs to enter into a lasting peace arrangement and was reversible if it was found that assumptions about Arab intentions were wrong.
The motivation and intentions that were being tested were clearly expressed in this letter, written by Yasser Arafat to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on Septembr 9, 1993. In it, he pledged:
The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process, and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations. The PLO considers that the signing of the Declaration of Principles constitutes a historic event, inaugurating a new epoch of peaceful coexistence, free from violence and all other acts which endanger peace and stability. Accordingly, the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and Personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators.
On the basis of that commitment, Arafat and his cronies were permitted to emerge from exile in Tunis and "return" to the disputed territories. They were permitted to do so for the express purposes of combatting terror, of planting the seeds of a democratic society that would renounce violence and pursue peace in concert with its Israeli neighbors, of bringing law, order and prosperity to the palestinian people. Instead, Arafat has consistently aided, abetted and encouraged terror and violence, crushed any spark of dissent or democratic reform, stolen a king's ransom from the people he governs and sabotaged the peace process at every opportunity.
At that time, Israelis were told that the process was designed to test the motivation of the Palestinian Arabs to enter into a lasting peace arrangement and was reversible if it was found that assumptions about Arab intentions were wrong.
There are many arguments to be made both for and against expelling Arafat from the territories, and I continue to waffle. But among the most compelling in favor is this: his sojourn in Ramallah was conditional. He's violated every condition. Many of the concessions made at Oslo were, in fact, irreversible, but this one is not. One way or another, it's time for him to go.
