by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 1, 2002
All Rights Reserved.

ighting his own asymmetric war, Arafat must now deal with the consequences. Begging to be rescued, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat finds himself cornered in Ramallah, staging what amounts to a last ditch public relations battle to salvage his embattled cause. Though he says he wants to be martyred, Arafat actually prefers to send Palestinian youth to their deaths in the name of liberation. Like Bin Laden's Islamic automatons who downed the World Trade Center, Arafat encourages adolescents to die for his cause. For 18 months, Arafat staged his intifada [uprising], sending an endless stream of suicide bombers to exact a better deal than he could get at the bargaining table. With suicide bombings now a daily occurrence, let there be no mistake, Palestinians are at war with Israel. "Arafat," said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a brief televised speech, is "the enemy of Israel and the free world in general," reminding Israel's critics that the Jewish state will not be cowed by human hand-grenades. "I fully understand Israel's need to defend herself," said President Bush, telling Arafat that he "can do a lot more to prevent attacks."

      Suicide bombing is no different than dropping bombs or launching ballistic missiles. No sovereign nation can tolerate blatant warfare without defending itself by whatever means necessary. Israel's critics suggest that suicide bombers serve the legitimate rights of Palestinians to defend their homeland against overwhelming Israeli aggression. They even say that if Israel changes its ways, they'll stop the suicide attacks. That's the same nonsense after Sept. 11 that the U.S. needed to change its foreign policy to prevent future terrorist attacks. "We will continue the martyrdom attacks on Israel until the full withdrawal from the Palestinian territory," Hamas publicly broadcasted at a mosque in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, after another devastating blast in the Israeli port city of Haifa. Killing 14 and injuring 40, Hamas blew up Arab-owned Matza restaurant, murdering innocent Palestinians and Israelis, proving the indiscriminate and cold-blooded nature to suicide bombing.

      Whether Arafat orchestrates terrorism or is at the behest of radical groups no longer matters. Either way, he can't be trusted to deliver promises signed on peace deals. No government can negotiate with an authority that doesn't have sovereign power. "I fear that a fanatical group of extremist terrorists has hijacked the very legitimate goal of Palestinian statehood," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), not yet buying Sharon's firm belief that Arafat's behind the deadly suicide bombings. "We cannot compromise with those who are ready . . . to die only to kill innocent civilians," said Sharon in a 5-minute nationwide address. "This terrorism is used, directed and initiated by one man: Yasser Arafat." Lieberman—and yes, the White House and Congress—must get to the bottom of whether they can still do business with Arafat. Clinton found out the hard way, when Arafat rejected his Camp David peace deal in Aug. 2000, giving Palestinians unprecedented land-for-peace. Within days, Arafat began the violence. Now at Arafat's door, Sharon must stop equivocating and decide what he wants.

      Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat blamed Sharon for causing the rising tide of Palestinian violence, including the recent escalation in suicide bombings. Erekat told the world press that Sharon wanted to kill Palestinian president Arafat. With the Israeli military parked outside Arafat's door, Erekat pandered to the Arab media. "If they killed President Arafat," warned Erekat, "I can assure you that [the violence] . . . we are witnessing now is but the tip of the iceberg," suggesting that the entire Middle East would go up in flames. Pleading for international military support, Arafat has no one coming to his rescue. While showing sympathy, Arafat's Arab brothers won't stick their necks out to fight his battle—including his new friends in Tehran. For all their bluster, the rest of the Middle East already knows the consequences of attacking Israel and chooses to pay only lip service. When Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak skipped the recent Arab summit in Beirut, it signaled that moderate Arab states wouldn't be seduced by Palestinian rhetoric. Since Arafat started his low-intensity war against Israel, it's now his turn to end it. Even Saddam Hussein won't get sucked into Arafat's pleas for help.

      Engaged now in a de-fanging operation in Ramallah and the West Bank, the Israeli military promises to dismantle the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure. But like the U.S. found out in Afghanistan, it's difficult to look under every rock. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade promises endless streams of suicide bombings until Israel gives in. "This chain of terror," said Sharon spokesman David Baker, will have to be broken with every means at Israel's disposal "to achieve this at the earliest opportunity," reassuring the press that Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Palestinian land—though it's unclear what's Sharon's endgame. Blaming Sharon's attack on Arafat's compound as an old vendetta ignores Israel's right to respond under siege. "This explains Sharon's tremendous urge to humiliate Arafat, a humiliation that makes little sense, other that to satisfy an old desire for revenge," wrote Nahum Barnea in the Yediot Ahronot Daily, frustrated at Sharon's indecision. But Sharon also promised U.S. authorities that he wouldn't grant Arafat's wish to become a martyr. Sooner or later, Sharon will be forced to retreat or end the drama.

      Backing Arafat into a corner, Sharon must decide what he wants to do. If both the U.S. and Israel can no longer do business with Arafat, it's time to find new Palestinian leadership. Confining Arafat and his coterie to his office can't last much longer. Sharon needs to either finish the operation or take Arafat into custody. Like Afghanistan, suicide bombers come from many places, not just Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah. Overplaying his hand, Arafat must renounce suicide bombing as a means to Palestinian liberation or face the consequences of deportation or death. Based on the volume of radical groups that believe that "martyrdom" is the only path to liberation, it's clear that Arafat has sent the wrong message to his people. As Bin Laden found out, Radical Islam won't defeat freedom by suicide attacks. Only stopping violence and returning to the bargaining table can achieve the aspiration of Palestine liberation. If Arafat can't deliver that message, then someone else must. Arab leaders must push Arafat to renounce violence or step aside. Suicide bombings have already boomeranged on the Palestinian people—it's now time to stop the violence.

About the Author

John M. Curtis is editor of OnlineColumnist.com and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He's director of a Los Angeles think tank specializing in political consulting and strategic communication. He's author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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