The Palestinian Excuse is Dead. Long Live the Palestinian Excuse.

[Communication]

Here's how it works:

1.) Hamas announces a 'hudna', but with conditions that they know in advance are completely unacceptable to Israel, and would be to any sane leader of any country (like releasing all 6000 terrorist prisoners, so they can rejoin the ranks of the terror armies that have perpetrated 18,500 attacks and caused 1,200 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries since the signing of the Oslo accords).

2.) It then declares unilateral acceptance of this one-sided 'hudna' without Israel's agreement to any of these insane conditions, and insists on
Israel's acceptance as well although Israel had no role in its formulation.

3.) It and other terror groups violate the cease-fire with 3 to 6 terror attacks daily that kill dozens and injure scores; knowing that these violations will be ignored by the media and most US leaders.

4.) Finally, when the opportunity is ripe, they announce that if Israel does not fulfill the conditions to which it never agreed, then it will be Israel's fault that the 'peace process' is not succeeding.

So now, even though Abbas and Hamas have VIOLATED ALL of the conditions of the Road Map's Phase I, failure can be blamed on Israel because Israel violates the 'hudna' by not releasing prisoners.

Although the release of prisoners is not part of the Road Map, Abbas has made it a top priority with Bush. Even though Israel has already agreed to free hundreds of prisoners with no blood on their hands, PA spokespersons insist that the release of thousands of trained, experienced, battle hardened terrorist murderers is a sine qua non for peace.

[shimshon9]

Editor's Note: Will someone give me a list of PA gestures to Israel. Or do
they keep selling the same rug (stopping violence, disarming terorists etc)
for the 50+ time since Oslo (1993). Israeli drivers often use the term
"idioot" when they encounteer bad drivers. What is the proper term for
Sharon?? Someone please let me know.]

STATEMENT FROM PM SHARON'S BUREAU - "Gestures" to PA [Sharon's 12 hour
planning horizon]
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Friday, July 25, 2003

[IMRA: The meaning of "gesture" # 3, transfer of security responsibility for
additional cities, remains unclear since ":the decision as to which cities,
the nature of the security responsibility and the transfer timing will be
made at a meeting to be held at the beginning of next week between Defense
Minister Mofaz and Muhammad Dahlan, the PA minister responsible for security
affairs"

Until this announcement was released, Israel's frequently repeated position,
anchored in the only cabinet decision relating to the Roadmap, was that no
additional cities would be transferred to PA security control before the PA
actually proved themselves in deeds that they were taking apart the terror
infrastructure in the cities under their control. PA PM Abu Mazen has made
it clear in various statements for attribution that he has absolutely no
intention to do this. "Transfer timing" may be performance bound as well as
time bound, but stating that the decision with regards to the "timing" will
be made at a meeting between DM Mofaz and PA Min. Dahlan implies that this
is a joint negotiated decision.

Israel can certainly argue that the "joint" nature of the decision is that
if Dahlan tells Mofaz when the PA plans to finally get around to doing its
job in the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem that this will essentially set the
timing of the transfer of additional cities as long as Dahlan keeps his
word. But since this item was not explicit on this issue, Israel will
suffer again a PR loss if it sticks to its requirements and a withdrawal
date is not announced after the meeting.

So what really happened? Given Prime Minister Sharon's track record, the
odds are good that this press release reflects a 12 hour planning horizon.
The statement was designed to help Israel while PA PM Mazen meets with
President Bush. The damage this announcement may cost Israel next week when
Mofaz meets with Dahlan simply isn't relevant to PM Sharon and his team
since it is beyond their planning horizon.

It is well worth noting that not only isn't the Mofaz-Dahlan meeting within
PM Sharon's planning horizon - Sharon's own meeting with President Bush is
also beyond the 12 hour planning horizon.

It is noteworthy that while PM Sharon claims he will take no steps that
would endanger Israelis, three major security checkpoints are being removed
before a review of "the security aspects for the checkpoints' existence and
modus operandi" is concluded.]

Israel has decided on the following series of steps in order to advance the
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority:

1. Release of prisoners: As of today, Israel has released approximately 250
Palestinian prisoners. Similarly, the Ministerial Committee on Prisoner
Affairs decided - several days ago - to approve the release of hundreds of
Palestinian prisoners and to reconvene at the beginning of August in order
to discuss changes in the criteria so as to facilitate the release of
hundreds of additional prisoners. However, Israel has made it clear that it
will not release prisoners with blood on their hands.

2. Checkpoints: Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered a review of the
overall policy on checkpoints in Judea and Samaria, as well as the security
aspects for the checkpoints' existence and modus operandi. Pending the
conclusion of this review, three main checkpoints have been removed: Between
Ramallah and Jerusalem, between Ramallah and Nablus and between Bethlehem
and Hebron. In addition, it was decided that the Nablus-Jenin route will be
opened to public transportation, and the opening of a bypass near Morag
junction in the Gaza Strip will be considered at a meeting to be held
between the two sides at the beginning of next week.

3. Transfer of security responsibility for additional cities: Israel will
transfer security responsibility for two additional cities in Judea and
Samaria. The decision as to which cities, the nature of the security
responsibility and the transfer timing will be made at a meeting to be held
at the beginning of next week between Defense Minister Mofaz and Muhammad
Dahlan, the PA minister responsible for security affairs.

4. Israel is continuing to dismantle unauthorized outposts according to a
Defense Ministry plan, the implementation of which has been assigned to the
law enforcement authorities.

5. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will consider ways to reduce - by as much as
possible - infringements by the security fence on the Palestinian population
's daily lives.

6. Israel will enact additional measures designed to ease and improve
economic conditions for the Palestinian population: The numbers of work
permits for Gaza residents will increase by 5,000. 2,500 work permits will
be issued to residents of Kalkilya. 1,000 additional work permits will be
issued to Bethlehem residents; tourists will be allowed to enter Bethlehem.
Conditions will be eased vis-a-vis the passage of goods and merchants. The
international crossing points will be open for longer hours. Etc.

7. Israel will transfer NIS 72 million to the PA from funds that have been
collected - and were being held - by the Airports Authority.

8. Negotiations have begun between officials from the State of Israel and
the PA on the expansion of joint industrial zones and improvements in their
activities, improvements in the activities of merchandise loading and
unloading terminals, and additional measures to advance trade between Israel
and the Palestinians.

9. The various Israeli-Palestinian joint committees - such as on incitement
and legal affairs - have begun working. It has also been decided to
establish a professional team to evaluate Palestinian prisoners' detention
conditions.

Israel expects the Palestinian Authority to work towards dismantling the
terrorist organizations according to the agreed-upon security plans, and
carry out the reform process in the areas of security, governance, economic
affairs, social affairs and legal affairs, in order to advance the peace
process.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

[old-reb]

Hello Shimshon9,

Islam has been trying to kill the last Jew since Mohammand walked the earth.

Today they have many pressure points against Israel:
(1) constant terrorism
(2a) international pressure, they controll most of the oil everybody needs.
(2 b) Any country that will lean on Israel wins a lot of praise from Islamic countries. BBC has become puppet of Islam.

(2 c) It has been said that 9/11 was caused by our support of Israel. Message being that if you don't want terrorist attacks then help destory Israel.

World pressure is on Bush to pressure Israel. What can Sharon do but bend a little for his friend Bush.

In many ways it is a political war like Vietnam. You can't fight to win an end to the war but only to win the right to live another day.

Sharon is not stupid, he knows that Islam doesn't want peace they only want to undo the results of years of loosing war so they can start again in a better position.

old reb

[L@mplighterM]

OPINION

Israel’s Enemies Must Be Laughing
by Mark B. Kaplan
Aug. 04, '03 / 6 Av 5763



As rough-grooved as the Road Map to Peace is, a few detours have made its path even rougher. The first and most important obligation the Palestinian Authority had to accept in order for Israel to agree to the Road Map was the commitment to crack down on Palestinian terrorism against Israel. Regrettably, not only has Abu Mazen sidestepped this obligation, but he also has managed to convince President Bush that Israel should release more Palestinian prisoners.

Abu Mazen did this by securing a conditional temporary cease-fire between the Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah terror organizations and Israel. The conditions for the cease-fire include: Israel withdrawing from Palestinian Authority-controlled territories, ending targeted killing of wanted terrorists and releasing all the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

I’m not quite sure how this qualifies as cracking down on terrorism. Of course, no sane person could accept this deal. Guess what… Israel has already begun releasing prisoners. Prime Minister Sharon says none of the prisoners on his release list have blood on their hands.

This temporary cease-fire, or hudna, is a gamble against all odds. The words “temporary” and “3-month” should be enough to make Israel skeptical of the deal. As US House Majority Speaker Tom DeLay said, murderers on a 90-day vacation are still murderers. Even Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak, who both made far-reaching concessions to the Palestinian Authority, have been critical of the speed and carelessness of Ariel Sharon’s handling of the Road Map.

Almost three years have passed since PA chairman Yasser Arafat turned down Barak’s more than generous offer at Camp David. Arafat could have had a Palestinian state on nearly all the land Israel captured from Jordan in 1967 as well as in the Gaza Strip. There was even a compromise on the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, something almost no one in Israel could have imagined being negotiable. Instead of jumping at the offer, Arafat abandoned the peace process, leaving both President Clinton and Prime Minister Barak dumbfounded.

Not long after the ill-fated Camp David meeting, the Palestinians declared an intifada - a violent uprising against Israel. Arafat, being the king of PR, has consistently condemned each terror attack in the foreign media. His reason has always been because of the harm it causes to the national interests of the Palestinian people (not because blowing up children is immoral). At the same time, Arafat appears in the Arab media shouting, “Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!” Yes, that is a direct quote.

Once again, Israel is embracing the hope of peace with the Palestinian Authority. Not only has Israel released Palestinian prisoners, but they have also uprooted a number of inhabited Jewish outposts on land the Sharon government may decide to trade for peace.

Among the prisoners Israel has released is Ahmed Jbarra. Jbarra is a terrorist who served 28 years of a life sentence for setting off a bomb in Jerusalem in which 14 people were murdered and scores wounded. Upon being released from prison, Jbarra traveled directly to Ramallah to meet with Yasser Arafat.

Okay, so Arafat has been declared irrelevant; however, a week after Jbarra’s release, there was a photo in the Israeli newspapers of PA Prime Minister Abu Mazen posing with Jbarra. A few days later, the Palestinian Authority announced that Arafat decided to appoint Jbarra as his special adviser for prisoners' affairs.

Now, Jbarra has appeared once again in all the Israeli newspapers. This time, the new Palestinian Authority minister was quoted saying that Palestinians should abduct Israeli soldiers and citizens whenever possible. Despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority is still the root of incitement, Israel is continuing to move forward with the implementation of the Road Map to Peace.

If Abu Mazen were serious about peace, he would declare terrorism a crime punishable by imprisonment (prisons without revolving doors). Temporary truces or hudnas don’t count. The terrorists know Israel could never agree to release all of the prisoners. We are talking about a number of mass murderers who have not even expressed remorse for their actions. When Prime Minister Sharon declares that he has released all the prisoners he can release, the terrorists will accuse Israel of violating the terms of the cease-fire and return to the volume of pre-hudna terror against Israel.

Besides, if the terrorists abandon the cease-fire, will the released prisoners agree to return to the Israeli prisons?

Why are we even talking about a cease-fire? Terrorism is cold-blooded murder.

But the terrorists say, “Don’t we have a right to resist the occupation of our land?” No, they do not have a right to resist. If the Palestinians wanted a land to call their own, they would have accepted Barak’s offer, and they would be living in peace with their Israeli cousins. The terrorists chose death rather than an independent Palestinian state.

Every civilized society has laws that prohibit the indiscriminate murder of civilians. How can you call blowing up a busload of schoolchildren moral?

I have always wanted to hear the media ask Arafat to define what he calls a “civilian”. Senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz Rantissi has said that he can condone killing Israeli children because one needs to attack an enemy any way possible. To the terrorists, no Jew is a civilian.

Terrorists in Gaza are taking advantage of the hudna by setting up camps to train more efficient suicide bombers and produce deadlier bombs. The Palestinian Authority allows these terrorist camps to operate without interference. Yet, President Bush calls Abu Mazen a man of peace.

Once again, Israel has succumbed to foreign pressure. Prime Minister Sharon continues to implement the Road Map without any solid reciprocation from the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority is taking advantage of Western naivete and strong Western beliefs in liberal democracy to manipulate the Quartet and their allies. The world fails to see that liberal democracy has no roots in Arab culture.

There is no doubt about it, Israel’s enemies must be laughing.

http://www.israelnn.com/article.php3?id=2579

[L@mplighterM]

Sbip:

Abbas cancels meeting with Sharon
Differences over release of prisoners scuttle talks
Tuesday, August 5, 2003 Posted: 1230 GMT ( 8:30 PM HKT)


JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has canceled Wednesday's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon because of a disagreement over the release of Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian officials said.

The Palestinians disagree with the list of prisoners that Israel has drawn up. Israel published a list Monday with the names of 349 of the 443 Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be freed Wednesday.

A Palestinian statement said: "This is a unilateral move without any coordination through the joint Israeli-Palestinian prisoners committee."

A source in Sharon's office confirmed that the meeting was postponed because the Palestinians disagreed with the prisoner list.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/me...bas/index.html

[L@mplighterM]

Islamic Jihad confirms it's rearming under 'hudna'
By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF


Mohammed al-Hindi, head of Islamic Jihad in Gaza, has confirmed that the terrorist organization is rearming under the 'hudna'.

"It is natural that we strengthen ourselves during hudna," he told the The Scotsman newspaper in an interview appearing Sunday.

He suggests that other Palestinian groups follow suit.

"It is natural that the Palestinians, Fatah, the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, be ready to defend their people in the coming stages," he added.

He predicted more bloodshed unless Israel makes additional concessions.

"We are not blood lovers," he said. "We are freedom lovers, but when our people are being killed, we have to defend ourselves.

"As long as Israel does not recognise the rights of the Palestinian people, there will be more violence and more violence and Israel will be the one to be blamed and to take responsibility."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...=1060491339829

[Mediocrates]

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=48265

Warning: Israel Stands Alone Regarding Right of Return
Following Nabil Shaath's remarks demanding the 'right of return' to Israel for hundreds of thousands of Arabs, Israeli journalist and analyst David Bedein of the wrote why Israelis should be very concerned.

"Nabil Shaath declared," Bedein wrote, "that the US-sponsored road map mandates the right of Palestinian Arab refugees to return to villages from 1948 which have been replaced by cities, collective farms and woodlands in the present-day State of Israel. Surprisingly, Shaath was correct. All you have to do is to read the Road Map at "www.un.org/media/main/roadmap122002.html" to know that the Saudi initiative, which supports the right of return, provides the basis for the Road Map..."

"Thousands of maps recently issued and distributed by the Palestinian National Authority in Arabic and in English," Bedein writes, "provide a clear guide for Palestinian Arab refugees and their descendants to forcibly take back the 531 Arab villages lost in 1948 which have been replaced by Israeli cities, collective farms and woodlands."

Even though Shaath supposedly reversed himself the next day, Bedein and IMRA note that a widely-circulated PA press release, still found at "www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=994", clearly states, "No condition has been set for a return [only] to an independent Palestinian state."

Where does the U.S. stand on this issue? Not with Israel. Bedein writes:
"Shimon Shiffer, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for Israel's Yediot Acharonot newspaper, reported on May 23, 2003, two days before the Israeli government ratified the Road Map, that the Americans "rejected one of Israel's central demands, namely, that the Palestinian Arabs would agree to concede the right of return in return for Israel's recognition of a Palestinian Arab state. They also rejected Israel's demand to remove the Saudi proposal - which includes a full withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 lines and Israel's recognition of the right of return, in return for full Arab recognition of Israel - as one of the main sources of the Road Map's authority.
"Israel has requested that the US, Canada, the EU and the Scandinavian countries who are involved in Middle East negotiations issue a clear statement of opposition to the Arab demand for the 'right of return.' However, none of them will do so.
"Checking with ranking diplomats from the US, Canada, the EU and Scandinavia, I have discovered that all diplomatic missions in Israel, including the US, demand that Israel allow some refugees to return. They universally quote a recent Palestinian poll that "only 10%" of the Palestinian Arab refugees would want to return to their villages that they left in 1948.
"Well, since UNRWA counts 3.9 million people who qualify as 'Palestinian Arab refugees,' that would mean that Israel would have to absorb some 400,000 Arabs who would claim their homes and villages which are now in the heart of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa along with hundreds of kibbutzim and moshavim.
"Israel stands alone in its position that Arab refugees and their descendants have no legal or moral right to take back their villages from 1948.
"However, the Road Map is based on precisely that presumption. Most Israelis do not know that. [This is because Israeli media over the past ten years have had] a tendency to downplay any negative prognosis of the 'peace process.' ...

[ibrodsky]

One bit of good news: it look like Israel has arrested more Palestinians than it has released. According to a report this morning, Israel arrested 34 Palestinians last night alone.

[Zamir_Etzioni]

The Palestinian Excuse is Dead. Long Live the Palestinian Excuse.
One thing's for sure – today's excuses of so-called occupation, imprisonment of terrorist operatives, and self-inflicted economic distress will be replaced by future blood-libel that will again seek to legitimize the Palestinians' national goal murdering their Jewish neighbors.

* * *

That's my opinion. What do you think?

I agree, all of what you have said is plausible.

I asked someone recently, a self proclaimed liberal, ("and proud to be")
if she felt the Israelis had been doing enough to assuage the Palestinian's feelings, and if they had, what should the world's response be if the terror continues; she said, "Well, I wonder if the Jews should really be there?"

That's what the Arabs have maintained all along, at least since the first Aliyah.
No Jewish State.

Your view predicts a bleak future for Israel and the Jews, what, in your opinion, if anything, can or should be done about the increasing ferocity of the anti-Jew and the Arabians?

[achaaban]

The Palestinian Excuse is Dead. Long Live the Palestinian Excuse.
By Michael Rand

An IsraelForum.com original article.

.............

The American-backed road map for peace was in full swing, and as agreed, Israel was to make painful concessions, while the Palestinians' murderous Jihad raged on, with dozens of attempts to mass murder innocent Israelis.

The Palestinian attacks against Israeli citizens, women, and children are deplorable, however, I find that Israeli reactions to this problem that is causing the loss of Israeli lives is somehow primitive (such as building a wall that resembles the idea of the Tower of Babylon) as If the Israelis do not actually care about the lost lives as much as they care about maintaining the occupation of the West Bank.

The answer to saving lives is simple, give the Palestinian the leftovers of the land that was given to them in the partition plan, since a good part of that land is already in Israeli hands, and the Palestinians are not even interested is asking for the implementation of resolution 181.

How could Israel help solve the problem of Global Terrorism, rather than contribute to it, when until today the Palestinians are stateless because Israel occupies Palestinian Land.

[redcake]

There was a time when the Palestinians claimed they were stateless because one by one, Lebaon, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan also "occupied their land".

israel was the only sucker that handed the Palestinians autonomous territory, and it did little to save lives, or muzzle world terrorism...on the contrary, it fused the fire, and had the direct result in furthering the death tolls.

[Mediocrates]

Although the Egyptians and Jordanians were on to something. They eliminated their own Palestinian problem by just walking away from the places they lived. It had nothing to do with peace with Israel and everything to do with shipping off their own underclass management problem. In the end it might make more sense for Israel to do much of the same. Israel should export its Palestinian terrorism problem to "Palestine".

[RoofRabbit]

The Palestinian attacks against Israeli citizens, women, and children are deplorable, however, I find that Israeli reactions to this problem that is causing the loss of Israeli lives is somehow primitive (such as building a wall that resembles the idea of the Tower of Babylon) as If the Israelis do not actually care about the lost lives as much as they care about maintaining the occupation of the West Bank.

Forgive my thoughts if I'm outta place here.

Quick note: I'm not a jew but wish I were, being opposite in mind from the rest of the world. I do believe in 100% support of Israel and it's peace.

My responce to this post: I don't really see much more Israel can do considering the pressure the other world goverments place on her. They keep forbidding Israel to do the same exact things they would themselves do to protect their own countries. As I understand it, God not only gave the "west bank" to Israel but all the way to the Euphrates river in Iraq.

[achaaban]

Forgive my thoughts if I'm outta place here.

Quick note: I'm not a jew but wish I were, being opposite in mind from the rest of the world. I do believe in 100% support of Israel and it's peace.

My responce to this post: I don't really see much more Israel can do considering the pressure the other world goverments place on her. They keep forbidding Israel to do the same exact things they would themselves do to protect their own countries. As I understand it, God not only gave the "west bank" to Israel but all the way to the Euphrates river in Iraq.

I am sticking right now to what the British gave them.

[achaaban]

There was a time when the Palestinians claimed they were stateless because one by one, Lebaon, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan also "occupied their land".

I can understand that Jordan and Egypt occupied their land. But, can you enlighten us with this piece of news, which says that Lebanon and perhaps Syria occupied Palestinian Land and when did this event happen?