Each one of these 3 articles is indeed thought provoking.

l. Hate Hits the Mainstream - by Rabbi Abraham Cooper
2. Israel May Be Winning - by Daniel Pipes
3. THE PALESTINIAN DEATH WISH - by Avi Davis

Hate Hits the Mainstream
By ABRAHAM COOPER
Rabbi Abraham Cooper is associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

December 16 2001

Ever since the Sept. 11 atrocities were carried out by fanatics invoking the name of God, Americans of faith--from President Bush to editorial writers to priests and rabbis--have called for tolerance, both for our nation's Muslim population and for Islam itself. The hijackers may have invoked Allah to justify their murderous deeds, we are told, but those
murderers do not represent the true face of Islam; our war is against terrorists, not a religion. And words have been backed by deeds. A rash of anti-Arab hate incidents led law enforcement to quickly bolster protection for mosques, and Fortune 500 companies rushed to implement special sensitivity training sessions led by Arab American activists.

What is both heartening and remarkable is that virtually all Americans understand that to give in to religious hatred would, in effect, hand Osama bin Laden a great victory, a time bomb that would ultimately inflict greater damage to America's national psyche than the destruction of the twin towers themselves. At risk are our historic commitments to religious diversity, individual rights and equality for minorities --ideals of our democracy that are a lightning rod for the hate that Al Qaeda supporters harbor for America. In this holiday season, however, another faith has yet to hear words of support and reconciliation. Jews, far from having their religion celebrated, have been confronted with new and virulent strains of anti-Semitism. Not since Kristallnacht, the infamous night of broken glass in Nazi Germany in 1938, has Europe seen more synagogues attacked and burned than in the last year. And even as the debate raged over whether the onset of Ramadan should bring a temporary cessation of the war in Afghanistan, no such truce was contemplated by Arab regimes in their campaign to delegitimize Israel. They have gone right on equating Zionism with apartheid and nazism and insulting the holy books of Judaism. Not a beat was lost in promoting the big lies of blood libel, alleged Jewish plots to control the world and Holocaust denial.

Witness the new series airing on the state-run satellite television network of the Arab gulf state Abu Dhabi. Facing stiff competition for 25 million homes in the Arab and Muslim world from satellite network Al Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV has decided to seek its market share by launching "Plots of Terror." Aired each night of Ramadan as Muslim families gather to break their fast, this family-oriented "satirical comedy" stars a well-known Kuwaiti comedian as Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon. Between ads for Procter & Gamble shampoo, chocolate and computers for kids, viewers are introduced to an Israeli leader depicted as a vampire who craves the blood of Arab children and markets "Dracu-cola." The "prime minister" is shown personally leading the massacre of helpless prisoners and, in the most horrific scene of all, is shown overseeing the tossing of Arab babies into a bonfire. Sharon tells his money-grubbing, earlocked assistant how the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin fulfilled his 20th birthday wish by providing the blood of 20 Arab kids. "So we drew their blood and drank it. It was one of my best nights," the fictional Sharon fondly recalls.

Protests have succeeded in getting Procter & Gamble to cancel its shampoo ads, but the show goes on uninterrupted, as Arab officials in the region, including Kuwait's information minister defended the program as an expression of freedom of speech--a right apparently reserved only for such momentous cultural projects. Western leaders have been silent; though one can only imagine the international outcry had similar programming targeting leading figures in the Muslim world been broadcast by Christians or Jews during Ramadan.

Ominously, the Abu Dhabi series reflects the mainstreaming of anti-Semitism across the Arab world. Saudi Arabian and Egyptian TV are debating whether to air a 30-part miniseries, "Horseman Without a Horse," which is based on the debunked canard "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," an early 20th century hoax by the Russian czar's secret police that purported to reveal a Jewish plan to dominate the world. The book, a virtual prescription for genocide, has been invoked by every Jew hater from Adolf Hitler to Louis Farrakhan. The new "expose," which cost millions to produce, stars a prominent actor backed by a huge ensemble cast.

These television series are, unfortunately, not breaking new ground in the Middle East. In the early 1980s, current Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Talas wrote a book titled "The Matzo of Zion," which alleged that Jews living in Damascus in 1840 killed two Christian children in order to use their blood to prepare their Passover matzo. This past summer, a leading Egyptian filmmaker announced at a press conference in Cairo that he was collaborating with Talas on a film version of the book. The film, its director said, would be "the Arab world's answer to 'Schindler's List.' " Talas runs no risk of being ostracized in Syria for his beliefs. The country's president, Bashar Assad, distinguished himself last May during a visit by Pope John Paul II to Damascus by accusing Jews not only of having
killed Jesus but also of having plotted to kill the prophet Muhammad. The pope, a staunch opponent of European anti-Semitism, could not find his voice to condemn it when it emanated from the Arab world.

Tragically, the pope's silence is more than matched in most of the Western world. Years before Sept. 11, and long before Yasser Arafat walked away from a Camp David deal that would have given birth to a Palestinian state, his Palestinian Authority officially sanctioned hatred of Jews and Judaism in Palestinian textbooks and media. Though a clear violation of the 1993 Oslo accords, such actions hardly caused a ripple in Washington or the
European Union.

This month, the United Nations, along with its secretary-general, Kofi Annan, was awarded the Nobel peace prize. But Annan has not only failed to take on anti-Semitism; he has stood by as constituent agencies, especially the Human Rights Commission, have been hijacked by states like Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, Algeria and others to bestow the veneer of diplomatic respectability on hatred of the Jewish state and its chief ally, the
United States.

Nowhere was that invective more forcefully felt than at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, convened this summer in Durban, South Africa. As a delegate there, I, along with other representatives of Jewish groups, were subjected to taunts and physical intimidation. One day, thousands of South African Muslim demonstrators marched bearing banners proclaiming "Hitler should have finished the job." The ultimate insult came in the final document produced by NGOs, which called for the
reinstatement of the infamous 1975 U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism. The United States, also subject to withering criticism, was the only country besides Israel to have the courage to walk out on the hate fest, which was eclipsed by the Al Qaeda hijackers who launched their suicide attacks a mere 72 hours after the Durban conference closed.

From his very first public communique following the atrocities of Sept. 11, Osama bin Laden has woven Christians and Jews into his web of hate, railing against plots by "Jews and crusaders." Still, many leaders in the West continue to delude themselves that the anger of the "Arab street" will never touch them, as long as they continue to wink and nod at the venting of anti-Semitism. But just as President Bush has insisted that "there are no good or bad terrorists," we must remember that hate is equally detestable regardless of where it is directed. Otherwise, hate--and the cancer of terrorism it spawns--will never disappear.

Israel May Be Winning
by Daniel Pipes
New York Post
December 17, 2001
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/36785.htm
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell recently observed that the Palestinians "need to understand that [terrorism] leads nowhere," and on this basis he urged them to stop their violence against Israelis. Good policy advice, but does the Palestinian use of violence truly lead nowhere? The violence, after all, has a clear and ambitious strategic purpose, as Hassan Ayoub, director of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee
office in Nablus, explained a few months ago: "Now, it's a finger-biting game between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The first one who says ouch is the one who loses. And nobody's going to say ouch no matter how bad it hurts." In other words, a war of wills is underway. The Palestinian Authority (PA), vastly inferior to Israel in the military realm, hopes to make Israel "say ouch" by deploying terrorism against its civilians. Because the PA itself cannot sponsor terror, it delegates this task to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. "[Yasser] Arafat uses Hamas to bleed Israel, to wear it down," correctly observes Ephraim Inbar of Bar-Ilan University. If the PA succeeds in bleeding Israel enough, it will extract larger concessions from it. Terrorism, in short, is integral to the PA's negotiating. "The Palestinian leadership uses terrorism to 'accelerate' the Oslo process," writes the Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby, thereby rendering Israelis "so desperate and demoralized that they will make even deeper concessions, surrender even more land, and struggle even harder to make peace with their enemies." Specifically, the PA seeks a total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian control over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and massive numbers of Palestinians permitted to live in Israel. It wants, to be blunt, a start to the dismantling of the Jewish state. Arafat's speech yesterday, in which he both condemned violence against Israel and demanded a "right of return" for millions of Palestinians to Israeli territory, broke no new ground but merely reiterated some tired rhetoric of his. The U.S. government properly responded by demanding not words but "concrete action." Israel has a counterstrategy, one increasingly evident since Ariel Sharon became prime minister in early 2001: It is to show Palestinians the futility of their
dream to destroy Israel by squeezing them through the loss of mobility, a steep decline in living standards, and a collective malaise. "Look," Israel is in effect saying, "this is getting you nowhere. Give up your dream of destruction. Make a deal with us." Who is winning? Through the '90s, Israeli confusion and illusion permitted the Palestinians to get the upper hand. But since Sharon came to office in March 2001, Israelis have found their old spirit, their old unity and their old purpose. The paralyzing divisions of the '90s have nearly disappeared, as have the self-hating "post-Zionism" themes (which ridiculed Israeli patriotism) and the defeatism (which prompted a unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon). The
shift is no less dramatic on the Palestinian side. The militant Islamic suicide bombings may suggest robust determination, but they mask widespread despair and pessimism. How else to explain the sudden offer (and embarrassed retraction) last week of a temporary truce with Israel by the military wings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and two military groups connected to Arafat? Note too that Arafat recently appointed Sari Nusseibeh, a moderate Palestinian who accepts Israel's right to exist, as his representative in Jerusalem. Palestinians fully know how much they have sacrificed over the past year - the lives of their children, their personal well-being - and how little they have accomplished. Such failure makes it hard for them to sustain the political will to destroy Israel. Should Yasser Arafat exit the political scene, that goal will become even more remote. The Palestinian Authority could well split in two, for it consists of two geographically separate regions (the West Bank and Gaza), each dominated by a strongman (respectively, Jibril Rajoub and Mohammed Dahlan). If these toughs emerge as rulers of their areas, as seems likely, the Palestinian national movement will be fractured as never before, and
the battle against Zionism will become yet more difficult. For these reasons, a rapid decline of Palestinian will appears likely, as has happened several times before (in 1939, 1949, 1967, 1991) - though this one could well be more severe. There is good news here: If Israelis can sustain their recent sense of common purpose and resolve, Palestinians may give up - perhaps permanently - on their goal of destroying Israel. And should that happen, an end to the century-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict could finally be in sight.
Daniel Pipes sends out a mailing of his writings approximately twice per week.

THE PALESTINIAN DEATH -WISH
By Avi Davis
The Australian - December 17
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,3452891%255E7583,00.html

The word "Intifada"; does not translate easily into Hebrew. Not exactly a rebellion and hardly a war, the 15 months of Palestinian violence has been seen by many Israelis as a violent reflex without a strategic plan. But after Yasser Arafat&'s address to his people on Monday, the
Intifada has adopted a meaning that can be easily understood in any language: national suicide. As Israel closes in on the organizers and perpetrators of terror, the Palestinian dream of independence has begun to resemble an illusion, conjured up by a swindler who understood from the beginning that it would never be realized. Instead, the Palestinian leadership, following in the ill-fated footsteps of previous generations, has proven adept at the kind of internal sabotage that has as its foundation greed, hubris and an unmitigated urge to self-destruction.

Indeed the televised speech appeared less an effort to appease world opinion and more a valedictory address. In a sleight of hand, Arafat used most of his 27 minutes to congratulate the Palestinian people for their bravery and courage while only briefly and tangentially alluding to the need to bring an end to terror. There was no call to close down the Intifada. Nor was there a direct condemnation of suicide bombings. In fact in his final words of defiance "Have patience -victory is coming," the Palestinian leader sounded eerily like another hapless dictator, broadcasting worthless platitudes from his flattened bunker in Berlin.

One does have to wonder whether Yasser Arafat's actions or inactions reveal any kind of realistic long-term strategy. As long ago as the 1970s, he recognized the value of international legitimacy for both himself and his movement. He skillfully parlayed the PLO's image as
a terrorist organization into authenticity as a national liberation movement. Preying on latent European anti-semitism he won the rhapsodical endorsement of left-wing writers, academics and even poets who thought they had discovered the genuine article - a selfless leader who gives his life to the liberation of his people. The remaining card in the deck tumbled into place in 1993 when, at the signing of the Oslo Accords, the United States gave him endorsement as a world leader.

He fooled them all. Arafat has no more interest in his people's liberation than he has in running for the Israeli Knesset. On the brink of statehood in July 2000, he proved this by rebuffing Ehud Barak's offers of a final settlement and then committing the Palestinians to a futile campaign of violence. The absence of strategy has become even more apparent in the past ten days as increasing U.S and European disaffection has resulted in joint pressure on him to rein in terror. He has proven himself incapable of achieving this, not because he regards his personal survival as dependent on currying favor with extremists, but rather because he is unable to envision a world in which terror and violence can no longer be used as political leverage.

The catastrophe this has brought down on ordinary Palestinians can be described as a national psychosis rapidly swelling into a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Educated by the Palestinian media's and Islamic clerics'; unceasing incitement to believe in the legitimacy of jihad, the Palestinian populace has been psychologically drawn into the vortex of violence. They overwhelmingly endorse it as the only means of achieving freedom. No voice of moderation now chastises them that they are staring into the face of disaster. No independent media presents them with a debate on alternative approaches. The support for the Intifada has been nurtured by Arafat's insistence that the world will not allow "defenseless" citizens to be attacked but will respond Kosovo-like to the crisis with extensive intervention.

But the world, it seems, has turned off. Suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are a little too similar in image to the September 11 attacks on the United States for even European comfort. Last week the European Union issued a tart and unprecedented rebuke to Arafat to close down Hamas and Islamic Jihad. And as the U.S. and its allies draw the net around Osama Bin Laden, the reality of the future peril to be faced by the rest of the world presents itself in the form of Palestinian terror.

Ensnared in the web of his own pretensions, Yasser Arafat may be unable to appreciate the gravity of the accelerating collapse of his fortunes. But one day, from his retirement home in Baghdad, the former Palestinian leader might contemplate the irony that the suicide bombers,
so cavalierly let loose on his enemies, not only simultaneously destroyed the Palestinian Authority but also crippled the cause he so long advocated but never, apparently, believed in.

Avi Davis is the senior fellow of the Freeman Center in Los Angeles and the senior editorial columnist for the on-line magazine Jewsweek.com