Yasser Arafat has survived any number of ‘defining moments’ and ‘turning points’ in his decades as a Palestinian leader. Now comes another, perhaps the final one. The horrific slaughter of more than two dozen innocent Israelis in attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa over the weekend makes it imperative that the Palestinian Authority president break the back of the terrorist groups that carry out such murders of pure hatred. Arafat’s failure to do so would open the door to an all-out Israeli war on organizations such as Hamas, which claimed responsibility for the most recent attacks, and Islamic Jihad, surely with greater suffering for the Palestinian people Arafat claims to represent. Israel retaliated Monday, launching air strikes on Arafat’s helicopter compound in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Jenin.
Israeli spokesmen also warned of greater, unspecified payback. The attack and counterattack are the latest tightening of the dreadful happenings that must and need to come to an end. Why can’t the people of both nations live in peace and agree to live within and alongside one another? I find these recent outbreaks of hatred as pure ignorance. They can’t even image agreeing with each other. In years past United States presidents have tried, but only to see more killing.
I believe as a nation we need to hold a diplomatic session with both nations, and maybe this will have impact on them to see the mass destruction and economic hardships on their nations. I can’t understand, or imagine living in a world where you can’t even go to the mall for risk of some maniac that might come storming in and blow himself up, or riding the public transportation for fear of being killed by a bomb. They have been fighting since the beginning of time itself and it is time we look at this closer. Israel uses helicopters and foot soldiers, bullets and missiles in massive attacks that kill innocent Palestinians and inflame the hatred. Palestinian suicide bombers strap weapons around their waists and kill as many Israelis as they can. I don’t know about you but to strap a bomb to myself and let it explode is a different concept than to just drop the bomb, or throw a grenade.
The Term Paper on Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, there has been constant fighting between Israelis and Arabs. The Israelis have the right to live peacefully in Israel, but there is a conflict because the Palestinians feel that Israel is their land. During recent years the conflict in the Middle East had been exploded on to our television screens. Day after day images of violence and suffering have ...
Doesn’t that do the same thing without killing yourself? Who are they trying to kill here? The thing is that Arafat must realize that the weekend attacks represent an assault on his own authority as well as on the tatters of the peace process. Israeli and Palestinian voices of peace have been reduced to whispers; the average person on both sides have become more aware of the situation and fear for tomorrow. Many Israelis still think that Arafat has the power to control key people, or elements within the Palestinian Authority. If so, he needs to use that power. The authorities have arrested more than 100 Palestinians in the most recent attacks, but these cannot be another round of ‘show’ arrests, with detainees locked up in front of television cameras and let out the back door a few nights later. This must be a real crackdown.
It risks rebellion by extremists, but if Arafat does not demolish terrorist organizations, Israel most certainly will have step in and take out the terrorists that have been killing their people.
