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Irwin N. Graulich is a well known motivational speaker on ethics, religion and Judaism. A child of Holocaust survivors, he has been successful in showing religious and secular people the need for God-based ethics. Irwin considers himself a multi-denominational, serious Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jew.
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By Irwin N. Graulich
December 6, 2001
In Israel, land for peace is an oxymoron. Terrorism exists due to the appeasement of totalitarian and non-democratic regimes, which led directly to September 11th in America and December 2nd in Israel.
The only true linkage in the Middle East stems from a common leadership philosophy held throughout much of the Arab and Muslim world. Fifty-six nations, from Mubarak to Saddam to Arafat, blaming America and Israel with a common mantra. Macho heads of state find it quite difficult to look into the mirror while shaving and say, "It's my fault that my people are suffering."
Therefore, to their afflicted masses, the answers become quite obvious. Why is there extremism and poverty in Egypt? Israel oppresses the Palestinians. Why are Syrians forbidden from using the Internet? Israeli aggression and American colonialism. Why do Palestinian suicide bombers blow up innocent teenagers? Jewish settlements. Very simple.
What the world must learn from the Holocaust is that if a big lie is repeated often enough, people will start to believe it. As a Yiddish proverb proclaims, "One can even be talked into becoming pregnant."
America's support of Israel has virtually nothing to do with Jews, and everything to do with democracy. This hypnotic Jewish plot, described by the Syrian Foreign Minister, is merely a figment of his anti-Semitic, anti-Western imagination. Simply stated, Israel is morally right, just like the U.S. actions in Afghanistan. Americans are united in this realization, because terrorist evil has become a real-life experience.
Recent UN speeches by the Syrian, Egyptian, Iraqi and Iranian foreign ministers are viewed by democracies with utter revulsion. This hate speech is the equivalent of verbal terrorism, and does real damage to their government's credibility.
Words are physical objects, just like guns or knives. They can be used for great good or great evil. Syria, that utopian society whose government murdered over 24,000 innocent men, women and children in Hama for protesting their impoverishment, led the charge in Durban, South Africa calling America racist and Israel Nazi-like. This would be the absolute moral equivalent of Adolf Hitler calling America racist.
Democracies tend to see clearly through the lies. Oppressive regimes simply jump on the "blame the West" bandwagon, while Osama-like characters poison their populations. What better excuse than blaming someone else for your "tzurris."
Israel should learn a lesson from America's newfound philosophy on terrorism. The Taliban and Al Qaida understand only one thing - military force. Arafat, Assad et. al. understand "Daisy Cutters." And the threat has to be a real one.
The analogy has already been drawn. Arafat is to Mullah Omar as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah are to Al Qaida. The realistic solution for Israel is to follow America's terrorist-busting strategy by destroying Arafat and his top few hundred henchmen. With the exception of Colin Powell, virtually everyone in America agrees that the Palestinian Authority harbors and encourages terrorist suicide bombers.
Almost immediately a power vacuum will be created. Clans throughout the West Bank and Gaza will refocus their efforts away from Israel and do what they enjoy doing best. Killing each other for power, control and land.
With the outbreak of a two-year, Palestinian civil war, most experts foresee another Arafat-like figure eventually gaining control, who perhaps may have the insight to seriously negotiate peace. However, if he is radical, his regime can be dealt with in a similar fashion, allowing the Palestinian "cycle of violence" to continue ad infinitum. During this period, Israel could concentrate on the economy and technology, with very little diversion from suicide bombers.
The Palestinian "Al Qaida" factions will proudly fight each other via their death cult mentality. For one of the few times in history, a democracy can drive evil enemies to the brink of destruction by merely standing back and watching.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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