Krauthammer gets it wrong

Dr. Charles Krauthammer is one of my favorite columnists.On Friday, he wrote his weekly column on "Progress in the Mideast," a discussion on how the Israeli-Arab war is progressing towards a peaceful settlement.Townhall.com :: Columns :: Making progress in the Middle East by Charles Krauthammer

First, Krauthammer says that "the more than four-year-long intifada, which left more than 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians dead, is over. And better than that, defeated." Second, he declares the Gaza withdrawal a success. Third, he finds electoral campaigns underway in both Israel and The Palestinian Authority. He attributes these outcomes to `Israeli unilateralism and Palestinian maturation'.

Respectfully, I disagree amost entirely with his thoughts on this subject.


Far from being defused, the Arab-Israeli conflict is entering a new and more violent phase.

For one thing,the Intifadeh is far from over. The new border deal pushed on Israel and sweetened for Sharon with the promise of a $2.5M aid package to develop the Negev allows the Palestinians carte blanche not only in importing heavy arms and seasoned terrorists into Gaza from Egypt but also into Judea and Samaria..in 150 truck convoys per day the agreement calls for through Southern Israel with little or no oversight by the Israelis. The deal is so lacking in security oversight that every one of Israel's security sevices sent a letter to Sharon so as to be on record when the inevitable crisis comes.

The EU, of all people, are in charge of monitoring the traffic, but without power to stop anyone from crossing, as Israel found out December 1st when 15 wanted terrorists crossed over with impunity.

Abbas has not even disarmed a single terrorist, and the anti-Israeli incitement continues unabated in the Palestinian mosques, media and madrassahs. His government has no authority whatsoever outside of a small area around Ramallah, and could not even conduct a Fatah primary without it falling apart. In the few results that were tabulated, you might note the prominence of jailed terrorist Marwan Barghouti.This hardly shows a maturing `constituency' for peace. Or `nationbuilding'.

Abbas himself refutes Krauthammer's contention that the Palestinians have `matured', stating that the `martyrs will not rest' until the Palestiinians have their capitol in Jerusalem.J O S H U A P U N D I T: Quote O' The Day: And as you may have noticed, rather than helping in the maturation process the EU continues to assist the Palestinians in grasping for the fantasy of a Jew free Palestine.
J O S H U A P U N D I T: EU plans to make East Jerusalem Jew free

Meanwhile, the Palestinians continue to receive training, arms and logistics from Hizbollah, Iran's proxy in the area. And to work on constructing a seaport and an airport. Look for the import of more heavy weapons and better missles than the lowly Qassams, and renewed attacks starting from Judea and Samaria coupled with more advanced and deadly missle attacks from Gaza.

Krauthammer claims that the Gaza withdrawal somehow eased Israel diplomatic isolation in the region. Respectfully, I disagree. There is not one Arab/Muslim nation that did not have relations with Israel before the withdrawel that now does, and the few that made friendly noises quickly stepped back into the lockstep of the Arab League backed Saudi `peace' plan.
J O S H U A P U N D I T: Pursuing the `peace process' mirage.. In case anyone's forgotten, that plan calls for redividing Jerusalem, an Israeli pull back to the pre `67 lines and unlimited Right of Return for hostile `refugees' into Israel. Even the new Iraqi government said there would be no `relations' with Israel until the Saudi plan is implemented.

As for `condemnations in the UN of anti-Israel rejectionists' Krauthammer cites, I seem to recall the head of state of one member of the UN recently calling for Israel to be wiped off the map in violation of the UN's own charter, and except for some lip service from the non-Muslim world nothing much seems to have been done - not even a piddling resolution of the type Israel gets all the time for far less. And Syria's problems with the UN don't exactly stem from problems with Israel. One could alsolook at the latest batch of anti-Israel resolutons passed inthe UN, with no mention of Islamic terrorism.

In fact, the Gaza withdrawal was a dismal failure, involving a one sided creation of 9,000 Jewish refugees in exchange for absoluely nothing. Every one of the painstakingly negotiated `security' agreements negotiated between Egypt, The Israelis and the Palestinians under the auspices of the US have been ignored with impunity by the Arabs, without any cost to them whatsoever. And as we see from the European attempts to wring even more concessions out of Israel, Sharon did not even buy any goodwill from the EU by making Gaza Judenrein.

Once an elderly Mubarek passes from the scene and an Islamist government takes over the reins, look for the Camp David Accords with Egypt to be history as well.