DIALOG.......................
Suicidal Lies
March 31, 2002
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
The outcome of the war now under way between the Israelis
and Palestinians is vital to the security of every
American, and indeed, I believe, to all of civilization.
Why? Quite simply because Palestinians are testing out a
whole new form of warfare, using suicide bombers - strapped
with dynamite and dressed as Israelis - to achieve their
political aims. And it is working.
Israelis are terrified. And Palestinians, although this
strategy has wrecked their society, feel a rising sense of
empowerment. They feel they finally have a weapon that
creates a balance of power with Israel, and maybe, in their
fantasies, can defeat Israel. As Ismail Haniya, a Hamas
leader, said in The Washington Post, Palestinians have
Israelis on the run now because they have found their weak
spot. Jews, he said, "love life more than any other people,
and they prefer not to die." So Palestinian suicide bombers
are ideal for dealing with them. That is really sick.
The world must understand that the Palestinians have not
chosen suicide bombing out of "desperation" stemming from
the Israeli occupation. That is a huge lie. Why? To begin
with, a lot of other people in the world are desperate, yet
they have not gone around strapping dynamite to themselves.
More important, President Clinton offered the Palestinians
a peace plan that could have ended their "desperate"
occupation, and Yasir Arafat walked away. Still more
important, the Palestinians have long had a tactical
alternative to suicide: nonviolent resistance, à la Gandhi.
A nonviolent Palestinian movement appealing to the
conscience of the Israeli silent majority would have
delivered a Palestinian state 30 years ago, but they have
rejected that strategy, too.
The reason the Palestinians have not adopted these
alternatives is because they actually want to win their
independence in blood and fire. All they can agree on as a
community is what they want to destroy, not what they want
to build. Have you ever heard Mr. Arafat talk about what
sort of education system or economy he would prefer, what
sort of constitution he wants? No, because Mr. Arafat is
not interested in the content of a Palestinian state, only
the contours.
Let's be very clear: Palestinians have adopted suicide
bombing as a strategic choice, not out of desperation. This
threatens all civilization because if suicide bombing is
allowed to work in Israel, then, like hijacking and
airplane bombing, it will be copied and will eventually
lead to a bomber strapped with a nuclear device threatening
entire nations. That is why the whole world must see this
Palestinian suicide strategy defeated.
But how? This kind of terrorism can be curbed only by
self-restraint and repudiation by the community itself. No
foreign army can stop small groups ready to kill
themselves. How do we produce that deterrence among
Palestinians? First, Israel needs to deliver a military
blow that clearly shows terror will not pay. Second,
America needs to make clear that suicide bombing is not
Israel's problem alone. To that end, the U.S. should
declare that while it respects the legitimacy of
Palestinian nationalism, it will have no dealings with the
Palestinian leadership as long as it tolerates suicide
bombings. Further, we should make clear that Arab leaders
whose media call suicide bombers "martyrs" aren't welcome
in the U.S.
Third, Israel must tell the Palestinian people that it is
ready to resume talks where they left off with Mr. Clinton,
before this intifada. Those talks were 90 percent of the
way toward ending the occupation and creating a Palestinian
state. Fourth, U.S. or NATO troops must guarantee any
Israeli-Palestinian border.
"The Spanish Civil War was the place where the major powers
all tested out their new weapons before World War II," said
the Israeli political theorist Yaron Ezrahi. "Well, the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict today is the Spanish Civil War
for the 21st century. A big test is taking place of whether
suicide terrorism can succeed as a strategy for liberation.
It must be defeated, but that requires more than a military
strategy."
The Palestinians are so blinded by their narcissistic rage
that they have lost sight of the basic truth civilization
is built on: the sacredness of every human life, starting
with your own. If America, the only reality check left,
doesn't use every ounce of energy to halt this madness and
call it by its real name, then it will spread. The Devil is
dancing in the Middle East, and he's dancing our way.