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"It is necessary to fight Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the P.F.L.P., and Hizbullah with no compromises. We must see to it that they are finished. All means are justified. If Arafat is not going to do that, either we, or the West will do it. There is no compromise with terrorism."
"On this issue I recommend to kill and annihilate." Shimon Peres - Israeli Foreign Minister (30 Sept)
MID-EAST REALITIES © - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 10/16: As for the British, what's going on in both Palestine and Kashmir, the two most likely potential nuclear flashpoints in our world today, can be traced back directly to what the British did in these areas when they were the "Empire" -- their classic "divide and rule" strategies; how they "withdrew" fomenting civil wars that created millions of refugees; the deep political, territorial and cultural disputes the "Empire" exaccerbated.
As for the Americans, their policies for generations now have been designed to further their own self-serving national interests and pocketbooks at the expense of basic democracy and freedoms for the people of the Middle East. Their actual policies have been so militarist while their words have been so peaceful. They have been so pro-Israeli and anti-Arab while constantly professing "even-handedness". They have actually been so deceptive and dishonest while seemingly oozing sincerity to their own citizens. And thus now at the dawn of the 21st century cheap words and slogans coming from Washington (and London for that matter) resonnate as disingeneous and chicanerous in the Middle East, especially while the actual actions emmanating from Washington are more blood-kurdling and destructive than ever. Past history has indeed produced an excess of hatred, disbelief, and revenge-seeking; and ad nauseum TV appearances with soothing rhetoric by Presidents, Prime Ministers, and their public relations hacks cannot change this situation very quickly.
This crucial history must always be appreciated as the foundation from how events today are analyzed and understood. That said, if one wants a glimpse at the future for Israel and Palestine -- the future that is even still today being primarily prepared in Washington and London with much Israeli assistance -- this interview with Shimon Peres deserves very careful scrutiny. Not even very far between the lines are crucial aspects of the supposedly clever strategy now being vigorously pursued by the very same powers and the very same economic/ideological/political forces that are responsible for having brought about today's crisis situation.
The strategy goes something like this:
Yasser Arafat will be used, while still around for that purpose, to endose a very much shrunken, fractured, retarded, controlled Palestinian Statelet with "foothold" in Jerusalem. Except for terminology, the situation will not be all that different for most Palestinians than what exists today, with some kind of further fudging done regarding how things are handled in Jerusalem and some small number of Palestinian refugees either "allowed to return" or "resettled". In doing so Arafat will be used on the world stage to very publicly recognize Israeli legitimacy in some kind of historic ceremony/document, thus "legalizing" the new arrangements that many key Israelis recognize. as does Peres, as far better than anything any other Palestinian leader could or would endorse. In tandem with this attempt to deceive the world one more grand time, all organized opposition among the Palestinians will be branded "terrorist" and thus hunted down and destroyed in the "phases" yet to come of the new Anglo-American war to enforce their post cost-war "new world order".
The "Palestinian State" now in the news because of the post-Sept 11 world is far too little far too late far too unreal to come even close to meeting basic requirements of historical justice, not to mention Palestinian aspirations. Indeed, the Palestinian people will be far worse off In actuality the Palestinians are being forced to accept about 20% of historic Palestinian, devoid of most of its original resources and agricultural lands which are now in the hands of the Jewish State, everywhere intersected by Israeli settlements and "by-pass" roads; everywhere surrounded by Israeli military checkpoints and de facto control. It is a Bantustan neo-apartheid arrangement at best no matter how repackaged and regardless of what kind of political masquerade is created to sell it far and wide. It's purpose is not to fulfill Palestinian rights or aspirations, but rather to attempt to force on the Palestinians Israeli domination and on the world Israeli conquests at a historic moment when those Israelis who see things as Peres does bring about the deal with Arafat they have been manuevering towards for so many years now.
Most of all, however, at this particular moment in history the purpose if is Washington and London who are reasserting their dominance and they are using both Arafat and Peres for their own purposes -- with such a long history of doing so together for so many years past. In modern history the situation in the Middle East goes back some eighty years, to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and to the Paris Peace Conference of 1918, the "Peace to end all peace" Now on the crusade warpath is is convenient once again to trot out all this "Palestinian State" talk -- actually something enshrined in U.N. resolutions going back to the late 1940s -- o hoodwink
[English translation excerpts from the original Hebrew as published in Israeli dailyYediot Ahronot on 1 October]
Yediot Ahronot (Y.A.): "The Foreign Minister's urgency to renew negotiations with [Yasser] Arafat runs into stubborn adversaries; the Deputy Chief of staff, Major General Moshe (Bugy) Ya'alon, and the entire IDF leadership. Peres' men complain that for every discussion, the IDF forum is bringing in a battalion of officers; the Chief of Staff, his deputy, the Head of Intelligence, the Head of the Planning Division, the Head of the IDF Intelligence Research Unit, and others. All of them are holding on to the same opinion [opposing Peres]. Peres is convinced that Ya'alon has decided to finish off Arafat. 'Let's say that we do finish him,' says Peres. 'What will happen next? With all of the criticism directed against Arafat, he is the only Palestinian who recognizes the map where Israel and Jordan exist. In fact, Israel's map doesn't even appear on new Palestinian textbooks. [If he is gone] Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hizbullah will come in his place. They will try to establish one state between Iraq and the ocean. Arafat wants to speak with us, whereas they, want to do here what they did in Lebanon. Arafat wishes to be accepted by the West, whereas they could care less about the West. At one point, Arafat wanted to abandon terrorism, whereas they are full-time terrorists.'"
Y.A.: "I believe Ya'alon had it with Arafat when he realized that Arafat was lying to his face."
Peres: "I don't know any one person in the Middle East who speaks nothing but the truth. So what do you suggest that we do? Take a vacation, immigrate to Uganda, and wait until they learn to speak the truth?"
Y.A.: "According to the prevailing thesis, every time that Arafat gets himself in trouble, you are there for his rescue. This was the case in '93, with the Oslo Agreement, and this is how it is today."
Peres: "It is not Arafat who I rescue but rather ourselves. There is also a moral consideration here. We do not need to control another people. And there is also a political consideration. Had we stayed in the territories, the entire world would turn against us. Make no mistake, the world will never give legitimacy to the settlements."
"We must appear not as the oppressors of the Palestinians, but as the oppressors of terrorism. We must relieve the [Palestinian] residents. (Ya'alon) does not understand this. Similar to the fact that there is no good terror and bad terror, there is also no good occupation and bad occupation. Many around the world perceive the Palestinian war against us, as a war against occupation. In the eyes of the world, Arafat is not one of the bad guys."
Y.A.: "Contrary to the evaluations coming out of the I.D.F., Peres separates between Arafat and terror organizations."
Peres: "It is necessary to fight Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the P.F.L.P., and Hizbullah with no compromises. We must see to it that they are finished. All means are justified. If Arafat is not going to do that, either we, or the West will do it. There is no compromise with terrorism."
Y.A.: "And what about the Tanzim?
Peres: "I asked Arafat, 'What about Marwan Barghouti?' Instead of answering my question, Arafat asked me about one of the right wing ministers in the Israeli government."
Y.A.: "Is it possible for Arafat to enjoy both worlds, to continue terrorism here and at the same time support America against Bin Laden?"
Peres: "Yes, he can. [But only] up until the next stage when the war against terrorism will target terror wherever it may be."
Y.A.: "And do you think he will do this? [fight terrorism]" Peres: "To a large degree it depends on us."
Y.A.: "Do you believe that he will abide by agreements you concluded with him?"
Peres: "What is so bad with the ceasefire that we have reached in Beit Jallah? It has been two months and no shots have been fired on Jerusalem. Even a week would be good. Even one day. The head of the General Security Services says that there is a drastic decline in violence. Is that a sin?."
Y.A.: "According to your assessment, do you believe that Arafat will reach a ceasefire?"
Peres: "Not a complete ceasefire [hundred percent in the original text]. This is why I want to refine the debate. [Arafat should] make terror organizations illegal. I don't know if he will arrest terrorists, but I wish to put pressure on him with the help of the Americans. [I want] To tell Arafat, 'if you wish to be a part of the coalition, you must do this.'"
Y.A.: "It looks like the unity government will not last for too long. The common assessment predicts its end before March of next year."
Peres: "Sharon must do some soul-searching, no one can escape the dilemma. There is no substitute for an agreement. Fences will not stop Katyusha missiles or suicide bombers."
Y.A.: "Do you believe that Ariel Sharon will return to the [pre]'67 borders?"
Peres: "I do not know, I have seen so many things in my lifetime. Would you have believed that Begin would return the entire Sinai?"
Y.A.: "It seems that you are assured that everything will be fine once an agreement is reached."
Peres: "(replied determinately) This will all be a done deal at the moment when there are agreed upon borders."
Y.A.: "I was wondering, would [the Palestinian] dreams about Jaffa and Haifa suddenly disappear?"
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| Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/10/470.htm |