Andrew Joseph: The deceptions of Arafat

The most ironic event of the 1990's Arab-Israeli "Peace Process" was when Yasser Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. No international figure has been able to match Arafat's success at convincing the world he supports peace while simultaneously directing an intricate terror network. For years, people believed that Arafat had abandoned his terrorist past in favor of negotiation, but recent events remind us that nothing has changed.

Perfect examples of Arafat's duplicity are available in last week's news. This past December, under the most intense international pressure he has ever faced, Arafat finally made an unprecedented call to his people to halt attacks on Israelis. I call it unprecedented because Arafat's long-time policy has been to encourage Palestinians to martyr themselves.

Just as Arafat was calling off attacks against Israelis, however, his Palestinian Authority was in the process of orchestrating the largest weapons smuggling operation ever. On Jan. 4, Israel intercepted the Karine A cargo ship, which was en route to Gaza with over 50 tons of Iranian weaponry -- whose only purpose could be to increase the number of attacks which Arafat was "calling off."

Following his traditional script, Arafat denied any knowledge of the operation, even as the PA henchmen commanding the ship described to the press in detail about how Arafat's leadership planned the shipment.

With each deception the impossibility of peace with Arafat becomes clearer. His denial of responsibility for terror attacks originating in his territory suggests either that he lacks the ability or, more likely, that he lacks the resolve to stop terrorism. There will never be peace as long as Arafat permits terrorists to roam free, supplies them with weapons and educates Palestinian children to become suicide bombers.

His current "crack-down" on terror has shown itself to be a complete farce. The charade became apparent last Wednesday when Arafat accused Israel of being responsible for the death of terrorist mastermind Raed al-Karmi. Oops! The Palestinian authority had previously claimed that they had arrested and detained Karmi.

Unfortunately for him, Arafat faces intense internal pressure to continue terror; indeed, the Hamas terrorist group is more popular than Arafat's own Fatah faction. But Arafat must understand that as much as stopping terror may threaten his own power, failing to stop terror may prompt Israel to replace him.

What are the Israelis and Americans to do? President Bush must continue to work to bring the Israelis and Palestinians together while pressuring Arafat to act to stop terrorism. Sept. 11 made it clear that America and Israel face the same kind of Islamic fundamentalist threat, and we stand united.

Israel is faced with the dilemma that it must ultimately make peace with the Palestinians -- and it is willing to make sacrifices toward this goal, including withdrawal from most of the West Bank and the creation of a Palestinian state -- but under Arafat's leadership it is unclear that any territorial concession will indeed bring peace or whether appeasement will simply encourage more aggression.

That is why Israel demands at least seven days of quiet before it will negotiate. Arafat has said that this is impossible; he has been unable to bring about even one.

The Palestinians need to prove -- by ending terror, once and for all -- that they are interested in peace and will not use territorial gain as a springboard to launch the next war. Palestinian national aspirations will not be achieved through violence. Unless the Nobel Laureate stops his campaign of terror, another generation of Israelis and Palestinians will grow up knowing only violence and suffering.

Andrew Joseph is a sophomore International Relations major from Morris Plains, N.J., and communications coordinator for PennPAC.

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