Khaled Abu-Toumeh is an Israeli citizen, who is a Palestinian Arab Muslim. He is a writer for the Jerusalem Post. He said that “I say what average Palestinians are afraid to say.”
Biography
Khaled started with the PLO on their funded newspaper for 7 years. He went back to school and then decided to work with international journalists. Ironically, reporters prefer to live in Israel and then travel to the Arab world to report, even when they are slamming Israel for its behavior and reporting on the plight of the Palestinians and the Arabs. In addition to writing for the Jerusalem Post and being published in other newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal amongst others, he is a consultant to foreign reporters who need escorts into the West Bank. When attacked by Palestinians and Arabs for working for “those dirty Jews”, he said he responds that “I am just a journalist who will work for whomever lets me express myself freely.”
Yasir Arafat and the PLO
Khaled’s anger at Arafat and the United States (for its failure to hold Arafat accountable) is palpable. His comments included:
1. $6.5 Billion (yes, Billion) in aid went down the drain. Nothing was built, no hospitals, no schools, no roads. Arafat’s wife received a monthly stipend of $100,000 to support her in Paris.
2. The United States and the West should have used their money to require that the education be cleaned up and no longer teach that Israel does not exist that the Jews are only occupying their land until the Palestinians can drive or bomb them into the sea.
3. People were drawn into the arms of Hamas and Islamic Jihad by Arafat’s corruption and incompetence.
4. Arafat radicalized the Palestinians, while taking Western and Israeli money. Arafat was inciting hatred for the Crusaders and the Jews, so that the Palestinians would not focus on his theft and incompetence. [We should listen to what our enemies are saying, not to what we wish they were saying.]
5. Arafat used the Sharon visit to the Holy sites on the Temple Mount to further incite the Palestinians (even though Sharon’s visit was for internal Israeli political reasons), launching the Intifada. The Intifada resulted in almost 1,000 Jews and over 5,000 Palestinians dying to divert attention from Arafat’s corruption.
6. "The only good thing Arafat did was dying."
The Current Situation
1. The poverty in Gaza and the West Bank is overwhelming. The United States has no one else to blame but itself for not requiring any accountability for the Billions (yes, Billions) of Dollars sent to the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.
2. Abbas – In 2005, Abbas ran on a plank that he was going to clean up the financial corruption, but he did nothing. The United States did not require that he do so.
3. Hamas – In 2006, Hamas ran on a platform that it would clean up the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. Many people voted for Hamas because they believed in their radical ideology of destroying Israel, but many others voted for them simply because they believed they could not be worse than the Palestinian Authority.
4. Why did the United States so miss the election results? Over 500 Palestinians have died in the last two years over power and money.
5. The United States strengthened Hamas by opposing it.
6. The Palestinian Authority is powerless and still corrupt, so there is no partner with whom to negotiate a peace. Hamas will continue to win the elections, and even might win in the West Bank in the coming elections.
7. Gaza – Now there are de facto two states, but two Palestinian states. Gaza has a very radical government that does and will continue to kill moderate Muslims.
Next Steps
1. Israel and the West need to tell the Palestinian Authority to go away and clean up its house. After it has done that, then come back and negotiate a peace. Any agreement now will not be worth the paper upon which it is printed.
2. Israel built good universities from a physical plant perspective, but the message being taught is bad. We have a right to demand that the education not be anti-West and anti-Jew.
3. Gaza – All Israel can do is look after its security. Israel made a mistake leaving Gaza. Israel going back into Gaza will only make it worse. Hamas does not care how many Palestinians die.
There has to be a separation of Jews and Muslims.
Conclusions
In closing his rather depressing assessment of any real hope (there is that word again) of peace in the region, he said that he is optimistic in that a majority of Israelis support a two state solution, even giving up part of Jerusalem. Based on my limited exposure to Israelis (in the hundreds over my visits), I agree that Israelis want peace, but not at any cost or with any significant concessions. I have not heard a majority willing to give up any of Jerusalem.
Khaled gave us a very interesting perspective. I can only look forward to the United States and the West starting to hold the Palestinians accountable for how our money is spent and how the Palestinian children are educated. If we do not do this, there is little or no reasonable expectation that peace or coexistence in any meaningful way can occur.
No comments:
Post a Comment