In response to the petition, the IDF stated that they are distributing such kits among Arabs in area C, areas of Judea and Samaria that so far remain under full Israeli control, but that they will not distribute the kits in areas A and B, which are under Palestinian Authority control. These areas are under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, and it is that authority which bears responsibility for civil defense.
According to a DHR spokesman on Israel Radio today, since the IDF has maintained a presence in Areas A and B for the past two and a half years, the IDF should be responsible for civil defense there as well.
This is one of the most disingenuous remarks I have heard in a long time. Throughout the past two and a half years of Arab violence, the IDF has been forced to maintain a presence in Arab residential areas in order to protect Israeli citizens in the rest of the country. Their presence has been made necessary due to the utter and abject failure of Yasser Arafat to implement any form of law enforcement in these areas, and due to his encouragement of terrorism against Israel.
And throughout the entire time, organizations like DHR have condemned Israel's presence there as aggressive, oppressive, and restrictive. When Israel tries to defend its own citizens, it is condemned, but now, the same organization demands that Israel protect its enemies as well.
The story does not end simply with the hypocrisy of DHR. It is much more lethal than that. During the Gulf War, Iraq lobbed 39 SCUD missiles at Israel. The vast majority hit the greater Tel Aviv area, though some fell short. For each one, even those that landed in Samaria, the followers of Arafat could be seen dancing on their rooftops and in city squares, and shooting off their guns in unbridled celebration as death and destruction were rained down upon Israel. (Never mind that the actual damage caused by the SCUDs was minimal and that no one actually died as a direct result of the attacks.)
The same scenes were repeated, this time live on CNN, on September 11, 2001. Arabs in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza dancing in the streets and celebrating the destruction of the World Trade Center and the 3000 deaths that went with it. And in the past two and a half years, every time a nightclub, restaurant or bus is blown up, every time some Arab martyr kills one or two dozen Jews, the same dancing and celebrating carry on.
The Arabs of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza - in particular the more militant among them - are the antithesis of all that the United States and Israel hold dear. They oppose humanistic values. They oppose peaceful compromise. They support terrorism. They support violence.
This is the reason Israel must remain in all of Judea and Samaria and Gaza. It is to prevent more of these people from doing more than just dancing. It is to quash the very real threat these people pose not only to Israel, but to the United States as well, that the IDF must maintain its presence in their villages and towns.
This is also the reason the United States finds it necessary to even contemplate an attack on Iraq - or even on al-Qaida for that matter. It is to prevent these terrorists from acquiring weapons far worse than homicide bombs or airliners that such an American posture is necessary.
And here we have the Doctors for Human Rights demanding that we protect these people so that they can continue to threaten peaceful societies around the world with their hate and their bombs. They claim that not to do so would violate their human rights. One must ask, then, about the human rights of the 4000 dead and close to 40,000 injured that Arab terrorism has wrought on the United States and Israel in the past 29 onths. Why isn't DHR screaming about them?
The Israeli government is correct in not providing gas masks and protective kits to these people. And if DHR wants to continue using the mantra of human rights to mask the real issues of terrorism and treason that are rampant in Palestinian society, I suggest they spend some time living among the people they seek to protect. Let them find out how welcome Americans and Israelis really are in their midst.
Copyright 2003. All rights reserved. Yehuda Poch is a journalist living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission of the author only.
