Within slightly more than a year, Rabin had completed the Oslo Accords, and had begun the process of giving away parts of Israel's land, most of Israel's heart, and all of Israel's history. But, said Labour leaders, the violence would end and Israelis could begin to live in security and prosperity under a new Middle East.
Well, since the Oslo Accords were announced in August of 1993, only two-and-a-half years ago, 193 Jews have been killed by Arab terrorism. Only now, instead of one or two at a time, the Arabs have decided to take Jewish blood in bulk. It's cheaper that way. Now, heroic Arabs bomb busses during rush hour. Since Oslo, more than half of all Jews killed by Arabs have been killed in massacres of this sort.
The media likes to make a lot of noise about the Machpela massacre of February 1994. Now, two years later to the day, an equal amount of Jewish lives have been taken by Arabs. But the media will not keep dredging the awful events of this past Sunday up for the next few years. Instead, the massacres in Jerusalem and Ashkelon will be buried in the dustbin of history by the world media and forgotten very quickly. And who can blame them. The Arabs, ever the professionals at public relations, have made such massacres so commonplace that they are no longer news.
But what of the promises of Rabin and Peres that the death and suffering would end, that a new, safe and prosperous time was about to settle upon Israel? Well, those promises go only as far as the leaders who make them.
There are examples of leaders who are strong, capable, and realistic about the intentions of terrorists. At the same time as the Oslo process was paying big dividends to the Palestinians for nothing in return, another, similar peace process was getting underway. The Irish Republican Army had decided to call a unilateral cease-fire in its terrorist war against British authorities. This was seen as a strong enough move upon which to base serious peace talks, and the British agreed to sit down and talk.
The differences between the IRA and the PLO are marked, even if we look only at the foundation of their respective peace efforts. The PLO never made a serious promise to halt terrorism, and when other groups stepped up their activity, the PLO claimed that they had no control over them. The violence escalated as a result of peace efforts, thus negating those efforts.
When the IRA recently set off two bombs in London, which between them did not have as devastating effect as any one bus bomb in Israel, the British halted the talks immediately, and made it known that they were not just suspended, but cancelled entirely. The British people, too, are tired of the violence. The IRA has been fighting its war against Britain for at least as long as the PLO has been fighting Israel. But when the IRA sets off bombs, the British leadership is not afraid to act with strength against it.
Peres is different, though. When three Jews were killed on the very day before Oslo was signed, he barely noticed. When busses started getting bombed and Israelis started dying en masse, he took even less notice. Two days ago, when 28 Jews were killed in three separate attacks in Israel, Peres announced that he would pursue the terrorists with all the power at his disposal. He also announced at the same time, that the negotiations with the PLO would be suspended until after the funerals. Somehow, this doesn't make sense.
When such attacks happened during Rabin's term as Prime Minister, he would suspend the talks indefinitely, and then return after the funeral. But the announcement would be open-eneded. His quick return, despite the rhetoric, was insulting enough to the memories of the fallen. But Peres must go further. He has already announced, before the bodies were even removed, that he would return to the negotiating table immediately after the funerals. What point is there, then, in suspending the talks at all?
Second, if Peres hopes to pursue the terrorists with all his power, the very first thing he must do is stop the negotiations altogether. Then, he can actually pursue the terrorists and do what is necessary to end the violence. The British, believe it or not, can teach the Israelis quite a lesson in dealing with terrorism.
But rather than care about the deaths of so many of his citizens, rather than make efforts at bringing real peace to Israel, which is after all what Israelis hunger for -- according to his own rhetoric -- Peres prefers to sell Israel out.
Arabs have learned very quickly that Jewish blood and Jewish life means nothing to the Israeli government. Not only did this government negotiate with the PLO, giving them their dearest wish without demanding any reduction in terror in return, but they have allowed even worse acts of murder to take place. And with this escalation in violence, Rabin and Peres go on as if nothing has happened. So it now becomes obvious to the Arabs that they can kill Jews -- that they can wage fullscale war against Israel -- and not lose anything.
Peres believes that he is bringing peace to Israel. But 193 dead Jews since Oslo says different. More dead Jews in te two-and-a-half years since Oslo than in twice that time before Oslo, says that peace is not at hand.
Peres says that Israelis are tired of violence. Israelis are tired of being killed. They are tired of being scared to ride the bus to work. And Peres says he can end that fear. Peres is right. Israelis are afraid and tired of being afraid. But the only way Peres has found of ending that tiredness and fear is to have his allies kill those who are tired and afraid.
In this year's election, Israelis must realize that Peres vision of peace is nothing more than poison for Israel. His policies are killing Israelis, and making it worthwhile for Israel's enemies to do so. A vote for Peres is a vote for death and suffering to continue and increase. His promise of a New Middle East will provide only one change to the region -- the elimination of Israel's Jews.
Copyright 1996. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
