Changing Horses at High Speed
With the dexterity of an old Pony Express rider, America’s current administration appears to have leaped into a new saddle with bewildering speed. Dust raised from the change of direction is causing great consternation in Jerusalem and Washington. It will undoubtedly also do so with grass roots Americans if the moguls in the secular press feel commoners should hear about it.
Following are the facts as reported in the English edition of Ha’aretz in its March 25, 1999 issue.
In an article titled “EU won’t let Israel ‘veto’ Palestinian ‘right’ to Statehood,” Nitzan Horowitz and David Makovsky write, “The European Union (EU) is set to adopt a major declaration today that is more explicit than ever in supporting the ‘right’ of Palestinian statehood.
“The EU declaration was informally coordinated with Washington, which promised the Palestinians earlier this week that a deadline on final status talks will be determined within the year.
“Neither Washington nor Brussels wants Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to declare independence on May 4…fearing it will play into Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s re-election campaign.”
Ha’aretz reporters also take us behind the scenes in Washington to witness a love fest between kaffiya-wearing Palestinians and White House and State Department operatives in dark suits.
“The depth of the newfound friendship between the U.S. and the Palestinians was obvious throughout Arafat’s visit. From backslapping, hugs, and kisses in the halls of the White House as the Chairman and his team headed for a meeting with the President.…Washington power brokers and Middle East experts were all in attendance at the glittering affair held barely an hour after the White House meeting between Clinton and Arafat….
“Said one Arab journalist: ‘You will have to understand. Only a few years ago Arafat could barely get a visa into the United States. He and his companions were terrorists, outcasts. Now the only superpower welcomes them like royalty.’ ”
Hugs, kisses, and royal treatment notwithstanding, Arafat and his retreaded terrorists are still people with long rap sheets for crimes against the United States and its citizens.
Today, Ibrahim Ghneimat walks the streets after being implicated in a number of terrorist attacks and bombings, including killing Yaron Ungar, an American-Israeli with dual citizen.
Nafez Mahmoud Sabih, involved in planning suicide bombing attacks in Jerusalem that killed dozens, including American citizens Matthew Eisenfeld, Sara Duker, and Ira Weinstein, currently serves in the Palestinian security forces.
Mohammad Dief, senior Hamas terrorist who planned attacks that killed American Nachshon Wachsman, is a free man currently residing in Gaza.
Nasser Mahmoud Hindawi, Islamic Jihad terrorist whose bombing attack near Kfar Darom left seven Israelis and Alisha Flatow, a Brandeis University student and American citizen, dead, is currently free and living in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas.
There are more with American blood on their hands walking the streets of what will become the State of Palestine. These are but a few examples that make the point.
Perhaps overeager backslappers in Washington and elsewhere would do well to remember that those who, with reckless abandon, leap from one speeding steed to another are often heading for a colossal fall.
