With Friends Like Bush, Israel Doesn't Need Enemies.

Arlene Peck

With Friends Like Bush, Israel Doesn't Need Enemies.

By Arlene Peck

Let me see if I have got the news right. After all, I am living in Southern California and I am never quite sure of what the Los Angeles Times is promoting by the way of anti-Semitic propaganda in any given week.

This might be another case of 'too little...too late". but I do believe that I heard, in the wake of the recent carnage in the middle of London - which was caused by the vermin they coddled, sheltered, and 'loved' for the past decade - the Brits are now going to get tough? Wow! Could it really be that their leader, Tony Blair, actually is going to shut down all of those evil schools where they teach the toddlers how to hate and become teen-aged 'martyrs'? I even heard that they were closing down radical mosques and deporting Islamic clerics who preach violence and hatred. If that were really the case, then London can look forward to being Mosque free, as it seems to me that "Martyrdom 101" is high on every mosques curriculum. London just saw the latest graduating class perform.

Gee, why didn't we think of that? Maybe that fateful day, 9/11, was not enough to jolt the American psyche. Maybe England does not have an organization devoted to their country's downfall, like our very own ACLU, thereby allowing them to take the time out to actually examine the line between civil rights and national security. Of course, I probably could say the same thing about Israeli Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, officially resigning from the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in protest over the uprooting of 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gaza and northern Samaria... a lot more of "too little..., too late."

However, I do think it strange that while Mrs. Blair was in Malaysia, telling a group of lawyers that "human rights had to be preserved" and the "courts had to act as 'guardians' of the weakest, poorest and most marginalized members of society against the hurly-burly of majority politics", her husband was outlining his response in London. How bizarre! While she is out giving speeches, attacking the Law Lords' rulings on detention without trial of foreign terrorist suspects as unlawful. Mr. Blair is trying to defend it in Britain! With friends like her, he doesn't need an enemy. Or, rather, talk about sleeping with the enemy!

Now, with all of this hype about England deporting Islamic extremists, and we 'rethinking' our own position on the subject, am I the only one who finds it obscene that Israel has been under increasing United States pressure to supply her enemies, the very ones who gave them the latest 'intifada', the Palestinian Authority/PLO, with additional arms! Ms. Rice and our State Dept want Sharon to leave, but, to make sure before vacating that he leaves enough bullets behind so the poor defenceless Palestinians can defend themselves from their Arab brothers! Really? What dream is she in, anyway? I live in the midst of the Hollywood crowd and if a script like this had been brought to one of the studios, it would have been turned down for lack of believability. I find it scary that not only is this fiasco true but it's done in the name of Foreign Policy, backed by my government. It's obvious, that instead of bringing the illusive peace, the move from Gaza will establish and promote a thriving terrorists state. How this plays out is going to be crucial to the future of not just Israel but, the free world.

The Arabist who leads my country feels that Abbas, the latest "Arafat in a suit," needs help from Sharon to keep his 60,000 armed police and security forces safe. Anyway, Security of State Condoleezza Rice, instead of directly challenging Hamas and Islamic Jihad, designated terrorist organizations, is pressuring Sharon to arm the enemy. My, my! How fast we forget. With this attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if the United States takes the stance that maybe Israel ought to open their jails and let out 10,000 terrorists to match the Jews that are being removed from their homes. Hell, why not give them the deeds to all those Jewish homes as a welcome home gesture?

I remember writing column after column when Sharon Peres gave the so-called Palestinian police force (a.k.a. PLO terrorists) 70,000 weapons when he walked, arm in arm into the sunset, with Yassar Arafat. What's the matter? Have they run out of ammunition from shooting at Jews? Has it occurred to either Sharon or our State Dept that someone ought to put a little of that pressure on the Palestinian leader, Abbas, now that we've arrived at such an opportune time to defuse the horrific situation that's ahead. It would be nice if Ms. Rice used a bit of that persuasive muscle on the Palestinian side to disarm their many terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, Fattah, and Hezbollah, which have been running wild for decades, particularly the past few years.

Some Israeli officials are concerned, as we all ought to be, about Egypt's reliability as a 'peace partner' in this whole scenario, especially since 90% of the illegal weapons smuggled into Gaza are regularly delivered to Palestinian terrorist groups via smuggling routes through the deserts of Egypt and tunnels into Gaza. If not actively doing the actual supplying, the Egyptians aren't exactly trying to stop the arms deliveries either. Personally, I think that they are out of their minds to even consider Egypt's reliability as a 'peace partner' in any sense of the term. When are they going to learn from past mistakes? Egypt is a big part of the problem and it is foolish to think that the Egyptians will suddenly exert pressure on the weapons smuggling operations. This is what they really mean by "the fox guarding the henhouse"!

It is a very dangerous move for Sharon and company to be depending on the Egyptians, under their dictator, Mubarak. Egypt has the largest military in the Middle East, a larger Navy than Israel and is extremely hostile to Israel. This nation has a role as "protector" of an Israeli peace? Not just no, but 'hell, no", not in any capacity!

August 13, 2005

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Updated 8/1/05