Some people believe that Arafat does have strong ties to some of the militant groups that are planning and recruiting for the suicide bombings, specificially Hamas.
Even that notwithstanding, Arafat is under criticism from several sources for not doing enough to find and arrest the leaders of said militant groups, and when they are arrested, not detaining them.
And some think that attacking Arafat’s compound is a knee-jerk response rather than part of a tactical plan. I’d say neither the IDF nor the PA is making themselves look good right now.
**ice1000:
No… the US is a Nation. The Palestinian Authority is not.
**Ms. Fisk:
From the ADL’s Website:
Just so that I understand this one particular point:
The mere presence of Ariel Sharon at the al-Aksa mosque was understandable justification for armed warfare on the part of the Palestinians, but the invasion of the Church of the Nativity by armed Palestinian thugs – I’m sorry, militants and their subsequent deportation is a cause for celebration throughout the Middle East?
I think this pair of incidents shines a light (as if it were needed) on the bias in media coverage against Israel, as well as the general perception of the entire Palestinian-Israeli clash.
However the Gaza strip and the West Bank are no more ‘Palestinian’ land then ANY land within Israel’s borders. Or Jordan’s borders for that matter. It’s ALL former Palestinian land. Israel claims about one fifth the amount of Palestine that Jordan does, but you don’t see Palestinians clamoring for return of land from Jordan. The ‘Palestinian’ land being settled by Israelis doesn’t belong to Arabs. Arabs rejected the division of land that created Israel long ago, and until they lay down their bomb belts and assure Israel of its security, they will never be able to negotiate an official claim to ANY particular land in the area.
<< Although the UN is a good source for information, beware that its actions are not without bias as well. >>
This is true, as Ms Fisk points out. She brings up the issue of the Security Council and veto powers. Another reason the U.N. is “not without bias” is that each nation gets one vote, and there is a huge number of Arab nations that vote as a block on these issues, while there is only one Jewish nation. Thus, almost any issue that gets to a vote in the U.N. is going to wind up being pro-Arab and anti-Israel.
Kind of like, if you allowed one black representative at a meeting of the Klu Klux Klan and then took a vote on race-relations.
On the definition of “occupied territories”, this is a problem. Although defined under UN Resolutions of 1967ish, many Palestinians use this as a code word to mean “all territories occupied since 1948” – that is, ALL of Israel is deemed “occupied territory.” Thus, the West thinks of the UN Resolution and the 1967 borders, but many Arabs understand that this is just a first step towards destroying Israel.