Editorial 1/28/02

BY MORTIMER B. ZUCKERMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

It's time to face the facts

Here's the dilemma for peace in the Middle East. If Yasser Arafat can't control the Palestinian militants, it isn't worth talking to him–plain and simple. And if he does control them, it's also not worth talking to him. Avi Boaz, a 71-year-old architect from Brooklyn, was one of the latest victims of the charade that passes for the peace process. This is the first killing since Arafat renounced violence on December 16, so apologists will say it was not his fault. But four Palestinian police officers were present when Boaz was kidnapped and later shot to death. When Arafat extended that olive branch with one hand back in December, in other words, his other concealed a bomb–literally, 50 tons of weapons that would escalate the guerrilla war into a wider, more explosive conflict.

Among the arms seized from the vessel Karine A–captured by the Israelis en route to Gaza from Iran–was 3,000 pounds of C-4 explosives that would dramatically increase the killing power of future suicide bomb attacks and Katyusha rockets with a range to threaten all Israeli population centers. This was no random purchase. The Karine A demonstrates how vulnerable Israel would be if there were a sovereign Palestinian state to receive and accumulate weapons that could threaten both Israelis and the State of Israel. It also raises major questions about the whole concept of a demilitarized Palestinian state, side by side with Israel.

Double talk. The timing of the Karine A is so revealing. The operation continued through 9/11, when Arafat publicly condemned terrorism, and through that December 16 declaration condemning Hamas and Islamic Jihad and ordering an end to terrorism and bombings. Even the ship's Palestinian captain expressed surprise that the mission wasn't aborted. Of course, Arafat denies any involvement, an audacity born of the many years of double talk with which he has been allowed to get away. But such a complex operation could never have gotten off the ground without Arafat. It required planning and money, and involved key Arafat colleagues–including the major general in charge of all military procurement, Fuad Shubaki, one of Arafat's closest friends and a man who doesn't make a move without Arafat's knowledge. It is impossible to believe that a man who retains tight control over all details of the Palestinian Authority–from the promotion of officers to the adoption of babies to the disbursement of funds–wouldn't have a clue about an arms buy of millions of dollars.

All roads lead to Arafat and the people close to him. No wonder the Palestinians couldn't explain their roles. First they denied any connection. Later, they said, "We'll look into it." Then, comically, they called for an investigation. Finally, they said they were arresting three people, including Shubaki. The only problem? Shubaki was free in Ramallah, a second man was abroad, and the third was only talked to–not arrested. Arafat doesn't arrest people, he hosts them.

And now Iran is unmasked as the principal weapons supplier, and the terrorist group Hezbollah as an intermediary. This indicates Arafat is willing to tie Palestinian fortunes to Iran's declared Middle East agenda–an agenda that includes the destruction of Israel. The Karine A thus not only shows Arafat's hand; it reveals a change in the strategic alliances in his war against Israel.

Washington has tried virtually everything with Arafat. The first President Bush at one point refused to talk to him. President Clinton embraced him, coddled him, and invited him to the White House more than any foreign leader, only to have Arafat lie and betray him. The State Department, unable to contemplate any alternative to Arafat, never imposed any punishment for his bad conduct. For too long, State practiced diplomatic "evenhandedness," criticizing Israeli military responses with virtually the same moral fervor with which it condemned Palestinian terror, equating the arsonist with the firefighter. Arafat knew that when he was under pressure, he did not have to put out the flames, only lower them a little.

This Bush administration first believed that favorable statements might elicit a better response, so officials described their "vision" of a Palestinian state while Colin Powell demanded a halt to Israeli settlements and an end to "occupation." Powell dispatched a special representative, Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni. To what end? An escalation of the violence and more humiliation for the American role. Even now the State Department treats Arafat as if he had credibility. It took the department five days to acknowledge his complicity in the Karine A. It is time, finally, to face the reality that Arafat can no longer be propped up as a peacemaker.

September 11 changed the attitude of America forever toward terrorism. Now the Bush team will have to consider putting its relationship with Arafat on the line if he goes on practicing war while talking peace. Everyone, even the Europeans, senses that Arafat's days are numbered. The time has come to end the charade and admit the truth: Arafat is not, and cannot be, a partner for peace with anyone.