Learning from your own mistakes as well as others’ is a key to resolving problems and creating a better life. Mr. Baram seems to not realize this in his column, “America: Take a Stand on Israel,” on American foreign policy toward Palestine and Israel. With aplomb Mr. Baram states America needs to further assist and support a state that uses modern weapons supplied by the world’s only superpower, one of the best trained armies in the world, but has shown its use of violence to be an utter failure at resolving the conflict that has plagued it since its creation. He is correct in stating that the fight of Israel is inherently linked to our own, but he seems to not see Israel’s past actions and increased warfare on the Palestinians has not helped Israel at all.
His condemnation of Arafat ignores the fact that Arafat is the only choice we have — Palestinians will follow no one as much as he. Make no mistake, however, with Israelis targeting police stations and the Palestinian Authority offices, he has limited, if any, ability to control the extreme terrorists who, with every passing day, receive more civil support because of the actions of Israel. Mr. Baram neglects to point out that Fatah, Arafat’s faction, is actually one of the most centrist, merely attacking Israeli occupations inside territories granted to Palestine under international recognition. It is Hamas and Islamic Jihad that wish an end to the Israeli state, and their actions gain public popularity every day. It is sickening that he speaks of the “cowardly” actions of a suicide bomber who must kill himself to fight for his home, compared to the cowardly actions of an army that launches missiles into civilian areas on a regular basis and discriminates between women and children from terrorist no more than Palestinian terrorists.
The Palestinians are the most free people in the world — suicide bombers are individuals who feel they have nothing left to lose. Confronted with their circumstances, the fact they choose to kill Israelis over prolonging their own life points to an incredible ethic of religious extremism but also a sense of hopelessness and despair. This translates into a problem that now confronts the US — we must not act as Israel and follow with the same mistakes. Israel has shown that it is impossible to stop an individual from killing others when they are willing to kill themselves. All the military action and security we can afford will not stop that. The collateral losses from such a policy would be just as high, from loss of freedom, economic transaction costs and even censorship. Perhaps that is what Osama knew and wanted. The US must address the causes of suicide terrorism to realistically end its vulnerability to violence. Violence begets violence, and those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
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