Arutz Sheva points out:
The Islamic Jihad terror group and the Al Aksa Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah party, have claimed responsibility for the attack. Fatah is the party of PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) leader Mahmoud Abbas, and his predecessor, PLO terrorist chieftain Yassir Arafat.Not that the West seems to notice or care.
In 1993, Israel signed the Oslo Accords and ceded control of heavily populated Arab areas to the Palestinian Authority. When the accords were signed, the PLO and its largest component, Fatah, pledged in writing to refrain from carrying out terrorist attacks or from using violence of any kind against Israel.
ZOA has a list of promises broken by the PLO/Fatah--from the Oslo Accords in September 1993 to December 2001--including The Gaza-Jericho Agreement, Oslo II, The Hebron Accord, The Wye Memorandum, and The Tenet "cease-fire", among others.
There wasn't much outcry about that either.
Meanwhile, the terrorists are doing what they can to make it easier for the West to keep their moderates. Captain's Quarters refers to the 'triangle offense', where radical groups such as Islamic Jihad and the Al Aksa Brigades carry out the terrorist attacks, allowing Fatah to appear moderate and Hamas to avoid blame now that it holds the reins of power--and now has received funding from Iran (some of whose citizens are not too happy about the contribution--hat tip LGF) and Qatar, each contributing $50 million.
The result is the lulling of the West. Condemnation of terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians is given lip service--even as Israel is castigated in no uncertain terms when accidental Palestinian civilian occur when she retaliates. The tired old faux-condemnation by Abbas--the "moderate" whose Fatah Party's Constitution still declares its goal to destroy Israel--continues, while Hamas and its friends sing the praises of Palestinian self-defense. The script by now if very familiar, where there is no shortage of words, but an eerie lack of action. Israel is condemned to this Groundhog Day as long as Palestinian Arabs are protected against the consequences of their actions. This is not a conflict; it is a war--and the time is long overdue for Israel to stop bombing empty buildings.
Following the terrorist attack, AP is reporting that Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman has come out saying that:
recent statements by the Palestinian government, Iran and Syria "are clear declarations of war, and I urge each and every one of you to listen carefully and take them at face value."It is unclear that anyone in the West is going to listen, especially now that cracks are appearing in the heretofore united front to cut off funding to Hamas. On the other hand, according to the New York Times, Europe is looking at bolstering its surveillance and prosecution powers, and beginning to realize they are facing a problem that goes beyond criminal law. But if Israel is really going to call this a war, then it is up to her to act like she means it.
The Times article has a quote that is indicative of what may be a slow turning point in Europe:
"We always think about the rights of the terrorists," said August Hanning, Germany's deputy interior minister and a former intelligence chief. "But if there is an attack that you could have prevented, you also have to be able to look into the eyes of the relatives."That is not going to help Israel--and Olmert needs to realize that he must look into the eyes not only of relatives, but of World Jewry as well.
Someone posted the following, which appears on a slew of other blogs, starting with the words:
ReplyDeleteConsider:
The missing element in every human 'solution' is
an accurate definition of the creature.
If you are interested in reading the rest, check out google here