When some years ago it was discovered that the Spanish government had set out to secretly liquidate members of ETA, it was condemned, in Spain and elsewhere. So too when the British had an early similar policy against the IRA. The mark of a civilized society is that it never descends to terrorism, even against those it labels terrorists. Strangely, the West and Israel’s other allies and supporters around the world would for years shake their heads and grimace when Palestinians and their friends and supporters spoke about Israeli state terrorism. They did not want to know about it. Well, now they cannot deny it. Ariel Sharon’s policy of assassination is blatant terrorism. There is no other word to describe it.
It goes, almost with saying, that any government or body which condones this murderous policy or claims that the Israelis have a right to pursue it because of the needs to protect their state is a supporter of terrorism against us. It is not just them. Anyone who, more simply, stubbornly refuses to acknowledge what is going on or starts talking about seeing both sides’ point of view or says that both sides are equally to blame shows themselves to be on the same side. The violence and the stakes involved have reached a point where there is no room any more for impartiality. Either people and governments around the world are on the side of justice and compassion — which has to mean not just caring about what is happening to the Palestinians but being angry about it; or if they are not, then they are inevitably for the Israelis. There is no middle ground; there cannot be, between right and wrong, between justice and injustice.
Last Monday, it was just 14 Arab League states, out of a total 22, that met in Damascus and called for the restoration of the Arab Boycott of Israel. How can Arabs ask the rest of the world to stand up for justice and be counted on the side of the Palestinians, when all Arab governments will not do so?
The Arab Boycott was never a major weapon against the Israelis. It was always more symbolic than practical. But what hope is there of forcing the Israelis to end their terror and assassination if the Arab world cannot mount even a symbolic statement of opposition, by agreeing unanimously on renewing the boycott? Such an agreement will convince the Israelis and their friends in Washington and elsewhere that the Arabs are angry, united and serious about stopping the Israelis carrying out further terrorist attacks. The Israeli government is not going to stop the killing if it sees the Arab world speaking bitter words but doing nothing more tangible. Of course, it is also time to ask the rest of the world to stand up and be counted. Those who are not the Palestinians’ friends are their enemies. The Arab world does have considerable economic clout. It is not just the oil weapon. There are massive Arab investments around the world; big enough, if coordinated, to leave national economies and the multinationals floundering and shaking.
Words and negotiations will achieve nothing in the present circumstances; calm dialogue to not going to change Sharon’s mind. It is action that will impress him, and more importantly, will impress Washington, which is still the only power capable of reining him in.
