Myths & Facts Online

Online Exclusives

By Mitchell G. Bard

This section contains new myths and facts that have been added since the publication of the paperback edition of Myths and Facts. The information will also be cross-referenced in the appropriate chapters of the online M&F.

MYTH

“Mohammad Atta, the terrorist that flew into the World Trade Center, blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. At that time Israel arrested, tried, convicted, and jailed Atta, but was persuaded by the United States to release him as part of the Oslo peace accord.”

FACT

The Internet is a wonderful innovation, but one of its problematic characteristics is that it allows false rumors to be quickly spread around the world. The story that Atta, reputedly one of the masterminds behind the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S., had been released from an Israeli jail in response to American pressure and then rewarded the U.S. by flying a plane into the World Trade Center is one of these erroneous rumors that took on a life of its own. It is not clear where it originated and the response was slow in coming, but we now know the story apparently stems from confusion over someone with a similar name.

In 1990, the United States extradited a Palestinian named Mahmoud Abed Atta to stand trial for an April 1986 machine-gun attack on an Israeli bus in Samaria that killed the driver. Abed Atta was linked with the Abu Nidal terrorist group and fled to Venezuela after the murder, but he was deported to the United States. He also held US citizenship and fought a three-year court battle to avoid extradition. He lost and was deported to Israel on November 2, 1990. Abed Atta was eventually freed after the Supreme Court ruled there were faults in the extradition process. His whereabouts today are unknown.

The terrorist suspected of the September 11 attack, Muhammad Atta, was an Egyptian and no relation to Abed Atta.¹

MYTH

“Israel closed three colleges in the Palestinian Authority in January 2003 to punish and humiliate the Palestinians.”

FACT

Despite more than two years of violence and provocation, some of which emanated from West Bank colleges, Israel did not interfere with classes. The hope was that Palestinians would focus their attention on their studies rather than poitical activities. Unfortunately, these schools increasingly directed their energies to promoting violence rather than education. Israel only acted against the colleges after it became clear that they had become centers of incitement and indoctrination rather than education.

When Israeli forces entered the schools they found banners, posters, flags, tapes and children's notebooks adorned with the pictures of suicide bombers. Classrooms were filled with posters praising terrorism and glorifying suicide bombers. Cassettes calling for the destruction of Israel made by different terroist organizations were found in other classrooms. These were not just materials brought into the schools by students, some were distributed by the colleges.

The situation on the Palestinian campuses illustrates the difficulty of persuing a peace process while young Palestinians are being taught in their schools to pursue terror and the destruction of its neighbor. The materials being distributed, and that are part of the curriculum, also violate the peace agreements the Palestinians signed forswearing such incitement.

Israel took these measures to protect its citizens, not to punish or humiliate the Palestinians. Incidentally, the Palestinian Authority has also closed colleges in the territories on occasion when officials believed students were behaving in ways that threatened their authority.

MYTH

“Israel uses checkpoints to deny Palestinians their rights and humiliate them.”

FACT

It is not unusual for nations to guard their borders and to establish checkpoints to prevent people from illegally entering their countries. The United States has checkpoints at its borders and airports and, as Americans saw on September 11, these are necessary but not foolproof security precautions.

In the case of Israel, the necessity for checkpoints has been created by the Palestinians. By pursuing a violent campaign of terror against Israel’s citizens, they have forced Israel to set up barriers to make it as difficult as possible for terrorists to enter Israel or travel through the territories to carry out acts of violence. The checkpoints are an inconvenience to innocent Palestinians, but they do in fact prevent terror and save lives.

For example, on November 2, 2002, a van carrying boxes of jeans pulled up at a checkpoint. Soldiers checked the IDs of the men in the van and discovered one of the passengers was a wanted man. The van was unloaded and it was not until the soldiers opened the last box that they discovered an explosive belt that was being delivered to a suicide bomber. Two weeks later a taxi pulled up to the same checkpoint. Soldiers found two computers in the trunk that seemed unusually heavy. They opened the boxes and found two explosive belts. They also found a bag with a gun.²

On December 29, 2005, an army jeep stopped a Palestinian taxi at a temporary checkpoint. Troops were acting on an intelligence tip about terrorists planning an attack in Israel during Chanukah. Lt. Uri Binamo, 21, told the occupants to get out of the vehicle. The three Palestinian men inside complied with the order, but once out of the taxi, one of them lifted his shirt to reveal a suicide belt. He then detonated the belt, killing himself, the two Palestinians and Binamo. The three soldiers covering the officer were wounded and an innocent Palestinian bystander was killed.^2a

These are just two of many examples of how checkpoints have prevented terrorists from infiltrating Israel.

Hyperbolic media reports and anti-Israel propaganda have suggested Israel is harrassing Palestinian women at checkpoints. It is unfortunate that women cannot be ignored as potential security threats. Border policemen at a checkpoint north of Jerusalem, for example, arrested a Palestinian woman pushing a baby stroller that concealed a pistol, two ammunition clips, and a knife.^2b

Commercial goods, food, medicine, ambulances, and medical crews continue to circulate freely, hampered only by continuing attacks. Palestinian workers going to jobs in Israel also may pass through the checkpoints with the proper identification; restrictions are only imposed when necessitated by the security situation.

Barriers are not set up to humiliate Palestinians, but to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens. Unfortunately, every time Israel has relaxed its policy and withdrawn checkpoints, Palestinian terrorists have taken advantage of the opportunity to launch new attacks on innocent Israelis.

MYTH

“The PA was prevented from holding elections by Israel.”

FACT

One of the key reforms called for by the United States and others in the international community was the democratic election of a new Palestinian leadership in the hope that Yasser Arafat would be replaced by someone prepared to negotiate peace with Israel. It was only in response to this pressure that Arafat agreed during the summer of 2002 to hold elections in January 2003. The election, due to be held on January 20, 2003, was cancelled by Arafat.

Arafat, who became president of the Palestinian Authority after a sham election in 1996, was only supposed to serve three years before elections were to be held again. He prevented any balloting, however, until President Bush’s June 2002 call for a new leader to be democratically elected. Afterward, Arafat announced the intention to hold elections, but he immediately began to make excuses for why they could not be held. For months, he consistently tried to deflect criticism of his autocratic rule, and his efforts to undermine the election, to Israel. Arafat claimed that Israel’s military operations prevented the holding of elections; however, Israeli action was necessitated by his failure to stop terror, as he had promised to do in the Oslo agreements. Still, Israel made no effort to prevent the Palestinians from holding an election and enthusiastically supports a democratic process that will bring truly representative and accountable leadership to the PA.

One suggested reform of the PA was to make the position of President more ceremonial, as it is in Israel, and create a position of prime minister to be the nominal head of the government. When PLO executive committee member Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) tried to muster support for this proposal, under which he was the likely choice to assume most of Arafat’s powers, he was forced to flee to Jordan after receiving death threats.³ The idea of having a prime minister was subsequently dropped.

In the months that preceded the planned January election, there was no campaign or candidates for office. Only one Palestinian had the courage to publicly announce plans to run for President against Arafat, an obscure professor named Abdel Sattar Kassem. Just before the vote was scheduled, Kassem complained that he was being harassed by Palestinian security forces and that a campaign of intimidation was being waged against the local media to prevent the publication of interviews with him.⁴

So long as Arafat persists in his despotic rule, prevents any reform of the governmental structure of the PA, and obstructs democratic campaigns and elections, it is difficult to see how a representative leader can emerge to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.

MYTH

“Most Palestinians do not support terror, but are helpless to stop the militants.”

FACT

Public opinion polls taken by Palestinian researchers in the Palestinian Authority have consistently shown broad support for violence against Israelis. In December 2002, for example, 63 percent of Palestinians said they supported suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. More than 80 percent favored continuing the uprising, and a plurality (47 percent) said the goal was to liberate all of historic Palestine.⁵

Despite the suffering caused by the failure of their leaders, and Israel’s necessary response to the terrorist atrocities against its citizens, the general Palestinian public has not called for an end to the violence. No equivalent to Israel’s Peace Now movement has emerged.

Still, on an individual basis, it is possible for Palestinians to say no to terror. When the suicide bombing recruiter phoned the wife of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi to ask if her son was available for an operation, she turned him down.⁶

In other countries, including Israel (where they helped prompt a withdrawal from Lebanon), mothers have often helped stimulate positive change. When enough Palestinian mothers stand up to the terror recruiters, and to their political leaders, and say that they will no longer allow their children to be used as bombs and cannon fodder, the prospects for peace will improve. So long as they prefer their children to be martyrs rather than doctors, bombers rather than scholars, and murderers rather than lawyers, the violence will continue and young Palestinians will continue to die needlessly.

MYTH

“The Palestinian Authority is bankrupt and the people are starving because the world does not care about the plight of the Palestinians.”

FACT

Just as Palestinian refugees have been international wards for decades, and received disproportionate amounts of assistance from around the world, the Palestinians living inside the Palestinian Authority have also been given far greater international financial support than most other suffering peoples. By the end of 2001, the Palestinians had received $4 billion (the figure is now closer to $5.5 billion) since Oslo. This is the equivalent of $1,330 per Palestinian. By comparison, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II provided $272 per European (in today's dollars).⁷

The violent uprising and terrorism have led to an increase in support for the Palestinians. In 1999, international donors provided $482 million, but that figure jumped to $929 million in 2001.

These figures do not include the billions of dollars in assets the Palestine Liberation Organization is believed to have accumulated over the years through drug trafficking, illegal arms dealing, money laundering, fraud, extortion, and legal investments.

No one debates that the economic situation in the PA is difficult, but the Palestinians are hardly the only people suffering in the world. In fact, people in many countries are much poorer than the Palestinians. Ethiopia, for example, receives about the same amount of aid as the PA, but has a population 20 times larger. Even other Arabs are in worse shape than the Palestinians, and yet they receive little or no foreign aid. In 2000, per capita income of a West Bank Palestinian was actually higher than that of Arabs in middle-income countries such as Algeria or Egypt, and much higher than that in Morocco or Syria. In 2000, per capita aid to the Palestinian was $214, by far the highest in the world, with Bosnia a distant second at $185. Even after taking into account the decline in Palestinian incomes in the last two years, they would still be considered lower middle class among the Arabs.⁸

The problem for the Palestinian Authority is not a lack of funds, but a lack of accountability. Instead of going to feed, house, and employ Palestinians, significant amounts of aid have been siphoned off by Yasser Arafat and other PA officials. One need only ask why refugee camps continue to exist within the PA. With $4 billion, shouldn’t the PA have been able to build at least one house for a refugee family?

In 1996, $326 million disappeared from the PA and the Palestinian Legislative Council established a commission to investigate the loss. The subsequent report concluded that nearly 40 percent of the PA’s $800 million budget had been lost through corruption and mismanagement. The PA’s comptroller wrote: “The overall picture is one of a Mafia-style government, where the main point of being in public office is to get rich quick.”⁹

In 2000, Arab countries pledged $1 billion to help the PA, but stipulated that “Chairman Arafat show complete transparency in the funds.” Arafat refused, and the Arab leaders withheld the funding “for fear that the money will end up in the wrong pockets.” And for good reason. On June 5, 2002, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan published documents showing that Arafat had deposited $5.1 million from Arab aid funds into his personal account to support his wife and daughter who live in Paris and Switzerland.¹⁰

Despite their concerns, since April 2001 Arab governments have transferred $45 million each month to the PA, and the European Union has contributed another $10 million monthly. Overall, however, donor aid, which comes primarily from these two sources has dropped by around half in 2003 from 2001 and 2002.^10a

The problems facing the Palestinian people and the PA economy are not due to a lack of funding or international concern, they are a direct result of the corruption and the lack of accountability of the PA, and the use of donated funds for terrorism and other purposes not intended by the donors.

MYTH

“Israel’s policies in the territories have caused a humanitarian crisis for the Palestinians.”

FACT

It is important to remember that Israel offered to withdraw from 97 percent of the West Bank and 100 percent of Gaza, and it is the rejection of that proposal, coupled with incessant Palestinian terrorism, that has forced Israeli troops to carry out operations in the territories. Though these actions have caused hardship for the Palestinian population, the IDF has continued to ensure that humanitarian assistance is provided to Palestinians in need. For example, during just one 48-hour period (January 5-6, 2003), the IDF:

Even at the height of military action, such as the operation to clean out the terrorist nest in the Jenin refugee camp, Israeli forces have gone out of their way to assist Palestinian non-combatants. In the case of the Jenin operation, for example, the hospital there was kept running with a generator delivered under fire by an Israeli officer.¹¹

The best way to improve the situation for the Palestinians in the territories is for the Palestinian Authority to take the steps laid out by the Bush Administration — end the violence, reform its institutions, and elect new leaders — so that peace talks may resume and a settlement can be negotiated.

MYTH

“Israel’s complaints about Palestinian terrorists hiding among civilians are just an effort to justify their murder of innocent people.”

FACT

Israel never intentionally targets civilians. Unfortunately, Palestinian terrorists have purposely tried to hide among the civilian population in an effort to use the Israeli army's morality against it. The terrorists themselves do not care about the lives of innocent Palestinians, which is why they are not hesitant to use them as shields. This behavior is a violation of international law. Article 51 of the 1977 amendment to the 1949 Geneva Conventions specifically prohibts the use of human shields:

The presence or movements of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular attempts to shield military objects from attacks or to shield, favor or impede military operations.¹²

Thus, the Palestinian terrorists are ultimately responsible for noncombatants who are inadvertently killed or wounded as a result of the terrorists' practice of hiding among civilians to use them as shields.

MYTH

“Palestinian women are joining the ranks of suicide bombers only because of their commitment to 'liberate' Palestine.”

FACT

It may be that some Palestinian women share the sick ideology of the terrorists who believe that blowing up innocent men, women, and children will achieve their political objective, but many others are being blackmailed into carrying out suicide attacks by sadistic and manipulative Palestinian men.

More than 20 Palestinian women have engaged in suicide attacks and the terrorist organizations that recruit them do so in part because they believe women will generate less suspicion and that Israeli soldiers will be more reticent to search them.

Some of the women have been convinced to engage in terrorist attacks to rehabilitate their reputations in their community if they have acquired a bad name or done something to bring shame upon their family. Shame is a powerful force in Arab society, and women who are promiscuous, engage in adultery, become pregnant out of wedlock, or behave in other ways deemed improper may be ostracized or severely punished (e.g., husbands may kill wives who shamed them in so-called “honor crimes”).

Terrorist organizations have used emotional blackmail against these often vulnerable women to convince them that by carrying out a suicide attack against Jews, they may restore their honor or that of their family. Israeli intelligence declassified a report that said Fatah operatives went so far as to seduce women and then, after they became pregnant, used their condition to blackmail them into committing heinous crimes. The report cited two specific cases, one involved a 21-year-old from Bethlehem who blew herself up in the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, killing six and wounding more than 60, and the other was an 18-year-old from the Dehaishe refugee camp who blew up a Jerusalem supermarket and killed two people and wounded 22 others.¹³

These examples show the merciless way Palestinian terrorists treat not only their victims, but their own people.

MYTH

“Palestinian terrorist groups agreed to a cease-fire until Israel launched attacks against them.”

FACT

Israel would have no reason to engage in any military operations in Palestinian controlled areas if the Palestinian Authority met its obligation to prevent terror attacks against Israelis. If the terrorists were to agree to a cease-fire and stop all their attacks, the prospect for renewed negotiations would be improved and the necessity of Israeli counter terrorism measures would be reduced.

Unfortunately, the terrorists have never agreed to any cease-fire. On the contrary, every time groups allegedly discussed terminating their activities, the suggestion was rejected. In fact, the terrorists usually deny they even contemplated the idea. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, for example, rejected a proposal made under Egyptian auspices in January 2003. "Our position is clear: there can be no cese-fire with Israel," a top Hamas official told the Jerusalem Post. A few weeks later, when a Palestinian official said the leadership accepted a one-year truce, the PFLP, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and Hamas all announced that they had no intention of ending the violence, and planned to intensify their attacks.¹⁴

And even the Palestinian Authority claim that it backed a cease-fire was undermined by Yasser Arafat's second-in-command, Abu Mazen, who said the agreement to freeze military operations was contingent on Israel ending its operations, withdrawing to their positions of September 2000, and ceasing their arrests of terrorists. "We did not say, however, that we are giving up the armed struggle," Abu Mazen said in an interview. "It is our right to oppose. The Intifada must continue. The Palestinian people have a right to oppose using all means at their disposal to protect their existence."¹⁵

Terrorists cannot be persuaded to end their violent campaign through negotiations. They will only stop when the Palestinian Authority arrests the members of the terrorist groups, disarms them, and prevents them from attacking Israelis. So long as the PA refuses to fulfill the duty it committed to in the Oslo agreements, it will be necessary for Israel to take steps to protect its citizens.

MYTH

“Palestinians have no need for propaganda because the truth about Israeli behavior makes clear their barbarity.”

FACT

Palestinian and other Arab leaders routinely use their media outlets to spread outrageous libels against Israel and the Jews to inflame their populations. Palestinians have become masters of the technique perfected by Adolf Hitler known as the “big lie.” As Hitler explained in Mein Kampf:

The size of a lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of a nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell big ones.

One example of the Palestinian big lie came on March 11, 1997, when the Palestinian representative to the UN Human Rights Commission claimed the Israeli government had injected 300 Palestinian children with the HIV virus.¹⁶

More recently, Palestinians claimed in 2002 that Israel was dropping poisoned candies from helicopters in front of schools to poison children. That lie was updated in 2003 with the fabrication that Israel is making “bombs and mines designed as toys” and dropping them into the Palestinian territories from airplanes so children will play with them and be blown up.¹⁷

The Palestinians also regularly try to inflame the Muslim world by falsely claiming the Jews are going to blow up the Temple Mount or the al-Aksa Mosque. For example, on September 29, 2000, the Voice of Palestine, the PA's official radio station sent out calls "to all Palestinians to come and defend the al-Aksa mosque." This was the day after Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount, and the subsequent riots marked the unofficial beginning of the latest uprising.

More recently, the Palestinian Authority TV “Message to the World” broadcast announced: “The Zionist criminals are planning to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque on the ground that they they are searching for the Holy Temple, which they falsely claim is under the mosque.”¹⁸

One of the most outrageous lies circulated throughout the Middle East was that 4,000 Israelis did not report to work on September 11, or "called in sick" that morning because they knew an attack was coming. Israel and the Mossad are also said to be responsible for the atrocities. Of course, this was also a lie, but it is the type of conspiracy theory that is widely believed by Arabs who maintain the forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, is factual.

MYTH

“The media carefully investigates Palestinian claims before publicizing them.”

FACT

Palestinians have learned that they can disseminate almost any information to the media and it will be published or broadcast somewhere. Once it is picked up by one media outlet, it is inevitably repeated by others. Quickly, misinformation can take on the appearance of fact, and while Israel can present evidence to correct the inaccuracies being reported, the damage is usually already done. Once an image or impression is in someone's mind, it is often difficult, if not impossible to erase it.

It is said that there are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics. One staple of Palestinian propaganda has been to distribute false statistics in an effort to make Israeli actions look monstrous. For example, if an incident involves some death or destruction, they can grossly exaggerate the figures and a gullible media will repeat the fabricated data until they become widely accepted as accurate. This occurred, for example, during the Lebanon War when Yasser Arafat’s brother claimed that Israel’s operations had left 600,000 Lebanese homeless. He made the number up, but it was repeated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and publicized in the media. By the time the ICRC repudiated the figure, it was too late to change the impression that Israel's military operation to defend itself from terrorist attacks on its northern border had created an unconscionable refugee problem.¹⁹

This happened again after Israel’s operation in Jenin in April 2002 when Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat told CNN on April 17 that at least 500 people were massacred and 1,600 people, including women and children, were missing. Erekat could produce no evidence for his claim and, in fact, the Palestinians’ own review committee reported a death toll of 56, of whom 34 were combatants. No women or children were reported missing.²⁰

What is perhaps more outrageous than the repetition of Erekat’s lie is that media outlets continue to treat him as a legitimate spokesperson, giving him access that allows him to regularly disseminate misinformation. If an American official was ever found to have lied to the press, they would lose all credibility and would have little or no chance of being given a forum to express their views.

MYTH

“American Jews goaded the United States to go to war against Iraq in 2003 to help Israel.”

FACT

One of the most absurd arguments made by opponents of the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003 was that American Jews somehow were responsible for persuading President George W. Bush to launch the military campaign on Israel’s behalf. The truth is that President Bush decided that Iraq posed a threat to the United States because it possessed weapons of mass destruction and was pursuing a nuclear capability that could have been used directly against Americans or could have been transferred to terrorists who would use them against U.S. targets. The removal of Saddam Hussein was also designed to eliminate one of the principal sponsors of terrorism.

The war in Iraq liberated the Iraqi people from one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. Even in the Arab world, where many people objected to the U.S. action, no Arab leader rose to Saddam Hussein’s defense.

It is true that Israel will benefit from the elimination of a regime that launched 39 missiles against it in 1991, paid Palestinians to encourage them to attack Israelis, and led a coalition of Arab states committed to Israel’s destruction. It is also true, however, that many Arab states benefitted from the removal of Saddam Hussein, in particular, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. This is why these nations allowed Allied forces to use their countries as bases for operations.

As for the role of American Jews, it is important to remember that Jews comprise less than 3 percent of the U.S. population and were hardly the most vocal advocates of the war. On the contrary, the Jewish community had divisions similar to those in the country as a whole and most major Jewish organizations purposely avoided taking any position on the war. Meanwhile, public opinion polls showed that a significant majority of all Americans supported the President’s policy toward Iraq.

Some critics have suggested that prominent Jewish officials in the Bush Administration pushed for the war. In fact, only a handful of officials in the Administration is Jewish, and not one of the President’s top advisers — the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Vice President, or National Security Adviser — is Jewish.

The suggestion that American Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States, or that they have undue influence on U.S. Middle East policy, is an example of anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, some critics of the war on Iraq chose the age-old approach of blaming the Jews for a policy they disagreed with rather than addressing the substantive arguments in the debate.

MYTH

“Israel and the Palestinians were on the verge of reaching a peace deal during negotiations at Taba in 2001, but Ariel Sharon’s election torpedoed the agreement.”

FACT

Even after Yasser Arafat rejected Ehud Barak’s unprecedented offer to create a Palestinian state in 97 percent of the West Bank, members of the Israeli government still hoped a peace agreement was possible with the Palestinians. In hopes of a breakthrough before the scheduled Israeli election, and the end of President Clinton’s term, Israel sent a delegation of some of its most dovish officials, all of whom favored a two-state solution, to the Egyptian port city of Taba in January 2001. The Israelis believed that even though Arafat would not even offer a counterproposal to Barak, they might induce a Palestinian delegation without the PLO chairman to make sufficient compromises to at least narrow the gap between the Barak proposal and Arafat’s maximalist demands.

The Israelis discovered, however, that the Palestinians were not willing to negotiate on the basis of what Barak had proposed. Instead, they withdrew many of the concessions they had offered. For example, at Camp David, the Palestinians agreed that Israel could retain two settlement blocs that would incorporate most of the Jews into Israel and allow them to be contiguous. At Taba, the Palestinians called for the evacuation of 130 out of 146 settlements and refused to accept the creation of settlement blocs. In fact, while the Palestinians now falsely claim that Barak offered them only cantons at Camp David, instead of a contiguous state, it is actually the Palestinians at Taba who sought to create isolated Jewish Bantustans that would be dependent on strings of access roads.

Besides other disagreements over settlements, many of which represented backsliding from earlier Palestinian positions, the parties remained deeply divided over the status of Jerusalem. Barak had offered to allow the Palestinians to make their capital in the predominantly Arab parts of East Jerusalem, and to share sovereignty over the Temple Mount. Arafat had insisted on complete Palestinian control over the holy site, and denied Jews had any connection to it. At Taba, the Palestinians also refused to recognize the area was holy to the Jews and insisted on controlling most, if not all, of the Western Wall.

On the third key final status issue, refugees, no agreement was reached. The Palestinians did not accept Israeli proposals on the number of refugees that would be allowed into Israel or the amount of compensation that should be paid to the rest. “The discussions in Taba revolved principally around the ‘narrative,’ regarding the history of the creation of the refugee problem and the number of refugees that Israel will agree to absorb,” according to Yossi Beilin. “We did not reach any agreements....Regarding the number of refugees, an anticipated disagreement erupted, but once the discussion turned to quotas, we were no longer talking about a ‘right.’ The numbers that we agreed to were symbolic and took humanitarian problems and family reunification issues into account. The numbers proposed by the Palestinians were far higher.” Beilin said the Palestinians should tell the refugees that once peace is achieved, and their state is established, “they will be allowed to immigrate to [the Palestinians state] and live in it in dignity. Not in Haifa.”^20a

Despite a positive joint statement issued at the end of the negotiations, the truth is that no agreement was reached at Taba and, according to the Palestinians themselves, the parties left the talks farther apart on the issues than they had been at Camp David. Abu Alaa, one of the lead Palestinian negotiators told Al-Ayyam after the talks that “there has never before been a clearer gap in the positions of the two sides.”²¹

MYTH

“Israel’s assassination attempt on a leader of Hamas was aimed at derailing the peace process laid out in the road map.”

FACT

In just the first week after accepting the road map, Israel began to implement 75 percent of its obligations called for in the plan’s first phase. Prime Minister Sharon made clear he was committed to implementing the agreement and matched his words with deeds by allowing Palestinian workers from the territories to enter Israel, withdrawing from cities in the Palestinian Authority where Palestinian security forces exert control, dismantling unauthorized outposts, releasing prisoners, lifting the general closure on the territories, and increasing the transfer of goods.

The most important obligation for the Palestinians in the first phase is to end violence, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, and disarm the militants. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas not only has made no effort to fulfill this prerequisite for peace, he explicitly said he would not take action against Hamas, which rejected the road map and said it would join with other Palestinian terrorist groups to continue their campaign to destroy Israel.²²

Hamas is the Palestinian equivalent of al-Qaida. Its covenant makes clear it will never accept the existence of a Jewish state in what it considers the Muslim heartland. The man Israel tried to kill, Abd al-Aziz Rantissi, is a senior leader of Hamas, someone who proudly claims “credit” for 72 suicide bombings that have killed 227 Israelis and wounded 1,393 just since September 2000.

Rather than ask why Israel attempted to kill an avowed terrorist, the pertinent question is: Why wasn’t Rantissi in jail? Yasser Arafat pledged in the Oslo agreements to fight terror and yet he failed to take any steps against Hamas. Abbas promised a renewed commitment to stop violence, but he has done no more than Arafat, and has unsuccessfully tried to coopt Hamas rather than dismantle it.

The United States understands that Israel’s fight against Hamas is part of the broader war on terror; after all, Hamas is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations and has called for attacks on Americans. While U.S. officials may be upset by the timing of Israel’s actions, they cannot object to the principle of targeting terrorist leaders, since they have pursued the same policy and, just a few months earlier, assassinated a group of al-Qaida operatives by firing a missile at their vehicle.

The road map offers a route to peace for Israel and the Palestinians, but Israel cannot be expected to give up its right to defend itself, and it certainly cannot stop its counterterror measures so long as the Palestinians fail to comply with their road map obligation to stop terror.

MYTH

“Rachel Corrie was murdered by Israel while she was peacefully protesting against the illegal demolition of a Palestinian home.”

FACT

American Rachel Corrie was killed in the Gaza Strip on March 16, 2003, when she entered an area where Israeli forces were carrying out a military operation. The incident occurred while IDF forces were removing shrubbery along the security road near the border between Israel and Egypt at Rafah to uncover explosive devices, and destroying tunnels used by Palestinian terrorists to illegally smuggle weapons from Egypt to Gaza. Corrie was not demonstrating for peace or trying to shield innocent civilians, she was interfering with a military operation to legally demolish an empty house used to conceal one of these tunnels.

A misleading photo published by the Associated Press gave the impression that Corrie was standing in front of the bulldozer and shouting at the driver with a megaphone, trying to prevent the driver from tearing down a building in the refugee camp. This photo, which was taken by a member of Corrie’s organization, was not shot at the time of her death, however, but hours earlier. The photographer said that Corrie was actually sitting and waving her arms when she was struck.²³

Israel’s Judge Advocate’s Office investigated the incident and concluded that the driver of the bulldozer never saw or heard Corrie because she was standing behind debris that obstructed the view of the driver whose field of view was limited by the small armored windows of his cab. An autopsy found that the cause of Corrie’s death was falling debris.²⁴

The State Department warned Americans not to travel to Gaza, and Israel made clear that civilians who enter areas where troops are engaged in counter-terror operations put themselves unnecessarily at risk.

This was not the first time protestors have tried to obstruct Israeli operations, and the IDF has made every effort to avoid harming them. This case received worldwide publicity in large measure because it was the first such incident where a protestor was killed. In fact, the army had told Corrie and other demonstrators from the anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to move out of the way. “It’s possible they [the protesters] were not as disciplined as we would have liked,” admitted Thom Saffold, a founder and organizer of ISM.²⁵

The death of an innocent civilian is always tragic, and the best way to avoid such tragedies in the future is, first and foremost, by the Palestinian Authority putting an end to violence, and stopping the smuggling operations that have brought huge quantities of illegal weapons into the Gaza Strip. Activists interested in peace should be protesting the Palestinian actions. Activists also have every right to express their views about Israel’s policies, but they should take care to avoid the appearance of siding with the terrorists or placing themselves in positions where they could be inadvertently caught in the crossfire of a counter-terror operation or otherwise endangered by entering an area where military operations are being conducted.

MYTH

“The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a non-violent human rights organization that opposes terrorism and supports a two-state solution.”

FACT

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has harbored known terrorists and openly advocated violence and the destruction of Israel. ISM spokesman Raphael Cohen was asked at a May 2003 press conference to define “occupation.” His response: “The Zionist presence in Palestine.”²⁶ When asked to express his view of peace, he answered, “a one state solution,” by which he meant the creation of a Palestinian state in place of Israel.

On ISM's web site, the Internet directory is called “traveltopalestine.” Their site also located Ben Gurion Airport in “Palestine.” It includes an information packet for volunteers that features a country guide to “Palestine.” The guide lists the landmass of “Palestine” as “26,323 km2 = 10,162 miles2” – the size of the entire State of Israel, plus the West Bank and Gaza. The country guide describes the geographic boundaries of “Palestine” as extending from Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, and from Lebanon to Aqaba; that is, again incorporating all of Israel.²⁷

The ISM does not hide its incitement to violence. Its web site states that it recognizes “the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle.” Cohen admits that, on April 25, 2003, he hosted a group of 15 people at his apartment. Included in that group were Asif Mohammad Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif, British nationals. They subsequently participated in various activities planned by the ISM. Five days later, the two carried out a suicide bombing in a popular pub next to the American Embassy in Tel Aviv that is frequented by Embassy personnel. Hanif and Sharif entered Israel under the guise of “peace activists” and “alternative tourism” – perhaps a reference to the ISM-precursor “Alternative Tourist Group.”²⁸ ISM denies responsibility for the actions of the British bombers

On March 27, 2003, ISM was caught harboring Islamic Jihad terrorist Shadi Sukiya. He was arrested by the IDF in ISM's office, where a handgun was also found, after two foreign ISM activists helped Sukiya hide. These foreign activists tried to bar IDF soldiers from entering ISM offices, knowing that Sukia was there.²⁹

In addition, ISM activist Rachel Corrie protected a house utilized for arms smuggling for terror groups. Group members are also reported to provide information on Israeli troop movements to armed Palestinian factions. ISM's web site also links to several web sites devoted to freeing Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti. Its web site also has displayed pictures of Palestinian children throwing stones at an IDF vehicle.

The ISM web site instructs its volunteers on how to avoid Israeli security checks. For example, its members are told to lie about their affiliation with ISM and their intention to visit the territories. ISM also acknowledges its members stay in contact with local activists, which includes leaders of terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad, which it considers “resistance groups.”

While the International Solidarity Movement claims to be a humanitarian organization dedicated to the principles of nonviolent resistance, it has demonstrated no interest in peace for Israelis. At a minimum, ISM has acted as an apologist for terrorism and, at times, actively abetted militants. ISM is a pro-Palestinian organization, set up by Palestinians, funded by Palestinians, and opposed to the two-state solution envisioned by the parties truly interested in peace.

MYTH

“Israel is required to release Palestinians in Israeli prisons as a condition of the road map.”

FACT

There is not a single word in the text of the road map referring to the release of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas and Islamic Jihad made the demand for Israel to release prisoners in their hudna agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) . Israel was not a party to this agreement. The first sentence in the road map outline of Phase I does say: “In Phase I, the Palestinians immediately undertake an unconditional cessation of violence” (emphasis added).

Despite the fact that Israel is under no legal obligation to release Palestinian prisoners, the government has released a number of prisoners, and agreed to release several hundred more, many of whom are closely connected to terror organizations or have committed terror attacks against Israel. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has agreed to release Palestinian prisoners as a confidence-building measure, and as a means of strengthening the position of Mahmoud Abbas in the eyes of the Palestinians. The Palestinians may not be satisfied with the number of prisoners allowed to go free, or the specific individuals released, but these are decisions the Israeli government must make according to its own security, as well as political requirements, and there is no reason to expect prisoners who have been found guilty of crimes to automatically be eligible for freedom simply because the Palestinians demand it. It is especially understandable if Israel refuses to release prisoners with "blood on their hands" from having killed or injured Israelis.

Even a limited prisoner release represents a risk that Israel is taking in the interest of peace. In the past, released prisoners have returned to terrorism and committed new crimes against Israelis. It will be a major test of the PA's commitment to peace, and its authority, to insure that people freed by Israel do not resort to more violence.

MYTH

“Palestinian terrorist groups agreed to a cease-fire to advance the peace process envisioned by the road map for peace.”

FACT

In June 2003, Islamic Jihad and Hamas agreed to a hudna in response to demands from then Palestinian Authority prime minister Mahmoud Abbas to stop their attacks on Israel so he could fulfill his obligations under the Middle East road map. The agreement was interpreted in the Western media as the declaration of a cease-fire, which was hailed as a step forward in the peace process. Violence continued after the supposed cease-fire, however, and Israeli intelligence found evidence the Palestinians exploited the situation to reorganize their forces. They recruited suicide bombers, increased the rate of production of Qassam rockets, and sought to extend their range.

Now that he is president of the PA, Abbas is again negotiating with the terrorists to accept a cease-fire. While any cessation of violence against Israeli civilians is to be welcomed, it is important to understand the cease-fire the radical Islamic groups are contemplating in the Muslim context.

The media and some political leaders portray a hudna as a truce or a cease-fire designed to bring peace. Though the term hudna does refer to a temporary cession of hostilities, it has historically been used as a tactic aimed at allowing the party declaring the hudna to regroup while tricking an enemy into lowering its guard. When the hudna expires, the party that declared it is stronger and the enemy weaker. The term comes from the story of the Muslim conquest of Mecca. Instead of a rapid victory, Muhammad made a ten-year treaty with the Kuraysh tribe. In 628 AD, after only two years of the ten-year treaty, Muhammad and his forces concluded that the Kuraysh were too weak to resist. The Muslims broke the treaty and took over all of Mecca without opposition.³⁰

A modern-day hudna is not a form of compromise, rather it is a tactical tool to gain a military advantage. Hamas has used it no fewer than 10 times in 10 years.³¹

The hudna declared by Islamic terrorist organizations in 2003 was no different. The Hamas charter openly rejects the notion of a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the group did not change its views. On the contrary, Hamas spokesmen said they would not give up their weapons, that they would continue to resist “illegal occupation,” and that they believed the “violent awakenening from a few weeks or months of quiet” will “reaffirm Palestinians' belief in the intifada as the only option for them.”³² Even the hudna declaration asserted “the legitimate right to resist the occupation as a strategic option until the end of the Zionist occupation of our homeland and until we achieve all our national rights.” Hamas contends that all of Israel is occupied territory.³³ This is why Secretary of State Colin Powell called Hamas an “enemy of peace” just before the hudna was declared, and said “the entire international community must speak out strongly against the activities of Hamas.”³⁴

Israel understandably fears a repeat of the earlier experience. The commander of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in Nablus said, “we won't halt the resistance as long as the occupation continues.”^34a A spokesman for Hamas said after Abbas and Sharon declared an end to hostilities that the decision was “not binding on the resistance.”^34b Meanwhile, Israel's military intelligence chief reported “there is quite a lot of organizing going on in the territories to prepare attacks, including big attacks,” and that the terror organizations were expanding their organizational infrastructure.^34c

Whether the Palestinian terrorist groups are sincere in their declaration of a cease-fire is irrelevant to the fulfillment of the Palestinians' road map obligations. The road map explicitly calls on Abbas to do more than just achieve a cessation of hostilities; he is obligated to disarm the terrorists and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.

MYTH

“The Palestinians are being asked to accept only 22% of Palestine for their state while Israel keeps 78%.”

FACT

The government of Israel has agreed to a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. Once Israel agreed to give the Palestinians the independence they say they want, they shifted their complaint to the size of the state they were being offered. Many "moderates," such as Hanan Ashrawi, who say they can coexist with Israel, have adopted the refrain that Israel is doing the Palestinians no favors by offering them a state in the disputed territories because it is asking them to accept a state in only 22% of Palestine while Israel keeps 78%. This is a very convincing point to show the unfairness of the Palestinians' plight and to suggest Israel's peace overtures are niggardly; that is, unless you know the history of Palestine and recognize that the truth is exactly the reverse.

Historic Palestine included not only Israel and the West Bank, but also all of modern Jordan. It is Israel, including the disputed territories, that is only 22% of Palestine. If Israel were to withdraw completely from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it would possess only about 18%. And from Israel's perspective, it is the Zionists who have made the real sacrifice by giving up 82% of the Land of Israel. In fact, by accepting the UN's partition resolution, they were prepared to accept only about 12% of historic Israel before the Arab states attacked and tried to destroy the nascent state of Israel.

Meanwhile, of the approximately 9 million Palestinians worldwide, three-fourths live in historic Palestine.

MYTH

“Palestinians interested in peace and preventing terror are respected and allowed freedom of speech by the Palestinian Authority.”

FACT

One of the principal deterrents to speaking out against Palestinian irredentism and terror in the Palestinian Authority is the threat of being murdered. By the end of the first intifada in the early 1990s, more Palestinians were killed by their fellow Palestinians than died in clashes with Israeli security forces. Since the uprising began in September 1990, Palestinians have again used intimidation and murder to try to prevent dissent. Usually those seeking peace or an end to terror are labeled "collaborators" and, if they are lucky, arrested by the Palestinian Authority. The unlucky ones are murdered, often in grisly and public ways, such as stringing them up from lamp posts in public squares, aimed at sending the message that a similar fate awaits anyone who dares cross those seeking Israel's destruction.

There are no exact figures for the number of Palestinians killed in the internecine war, but the State Department human rights report said that 250 alleged collaborators had been arrested, and civilians had killed at least 35 in 2002 alone. The Israeli human rights group B'tselem recorded 142 Palestinian deaths between September 2000 and August 26, 2003, while a Palestinian human rights group said 76 were executed and another 22 murdered between September 2000 and October 2002. The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism recorded 303 Palestinians killed by their own side. In its 2003 report on the PA, Amnesty Internation said "scores of Palestinians" had been unlawfully killed and that the PA "consistently failed to investigate these killings and none of the perpetrators was brought to justice.³⁵

A Palestinian need not be interested in peace to become a target of violence; one need only express opposition or offer a challenge to Yasser Arafat and his Fatah party. For example, after student elections at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah resulted in the Islamic Bloc of Hamas and Islamic Jihad receiving more votes than Fatah, Palestinian security forces and members of Fatah attacked members of the Islamic groups and their supporters. Security forces opened fire on the crowd and wounded more than 100 students.^35a

Palestinian journalists are particular targets of the PA, which demands that all journalists refrain from criticism of the PA or its officials. In January 2004, for example, journalists working for Arab satellite TV stations were told to refer to all Palestinians killed by the IDF as shaheeds (martyrs). Numerous incidents have also been reported of physical attacks on journalists who offended PA officials. A reporter for a Saudi-owned news channel was wounded by gunfire when he was driving through the Gaza Strip. He was then dragged from his car and beaten because his station had allowed criticism of Yasser Arafat and other officials. A week later, 100 Palestinian journalists went to Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah to pledge allegiance to him. Of course, most already were in his pocket, since all of the Palestinian newspapers receive money from Arafat.^35b

MYTH

“Israel's so-called security fence is just like the Berlin Wall.”

FACT

Although critics have sought to portray the security fence as a kind of "Berlin Wall," it is nothing of the sort. First, unlike the Berlin Wall, the fence does not separate one people, Germans from Germans, and deny freedom to those on one side. Israel's security fence separates two peoples, Israelis and Palestinians, and offers freedom and security for both. Second, while Israelis are fully prepared to live with Palestinians, and 20 percent of the Israeli population is already Arab, it is the Palestinians who say they do not want to live with any Jews and call for the West Bank to be judenrein. Third, the fence is not being constructed to prevent the citizens of one state from escaping; it is designed solely to keep terrorists out of Israel. Finally, of the 458 miles scheduled to be constructed, only a tiny fraction of that (less than 3% or about 15 miles) is actually a 30 foot high concrete wall, and that is being built in three areas where it will prevent Palestinian snipers from around the terrorist hotbeds of Kalkilya and Tul Karm from shooting at cars as they have done for the last three years along the Trans-Israel Highway, one of the country's main roads. The wall also takes up less space than the other barriers, only about seven feet, so it did not have a great impact on the area where it was built.

Most of the barrier will be a chain-link type fence similar to those used all over the United States combined with underground and long-range sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles, trenches, landmines and guard paths. Manned checkpoints will constitute the only way to travel back and forth through the fence. The barrier is altogether about 160 feet wide in most places.

Israel did not want to build a fence, and resisted doing so for more than 35 years. If anyone is to blame for the construction, it is Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the other Palestinian terrorists. Perhaps the construction of the security fence may help stimulate the Palestinians to take action against the terrorists because the barrier has shown them there is a price to pay for sponsoring terrorism.

MYTH

“Israel demolishes homes in the Rafah refugee camp as part of its campaign to oppress the Palestinians.”

FACT

Israel has engaged in military operations, including the demolition of homes, in the Rafah refugee camp, in an effort to curtail Palestinian smuggling operations. Rafah is a city in the Gaza Strip that is divided by the border with Egypt. Palestinians began building tunnels in the area in 1982 to smuggle various items under the Israel-Egypt border fence. Since 1994, when Israel turned the area over to its control, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been responsible for security in the area. While the PA initially worked to stop the construction of tunnels, it now actively supports the smugglers.

To avoid detection of the tunnels, the Palestinians build them in civilian homes. In 2002, the IDF discovered 33 tunnels and, through mid-October 2003, another 36 were found.

The smugglers bring goods such as cigarettes, automobile parts, clothing, drugs, electronics, and foreign currency purchased or stolen in Egypt for resale in the Gaza Strip. Of even greater concern to Israel is the smuggling of terrorists and weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, rifles, explosives, and ammunition, which often make their way to the West Bank.

Large-scale Israeli operations against the tunnels coincided with intelligence reports that the Palestinians were attempting to smuggle more sophisticated weapons such as Katyusha rockets, which could hit Israeli cities, and Stinger missiles, which could shoot down Israeli civilian and military aircraft. These weapons are being brought in to support the terrorist operations of groups such as Hamas and the PFLP (with the help of Iran), as well as to arm PA security services.

Smuggling operations have intensified in the last three years as Israel has blocked other smuggling routes, and as the Palestinians have escalated their violent campaign against Israel. The reason that the homes of Palestinians are demolished by Israel is that they are used to conceal the tunnels connecting Gaza and Egypt. Many Palestinians in Rafah are impoverished and find involvement in the smuggling operations an opportunity to improve their economic situation because they are paid well to excavate the tunnels, transfer goods, and allow their homes to be used to hide the tunnels.

The PA has given Palestinians an even greater incentive to participate in smuggling by offering them alternative housing in the nearby town of Tel-Sultan if Israel demolishes their homes. Some Palestinians have even lied about constructing tunnels in the hope that the IDF will demolish their homes and they can get nicer ones from the PA.

MYTH

“The Palestinian Authority is helpless to dismantle Hamas and Islamic Jihad because the terrorist groups are too powerful and popular.”

FACT

The media has helped create the misperception that the Palestinian Authority (PA) cannot dismantle the terrorist network in its midst because of the strength and popularity of the radical Islamic Palestinian terrorist groups.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are not huge armed forces. Together, the armed wings of both organizations total fewer than 1,000 men. By contrast, the PA has 35,000 people in a variety of police, intelligence, and security forces.³⁶ Not only does the PA have overwhelming superiority of manpower and firepower, it also has the intelligence assets to find most, if not all of the terrorists.

It is true these Islamic groups have achieved some popularity, but polls show that together they still are only supported by about one-fourth of the Palestinian population. The PA is not a democracy, so its leaders do not base their decisions on public opinion, but the data shows that it is not hindered from acting by any overwhelming sympathy for the radical factions.

The PA could follow the example of the Jordanian government which has not allowed Hamas to establish a foothold in the kingdom. King Abdullah closed their offices in Amman, as well as their newspaper, and has arrested and deported numerous members of the organization.³⁷

The Palestinians made the commitment to stop terrorism in 1993, and have repeatedly promised to do so since then, including their 2003 assent to the road map. They still have not lived up to this fundamental requirement for peace. No progress toward Palestinian statehood can be made until the violence stops, and the PA cannot use the excuse that it lacks the means to put an end to the violent activities of a tiny minority of the Palestinian people.

MYTH

“Israel’s policy of assassinating terrorists is illegal and rejected even by Israelis, as evidenced by the refusal of Air Force pilots to carry out the policy.”

FACT

As noted elsewhere, Israel faces a difficult quandary in deciding how best to protect its citizens from the attacks of terrorists whose principal aim is to murder innocent people. The Israeli government believes that one way to reduce the danger is to target the Palestinians responsible for these war crimes. The IDF never targets innocent Palestinians and numerous examples can be cited of cases where pilots have returned to base without firing because civilians were in danger of being harmed. Still, tragedies have occurred in which innocent Palestinians have been casualties of the war against terror.

It is especially because of the concern for the innocent, and the difficulty of targeting terrorists who intentionally choose to hide among civilians, that Israelis debate whether targeted attacks are the best policy. The public overwhelmingly supports the policy to date,³⁸ and only 27 pilots – 18 who are retired – signed a letter saying they wouldn’t carry out missions in the territories. As in an earlier case where a group of reserve soldiers said they wouldn’t serve either, the decision is a political act that has no place in any military, and did not receive popular suppor either from their fellow soldiers or the general public.

The pilots are entitled to their opinion, and to express it through Israel’s vibrant democratic process, but, like other soldiers, their duty while in uniform is to implement policies made by elected civilian leaders so long as their orders are recognized by Israel’s courts as legal. Both Israel’s courts and international law allow for the current Israeli policy.

Meanwhile, the political debate as to the wisdom and effectiveness of the policy will undoubtedly continue.

MYTH

“Releasing Palestinian prisoners is a good way to build confidence for the peace process without endangering Israeli security.”

FACT

Israel has released Palestinian prisoners from its jails on a number of occasions because the Palestinians have made this a major issue and said that it would build confidence in the peace process. To date, however, it is difficult to find evidence that these prisoner releases have done anything to improve the prospects for peace. The Israeli concession has not moderated Palestinian behavior or prompted the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its road map obligations to dismantle terrorist networks and confiscate illegal weapons.

Israel has naturally been reluctant to release prisoners because these individuals are in jail for a good reason, they committed crimes, often violent ones. Moreover, when Israel has made these political and humanitarian gestures, the criminals have often resumed their terrorist activities. In the summer of 2003, for example, Ariel Sharon responded to the entreaties of the Palestinians, and the international community, to release prisoners as a way to help bolster the stature of then Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Even though the road map says nothing about the subject, Sharon released 350 Palestinians. Not long after, two of the former prisoners, under the command of a third, carried out suicide bombings at Café Hillel in Jerusalem and the Tzrifin army base, killing 15 civilians and soldiers, and wounding more than 80.³⁹ Releasing prisoners is another example of one of the great risks that Israel has often taken for peace.

MYTH

“Yasser Arafat is directing the Palestinian Authority’s resources to the health and welfare of the Palestinian people.”

FACT

One of the principal reasons for the suffering of the Palestinian people is the failure of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to allocate the billions of dollars in international aid it has received for the health and welfare of the population. The corruption in the PA has been extensively documented by both Palestinians and external reviewers such as the International Monetary Fund, but even setting this important problem aside, an examination of PA spending shows that a disproportionate share of the budget is being spent on the president rather than the public.

In fact, there have been months in which President Yasser Arafat’s office received nearly as much money as the departments of health and social services combined.⁴⁰ In the first half of 2003, Arafat’s office was allocated 137 million shekels while the total budget for social affairs was 95 million shekels and for health 185 million shekels.

All parties recognize that a key to peace is fostering prosperity in the PA and improving the living conditions of the Palestinian people. Israel has an important role to play in both areas, but the welfare of the majority of Palestinians is in the hands of the PA, and their present living conditions, as well as their future in an independent state, depend on the commitment of their leaders to improve their society rather than simply enrich themselves.

MYTH

“Periods of quiet are results of the Palestinian Authority’s crackdown on terrorists and would continue if not for Israeli military actions.”

FACT

Any period of quiet is welcomed by the citizens of Israel, and by most Palestinians, however, it is a sign of how badly the situation has deteriorated that any respite from terror attacks is considered noteworthy. The norm should be peace.

Unfortunately, the fact that a major terrorist attack does not occur does not mean that violence has ceased or that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is preventing attacks against Israelis. The main reason for periods of relative calm is the vigilance of Israel’s security forces. If Israel ceased its counter terror measures, the result would not be to prolong peace, but to allow terrorists to rebuild their infrastructure and to mount operations that otherwise might be foiled.

In the six-week period from October to mid-November 2003, for example, no “major” terrorist attacks occurred. In that same period, however, 14 Israelis were killed by terrorists, 14 suicide bombing attempts were foiled, and the number of terror alerts increased from 30 per day to 50 per day.⁴¹

Israel must continue to take military measures to insure its security. When the PA takes the steps it promised in accepting the road map, and dismantles the terrorist infrastructure and disarms the terrorists, the threat of violence will decrease and the need for Israeli military action will be reduced.

MYTH

“The Palestinian Authority is cooperating in the investigation of the terrorist ambush that killed three Americans in Gaza.”

FACT

On October 15, 2003, a powerful roadside bomb ripped apart an armored vehicle in a U.S. diplomatic convoy traveling through the Gaza Strip, killing three Americans and wounding one. After the attack, Palestinians streamed to the site and “picked through the twisted metal with visible delight” and then threw stones at American investigators who arrived at the scene, forcing them to leave.⁴²

In a scene right out of Casablanca, Palestinian authorities then rounded up the usual suspects, detaining seven men from a rogue group that included former members of the Palestinian security forces. American officials, however, did not believe these were the perpetrators, and the FBI team probing the terrorist attack returned to the United States after expressing dismay over the lack of cooperation it received from the Palestinian security services. Predictably, the Palestinians who were arrested were released several months later.^42a

U.S. officials said the Palestinian Authority failed to provide FBI investigators with sufficient access to the bombing site and allowed pedestrians to enter the scene of the attack and destroy evidence. The Bush Administration subsequently banned visits by U.S. officials to the Gaza Strip because of the lack of cooperation with the investigation.⁴³

After three months of obstruction, U.S. officials informed the Palestinian Authority in December 2003 that special road map envoy John Wolf would not return to the region until progress was made in the investigation. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and other officials also delivered a series of sharp messages to PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and other Palestinian officials over the lack of progress in the probe.⁴⁴

In early January 2004, it was reported that the Palestinian security services were refusing to arrest or question new suspects. U.S. government sources suggested that Fatah might have been behind the attack and that Arafat was blocking progress in the investigation for fear that the Americans would discover that he was connected to the attack. Arafat adviser Jibril Rajoub later accused the U.S. of "blackmailing" the Palestinians by threatening to disengage from peace-making and stop U.S. aid unless they find those behind the bombing, a charge the State Department labeled “ridiculous.”⁴⁵ Nevertheless, in May 2004, the U.S. suspended two water development projects in the Gaza Strip over the failure of the Palestinian police to arrest those responsible for the ambush.^45a

In September 2004, Gen. Musa Arafat, the overall commander of the Palestinian Authority's National Security Forces in the Gaza Strip, said the PA security forces knew the identities of the perpetrators of the attack on the U.S. convoy; but he said the PA security forces couldn't act against the suspects while fighting with Israel continues. “We find Musa Arafat's statement, if he is correctly quoted by Reuters, to be totally unacceptable and outrageous,” a State Department spokesman said in response. “The US has consistently demanded that the PA take action to locate, apprehend, and bring to justice the killers of our three colleagues....The