Kovacs is a second year aerospace engineering student.
By Joshua Kovacs
As I hiked up Bruin Walk to my 8 a.m. lab, I noticed a few
slogans scrawled in chalk at my feet. “Free Palestine,”
one touted. Good idea, I thought. Then I saw “End massacres
in Palestine”. It gave me pause. What about massacres in
Israel? The artists seem to have forgotten all about them when they
broadcast their message.
It seems that many people have forgotten an important fact when
referring to the violence in Israel and the role of Yasser Arafat:
He and his henchmen are terrorists. They should not be referred to
as “chairman,” “minister” or
“leader”. They are not fit to represent a country and a
people who are tired of violence and want their lives to return to
normal.
Arafat is a man who has released convicted murderers from his
jails and freed men with the expertise to train suicide bombers on
how to build deadly explosives. He then repeatedly denied that he
had any responsibility or control over these men and their actions
against civilians. Arafat has repeatedly referred to suicide
bombers as martyrs and besides stating that
“operations” against Israeli civilians are harmful, has
done nothing serious to dissuade his followers from using
themselves as bombs. In fact, Arafat’s chief financial
officer, Fuad Shoubaki, has bankrolled shooting attacks and suicide
bombings with Arafat’s money from his office inside
Arafat’s compound. And yet Arafat denies his connection to
terror.
For the past few days the world’s favorite terrorist has
been surrounded by the Israeli military and seen his compound
searched and guards disarmed. As the world vilified Israeli
soldiers for taking steps to reduce the threat to their nation,
Israelis collected intelligence, arms and ammunition, and even
counterfeit money from Arafat’s headquarters. Among the
weapons Arafat had been stockpiling were heavy machine guns and
rocket-propelled grenades, illegal under the Oslo Accords, as well
as a large assortment of grenades, shotguns, knives, sniper scopes,
automatic rifles, and even a couple of samurai swords. Arafat is a
man who was once awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
With all this in mind, it is no surprise that the Israeli
government has stopped trusting Arafat as a partner in peace. I am
saddened, however, that Ramallah and other towns must be occupied
in order to disarm gunmen and confiscate explosives from would-be
“martyrs.” This action will undoubtedly lead to more
civilian casualties, which cannot be condoned no matter who is the
victim.
I hope and pray that the Israeli military will continue to show
restraint, as they demonstrated by refusing to return fire against
armed gunmen who hid inside the Church of the Nativity. We can only
hope that few additional civilians will be hurt on either side, but
the present gives me little hope.
To me, “Free Palestine” means freeing the
Palestinian people from the corrupt and violent leadership of
Arafat and his terrorists, the dismantling of schools that train
suicide bombers, and the return of normalcy to life on both sides.
This Palestine would be free indeed, a viable autonomous nation
ready to make peace with Israel and become a true partner and
friend.