As usual, Steven Denbeste nails what is going on between Israel and Yasser Arafat. The short version: both Israel and the United States want Arafat to conduct a serious crackdown on Hamas and other groups. Arafat has long resisted that, correctly thinking that doing so might put both his life and political position in danger from within. As Denbeste notes, the United States and Israel are currently in the process of not-so subtly telling Arafat that he’s got two choices — crack down on Hamas or make good on his promise to die for the Palestinian cause.
Actually I don’t think the United States wants to see Arafat dead under any circumstance, but Israel has maneuvered Arafat into a corner where they are quickly approaching a point where they will be able to say “we had no choice” and the U.S. will likely look the other way.
Oh yeah, this was going to be about Kofi Annan. The idiot in charge of the United Nations was running around the world the other day blasting Israel for its latest incursion and claiming that violence would not solve the Middle East’s problems.
Earth to Kofi — the entire world, including the Israelis, saw exactly what the United Nations considers to be a “solution” to violence when the blue hats stood by and did nothing during the Rwandan genocide. I think the Israelis are probably not interested in Annan’s idea of a non-violent solution, which apparently boils down to sit back and allow yourselves to be massacred.