(National Review) Daniel Doron - Western complicity helps the Arabs spread disinformation damaging to Israel's - and the West's - war against terrorism. The two big lies about continued Israeli "occupation" and "stolen Arab lands" have scored great successes, especially in Europe. Since 1995, over 95 percent of the Palestinian Arab population of the West Bank and Gaza have not been under physical Israeli occupation. The "Authority" Arafat has established is even more repressive than many of the 21 dictatorships governing all other Arab states. His Tunisian henchmen established a rule of terror, brooking no opposition, and wrested control from the local leadership. The Palestinians are right in feeling under occupation and oppressed. But they are mistaken to think it is by Israel. Israeli "settlements" occupy less than 3 percent of the West Bank's area, and were built on empty government-owned land. As Bernard Lewis notes, "From the end of the Jewish state in antiquity to the beginning of British rule, the area now designated by the name Palestine was not a country and had no frontiers, only administrative boundaries...within a larger entity" of Syria.
2002-08-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive