In her Aug. 14 commentary (Op-Ed), Marda Dunsky is right about addressing the root cause in the Arab-Israel conflict, but her examination of the roots reveals only refusal to see things as they really are.
Ms. Dunsky talks about the failures of the Netanyahu government and their “flouting of the basic premises of the Oslo accords.” She refers to the “provocations, including the Har Homa and Old City tunnel episodes in Jerusalem,” which explain the “groundswells of frustration and rage” expressed by the Arabs in suicide bombings.
A 35-page report just issued by Israel’s government is a damning expose of PLO violations of Oslo I, September 1993; Oslo II, 1995; and the Hebron Protocol, January 1997. In each of these accords the Palestinian Authority made the same promises and proceeded to break these same promises. The violations, overlooked by Ms. Dunsky, have led to the deaths of 250 Israelis and the wounding of 5,000 since Oslo was signed.
The Old City incident was orchestrated. Israel certainly is not violating any promises by building apartments in its own capital city of Jerusalem. Arafat pays demonstrators to inflame the Arabs over such non-existent issues.
At least Ms. Dunsky does admit to “the Palestinian leadership . . . rife with corruption on the part of influence-trading PA officials and cabinet members.” I wonder if she calls Yasser Arafat’s edict to murder Arab land-dealers suspected of selling land to Jews as “corruption.” Or does she acknowledge that Arafat has stolen billions of dollars from the monies supposedly meant to help his followers?
Instead, the Hamas terrorists released from jails are promoted to high positions in the PA police force (which is really a 50,000-man army armed with Kalishnikov rifles. News that Arafat is beginning a conscription program to swell the numbers of his army even more is not surprising.)
The root causes have to do with the festering hatred engendered against Jews.
