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Herbert London: At The UN War Is Peace

As part of United Nations Week in New York there is a much heralded Day of Peace. This day has been announced at the moment weapons are converted into plowshares. The problem, however, is no one mentioned this to militant Palestinians. These people welcomed the week with four terror attacks: two stabbings, one car ramming, and an incident in which rocks and glass bottles were thrown at an Israeli bus.

More than 300 terror attacks have taken place in Israel this year, killing 40 and wounding more than 500. A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reacted to the attacks by condemning Israeli soldiers for shooting the attackers. P.A.’s criticism of Israeli self-defense raises obvious questions about everything from real motivation to any commitment to stability. Abbas has consistently refused to condemn terror attacks. In fact, he has visited the families of terrorists and told one group of mothers, “your sons are martyrs.”

Despite a movement afoot among several member states in the Security Council to reorganize an independent state of Palestine in Samaria and Judea, normalization is routinely condemned by P.A. leaders and those who advocate peace are denounced as traitors. Even though the Oslo Accords “called for the end of incitement and the encouragement of a process of normalization, “it has been ignored in practice by Abbas and his followers. Any overture at reconciliation has been rebuked.

Alas, the Palestinians are held hostage by the militants. Children are educated to hate Jews and Arab cities in the West Bank have become centers for destructive plots against Israel. Hamas extremists intimidate any overtures for moderation, despite their hatred of the P.A. For the extremists there is only one solution, a Palestinian state from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.

Recently the Israeli Defense Force, recognizing the stockpiling of 150,000 missiles in Lebanon, issued a report indicating that as many as 10,000 missiles could evade anti-missile defenses killing as many as 400 Israelis citizens. Should Hamas, Hezbollah and Fatah attack simultaneously dozens of missiles could strike Tel Aviv, notwithstanding David’s Sling and other sophisticated anti-missile defenses.

Yet the United Nations is meeting to discuss a Palestinian state and a day of peace. The hypocrisy is palpable. Within the walls of the General Assembly Israeli blood doesn’t count. Terrorism is a selective phenomenon. Peace might exist for some, but not for others.

Admittedly it is not always easy to define terrorism, but the murder of innocent children should be condemned wherever it occurs. A selective standard that allows militant Palestinians to kill Israelis violates international law and violates the moral conscience of any sensible person. And yet common sense is ignored as U.N. officials ride their high horse to the River Styx. Blood stained hands rise to criticize Israel as the real international crimes are buried in the archives of Turtle Bay.

Largely unaware of these conditions, the American tax payer underwrites the Palestinian refugee programs that foment terrorism. School buses will bring American students to the U.N. during this week of convocations, but few will appreciate the fact that the U.N. itself is the Janus-faced enabler of terrorism. For those who remember George Orwell’s semantical reversal in 1984, “war is peace, peace is war.” The U.N. has imbibed the illogic of this great novel.

Herbert London is President of the London Center for Policy Research, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of the book The Transformational Decade (University Press of America). You can read all of Herb London’s commentaries at www.londoncenter.org

 
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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