Who is responsible for the outbreak of violence?
A simple, compelling and important truth has somehow been lost in the recent turmoil enveloping the Middle East. The events recently witnessed in our region are the result of a clear Palestinian decision to pursue violence as a political tool. While the Israeli government and people yearn for this violence to end, its does not appear that the Palestinians share this aspiration. Israel seeks to resolve its differences with the Palestinians at the negotiating table, while Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have chosen ongoing, violent confrontation. Yasser Arafat must be held accountable for the wave of violence sweeping through the territories. What the Palestinians have termed ‘intifada’ (uprising) is no more than a calculated, cynical effort by Arafat to achieve through violence the maximalist political aims which he failed to attain through negotiations. Although many would have us believe otherwise, what we are witnessing is a deliberate choice by the Palestinian leadership
