And the Beat Goes On

By Jim Fletcher

Back in the hippie days, Sonny and Cher had a hit record entitled “The Beat Goes on…”

The song could have been written specifically about the Arab-Israeli conflict. It fits perfectly that volatile region.

And to be more specific: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

As the American president tours Muslim countries and tries to pacify his audiences, as international diplomats voice a bit more forcefully their irritation at Israel…as Benjamin Netanyahu is threatened by international powers behind closed doors, we see that in Israel, the beat does most assuredly go on.

For 61 years, Israel’s neighbors have refused to accept her existence. Think about that.

For six decades, the Arabs have been the equivalent of England refusing to accept France as a legitimate country. Or Canada deciding that the U.S. is a non-entity.

Of course these scenarios are absurd. But the scenario isn’t absurd where Israel is concerned. The whole world turns a blind eye to Palestinian arrogance and genocidal pronunciations.

As the diplomats continue to push the insane two-state solution, the Palestinians practice terror unabated.

In the territories during the last week of May, Hamas terrorists were killed — ones who had been involved in suicide operations against Jews. These eliminations happened near Mt. Hebron and the town of Qalqiliya. This was all going on at the same time Mahmoud Abbas was meeting with the American president; Abbas has stated recently too that he intends to sit tight and wait on pressure on Israel to get what he wants.

Abbas knows he doesn’t have to abide by any agreements, signed or otherwise. He is the same PLO hatchet-man he’s been for 40 years, a protégé of Yasser Arafat.

A bright spot is that for the first time since the ceasing of Operation Cast Lead — the Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip — no mortar or rocket fire occurred. However, in Azerbaijan, police arrested two Hezbollah terrorists who were plotting an attack on the Israeli embassy there in the capitol of Baku. This arrest took place more than a year ago, but was kept secret pending a trial. At the time of their arrest, these killers had explosives, binoculars, pistols (with silencers) and photos of the area.

These events were met with typical terrorist responses: Iran said they were the work of Israeli agents themselves, to detract from “crimes” made against Arabs! Hamas officials pledged revenge against the Israelis.

Tell me: how is Israel supposed to make peace with such individuals and organizations? These are the bloodthirsty killers that people like Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama think you can dialogue with.

In the U.S., two terrorists — Ghassan al-Ashi and Shuqri Abu Baker — were sentenced to 65 years each for funneling money to Hamas. This in our own country; an effort to liquidate Israel because millions of Arabs refuse to accept her existence.

The beat goes on.

As Abbas was talking out of both sides of his mouth during and after the meeting with Obama, Palestinian terrorists were issuing their usual threatening statements. It is instructive to know that all these various factions: Abbas’s “Fatah” movement (the “political” arm of the PLO), Hamas, and Hezbollah are committed to Israel’s destruction. Their charters are still in effect after decades.

That leaves one with the impression that if the U.S. and other powers continue to try and “make peace” between the parties of the Middle East, those peace efforts are not concerned with Israel’s security. They are concerned with pacifying the Arabs.

The Jerusalem Post recently revealed some startling parallels between the strategies in the region employed by Barack Obama and the administration of Dwight Eisenhower a half-century ago.

Both administrations decided early on that pacifying the Arabs at Israel’s expense was a good strategy for protecting American interests.

From 1953 on, and especially during and after Israel’s victory over Egypt in the 1956 Sinai Campaign, Eisenhower’s administration barely concealed its contempt for the Jewish state. Israel was eventually forced to give up its gains in the Sinai. Comically, this set the stage for sweeping territorial gains in the Land of Israel a decade later, as Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian, and Iraqi terrorism opened the way for the Six Day War.

Today, Obama has decided that failure is still an excellent option.

Although the whole concept is absurd to sophisticated audiences today, including those in Washington, protecting American interests in the Middle East should be achieved by the exact opposite strategies.

We should be strengthening the Israelis and shunning the Arabs, who are by and large corrupt regimes that pacify the genocidal elements in their midst.

“Ike” could barely stand Israel, and Obama’s honeyed speeches nevertheless reveal a man who is not genuinely concerned for Israel’s safety.

As Palestinian terrorists huddle in dark rooms and plot and plan, using innocents such as children as shields, the world decides that pressuring Israel will somehow bring peace. As I’ve said before, this is madness on a colossal scale and reveals a deeply flawed approach.

Rest assured, as diplomacy continues its rotten pattern of failure, the American president will smile and make soft speeches and walk the same path.

And more Jews in their own small state will be targeted for murder.

The beat goes on.

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