Orange Ribbons and Terror

On 12^th July 2005 at 6.30 p.m. a suicide bombing occurred in Netanya that killed four people and injured scores of others. There had been a certain amount of complacency over the past few months. There was relative calm from suicide bombings in Israel. Now it is occurring again. The right wing, with their orange ribbons, has been engaged in anti-disengagement activity resulting in the police becoming involved in keeping order.

The demonstrators planted dummy bombs at various public places in Jerusalem tying the police up in dismantling them. It would not be surprising if Islamic Jihad had been observing the right wing demonstrations and the way the security forces had been involved in dispersing them. This had served their purpose by default. If the police are so involved keeping law and order because of the right wing demonstrations, surely this affects their resources for preventing Palestinian terror.

The orange ribbon crowd is a danger to Israel's well being. They are helping suicide bombers to infiltrate by tying the police up with their dummy bombs and demonstrations.

They disrupt traffic by blocking roads. Parents are making cynical use of their children in anti-disengagement activity. They are weakening Israel's anti-terrorist activities. It is hardly surprising that a suicide bombing arrives to bring us all to our senses.

Sharm-al-Sheikh agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, resulting in a cease-fire, created an impetus for Islamic Jihad to regroup. They achieved this under the nose of President Mahmoud Abbas. While he had promised to fight terror and paid lip service to doing so, he had in fact, done nothing.

There is no doubt that Mahmoud Abbas has proved that he is unable to rein in the terror. He prefers to have friendly back slapping chats with terrorist leaders residing in Damascus and Lebanon in the hope of containing their terrorist activity. He seems to be playing a similar game to Yasser Arafat. He pays lip service against terror while allowing it to occur unabated. He has not arrested one terrorist nor has his "Security Police" taken any deterrent measures.

This country is back to square one in its fight against terror. If Israel would help Mahmoud Abbas with intelligence without publicity, and he shows a desire to cooperate with Israel in the fight against terror, maybe the suicide bombings would cease. However, if cooperation with Mahmoud Abbas in the fight against terror is publicized, the latter stands a chance of losing support and being branded as an Israel lackey or US stooge. His life would be in danger from extremists in his camp.

There is no doubt that Israel has an existentialist problem with the Palestinians if not with the Arab world at large. There are signs of Palestinian pragmatism but these signs are not strong enough to build trust in order to carry the peace process forward to its conclusion. Islamist terrorists such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas will not allow this to happen. The Orange Ribbon right wing demonstrators, who are neutralizing the Israeli Police in their fight against terror, are also aiding Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Company by default.