Sharon places Israelis on keg of gunpowder

No one knows how many casualties Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon needs in order to realise that the path to peace cannot run through the killing fields and security cannot be achieved through force. It has become clear that Sharon does not have peace on his agenda; in fact his agenda contains only one topic - to kill more.

As far as we Arabs are concerned, it is not surprising because the man is known to us as a genuine killer whose whole military life was based on preparing and waging wars. The massacres in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Chatila during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon are living evidence of his thirst for blood.

This explains why any hopes that he might switch to political tactics after his election as prime minister were quickly dashed by Sharon himself since his sole agenda, as I have mentioned, is to kill.

Since his election more than a year ago, Sharon has committed one mistake after another in his bid to bring security to the Israelis. His violent and repressive policies have only resulted in the steady deterioration of Israel's security as the Palestinians inflict an increasing number of Israeli casualties.

Sharon's so-called security has also planted growing fear among Israelis, who are now too frightened to sit in a cafe or restaurant, travel by bus, approach an Israeli soldier or policeman, or even a dustbin or a donkey walking along the road as a result of a series of suicide attacks by Palestinians, possibly disguised as rabbis, officers or even women. Such attacks have made life unbearable for Israelis.

It is true that Sharon has used all his available armoury to assassinate Palestinian leaders and destroy their infrastructure with tanks, jets and advanced military systems, but this has not brought security to Israel.

Instead, this excessive use of force has resulted in greater Israeli casualties, united the Palestinian factions and made them develop a more effective means of resistance. Until recently, Palestinian tactics were confined to stone-throwing and tyre burning, but now they have expanded to deadly attacks on Israeli tanks, a lone sniper killing several Israeli soldiers and female suicide bombers.

Ironically, Palestinians and other Arabs should be grateful to Sharon since he was more successful than even Yasser Arafat in uniting the Palestinians and wreaking a higher Israeli death toll than all the Arab states could inflict in a war against Israel!

Sharon's achievements have also extended to the political front: Israel and its key ally, the United States, are unable to manoeuvre or propose fresh initiatives because Israel's policy and the blind U.S. support for it have lost all relevance in the face of the Israeli onslaught.

Israel has also discarded the "land-for-peace" formula and for the first time the Arab states are making peace initiatives that used to come from the U.S. or Europe. We have seen the initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and another by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and there might be a common Arab initiative at the Arab summit in Beirut this month.

These initiatives are considered a political triumph for the Arabs, who are now, for the first time, in control of the peace overtures thanks to Israeli and American policies which focus solely on Israel's security!

Security of course is a fundamental issue for Israel, the Palestinians and the entire Arab world. If Israel and the U.S. are keen about security, then the Arabs are also in need of such a security for the Palestinians and the Arab world as well.

Israel is the only nuclear power in the region and this makes it a threat to the security of others. Israel's security cannot be attained through slaughter, the destruction of houses and institutions, repression and persecution perpetrated under the pretext of chasing Palestinian fighters whom Israel regards as terrorists.

Security is best attained through negotiations and peace can only be achieved through mutual recognition of each other's rights - Israel's right to peace and security and the Palestinians' right to land and security.

There is no alternative for Sharon and his main supporter, U.S. President George Bush, but to return to the land-for-peace formula, which was accepted by Arabs and Palestinians on the basis of Israel's withdrawal from all lands occupied in 1967 and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in line with relevant UN resolutions, the Madrid peace conference and all other agreements in Oslo, Cairo and Washington.

All these agreements and others have been locked away by Sharon, who has thrown away the key and defiantly brandished his gun.

Sharon now faces an Arab peace initiative which does not contradict the spirit of the land-for-peace formula.

The initiative comes this time from Saudi Arabia and from a man with the prominence and status such as that of Prince Abdullah and it should be viewed as a complete package based on normalisation of ties in return for peace.

The overture stresses peace first, which was stipulated in Madrid and the relevant UN resolutions.

But it seems that a man like Sharon cannot understand this initiative or grasp its true dimensions. He and his government partners have already tried to circumvent it, demanding visits and face-to-face meetings which are possible only in their dreams.

There will be no meetings or visits before peace is achieved, and peace must be reached with the Palestinians before all else. They are the main party directly concerned with the problem and it is regrettable that Sharon, with his terrorist mentality, refuses to negotiate while he pursues his policy of death and destruction.

Perhaps we should ask: "Will the world blame only Sharon for the deteriorating situation and the collapse of the peace process which gave the peoples of the region hope that 50 years of hatred and war was nearing its end?

"Would Sharon be able to pursue such policies without Washington's support?"

The answer to both questions is no, so the world cannot blame Sharon as long as the U.S. - the main sponsor of the peace process - has abandoned its neutral and reconciling role and replaced it with unlimited support for Israel. This happened at a time when Israel began exercising organised state terrorism against unarmed Palestinians.

We may recall the hardline policies of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who undermined the peace process by building more settlements. Only a firm stand by former U.S. President George Bush, who suspended American loan guarantees to Israel, forced Shamir to freeze the settlements.

A similar stand from the American side is needed more now than ever before, not only to demonstrate fairness and credibility in its foreign policy and its war against terrorism, but for the good of the American people who obviously hate terrorism and believe in the right of all peoples to a stable and secure life.

But if the Americans do not include the Palestinians, then their spiritual and moral convictions are called into question.

The good nature of the American people and their respect for the rights of other peoples to live in dignity is proven with what former Congressman Paul Findley expressed recentl