Last Wednesday, the Israeli Minister of Tourism, Rehavam Ze'evi, was murdered while leaving his Jerusalem hotel room. The People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) quickly claimed responsibility for this most outrageous act of terrorism, the first ever assassination of an Israeli cabinet member by Arabs.
Those who would apologize for the PFLP say that this assassination was in response to Israel's policy of "targeted killings" of known terrorist leaders, one of whom, Abu Ali Mustafa, was a high-ranking member of the PFLP. Let them remember that Israel's democratic government has a responsibility to provide for the security of its citizens and is perfectly justified in killing those who are planning to perpetrate attacks against its citizens. If American agents could have killed the perpetrators of the World Trade Center attacks before Sept. 11, would any reasonable person see doing so as an unjustifiable policy? If Mexican terrorists, supported by the Mexican government, expressed their frustration at being forcibly dispossessed of Texas by carrying out suicide bombings in Houston Sbarro's, is there any doubt that the American government would exert a far more bloody policy on Mexico than mere "targeted killings?"
Obligingly, the Israeli government, bowing to largely American pressure, has allowed the daily Palestinian terrorist attacks on its civilians to continue effectively unanswered for a year. But the assassination of a Minister of the Israeli Cabinet will force Prime Minister Sharon to act decisively against terrorism. Sharon threw caution to the wind Friday stating, "Arafat has seven days to impose absolute quiet in the (occupied) territories. If not, we will go to war against him. As far as I am concerned, the era of Arafat is over." Clearly, the ramifications of Ze'evi's assassination are enormous.
From the ongoing investigation of the murder of Rehavam Ze'evi, it appears that the largely Arab staff of the hotel in which he was murdered supplied helpful information to Ze'evi's assassins. Moreover, it has now become evident that Yassar Arafat's Palestinian Authority (PA) helped one of the assassins flee the scene, escorting the murderer to PA controlled areas. Arafat has attempted to soothe Western anxieties by "outlawing" only the military faction of the PFLP. However, these "outlawed" PFLP militants are not only free, they actually enjoy special protection from the PA's Security Service Chiefs in Gaza and the West Bank, Muhamed Dahlan and Tawfiq Tirawi respectively. Undoubtedly, Arafat and his government structure - built by American and Israeli capital - constitute an indispensable source of support for the most heinous of terrorists.
Intelligent analysis of the situation also indicts a much larger and more sinister accomplice in Ze'evi's assassination; namely, Syria. First, the PFLP is based in Damascus, along with ten other Palestinian terrorist groups. It is highly unlikely that the PFLP would have proceeded with the assassination of Ze'evi without receiving permission from Syria (and Arafat), as the fallout from this event is so potentially enormous. Second, while Arafat at least made the token gesture of arresting some members of the PFLP after the assassination (only to release them hours later), Syria has taken absolutely no steps against the PFLP since the portentous events of last Wednesday.
Yet, for all the evil it has perpetrated, the PFLP is a relatively benign terrorist organization by Syrian standards. The Hizbollah, a radical Islamic terrorist organization financed by Iran and harbored by Syria, is arguably the region's most powerful terrorist group, and to list the attacks this organization has carried out against Israel would take a book. At the time of writing this article, Hizbollah rockets are raining upon Northern Israel, threatening civilians and military personnel alike. By no means, however, are Hizbollah's attacks confined to Israeli targets. Syrian-sponsored terrorism struck the United States in 1983, when Hizbollah coordinated a suicide bombing against a U.S. military installation in Beirut, killing 241 Americans. Even more damning is that, among the dozens of terrorist groups currently harbored by Syria, many have connections to the Al-Qaeda network, the primary target of President Bush's "war against terrorism." At present, the United States is bombing the stone-aged society of the Taliban regime back to one of hunters and gatherers because the Taliban is undeniably guilty of providing a safe haven for terrorists. But, unlike the Taliban, which has only harbored terrorists, Syria has actively supported international terrorism for decades, both financially and logistically, using terrorism as an implement of its foreign policy.
Although Bush was criticized by many (including this writer) for extending an invitation to Syria to join the United States' anti-terrorism coalition, this move was not without reason. The government of Syria is both secular and cynical, in no way immune to political dealing. Bush made clear in his address to Congress that if countries like Syria were willing to expel the terrorist groups they harbor and cast their lots with the United States, they would be spared the wrath of U.S. military action and could possibly develop a lasting and beneficial relationship with the United States. Bush has given Syria ample time to expel its terrorist groups, and thus pursue a course acceptable to the United States. Syria has refused to comply. It remains the same old Syria in which radical Islamic terrorists - many of them connected to the Al-Qaeda network - are received with open arms. It remains the same old Syria that murdered 10,000 of its own citizens in Hama. It remains the same old Syria that destroyed Lebanese democracy and continues to hold that nation forcibly under its authority. It remains the same old Syria ultimately responsible for the deaths of at least 241 Americans and countless Israelis.
Syria represents one of the greatest forces of instability in the Middle East and will continue to be so should America refuse to act against it. But there are encouraging signs, as America is massing naval strength and carrier-based Marine units in the Eastern Mediterranean, opposite the coast of Lebanon. These moves should be applauded and many more such moves encouraged. It is high time that we do a great favor for the region and the world, not to mention the beleaguered Syrian people, and end Syria as we have always known it.
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